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Australia’s captain will likely have a role to play against India later in the year but for now is taking things easy

Matt Roller10-Sep-20241:02

Marsh: Australia vs England always a fierce battle

Mitchell Marsh has hinted that his five-month absence from the bowling crease is unlikely to come to an end during Australia’s T20I series. Marsh has not bowled in a competitive match since tearing his hamstring during the IPL, including in last week’s 3-0 clean sweep up in Scotland.Australia have an abundance of allrounders in their T20 set-up, with Jake Fraser-McGurk the only man in their squad who neither keeps wicket nor bowls. With Marsh keen to give Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie opportunities with the ball, his own medium pace is unlikely to be required.Related

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“I’m sort of just building,” Marsh said. “I don’t tend to bowl myself too much, is the honest answer, and we’re lucky that we’ve got plenty of bowling options within our team, so we’ll see how we go… my bowling’s on line: whether or not I bowl, we’ll wait and see. We’ve got heaps of options. I’m always building something.”Australia will hope to have Marsh fully fit to bowl during their five-match Test series against India, which starts in Perth on November 22 – which he described as feeling “like a long time away”. Their management will carefully manage players workloads before that series, with Pat Cummins missing the whole England tour to give him a break from bowling.”A lot of our priorities will be geared around that,” Andrew McDonald, Australia’s coach, told on Tuesday morning. “You’ll see that unfold with the management of our players. We’ll be very pointed around who does what in terms of [Sheffield] Shield cricket coming into the summer to make sure that they are ready for that first Test match.”Australia play Pakistan in three ODIs and three T20Is in November, and it is expected that anyone included in the Test squad won’t feature in the T20Is. “We may have to give up a little bit in terms of that Pakistan white-ball series with certain players, to make sure that we are firmly prepared,” McDonald said. “We’re really keen for India to arrive.”This UK tour is Australia’s first men’s cricket since their Super Eight exit in June’s T20 World Cup, which saw them win their first five matches before back-to-back defeats against Afghanistan and India saw them crash out. Marsh has retained the T20 captaincy – and will also step in for Cummins in the five ODIs against England – but was coy on his long-term ambitions.”It feels like a lifetime ago now, that T20 World Cup,” Marsh said. “It was just disappointment: we went there with the hope of winning it, like every other team did, and unfortunately, we didn’t play our best cricket at the right time. In tournament play, that’s what you rely on…there’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and the next World Cup [in 2026] but hopefully I’m there.”McDonald isolated Australia’s fielding as the primary reason for their failure to reach the semi-finals, most notably dropping five catches in the defeat to Afghanistan. “We’ve got a few things that we need to work through, but clearly the key area for us that was disappointing was our fielding… that makes it really difficult for the captain and the team to function.”There was some discussion around Mitch Marsh and his captaincy, but if creating opportunities for the team with your bowling changes and your field positions is the way that we’re going to critique a captain, I thought he did a fantastic job. We just weren’t able to execute in those moments, and that really played out in the Afghanistan game.”

Ethan Bamber five-for, Ryan Higgins fifty help visitors take grip in tricky conditions

