It’s been a dozen years since his debut, but the Australia captain admits he’s still coming to grips with the format

Firdose Moonda11-Oct-20231:39

Cummins: ‘It’s a clash of two very similar teams’

The strategies involved in structuring a spell in ODIs still present Pat Cummins with a conundrum he is keen to conquer, 12 years after making his debut in the format. That may seem a strange takeaway from an engagement with an Australian captain under some pressure after his team’s defeat to India and their struggles against spin, but it’s a small example of a bigger picture that we will be talking about all tournament: the future of this format.We don’t even need to go through the proposals to scrap bilateral ODIs and confine the format to World Cups only, because in Cummins, we have a ready example. He had only played 19 matches between the last World Cup and this one; and including Australia’s defeat to India in their World Cup opener this time, he has played only three this year, and just 78 across a dozen years. The consequence is that it has taken him longer than it may otherwise have to feel confident in his tactical approach to ODIs.”Early in my career, I found it a hard balance between Test cricket and T20, and I was getting too funky,” Cummins said at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the day before Australia prepared to play South Africa. “With one-day cricket, your roles can be very different – from being an opening bowler with a ball that swings, to coming on first change and maybe bowling cross-seamers where you are trying to defend and get your wickets through pressure. It’s a different kind of challenge to the other formats.”Related

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It is also what Cummins called “the most physically taxing” of the three formats, because as we know from the ICC slogan – it really, truly takes one day. One. Whole. Day. Although the duration of a Test and the intensity of an T20 can’t be matched in an ODI, the amount of time spent on the feet and the kilometres run in the legs will be more than both the other versions of the game.”The biggest challenge is that you’ve got ten overs [to bowl]. It’s quite a physical format,” Cummins said of ODIs. “I find it the most physically taxing if you are doing two or three games in a week. We are doing 15k (kilometres) in a 50-over match.”And then there’s the trade-off between consistency and creativity that must come into play in one-day cricket, where some level of patience is required alongside a touch of all-out attack.”In T20, if you bowl one really good over that can be match-winning. But in one-day cricket, it’s not normally the case,” Cummins said. “And it’s rare that conditions are in the bowlers’ favour, which is fine. It’s just a challenge you’ve got to try and deal with. It’s tough but I do enjoy it.”Cummins expects at least one of those things will get easier on Thursday, when he thinks there will be pace and bounce on offer on a surface that remains something of a mystery. Only four ODIs have been played at the Ekana Stadium so far, with the highest score batting first being 249 in a full 50-over innings. Three of those ODIs were played in 2019, with one held last October, but the pitches have since been dug up and relaid.On Thursday, Australia play South Africa in Lucknow, where the pitches have been dug up and relaid•Getty Images

Cummins also feels his own form is “in as good a place as it’s ever been”, and backs himself to be “almost be prepared for anything”, including maybe “death bowling”. Against a South Africa line-up that is in good form, he also expects that he may have to try “to create a wicket out of nothing”, even as unorthodoxy is also something he has been working on.All that does not take away from his inexperience as ODI captain – since being named ODI captain in October last year, he has played only five out of Australia’s 15 ODIs – and the problems Australia have to solve in the middle overs. That’s where they lost the game against India, after they slipped from 110 for 2 in the 28th over to 199 all out.It’s something the batting group, under the guidance of Andy Flower, who has also been Lucknow Super Giants’ coach – the IPL team whose home ground is the Ekana Stadium – have been discussing, and much like Cummins’ own conclusions about bowling, it’s a balance between formats they’re seeking.”It’s no secret that the [middle-overs] period of the game seems to be the most important in one-day cricket,” Cummins said. “How do we create partnerships? If they’re bowling well, how do we shift the pressure back on to their bowlers, and try and force their hand to make some changes? It’s a real delicate balance in one-day cricket of not taking huge risks, but it’s not like Test cricket where you can wait it out. You have to keep the run rate ticking over.”The middle overs are also thought to be the hill on which ODI cricket may die, unless the narrative that unfolds in that passage is captivating even if nuanced. As Cummins hinted, those overs are the Goldilocks of the game where players are required to not do too much of one thing or too little of another, and for Australia, it’s about finding out how much is just right.

