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Extra seamer will play regardless as England balance the here-and-now with the upcoming Ashes

Andrew Miller14-Dec-2024England will make a late decision on Kate Cross’s fitness for the one-off Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein, but have opted to play an extra seamer either way, as thoughts begin to turn to their upcoming Ashes challenge in January.Cross, England’s senior seamer, bowled just five balls in Wednesday’s third ODI at Potchefstroom before leaving the field with a back spasm. She will attempt to bowl in the nets on Saturday, but if she’s not deemed fit enough to take part, Ryana MacDonald-Gay – who was drafted into the Test squad as cover – will make her Test debut, with Sophia Dunkley set to miss out among the batters.Speaking on the eve of the contest, captain Heather Knight admitted her team had to balance their desire to cap a successful tour of South Africa against the challenge that awaits in Australia. And Cross, who was instrumental in England’s Ashes Test win in Perth in 2013-14, remains a key part of that consideration.”We’ll have to wait and see,” Knight said. “Obviously, she went down in that first ODI, and it’s pretty rare to see Kate in that much pain. So we’ll have to see how that reacts. She’ll try and have a little bowl today, try and get a couple of spells in, and then we’ll make a call based on what we think is best for the team.”Obviously we’ve got a huge amount of cricket coming up as well, so that’s going be at the forefront [of our thoughts]. Kate’s such a key player for us in one-day cricket and Test cricket. We want to give her the biggest chance, because she’s so desperate to play Test cricket, but we feel like our seam bowlers are going to be so important over the next month, so we want to really look after them.”So, “I don’t know” is the honest answer, but if she doesn’t play, we’ll obviously miss her.”The upcoming Test will be South Africa’s first on home soil in 22 years, and Knight – who still considers the format to be her favourite despite the scarcity of opportunity – said her players were all excited at the prospect of “pulling the whites back on”. The challenge of switching mindsets from white-ball to red-ball cricket, however, would be the biggest factor for the coming four days.Related

• Red-ball fever catches on in South Africa

• Seren Smale, Ryana MacDonald-Gay called up to South Africa tour

• Heather Knight: Freya Kemp still in Ashes frame despite withdrawal from SA tour

• South Africa women pick Tumi Sekhukhune and retain strong core for England Test

• ICC rankings: Wolvaardt replaces Sciver-Brunt as No. 1 batter

“From my own experiences, I absolutely love playing red-ball cricket,” Knight said. “It’s such a test, such a challenge, and something that I love doing … the mental challenge, the repetition of skills, adapting to so many different situations that you might face. I absolutely love it.”But honestly, in the build-up to the Test, everyone was like, ‘right, what do I do, how do I learn? How to develop?’ Picking a team is pretty hard, just because you’re going on minimal information, from white-ball cricket or from a Test match that was maybe a year ago.”So it’s quite hard thing to prepare for. Mentally, it’s about getting clarity around how you’re going to play. I don’t think that should differ hugely from your one-day mindset, it’s just doing things for a little bit longer and managing situations that change in a game a little bit better.”You have to be okay sometimes with not scoring, and having to soak up pressure for a little bit longer. But also I want the girls have that mindset that, when we get a chance to really put the pressure back on the opposition, can we move the game forward at a rate of knots?”The two teams last faced each other in a Test match at Taunton in 2022, where Marizanne Kapp made a brilliant 150 to set her team up for a hard-fought draw.”She’s certainly high-class, she’s a key player for them,” Knight said. “We have our plans to try and get her out. Laura [Wolvaardt]’s got potential to bat long and score some big runs as well, so she’s another key player. We want real clarity about how we want to go about it, then it’s about adapting to how they’re playing the game in the moment as well.”Despite the proximity of the Ashes, where the Test will be held for the first time at the vast MCG, Knight insisted England’s focus was all in the “here-and-now”.”We’re totally focused on this Test match. It’s been in the calendar, and it’s something that the girls have highlighted that they really want to play in and really want to do well. Any chance to play a Test match is really cool.”We’ve had one eye on the Ashes throughout this series and trying to prep for that, whilst also not looking too far ahead and doing what we need to do to have some success. And obviously we’ve had huge success on this tour. It’s been a brilliant trip for us, a really successful tour. We’ve had loads of learnings as well, and things we can fine tune before we go into the Ashes.”

