Australia faced only 558 deliveries in losing the Hobart Test to South Africa, their fourth-lowest tally ever in Tests they have lost at home. Here is a closer look at their five worst.

Brydon Coverdale15-Nov-2016360 balls
1904 v England, MCG
Monty Noble’s Australians were bowled out for 122 and 111 in this match, in which England’s Wilfred Rhodes not only took 15 wickets but had a further eight catches dropped off his bowling. But these were the days of uncovered pitches, and ‘s report made clear that the weather was responsible for this outcome: “The significance of the [England] win, however, was altogether discounted by the fact that before the Australians had any chance of batting, rain had ruined the pitch.”429 balls
1888 v England, SCG
Again, this was a match – and a pitch – badly affected by rain. Australia were dismissed for 42 in the first innings and 82 in the second, with England bowlers George Lohmann and Bobby Peel proving impossible to handle in the conditions.457 balls
1928 v England, Brisbane Exhibition Ground
England won this Test by the monumental margin of 675 runs, though Australia lost both Jack Gregory and Charles Kelleway mid-match to injury and illness. The match was also notable for being Don Bradman’s Test debut, reported, “nearly everyone who joined him hitting out wildly immediately on going in.”558 balls
2016 v South Africa, Bellerive Oval
Australia could not use uncovered pitches or mid-match injuries as an excuse here. Outplayed in every way by South Africa, the Australians simply lacked the ability to handle the swinging and seaming balls delivered by Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander. Skittled for 85 and then 161, it consigned Australia to a third consecutive home series loss to South Africa.611 balls
1984 v West Indies, WACA
On the list of excuses for poor batting, there have been few more understandable in recent decades than facing Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Courtney Walsh at the WACA. Pre-match rain left the pitch “under-prepared and unpredictable”, in the words of . Little wonder, then, that Australia were rolled for 76 and 228. Still, it took only one more Test for Australia’s captain, Kim Hughes, to resign in tears.

Reliving the final day of Chennai 2008, when Sachin Tendulkar piloted a record-breaking chase against England