The group stage is almost complete with India looking to make it nine from nine against Netherlands

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-20236:27

Finch: Marsh and Smith’s form are good signs for Australia

—Fixtures | Squads | Points table | Tournament Index

Top Story: Marsh’s 177* powers Australia to seventh straight win

Australia’s aversion to chasing has disappeared ahead of a semi-final with old foes South Africa after a statement innings of 177 not out from Mitchell Marsh at No.3 helped his side cruise to their second-successive record World Cup chase against Bangladesh in Pune, running down 307 with eight wickets and 32 balls to spare.Marsh made his highest ODI score and his first century at first drop, thumping 177 off 132 balls with 17 fours and nine sixes in brutal fashion.Australia had only chased more than 300 once in the last four years, but the rejigged batting line-up finally clicked with Steven Smith making an untroubled, unbeaten 63 at No.4 and sharing in a 175-run stand to guide Australia to their seventh straight win of the tournament.Click here to read the full report

Match analysis: Marsh owns the No. 3 spot with monstrous hitting

Australia head into the semi-finals high on confidence•Getty Images

Australia’s World Cup campaign has resembled a balls-in-a-maze puzzle. From catches going down in the first two matches, to Steven Smith having to adjust to a new role, to his vertigo, to Glenn Maxwell’s concussion on a golf course, Australia just haven’t been able to get all the balls in the innermost circle.One concern must have been how Mitchell Marsh, a big part of their plan to frontload their batting, didn’t quite respond immediately to moving down to No. 3 midway in the tournament. Against Bangladesh, in the final league match of the tournament, Marsh ticked that box with an innings full of power and intent that must sound a warning bugle for their opponents in the coming week.Read the full piece from Sid Monga

Match report: Stokes and Willey fashion a last hurrah for England

Fifty six of Ben Stokes’ 84 runs came in boundaries•ICC/Getty Images

England’s soon-to-be-deposed world champions bade farewell to the 2023 World Cup with a glimpse of their former domineering selves, as they marched to an emphatic 93-run win over Pakistan at Eden Gardens. The result means that Babar Azam’s men are officially out of semi-final contention.David Willey marked the final appearance of his international career with a sparky all-round display that included his 100th and final ODI wicket, and after Ben Stokes had underpinned an imposing total of 337 for 9 with his second forceful outing in quick succession, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid turned the screw on a spin-friendly surface to snuff out any pretence of a contest with four wickets between them.

Must Watch: Steve Harmison on Jos Buttler

2:12

Harmison: Buttler has to take ownership for the future

News headlines

• Ben Stokes says he will decide whether to re-enter ODI retirement after undergoing knee surgery, in a post-script to England’s disappointing World Cup campaign.
• Babar Azam is still learning as captain, and deserves to be backed. This is what Pakistan’s director of cricket Mickey Arthur said, after wrapping up an underwhelming World Cup campaign with a 93-run loss to England.
• Temba Bavuma has “showed an improvement overnight” from the hamstring strain that hampered him during South Africa’s World Cup match against Afghanistan on Friday.

Match preview

India vs Netherlands, Bengaluru (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT)1:29

Dravid: Shreyas’ temperament stands out under pressure

They’ve been occasionally tested, but otherwise, India’s World Cup run has been nothing short of magical. Now on the day of the auspicious Indian festival of Diwali, they have a chance to gift their fans another dose of entertainment, and even though we know that anything can happen in sport, a defeat for the hosts is extremely unlikely.That’s because India have been absolutely dominant during their 8-0 run at this World Cup. Coming into their final league game, they face the least-fancied team of the tournament, Netherlands, even if they have performed better than expected. With a semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday their next big game, Sunday also offers India a chance to rest key personnel should there be a need for it.Full previewTeam newsIndia (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav / R Ashwin, 9 Jasprit Bumrah / Prasidh Krishna, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajNetherlands (probable) 1 Max O’Dowd / Vikramjit Singh, 2 Wesley Barresi, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Scott Edwards (capt), 6 Bas de Leede, 7 Teja Nidamanuru, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren

‘That was the slowest pitch a visiting team could ever play on in Australia,” Pakistan team director says

Danyal Rasool11-Dec-2023Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez has criticised the pitch and conditions laid out for Pakistan’s warm-up game in Canberra, saying he was “really surprised and disappointed by the arrangements.”Speaking to reporters at the WACA ground following Pakistan’s morning training session, Hafeez said Pakistan were excited by the challenge, but appeared particularly irked by the tour arrangements for game against the PM XI in Canberra, at one point implying it might have been tactical.”That was the slowest pitch a visiting team could ever play on in Australia,” he said. “As a team we are really happy with our preparations because we ticked most of the boxes.”Everyone knew [the pitch wasn’t what we wanted], so there was no point of saying it again and again and raising the issue with Cricket Australia. The disappointment was really high because we weren’t expecting these kinds of arrangements. Maybe it’s tactical but we’re ready for it. We’re not using it as an excuse, we’re absolutely ready for the challenges coming up.”The PM XI game has traditionally been a limited-overs game in the Australian capital city, but has been played as a four-day contest over the past two years. Only three days of play were possible, with a freak storm bringing an early conclusion to the game. Pakistan batted 116.2 overs and scored 391 for 9 before declaring. But on a noticeably slow surface, they toiled for 141 overs, managing just four wickets.Related