Birmingham Bears condemned to 55-run defeat after stellar allround display

ECB Reporters Network12-Jul-2024Worcestershire Rapids turned the Vitality Blast North Group table upside-down by beating leaders Birmingham Bears by 55 runs in a rain-reduced 17-overs-per-side match at Edgbaston.Rapids piled up 187 for 6 thanks to star contributions at either end of their innings. Kashif Ali launched it with a sparkling 46 from 30 balls and Matthew Waite concluded it in spectacular fashion by whacking 34 from the last over by George Garton. Waite, who took 5 for 21 against Leicestershire Foxes the previous evening, blasted 36 not out from eight balls.The Bears’ reply never recovered from losing both openers for ducks and closed on 132 all out from 15.2 overs. Only Dan Mousley (68 off 44) threatened for long against a well-focused attack led by Waite (four for 29) and Tom Taylor (3 for 27).Back-to-back wins have retained the Rapids’ sliver of hope of qualification for the knockout stage. The Bears remain very strongly placed but a third defeat in 11 games leaves them with plenty still to do to seal a home quarter-final.The Rapids chose to bat but lost Ed Pollock to the third ball when he pulled Zak Foulkes to mid-on where Sam Hain dived low to take his 71st T20 catch. Kashif got the innings going with an audacious six over mid-wicket off Garton and added 56 in 32 balls with Josh Cobb before the latter chipped Moeen Ali to extra cover. Kashif collected 30 of his 46 runs in fours and sixes but departed furious at himself for nicking a wide long hop from Moeen to the wicketkeeper.Former Bears batter Adam Hose has a lot of happy history at Edgbaston, having scored over 1000 T20 runs there, but added only eight before hammering Danny Briggs to extra cover. When Briggs struck again three balls later, Gareth Roderick top-edging a sweep, the Rapids had lost three wickets in ten balls at a time when they needed to accelerate.The acceleration then came, first from Nathan Smith who socked 33 off 16 balls in a stand of 52 in 28 balls with Brookes (30 not out, 19) and then Waite who left Garton head-in-hands after peppering the leg side boundary with 6-4-6-6-6-6 in the final over.The Rapids’ attack was deprived of Smith, who ended his innings with a runner after damaging a hamstring, but the Bears’ reply started shabbily as both openers bagged blobs. Taylor’s first ball was a wide, then his second was a searing inswinger which bowled Alex Davies. Rob Yates spooned a return catch to Cobb. When Hain chopped Waite on to his stumps, the Bears were 18 for 3.Mousley batted with aplomb on his way to a 34-ball half-century but support for him was fleeting. Moeen was bowled, swishing across the line, by Waite and Chris Benjamin’s counter-attack (21 in eight balls) was ended by an excellent catch on the long off rope by Taylor. Jake Bethell sliced Taylor to deep cover and 56 from the last two overs proved slightly too tall an order for the lower order as Waite rounded off his great day with wickets from successive balls to end the game.

He is facing 19 charges in total relating to alleged offences perpetrated between December 5, 2023 and April 12, 2024

AAP15-Apr-2024Former Australia Test cricketer Michael Slater has been remanded in police custody after being charged with more than a dozen offences.Slater, 54, had his case mentioned in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday.He is facing 19 charges relating to alleged offences perpetrated on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on various dates between December 5, 2023 and April 12, 2024.The charges include domestic violence offences of unlawful stalking or intimidation, breaking into a dwelling with intent at night, common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and choking or suffocation.The former opening batter and TV commentator was also charged with breaching bail and ten counts of contravening a domestic violence order.Police confirmed they arrested a 54-year-old Noosa Heads man at a Sunshine Coast address on Friday following alleged domestic violence incidents over several days.Slater has been remanded in custody with the case due to be mentioned in the same court on Tuesday.After making his debut during the 1993 Ashes tour, Slater played 74 Tests for Australia, amassing 5312 runs at an average of 42.83 with 14 centuries. He also played 42 ODIs.Slater retired from cricket in 2004, and embarking on a successful TV commentary career.