Samarth Shah15-Dec-20162:05

Flashback: Sehwag, Tendulkar script memorable win in Chennai

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
I’d flown to India a mere seven hours before play began on the final day of the Chennai Test, so I was late getting to the ground. It didn’t help that my ride dropped me on Bells Road, diametrically opposite to the entrance of my stand on Victoria Hostel Road. I told security I could run from third man to long-on faster than Monty Panesar could get from third man to deep point, but they didn’t let me through.So I ran around via Wallajah Road, pausing once to take in the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, were being turned away from the cheap seats (F, G stands) because they were full. Young people, perhaps school and college students, who had taken the Monday off, but couldn’t afford the more expensive seats; fathers with young kids, perhaps going to their first Test day. And then I got to my stand: the TNCA pavilion, the most expensive seats in the house, tickets either complimentary, or given to season-pass holders, or to corporates.The stand was less than half full when I got in, and I even passed an empty seat with the name “AC Muthaiah” scrawled on it. I had an entire row to myself, although the stand was rapidly filling up, and by the end of the day would be about 60% full. The sight of young fans being turned away from what promised to be an exciting day of cricket was disappointing.Rahul Dravid fell in the third over of the day. In his defence, the delivery, from Andrew Flintoff, was one of very few that day that did something in the air.Then Sachin Tendulkar entered to warm applause. The crowd was still growing at this point, and the batsmen who walked in later got more raucous welcomes, actually. The welcome Yuvraj Singh got, given his fickle Test career and the nervous situation he was walking into, made me think, “Oh, the ODI and T20 fans are in the house now.”Tendulkar’s go-to shot on the day was the paddle sweep•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCITendulkar was off the mark immediately, and middling it well. A fellow chatting on his mobile took a spot in the row I’d owned up to that point. ” [“leader” in Tamil] seems solid, although I’ve just gotten in,” he said. He was evidently trying to convince someone to abandon their Monday plans and come to the cricket. Tendulkar was often accused of not coming through when the chips were down, but it’s amazing that over and over again, when they were down, there was always great expectations from him. It’s almost as if people were expecting lightning to strike them every time there was a storm.At this stage Flintoff was bowling superbly, making the ball move subtly off the seam in both directions. Graeme Swann was spot on. Panesar started with a five-run over, followed by some very quiet ones. He was bowling flat, but I thought it was part of the plan. England wanted to stopper India while probing for a breakthrough. That had been their successful game plan on day five in Mumbai in March 2006. At this point, England were doing everything right and India already faced a stiff ask.The plan began to unravel when James Anderson replaced Flintoff, and Panesar went over the wicket. Anderson’s modus operandi all day was to mix up very short and very full deliveries. He hardly bowled the three-quarter length. He was also the slowest of the three England pacers. Perhaps that was his interpretation of the team’s tactics: bowl short to restrict the batsman, and throw in the occasional full delivery looking for a wicket.Just when the pressure was beginning to ease on India, Gautam Gambhir fell while chasing a wider delivery from Anderson.Panesar’s strategy of going over the wicket was hard to understand – was he trying to attack by ripping the ball out of the rough, or stifle the scoring through a negative line? As it turned out, he was very inaccurate. In trying to hit the rough, he overpitched once or twice every over, bringing the paddle sweep into play. For much of his spell, the fielder at short fine leg was Steve Harmison, and India could get a run even if they hit it straight to him at normal pace.A couple of times, Panesar pitched it too short and got punished for it. His bowling was, for me, the second biggest disappointment of the day since he was the only bowler who was welcomed to the bowling crease with a cheer from the crowd. Even Flintoff’s spells were only getting excited murmurs.After a nervous start, Yuvraj Singh started to hit them hard•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCITendulkar paddle-swept Swann and Panesar for fours, and upper-cut Anderson over slips to the boundary in a fine and dandy exhibition of improvisation, but if I ranked the top six rousing shots of the day, not a single one of Tendulkar’s would make the list.VVS Laxman got off the mark in the first over he faced, but then appeared to have retreated into a shell. I remember Tendulkar walking up to him mid-over and motioning with his arms, perhaps exhorting him to play freely. Laxman responded in the most scintillating manner. First, he stood tall and, without much foot movement, freed his arms to send an Anderson delivery racing through the covers. Then he drove Panesar inside out past mid-off. Shortly before lunch, Laxman drove Flintoff just to the leg side of the bowler’s end stumps for another boundary that brought the crowd to its feet. Each of those strokes, along with a couple of punches down the ground by Yuvraj off the back foot, would make my list of top shots.Laxman was looking comfortable when, in the fourth over after lunch, he was caught at forward short leg by Ian Bell off Swann. The ball had turned and bounced more than he had expected it to, just minutes after Tendulkar had found it keeping perilously low at the other end. The ghosts of Mumbai 2006 were resurfacing. In that match as well, the wicket had appeared very negotiable before lunch on day five, only to seem unplayable later on.Yuvraj struggled right from the start. I saw Cook hand his box to Flintoff (yeah!), who then replaced him at silly point in order to give Yuvraj some verbals. There was one beauty from Swann that turned past Yuvraj’s outside edge, with the batsman groping down the wrong line.A more frightening delivery, from the crowd’s perspective, was one from Swann that popped up off the same length and was taken by a leaping Matt Prior over his shoulder. The thing about that delivery was that Yuvraj, not yet in double figures, had attempted to violently sweep it across from off stump and ended up misjudging the bounce by a foot. Although I was generally apprehensive all day, at that point I felt like India were standing on the precipice of defeat.Will it? Won’t it?•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCIMeanwhile, Harmison got his first bowl of the day, and thought he had Tendulkar lbw on 49, but umpire Daryl Harper didn’t agree. That was Tendulkar’s last mistake of the day. He spent eight nervous deliveries on 49, and when he finally reached his 50, there was a mass exodus from my stand towards the restrooms.Yuvraj gained a semblance of confidence, beginning with successive boundaries off Swann: a mere push through cover off the back foot followed by another violent sweep, this time making perfect contact.The first shot was one of the best shots of the day in my book, and the latter perhaps the hardest hit boundary of the day.Yuvraj continued to pepper the extra-cover/mid-off boundary off either foot against the spinners and the pacers. I think some of those boundaries could have been saved if someone other than Pietersen had been at mid-off. I assumed his injury was troubling him, because, at the time, he seemed to be in the Panesar-Harmison league of fielding.England were really hampered by the fact that they were carrying at least three very weak fielders, two of whom were, at various times, stationed at very important positions. Their best two fielders were Flintoff and Anderson, who drew applause virtually every time they fielded the ball.Tea came with Yuvraj looking comfortable and Tendulkar solid. I walked to the front of the stand, tried to lean over the balcony and peer into the dressing room, only to be motioned away by a commando with the butt of his automatic rifle.After tea, Yuvraj went from strength to strength. Tendulkar later said he tried to keep Yuvraj focused, even alluding to the chase against Pakistan in 1999. But it actually looked like it was Tendulkar who lost concentration or was overcome by fatigue once or twice.The new ball arrived with India needing 67 to win.I had seen a lot of Tendulkar’s batting for about 19 years at that point, and, to me, the biggest contrast from his heyday was the relative lack of dominance. I wondered what percentage of century partnerships he had dominated in the last five years. In his peak, if he timed it well, the ball went for four runs. That was not a given anymore. This was evident in his partnership with Yuvraj and Laxman. If those two middled it, the ball went for four. When Yuvraj lay back and nonchalantly swished a pull off Monty, the ball disappeared miles into the stands. When Tendulkar pulled Panesar with all his might (so hard he nearly lost his balance), the ball dropped ten yards short of the fence. Shortly before tea, he wound up a big back swing and slog-swept Swann over mid-on. The ball dropped to the ground and gently bobbled over the ropes.Perhaps he didn’t time it well, but the point I’m making is that a batsman who can reach the boundary at will draws a certain awe from the bowler. Think Viv Richards, who could mistime the ball and send it soaring over the ropes. At that point, Tendulkar couldn’t hit boundaries at will. He didn’t have that physical ability anymore. His best-executed, best-timed shots were not guaranteed to reach the boundary. I think he realised he could not dominate the bowling because of this and completely changed his approach to batting, becoming instead an accumulator.As India’s target fell to less than 50 runs away, with six wickets in hand, victory appeared a foregone conclusion, and in fact, so too did Tendulkar’s century.But we knew that if India lost two quick wickets, England would have the upper hand. And we knew that Yuvraj was outscoring Tendulkar by a long way and could well deny him his hundred.But once Tendulkar emerged from his post-tea loss of concentration, the entire crowd realised that it was his moment of destiny. India would win and Tendulkar would get his hundred.True enough, he raced to 96 with a couple of boundaries off Panesar: the inevitable paddle sweep, and, finally, an orthodox cover drive. The atmosphere in the ground was more charged than it had been all day. The cheers, chants, and bugles were making such a din, you couldn’t hear yourself think. In my stand, a couple of middle-aged gentlemen were standing, swaying, bobbing, and leading the cheering with whistles and hoots, while three rows of youngsters provided the chorus.Yuvraj already knew it was going to be a boundary•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCIYuvraj backed off. He patted a couple of harmless deliveries back down the pitch. The moment finally arrived off Swann’s bowling. The moment some were too afraid to contemplate that morning for fear of another disappointment.Tendulkar was on 99, India a mere four runs away from a memorable win. The instrument had to be the paddle sweep. Everyone around me stood up, raised their hands and applauded.Yuvraj was the first to anticipate the boundary and the first to comprehend the moment, leaping in the air halfway through the run. Tendulkar leapt in joy after turning around for the second. They met mid-pitch and Yuvraj lifted Tendulkar in the air.We all moved towards the front of the stand for the presentation. Pietersen was the only English player at the ceremony, accompanied by a few commandos. Curiously, a couple of the lesser-known English players were, at the time, wandering about the outfield without any security. But our focus was on the podium. Since I couldn’t hear the player interviews, the only point of interest for me was the Man-of-the-Match award.I thought Strauss would get it for his two centuries, but Virender Sehwag was probably also a good choice. I hadn’t watched any play on day four but those in the crowd who had were in no doubt whatsoever that Sehwag was the one who had completely turned the game around. There was one fellow who said a little after tea that he had the greatest regard for Tendulkar, that he was batting brilliantly, but irrespective of how much he scored on the final day, his knock would only be the second-best of the innings. Their thoughts were reflected during the presentation.

