Tag Futebol

Andrew Strauss scored his first Test hundred since December 2010 as England took a firm grip on the match

The Report by David Hopps18-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryAndrew Strauss celebrates his first Test hundred since December 2010•Getty Images

One innings into England’s Test summer, Andrew Strauss’ authority has been emphatically re-established. That it should take place at Lord’s was entirely appropriate because there is something about Lord’s that encourages the best in him. He is attuned to its trim and orderly air and after an unrewarding winter that brought his right to the England captaincy into focus he has never valued it more.Strauss has struggled to establish an air of superiority at the crease over the past two years, and his delight at his fifth Test hundred at Lord’s suggested that beneath his placid exterior he had felt the tension. An undemonstrative man, he greeted his rasping square cut against Darren Sammy with a roar of satisfaction. It has never become a debate about his fitness to lead, more a growing concern about his batting state of health. That is no longer up for debate and England are better for it. Whatever else will we talk about?Lord’s is never happier than when imagining that it has sustained an England captain, especially a captain as courteous as Strauss, and the crowd’s fondness for him was apparent in their cheers. “Commendable stuff,” one could imagine the members muttering as he crashed a cut or stroked a straight drive, a greater than average number for him, proof enough that he was on his mettle.West Indies, diminished by IPL, were persistent but no better than that and none of their pace bowlers swung the ball despite the same overcast skies under which James Anderson, initially, and later Stuart Broad had been so impressive on the first day. Strauss’ edgiest time came as his century neared and Fidel Edwards and Darren Sammy baited him with a succession of wide deliveries. He flirted with a few and was dropped off a no-ball on 95 when Edwards overstepped and the ball went through the hands of Shivnarine Chanderpaul at first slip.Jonathan Trott, at his most unobtrusive, was a perfect ally for much of the day in a stand of 147 in 52 overs, but Trott departed for 58, surprised by one that seamed from Darren Sammy, when Strauss was 96. That left Kevin Pietersen to introduce a brief celebratory mood, once the hundred was achieved, until he was out cutting at Marlon Samuels. Two deliveries with the second new ball were enough for the umpires – and probably enough for Edwards who had a calf strain – and even though the floodlights were on they called a halt ten minutes early.Alastair Cook was the only other batsman to fall, dragging Kemar Roach on to his leg stump before lunch as he cut at a ball that was close to him. Roach is West Indies’ primary source of top-order wickets and was initially all jingle-jangle as he dashed in with earrings shining and heavy gold necklace swaying, touching 88mph at times, but for much of the day he lacked the dash that had brought him 19 wickets in three Tests against Australia.England also had to contend with a Test debutant, Shannon Gabriel, an athletic Trinidadian with a strong action. Rarely for England these days, they had no footage of him, leaving Strauss to learn on the hoof. It was a bit like playing for England in days of yore – or sometimes like playing for the West Indies even now. Technically bereft, England coped rather well, which is a relief to know at a time when the financial markets are in such turmoil that everybody in the country might soon have to trade in their iPads and return to subsistence farming.When he plays at Lord’s, Strauss does not just dominate an attack; it is as if he outranks them. He strolls jauntily down the steps with the Lord’s pavilion behind him as if leaving an office in the City for a morning meeting. He was beginning an England summer in the customary manner, with a Test at Lord’s and it felt fitting. It was strange to recall that had Glamorgan not hit financial difficulties this Test would have taken place in Cardiff.He is so comfortable in his surroundings that he began his innings as if embarking upon a series of pleasantries. “Good morning, Mr Roach, my name is Strauss. How do you do?” He got off the mark with a thick edge against Fidel Edwards through gully, but an orderly cover drive in Edwards’ next over was the first boundary of 19 filed in the out tray. He likes the ball coming on to him and, even though this Lord’s pitch was a slow one, the West Indies attack suited him. He was in his element again and, with no spin bowler other than Samuels’ occasionals in the West Indies ranks, he knew that the rhythms of the day were not about to change.Time to reflect upon his unbeaten 31 over lunch was probably not what Strauss needed, given his habit of getting out when set over his fallow two-year period. He made only a single in the first 35 minutes after lunch as the hum of Lord’s provided a soundtrack to a somnolent afternoon. Then suddenly his half-century was secured with three boundaries off Sammy: a clip off his pads, a straight drive that left two fielders sprawling and finally a present outside leg stump which he flicked to the long-leg boundary.Trott was also not about to be rushed. He might have been out twice on 17. West Indies were confident enough about Sammy’s lbw appeal to engage in a bout of hand-slapping only for umpire Aleem Dar’s decision to be upheld on review. Then, in Sammy’s next over, Trott feathered one. Hot Spot and Snicko both showed contact but West Indies’ appeal was half-hearted and Trott got away with it.Stuart Broad, England’s darling of the first day, had needed only one ball on the second morning to round up the West Indies innings, so finishing with Test-best figures of 7 for 72. Gabriel had received his first Test cap in a little ceremony before start of play and pushed respectfully forward to his first ball only to nick it to Graeme Swann at second slip.That left Shivnarine Chanderpaul unbeaten on 87, 13 runs short of what would have been his 26th Test century. Once again he was the stalwart of West Indies innings, batting in a middle-order position where statistics insist he is most productive. He did not face another ball after taking a single from the first ball of the last over on the first day and watched West Indies’ last two wickets fall from the non-striker’s end. He is unlikely to learn from the experience; he plays in his bubble and at his time of life, if any new thoughts strayed into it, it would burst at the shock.