ECB Reporters Network 25-Jul-2023Middlesex took ruthless advantage of winning a valuable toss by bowling Warwickshire out for 60 on the opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston.Warwickshire were skittled for their lowest championship total since 1982 – when they made 43 versus Sussex at Edgbaston – as Ethan Bamber took 5 for 20 and skipper Toby Roland-Jones 3 for 27. The seamers skilfully exploited helpful conditions but were abetted by some flawed defensive shots.Middlesex then replied with 199, with Ryan Higgins making 53 from 72 balls, for a first innings lead of 139 – and there was still time on a chaotic day for the home side to lose two wickets second time round, reaching 53 for 2 by the close.When Roland-Jones won the toss, he hoped his seam attack would make early inroads – to have the home side 17 for 5 after 23 minutes did that job.It all started swimmingly for Warwickshire as both openers struck their first ball for four, but Roland-Jones launched the clatter with a lifter which Alex Davies gloved to the wicketkeeper. Two balls later, the skipper sent a full-length ball into Will Rhodes’ stumps.Bamber then found Sam Hain’s edge and Sam Robson took a slick catch at second slip. A simpler chance, offered by Rob Yates off Roland-Jones, was also accepted by Robson before Bamber bowled the entire middle order in 44 balls. Dan Mousley and Jake Bethell were bowled through the gate, Michael Burgess was castled by one that kept low and Ed Barnard’s off stump was clipped by a peach of an outswinger.When Henry Brookes edged Higgins to third slip, No. 11 Mir Hamza found himself striding in at 12.20pm. He was soon making the return journey after nicking a pull at Higgins.In ten minutes’ batting before lunch, Middlesex lost Robson who edged Olly Hannon-Dalby to first slip. Soon after the interval, Steve Eskinazi edged Hannon-Dalby behind and Mark Stoneman fell lbw to Hamza who then bowled Max Holden through another open gate.After diligent innings of 18 from Jack Davies and Jon Simpson were ended by fatal edges, Higgins and Josh de Caires counterattacked. For the first time the pressure was turned on the bowlers as the seventh-wicket pair added 71 in 18 overs.Higgins has damaged Warwickshire in the past with the ball, notably with 11 for 96 for Gloucestershire in the Bob Willis Trophy at Bristol in 2020. This time he biffed seven fours and a six on his way to his 18th first-class fifty before becoming the first of three wickets for Barnard. Higgins was bowled, de Caires skied a slog and Roland-Jones struck the ball into the crowd at long-on but clipped off a bail with his after-stroke and departed hit wicket.When Bamber fell lbw to Hannon-Dalby, Middlesex had a chunky lead of 139 and, remarkably, Warwickshire were in again for 13 overs. Their traumas continued as Davies sliced Bamber into the cordon to add a first-baller to his morning second-baller and Rhodes nicked an indiscrete waft at Tom Helm. That was careless from the captain but it was Warwickshire’s morning of mayhem that has left them in a cavernous hole.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh played support roles as India drew level 1-1 in the T20I series, with three games still to play

Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Jul-2024
India’s first step into a new era of T20 cricket began with a stumble on Saturday, but they dusted themselves off well and truly to close out the weekend with a portentous win headlined by their most futuristic player. Abhishek Sharma, who lit up IPL 2024 with his incandescent, all-intent displays at the top of the order, gave international cricket its first glimpse of his ability on Sunday, taking Zimbabwe apart with a 46-ball century, the joint third-fastest by an India batter in T20Is.Related

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That effort led India to 234 for 2 – their second-highest T20I total away from home – and left Zimbabwe needing to pull off their highest successful chase – they had only once hauled down a target above 199. They didn’t get anywhere near close, as India’s vastly superior bowling attack made full use of a two-paced pitch while defending a total that was well above-par. The margin of victory – exactly 100 runs – perfectly summed up the contest.

A deceptive start

On Saturday, Zimbabwe had opened the bowling with Brian Bennett, deploying his offspin against India’s left-hand debutant, and that had brought a first-over wicket-maiden with Abhishek out for a duck. The same match-up kicked off the second T20I after India opted to bat, and Abhishek got off the mark in international cricket off the first legal ball he faced, pulling it for six.It was a sign of what was to come, but it also wasn’t. International cricket isn’t necessarily a standard than the IPL, but it can be very, very different. This was a Harare pitch with a bit of spongy bounce and seam early on, and Zimbabwe’s attack used it well in the powerplay to keep India to 36 for 1.Shubman Gill fell in the second over, chipping Blessing Muzarabani straight to mid-on, and the towering quick was Zimbabwe’s best bowler in the early stages, troubling Ruturaj Gaikwad in particular with his lift and movement in the corridor. Abhishek took time coming to grips with the conditions too, and at one point was batting on 27 off 23 balls.Then he looked to clear his front leg and hit Luke Jongwe’s nibbly medium-pace over the top, and miscued it high in the air over the mid-off region. Wellington Masakadza got under it, and put it down.Abhishek Sharma’s savours the feeling of getting to a maiden international ton•Associated Press