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The game being a proper first-class game meant they could only use eleven players, and were further reduced to ten when Abrar Ahmed went off with an injury that has now ruled him out of the first Test.While Hafeez – and Pakistan – were clearly upset by the variance between the conditions they wanted and the ones they got, the weather may have had a bigger say in it than any tactical considerations. There was significant rain in the lead-up to the game, to the extent the ground was underwater at one stage, so preparing a pitch to any particular specifications was always going to be a challenge. In addition, the Manuka Oval has historically tended to offer flat decks, with limited pace on offer. Recently, the outfield was relaid, and was also quite slow.But there were positives to take from the contest for Hafeez, most notably in the form of the new Pakistan captain Shan Masood’s innings. Masood scored an unbeaten 201 in an innings where none of his team-mates managed a half-century. Hafeez was particularly effusive about him and his abilities as a leader.”For me, seeing Shan become captain is no surprise” Hafeez said. “He was always ready for this role, and when you get this sort of opportunity, it shines. He’s a superb player, and as a leader, he’s got a great rapport with the players and a great relationship with the whole team. His experience as a captain and what he’s learned over the years – especially the couple of years he’s played county cricket – have all seen his management skills have come to the fore even more. What’s important is this is a confident unit that’s here and Shan is playing his role very well.Hafeez also insisted he wasn’t pointing out his disappointment with the Canberra surface as an excuse, saying he was confident this team had the ability to walk away with a series win. Pakistan have traditionally found playing in Australia harder than anywhere else, having lost their last 14 Tests on the bounce in the country, spanning five whitewashes.”This Test team is very settled. They’ve all done a great job for Pakistan cricket. Everyone is excited to take the challenge. Performing in Australia would be great for them. We are here to beat Australia, not just to compete.”As a team, we believe we have great talent within the team who can win in Australia. The guys are really hungry to perform in Australia. They wanted to take that excitement and challenge in the right spirit. The message the team conveyed is they want to beat Australia this time.”

Pakistan team director believes Shan Masood captained well overall and blamed his side’s fielding for their 0-3 series defeat

Danyal Rasool06-Jan-2024Shan Masood’s communication skills have garnered plenty of praise throughout his career, but this afternoon in Sydney, it seemed no one could quite understand him.After Australia were set 130 to win the final Test, Pakistan didn’t turn to the series’ joint-leading wicket-taker Aamer Jamal all morning. It was only after lunch that, with Australia needing 33 to win with nine wickets in hand and all jeopardy squeezed out of the game that Masood tossed him the ball in the 20th over.It was a decision team director Mohammad Hafeez appeared to slightly distance himself from, saying he believed Jamal should have bowled earlier. However, he also stressed Pakistan understood the importance of bowling offspin on a wicket that was beginning to take plenty of turn, and backed Masood to take on-field calls. Offspinner Sajid Khan opened the bowling and took a wicket in his first over, as well as another one shortly before Australia wrapped up an eight-wicket win.Related

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• Jamal: The man Pakistan keep turning back to this series

“It’s up to the captain,” Hafeez said after the game, talking about the bowling plans. “All bowlers were available but it’s the captain’s tactic. We wanted to bowl more from the offspinner because this track can offer a lot from the far end but the rest is up to [Masood]. Tactically, I think Jamal should have bowled earlier, but inside the field, the captain is the best judge so you have to back that up.”In truth, the decision to overlook Jamal will go down as a curious detail in a match where Pakistan’s advantage had been squandered in other areas and phases of the game, most notably a madcap final hour on the third day when they lost five wickets for nine runs to slump from 58 for 2 to 67 for 7. Pakistan frequently found themselves on the wrong end of those sorts of frenetic passages with huge swings of momentum, especially in the last two Tests.In Melbourne, Pakistan found themselves at 124 for one in response to Australia’s first innings score of 318, but lost the next five wickets for 46 runs. In the second innings, the visitors reduced Australia to 16 for 4 in the second innings, before dropping a vital Mitchell Marsh catch early only for him to take the target out of sight. The following day, Pakistan were 98 runs away from chasing down the total with half the side intact but lost 5 wickets for 18 runs to slip to a painful defeat.Sajid Khan did take two wickets but it wasn’t enough•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