Pakistan’s tour of West Indies is an opportunity for youngsters in the squad to establish their career, team manager Intikhab Alam has said

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-2011Pakistan’s tour of West Indies is an opportunity for youngsters in the squad to establish their careers, team manager Intikhab Alam has said. While Pakistan have it in them to be successful on the tour, discipline, he said, will be key.”We’ve brought some youngsters with us and I think it’s a golden opportunity for them to make a name for themselves, to make a career in the sport,” Alam said. “Umar Akmal has special talent. The people of the Caribbean will like the way he plays because he’s so entertaining and hits the ball exceptionally.”Now [after the semi-final finish at the World Cup] the expectations are even higher for this tour, because we have never won a series out here before. Overall all the boys need to put in the hard work, commitment and discipline for us to leave the Caribbean happy.”It was a long journey from Pakistan but we travelled well and the boys are well,” said Alam, who played the last of his 47 Tests at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad in 1977. “We enjoy touring the Caribbean. I personally have spent a lot of time here and cherish the friendship of greats like Sir Garfield Sobers, Clive Lloyd and others.”Pakistan, who arrived in the West Indies on Friday, had their first training session in St Lucia on Saturday and will play their first tour game there on Monday, against Vice Chancellor’s XI led by Combined Campuses & Colleges captain, Omar Philips. The first ODI is on April 23 in St Lucia.Vice Chancellor’s XI squad: Omar Phillips (capt.), Miles Bascombe, Nkrumah Bonner, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Kyle Corbin, Keron Cottoy, Fidel Edwards, Kevin McClean, Gilford Moore, Kjorn Ottley, Shervon Penco, Raymon Reifer, Chadwick WaltonPakistan squad: Shahid Afridi (capt.), Misbah-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Hammad Azman, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Salman, Sadaf Hussain, Saeed Ajmal, Tanveer Ahmed, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Akmal, Usman Salahuddin, Wahab Riaz

Graham Manou has been sacked as South Australia’s captain and they will look to the batsman Michael Klinger to lead the revival

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2010Graham Manou has been sacked as South Australia’s captain and they will look to the batsman Michael Klinger to lead the revival. In 2009-10 the Redbacks made the final of the Twenty20 competition, which qualified them for the Champions League, but finished last in the Sheffield Shield and FR Cup to signal an off-season of change.The wicketkeeper Manou’s two-summer reign is over following a mix of poor form, tactical mistakes and a nagging knee injury. The state’s overhaul has also involved cutting Mark Cosgrove and Dan Cullen from the squad, while they have signed the fringe Victorian pair of Aiden Blizzard and Rob Cassell.Klinger’s appointment is a surprise considering he was not part of the Twenty20 outfit last season and the Champions League will be the immediate priority. A cautious batsman, Klinger has been outstanding in the past two summers and has won back-to-back state player of the year awards. He scored 886 runs at 63.28 in 2009-10 to follow his 1203 first-class runs in 2008-09.Callum Ferguson, who has appeared in 25 ODIs, has been appointed vice-captain and is currently recovering from a knee reconstruction. “We have expressed the need for change within our culture,” Jamie Cox, South Australia’s director of cricket, said. “These two men are both enormously respected throughout the cricket community for the way they prepare and play the game and I know they will develop into a very strong leadership team.”

