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The newly-appointed captain of the Ahmedabad franchise says he has “mentally always been ready” to be a leader

Hemant Brar01-Feb-2022″You don’t have to be a captain to lead.”That’s the view of Hardik Pandya, who will lead the Ahmedabad franchise at IPL 2022. Pandya has captained only once at the senior level – in a tour game against Australia in 2017 – but he isn’t bothered about the lack of experience as he has always been “mentally ready”.”I’ve always believed that you lead in a lot of different ways,” Pandya said in a media interaction on Tuesday. “In my team, yes, I will be the captain but everyone else will be also a leader in their own role. Whatever little opportunities or roles I’ve been given [in the past], I’ve always tried to embrace them and learn something new out of them. And now when I have the opportunity, I’ll try to make sure that I use that experience I’ve got from all these little, little roles in my captaincy.Related

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But has he done any preparation for the role?”I don’t think there is a manual to learn how to become a captain,” Pandya said. “But I’ve always been a guy who likes to take up responsibilities in whichever games I have played. I’ll make sure that all the boys who are with me, we play as one [unit]. And that they get enough from me, that is what I’ve learned over the years. I’ll make sure I give a lot of time to the players, my doors will be always open for them. So no preparation as such but I’m looking forward to it and mentally I have always been ready.”During his India and IPL career, Pandya has played under three highly successful captains in MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. When asked what one trait from each of them he would like to have as captain, Pandya said: “From Virat, I would pick his aggression, his passion and his energy, which is tremendous. With Mahi [Dhoni] , the composure, the calmness. In every situation he is the same. From Rohit, I will pick that he lets the players decide what they want to do.”Pandya’s motto as captain, though, is to be there for his players, especially those who are not doing well.”When someone is on a high, when they are doing well, when things are falling in place, generally they don’t need anyone. When someone is having a bad day, that’s when they need you. So as an individual, or as a captain as well, when someone is doing good, I will never bother them. I will let them have their space. But when someone is feeling down, whatever they need from me, I will be always available. That is the motto which I believe in and I’ll try to follow that. And anyone who needs my help, anyone who needs me, I’ll be always there for them.”Pandya made his IPL debut in 2015 and until now, he has played only for one franchise, Mumbai Indians. During the seven seasons he played for them, he was part of the title-winning side on four occasions. Talking about the ideal template for a successful T20 team, Pandya said it’s all about winning the small battles.”No matter how much fireworks you have, it’s all about the situation, it’s all about picking the right moments,” Pandya said. “There are small, small moments which you have to win in a T20 game, and for us, that will be more important. We will be focused on the small, small battles – it might be winning the 14th over, or it might be doing well in the 16th over, for example. Whichever team plays the best [in those] situations will win. So that will be my template for our team.”

‘I always want to play as an allrounder’

In the last couple of years, Pandya hasn’t bowled much because of his back injury. When asked where his bowling is at the moment, he gave a cryptic answer: “It’s a surprise for everyone.”He did say, though, that the Indian team management is aware of his fitness status. “It has been communicated to everyone, so they know where I am.”Of late, there have been many occasions, both for India as well as in the IPL, when Pandya played purely as a batter. And that has been “challenging” for him. However, Pandya is keen to be back as an allrounder.Hardik Pandya has played for the Mumbai Indians since 2015, starring in four title-winning seasons•Sandeep Shetty/BCCI

“I’ve always been someone who has given three areas – fielding, batting and bowling, but at that point of time when I decided that I will [only] bat for some time was because I wanted to spend some time on the ground. It has been challenging yes, but I think we all love challenges and I am one of those who like to face them and fight them out.”Healthy criticism is good but generally, criticism does not bother me. I know what I’m doing, I know how I prepare, I know how much hard yards I put. For me, the results do matter but I don’t work hard for the results, I work hard for the processes and the results look after themselves once you have put in genuine hard work, which I’m doing right now.”I’ve realised one thing that I as an allrounder give a lot of different options to the team. For me as an individual, it has always been that I want to play as an allrounder, and I’ll always try to do that. If something does go wrong, my batting is always there. And you know, Hardik Pandya with bat and ball combined sounds better than just a batter.”With bat, Pandya’s role in T20s has been mainly that of a finisher, with him coming in mostly at No. 5 or below. But will that change now given he is the captain?”I have always been a cricketer who has played the situation and whatever the team requires at that point of time. If my team needs certain roles from me, as a group we will decide that when the matches come, but I have not made any plans regarding that yet. If the situation demands me to go in early, I will go in early. If the situation doesn’t demand that, I will stay back and make sure that I look after back end.”