In this Test, Pakistan had the momentum after skittling Australia’s final five for just 10 runs that gave them a slender first-innings lead, only for a Josh Hazlewood-inspired bowling attack to wrest back those losses.”We learned hard lessons,” Hafeez said. “As a team, we had our moments but we couldn’t grab those. We perhaps didn’t [deserve] 3-0, as a team I think we did some really good things this series, but we couldn’t win the crucial moments of the game and that’s the reason for the 3-0. We lost the series, but watching the talent of the players is what made me say we could compete right from the start. We’ve seen some glimpses of it. There were certain moments in these games that we should have grabbed because they can make a difference, especially in Melbourne when they were 16 for 4. It could have been a situation where we needed to chase just 140-150 but it ended up above 300.”Even here, we dropped some catches. Mitchell Marsh was dropped by Saim Ayub. We didn’t drop catches, we dropped the winning moments of the game. That is the negative side of our team: our fielding. We need to really work hard on this. The coaches worked really hard on it but when the players went inside they couldn’t respond accordingly. This is the one area I believe we need to work on.”It was hard to miss the cosy congeniality that formed a recurring theme in this series. Both sides’ players have spoken about the relationships that were built when Australia went to Pakistan in early 2022 to play series in all three formats, and over the last month, those relationships have sustained. Pakistan’s players presented gift baskets and sweets for the Australian players’ children on Christmas Day, with players and families interacting with easy familiarity. Pakistan formed a guard of honour for David Warner in Sydney in both innings, applauded him off the field and presented him with Babar Azam’s playing top signed by the whole team.”Playing the cricket with the right spirit of the game [was a positive],” Hafeez said. “Our captain led the side very well. He made correct calls at important times. It’s not just about your cricket, it’s about how you behave as an ambassador. I think he did most of the things correctly.”But the cold, hard facts remain unchanged. Pakistan may have competed more ably than in any of the six series they have now been successively whitewashed in against Australia away, but that streak – now stretched to 17 – remains stubbornly unbreakable. And though Australia were pushed closer than most people – even in Pakistan – might have expected given the visitors’ depleted bowling attack, the appetite for drawing consolation in Australia from what-ifs and so-nearly’s has begun to wear thin.

Each of Namibia’s top eight batters fell for single-digit scores, after Supun Waduge hit an unbeaten 56

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2024A collective effort by Sri Lanka’s bowlers flattened Namibia for 56 in a chase of 134 in Kimberley. Left-arm spinner Vishwa Lahiru and medium-pacer Ruvishan Perera took three each as all of Namibia’s top eight batters fell for single-digit scores.After being put in, Sri Lanka got off to a slow start, losing Pulindu Perera for 3 in the seventh over. Fast bowler Zacheo Van Vuuren then caused a slide, taking the next four wickets to fall, and reducing Sri Lanka to 71 for 5 within the 20th over. But Sri Lanka’s No. 3 Supun Waduge then led the resistance, scoring an unbeaten 56 off 79, although he did not get much support at the other end. Johannes de Villiers took three lower-order wickets as Sri Lanka crumbled to 133 all out.In return, Namibia’s chase never took off. They could barely make any progress as the Sri Lanka bowlers not only struck regularly but also kept them from scoring runs. Namibia lost eight wickets for 25 runs within the 20th over. A rebuild was attempted by Peter-Daniel Blignaut and Hanro Badenhorst, who put up an 18-run partnership, but Perera ended that in the 26th over. Lahiru took the last wicket, as Namibia’s innings came to an end in 27 overs.A four-wicket haul from Isai Thorne, followed by an unbeaten fifty from Jewel Andrew, powered West Indies to their first win of the tournament, against Scotland in Potchefstroom.Batting first, Scotland began steadily, as the openers Jamie Dunk (57) and Adi Hegde (32) put up an 89-run stand. However, once Hegde fell in the 22nd over, Scotland struggled to put together meaningful partnerships, as Thorne rattled the team’s top and middle order on the way to finishing with 4 for 46. Alec Price at No.3 chipped in with 31, but only two other remaining batters managed double-digit scores, as Scotland were restricted to 205 for 9.West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals during the chase, but handy contributions from the captain Stephan Pascal (26), Jordan Johnson (24) and Mavendra Dindyal (29) kept them on track to overhauling the target. They were precariously placed at 111 for 5, but Andrew and Nathan Edward took the team home with an unbroken partnership of 95 runs. Andrew remained unbeaten on 64 off 60 balls, stroking eight fours, and was named Player of the Match.Ahmed Hassan struck twice early to dent Nepal’s sprightly start•Getty Images

Pakistan maintained their perfect start to the Under-19 World Cup, as Azan Awais’ unbeaten 63 powered the team to a five-wicket win against Nepal.Chasing a paltry 198, Pakistan were given an ideal start courtesy their openers Shamyl Hussain (37) and Shahzaib Khan (37), who added 80 in 21.2 overs. A string of quick wickets from Aakash Chand, including two in the same over, had Pakistan in a spot of bother at 104 for 4, but Awais, coming in at No.4, put together crucial partnerships with Ahmad Hassan and Haroon Arshad to take the team over the line inside 48 overs. Awais struck six fours during his 82-ball knock.Earlier, Nepal, opting to bat, had huffed and puffed their way to 197. Bipin Rawal was the team’s top scorer with 39, but he had little by way of support, as the team lost ground at regular intervals. Six different Pakistan bowlers were in amongst the wickets, and Arafat Minhas was the pick of the lot, ending with 3 for 23, while Umaid Shah and Hassan claimed two each.