Veteran seamer acknowledges T20 version is unlikely goal as she focuses on 2025 campaign

Andrew Miller28-May-2024Kate Cross, England’s veteran seamer, says she hasn’t given up hope of competing for a berth in England’s T20 World Cup squad in Bangladesh this winter, but admits her more realistic goal is the 50-over version in 2025, as she prepares to lead the line once more in the third ODI against Pakistan at Chelmsford.Cross, 32, claimed two wickets in England’s 37-run victory in the series opener at Derby on Thursday, and with a total of 85 at 25.35 in 64 ODIs to date, is by a distance the most experienced seamer in England’s white-ball ranks.In the T20I format, however, she has played just three matches in the last four years, and by her own admission, she missed her chance to impress when recalled for England’s shock series loss to Sri Lanka in September last year. The second of those three matches also took place at Chelmsford, where Cross returned figures of 0 for 33 in 2.2 overs as Chamari Athapaththu inspired her side to victory.As such, while the squad’s main focus is on building towards Bangladesh in October, Cross acknowledges that this final ODI is a big chance for her to hone the skills that have kept her at the forefront of England’s 50-over plans for the past five years – and to help raise the team’s standards after an “untidy” display, studded with 31 wides, in last week’s win in the series opener.Related

• Jon Lewis challenges England Women to keep up with their world-class stars

• Nat Sciver-Brunt 'sore' but satisfied after learning on the job in allround display

• Nat Sciver-Brunt century drives England to imposing 178-run victory

• Heather Knight challenges England's batters to adapt aggression to 50-over format

• Capsey the mainstay as England close out 'scrappy' 37-run win

“I think how we played in Derby probably wasn’t how we would like to play the game,” Cross said. “We were a little bit untidy with the ball, probably not at our best in the field. And we probably didn’t put as much pressure on the Pakistan bowling attack as we would like.”We actually haven’t lost an ODI series under Jon Lewis [since November 2022] so it goes to show we’re doing a lot of really good things, but how do we keep that mindset positive all the time? We were probably disappointed with ourselves in Derby, that we could have been a little bit more ruthless in some of those moments.”We know on our best day we can beat any team, we saw that in the Ashes last year when we were able to put Australia under pressure in real key moments. But what we sometimes forget is that we’re asking some really young, inexperienced players to be perfect. The group is trying to learn and improve whilst we play international cricket and that’s a really difficult place to be.”We’ve not got these windows now where you’ve got eight weeks at your region or at Loughborough training, and purposely just working on one thing. Because you’re in an England shirt, you’re expected to be absolutely perfect all the time, but that’s something we have to measure ourselves on correctly. As much as we don’t want to be bowling 40 wides in a game, we obviously don’t do that on purpose.”With bad weather in Chelmsford on Tuesday, England’s practice was limited to some indoor sessions for the batters, but as Cross admitted, the team’s mental preparation is the key factor given the intensity of their current workloads across formats and tournaments – which includes the white-ball series against New Zealand in June and July, followed by the next edition of the Hundred, which culminates in August.”There’s always something around the corner,” she said. “We’ve got South Africa this winter, we’ve got an Ashes just after in January, and then we’ve got the 50-over World Cup next year as well. So you always feel like you’re constantly building for something. And underlying all of that are the basic skills that we’re trying to top up all the time.”So the priority is T20 cricket at the moment for us, but for me, I’m probably thinking more about the 50-over stuff and prepping for that World Cup in 18 months’ time. That might be different for Alice Capsey and Lauren Bell, so it’s exciting that we’ve got all this stuff on in the calendar and so much to look forward to. But in terms of this series, it’s really important to be able to practice with the mindset that we want to take into that [50-over] World Cup.”As for the T20 World Cup, Cross insists she can still be involved, and plans to use both the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Northern Superchargers’ Hundred campaign to push her case for a squad berth. But, given Bell’s pre-eminence as England’s frontline seamer, and her own failure to seize the moment last year, she accepts her place in the pecking order.”I was in the squad for about four years without getting an opportunity, but I hold my hand up, in the Sri Lanka series I didn’t execute anything that I wanted to,” Cross said. “I know that I’ve probably lost my opportunity there. I’ve had a chat with Lewey [Jon Lewis] a few times and he just needs to see me be successful in T20 cricket. But the way the team is balanced at the moment, we’ve got one out-and-out seamer in Lauren Bell who’s been exceptional in that format, so you’ve basically got to be knocking her out of the team.”What Belly does brilliantly is swing the new ball and then come back and take wickets at the death to close games out. So it’s quite a nice blueprint to be able to follow and aspire to.”But it’s just about knowing yourself as well,” she added. “Obviously, as a 32-year-old, I probably know my limitations a little bit more than some of the younger girls, but you still want to take those opportunities if you do get them. It’s a real fine balancing act. But our priority is wearing this shirt and doing the best that we can for England.”

