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Cost-cutting could impact the number of support staff when cricket returns

Andrew McGlashan05-May-2020Australian cricketers will need to be prepared to do more for themselves when the game returns in a world reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic.One fallout from the crisis could be a reduction in the support staff around the national teams as Cricket Australia continues to look to cut costs, following the recent dramatic measures that have seen 200 staff stood down on 20% pay, moves that are likely to filter down into the domestic system with states facing a 25% cut in their funding.Justin Langer, the head coach who has become part-time until the end of the financial year on June 30, has called on players to be “self-resilient and self-reliant”. Marnus Labuschagne was hopeful that any cuts to the resources around the team would not be too severe but said that players would need to help each other.ALSO READ: Saliva and sweat to shine the ball restricted under Australian Covid-19 guidelines“I think that’s a real privilege of playing for Australia, the amount of coaches, but I think everyone that’s in the system has gone through a period where you need to help each other out,” Labuschagne said. “I think potentially, depending on how many coaches are about, that we are going to need to help each other out and do a few things ourselves. Hopefully the loss isn’t too much and we retain those coaches because they’ve been doing a fantastic job which is shown being the No. 1 T20 and Test nation.”Queensland coach Wade Seccombe recently said he expected a reduction in support staff around the state team too. “We have to be more efficient in what we do. In Queensland, we are trying to get players who are more self-determining,” he told News Corp. “That was our focus for the off-season. Let them manage their own programmes.”That nature of the pandemic has made life that way because we are not going to have as many staff servicing them and they are going to have to stand on their own two feet a little more.”The annual leave period for CA contracted players ends on May 18, although it remains unclear what they will immediately be able to do, although some form of training could be possible if restrictions around the country continue to loosened later this week.”We’ve got to make sure they’re all in tip-top condition,” Langer told . “I actually can’t wait to see how they come back without all the bells and whistles … it’s going to be a really good indication of the hungry, self-resilient and self-reliant players.”Although this would have been a period of downtime for cricketers without the pandemic anyway, many Australian players would have been overseas in the IPL or county cricket. It is uncertain when squads will meet up again with the tour to Bangladesh in June and the limited-overs tour to England in July all-but certain to go the same way. There remains a chance the England trip could take place in September while Zimbabwe were due to make a short visit to Australia in August for a one-day series in the northern part of the country. State pre-season could look significantly different.”I think state teams will have to get creative with their training and so many of the different things are going to have to be creative,” Labuschagne said. “Hopefully by the time the pre-season starts there are a few relaxed regulations and we can potentially have 10 people training obviously maintaining social-distancing. We’ll have to see how it all pans out. I really hope that we can get back to the nets soon. I’m itching to continue to hit some balls and hopefully move from the tennis ball to the real cricket ball.”Australia women’s vice-captain Rachael Haynes also expected there to be challenges during pre-season but believed individual work on technical aspects of the game may not need to change too much.”There’s no doubt it will be different, judging by what’s been released by the government it looks like smaller groups will be how the initial pre-season starts,” she said. “To be honest that’s probably not dissimilar to how training evolves this time of the year because generally people are working on something quite individual, whether it be a technical focus or something they want to add to their game. Getting into the gym and that sort of thing, there might be a few sessions players have to do away from the group.”Last week, the Australian Institute of Sport published a framework for the return of sport with a specific reference to not using sweat or saliva to shine the ball at training – regulations that could extend to competitive action – and also laid out the bio-security protocols that would need to be place.