The duel between Adil Rashid and M Vijay was set up to be a tantalising one – but one blow for six tipped things India’s way

Sidharth Monga in Mumbai09-Dec-20162:12

Ganguly: Have always believed in Vijay

M Vijay has an idiosyncratic rhythm to his batting. The closest parallel is Misbah-ul-Haq. They both block, block, block, leave, leave, leave with intense concentration, then suddenly, for no rhyme or reason apparent to outsiders, loft a spinner to find release. This was evident in how Vijay hit four sixes during his hundred in Rajkot, even though his strike rate was under 42. Only two India openers have hit more sixes than M Vijay’s 28: Virender Sehwag and Navjot Sidhu. Twenty-seven of Vijay’s 28 sixes have been hit off spinners, and mostly to find himself release after intense concentration doing a rare job in Test cricket today, that of a defensive batsman.Vijay’s 27th six, though, was not as out of the blue as most of his other hits over the fence. You could sense there was a plan to what Vijay was doing. This was part of a fascinating spell of play in the Mumbai Test. This was finally a pitch that turned early, and turned fast, a pitch where the odd one with a batsman’s name on it was sure to arrive. England recognised that. They were certainly not coy about introducing spin: Moeen Ali came on in the eighth over, Adil Rashid in the ninth. They had 400 on the board, and were now going to test India.The way KL Rahul and Vijay started against spin, you knew they were going to take early risks to unsettle them. This was the first Test of the series that England were playing with just two spinners. India knew if they could hit even one of them out of his rhythm or out of the attack they would make big strides towards cancelling the disadvantage of losing the toss on this pitch. Vijay charged out at the second ball he faced from Moeen, Rahul went over mid-off to welcome Rashid. Surely these runs shouldn’t rattle you when you have 400 in the bank?They didn’t. England and their spinners stuck to their guns. This was a strategy fraught with risk, but India didn’t mind it. Even if it meant Rahul was bowled through the gate when driving Moeen against the turn. It didn’t stop Vijay from taking uncharacteristic risks against spin.Two balls after Rahul had been bowled, Vijay tried to hit Rashid over mid-off. The ball was full, but there was a puff of dust, and the miscue barely cleared the fielder running back. This was Rashid’s fourth over, and he had settled into a rhythm now. The ball was drifting, and there was turn. He beat Vijay with one that ripped across him in the same over. The pace was right, and the batsman was edgy. This was a high-strung spell of play. A pull here or there, and it could break. On the surface, the batsman had so much more to lose – but did England have enough confidence in their spinners?Rashid came back for his fifth over with Vijay on 18 off 50. Cheteshwar Pujara had just come in to bat. Vijay again tried to unsettle Rashid. It was clear Vijay was now playing on length. He certainly didn’t want to fall to a ball with his name on it. Anything in his driving arc was going to go. The second ball of this over was full. Mid-off was slightly deeper than mid-on. Vijay went. Mishit again. Alastair Cook ran back from mid-on, but was lobbed.M Vijay freed his arms up to hit over the top against spin•AFPHow would Cook react? Would mid-on go back? The mid-on stayed. The temptation was not taken away. Perhaps this was the result of 400 runs on the board. In Rajkot, Rashid had taken Vijay with a wrong’un. Through the series, Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane had been playing the wrong’un off the pitch. Even here, Rashid tried the googly first up, and Vijay again read it off the pitch. With the fourth ball of this over, Rashid tried the wrong’un. This was also full.This was a big moment. Vijay seemed to have sorted that weakness out or perhaps he just swung hard because it was full and went over mid-on because that fielder was closer. Whatever might have happened, this ball went for a flat six into the sight screen. The gauntlet had been thrown. The leading wicket-taker of the series before the start of this match had just been hit away emphatically, albeit after a few overs of uncertain batting. The tea break was 20 minutes away, Rashid’s figures read 5-0-24-0 but six off them were off edges. The last two overs had gone for 12. Vijay had scored 13 off 20 Rashid deliveries, and had possibly started picking the wrong’un.India were still 345 behind. The pitch had plenty in it. Cook’s response was going to be fascinating. There were two options. One, give Rashid more bowling, at least until tea, and see if he can make the progression from mishits to a wicket. The other option was more orthodox, and more Cook-like: ask the quicks to hold one end up in four-over spells, and attack with spin from the other end.Cook did what Cook does. As a spectator you felt cheated at being denied an extended contest between a spinner who had just started to find himself and an opening batsman coming back from a mid-series slump. Most of cricket, though, is played not for spectators but to win. Cook felt this was the way to victory. He is fixated with control, and he possibly felt Rashid – 5-0-24-0, remember? – could lose him that control. Off went Rashid and for close to two hours after that England operated with pace at one end.By the end of the day, England had endured the first wicketless session in a Test being played on a turner. England are not yet out it – they are still 254 ahead and there can be collapses on this pitch – but you could see from Parthiv Patel’s interview at the end of the day that India were now feeling confident. Rashid never found that rhythm again, especially with a change of ends. Jos Buttler said they didn’t look back at that bowling change with regret, and that they backed the captain’s decision. If England squander this golden opportunity to make a comeback into the series, they will possibly look at those 20 minutes before tea differently.

Sri Lankan cricket rarely fails to be in crisis, but of the current issues, the No.3 position appears the most contentious. We look at a few long-term candidates