New South Wales, after putting up 320, had reduced the home side to 102 for 6 before they fought back

AAP22-Feb-2023Jimmy Peirson, the captain, turned around a poor run of form with a defiant unbeaten century to keep Queensland in touch with New South Wales in their Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba.Queensland ended the second day on 281 for 8, just 39 runs shy of New South Wales’ 320.Thanks to Peirson’s 115 not out, Queensland recovered from a precarious 102 for 6 to prevent New South Wales collecting a potentially match-winning lead in the first innings.Peirson, who had failed to reach double-figures in his past six innings across all forms of the game, struck 13 boundaries in reaching his sixth first-class century.He found a valuable ally in Xavier Bartlett (32), as the pair adding 91 for the eighth wicket. Mark Steketee added further lower-order resistance to end the day on 27 not out.Sean Abbott did the early damage for New South Wales with two wickets in the first session as Queensland limped to 51 for 4 at the conclusion of a rain-impacted opening session.Max Bryant (40) offered the strongest resistance from Queensland’s top order with a quick 40, but his dismissal – bowled shouldering arms – was emblematic of Queensland’s early fortunes.Abbott knocked over Jack Wildermuth after the break for seven and ended the day with 3 for 63.Earlier, New South Wales, who were nine wickets down overnight, added nine runs to their overnight tally to post 320 in their first innings. New South Wales, who haven’t won a game yet, need a victory at the Gabba to avoid a record winless streak, while Queensland started the match in a four-way share of second.

Hazlewood won’t play on Boxing Day but Cameron Green emergence as a like-for-like replacement has caused England captain Joe Root problems

Alex Malcolm24-Dec-2021Josh Hazlewood won’t play in the Boxing Day Test and there might have been a time when the sight of their big quick standing at the back of the nets not participating in training would have been a cause for concern for Australia.But Cameron Green’s emergence in this series as a bona fide Test bowler, who has earned his place as a top-six batter, has completely changed the dynamics for this Australian team and given the selectors confidence to not rush any of their big quicks back from injury.Hazlewood’s side strain needs more time, but the other quicks looked in fine fettle at the MCG nets on Christmas Eve with Mitchell Starc bowling superbly and showing no signs of the rib issue that flared while batting in Adelaide.With Pat Cummins set to return, Jhye Richardson looks on track to keep his place following his five-wicket haul which means Michael Neser is likely to miss out.Green was hardly used on the final day in Adelaide with Australia’s stand-in captain Steven Smith revealing that team management had suggested Smith avoid bowling him for workload reasons although Smith did turn to him late in the day as England’s resistance lingered longer than expected.Related

• Langer: 'We're really confident Marcus has got what it takes'

• Pitch (hopefully) perfect: MCG's 'massive journey' from Ashes nadir

• 'It is not good enough' – Joe Root admits anger at England's Ashes performances