Player retentions for eight teams confirmed ahead of draft in March

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Feb-2024Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Amy Jones are among the England players who will on the block in next month’s draft for the 2024 Hundred, after player retentions for the eight teams were confirmed.Roy was one of the most high-profile names among those released, having helped Oval Invincibles to win the men’s competition last year. Roy averaged 17.11 with a strike rate of 128.33 and his expected involvement in Major League Cricket – which will clash with the Hundred in 2024 – is likely to have been a factor. Invincibles also opted not to retain two of their overseas players, Sunil Narine and Heinrich Klaasen, both of whom featured in the first edition of MLC.There will, however, be an overlap of talent at the Hundred and MLC, with Rashid Khan (Trent Rockets), Finn Allen (Southern Brave), Haris Rauf (Welsh Fire), Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson (both Oval Invincibles) all retained for this summer despite their involvement in the US, and other names likely to appear in the final draft list, which will be confirmed on Monday.Related

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Malan and Tom Kohler-Cadmore were among the top earners at Trent Rockets but both will go back into the pool, as will Tom Banton, who was not retained by Northern Superchargers. Ollie Pope, who has an ECB red-ball central contract, was not retained by Welsh Fire.In the women’s competition, where the three highest pay bands have received a significant boost, there will be seven spots to fill in the top £50,000 bracket. Jones, England’s first-choice wicketkeeper, was let go by Birmingham Phoenix, while the retirements of Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Anya Shrubsole have opened up spaces at Rockets and Southern Brave respectively.Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine (both Phoenix), Marizanne Kapp (Invincibles), Phoebe Litchfield (Superchargers), Hayley Matthews and Shabnim Ismail (both Fire) are among the overseas players who will be coming back.In all, 137 players have been retained – men’s teams could retain up to 10 players, women’s teams eight – with 75 spots to be filled via the draft on the March 20. Northern Superchargers, who finished last in 2023, will have the first pick in the men’s draft, with Birmingham Phoenix starting things off in the women’s.Teams will each have one Right-to-Match card at their disposal, allowing them to re-sign a player who was in their squad last year, as long as they match the salary band of the rival team bidding in the draft.The Hundred will get going on July 23 with a double-header at The Oval and run for four weeks, with the finals to be held at Lord’s on August 18.

Retained players

Birmingham Phoenix Women: Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Issy Wong, Emily Arlott, Hannah Baker, Sterre Kalis, Charis PavelyBirmingham Phoenix Men: Chris Woakes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Ben Duckett, Benny Howell, Adam Milne, Jamie Smith, Will Smeed, Tom Helm, Jacob BethellLondon Spirit Women: Heather Knight, Grace Harris, Danielle Gibson, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Georgia Redmayne, Sophie Munro, Tara NorrisLondon Spirit Men: Zak Crawley, Nathan Ellis, Dan Lawrence, Dan Worrall, Liam Dawson, Adam Rossington, Olly Stone, Matt Critchley, Daniel Bell-DrummondManchester Originals Women: Sophie Ecclestone, Laura Wolvaardt, Emma Lamb, Mahika Gaur, Fi Morris, Kathryn Bryce, Ellie Threlkeld, Liberty HeapManchester Originals Men: Jos Buttler, Jamie Overton, Phil Salt, Paul Walter, Tom Hartley, Usama Mir, Wayne Madsen, Josh Tongue, Max Holden, Fred Klaassen, Mitchell StanleyNorthern Superchargers Women: Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Bess Heath, Linsey Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards, Hollie Armitage, Marie KellyNorthern Superchargers Men: Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Harry Brook, Reece Topley, Matthew Short, Brydon Carse, Adam Hose, Matthew Potts, Callum Parkinson, Ollie RobinsonOval Invincibles Women: Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Tash Farrant, Mady Villiers, Paige Schofield, Sophia Smale, Ryana MacDonald-GayOval Invincibles Men: Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Will Jacks, Adam Zampa, Jordan Cox, Gus Atkinson, Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, Spencer Johnson, Nathan Sowter, Tawanda MuyeyeSouthern Brave Women: Danni Wyatt, Chloe Tryon, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Freya Kemp, Georgia Adams, Rhianna Southby, Mary TaylorSouthern Brave Men: Jofra Archer, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Leus Du Plooy, Rehan Ahmed, Craig Overton, Finn Allen, George Garton, Alex DaviesTrent Rockets Women: Nat Sciver-Brunt, Alana King, Bryony Smith, Kirstie Gordon, Alexa Stonehouse, Grace PottsTrent Rockets Men: Joe Root, Rashid Khan, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, John Turner, Sam Hain, Sam CookWelsh Fire Women: Hayley Matthews, Sophia Dunkley, Shabnim Ismail, Tammy Beaumont, Georgia Elwiss, Sarah Bryce, Freya Davies, Emily WindsorWelsh Fire Men: Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, Joe Clarke, Haris Rauf, Tom Abell, David Payne, Glenn Phillips, Luke Wells, Roelof Van der Merwe, Stephen Eskinazi, Chris Cook

Superb spin exhibition by Sophie Ecclestone had threatened to derail Storm innings