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Dec-2016Kusal PereraTest record: 565 runs at average of 31.38
Record at No. 3: 244 runs at 30.50The incumbent. The short-arm jabbing, strong forearm-heaving, barnstorming, non-doping, mass aneurism giver. In Perera’s defence, in 2016 he has gone through an ordeal few sportsmen will ever have to experience and is doing a fine job of moving on. However, he does not always seem to trust his defence, which is odd, since there is nothing outrageously wrong with it.Perera has also made the mistake of playing two of the worst shots of his career in the single Test. This has been particularly irksome on account of his being a wildly unorthodox Test match No. 3. His average there is boosted by a century against Zimbabwe, which, in addition, does not convince many that he deserves more time in the job.If ever he succeeds in the position, however, he is capable of ravishing attacks early in the game, and wresting momentum for Sri Lanka before the more stable middle-order players arrive.Upul Tharanga has plenty of ODI hundreds…•Associated PressUpul TharangaTest record: 1324 runs at 33.10
Record at No. 3: 94 runs at 47.00.Few players are as divisive in Sri Lanka cricket fandom as Tharanga. For the acolytes, he is the laidback, whippet-thin messiah with a back cut that elicits squeals and a cover drive so glorious you will wet yourself. Tharanga detractors, meanwhile, will moan loud and long that instead of a normal cricket bat, Tharanga uses a metre-long, 1.5kg outside edge.He has, however, largely been ineffective on major tours. In Bangladesh and Zimbabwe Tharanga has a monstrous record, but he averages less than 25 in England, New Zealand, India and Sri Lanka.There is a good argument that many of those innings were played so long ago, they are no longer indicative of Tharanga’s value to the team. The sample sizes are also mostly small. To add to this there is the matter of Tharanga’s 13 ODI hundreds, which if you ever meet a Tharanga fan, trust me, you will never hear the end of.Is it too soon to move Dhananjaya de Silva up the order?•AFPDhananjaya de SilvaTest record: 615 runs at 55.90
Never batted at No. 3So comfortable has de Silva looked at the top level since his debut, that ideally, Sri Lanka would have him batting in positions one through seven. As this is not possible the question Sri Lanka must answer is whether to leave de Silva low in the order, where he is scoring screeds of runs, or to push him up to where the team needs him before he has even played his 10th Test.De Silva is, by trade, an opening batsman for his first-class team – Tamil Union. While this suggests he is capable of facing the new ball, and new-ball bowlers, Sri Lanka’s Premier League Tournament is where seam bowling goes to die. The fourteen top wicket-takers last season, for example, were all spinners. (There have been attempts to re-lay some pitches, but instead of improving their quality, groundstaff just end up unearthing skeletons of old quicks).De Silva, does, however, appear to have a good technique against pace, as evidenced in his handling of Mitchell Starc, even if that was on dusty Sri Lankan tracks.The major potential drawback of sending him up the order, though, is that you risk the development of a player that is coming along beautifully as a lower middle-order bat. He is also sometimes called upon to bowl, so management will be wary of loading him with too much responsibility.Kusal Mendis has settled at No. 4 but he may have to take on more responsibility even at a young age•AFPKusal MendisTest record: 772 runs at 33.56
Record at No. 3: 216 runs at 24Mendis actually began his career at first-drop, he was pushed down to No. 4 almost by accident against Australia at Pallekele, and played so beautifully there, no one has wanted to move him. Like with Dhananjaya, it’s the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” argument that contends Mendis should be allowed to continue at four, where his average is 45.22.He does appear to have the tools and temperament to be a good No. 3 however, even if there has been a tendency to nick off while driving in recent months.Roshen Silva has an outstanding first-class record, although that doesn’t always mean much in Sri Lanka•Getty ImagesRoshen SilvaFirst-class record: 5964 runs at 50.11The only player in the list who hasn’t played Tests, Silva has been one of the most consistent first-class performers over the past few years. Coaches rate his technique highly, and as importantly, suggest he has the temperament to see out tough situations.He has been in form in recent months but, also, has suggested he can bat on seaming pitches. He was the top scorer in Sri Lanka A’s unofficial Test series against Pakistan A in England in 2016, with 162 runs at 40.50.Silva was in the Sri Lanka squad for the Australia series, but has not been picked since. If the No. 3 spot continues to be a problem over the next two Tests, they may consider him for the Bangladesh series in March.It’s been three years since Niroshan Dickwella had a taste of Test cricket•Getty ImagesNiroshan DickwellaTest record: 144 runs at 20.57
Never batted at No. 3An aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, Dickwella hasn’t played Tests since December 2014, but has recently been scoring heavily in the opening position for Nondescripts Cricket Club. Was picked in the Zimbabwe Test squad in October, but probably sits behind Silva in the batting queue.

Aakash Chopra takes a deeper look at the performance of India’s quicks on day three of the Hyderabad Test

Aakash Chopra11-Feb-2017Early reverse-swingIndia’s seamers got the ball to reverse-swing in the 14th over itself. Getting the ball to reverse so early gives a bowling team an extra dimension. Since you need extra pace to make the ball swing late, fresh arms and legs are always of great help. If the ball is really old, it tends to come back in quite sharply while attempts to take it away don’t produce the same result. At the most, the ball holds its line creating the illusion of it going away. But the newer ball moves away easily and India’s seamers, especially Umesh Yadav, used it well.Seam position while the ball is reversingFor orthodox outswing, you point the seam towards first slip and have the shiny side facing midwicket. When it’s reversing, you do exactly the same thing to extract inswing. The seam position and the wrist behind pushes the ball towards off stump and it tails back in only after the ball loses some speed. Also, the batsman gets a little confused with the seam position, for once in a while the ball, especially when it’s not that old, doesn’t move with the shine and goes on straight instead.Where Bangladesh’s seamers’ lengths were on the shorter side…•ESPNcricinfo LtdBangladesh miss, India don’tOn the first day, both Pujara and Vijay were almost stranded at the same end but Bangladesh goofed up an easy run-out chance. There are multiple factors that play a role when a run-out opportunity arises – firstly, you must keep the eyes on the ball to collect cleanly and resist the temptation to look at what the batsmen are doing. You must follow it up with a proper throw by either throwing on the full or ensure that it bounces much before the guy who’s collecting close to the stumps. Last but not the least, the person responsible for collecting the ball and dismantling the stumps should also avoid looking at where the batsman is, for collecting cleanly is the first priority. When Tamim Iqbal ran towards the bowler’s end after a mix-up with Mominul Haque, Umesh’s throw was both fast and accurate and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept his calm while collecting and throwing the stumps down. It looks very simple when it comes off, but the factors involved make it fairly complicated.India’s seamers find the right lengthJust comparing the pitch-maps of fast bowlers from both sides will tell you why there’s a stark difference in the impact they made. Yes, the Indian seamers are more skilled but one of the reasons for that is knowing the right length and staying there. India’s seamers have bowled a lot fuller than the Bangladesh seamers…. India’s quicks focused on bowling full and got the ball to reverse•ESPNcricinfo LtdMushfiqur vs paceMushfiqur Rahim has seen the shine better than any other Bangladesh batsman and therefore he’s looked the most comfortable. He’s also got this unique technique of having an almost non-existent front-foot stride. He makes up for it by waiting for the ball and not going towards it with the hands. Perhaps, there was a case for India’s seamers to have tried to bowl a lot fuller early in his innings.