But Green said he was ready to go if called upon and is feeling fine in the lead-up to Boxing Day.”I was completely fine and ready to go,” Green said. “It’s just we’re in a really good position. I think Nathan Lyon was bowling beautifully from one end, and then we’ve got three world-class pace bowlers to choose from so I wasn’t really required.”I think they just thought we could probably get through the game without bowling me. And then keep me even more fresh for this game.”Green talked about himself as Australia’s fifth bowler who is just there to “keep it tight at my end and give the other guys a bit of a spell.” But’s he’s been far more than that in this series so far. In Hazlewood’s absence, he has become Joe Root’s nemesis. Hazlewood has dismissed Root 8 times in Test cricket, more than any other bowler in the world.Since Hazlewood’s side strain, Green has stepped as Australia’s most like-for-like replacement to knock over Root twice in three innings, with Green’s extra height and bounce, much like Hazlewood, causing the England captain problems.”I’ve played two poor shots to him,” Root said of his dismissals to Green. “The one thing that he brings to the table is that extra bit of bounce.”The danger we get sucked into in these conditions is it doesn’t do as much as it does in England. So you feel like you can play at balls more frequently and you end up getting sucked into playing the shot that you don’t need to. I think that’s the most frustrating thing on my part, an experienced batter shouldn’t be making that mistake twice in two games. Hence why I’ve been doing the work and I expect better from myself.”Cameron Green roars in celebration after dismissing Joe Root•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Green believes he is doing anything specific at his end and has felt he has been fortuitous on two occasions.”It’s a bit of fun a moment, isn’t it?” Green said. “I’ve just got very simple plans to him. Basically, just keep it tight, hold it from one end, and the other guys do their job.”I’ve just got lucky a couple of times.”But he’s a world-class player. And even the scores he’s got so far, he obviously hasn’t got a hundred but he’s batting beautifully out in the middle. So we’ve got to be on our game again.”For as well as Green has bowled, his primary role in the team is as a top-six batter. He is yet to really settle at Test level after six Test matches despite dominating Sheffield Shield cricket over the last two years. He made 33 not out in the second innings in Adelaide after having his off-stump knocked back by Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes for 0 and 2 in his first two innings of the series.Green’s setup and preliminary movement for both dismissals were forensically critiqued by former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on Channel Seven’s broadcast of the Adelaide Test. Green has seen Ponting’s breakdown and has worked on making the necessary adjustments.But Green admitted that he was still trying to get mentally comfortable with playing at Test level, mirroring a process he needed to go through at first-class level a few years ago.”It’s definitely something I’m still working on,” Green said. “You still get a bit overwhelmed when you go out to bat or bowl. But I think that’s pretty natural for any 22-year-old playing Test cricket. That’s definitely something to work on, but it’s a work in progress.”

In a chat with Sachin Tendulkar, former WI captain talks about how to succeed in England

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Jul-2020Protect your stumps. Play beside the line of the ball. Two nuggets of wisdom to succeed in England, from former greats Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, to Jason Holder’s West Indies, before the first Test against England in Southampton. The visitors won the previous leg of the Wisden Trophy at home in 2019, but they have struggled in England, having failed to win a Test series in the country since 1988. They have managed only six Test wins during this period.Batting remains West Indies’ weakness. Holder and head coach Phil Simmons have underlined that as a big concern. In the rain-affected second intra-squad warm-up match in Manchester, none of the top-order batsmen even got a decent start. After the first-innings collapse in that match, Holder was embarrassed to admit some of his batsmen needed to “look in the mirror”.In the absence of Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, West Indies will look at the pair of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope to lead the batting department. They were the standout performers for West Indies on their 2017 tour, as the visitors clinched a rare Test win in the country at Headingly on the back of their heroics.However, both batsmen have struggled since. In terms of average, since their tour of England in 2017, Holder has been West Indies’ best batsman.Lack of application and focus, and absence of partnerships, have been outlined as the major issues with the batting by Simmons. Lara, meanwhile, said that batting remained the “key” to West Indies’ fortunes.”The key to any team taking the field, especially if they are taking the field after batting, is the amount of runs they have to play with,” Lara told Tendulkar in a chat on the . “This present West Indies team need the luxury of having runs on the board. They need their batsmen to come up trumps and give them that sort of comfort. So the effectiveness of a Kemar Roach or Shannon Gabriel will only come into play if they don’t have to go on the defensive because of the lack of runs. That has been our problem for many, many years.”According to Lara, quickly understanding the conditions, playing late, and dominating bowlers selectively were some of the cues West Indies batsmen needed to understand.When pressed by Tendulkar, who asked: “In short, your message to West Indian team is try and stay beside the line, don’t get behind the line too much?”, Lara agreed.”In England it is protect your stumps. And get acclimatised quickly, get the pace and bounce of the pitch, know what the bowlers are doing. And then when you feel comfortable then you sort of grow. You don’t necessarily have to dominate every single bowler that is bowling to you – if you get to 70-80 and there’s somebody that is giving you trouble, back off. That’s key.”When Tendulkar joked that West Indies ought to take Lara “seriously”, the former West Indies captain cited the example of Tendulkar’s masterful 241 in 2004 in Sydney where he abstained from playing the cover drive, a shot that had got him into trouble throughout the series.To cut out what hurts you, Lara said, was the “key” to batting.”You know that Sachin, as well. In terms of that great innings that you played in Sydney: it was not about a particular bowler getting you out, but it was a particular shot getting you out. And you stopped yourself from playing it and you were able to score in other areas. So it is similar sort of approach – be it your technique and may be having a problem with a particular shot or a particular bowler.A good example would be Australia. Playing against Australia, I will be 70-80 or may a 140 and [Glenn] McGrath comes back for a spell. And I know he is going to bowl 36 balls or six overs, seven overs, I don’t need to sort of take any great risks. Give your other guy at the other end, give him the opportunity to score.”Summing up the chat, Tendulkar said: “You just have to be smart.”Lara nodded, “Yes, that’s all”.