Abhi shakes the room

From that point on, Abhishek was unstoppable, clattering 72 runs in his last 23 balls at the crease, hitting five fours and seven sixes in that time. Suddenly, the conditions ceased to bother him. He was rocking back to marginally short balls and pulling with fierce power. He was stepping out and freeing his arms gloriously to loft over the covers. A modest Zimbabwe attack, suddenly, was looking like what it was.There was another drop along the way, Tendai Chatara running to his right from long-off and getting only the heel of his palm to a lofted drive off Sikandar Raza, when Abhishek was on 77 off 40. Zimbabwe were in the firing line, though, and with all the batting India had in the dugout – they had left out the left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed and included an extra batter, handing Sai Sudharsan his T20I debut – he was taking nearly every ball on. Abhishek wasn’t worried about getting out – this is why he made such an impact in the IPL even though his longest innings of the season only lasted 28 balls – and on this day luck smiled on him.Along the way, he left a couple of bowlers nursing vivid bruises. Dion Myers’ slow-medium disappeared for 4, 6, 4, 6, 4 in the 11th over, the pick of the hits a monster pull that hit the roof beyond the leg-side boundary to bring up Abhishek’s fifty. Then Masakadza, unfortunate both to have dropped Abhishek and to be a purveyor of left-arm orthodox, went for 6, 6, 6 in the 14th over – the last of them a one-handed swipe over backward square leg that brought up Abhishek’s century – before a miscue off the next ball ended the onslaught.Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 137 off 76 for the second wicket•Associated Press

Gaikwad and Rinku pile it on

Or not, because Zimbabwe still had six overs to bowl and India were in the mood now. Gaikwad’s struggle against the conditions and the rust of playing his first competitive cricket since the IPL extended all the way until his 38th ball, when he brought up his fifty with a pulled four off Jongwe. He took Chatara apart in the next over, the 18th, hitting him for three fours and a six to eventually finish unbeaten on 77 off 47.India’s main source of end-overs carnage, however, was Rinku Singh, who had been unlucky to miss their World Cup campaign while boasting an average of 89 and a strike rate of 176.23 in 11 innings at the time the squad was announced. He was in his element here, promoted to No. 4 with the perfect entry point for his skills, slapping the sixth ball he faced for a charging six over the covers and finishing the innings with a four and back-to-back sixes off Jongwe, who ended with figures of 0 for 53 in four overs. Not what he may have anticipated when he induced Abhishek to miscue on 27.

Mukesh, Avesh and Bishnoi wrap it up

If Zimbabwe had any hope going into their chase, it lay in the composition of India’s attack. Having picked the extra batter, they were playing only four frontline bowlers, which left four overs to be completed by part-timers Abhishek and Riyan Parag.Abhishek isn’t a part-timer in domestic cricket, and has plenty of variations to go with his stock left-arm orthodox, but he discovered how difficult bowling in the powerplay in an international game can be, conceding 19 in the second over with Bennett in an aggressive mood. Bennett took hold of Mukesh Kumar in the next over as well, hitting him for a pair of massive back-to-back sixes – over square leg and then down the ground – but he fell next ball.Brian Bennett got Zimbabwe off to a flying start with 26 off 9 before being bowled by Mukesh Kumar•Associated Press

That was the second wicket Mukesh had taken with an in-ducker, after one in the first over to bowl Innocent Kaia through the gate. That sort of seam movement, with a bit of inconsistent bounce thrown in, was a defining feature of Zimbabwe’s powerplay: they scored 22 runs more than India did in that phase, thanks to Bennett’s aggression, but they lost four wickets to India’s one.One of these summed up how challenging the conditions still were: a bouncer from Avesh Khan skidding onto Sikandar Raza as he shaped to hook, forcing him to fend a catch off the glove to the keeper.Zimbabwe’s innings continued to flounder after the powerplay, with Ravi Bishnoi looking particularly unhittable – Johnathan Campbell, sweeping and reverse-sweeping with increasing desperation, failed to put bat on five successive balls from him, and bottom-edged the sixth into his body. Wessly Madhevere batted from the start of the chase all the way to the 17th over, and made 43 off 39 balls. Zimbabwe were eventually bowled out for 134 with eight balls remaining, with Mukesh and Avesh bagging three wickets apiece and Bishnoi finishing with 2 for 11 from his four overs.