Plays of the day from the first ODI between India and England in Pune

Alan Gardner15-Jan-2017The review
One less-explored conspiracy theory about MS Dhoni giving up the India limited-overs captaincy is that he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of DRS. India accepted the system for England’s tour, beginning with the Tests, and that made this the first bilateral ODI series in the country to feature reviews. Only one per innings is on offer in this format but Jason Roy was glad for it after being given out lbw by umpire CK Nandan when he had 18 to his name; while the ball was shown to have struck him in line with leg stump, Hawk-Eye projected that it would have missed by a good margin.The review II
Dhoni went on to demonstrate he was plenty au fait with the technology when Eoin Morgan was given not out by Nandan on 28. Dhoni had collected what he recognised was a thin edge off Hardik Pandya’s bowling, Morgan trying to run the ball off the face, and threw the ball up in celebration only to see the umpire unmoved. Pandya had also begun to celebrate and, as Virat Kohli rushed in to consult with his players, Dhoni immediately signalled for the review. Kohli did not hesitate in taking his predecessor’s direction and moments later Nandan was overturning another decision.The direct hit
England had got off to a useful start, mainly thanks to Roy’s aggression. His opening partner, Alex Hales, was content to take his time – but he took a little too much when responding to a call for a second run in the seventh over. Roy had turned the ball towards deep square leg and was intent on coming back for two but Hales stopped momentarily at the striker’s end. That gave Jasprit Bumrah, who had sprinted up from fine leg, the tiniest window through which to defenestrate Hales, who realised the danger but could not beat a direct hit (though a full-length dive might have helped). The stumps were obscured from both sides, by Kohli and umpire Nandan, but the zing bails helped confirm that Hales only had his bat the line, not over.The drop that didn’t matter
Bumrah fared less well delivering the ball over 22 yards and he sent down three high no-balls, the last of which might have cost him the wicket of Ben Stokes – if it had been caught. Swinging for the fences during the death overs, Stokes got a big top edge that flew towards Hardik Pandya coming in from long-off. Pandya left the catch to Kohli running back, which was a much harder take and he dropped it over his head, with Pandya unable to take the rebound either. But the umpire’s outstretched hand told them the effort was for nothing. Bumrah was able to continue bowling, though, as none of the no-balls was considered dangerous by the umpires.The six
England cleared the ropes 11 times in their innings but none had quite the same stamp of authority as Kohli’s first. India were 15 for 1 in the opening Powerplay and Kohli had faced three legitimate deliveries when he skipped out to David Willey and hammered a cross-batted stroke several rows back into the stands at wide long-on. The report of the bat told you how clean the hit was and the noise immediately rose by several decibels as the ball was swallowed by a sea of blue.The six II
Having reached his hundred (with a six), Kohli pulled out an even more extraordinary shot. Chris Woakes might have thought his back-of-a-length slower ball would be difficult to hit – and most batsmen might have settled for a paddled single. Kohli is not most batsmen, however, and he simply drew himself up and extended the arms through a lofted drive over long-on. Never mind playing the shot, it was difficult even to conceive.The silence
KL Rahul had struck one impressive back-foot force off Willey but he was undone in the same over that Kohli had turned the volume up. Stepping out to drive down the ground, he left enough of a gap between bat and pad for Willey to bring the ball in with the angle from round the wicket and flatten middle stump. The stadium fell silent as Willey, who had gone four ODIs without taking a wicket, celebrated his second in as many overs.

For over four decades, the Khimjis have contributed to the game as employers, administrators, cheerleaders and mentors

Peter Della Penna19-May-20175:49

‘We will do everything to move up the ladder’ – Pankaj Khimji

On the final day of the World Cricket League Division Five in Jersey last May, a promotion berth was at stake between Oman and Guernsey, who had a chance to cause an upset.After scratching their way to 141 for 8, Guernsey had reduced Oman to 13 for 4. The tension at the ground was immense as a group of schoolkids on their way to football practice, totally oblivious to cricket etiquette, started walking near the sightscreen, distracting the Oman batsmen at the crease. The bench was stirred up like a hornet’s nest, but a wise board member, standing behind the boundary rope at long-off, knew that any bee can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”Hey kids!” he shouted out while approaching them. “If you want to cross the sightscreen that’s fine, but I need you to do me a favour first. Our boys out there really need your support right now, so on the count of three, I need you to shout, ‘O – MAN! O – MAN!'” The kids giggled at first, then after the next ball was bowled, obliged, following the middle-aged gentleman’s lead. An enthusiastic thank you to the kids followed. The Oman bench grinned at a man who is their friend, father, brother, boss and biggest fan: Pankaj Khimji.

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Over the course of the last decade, Afghanistan have been a shining example of the merit-based value of the World Cricket League structure, vaulting from Division Five in 2008 to Division One by the middle of 2009. For every Afghanistan, though, there has to be a team going in the opposite direction to keep promotion and relegation in balance. Argentina, who were in Division Two in 2007, experienced five straight relegations, eventually being banished back to regional qualifying, the feeder into Division Five.Oman has experienced both sides of the coin. After gaining admission as an Affiliate nation in 2000, they reached the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland, and were again a de facto Division One team, appearing at the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier in South Africa. A series of relegations, concluding with a bottom-two finish at 2014 WCL Division Four, saw them slide all the way back to Division Five.

“Khimji Ramdas is like family for us. We are always connected with them. Whenever we have a problem, they are always ready to help us, especially Pankaj , even at the local league”Oman fast bowler Rajesh Ranpura