Occasional legbreaks unpick hosts’ resistance to claim spoils in London derby

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2020Middlesex 347 for 6 dec and 248 for 6 (Gubbins 60, Moriarty 5-47) beat Surrey 282 (Borthwick 92, Smith 80, Murtagh 5-47) and 123 (Patel 44, Cummins 3-30) by 190 runs Sam Robson took two wickets in two balls with his occasional leg spin to spark a remarkable 190-run Middlesex victory against Surrey deep inside the final hour of a gripping Bob Willis Trophy London derby at the Kia Oval.Surrey looked to be holding on quite comfortably for the draw after tea, with Rikki Clarke and Jordan Clark defending resolutely through 23 overs. But, with 16 overs remaining, Robson was thrown the ball by Middlesex’s acting captain Stephen Eskinazi and, with his fourth and fifth deliveries, he removed Clark and Dan Moriarty in dramatic fashion.Clark, having made 7 from 66 balls, chipped back a long hop and then an ecstatic Robson pinned Moriarty leg-before with a looping leg break which hit the left-hander on the foot as he played forward.Suddenly, at 119 for 7 rather than 119 for 5, Middlesex smelled blood and it was their former West Indies fast bowler Miguel Cummins who swept them on towards their 22-point triumph, first having Matt Dunn superbly held for 0 at short leg by Max Holden as he fended off a vicious lifter and then bowling James Taylor for 4 with an inswinger.Clarke, desperately looking to claim the strike with last man Amar Virdi now in, advanced to the fifth ball of the 63rd over – bowled by Nathan Sowter – and the leg-spinner cleverly fired it through the batsman’s legs for keeper John Simpson to gather and complete the stumping as Clarke tried in vain to scramble back into his crease. Clarke, Surrey’s acting captain, made 22 from 104 balls.The last five Surrey wickets had tumbled for four runs in seven overs and, with 8.1 overs remaining, Middlesex could celebrate a famous win against their greatest rivals. Robson, who had only previously taken four first-class wickets at almost 50 runs apiece but was given two more tidy overs following his memorable intervention, finished with figures of 3-3-0-2 and the impressive Cummins took 3 for 30.Earlier, Surrey had lost three wickets in as many overs just before lunch, which they took on a wobbly 20 for 3 after Middlesex had set them 314 to win in 71 overs. But then they recovered through a 64-run stand between Ryan Patel and Jamie Smith before both fell to short balls from James Harris and Cummins respectively in the 30th and 33rd overs.Patel could not believe it when he swung a short ball from Harris high to deep mid wicket to go for 44, while Smith reached a classy 40 before touching a lifter from Cummins, angled across him from around the wicket, as he tried to get his bat out of the way.Mark Stoneman had been the first Surrey batsman to fall, leg-before to Tim Murtagh for 4 as he prodded defensively forward to the veteran seamer and then, in the next over and with his first ball of the innings, left-arm spinner Thilan Walallawita struck a further blow by having Scott Borthwick smartly taken by wicketkeeper Simpson for 1 as he flicked at a ball turning past his pads from over the wicket.Then, on the stroke of lunch, Murtagh came in off a shorter run to nip one back through Will Jacks’ defences to bowl him for 0 with the fifth ball of the 11th over. Surrey, who had lost their last seven first innings wickets for just 28 runs on day three, were suddenly fighting for survival rather than dreaming of a glorious victory chase.Moriarty, a 20-year-old slow left-arm spinner born in Reigate but raised in South Africa, had earlier taken 5 for 64. Like his fellow left-arm spinner Walallawita, he was making his first-class debut and already had 3 for 39 overnight. But he impressed again on the fourth morning of the match after Middlesex resumed their second innings on 184 for 3 looking for quick runs.Nick Gubbins added just 11 to his overnight 49 before being bowled by Moriarity in extraordinary fashion. Aiming a premeditated reverse sweep, the left-hander lost his balance and was on his hands and knees in the crease as his middle stump was uprooted.Martin Andersson, resuming on 35 and completing a half-century with successive fours off Virdi, went for 51 from 62 balls, with ten fours, when he lifted a catch to short extra cover off a leading edge to give Moriarty his fifth scalp.Simpson mishit Virdi’s off spin to deep mid wicket to go for 18 before Sowter, with two not out, came in to keep Harris (17 not out) company before the declaration came at 248 for 6 after an hour’s play at 12 noon.