USA and Canada will also face off in five games in April

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2024Bangladesh will tour the USA for a three-match T20I series in May, ahead of the T20 World Cup. The two sides have never played a T20I against each other before and will use the series to prepare for the flagship tournament co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies.USA will also play Canada in a five-match T20I series in April. All the games will be hosted by Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, Texas.Bangladesh have played two T20Is in the USA across their history, both against West Indies, in 2018, and with the first two games of the campaign – against Sri Lanka and South Africa – scheduled in Dallas and New York respectively – a series going into the tournament will help them get used to the conditions.”For the Bangladesh Team, this tour serves as an ideal platform to acclimatise to the conditions ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, CEO, Bangladesh Cricket Board, said. “We recognise the significance of this preparatory phase and are committed to making the most of this invaluable experience.”

USA vs Bangladesh T20I fixtures

• 1st T20I 21st May

• 2nd T20I 23rd May

• 3rd T20I 25th May

Bangladesh were knocked out in the group stages of the previous T20 World Cup and will hope to put on an improved show after an indifferent ODI World Cup.USA and Canada, who are set to feature in the tournament for the first time – will kick off proceedings in Dallas on June 1. The fives T20Is USA have played in the last two years all came in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in July 2022. The only T20Is Canada played in the last year were in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Region Final, which they won to qualify for the World Cup.

USA vs Canada T20I fixtures

• 1st T20I 7th April

• 2nd T20I 9th April

• 3rd T20I 10th April

• 4th T20I 12th April

• 5th T20I 13th April

“Ahead of the important Men’s T20 World Cup, these games will be vital for our team to get their working combinations, build team cohesion, and fine-tune strategies,” said Mr. Venu Pisike, Chairman of USA Cricket.Canada and USA are part of Group A – along with India, Ireland, and Pakistan – in the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh are part of group D, and will play against Nepal and Netherlands in Kingstown in the West Indies.

Pepper, Lawrence hit rapid fifties but Eagles still need favour from Somerset in late game

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2023Feroze Khushi hit the last ball of the match for six, despite Chris Jordan trying to flick a catch back to Jamie Overton as he went over the boundary rope, as Essex dramatically gave themselves a chance of clinching a Vitality Blast quarter-final place.Their progression was confirmed later in the day when Somerset held off Kent at Taunton, giving extra significance to Khushi’s 35 not out from 26 balls, which ensured they did not waste an Essex T20 record stand between Michael Pepper and Dan Lawrence as they chased down Surrey’s 195 for 6 to win by three wickets in a thrilling finish.Khushi and Shane Snater had taken five singles from the first five balls of Sean Abbott’s final over, to leave Essex needing three to win from the last delivery. Khushi swung hard and high, Jordan sprinted round from long-on to grab the ball as his momentum took him over the ropes but Surrey’s captain could not throw it back infield for Overton to complete the catch – and Essex celebrated.Pepper and Lawrence certainly deserved to be on the winning side, smashing 140 for the second wicket from just 11 overs in a blitz of boundaries that featured nine sixes and 11 fours.Sunil Narine had earlier blasted six sixes and seven fours in a 38-ball unbeaten 78 but then both Pepper and Lawrence produced hitting of similar ferocity to score 75 from 39 balls and 58 off 32 balls respectively.By the 10-over mark Essex were totally in control at 130 for 1 as Pepper, who struck five sixes and six fours, and Lawrence, with four sixes and five fours, entertained a 15,000 crowd in exhilarating fashion.Surrey’s bowlers looked incapable of stopping the carnage, and even West Indies mystery spinner Narine – one of the best T20 bowlers in world cricket – conceded 19 from his first over, the eighth of the innings, as Pepper reverse-swept and straight-drove him for sixes and also swept him conventionally for four.Lawrence, who has signed to play for Surrey from next April, reached his fifty from 26 balls to Pepper’s 24 and launched Narine for one final six from the first ball of the 12th over before falling two balls later to a catch at long-off.But Pepper fell attacking Jordan in the next over, and Surrey fought back as Paul Walter, Matt Critchley – brilliantly run out by Jason Roy – Daniel Sams, who did swing Sam Curran for six, and Simon Harmer all fell cheaply while Khushi kept chipping away at the runs required. Twenty off three overs finally became eight off the last over – and the 24-year-old Khushi, at the last, prevailed.Narine also struck seven fours in his own superb exhibition of clean hitting while Roy made 28 from 24 balls on his return to action after almost two months on the sidelines with a calf injury.Surrey were 57 for 2 after the six-over powerplay, after Essex had chosen to field, with Roy clubbing Sam Cook for a six and two fours – the first an extraordinary scoop past short fine leg – in the fifth over.Laurie Evans went cheaply, flicking Aaron Beard to deep square leg, but Will Jacks drove the same bowler high and wide of mid-off for four and pulled him for six before being yorked by Cook for 23.Sam Curran fell to Harmer for only 3 but Narine warmed to his task by smearing the offspinner over the deep midwicket ropes and then lofting Snater straight for another six.Overton took two sixes in an over off Sams during a quickfire 23, before being caught in the deep, and Narine went on his merry way by thumping Walter’s left-arm seamers straight into the Pavilion and then over wide long-on into the Bedser Stand.Narine finished the innings in style by hitting Sams over the long-on boundary and then clipping the last ball of the 20th over off his stumps to the fine leg ropes.Essex’s reply began badly with Adam Rossington mishitting Sam Curran to mid-on but the England allrounder’s next over, the third of the innings, went for a remarkable 31 runs as Pepper began and ended it with sixes and took two fours besides. With a wide, two free hit no-balls and a Lawrence boundary thrown in, the Eagles were suddenly 41 for 1 after just three overs and flying.Gus Atkinson was then struck for two straight sixes by Lawrence, the second of them from a full toss no ball, as both he and Pepper did as they pleased with the Surrey attack.