ECB Reporters Network27-Apr-2024Western Storm clinched their first win in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy after defeating Thunder by 66 runs at Emirates Old Trafford.An unbeaten 76 by Sophie Luff capped an excellent fightback by Western Storm who made 252 for 6 from their 50 overs after a superb exhibition of spin bowling by Sophie Ecclestone had threatened to derail their innings.England spinner Ecclestone took 3 wickets for 16 runs off her 10 overs, but three good partnerships rescued the Storm who added 162 runs from their final 30 overs to post a challenging score.That proved to be enough as Thunder subsided to 186 all out off 42.4 overs with Sophia Smale and Chloe Skelton taking three wickets apiece.Related

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Western Storm struck an early blow as the Thunder set off in pursuit of 253 when Seren Smale cut a short delivery from Lauren Filer to Dani Gibson at cover for 9.Emma Lamb and Katie Mack rebuilt with a positive 62-run partnership off 69 balls with Mack launching Amanda-Jade Wellington for consecutive sixes at the start of the leg spinner’s second over.Wellington hit back with two big wickets, bowling Mack for 28 and Lamb for 38 to have Thunder 85 for 3 at the start of the 19th over. That quickly became 104 for 6 after 25 overs as three wickets fell for six runs in a disastrous spell for Thunder.Off-spinner Skelton had Fi Morris caught behind for 16, then bowled Naomi Dattani first ball followed by Alex Griffiths finding an edge from Ecclestone that was well taken by wicketkeeper Nat Wraith standing up.Skipper Ellie Threlkeld and Kate Cross rallied Thunder with a partnership of 69 off 83 balls. Cross hit a six off Skelton in making a patient 36 until bowled by left-arm spinner Smale. Threlkeld departed for 32 when lbw sweeping at Skelton two balls later to leave the hosts 173 for 8 in the 40th over.Smale wrapped things up with the wickets of Mahika Gaur and Phoebe Graham for 10 to seal a convincing victory.Storm made an excellent start after being put in to bat with Griffiths and Smale posting a second consecutive fifty opening partnership in the face of some disciplined bowling by England duo Cross and Gaur.Griffiths had accelerated the scoring but was bowled for 24 after aiming a wild slog at Ecclestone. That was the first of three wickets to fall for nine runs in 17 balls with Smale, who had been fortunate to survive a run out chance when on 4, bowled for 23 by Ecclestone after playing back and beaten by a turning delivery, while Fran Wilson chipped Graham to Dattani at mid-on for 7.Gibson hit three boundaries off her first seven deliveries but had no answer to a quicker, turning delivery from Ecclestone to be bowled for 16 with the fourth wicket falling on 80 at the end of the 19th over.Storm fought back splendidly from that point, with captain Luff and Wraith mounting a determined alliance of 70 across 17 overs to counter the control exerted by the Thunder spinners with Ecclestone to the fore.Wraith hit the first six of the match off Hannah Jones before falling to a great catch by Ecclestone at mid-on off Graham for 38.But Luff found great support from Niamh Holland, who contributed a useful 22 off 24 balls in a 46-run partnership, and Wellington who made a rapid unbeaten 31 off 19 balls over the closing overs.Luff, who reached her fifty from 82 balls, became the glue that held the innings together, initially consolidating after coming to the crease in the 15th over before providing the late acceleration as Storm added 83 from the last ten overs to set a target that proved to be more than enough.

LSG head coach Langer felt dropped catches “really killed us in the end”

Abhimanyu Bose18-May-20244:26

Langer: IPL has same pressure as World Cup

Lucknow Super Giants’ win over Mumbai Indians in their last game of the season was not enough to take them to the playoffs, but it was the kind of performance their captain KL Rahul wanted more of throughout the season.LSG finished on 14 points and occupied sixth spot on table – level with fourth-placed Chennai Super Kings, who still have a game to play on Saturday – but their net run rate of -0.667 was not enough to push them into the top four.”At the beginning of the season, I really felt that we had a strong team and had most bases covered,” Rahul said after the game. “[We had] a couple of injuries obviously, which happens every season to every team, but those injuries and the guys that went away really dented us a little bit, and we didn’t play well enough collectively.Related

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• Pooran-inspired win fails to take LSG into the playoffs