Joe Denly scores half-century on return from IPL, but back spasm prevents him from bowling

ECB Reporters Network23-Apr-2019Gareth Roderick’s second List A century led Gloucestershire to a six-wicket Royal London One-Day Cup win over injury-hit Kent at Bristol.The visitors posted 282 for 8 from their 50 overs after losing the toss, Zak Crawley top-scoring with 85, while Joe Denly made 56 upon his return from the IPL but suffered a back spasm which prevented him from taking the field during Gloucestershire’s innings.Adam Rouse contributed a rapid 45 not out and there were two wickets each for David Payne, Benny Howell and Tom Smith.In reply, Gloucestershire were given a decent start by Chris Dent (41) and George Hankins (33) before Roderick (100 not out) and James Bracey (67) added 138 for the third wicket to put their side on course for victory with 19 balls to spare.It was the Spitfires’ fourth defeat in as many group matches, while Gloucestershire moved to four points from three games.Without overseas signing Matt Renshaw, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Darren Stevens, Kent needed an early partnership and after the fall of Sean Dickson for four, they got it through skipper Denly and Crawley.The pair added 103 in 21 overs, Denly reaching a fluent half-century with a straight six off Graeme van Buuren, having faced 60 balls, and Crawley moving to the same landmark from 67 deliveries.Denly was caught behind prodding at a ball from Payne. Heino Kuhn contributed a bright 24 before chancing his arm once too often with a quick single and being run out by Roderick.Alex Blake lifted Howell for a massive six over mid-wicket, but was soon well caught by van Buuren as the ball dropped over his shoulder off the same bowler.From 184 for 4 in the 37th over, Kent slipped to 237 for 7, Crawley being bowled by a quicker ball from left-arm spinner Smith, having faced 110 balls.Ollie Robinson was caught and bowled by Howell off a leading edge and when Harry Podmore fell to Smith for 21, Gloucestershire, themselves without overseas player Dan Worrall and seamer Matt Taylor, looked in control.Rouse smashed four sixes against his former county, taking a heavy toll on Chris Liddle, who had proved expensive throughout. He ended up with none for 93 from ten overs, the most runs conceded by a Gloucestershire bowler in List A cricket.Already hit by a lengthy injury list, Kent’s bowling attack suffered a new blow when Denly was unable to take the field.Kent assistant coach Allan Donald said: “Joe Denly suffered a back spasm while batting that we need to manage and it just adds to the most vicious injury cycle I have ever known. When you see Sean Dickson and Zak Crawley bowling in a game it shows the lengths to which we are suffering.”The players are hurting, but there is nothing we can do but stay together, be patient and see this period through. I hope there is some reward at the end of it and we can come out winning something at the end of the season. Then we might be able to look back on our start and smile. But at the moment, with so many players missing, it is very tough to take.”Hankins helped Dent take the score to 72 in the 17th over before charging down the pitch to Imran Qayyum and being stumped.Dent was distraught when caught on the boundary attempting to swing a Blake long-hop for six to make it 90 for 2. It was Blake’s fourth List A wicket and his first since switching from medium pace to off-spin.Roderick and Bracey were content to milk ones and twos as they took the total to 136 for 2 by the halfway stage.On 33, Roderick survived a sharp chance to Blake at cover off Podmore. Without the option of Denly’s spin, Kent gave occasional seamer Dickson a first bowl in List A cricket, with Crawley also turning his arm for a couple of overs.Left-hander Bracey was first to a comfortable fifty off 41 balls, with six fours, while Roderick followed in the next over, having faced 45 balls and hit three boundaries.Bracey was caught down the leg-side by Rouse off Mitchell Claydon and Howell fell cheaply, but Roderick went to three figures off 80 balls, ending just short of his List A best of 104.

Who among Tamim, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das will open the batting for the hosts in their ODI series opener against West Indies?

The Preview by Mohammad Isam08-Dec-2018

Big Picture

Bangladesh could not have asked for a better build-up to the ODI series, having already swept West Indies 2-0 in the Test series. Bangladesh will be boosted further by the return of Tamim Iqbal from multiple injuries. He had tuned up for this series with a match-winning 73-ball 107 against the West Indians in the tour game in Savar on Thursday.ALSO READ: Tamim Iqbal returns from injury with match-winning ton against West IndiansTamim’s comeback gives the hosts a happy headache at the top: who among him, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das will open the batting on Sunday? Bangladesh’s strength lies in their experienced middle order, which includes Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Their bowling attack, too, has also done well recently. Offspin-bowling allrounder Mehidy Hasan, who took a match haul of 12 wickets in the second Test in Dhaka, will be supported by the steady pace of Mashrafe Mortza and Mustafizur Rahman.Bangladesh, though, will have to be wary of batting collapses, which have hurt them of late across formats, and bowling meltdowns in the end overs. West Indies have out-and-out quicks and power-hitters who could particularly exploit Bangladesh’s shortcomings in these areas.Twenty-one-year-old tearaway Oshane Thomas hit speeds upwards of 145kph in India and will later be in action for Rangpur Riders in the BPL. Kemar Roach isn’t as quick as Thomas, but offers more control.Darren Bravo’s return lends much-needed experience to the batting line-up, which blew hot and cold in India. A lot will depend on whether their new ODI captain Rovman Powell and T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite can fire in the slog overs.ALSO READ: Rovman Powell to lead West Indies in ODIs in Bangladesh