A round-up of the first week of BPL 2022-23, which had an almost even serving of interesting cricket and on-field drama

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2023

Shakib Al Hasan’s outbursts, and a DRS drama

It all started on the second day when Soumya Sarkar refused to walk off the field during Dhaka Dominators’ match against Khulna Tigers despite being given lbw by both the on-field and TV umpire. He kept insisting that the ball hit his gloves, forcing the umpires to go back to the TV umpire to check again. Sure enough, the decision changed as replays suggested that the ball did touch his gloves. The Khulna fielders were not happy with the decision. They started to protest but to no avail. It is understood that the full-fledged technology that aids reviewing decisions via the DRS was not available as the BCB couldn’t find the right technicians to run the equipment needed for this, despite having all the equipment available.Related

• Shakib, Anamul, Nurul fined for Code of Conduct breach

• Shakib makes scathing criticism of BPL: 'Huge failure of marketing'

• Young players to watch in BPL 2023

During Fortune Barishal’s match against Sylhet Strikers on the same day, Shakib Al Hasan, who had set the scene of this season’s BPL with a scathing broadside on the organisers, took on the square-leg umpire after a bouncer wasn’t judged as a wide.Two days later, Shakib rushed onto the ground to confront the umpires after there was a to-and-fro between the Rangpur Riders captain Nurul Hasan and the Barishal openers. Nurul changed his opening bowler – twice – based on which Barishal opener took strike first up. Shakib argued with on-field umpire Gazi Sohel until finally left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan started off the innings. Shakib, Nurul and Anamul Haque (one of the Barishal openers) were fined 15% of their match fees for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision.

Mashrafe Mortaza key in Sylhet’s impressive start

Away from the controversies, new franchise Sylhet Strikers did all the running in the first week, winning all four of their matches. Mashrafe Mortaza, who has led three different franchises to four BPL titles, was key to the team’s success. He has been the team’s leading wicket-taker so far, with seven wickets in four games. Mohammad Amir, predictably, did well, but so did Rejaur Rahman who opened the tournament with a four-wicket haul.

Batter of the week: Towhid Hridoy

Towhid Hridoy’s form was the talk of the BPL’s first week. The 22-year-old put himself back in contention for bigger opportunities by becoming the second Bangladeshi batter to score three fifties in a row at the BPL. He showed positive intent and impressed with his strong leg-side game. However, he hurt his finger in his last innings and is now likely to miss two weeks of action.

Bowler of the week: Rejaur Rahman

To keep up with their overall improvement over the last two years, the Bangladeshi fast bowlers started the BPL emphatically. Rejaur took a four-wicket haul in the first game of the tournament, while youngsters Robiul Haque and Hasan Mahmud also showcased their abilities. Experienced players like Mashrafe and Al-Amin Hossain also put their hands up.