The ACA president was highly critical of proposals to shrink the Sheffield Shield

Andrew McGlashan18-May-2020The chairman of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, Greg Dyer, has slammed Cricket Australia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has seen states pushed towards significant cuts to their funding. There has also been a potential reduction to domestic cricket, further prompting Dyer to believe the current model is “horribly wrong”.Having been a central figure in the negotiations between the ACA and CA over player payments, Dyer reiterated a call for more focus to be put on state cricket rather than centralised high performance set-ups which he termed “high cost, low yield.”When the pandemic brought cricket to a halt in mid-March it was initially thought the sport in Australia would cope satisfactorily given it had managed to play most of the home season so would not immediately be exposed to loses.However, a few weeks later there was a dramatic u-turn as Kevin Roberts announced the majority of CA staff would be stood down on 20% pay until the end of the financial year in June and that the game risked running out of money by August otherwise. It has also been reported that the Sheffield Shield and WBBL are being earmarked for a reduced competition in 2020-21, the latter strongly criticised by Alyssa Healy, with both set to face stiff opposition.The ACA recently challenged the board’s view on the financial situation facing the game and believed there should be a “positive” outlook on where cricket stands. Now Dyer has dug in, focusing on the game’s current centralised administration.”That at the first sign of a headwind, states are being asked to take significant cuts, which are in turn filtering down to local cricket, suggests that something is horribly wrong with the current model,” Dyer wrote in an article on the ACA’s website.”This is a critical time for the game – it can either take the approach of looking to cut as many so-called ‘costs’ as it can from its balance sheet, something that will have disastrous long-term consequences on the health of the game; or it can realign so that the game’s partners (actually, its ‘shareholders’- the states) have greater voice and autonomy than the mere ‘subsidiaries’ they currently resemble.”Dyer wants more emphasis put back on the pathway from grade/premier cricket to state level as the route to higher honours, something that was a key pillar of the Longstaff culture review into Australian cricket in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.However, the impact on the states is already showing with South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria making significant cuts – the latter especially so in the area of community cricket – although there continues to be resistance to the proposed 25% cut, which was initially as high as 45%.”In addition to these cuts, administrators are looking to diminish what for generations has been the envy of world cricket, the Sheffield Shield – a competition that has produced player after player with the skill and temperament to wear the baggy green after repeated standout performances against strong competition on the best wickets in the country,” Dyer wrote.”From this one can only determine that the 128-year-old Sheffield Shield is regarded not an asset of the game, one that has served cricket so proudly, but rather as a cost that sits alongside corporate travel and office supplies.”Trent Copeland, the New South Wales and former Australia seam bowler, was equally vocal in his criticism of any potential cuts to the Sheffield Shield.”The worrying thing for me is that you cut the shield rounds down to eight, I mean what is the benefit to that? The time isn’t the problem, it’s just money, find other ways to cut resources from cricket,” he told ABC Grandstand.”When you sit back as an organisation and your number one goal, your mission statement is to be the number one ranked nation in Test cricket, you’ve got to sit back and look.”Is it just about finances or is that our ultimate goal? Because if it is, we don’t have any kids under 20 playing forward defences. They do, because they will still naturally do it, but it seems a waste of time, technically they are not required to do it.”

Wriddhiman Saha, the India wicketkeeper, is confident of regaining fitness ahead of the four-match Test series against South Africa due to begin in November

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2015Wriddhiman Saha, the India wicketkeeper, is confident of regaining fitness ahead of the four-match Test series against South Africa due to begin in November. He had suffered a hamstring injury while on tour in Sri Lanka and is currently in Kolkata working on his rehabilitation.”South Africa Tests are still two months away. I am confident that I will get fit much before that. Hopefully, I will be playing Ranji Trophy for Bengal next month to get match fit,” he told India had called up Naman Ojha as a replacement for the final Test in Colombo, who in turn had looked composed in the face of a Test debut and against a probing Sri Lankan attack. But he could not convert his starts into substantial scores.Saha, meanwhile, had struck a couple of fifties before being sidelined and is rated as the best gloveman in India. His captain Virat Kohli had gone on record saying Saha should be India’s wicketkeeper in Tests for the next five years.The pressure Saha faces, though, is from a perception that he might not score quick runs, which is often the mandate of a batsman coming in at Nos. 6 and 7, and which a player like Ojha is been known for.”I don’t play cricket thinking about others’ performance,” Saha said. “I got injured and Naman was assigned a duty. He did his job to the best of his abilities and India have won the match. Now who will play is up to the selectors. My job is to keep improving and I will strive in doing that.”He does not need to look far for support. Saha recalled how his team-mates had helped him after a couple of failures in the practice match ahead of the Sri Lanka Tests. “When I had low scores (3 and 1) in the warm-up game, Ajinkya [Rahane] came up and told me, ‘Don’t worry. You will score in Tests where it matters’. That’s what has been the hallmark. Everyone is enjoying each other’s success.”Saha had some of his own – scoring his maiden Test half-century in difficult conditions in Galle, which he rated as a better knock than the next fifty he hit, batting through injury and helping set up India’s declaration at the P Sara Oval.”I would rate the Galle innings higher as there was both turn and bounce on that track. Also I had not got a fifty in Tests till then. It was a challenge that I enjoyed. Also I batted with the tail (in both Tests), which demands taking greater responsibility. (Dhammika) Prasad and (Rangana) Herath are class bowlers and doing well against them increases self-belief.”Obviously, the twin half-centuries acted as confidence boosters. I am happy that I have played my little part in the team’s 2-1 series victory. For me, more than the volume of runs, it is important that in what situation I have scored those runs. When I look back, I feel a bit of satisfaction that I could deliver what Virat (Kohli) wanted from me.”