Form guide

Bangladesh WWWLW (last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LLWTL

In the spotlight

Imrul Kayes slammed 349 runs against Zimbabwe at home in October, nearly breaking Babar Azam’s record for most runs in a three-ODI series. Can he keep up his form against a stronger opposition?Rovman Powell had managed only 61 runs in five innings at an average of 12.20 and a strike-rate of 58.09 in the ODI series in India, but hit form in the T10 league, scoring 177 runs in seven innings in Northern Warriors’ title-winning campaign. The onus is on the captain to lift his side in Bangladesh.

Team news

Regulars Tamim, Shakib, Mustafizur and Mehidy will all return to the XI. While Tamim and Shakib had missed the Zimbabwe ODI series due to injuries, Mustafizur and Mehidy were rested from the third ODI. Liton Das, Ariful Haque, Nazmul Islam and Abu Hider are likely to make way for the seniors.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mohammad Mithun, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Mehidy Hasan, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 11 Mustafizur RahmanBravo is set to play an ODI after more than two years. In the absence of the injured Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite is expected to fill in in the lower order and with the ball. Devendra Bishoo could be picked ahead of left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Fabien Allen if West Indies opt to exploit Bangladesh’s weakness against legspinWest Indies (probable): 1 Kieran Powell, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Rovman Powell (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Fabian Allen/Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Oshane Thomas

Pitch and conditions

The pitch here is likely to be bouncier than the one used for the Test series. Five out of eight sides who have batted first this year at the Shere Bangla National Stadium have pressed onto win games. The weather is expected to be nice and cool for the duration of the match.

Stats and Trivia

• Bangladesh have won two of their last three ODI series against West Indies.
• Kieran Powell is five short of 1000 runs in ODIs.
• Tamim averages 90.16 in nine ODIs this year, having scored two hundreds and four fifties.

Quotes

“We came back strong from the Test series defeat when we were in West Indies [in July and August], so they will look to do something similar. We have to be very careful of them. They are a quality outfit.”
“We haven’t played good cricket in white ball for a long period of time now, so it’s time for all of us to step up and put in a better performance.”

Allrounder set to resume Test career, but his ICC disciplinary record is hanging over him