Almost at rock-bottom, the side’s stunning resurgence began at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier in Scotland and Ireland, where wins over Afghanistan, Netherlands and Canada preceded a knockout win over Namibia to reach the 2016 World T20. A stunning win over Ireland in Dharamsala helped spark a rejuvenation in 50-over cricket as well, and by the end of the year the team had secured twin promotions from Division Five back into Division Three, now two steps away from getting back into Division One at the 2018 World Cup Qualifier. They have some familiar faces and some new ones to help get them there, but the one constant through all of the ups and downs in the Oman cricket journey has been one name: Khimji.”Cricket in Oman, all credit goes to the Khimji family,” says long-time Oman team manager Jameel Zaidi.The modern era of cricket in Oman began in the 1970s, spearheaded by the enthusiasm of the Khimji patriarch, Kanaksi, a man Zaidi refers to as “the godfather of cricket in Oman”. With the support of the Oman royal family, Oman Cricket was formally established in 1979, with Kanaksi as president and His Highness Sayyid Abbas Bin Faisal as patron-in-chief.Pankaj, Kanaksi’s 55-year-old son, who has been an Oman Cricket board member for more than 20 years and who was also elected to a position on the Asian Cricket Council executive board last year, says the Oman cricket story begins a little bit further back.”My father played school cricket and then played cricket in Oman in the early ’60s, and probably even late ’50s, against the visiting British naval teams when they used to anchor in our harbours and we’d give them a game of cricket,” Pankaj says. “One of our royal highnesses who studied in Africa had played cricket in the schools, so it was quite a passion amongst them.”I can say that the family definitely has played a significant role in developing cricket and making cricket a success story, and I would like to say this with the utmost humility. My father, my uncles, my cousins – we’re all a passionate cricket family.”We used to travel six hours by car to Sharjah to watch – the early days when Sharjah cricket and the Bukhatir league started. People would call us crazy.”It’s a particularly eccentric habit, considering the family seemingly had other more pressing interests to keep them occupied, in the form of the Khimji Ramdas business empire. A fifth-generation company first established in 1870, the company is omnipresent in Oman: from construction and manufacturing to restaurant and car-dealership franchising, supermarkets to shipping, insurance and travel agency divisions, residential and commercial real estate assets as well as schools (including Muscat’s first English language-instruction school, which opened in 1975).The Khimji family’s net worth has been estimated to be around US$900 million as of 2015. Kanaksi is labelled “the world’s only Hindu sheikh”. The honorary title – and citizenship – was bestowed upon the 81-year-old by the Oman royal family as a gesture to recognise the Khimjis’ impact on Omani society. Yet whatever free time the family has available is dedicated mainly to cricket.Pankaj Khimji (left) and his family have put in not only money but also their time and energies to lift Oman up from the bottom rungs of Affiliate cricket•Peter Della Penna”At every tournament, whether it is in Ireland, Jersey, India, [Kanaksi] is always with the team, coming there, supporting the team, taking them to dinner every day and Pankaj has come and joined us also,” Zaidi says. “These are the people who are running the show, absolutely. Their interest and the cricket, which has reached this level, is because of them.”Mashallah, they are corporate guys, they are millionaires, and the only thing is their interest in giving us a lot of things. Whenever we are short of funds, they pour their money in it. They take care of all of us like family members. So the boys have respect for them, and what they have done for cricket is absolutely amazing.”Kanaksi has maintained his role as chairman of Oman Cricket since its inception, a reign approaching 40 years. In some places, a board chief holding on to power for that long might be met with a cynical response. Mostly, though, Kanaksi is respected and admired for his stewardship, and in 2011 the ICC Development Programme gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to cricket in Oman.At the local level that includes the family’s involvement and support for the domestic cricket league, which is centred on a corporate structure. Muscat Cricket Club, a team run by Khimji Ramdas, includes many employees who also play for the national team, among them Swapnil Khadye, Vaibhav Wategaonkar, Munis Ansari, Jatinder Singh and Rajesh Ranpura. Having corporate backing allows them to earn a living while getting flexible work hours to train for the national team.”We are lucky in Oman that all the corporate companies understand what we are doing,” says Ranpura, who works as a production supervisor in a paint manufacturing plant for Khimji Ramdas. “Each corporate company has their own team and they practise in the afternoon. When a national team camp is there, in the morning we are doing fitness training, afternoon we do cricket training, and in the evening we have more training.”Khimji Ramdas is like family for us. I’m playing for him and it’s like a second home for us. We celebrate all the festivals together. We are always connected with them. Whenever we have a problem, they are always ready to help us, especially Pankaj , even at the local league. All the time, he and Kanaksi, whenever they are available, they are on the ground watching 50-over games and T20 games all the time.”The family’s modesty also stands out. A regular fixture at Oman’s various tournament stops around the world, Pankaj is enthusiastic but hardly bombastic in his support for the team from the sidelines. He is quick to deflect attention onto others, especially regarding the team’s resurgence over the last two years, for which he credits current coach and development officer Duleep Mendis.”That brought about a sense of preparation – a regime that made sure the team was always in a state of fitness, whether we are in a playing season or not in a playing season,” Pankaj says. “He kept on identifying the fast-development track players, who was on the out and who was on the swing up. Fitness became a very important role, so we had a few people in Oman who helped in building that.

“My father, my uncles, my cousins – we’re all a passionate cricket family. We used to travel six hours by car to Sharjah to watch – the early days when Sharjah cricket and the Bukhatir league started. People would call us crazy”Pankaj Khimji

“On tours, we had Derek Pringle, Rumesh Ratnayake, Sunil Joshi, who helped the team fine-tune themselves in those aspects of the game. Madhu Jesrani, who has been the secretary of cricket for many years, I think, is the heart and soul of our cricket. He keeps the team involved, he keeps the families involved as well.”Certain infrastructure improvements have also played a major role in Oman’s recent success. For years, cricket in the country was played on artificial wickets, before the inaugural turf wicket opened at Al Amerat, a facility on the south-eastern outskirts of Muscat, in late 2012. A second floodlit turf ground opened up in the same complex in late 2015, and a third ground, with practice facilities, is currently being developed at the site; it is scheduled to open later this year.The new turf wickets allowed Oman to host their first bilateral series, in April, with UAE visiting for three 50-over matches as part of Oman’s preparation for WCL Division Three in Uganda this month. If the third turf-wicket ground opens on schedule and Oman gain promotion to Division Two, they will have the requisite number of grounds to host the event and are expected to make a bid. Pankaj credits the royal family with making land and extra funding available to develop for cricket, both locally and for when the team is touring abroad.”A couple of years ago His Majesty gave us an endowment to develop the infrastructure of cricket in Oman,” Pankaj says. “That’s when we got our green grounds, and we’re now building a clubhouse with an indoor eight-lane practice wicket. Hopefully, by September 2017, we should have our clubhouse and our facility, which we can call the home of cricket in Oman. We got our qualification from the ministry of sports a few years ago, which meant we are now able to receive some funds to develop cricket, especially when we are going on overseas tours.”Another factor that helped them do well abroad was the Khimjis’ MCC connections. In familiar conditions at the 2012 World T20 Qualifier in the UAE, Oman went 0-7, finishing last in their eight-team round-robin group. Kanaksi and Pankaj are MCC members and their relationship with MCC director of cricket John Stephenson led to Derek Pringle coming on board as a key addition to the backroom staff ahead of the 2015 World T20 Qualifier, producing a dramatic reversal of results in alien conditions. Pankaj then helped bring an MCC touring squad to Oman early in 2016 in the build-up to the World T20, and a series of four matches between the sides helped Oman gear up for battle with Ireland.With all this financial and logistical help available, why are Oman’s cricketers still amateurs? Particularly after achieving T20I status in 2015, shouldn’t the board be arranging more fixtures and making efforts to turn players professional, especially as they approach this month’s WCL Division Three tournament in Uganda with an eye toward reaching the 2018 World Cup Qualifier and Division One status once more? The answer is not so simple, considering that the overwhelming majority of Omani players are Indian and Pakistani expats whose local residency is based on the work visas sponsored by their corporate employers.Oman celebrate their win over Ireland in the 2016 World T20•ICC/Getty Images”The ICC doesn’t organise bilaterals, and it’s not cheap,” Pankaj says. “There’s a cost and you must realise that most of our players are amateur players and they have work to do. It’s unfair for us to keep going back to their sponsors and employers to say, ‘Free them up.’ They might as well not work.”The government of Oman are already supporting us with infrastructure. Having two tournaments [a year] is good for Oman for the next couple of years so that we can focus on our own domestic cricket.”As a consequence, the daily grind is taxing, to say the least. For most players in the national squad, days start at 5am, with a two-hour session, before they head home to shower and be at work by 9am. Some can get away for another 90 minutes during a 1:30pm lunch break before going back to work and then coming back in the evening for another session. It means little time is left for family or social endeavours. But players like Ranpura don’t seem to mind, especially when they see someone like Pankaj standing by their side.”Pankaj sir is always there for us,” Ranpura says. “Whenever we require, he is with us. I’m working under him in the same company. Basically he is like a morale booster for our team.”