M Vijay is set to play Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy fixture against Mumbai beginning on Thursday, as he seeks to get some game time after being sidelined for nearly two months with a hamstring injury.

Arun Venugopal12-Oct-2015M Vijay is set to play Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy fixture against Mumbai beginning on Thursday, as he seeks to get some game time after being out of action for nearly two months with a hamstring injury.A TNCA official confirmed the development and said Vijay would join the team, which has already reached Mumbai, “latest on Tuesday morning.” Vijay has been training at IIT-Chemplast, his home ground in the Chennai first division league, and the facility at the NCA.This will be Vijay’s first competitive match before the start of India’s Test series against South Africa, beginning in Mohali on November 5. He could also feature in Tamil Nadu’s game against Railways beginning on October 30, or choose to play the two-day match between Board President’s XI and the South Africans, also starting on the same day.Vijay missed the first and third Tests in Sri Lanka due to the injury, but contributed 0 and 82 in India’s 278-run win at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. He has been one of India’s most dependable batsmen over the last two years, forging a strong alliance with Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order.Tamil Nadu, however, will not have the services of batting allrounder Vijay Shankar, who is recovering from an injured shoulder that also kept him out of their first two matches. Shankar, who is not travelling with the team, will be assessed by TNCA’s physio on Tuesday morning to determine his availability for future games.Vijay replaces K Bharat Shankar in the squad, who will lead the Tamil Nadu U-23 team in the CK Nayudu Trophy in their game against Bengal in Kolkata.

Wes Agar picked eight wickets while Henry Nielsen put on a century stand with William Bosisto as George Bailey’s final Shield game ended in a loss for Tasmania

The Report by Daniel Brettig10-Dec-2019An unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 136 between Harry Nielsen and William Bosisto delivered South Australia their first Sheffield Shield victory after a drought of 18 matches over 659 days, in what was also the 161st – and last – first-class game for the Australian selector-in-waiting George Bailey.The Redbacks, as may have been expected given their run of defeats, made life hard for themselves by slipping to 4 for 34 in pursuit of 170 to beat Tasmania by six wickets at Bellerive Oval, as Gabe Bell and Riley Meredith found swing and bounce respectively with the new ball.However Nielsen – with only one half century from his previous 15 innings for SA – and the former West Australian Bosisto fought their way through the difficult period and did not offer a chance as they glided home, doing so on the stroke of tea in Hobart.Resuming at 6 for 241 on the final morning, the Tigers could add only 20 runs to their overnight total, as Chadd Sayers and Wes Agar combined potently for the visitors. Agar’s eight wickets for the game were to earn him Player-of-the-Match honours, while SA also had reason to thank Jake Weatherald, the captain Alex Carey, Joe Mennie and Nick Winter for their first innings batting contributions.Nevertheless, victory looked a long way off when Bell swerved the newish ball into Henry Hunt’s back pad and then Callum Ferguson’s off stump, while at the other end Meredith drew edges from Weatherald and Carey. An older ball meant that conditions eased for Nielsen and Bosisto, but they showed a remarkable level of composure in knocking off the runs with minimal fuss.Bailey was left to bowl the final over of the match, clad in his state cap, before accepting congratulations from both sides for a long and fruitful red-ball career that featured five Test match appearances in the 2013-14 Ashes and a leading hand in all three of Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield-winning seasons.