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2018Joe Root has conceded that Ben Stokes will have to be on his “best behaviour” when he makes his comeback to Test cricket against New Zealand in Auckland on Thursday, amid the very real threat of more time on the sidelines if he steps out of line.Stokes, who missed the Ashes after being arrested in Bristol in September and subsequently charged with affray, resumes his Test career with three active ICC demerit points to his name. He is therefore just one transgression away from triggering an automatic one-match ban, an issue that was brought back into focus this week by Kagiso Rabada’s disciplinary hearing during the South Africa-Australia Test series.Stokes’ points, which stay on a player’s record for 24 months, stem from three previous on-field incidents. In October 2016, he was sanctioned for an altercation with Bangladesh’s Sabbir Rahman, and then picked up two further Level 1 offences, against India at Mohali in November 2016, and West Indies at Headingley in September 2017.”You’re always aware of that,” said Root. “You want to make sure, not just that [your players’ behaviour] is sitting well with you, but they’re able to be on the field for the next game and next series.”I’m sure there might be a bit of noise about that after what’s happened [to Rabada] – about demerit points and missing games. He’ll have to be on best behaviour.”Stokes’ disciplinary status had been hanging over him even before his Ashes omission, with opposition teams beginning to realise that his hot-headed nature was liable to boil over if provoked. And, to judge by the events of Australia’s subsequent series, a flashpoint would surely only ever have been a matter of time.On Tuesday, Rabada was cleared to play in this week’s third Test at Newlands, after successfully appealing against a Level 2 charge, and two-Test ban, imposed in the wake of his shoulder-brushing incident with Steven Smith, the Australia captain, at Port Elizabeth.However, the nature of Rabada’s original punishment has highlighted a potential flaw in the ICC’s demerit point system, in that players with previous blemishes on their records are likelier to find themselves in repeated hot water.Radaba had already served a one-Test ban during last summer’s tour of England, after being caught swearing on the stump microphone after taking the wicket (of Stokes, as it happens) during the Lord’s Test in July.However, arguably the biggest incident of the Australia-South Africa series to date was David Warner’s off-field outburst against Quinton de Kock, which was caught on CCTV as the teams left the field during a break in play at Port Elizabeth. Warner was charged with a Level 2 offence and handed three demerit points – but because he had not previously attracted the attention of the ICC match referee, he did not automatically cross the four-point threshold for a ban.”It is a perception thing, I suppose, isn’t it,” said Root, “because no one really knows what’s said out in the middle. You can see what you think is going on. But I suppose the consistency of things has to be there. It’s certainly got people talking about Test cricket, hasn’t it? That’s one thing, for sure.”There’s always been that cloud of recent times between Australia and ‘the line’ – where theirs is compared to everyone else’s,” Root added. “But I’m sure they’ll come back and say they’re probably disciplined less than anyone else around world cricket – in terms of bans and fines.Asked if it was the captain’s responsibility to uphold a team’s standards of behaviour, Root said: “For me, it’s your team and you want to make sure…you’re heading up this team, and if it’s portraying an image of something you don’t like then I suppose that’s on you.”James Anderson last week insisted there was still a place for “emotion” on the field, in the wake of Rabada’s admission that he needed to curb his temper out in the middle, and Root agreed that there needed to some leeway for players to get their juices flowing during an intense passage of play.”I suppose you want to make sure you’re getting the best out of your players and they feel they can maximise their game – if they like to get in a little one-on-one battle with the batter, then they’re able to do so.”But [it’s] to a point which does not exceed your own line. That’s where I’m at with it. It has to sit well with me – and generally I think we’re very good at it.”Root hoped, however, that it was not the case that opposition teams were starting to target certain players in an attempt to trigger a reaction.”I wouldn’t want to go into a series as captain and my players be trying to get someone banned,” he said. “You want to beat the best team. That [would be] detracting from the game.”For me, it’s about making sure you’re doing everything you can to improve Test cricket and make it the best it can be – so that when you go and win, it’s that bit more special.”I think one of the problems is they’re on demerit points in the first place. They can almost use the excuse ‘I’ve been pushed to this point of getting banned’ – but they’ve got themselves into a position where they’ve got two demerit points to start with. People sort of forget that bit.”If then someone wants to behave out of order on the field, then that will be called upon … but I suppose that’s the responsibility of the match referee, to see if someone is trying to provoke it.”That’s his responsibility to keep an eye on that and make sure that’s not the case.”

Fawad Ahmed, Arjun Nair and Chris Green combined for figures of 12-0-61-6 to help Sydney Thunder defend 166

The Report by Alex Malcolm30-Dec-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Arjun Nair took 2 for 17 from four overs•Getty Images