“Our batters did a very good job to reach 188 because the first few overs the wicket was a bit tacky, till the dew set in”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-20211:42

Stephen Fleming – ‘190 is still reasonably competitive, we just needed to bowl better’

MS Dhoni has hinted at being displeased with 7.30pm starts for IPL games in India. His reason: when you start at 8pm, the dew has already set in, thus not giving the chasing side any real advantage. However, if you start at 7.30pm, Dhoni said one team gets a good 30 to 40 minutes of absolutely dry conditions, which can make all the difference.Dhoni was speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports after his side, the Chennai Super Kings, failed to defend 188 against the Delhi Capitals in dewy conditions. He said the pitch was tacky to start off with, making batting really difficult when they started their innings, but once the dew set in, the Wankhede Stadium track became the batting beauty it is known to be.”You have to look ahead,” Dhoni said, when asked if he was happy with the recovery from a tough start. “Especially when you have dew in your mind and you are batting first, you want to get those extra 10-15 runs – that was normally in 8pm start games. [Now the] 7.30 start means the opposition will have at least half an hour when there will be very little amount of dew on the field, which means it will not come on as nicely as it will in the second innings. So you have to score those 15-20 extra runs to make it even, and after that also you have to get early wickets to make a big mark on the game.”

Dhoni fined for slow over rate

• MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain, has been penalised after his team maintained a slow over rate in their IPL 2021 season opener against the Delhi Capitals in Mumbai on Saturday. According to an IPL statement, Dhoni was fined INR 12 lakh (US$ 16,000 approx.), given this was the Super Kings’ first offence in this edition under the tournament’s new code of conduct relating to minimum over rate offences.

• In a bid to clampdown on slow over rates, the IPL last month made it mandatory for bowling teams to deliver their 20 overs within the stipulated 90 minutes (including strategic time-outs) for this season. “The minimum over rate to be achieved in IPL Matches shall be 14.11 overs per hour (ignoring the time taken by time-outs),” the IPL had said in the updated playing conditions on March 30.

The Super Kings managed less than a run-a-ball in their powerplay, scoring 33 for 2 in that period after being put in to bat. A half-century from Suresh Raina, and some lofty hits from Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in particular late in the innings though helped them surge to 188 for 7.”Dew was one factor that was playing on our minds right from the start,” Dhoni said. “That is the reason why we wanted to get as many runs as possible. Looking at the wicket, our batters did a very good job to reach 188 because the first few overs the wicket was a bit tacky, till the dew set in, which was a good 45 to 50 minutes after the start of the game.”If we keep getting dew consistently, then definitely 200 is something all the sides will have in mind [as a target]. But as I said the first half an hour is different, that’s where you have to get off to a good start.”Dhoni did credit the Capitals bowlers for bowling well, but that advantage in the first half an hour is something even the Capitals batsman Shikhar Dhawan acknowledged.The IPL switched from 8pm starts in India to half an earlier during the playoffs in 2019. When the league was forced to move to the UAE in 2020 due to the pandemic, the matches began at 7.30pm IST. Now, for this season, the early starts have been persisted with. The slow over rates during the competition have been a matter of concern for the organisers, with matches starting at 8pm regularly ending well past midnight.

Also, why did Capitals go against the trend and choose to bat first? And should Williamson have attacked more?

Matt Roller08-Nov-20205:13

Were Sunrisers out of the chase after Warner’s wicket?