Kusal Perera made a roaring return to Sri Lankan colours, cracking 77 off 53 balls to lead the hosts on a successful hunt of Bangladesh’s 155 for 6

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUpul Tharanga and Kusal Perera struck a 65-run opening stand•Associated Press

Kusal Perera made a roaring return to Sri Lankan colours, cracking 77 off 53 balls to lead the hosts on a successful hunt of Bangladesh’s 155 for 6. That Sri Lanka had so few to chase was partly the work of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, who made breakthroughs whenever a partnership threatened, though they were helped to that end by off-colour Bangladesh batting.Mashrafe Mortaza, who as it turned out, was playing his penultimate game in the format, was by a distance the visitors’ best bowler. He claimed 2 for 32 from his four overs, and only one other bowler – Taskin Ahmed – mustered a breakthrough. Sri Lanka sauntered to the target with seven balls and six wickets to spare.This match was Kusal’s first international since his unseemly Test outing in Port Elizabeth, for which he was dropped from the Test XI, then subsequently axed from the limited-overs squads altogether. Having returned to national reckoning via good innings for Sri Lanka A, Kusal outlined his value to Sri Lanka in an innings that showcased a little batting nous as well as characteristic brutality. The bludgeoned drives and whipped pick-up shots over midwicket did eventually come, but not before he had laid low for the first four overs; and the big shots were, in any case, well devised as well as nicely executed. Instead of trying to clear fielders as Kusal often does, he strove to hit even his most ambitious shots into gaps.

Over-rate fine for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka were found to be one over short of their target in the first T20I, and have been fined by the ICC. While captain Upul Tharanga was fined 20% of his match fee, the rest of the team were fined 10%.

Having made only 5 off his first eight balls, Kusal smoked four fours and a six off his next seven, to help move Sri Lanka to 57 for none at the end of the Powerplay. Upul Tharanga, who had given the innings its initial impetus, departed in the seventh over, but Kusal stayed long enough to almost see the chase through. He reached his fifty off 31 balls, and when he fell in the penultimate over, Sri Lanka needed only nine runs, which they would proceed to gather over the next four balls. Seekkuge Prasanna was not out with 22 off 12 at the close.Though their bowlers responded poorly to Kusal’s shellacking, Bangladesh may reflect that it was with the bat that they made the more substantial mistakes. They had flown to 57 for 1 after five overs, for example, but then Sabbir Rahman ran a poor line to get himself run out, and Soumya Sarkar holed out in the same Vikum Sanjaya over. Suddenly, at 57 for 3, all that momentum they had developed was surrendered.Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan fell playing expansive shots to slow bowlers, who should, in fact, have been less effective on this track, which retained a little grass and had been rolled until hard. Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah put on 57 off 42 together to lift their side from 82 for 5, but could not quite crack enough runs through the back-end of the innings to lift Bangladesh to a winning score.Lasith Malinga was especially good through this period, giving away seven and eight in his last two overs, in which he took the wicket of Mahmudullah with a searing yorker, having also done the same to Tamim Iqbal with the second ball of the match.Rain before play had delayed the start by 45 minutes, but no overs were lost.