“When the bowlers had a good game, the batters wouldn’t have a good game. We just didn’t come together as much as we would have wanted to.”Rahul’s comments were echoed by LSG head coach Justin Langer, who said they wanted to try a few new tricks in their last game, and that included opening with Devdutt Padikkal in place of Quinton de Kock. But the Padikkal move did not pay off – he was trapped lbw for a golden duck by Nuwan Thushara – and LSG soon found themselves in a familiar position of losing early wickets.They were 69 for 3 in the tenth over but Nicholas Pooran’s whirlwind 29-ball 75 revivied them. It also helped Rahul accelerate from 29 off 28 to finish on 55 off 41 and took the side to 214.LSG had come into the season with a reputation for defending totals, and they lived up to it the first three times they batted first. However, their bowling took a hit in the second half of the competition, with injuries to key bowlers like Mohsin Khan and Mayank Yadav, and they struggled to defend totals.But in Mumbai, even after the hosts enjoyed an 88-run opening stand in 8.4 overs, their bowling unit came together to effectively blunt the opposition by the 15th over. Naman Dhir, batting at No. 7, gave them a scare with a 28-ball 62 not out, but LSG got through.Langer acknowledged that they missed the services of Mayank and Mohsin, but felt that their sloppy fielding “really killed us in the end”.”I think dropped catches cost us,” Langer said at the post-game press conference. “If you go back to the Delhi game at home, we dropped [Jake] Fraser-McGurk on 17 [24] off Marcus Stoinis. And I think he hit 26 [21] runs off the next over and it really kickstarted his whole season. I saw a stat today that we’ve dropped a lot of catches. We’ve probably got the best fielding coach in the world [Jonty Rhodes] and we dropped some catches. And often it’s [something] as simple as that to [decide] the outcome of the season.”We missed Mayank, he was huge. Mohsin [Khan] had quite a sore back for some of the tournament. But I think dropped catches is the thing that really killed us in the end.”But against MI, LSG held on to all their chances – five catches taken on the field. Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi took a brilliant catch each to send Dewald Brevis and Suryakumar Yadav, respectively, packing.”Today was a really good performance,” Rahul said. “This is the kind of game we wanted to play more where batters are scoring, and bowlers are doing their job. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, so we find ourselves here.”

England captain believes her players have become ‘smarter’ while sticking to aggressive mantra

Valkerie Baynes18-Jun-2024For some 18 months, England Women have committed to playing a harder, faster, more aggressive style of cricket but, according to Heather Knight, they are also becoming smarter.Since Jon Lewis took over as head coach at the end of the 2022 English summer, the team vision has been clear, expressed in mantras such as “attacking mindset”, “walk towards the danger” and the even more ubiquitous “inspire and entertain”.It has worked in so far as it has transformed a team which was comprehensively beaten 12 points to four by Australia in the 2019 Ashes and 6-4 in a rain-hit 2021-22 series into a side which drew last year’s series on points, winning four matches to Australia’s three.But it is very much a work in progress. In their recent home series against Pakistan, England lacked ruthlessness and polish, despite being a far stronger side.Knight, England’s captain, believes that in hosting New Zealand in three ODIs starting next week followed by five T20Is, they have an opportunity to build on knowledge gained against the White Ferns in New Zealand earlier this year.”We became a bit of a smarter team,” Knight told ESPNcricinfo, looking back on England’s tour of New Zealand in March and April. “We played on bigger boundaries, wickets that did a little bit more in the powerplay, so it wasn’t really easy to attack then. We learned how to be a bit smarter and how to adapt a little bit to different conditions.”Sometimes it’s going to be hard to attack in the powerplay, the idea was to sort of go from ball one and keep the foot down, but that isn’t always going to be possible and sometimes there’s going to be little bumps along the road, but I think we learned a lot from that tour.”Heather Knight speaks at a Chance to Shine event at Lord’s•Chance to Shine

England defeated New Zealand in their ODIs earlier this year 2-1 and won the T20I series 4-1.England have lost only two of their 13 completed ODIs since the start of December 2022 and they have won 21 of their 27 T20Is in that time. Crucially, with a T20 World Cup fast approaching in Bangladesh in October, one of those defeats was to hosts and underdogs South Africa in the semi-final of last year’s T20 World Cup and two more to a visiting Sri Lanka side who had never beaten them in a series before.There were also learnings against Pakistan, including playing on slower wickets. At Edgbaston, England recovered from 11 for 4 to win the first T20I, then secured a 37-run ODI victory in Derby which Knight described at the time as “scrappy”.”Our job is just to keep getting better, keep playing cricket that we want to play and also winning those games when it’s tough,” Knight said.”You look at that Derby game, it wasn’t probably the most exciting to watch sometimes,” she added, recalling how England failed to claim the final wicket of a match that they had otherwise dominated. “I guess in that case it is just about punching out results and trying to say, look, it wasn’t quite the perfect wicket to be able to play how we wanted to, but being smart with it and adapting to what’s in front of us.”Because ultimately our biggest chance to inspire as well is winning big competitions and performing in big events, and trying to win in the way that we want to do, which is exciting and attacking.”The balance is much finer in T20 cricket, where the margins for error are far smaller and understanding that is becoming a key part of England’s narrative.Danni Wyatt’s 48-ball 87 in the third T20I against Pakistan was by far the standout performance for England, while Nat Sciver-Brunt produced a corresponding innings in the ODIs with an unbeaten century in the last match of the tour.”T20 is so hard to be consistent, it’s really a tough thing to do,” Knight said. “A top opening batter in world cricket maybe might come off one in three, one in four, and someone like Danni is one of the best openers in the world. She doesn’t come off every game and she’s brilliant at being able to manage that.”It can be quite mentally tough, honestly. Her super-strength has been able to say: ‘Right, I didn’t get any runs, I’m completely fine. That’s how I want to play and I’m going to go and try and play exactly the same way in the next game’.”It’s about being really clear going into that T20 World Cup in particular, how we want to do things. It’s all well and good saying, ‘oh, we’re going to be attacking, we’re going to be aggressive,’ but being really clear on individually the ‘how’ of that.”But it is not only a World Cup victory, or how it is achieved, that has the potential to inspire, as Knight well knows. On Monday, she joined Chance to Shine, the children’s cricket charity with whom she has held a long association, in welcoming hundreds of state school pupils to Lord’s for a day of cricket coaching and other activities.Related