An electric innings from Jos Buttler and some sublime spin bowling from Fawad Ahmed, Arjun Nair and Chris Green saw Sydney Thunder destroy Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston.Buttler smashed four sixes and five fours in his innings of 67 from 41 balls to set up a solid total at University of Tasmania Stadium, a ground not previously used in men’s BBL cricket.Then the spinners bamboozled the Hurricanes top order to secure the Thunder’s second win of the tournament. The Hurricanes have remained winless but the schedule has done them no favours. They looked rusty after nine days between games and the Hurricanes and the Stars will be the only two teams to have played only two matches prior to the New Year.The Buttler did itButtler has an excellent T20 record. In 206 career matches, he averages 28.11 and strikes at 143.45 playing in a variety of roles for a number of different teams across both international and domestic cricket. But his last 12 T20s in the Bangladesh Premier League and the BBL have been extremely lean. He has averaged 9.5, striking at 110.69 with a highest score of 26.He delivered in spades in Launceston. A boundary in the first over settled him, then Kurtis Patterson’s hat-trick of boundaries in the second over allowed Buttler more time to adjust to a surface he had not previously seen before. After Patterson fell, Buttler and Shane Watson only scored at seven an over until the end of the 11th over. Then Buttler exploded, targeting debutant Thomas Rogers. He struck four sixes in an over. The second travelled 108 metres. The third came from a no-ball that was called for an above head-high bouncer. The ensuing free hit was hammered 110 metres onto the roof of the stand at midwicket. The run-rate had vaulted above nine an over by the end of the 13th before Buttler gave away his stumps to Clive Rose in the 14th and was bowled.ThunderstruckWatson kept rolling, striking two boundaries in the 15th over but the innings fell flat following a bizarre run-out. Watson and Callum Ferguson aren’t the nimblest between the wickets as both have a history of injury issues. Watson assumed a second run was on after Ferguson worked a ball into the leg- side but Ferguson didn’t run. Watson was left stranded, later admitting he didn’t hear the call of “no”. Rose, Jofra Archer and Tymal Mills bowled superbly to concede just 27 in the last four overs. They gave up just one boundary and it was when Archer parried a simple catch at long-on over the rope for six after Mills had forced a miscue from Ryan Gibson.Hurricanes’ solid startD’Arcy Short and Alex Doolan have produced three consecutive 50-run opening partnerships, including the two warm-up games and round one of the BBL. They looked on again when Short struck two fours and a six to three different parts of the ground in the second over of the innings from Gurinder Sandhu.The rate was slowed by wickets. Mitchell McClenaghan bowled Short through the gate and Ben McDermott also played a shot he would regret. He produced a wild slog off Sandhu with the score at 1 for 35 after 4.1. The top-edge was well caught by Buttler running back towards third man. George Bailey joined Doolan and the pair kept the required rate under nine through seven overs.Hurricanes in a spinThe Hurricanes lost 5 for 34 in the next eight overs of spin. Fawad and Nair took a wicket each in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th overs respectively to kill off the game. Ahmed, Nair and Chris Green delivered 22 dot balls in 48 deliveries and conceded just one boundary in total. Jofra Archer hit Green over long-on for six second ball having strangely walked out at No. 9.The Hurricanes decided to promote Cameron Boyce to No. 6, and bat Rose in front of Archer at No.8. Boyce averages 8.41 in T20 cricket at a strike rate of 104.12 with a highest score of 24 not out. Rose’s numbers are better (16.75 and 131.37) but they are not as good as Archer’s, who averages 18.87 and strikes at 143.80. Even the basic eye-test, frowned upon in sabermetrics, would reveal he is a far better batsman than Boyce and Rose. He proved it with an impressive, but ultimately fruitless, 25 not out from 16 balls as the Thunder cleaned up the tail.

Turning a team’s mood, mindset and match-day performances around can take months but Faf du Plessis was able to achieve that with his South African side in less than a week

Firdose Moonda at Trent Bridge15-Jul-2017Turning a team’s mood, mindset and match-day performances around can take months but Faf du Plessis was able to achieve that with his South African side in less than a week. Since returning to the squad following the birth of his first child, du Plessis has challenged, chastised and commiserated with his men following their Lord’s defeat. And he has also inspired for them to fight a little harder just by doing that himself.”It’s quite easy for everyone to say how good Faf is,” Chris Morris said. “It’s just his character. He lives for playing for the Proteas and is what a Protea should be. He lives for the team and he leads by example. He puts his body on the line and he doesn’t mind batting for three days to save a Test. When a guy leads from the front, a lot of guys will follow.”Though du Plessis only scored 19 runs before he was caught down the leg-side off a ball he wasn’t quite sure he had hit, his management of his bowlers on the second afternoon spoke to the quality of his leadership. After seeing this first and second-changes seamers, Duanne Olivier and Morris, unable to find their rhythm early on, du Plessis asked the premier pacemen, particularly Morne Morkel, to do more work and then made sure he did not have Olivier and Morris at opposite ends at the same time again.He trusted his spinner, Keshav Maharaj, to start the strangle and spoke to the other two quicks about how they could improve on their poor starts. “Faf is solid and quite clear with his plans and speaks a very good language with the team. He’s an excellent leader,” Morris said.Today, Morris was the biggest beneficiary of that. His first three overs cost 20 runs but after a chat with du Plessis, his next 5.5 went for just 18 runs and he took three wickets. Although the wickets came at the end of the innings, after the other, more serious damage had been done, they also came because Morris had clearer instructions. “The message was clear from Faf: be aggressive and bowl fast. For me that cleared any doubt on what I needed to do,” Morris said.His post-lunch speeds were higher, he forced Liam Dawson into a loose drive that prompted an unsuccessful review, bluffed Moeen Ali with short balls before drawing him into a drive off a fuller one and then set up Stuart Broad, who was expecting a bouncer, with a full, straight ball that struck him on the pad. “That was a decision we made in the moment,” Morris said, explaining how the Broad wicket came about.Overall, South Africa made good use of seamer-friendly bowling conditions and an England approach that is angled towards attacking. “On this wicket, you are quite happy with guys coming at you. There is just enough in this wicket for fast bowlers to be excited, and with overhead conditions, with the ball swinging and the way the Duke moves around, we don’t mind guys coming at us,” Morris said. “Another day Joe [Root] is going to get 190, and another day he will get what he got today. It was a great counterpunch by Joe but we don’t mind it.”Because the counterpunch did not work, South Africa will now, it seems, be able to dictate terms as they aim to square the series. And Morris is quite happy to let du Plessis be the dictator when it comes to knowing how many runs South Africa will need.”800? I have got absolutely no idea,” he said. “The wicket is playing a little bit. It’s got a bit of juice in it. Whatever overhead conditions are… 200 could be enough on the right day. Obviously we’ll try and bat as long as we can, and whatever decision Faf takes that we think will be possible to defend. That number, I don’t know. It’s my third Test. I just do the job and let the captain make the decision.”