Mitchell Johnson has spoken for the first time of the personal turmoil that led to his stunning meltdown during the Lord’s Test

Alex Brown23-Nov-2009Mitchell Johnson has spoken for the first time of the personal turmoil that led to his stunning meltdown during the Lord’s Test. In a frank and revealing interview, Johnson – the ICC’s player of the year – conceded that a tabloid spat between his mother and fiancee played on his mind throughout the match, culminating in a performance so awry as to convince him he would be demoted for the ensuing encounter at Edgbaston.Johnson’s match return of 3 for 200 from 38.4 overs in the second Test played a significant role in Australia’s eventual 115-run defeat to England. At the time, team-mates and staff sought to play down the link between Johnson’s delicate family situation and his errant bowling, however he has moved to set the record straight on the eve of this week’s Test against West Indies.”I’m probably going back on myself a little bit,” Johnson said. “I said in the past that I’d blocked things out. I guess it started off with the personal side of things. That probably really did get to me. I was denying it at the time, and copping it from the crowd didn’t help, but mentally I’ve probably learned to be a lot stronger and just concentrate on what I’m doing out in the middle. This is what I have to do for a living and I have to leave everything behind me when I’m out there.”I think that I block things out pretty well normally. It was just the Ashes: the whole hype of it and the personal things that came out. It was mostly through Lord’s where I felt that pressure. Obviously I was a little bit disappointed in some of the games I played in. I’m not always going to be at my best. I think I probably put a bit too much pressure on myself with how well I did in in South Africa. Coming into that series I probably relaxed a little bit as well.”Johnson flirted with the selectorial axe after Australia’s shock defeat at Lord’s, their first at the venue in 75 years. Stuart Clark’s precision appeared the ideal alternative to Johnson’s waywardness, but Andrew Hilditch’s panel pulled a major surprise by instead dropping Phillip Hughes and installing the relatively untried Shane Watson at the top of the order.The move to call-in an allrounder provided Ricky Ponting with insurance in the event of another Johnson blow-out, and underlined the lengths Australia’s selectors were prepared to go to accommodate their fragile fast bowler. That unexpected show of faith, Johnson said, went far to restoring his confidence for the final three Tests of the Ashes series and beyond.”I definitely thought I wasn’t going to play the Edgbaston Test,” he said. “I was quite nervous about it. I’m glad I got that opportunity again. You just can’t take anything for granted. I am glad I got that opportunity because who knows, I could have been back playing state cricket, which might not have been a bad thing. I could have been working on different things with my bowling. I’m glad I’ve been given that chance. I don’t know what the selectors were thinking, I don’t know what Ricky was thinking, if they were going to drop me or not. Just in my mind, I just thought that was going to happen.”For those guys to have that confidence in me just gave me confidence as well. It made me think a lot more positively about what my role was in the team, so it definitely helped. I had a lot more confidence in Egbaston and then Headingley. I think sometimes I think a bit negatively with my bowling, and it can get me in a bit of trouble, obviously.”Johnson also admitted to mechanical problems during the Ashes series – low arm height and awkward wrist position among them – but insisted all could be attributed to a clouded state of mind. “It got technical because I was thinking about it, but in the end it was more of a mental thing,” he said. “I had to concentrate on my bowling – where I wanted to bowl the ball and what I wanted to do, how I wanted to get these guys out. I just wasn’t doing that. Definitely in the Lord’s Test I was thinking about everything possible – I was thinking about my front arm, release point, swinging the ball, just everything. I probably concentrated more towards the end of the tour. I just forgot about off-field stuff.”The Australians are gearing for their first Test series since their Ashes disappointment, and Johnson is expected to headline an attack similar, if not identical, to that which slumped to defeat at Lord’s. He is convinced the chastening experiences of four months ago have hardened the resolve of Australia’s youthful bowling unit, all of whom are determined to re-establish themselves as an international force against West Indies from Thursday.The first Test at the Gabba represents an unusual homecoming for Johnson – he originally hails from Queensland, but these days makes his home in Perth. He hopes his previous experiences of the Gabba wicket for Queensland and Australia will convince Ponting to restore him to the new ball role taken away from him in England earlier this year.”I’m playing for my country, I’m a fast bowler and I’d love the new ball,” said Johnson, who has taken 13 wickets at 12.69 in two Tests at the Gabba, including a nine-wicket haul against New Zealand last summer. “That’s one of my goals: to open the bowling for Australia.”Hopefully I can bowl a little bit fuller than I probably have in the past if I get the new ball or whatever it may be. You’ve got to be a touch fuller, just like the WACA. That’s when you get your nicks and your lbws.”