The secret is to adapt, because mysteries get solved easily these days, feels the offspinner about the emerging bunch of young spinners

Sruthi Ravindranath in Jaipur25-Mar-2019He might not have used a moniker to describe himself like his Kings XI Punjab team-mate Chris ‘Universe Boss’ Gayle, but R Ashwin had no reservations in calling himself one of the top bowlers in the T20 format. The Kings XI captain even threw numbers at doubters and pointed to his success during the 2016 T20 World Cup to make his case.”In terms of the T20 format, my stats are at 6.72 [6.85 as per records] as my economy rate and I’ve played highest number of games in the IPL alongside Harbhajan [Singh],” Ashwin said in Jaipur ahead of his team’s IPL 2019 opener against Rajasthan Royals. “The last T20 World Cup, I played extraordinarily for my side and won Man of the Match in a game as well. That’s where I’d like to rest my case.”For the record, among frontline Indian offspinners in the IPL, Harbhajan has played 150 matches, while Ashwin has played 125.It’s been nearly two years since Ashwin turned out for India in coloured clothes, but he still remains India’s top wicket-taker in T20Is with 52 dismissals. Over the last couple of years, with the spotlight shifting from fingerspinners to wristpinners, Ashwin has struggled to break into the side – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been match-winners in recent times with the white ball.A number of young spinners with various weapons in their arsenal have emerged in recent times. Ashwin argued that with technological advancements, no bowler could remain deceptive for too long, adding that adaptability was the only way around.
In a bid to adapt and reinvent himself in the limited-overs format, Ashwin had tried bowling legspin apart from his usual fingerspin variations in the IPL last year. Recently, he also stated that his exclusion from India’s limited-overs teams was down to a “perception” that wristspin is a must in the shorter formats, and insisted he was no “slouch” in white-ball cricket.”Cricket nowadays reveals everything. There is a lot of analysis and cameras can read out every movement of your fingers. The secret is to adapt to conditions. Look at Virat Kohli, earlier he was very strong on leg side but he adapted and now he is as strong on the off side too,” Ashwin said.While India captain Kohli had said that IPL form would have no bearing on World Cup selection, Ashwin believed he could make an impact. “Although I think the formats are very different, adapting will be the key. This time we do have a big break between the IPL and World Cup so whoever is in good form is going to get a place,” he said.It’s unlikely that Ashwin – who has been branded a red-ball specialist – would be considered for the World Cup, especially with Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav around too. Jadeja came back into the ODI fold during the Asia Cup last year – after sitting out for more than a year – and has been an integral part of the side since then, valued for his lower-order hitting and experience. Jadhav, meanwhile, is primarily a middle-order batsman, but has been impressive with his low-angle slingy spinners in the middle overs.”India have a number of multi-utility cricketers. These are players who excel in one skill and constantly work on other skills as well,” Ashwin agreed. “In the Indian team, there’s Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar. Even Suresh Raina was an allrounder at a point. And there’s me and Jadeja who bowl as well as bat. Nowadays cricketers are very aware that you’ve to contribute both ways.”