India’s MS Dhoni has been named captain of the ICC’s ODI Team of the Year for 2011-12; this is the fifth year in a row that he has made the team

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012India’s MS Dhoni has been named captain of the ICC’s ODI Team of the Year for 2011-12. This is the fifth year in a row that Dhoni has made the team.

ICC one-day Team of the Year

Gautam Gambhir, Alastair Cook, Kumar Sangakkara, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Michael Clarke, Shahid Afridi, Morne Morkel, Steven Finn, Lasith Malinga, Saeed Ajmal, Shane Watson (12th man)

His India team-mates, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, are also in, with Alastair Cook, Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Clarke making up the rest of the batting. The bowlers include Morne Morkel, Steven Finn, Lasith Malinga and Saeed Ajmal, with Shahid Afridi filling the allrounder’s spot. Shane Watson was named 12th man.Cook, Sangakkara, Clarke and Ajmal were also named in the ICC’s Test Team of the Year for 2011-12. It is the first time that Ajmal, Kohli and Finn are featuring in the one-day team.Several South African batsmen who are near the top of the ODI rankings – such as Hashim Amla (currently No. 1) and AB de Villiers (No. 3) – are likely to have missed out because South Africa played very few ODIs between August 4, 2011 and August 6, 2012, the assessment period for picking the team.*The team was announced on the eve of the ICC’s annual awards function that will be held in Colombo on Saturday. It was picked by a panel consisting of former players: West Indies batsmen Clive Lloyd and Carl Hooper, Sri Lanka opener Marvan Attapatu, Australia allrounder Tom Moody and England Women’s captain Clare Connor. The same panel had picked the Test Team of the Year last month.Lloyd, who was the chairman of the selection panel, said: “This team, along with the Test Team of the Year was extremely difficult to decide upon. We feel the side has strength to bat well down the order, while also having a good variety for any type of conditions when it comes to its bowling attack.”Dave Richardson, the ICC’s chief executive, emphasised the team’s strength. “I think we can safely say that this is one of the strongest ODI Team of the Year selections ever in the awards history,” Richardson said.* September 14 17.20GMT: This story has been updated to include details on South Africa’s batsmen

England allrounder Luke Wright struck a half-century as the Sussex defeated the Northamptonshire by 12 runs in a low-scoring encounter

20-May-2012
ScorecardEngland allrounder Luke Wright struck a half-century as the Sussex defeated the Northamptonshire by 12 runs in a low-scoring encounter in the Clydesdale Bank 40.Sussex were bowled out for 180 inside 36 overs with Lee Daggett taking 4 for 31 and Wright, who was playing his first match of the season after IPL duties and illness, top-scoring by blasting 59 off 57 balls. Despite David Sales’ 51 off 70 deliveries, Northamptonshire fell short of their meagre target as they were limited to 168 for 7, Will Beer claiming 2 for 21.Sussex won the toss and chose to bat and lost Ireland batsman Ed Joyce for 23 when he missed his attempted sweep off James Middlebrook and the ball went on to hit his leg stump. This broke an opening stand of 73 with Wright and Matt Machan then faced five balls without scoring before he edged Daggett to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy.Three deliveries later, former Zimbabwe international Murray Goodwin followed him back to the pavilion when he edged Daggett to Sales at slip. Wright went on to complete an explosive half-century off just 44 balls but Joe Gatting made only four before being bowled by Con de Lange.Wright then perished when he launched Middlebrook to David Willey at long on before Sharks wicketkeeper Ben Brown was trapped lbw by de Lange after plundering 20. Beer was the next to fall when he was caught and bowled by de Lange before Lee Daggett’s delivery careered into Sussex captain Michael Yardy’s off stump after he had reached 39.Daggett then pinned Amjad Khan lbw before Northants skipper Andrew Hall brought the innings to an end when England spinner Monty Panesar chipped him to Daggett at mid-off.Chasing 181, the the home side lost Willey in the third over when he was bowled by Yardy and Kyle Coetzer followed for the same score when his off stump was taken out by Wright.Opener Stephens Peters looked well set on 39 but he threw his wicket away when he smashed ex-Northants man Panesar to Machan at long off. Sales hung around to reach 50 off 67 balls but he soon fell when he was caught leg before by Beer after missing his sweep shot and Middlebrook departed with the very next ball by chipping Beer to Joyce at midwicket.Rob White was dismissed for 29 in the penultimate over when he launched Chris Liddle high into the air and was taken by Brown before Hall hammered the same bowler to Beer at deep midwicket.