Both India and West Indies have new faces, a result of injury and absences, and this series may be the one where they start putting the pieces together for next year’s T20 World Cup

The Preview by Saurabh Somani02-Aug-20195:11

Dasgupta: A toss-up between Rahul and Pandey at No. 4

Big Picture

One of the things Virat Kohli spoke about in his press conference before leaving India was the opportunity the cricket calendar – with three forms of the game – afforded in getting over defeats that sting. India have had almost a month to lick their wounds after the loss against New Zealand in the World Cup 2019 semi-final. Now, with the World Test Championship getting underway and the T20 World Cup in 14 months, there are already fresh challenges to prepare for.Their tour of the Caribbean begins with the three-match T20I series, with the first two matches in Lauderhill. The last time these teams played at Lauderhill, one match was rained out, and the other ended in a thrilling manner, with West Indies winning by just one run. Three years on, the current series forms an interesting clash of cricketing ethos. While India have often brought an ODI approach to 20-overs cricket, West Indies played large tracts of the World Cup as if in T20 mode.These games could be the first ones in which each team begins putting together pieces for the T20 World Cup next year. India have an influx of younger players, with some changes enforced by absence and injury. West Indies are without Chris Gayle, whose international future even in the medium term seems uncertain at best. That could be a blessing, because it will allows West Indies to try out a replacement, keeping the T20 World Cup in mind.

Form guide

India LLLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LLLWL

In the spotlight

You could argue that there is never a moment when Virat Kohli is under the spotlight, but there are a couple of factors that could intensify the focus on him. The rumblings about a rift with vice-captain Rohit Sharma had kept swirling, until Kohli emphatically denied them. Whether there is a rift or not, or a bromance, or a normal disagreement between colleagues that is commonplace and transient – there will be extra meaning attached every time Kohli and Rohit come within each other’s radius. India are without MS Dhoni for this tour. Ever since Kohli became the full-time limited-overs captain in early 2017, he has played just four T20Is and three ODIs without Dhoni in the team. But with Dhoni’s future uncertain, the Indian think-tank might need to get used to life without the senior pro, and that puts greater onus on Kohli, the captain.The last time Sunil Narine played for West Indies was back in September 2017. Since then Narine has been part of various T20 leagues – the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, the Bangladesh Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League – but hasn’t played an international match. He’s even played List A matches in the Super50 Cup in the Caribbean. He opted out of selection for the World Cup, citing concerns about his fitness to last 50 overs and bowl his full quota of 10, but he’s back in national colours for his favourite format. Narine has also evolved as a potent batting force, though he’s unlikely to get to bat in the Powerplay, where his hitting has been at its most effective.AFP

Team news

India have some new faces in the squad, but there’s still an abundance of options who are most at home batting in the top three. Regular openers Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan are back together with Dhawan having recovered from his broken finger, and there’s Kohli. In addition, they have KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey. At least two of those three seem certain to bat out of position, which can be a distinct contrast in a 20-overs game. The wristspinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been rested, which should give the team management the option to try a number of exciting options.India XI (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Manish Pandey/Shreyas Iyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Deepak Chahar/Navdeep Saini, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Rahul ChaharAndre Russell was expected to be one of the players igniting West Indies’ World Cup campaign, but the only things that flared up were his knees. He has since had surgery and was named in the T20I squad, subject to a fitness test. On the eve of the first T20I, Cricket West Indies said the allrounder experienced some discomfort during the GLT20 Canada, and has been replaced by Jason Mohammed. Even without Russell, captain Carlos Brathwaite has plenty of power – hitting and bowling – at his disposal.West Indies XI (probable): 1 John Campbell, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Khary Pierre, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Keemo Paul/Oshane Thomas

Pitch and conditions

Overnight rain meant the covers had been on all through the morning on the eve of the match, forcing India to cancel their practice session. They did train on Thursday even though they couldn’t on Friday. There is a general threat of rain, but thunderstorms in south Florida usually come nearer the late afternoon or evening, and both T20Is here are scheduled for 10.30 am. The pitch is expected to be one where batsmen prosper, with the ball coming on to the bat nicely.