Why did Capitals choose to bat first?
Shreyas Iyer, the Delhi Capitals’ captain, went against the trend in the tournament by opting to bat when he won the toss. As the tournament has worn on, chasing teams have been increasingly successful, and especially in Abu Dhabi, where the stadium’s open sides have created perfect conditions for dew later in the evenings. Coming into this game, 10 of the last 11 chasing teams had won (excluding Super Overs).Iyer explained that his decision had been informed by a good batting pitch, the fact that the Capitals had lost their last two games against the Sunrisers while chasing, and the Sunrisers’ unconvincing performance batting second against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator.”We had two outings against the Sunrisers and we bowled [first] against them,” Iyer said. “I feel that it’s a better option to bat against them, and we saw in the previous game as well that they were a little vulnerable chasing. The wicket also looks really good to bat on, so putting a good total on the board would be a great responsibility for us as batsmen.”Should Rashid have bowled in the powerplay?
With Marcus Stoinis promoted to open the batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan – as mooted by ESPNcricinfo’s tactics board in the build-up – the Sunrisers struggled early on. After getting a life thanks to Jason Holder’s drop at silly mid-on, Stoinis put his foot down and had raced to 33 off 21 balls by the end of the powerplay.When he fell to the fourth ball he faced from Rashid Khan, in the ninth over, it invited the question as to whether David Warner should have thrown the ball to his best bowler inside the powerplay. In fact, Rashid has not bowled a single over inside the first six this season, despite having done so plenty of times in other leagues around the world.The case was made stronger by Stoinis’ poor historical record against top-quality legspinners, including a head-to-head record against Rashid that read: 18 balls, 21 runs, two dismissals. And on top of that, Rashid’s record against the Capitals is superb: across his five previous games against them, Rashid had taken 10 wickets for 72 runs in 20 overs. When Stoinis lost his off stump in the ninth over, it felt like Warner had missed a trick by holding his star man back.Why did Iyer come in at No. 3?
With 86 on the board after 8.2 overs and the prospect of Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem bowling the bulk of the middle overs, it might have made sense for Delhi to send in Shimron Hetmyer at No. 3. After all, he is a destructive player of left-arm spin – with a strike rate of 162.38 against it in his T20 career – and took Khan down playing for RCB last season. What’s more, No. 3 has been his favoured role in T20s, both for West Indies and Guyana Amazon Warriors.Instead, the Capitals decided to send in their captain, Iyer, to maintain their left-right combination alongside Dhawan. Iyer is a slow starter in T20s, scoring at a strike rate of 95.5 in his first 10 balls – by means of comparison, Suryakumar Yadav’s equivalent figure is 139.8 – and he showed only limited intent in making 21 off 20 balls with a single boundary. Given Nadeem’s struggles against left-handers – his 16 balls against them went for 38 runs off the bat – it might have been a better decision to push Hetmyer up ahead of Iyer.Why was Ashwin held back?
In the chase, Iyer’s use of his offspinner R Ashwin was unusual. Ashwin bowled the first over, seemingly to target the left-handed Warner, but was instantly taken out of the attack after conceding 12 runs, including a huge six from Priyam Garg – promoted to open after Shreevats Goswami’s three-ball duck in the Eliminator.With three spinners in their line-up, and Stoinis as the third seamer, the Capitals could afford to hold Ashwin back through the middle overs, deciding instead to split spin-bowling duties in the period between legspinner Privam Dubey and slow left-armer Axar Patel, both of whom turned the ball away from Sunrisers’ right-handers.With Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje both coming back for a third over relatively early in the piece to try and break the partnership between Holder and Kane Williamson, Ashwin had to bowl two more overs at the death – the 16th and the 18th. He bowled defensively, bowling back-of-a-length and forcing the batsmen to take on the boundary-riders, and while his figures – 0 for 33 in three overs – looked relatively ugly, he managed to fill the gaps around Iyer’s attacking moves.Should Williamson have attacked more?
If I asked you to think of an archetypal Williamson innings in T20 cricket, you’d probably picture him deftly finding gaps, facing hardly any dot balls, and managing to turn singles into twos by scampering between the wickets. But tonight was very different. Instead, he scored 44 of his 67 runs in boundaries, faced 13 dots in his 45-ball stay, and failed to hit a single two or three.According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, Williamson only attempted nine boundaries in all, and managed 23 off the 36 balls that he faced which did not go for four. Perhaps it is unnecessarily harsh to criticise Williamson for his innings – after all, he kept Sunrisers alive from 44 for 3 after five overs. But on an excellent batting pitch, and given how well he seemed to time every attacking shot, it felt like he could have gone harder against the Capitals’ weaker bowlers in particular.Did the umpires miss a no-ball?
With 29 runs required off the last 11 balls, Kagiso Rabada let a high full toss slip out which Abdul Samad smashed for six over deep-square leg. Warner, on the sidelines, held out one arm as though signalling a no-ball, and yelled onto the field to ask why it had not been called for height. The next ball – which would have been a free hit, if it had been given, Samad was caught at long-off by Keemo Paul, on as a substitute fielder.Replays would later reveal that it had reached Samad ever so slightly below his waist. Therefore, despite Warner’s protestations, the decision reached was the correct one.