Graham Onions removed Andrew Strauss for a duck but Neil Dexter led a Middlesex fightback at Lord’s

Jon Culley at Lord's20-Apr-2012
ScorecardGraham Onions made the most of helpful conditions•Getty Images

Naturally, the focus of most attention here was Andrew Strauss, a captain in need of runs, even in his own analysis. Yet his failure overshadowed the success of the other captain who finds himself in the same rocky boat.Unlike Strauss, Neil Dexter was not out second ball. Indeed he was not out at all, even though he had some luck, and to be unbeaten on 65 at the end of a perilous, if abbreviated day for batting was as much a triumph of note as Strauss’s short innings was a headline-making misfortune.Given that the England captain appeared and disappeared while many in the ground were not settled in their vantage points, the details need not be lingered over for long. As Graham Onions steamed in with intent from the Pavilion End he shouldered arms to the first ball, wisely enough, but the second gave him no such option, swinging in the air and then nipping back off the pitch to beat the left-hander’s tentative push and connect with the top part of off stump.It doesn’t matter that much for Strauss. Weather permitting, he will have five more chances to score some Championship runs before the first Test against the West Indies. It would be a surprise if he did not make the most of one of them at least, but you suspect in any event that he would need to register six noughts for the possibility of dropping him even to be considered.It might matter more for Onions, who is anxious to make it as difficult as possible for the England selectors to ignore him, even though it would probably take an injury to one of the incumbents for him to win back his place. Under the watchful eye of David Saker, the England bowling coach, he took the wickets of Joe Denly and Dawid Malan as well as Strauss.He places himself at about sixth in the pecking order currently, having gone to the UAE as cover for the Pakistan series. “But fast bowlers get injured, they can struggle for fitness and form as well so I just have to make sure I’m ready and bowling as well as I can,” he said. “I ran in quite nicely today and it was fun, I enjoyed it.”Onions, who took five wickets here on his Test debut in 2009, against the West Indies, might still be in command of a place but for the career-threatening back injury he suffered the following year. He stresses, however, that there is no lasting weakness. “I’ve been bowling for the last 18 months and I don’t think about it,” he said.He admitted that it was a helpful pitch but the ball that did for Strauss would have been a peach on any conditions. “It was a decent ball,” he admitted. “It swung a little and nipped back. Andrew is a great player and it was good for me and the team to get him out so early.”Worse was to follow for the home side. Denly was lured to play at a ball that left him at the end of Onions’s third over, edging to first slip, and from the first ball of the next, from Callum Thorp, Sam Robson unwisely went after a widish delivery and nicked to second, at which point Middlesex were 2 for 3.Mitch Claydon dismissed Chris Rogers, the temporary captain, with his first ball at the Pavilion End as Onions took a breather, further reducing them to 28 for 4.Rogers has the reins for the moment because Dexter, with single figure scores in seven Championship innings before this one, wants to focus on his batting without the distractions of captaincy, for which reason he will sleep much more easily.Conditions never became much easier, even in the brief sunny interludes, but after a scratchy start, during which he probably should have been out for 4 when Thorp, in the gully, failed to cling on to a chance off Ben Stokes, he even began to play some shots and even look confident.There was another chance, on 20, when Stokes, at backward point, got a hand to a hard outside edge off Claydon, but it would have been a very good catch and the luck, on that occasion, was deserved.When he reached 50 it was for the first time in the Championship since May last year. He lost a partner when Onions produced another gem to find the edge of Malan’s bat, but their partnership added 55 for the fourth wicket and another 49 have gone on to the total since, with John Simpson steady at one end as Dexter raised his boundary count to 13.The weather may preclude a result in the end but any score above 200 for Middlesex will help team morale, even though it may leave Strauss alone with his thoughts.