Stats and trivia

• In three T20Is against India, Evin Lewis has hit two hundreds. One of them came at this very venue, in 2016. Lewis hasn’t hit a T20I hundred against any other opposition.
• Rohit Sharma became India’s leading six-hitter in ODIs during the World Cup. He now has the chance to become the world’s top six-hitting batsman in T20Is. Rohit has hit 102 sixes in T20Is, easily the most for India, and is just three shy of Chris Gayle’s mark of 105, which is the current record.

Quotes

“Dhoni’s experience has always been a crucial factor. But having said that, it’s a great opportunity for Rishabh Pant to really unleash his potential.” –

The West Indies allrounder lit up the first night of the Women’s World T20, but she isn’t close to being done

Melinda Farrell in Guyana10-Nov-2018Most players don’t like to reveal individual goals. It puts too much on the line, raises expectations and lays a marker; anything short of reaching it can too conveniently be deemed as ‘failure’.But Deandra Dottin is refreshingly upfront, if economical with words. So, still sporting the sweat that bore witness to her career- and tournament-best figures of 5 for 5 against Bangladesh, she chuckled and calmly revealed she plans to score two centuries during this tournament, to add to the brace already in her locker. Not one, but two.”I have two more coming for sure,” she told reporters. Two more coming for this tournament? “Yes, please.”Dottin was the first woman to score a T20 international century, against South Africa during the 2010 edition of the World T20. She did it in just 38 balls. It wasn’t just a lightbulb moment for the women’s game, it was a supernova: Oh guess what? Women can play a power game.And while many were – rightly – in raptures over Harmanpreet Kaur’s brilliant century in India’s opening match against New Zealand, it’s worth remembering that Dottin reached that milestone in 11 fewer balls.On a marathon first day of the WT20 that started with the blinding batting of Kaur, it was Dottin’s bowling that provided the fireworks at night to go with the drum beats that rumbled around Providence. In a way that reflected the conditions and the reality of playing three international T20s on one pitch, batting became progressively difficult during the day as the pitch wore and the humidity and lights became factors.Deandra Dottin’s juggling act after an impressive show with the ball•International Cricket Council

But Dottin’s performance was as much about using her natural abilities as it was about exploiting the conditions. After Bangladesh’s bowlers had restricted the defending champions to 106, there was little room for error in the West Indies bowling attack.Dottin had been promoted to open the batting – reflecting West Indies recent sluggishness in the Powerplay – but she became Jahanara Alam’s second victim when she misjudged a cut shot and was well caught by a diving Fahima Khatun. She decided to use that as motivation; if she could no longer win the match with the bat then she could still do it with the ball.The allrounder has a relatively short run-up that belies the power she generates; she was regularly touching 75 miles per hour on a pitch that was at its most sluggish.”We’ve been working a lot on sprinting and moving fast, running between the wickets and stuff, our turns and those quick steps,” Dottin said. “But for me, I’ve been putting in a lot of extra work, doing a lot of running and a lot more sprints.”I think it’s having a big input on my bowling, as well.”Dottin beat the Bangladesh batsmen for pace and fooled them with subtle movement; four of her five wickets came from the ball clattering into the stumps. The Bangladesh batsmen, sometimes lacking in foot movement and defensive technique, had no answers.She has two main expressions: one, a glowering frown of a glare, was evident when she was out for just eight runs. The other, a joyful and gleaming metallic grin burst through a little brighter with each of her wickets. When she took her fifth, she broke out into a dance with her team-mates, “Just a crazy dance that we all made up off of a song called ‘Level Up,’ she explained after the match.To what extent Dottin will continue to level up in this tournament remains to be seen. She has already bowled what she regards the best T20I spell of her extensive career (only two players in this competition – Jennie Gunn and Suzie Bates – have played more matches).”Well, I rate this one as one of the top performances I’ve had,” said Dottin. “Most of the performances I’ve had in the past were with the bat, but coming through with the ball is very tremendous.”And, if Dottin ticks off her goal of notching two centuries in the next couple of weeks, it won’t be just a level up but an unprecedented level unlocked.