India’s captain has asked every member of the team to reflect on the soft dismissals and errors made by them

Sidharth Monga in Centurion17-Jan-2018The message from a dejected and hurting Virat Kohli to the rest of his team-mates is clear: it is unacceptable to lose the way India did in home-like conditions in Centurion despite given a chance to escape by South Africa throwing their wickets in the final session on day one. Kohli asked every individual to reflect on the soft dismissals and errors made by them.This was widely considered India’s best chance to win a Test in South Africa: the pitch was flat and slow for the first three-and-a-half days, South Africa failed to seize the advantage after winning the toss, India had the best batting conditions of the match to themselves in the first innings, but they let it slip with two silly run-outs, a few loose shots, and dropped catches on the field.”At the end of the day one team has to lose,” Kohli said. “As a team you always try to win. You can accept defeat but not the way we played, the way we let the advantage slip out of our hand, that is not acceptable from a team’s point of view. So many soft dismissals in one match hurt a lot. Because you work so hard, you prepare for a match, you get into good situations, shift the game towards you, and then the momentum shifts because of these mistakes. That feels very bad as a team. Individuals have to sit and reflect on these things themselves. They do it, I am not saying they don’t reflect on it, but we have repeated these mistakes in both matches.”Kohli asked the team to be ask itself tough questions. “We have not come here to play the way we have done,” Kohli said. “That is something that we need to definitely speak about. We need to be hard on ourselves. We need to ask ourselves if we are giving 120% for the team every time we bowl a ball or play a ball or field a ball. That is something individuals need to reflect on themselves, but as a team we are definitely going to lay out these things in the open.”We will ask the guys to be honest about what they were feeling at particular stages in the game. Unless you speak about it and lay it out in front of everyone, there is very little chance of improving. The mistakes that we made have been really about not putting attention to detail at important stages of the game. It is something we definitely need to take into account and sit down and discuss as a team.”However, Kohli didn’t feel the selections of the XIs in both sides had any bearing on the result. Ajinkya Rahane, India’s best all-conditions Test batsman, has been sitting out on “current form”. It was a shocking move to Indian cricket’s followers the morning Rahane was left out of the first Test, but Kohli said “no one” wanted Rahane in the XI, and the outrage has only come after the results. In this Test, India left out their best bowler from Cape Town, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and also lost out on his batting: he faced the most balls by an India batsman in Cape Town. Kohli was asked if having too many options might have confused them.”Look when something doesn’t work, obviously it’s going to be spoken against,” Kohli said, pointing to media and fan reaction. “We are pretty used to that. We as a team don’t think of what the opinion going around is, and I’ve clarified that before also. There are many people that are involved in making a decision for the playing XI. A lot was spoken about Bhuvi as well but Shami performed in this game. So now no one is talking about that.”So you know it’s all about whoever goes out on the field and performs. We obviously look at the conditions that we are playing in and we decide as a management group and the captain myself sitting together that what is the best XI that we can take on the field. And then we don’t sit back and think, ‘Oh we could have done that or we should have done that.’ You make one decision and you back it. It’s always that scenario.”While he refused to concede that there needs to be a debate on the XIs, Kohli said the team would need to assess every move it had made on tour. He didn’t agree that more preparation, or coming early to South Africa, might have helped, which somewhat went against his comments about the crowded international schedule, during the home series against Sri Lanka that preceded this tour.”See, I don’t believe in that,” Kohli said when asked if coming early would have helped them counter the conditions better, particularly in Cape Town. “We had a result in three days in Cape Town, and we had no complaints and we really enjoyed the pitch we played on because we had an equal chance of winning the game there. We were not good enough to do that, that’s a different thing, but it wasn’t like we were set a total, the team had declared, and we were outplayed. We had opportunities in both the games, that’s probably the smallest positive that we can think of at this moment.”Look, I am not going to sit here and try to comfort anyone, we need to be hard on ourselves if we need to do special things. We need to sit down and ask ourselves whether we are giving enough every time that we go out on the field. We should be reflecting on all our decision-making and all the actions that we have made in this game and the previous game and act upon them.”Kohli said a team needed a certain obsession, a “madness”, to win away from home in such conditions.”It doesn’t feel nice that you come out and you feel good as a team and then you are not able to execute what you want to,” Kohli said. “It almost has to be a madness to be able to win away from home. And you have to live that every minute, every day of being on tour. As I said it is a very individual thing but we need to discuss this as a team for sure.”I can’t speak on behalf of selectors as to what they are thinking. Obviously the selectors will come into the conversation as well when we are looking at planning for future tours also because we have a lot of cricket away from home. This was not the only tour. We have to identify all the areas that need improvement. And accordingly act on those. Obviously the selectors are going to be a big part of that conversation.”Kohli admitted South Africa were the better team irrespective of the conditions, but this defeat hurt a little more because India had conditions in their favour. “Well, we were quite disappointed in Cape Town as well, there was an opportunity to win also,” Kohli said. “Look, Test cricket, it doesn’t matter where you are playing. Teams have beaten us also at home at times but these conditions are something that we are used to playing at and we should have certainly done better than what have.”Having said that it’s about which team plays collectively better. South Africa collectively were a much better team than us regardless of the pitches we played on. Their bowlers put relentless pressure on us as a batting unit, and their batsmen as well, after losing a few wickets, they would string in a partnership. They showed more character than us.”