Home-summer focus on Tests could conflict with impending target of T20 World Cup glory

Andrew Miller14-May-2020England may be forced to choose whether their all-format stars such as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler feature for the Test or limited-overs teams this summer, after Ashley Giles, the managing director, conceded that two separate squads might be the best means of ensuring player safety as they attempt a return to action during the Covid-19 outbreak.Stokes produced two of the greatest England performances of all time in white- and red-ball cricket last summer, first for the ODI team with his unbeaten 84 in the World Cup final against New Zealand at Lord’s, and then, a month later, for the Test team against Australia, where his unbeaten 135 sealed a thrilling one-wicket win at Headingley.But, with England confirming their plans for a staged return to training ahead of an anticipated start to the Test summer against West Indies in July, Giles admitted that the logistical challenge of squeezing the home international schedule into a 12-week window could force them to prioritise certain formats for certain players who might ordinarily feature in both squads.The ECB confirmed that an initial pool of 30 players would be returning to individual training from next week, at seven different venues across the country, and under strict social-distancing, hygiene and temperature-control protocols. In an attempt to further limit interaction, players will be asked to arrive at venues in their training gear, with shared spaces such as dressing rooms to remain off-limits.”We’re probably erring on that side of creating a bubble to surround our people,” Giles told Sky Sports. “We’ll probably look to take all 30 people back into the environment at the venue, so that we’ve got everything we need from a playing, a practice, and a net-bowling perspective leading into a Test match, probably two weeks before the first ball is bowled in that Test match.”The likelihood is if we do that and we’re trying to main really safe environments, that we’re going to operate two separate squads.”England have prioritised the staging of their six scheduled Tests against West Indies and Pakistan because they are the most lucrative formats when it comes to fulfilling their contractual obligations to Sky Sports. If no international cricket were possible this summer, the ECB has estimated that it would be looking at a £380 million loss.However, with the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in Australia in October and November, England recognise that their best white-ball players will need to get as much match practice as possible if they are to match their achievements in the 50-over format last season, and go one better than they did in 2016, when they were the losing finalists against West Indies in Kolkata.ALSO READ: Environment will be safer than going to supermarket – GilesSince the promotion of Chris Silverwood as England’s head coach, there has been a renewed focus on the standards of the Test team, which was largely overlooked under the previous regime of Trevor Bayliss, whose primary focus had been on that successful home World Cup campaign.And after a tricky start in New Zealand, the team achieved a memorable series win in South Africa at the turn of the year, with a raft of young players such as Dom Sibley, Ollie Pope, Dom Bess and Zak Crawley taking their chances to cement their places in the Test set-up.However, a decision may need to be taken about which of England’s multi-format players continue to feature for the Test team this summer, with six names up for particular debate: Stokes and Buttler, plus the two fastest bowlers in England’s ranks, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, as well Joe Root, the Test captain, and Jonny Bairstow.”At the moment we’ve got a schedule on paper that looks great, that we can fit everything into July, August, September, but it’s a squeeze and there’s a lot of cricket there,” Giles said. “”So again that probably leads us to a place where we’re operating two separate teams.”It’s a lot of people, it’s a lot of logistical pressure and organisation,” he added. “Part of this is about high-level performance and getting sport back on that people want to enjoy, but there is also an economics angle to this, a financial element. For the whole game in this country, us playing cricket is really important.”

Where should England’s priorities lie?

Ben Stokes

England’s biggest box-office name produced one of the very greatest Test innings of all time at Headingley, and in a summer when finances count for so much, he will surely be required to front up for the Test team, over the one-day squad, and give the most lucrative format some bang for its buck. Whisper it, but his T20 record isn’t a patch on the other two formats. Verdict: TestsJofra Archer

Injured through over-use after making his Test debut in the Ashes, this lay-off has arguably been as opportune as such things can be, after the mania of his first six months as an England cricketer. His value as one of the pre-eminent T20 bowlers in the world is indisputable, and he’s already been the point of difference in one victorious white-ball campaign. Verdict: ODIs/T20sJoe Root

He’s England’s Test captain, so that’s the end of the argument. Root was also their stand-out performer in the last T20 World Cup in 2016 – and would surely have been man of the final if they’d got over the line. But his importance in the other two formats has cramped his opportunities ever since. Verdict: TestsJos Buttler