Ravi Bopara’s hundred built a huge lead for Essex and it seems only weather can deny them victory

Matt Roller at Chelmsford19-Sep-20181:48

Warwickshire deal Sussex’s promotion hopes a blow

ScorecardYou never know what you’ve got until it’s gone, so the saying goes. The problem for Worcestershire is that they are all too aware of Joe Clarke’s talents, and his unbeaten 74 was only further proof of his unquestionable credentials.Clarke’s impending move to Nottinghamshire is yet to be confirmed by either club, and although reports last night may have jumped the gun somewhat, it is hard to see him playing his cricket at New Road next season.His innings here was fluent and elegant. Coming in with Worcestershire 4 for 2 and still 376 in arrears, he signalled his intent with a checked cover drive for four off Simon Harmer, and began to unleash the full display of shots that have drawn so much attention his way in recent times. A nonchalant pair of straight drives down the ground off Jamie Porter stood out, and it was hard to question either the aesthetic value or the level-headedness of his chanceless innings.Kevin Sharp, his head coach, regularly mentions Clarke’s name alongside Joe Root’s, and he remains an outside bet for the Test tours this winter if England decide they need another attacking middle-order batsman.Worcestershire have it better than several of their Midlands neighbours, of course. While the clubs the other side of Birmingham have become talent factories that see their best and brightest depart at the end of every season, Tom Kohler-Cadmore is the only man in recent seasons to have thought the Test match grass might be greener than New Road’s.But it is hard to escape the sentiment now prevalent among smaller counties that they deserve better than to have players leave with no compensation. Clarke is not Worcester-born and bred – he played youth cricket for Shropshire – but has been at the club for five years, and come through their development pathways; and yet, with his contract up at the end of the season, Worcestershire would not receive a penny if he left.The issue is not quite as black-and-white as some make it out to be. As Daryl Mitchell, captaining the side in this game and the PCA Chairman, said last night, players are entitled to run their contracts down and take their careers forward, and few would begrudge Clarke for trying to further his England prospects with the guarantee of Division One cricket and maximise his earning potential in what is a short career.There is, of course, an alternative. Last year, several counties including Surrey, Durham, and Middlesex went public in support of a proposal for compensation fees when players under 24 move despite being offered improved deals by their home club. But that proposal is yet to go through, and with Zak Chappell, Liam Norwell, Craig Miles, Aneurin Donald, Ben Slater, Ben Duckett and several others all moving onto bigger and better things in the past few weeks, fresh calls for change to a football-style approach to the Bosman ruling must be imminent.This innings had a tantalising feel given the current state of Worcestershire’s Championship season. In some ways, the club have surpassed some expectations this season, despite being rooted to the foot of Division One. In each of their past three games they have won several sessions, and have competed in a way that many thought unlikely.And yet they find themselves staring down the barrel of relegation, likely to go down tomorrow, and facing a fifth demotion in their six top-flight seasons since the advent of two divisions. Sharp and his talented crop of young bowlers will rebuild over the winter, and have every chance of coming straight back up, but their reputation as a yo-yo club will remain intact.That Clarke’s innings will likely come in defeat was confirmed by Ravi Bopara’s patient hundred which steered Essex into an unassailable position in this game. He was the steady partner in century stands with both Adam Wheater and Harmer, but batted with a maturity and poise with which his critics rarely associate him. He did benefit from two lives, dropped on the leg-side boundary and at second slip, as Worcestershire’s fielding became ragged, but resisted any attempt to lure him into a false shot.Porter made the initial breakthroughs in Essex’s victory pursuit, but spent some of the afternoon off the field. He has been suffering with a bout of food poisoning this week – not that you’d know it from his current match figures of 9 for 81. But it will be Sharp and Worcestershire left feeling sick tonight, in a seemingly impossible position in this game, their chances salvageable only by the man on the cusp of leaving them.