If Kyle Abbott thought he had it rough after only appearing in 11 Tests in four years, Wayne Parnell has had it rougher

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2017If Kyle Abbott thought he had it rough after only appearing in 11 Tests in four years, Wayne Parnell has had it rougher. In seven years, Parnell has collected just four Tests caps, mostly because injury has stunted his international progression but also because he has battled to break into a pace pack that has been well stocked. Now, with Abbott unavailable after going Kolpak and Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel unfit, Parnell could be in the perfect position for a long run.He was included in South Africa’s squad to play Sri Lanka despite no first-class cricket this season and could be in the starting XI for the Wanderers Test after a strong performance for Cobras at the weekend. Parnell took six wickets and scored an unbeaten 103 opening the batting in the second innings in their victory over Lions in Oudtshoorn.Cobras interim coach Ashwell Prince, who was a national selector as recently as last September, believes Parnell should make a Test return later this week. “I’d play him. A left-armer complements what South Africa already have,” Prince told ESPNcricinfo.South Africa’s current attack includes Vernon Philander who offers seam movement and Kagiso Rabada, who provides pace. Even though Abbott’s job was more containing than attacking, Prince believes Parnell could be a handy third prong.”They have got someone who has control in Vernon Philander and Wayne will add to the strike force. He is looking really good and starting to swing the ball back into the right-hander, which is something he had lost.”Parnell’s ability to find movement waned as his injuries mounted. In 2010, less than a year after an impressive World T20 performance and with three Tests to his name, he suffered a groin strain at the IPL which ruled him out of most of the next season. He lost ground to Philander in the longer format and in 2013 was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat while playing for South Africa A against India A and had to wait even longer for a Test return.It was only in 2014 that Parnell wore whites again, in Port Elizabeth against Australia. He took a wicket with his first ball and another with his third but only bowled eight more overs before leaving the field with another groin strain. Abbott replaced him in the South Africa squad and played the following match; Parnell has not featured in a Test since. He has been injured three more times – hamstring (September 2015), foot (November 2015) and rib (October 2016) – moved from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, from Warriors to Cobras, got married and put in first-class performances that have put him in line for a third recall.Despite playing only half the matches in last season’s first-class competition, he finished as Cobras’ player of the season with took 23 wickets at 20.56 and scored 337 runs at 48.14. Prince has noticed some marked differences in Parnell’s action, specifically at delivery point. “He has been working with [national bowling coach] Charl Langeveldt on his approach to the crease. It is not as fast as it used to be and that gives him a lot more control. Instead of sprinting in, which used to affect his stability at the crease, he is running in with nice rhythm. He has also done work on his wrist and release point.”Prince said the adjustments mean Parnell can offer a lot more consistency than he used to but more important than any of that has been a change in attitude. At 27, Parnell is older, wiser and has a greater understanding of what it takes to make it on the biggest stage. “There is a lot more maturity to his game. He is in his later 20s and married, maybe that has made the difference,” Prince said. “He works as hard as anybody in the gym and on his fitness and his game. He is ready.”Parnell is competing with the rookie call-up Duanne Olivier for a place in the XI but South Africa may choose to include both quicks on the fastest, bounciest strip of the series. The Wanderers surface is generally spicy but heavy rain in the lead-up to the match could see it offer even more in the third Test. On Sunday, the pitch was being prepared under a tent and with showers forecast throughout the week it may not see any sunlight at all. South Africa also fielded an all-pace attack against England at the venue last year.