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After the scare early in their chase against Guernsey, vice-captain Aamir Kaleem bailed the side out by scoring a calm 35 before Khadye saw Oman over the line with an unbeaten 33, guaranteeing Oman promotion to Division Four. As Khadye walked off the field, the youth football practice on the adjacent portion of the FB Fields complex was let out and the same group of kids had begun making their way past the sightscreen again. Seeing the Oman players about to greet Khadye, the kids spontaneously began shouting “O – MAN! O – MAN!” once again.The players laughed and cheered back, clapping to show their appreciation, but nobody was more thrilled than Pankaj Khimji. The multi-millionaire missionary’s family zeal to proselytise for cricket in Oman knows no bounds. His countrymen are hoping such efforts will garner a few more disciples this month, when the team are in Uganda for WCL Division Three on their crusade back toward the top flight of Associate cricket.

Recent history favours India in the Champions Trophy final, but Pakistan’s fast bowlers have shown an impressive return to form

S Rajesh17-Jun-2017India dominant at world events13-2 India’s win-loss record in ICC world events against Pakistan (including the bowl-out win against Pakistan in the 2007 World T20). In ICC ODI tournaments, India are 8-2 ahead, while they are 5-0 up in World T20s. Pakistan’s two wins, though, came in Champions Trophy matches, in 2004 and 2009. Since that 2009 win, though, Pakistan have lost seven in a row. Pakistan still have a substantial 72-52 lead overall in ODIs, but at global events, India have had a distinct advantage.2-0 India’s record in the finals of global tournaments against Pakistan. The 2007 World T20, in which India sneaked through by five runs in the final, was an ICC event, but there was a non-ICC tournament in 1985 – the World Championship of Cricket – which India won by beating Pakistan by eight wickets in the final. In both these tournaments, India beat Pakistan in the group stages as well.4 Number of times India have reached the Champions Trophy final, the most for any team. They lost to New Zealand in 2000, shared the trophy with Sri Lanka in 2002, and beat England in the final in 2013. Pakistan have reached the Champions Trophy final for the first time.34-7 India’s win-loss record in ICC world events since the start of 2011, easily the best among all teams during this period. The next best win-loss ratio is New Zealand’s 21-12. India have won two tournaments during this period – the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.India’s batting against Pakistan’s bowlingIndia’s batsmen have been in top form in this tournament, but so have Pakistan’s fast bowlers•ESPNcricinfo Ltd91.5 India’s batting average in the 2017 Champions Trophy, easily the best among all teams. They have scored 1098 runs in the tournament at a run rate of 6.23, both of which are also the best in the tournament.31 Wickets for Pakistan, the most by a team in the 2017 Champions Trophy. Their average of 31.77 is second (after Australia), as is their economy rate of 4.99, after South Africa.Pakistan’s pace and middle-overs edgePakistan’s bowlers have responded superbly after the heavy defeat against India•ESPNcricinfo Ltd23.78 Pakistan’s bowling average in their last three matches, after conceding 319 for 3 against India in their opening game. In their last three matches, they have taken 28 wickets and their economy rate has dropped to 4.46, after they had leaked 6.64 runs per over against India.19 Wickets for India in the middle overs (10.1 to 40) in this tournament, the most by any team; Pakistan are next with 18. However, in terms of averages and economy rates, Pakistan are the best bowling team in these overs, conceding only 29.33 runs per wicket and 4.4 runs per over. India have the best strike rate during this phase, but are second in terms of average, and third in economy rates.
Pakistan’s middle-overs bowling has been the biggest area of improvement in this tournament: in the period between the 2015 World Cup and this tournament, they averaged 56.67 runs per wicket in this phase in matches against the top-eight teams, which was the worst among these teams. Wahab Riaz’s absence in the last three matches has probably been a blessing in this aspect of their bowling: in the period between the World Cup and this Champions Trophy, he had figures of 1 for 393 in 80 overs, during the middle phase against the top teams.17.76 The bowling average for Pakistan’s seamers during the middle overs: they have taken 13 wickets during this phase and conceded only 4.2 runs per over. Indian seamers have taken seven wickets at an average of 41.42 and an economy rate of 5.3. In the first ten overs, though, Pakistan’s seamers have struggled for wickets, taking only two at an average of 76.50. Overall, Pakistan’s pace attack has taken 23 wickets to India’s 16.

First 10 oversMiddle oversLast 10 oversTeamAveERAveERAveERPakistan76.505.1017.764.2028.256.84India41.754.2841.425.3026.406.23India’s terrific top threeIndia’s top three have given no chance to opposition bowlers•ESPNcricinfo Ltd874 Runs scored by India’s top three batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan has 317, Rohit Sharma 304, and Virat Kohli 253. This is easily the highest tally by the top three of any team in this tournament – England’s 483 is the next highest, while Pakistan’s aggregate is 406. India’s top two wickets have put together four century stands, which is as many as the top two wickets of all other teams have managed in all.81.4 Percentage of India’s runs, off the bat, scored by Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli. They have faced 85.8% of all deliveries faced by Indian batsmen (909 out of 1060). The other Indian batsmen have faced only 151 balls in all, but have done well in the limited opportunity, scoring 200 runs at a strike rate of 132.45. Pakistan’s top three have scored 59.3 % of their team’s bat runs.The Kohli and Shoaib Malik factors5 Man-of-the-Match awards for Kohli in only 17 matches against Pakistan, across formats. Only two Indians – Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar – have won more such awards across formats against Pakistan, while MS Dhoni also has five, but from 45 matches. Kohli averages 96 in wins against them, and 7.20 in defeats.3 Instances of Junaid Khan having dismissed Kohli in ODIs. Kohli has scored only two runs off him in 22 balls, giving him an average of 0.66, and a strike rate of 9.09.1649 Shoaib Malik’s ODI aggregate against India, at an average of 48.50, and a strike rate of 89.57. India are clearly his favourite ODI opponents: almost a quarter of his ODI runs, as well as four of his nine hundreds and his highest ODI score, have all come against India. Since January 2000, no Pakistan batsman has scored more ODI runs against India than Shoaib Malik.