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Knight has worked with the organisation since finishing university, when she coached state-school children – often alongside Charlotte Edwards – two days a week while juggling a burgeoning playing career that, for her, didn’t become fully professional until three years later, in 2013.”It enabled us to pay the bills basically whilst we were still playing cricket for England and enabled us to live before everything became professional,” Knight said. “It’s really important to try to get cricket into state schools and there’s a lot of barriers there, like facilities. At my old school there, people used to smoke on the rubbish astro turf that we had and there was stains on it and things like that.”Here today there’s state-school children from all over the place, from all backgrounds, coming in and having an amazing day at Lord’s. It’s all about giving them a good first experience of cricket really, and trying to get them interested in the game and more involved.”Chance to Shine deliver cricket to over 600,000 young people each year, working in state schools and underserved communities. Until midday on 18th June donations made to Chance to Shine will be doubled by the Big Give campaign. Support the charity today and help inspire more young people through cricket.

Captain’s 64 was the backbone of the chase after Notts Outlaws post sub-par total of 153

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2024Lancashire Lightning began this Vitality Blast North group visit to Trent Bridge with the best record of all 18 counties in the 2024 T20 campaign to date and Nottinghamshire Outlaws with the worst.Choosing to bat, Outlaws eventually rose to 153 foe 8 despite expert containment from Chris Green, the Australia T20 international, with 2 for 16 in his four overs of off-spin. Jack Haynes reached 45 before becoming one of two run outs in a sometimes naïve display and Liam Patterson-White, batting at No7 on debut in this format, made a fine, unbeaten 44 from 21 balls.But with Keaton Jennings making a skipper’s 64 to leave victory in sight, Lighting romped home by six wickets in the penultimate over as the Outlaws completed their first five games with a sobering fifth defeat.Lightning’s chase began stutteringly with both openers dismissed by the fifth over when Josh Bohannon sliced Matt Montgomery, the South African who plays for Germany and offers off-spin from an idiosyncratic action, to the infield. Olly Stone’s first ball, two overs before, had done Vince Wells for pace when he top-edged a hook to square leg.But Jennings smashed the first ball of Stone’s next over for six and Lancashire reached the end of their ninth over with 82 for 2 where Nottinghamshire had laboured in contrast to just 46 for 4 at the same stage earlier.Patterson-White’s left-arm spin was then introduced on a used pitch and his maiden performance grew yet more impressive when he removed Tom Bruce’s middle stump for 22 with his second ball.Lightning, however, still posted their hundred by the 13th over with fully 47 balls available for their last 54 runs and Jennings close to a fifty he then brought up with some ease from 41 balls as Stone’s third over (the 15th) went for eleven, leaving the target just 31 runs distant.But to his very evident annoyance at not finishing the job, Jennings, the captain, was bowled by Calvin Harrison, one of the six spinners employed in the match, and it was left to Matty Hurst and Steven Croft, 19 years his senior, to take them home with nine balls to spare. Hurst finished unbeaten on 33.In two of their previous four games, the Outlaws had begun well but crashed catastrophically from 104 for 1 to 154 all out and 54 for 0 to 127 all out. This time the start proved a disaster.Joe Clarke faced one ball from which he took a leg-bye before being run out in the opening over, attempting to come back for a second for Alex Hales after a misfield at mid-wicket. Hales then sliced to the backward point boundary for four in the fourth over from Saqib Mahmood whose fourth ball earlier was a lifting beauty that had undone Will Young.From 22 for 3 it became 45 for 4 when Matt Montgomery, swinging across the line, was leg-before to a Wells leg-break and though 32 followed in 20 balls, a Lyndon James reverse-swipe saw him comprehensively bowled by Green before, next over, further confusion found Haynes run out as the non-striker when seeking a single that Tom Moores never considered.With 41 balls left, at 80 for 6, late runs were at last sporadically plundered thanks to Patterson-White, one Jack Blatherwick over conceding 21 and the last, from Mahmood taken for 18, but a target of 154 never looked enough.