David Warner, Steven Smith and Travis Head are included but the all-format quicks and allrounders will prepare for the Test summer back home

Andrew McGlashan28-Oct-20234:06

Moody: Wade’s captaincy and experience important for Australia

Matthew Wade will captain Australia in the five-match T20I series against India after the 2023 ODI World Cup. The multiformat fast bowlers and allrounders have been left out ahead of the Test summer, but David Warner, Steven Smith and Travis Head are included.Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will return home after the World Cup along with Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh, who captained Australia’s previous T20I series against South Africa, to prepare for the home Test season which begins on December 14 against Pakistan in Perth.Related

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That could open up the opportunity for them to play the final round of Sheffield Shield matches before the BBL break, which begin on November 28, although previously the big three quicks have been comfortable not playing a four-day match before a home Test series.Marsh and Green are vying for the No. 6 spot with Marsh the incumbent after playing the final Ashes Test at The Oval. The selectors will need to decide whether to make Green available for Western Australia’s Shield match against Queensland in Brisbane or give him a break. The inclusion of Warner, Smith and Head in the T20 squad means they are unlikely to get any red-ball cricket before the first Test in Perth.With Marsh heading home it meant a new stand-in captain was needed with Wade, who has previously done the role on seven occasions including the final game of last year’s T20 World Cup when Aaron Finch was injured, taking on the duties. It marks a significant change in his career trajectory after previously indicating last year’s tournament in Australia could be his swansong.Wade was initially overlooked for the tour of South Africa as the selectors blooded some new names but was later called up as a replacement and chair of selectors George Bailey had previously said he was in the running for this tour.It is expected a permanent appointment as Australia’s T20 captain will be made during the home season with Marsh the frontrunner to take the role ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.Matthew Wade has previously led Australia in seven T20Is•BCCI

The remainder of the squad is made up of players who featured in the 3-0 victory over South Africa with left-arm quick Spencer Johnson given another chance to impress along with legspinner Tanveer Sangha and allrounder Matt Short.”It’s an experienced squad with a mixture of players who have had their first opportunity on the international stage and that we hope will continue to develop into important players in our T20 group,” Bailey said. “Matthew has captained the team previously, is a leader in the group and we look forward to him taking the reins for this series. Like Mitch Marsh in the South Africa series, this is another great opportunity to further deepen our international leadership experience and depth.”Western Australia allrounder Aaron Hardie is the one player who featured in that series to miss out. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was not considered due a recurrence of his calf injury.Once the ODI World Cup is complete attention will turn to preparations for the next T20 edition in the West Indies and USA in June 2024. After the five games in India, Australia have a three-match series against West Indies and New Zealand in February as their other confirmed fixtures before that tournament.Starc and Cummins are expected to be among the players to put their names into the hat for a return to the IPL with a view to using that competition as preparation for the T20 World Cup.The matches against India take place on November 23, 26, 28 and December 1 and 3.Australia’s T20I squad: Matthew Wade (capt), David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha

Kent’s slide towards Division Two continues with innings defeat at Edgbaston

ECB Reporters Network31-Aug-2024Warwickshire banked their first Vitality County Championship victory of the season in the most emphatic fashion, by an innings and 21 runs over struggling Kent, before lunch on the third day at Edgbaston.Kent were bowled out in their second innings for 243 on the third morning as Warwickshire’s seamers completed the demolition job they start on their opponents on the first day.Bowled out for 156 first time round, Kent mustered little more at their second attempt even against the Kookaburra ball on an easing pitch as Oliver Hannon-Dalby took 6 for 43 (9 for 74 in the match).Only Joey Evison (65) offered prolonged resistance as the visitors’ dismal season delivered a sixth successive Championship defeat and another shunt towards relegation. Injuries to key pair Tawanda Muyeye and Grant Stewart only added to a grim three days in the West Midlands for Matt Walker’s side.After Kent resumed on the third morning on 157 for 3, they advanced comfortably enough to 171 before Hannon-Dalby hit them with a burst of 3 for 6 in 14 balls. Sharp in-duckers trapped Jack Leaning and Muyeye lbw and Charlie Stobo sent his first ball to Rob Yates at second slip.Hannon-Dalby was 60 percent of the way to taking all 10, but that pathway was ended by Ed Barnard who trapped Stewart lbw and followed up with the wicket of Matt Parkinson, who edged to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.Alfie Ogborne edged Michael Rae to slip before Evison, running out of partners, lifted Barnard for six to reach a 93-ball half-century. Evison batted impressively in both innings but when another attempt to clear the ropes, off Michael Booth, found only Alex Davies at long-on, another Championship ordeal for Kent was complete.Their Division One status will expire shortly but Warwickshire’s appears safe for another year after this victory as other teams in the bottom half of the table struggle in their games around the country.