Root in reverse. Buttler is already England’s greatest white-ball batsman of all time and their most feared campaigner going into the T20 World Cup. He is also Eoin Morgan’s heir apparent (and who knows how Morgan’s back, which gave him problems last year, will respond to this lengthy lay-off). The fact that his Test form was teetering in South Africa is further evidence of where his priorities need to be. Verdict: ODIs/T20sMark Wood

Now here’s a dilemma. Wood, by his own admission, is probably going to break down within days of his return to action, such is his woeful injury record. But that’s never held him back from going full throttle, and nothing gave him more joy than his recent performances in Test cricket, in St Lucia last spring and Johannesburg in January, where he bowled like greased lightning. He’d be an asset to the T20 squad, but perhaps not a first choice. Better to let him go with his heart. Verdict: TestsJonny Bairstow

Another dilemma, though largely due to the knock-on effect of Buttler’s white-ball focus. Bairstow, his predecessor as Test gloveman, might be the logical choice to step into the breach. But should a man who caused such a storm alongside David Warner for Sunrisers last season be putting his best efforts into that T20 prep? His recent Test form has not been much to boast about, either. It might depend on whether England think Ben Foakes’ time has come. Verdict: ODIs/T20s

Steve Rixon is likely to fill-in as interim head coach for the T20Is in South Africa

Madushka Balasuriya 14-Mar-2019Sri Lanka Cricket is once again moving to remove a head coach, with CEO Ashley de Silva headed to South Africa for crisis talks with Chandika Hathurusingha.An SLC release also confirmed that Hathurusingha will be required to return to Sri Lanka following the ongoing ODI series in order to “discuss the Sri Lanka team’s preparation for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup”. Fielding coach Steve Rixon will be the acting head coach of the side during the three-match T20I series.Although the board wants to remove Hathurusingha, its hands are somewhat tied by Hathurusingha’s contract, which runs up until the end of 2020, and requires a substantial compensation to be paid in the event of early termination. As such, de Silva and the boards are expected to broach the possibility of Hathurusingha working for SLC in a limited capacity back in Sri Lanka in the short term.”[The board is] trying to give Hathuru a break to see how Rixon fares in the team,” an SLC official told ESPNcricnfo.Since taking over at the beginning of 2018, Hathurusingha has overseen a modest string of results, winning just 16 of 49 international matches in charge. His predecessors, however, had fared worse. In fact, Sri Lanka’s win rate in 2018 was better than it had been in 2017, if only marginally.While the historic Test series win over South Africa last month did buy him a short reprieve, the ensuing succession of ODI defeats, in what is Sri Lanka’s final series before the World Cup, has seen the board become emboldened to move against Hathurusingha.The board’s concerns are also thought to be only partially performance-related. According to the SLC source, Hathurusingha is said to have uneasy relations with some players and staff, while it was a prolonged spat with the new selection committee that culminated in him being removed from the role of selector-on-tour last month.Ahead of the South Africa tour, Hathurusingha had voiced concerns over the wholesale changes being made to the limited-overs squad just months out from a World Cup, one of which was the axing of Dinesh Chandimal – someone he had earmarked as central to his limited-overs squad. Hathurusingha is also said to have been unhappy at Lasith Malinga’s installation as ODI captain, a player who had until then only been at the periphery of his plans.”The board is not happy, not only with his performance, but his attitude as well. This has been coming for a while, to be honest,” the SLC official said.The current set of administrators at SLC, however, are largely the same people who had hired Hathurusingha in the first place, pursuing him for at least several months before finally convincing Hathurusingha to leave his job in Bangladesh early, in order to join the Sri Lanka team. Roughly the same group of administrators had also hired Graham Ford at the start of 2016, then elbowed him out of the job in mid-2017.No Sri Lanka coach has lasted more than two years this decade. Sri Lanka have had nine head coaches (including interim appointments), since 2011 – Ford serving the longest, across two different stints.In terms of preparation for the World Cup, this is far from ideal for Sri Lanka, with neither the selectors, the board, Hathurusingha nor the fans any closer to identifying a final squad. As a final throw of the dice, SLC are expected to hold a provincial tournament next month, consisting of four teams comprising all the players vying for a World Cup spot.”We want every player to play in each game to ensure they are fit enough to go for the World Cup. The teams will be captained by Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo [Mathews], Upul Tharanga, and maybe Malinga or Chandimal. They will have to prove themselves to be in contention for the World Cup,” the source confirmed.