Captain however credits his team for playing their “best cricket” after a “stressful week”

Danyal Rasool13-Nov-20223:33

Fleming: Pakistan made ‘massive mistake’ in last four overs

Babar Azam’s T20I side has always taken its fans on a ride, but the pain that lies at the end is beginning to feel familiar. Much like Pakistan’s agonising defeat in last year’s T20I World Cup semi-final and the Asia Cup final in September, Pakistan fell short of silverware in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne, succumbing to a five-wicket defeat against England.Babar denied that Pakistan felt the pressure of the occasion, but acknowledged the repeated failure to sign off T20 campaigns in style had soured the mood.”It hurts when you can’t finish it off in a final, of course,” he said. “We’re very proud to play for Pakistan and make the final. But it hurts when you can’t finish it off. We couldn’t finish it off in the Asia Cup either, and that does sting.Related

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“This was a stressful week because we didn’t know we were in or out. But the way we grabbed our opportunity and played our best cricket in four matches in a row, our team deserves credit.”After losing the toss and finding themselves inserted in to bat, Pakistan were already flying in the face of history: just one of the previous six T20 World Cup finals have seen a side successfully defend a score. But after a stodgy start with Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Haris dismissed cheaply, Pakistan had engineered themselves into a decent position by the 11th over. Shan Masood had just taken 16 runs off Liam Livingstone’s only over, and at that stage, Pakistan were 84 for 2, set up for a big finish.What transpired over the next eight balls, though, wrenched the game away from Pakistan, with England picking up two wickets for just one run. Babar pointed to that passage of play as a sliding doors moment for his side.”The ball was seaming early on,” he said. “We wanted to get 45-50 runs in the powerplay but we lost a few wickets. In 11 overs, we were around 85 [84], but the back-to-back wickets that fell in the middle order meant we lost momentum. Especially after Shadab and Shan’s partnership ending with both getting out soon after each other like they did.”Our middle-order dot-ball ratio was a bit too high because we were in a different situation, trying to build a partnership. We couldn’t do that, and whenever a wicket falls, it takes the new batter 2-3 balls to settle down. That put us on the back foot as a batting unit because we couldn’t finish as we wanted.”The idea of Babar’s presence at the press conference following the final seemed preposterous a week ago, when Pakistan needed to rely on the Netherlands beating South Africa and win their final three games to make the semifinals. That became necessary after Pakistan opened their campaign with defeats against India and Zimbabwe, and given how bleak the outlook appeared at the time, the Pakistan captain was keen to highlight the positives.”We didn’t expect to go through after our start. But the way the team came back and the way we grabbed our opportunity makes me proud. The way the middle order stepped up after Rizwan and I were struggling made me very happy. They won us matches, and put in individual performances like Iftikhar’s Shadab’s and Nawaz. The bowling dominated all tournament, too.”Babar – “The way we fought back and took the game to the final over, you’re left to wonder. Maybe if Shaheen had bowled, things might have been different”•AFP/Getty Images

Defending a low total, Pakistan needed everything to go their way in the field. That, emphatically didn’t happen when, having put England under pressure with five overs to go, Shaheen Shah Afridi pulled up after bowling one ball of his third over. At that stage, England still needed 41 to win off 29, having scored just 20 in the last 31 balls.The picture seemed to change dramatically immediately afterwards. As if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, Ben Stokes, who had struggled for fluency all innings, smashed a four and a six off the final two balls off the over. A total of 26 came off the eight balls from the first boundary onwards, and Pakistan’s challenge was swiftly extinguished.”The way we fought back and took the game to the final over, you’re left to wonder. Maybe if Shaheen had bowled, things might have been different,” Babar said. “But credit to England’s bowling. We were trying to build a partnership, but losing back to back wickets puts pressure on you. That pressure remains on you till the 20th over. We were 20 runs or so short with the bat, even though we came back with the ball. After Shaheen’s injury, the game shifted to England’s side.”I’m not disappointed with the middle order. It’s a team game. We win and lose as a team. We just couldn’t finish well after what we had in the first 11 overs. We should have posted around 150, and we made mistakes in not getting there.”In the end, however, gratitude was the overwhelming emotion for the Pakistani skipper after a campaign that caught fire just when it looked like it was petering out.”I’d like to thank the crowd, both in Australia and Pakistan. Wherever we’ve played, the venues have been packed, supporting us and enjoying the cricket.”