Keaton Jennings doesn’t review a howler and Ballance reviews when he’s plumb

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2017Jennings and Ballance miss a howler
Early in his innings, Keaton Jennings seemed to have trouble judging where his off stump was. And it was soon clear he was not sure where his leg stump was either. Vernon Philander struck him on the pads in the sixth over, but the ball looked to have landed outside leg. Umpire S Ravi didn’t seem to think so and gave it out. You can understand Jennings, playing his third Test, being reluctant to take a review so early in the innings, but it was surprising that Gary Ballance, at the other end, also seemed to have missed where the ball had pitched. The review showed that not only had the ball not pitched in line, it was going down leg too.ESPNcricinfo LtdBallance is plumb but defiant
It seemed from Jennings’ reluctance that England had decided to be conservative in using their reviews. But when Ballance was hit in front of middle stump by Morne Morkel, after a brief conversation with his captain, Joe Root, England decided to bring the third umpire in to play. Replays showed the ball was crashing in to middle and leg.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Reece Topley’s future, the ignoring of Sam Northeast and the unpredictability of Pakistan cricket jostle for attention in our latest NatWest Blast round-up

David Hopps14-Aug-2017In the fortnight or so since he learned that he had suffered the fourth stress fracture of his career, Reece Topley has had other things to worry about. His dad and mentor, Don, has undergone a major operation in an Ipswich Hospital, but now he has been discharged, and is thankfully on the mend, the odds are that cricket conversation will soon become part of the rehab process.Topley’s move to Hampshire has been a nightmarish one. He has totted up 15 games in a season-and-a-half – including only three Championship matches – and as well as his back trouble he has also suffered a broken hand and a shoulder injury.Nearly 18 months have passed since he played the last of his 10 ODIs and six T20Is for England and the excited talk that they had finally produced a left-arm quick with the ability to swing the ball at pace has quietened.Perhaps it is time for Topley to follow the lead from Tymal Mills down the South coast at Sussex and accept that his future was as a T20 specialist where he might be able to manage his workload more successfully. It is no sort of decision for a young fast bowler of 23, with horizons ahead, but four stress fractures begins to force an inevitable conclusion.

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Fifteen counties face an uncertain climaxThe NatWest Blast has its critics but it is certainly competitive. As it reaches the final week of group matches the counties could not be more tightly bunched.Only Notts Outlaws have qualified from North Group, their home quarter-final already assured.Glamorgan and Hampshire are sure of their last-eight places in the South, although in Hampshire’s case it will take a study of all permutations before they are ready to believe it. As they still want that home quarter-final, they are not about to do the maths.To add to the mid-table melee, only Worcestershire and Durham, both in North Group, have no chance of reaching the last eight, with even Middlesex – bottom in the South – retaining a notional hope of a late dash into the quarters.That leaves 15 of the 18 counties still with something to play for. The Blast has always been fiercely contested, but this is quite some run-in all the same.Key matches? Essex will heavily influence the outcome in South Group as they face Kent at Chelmsford on Thursday and Sussex at Hove 24 hours later. In the North, Yorkshire’s tie against the defending champions Northamptonshire at Headingley could yet turn into a must-win affair for both sides.

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Fakhar Zaman never quite got on the plane•Getty ImagesPakistan’s stars deserve betterMany of Pakistan’s best players have missed out on the gain and the glory that has come with the global rise of Twenty20. They are excluded from IPL because of political tensions and they are recruited in other competitions with a certain amount of disquiet.No wonder when the Pakistan board feels able to abruptly revoke 13 No Objection Certificates given to players involved primarily in the Caribbean Premier League but also in the county game and instruct that they should return home to fulfil national and domestic obligations.The order affects Mohammad Amir, who had been playing for Essex in the Championship and T20, and also Sarfraz Ahmed, who was to play five games for Yorkshire in the Blast, and Fakhar Zaman, who was due to join Somerset until the end of the season, and whose visa had just come through, but whose NOC was withdrawn a day before he was due to get on the flight.The whole thing is a mess. The players have been called back for a series between Pakistan and a World XI which has been rescheduled after Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification as prime minister and a by-election that has resulted.But the World XI series has never actually been confirmed. Sri Lanka might yet step in or perhaps no matches will actually take place.Of course Pakistan deserves sympathy because of the long absence of international cricket in the country. Of course, everybody in cricket should yearn for a better future. Of course a healthy Pakistan would be wonderful for cricket. That being said, the board also has a responsibility to respect professional leagues around the world, and give its players to chance to play their part. That requires planning, consistency and reliability, qualities that are too often absent.

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Keeping a lid on itOne of the joys about a Roses contest – and about English T20 in particular – is how partisanship does not run out of control. Loyalties are paraded but the dominant sense of one big cricket community holds sway.Liam Livingstone, a tough-minded soul, tested that to the full at Headingley on Friday. He marked his first catch of the night, as he ended Yorkshire’s opening stand at long-on, by a polite up-yours retort to those in the crowd who had been on his case.There was no criticism of incitement, no over-reaction, no threat of violence. As T20 grows in England, staying the right side of that line is a challenge that the game must be keenly aware of. Cricket’s community is a priceless thing.

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Sam Northeast remains Kent’s Nearly man•Getty ImagesThe ignoring of Sam NortheastThis column recently alighted on an excellent study by Sports Analytics Advantage about the most effective English batsmen in T20 matches between 2014 to 2016.Sure enough, top of the list and routinely overlooked by England and by other T20 leagues worldwide was Sam Northeast, slightly more effective on their calculations than even Jos Buttler and Jason Roy and streets ahead of the England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan.Northeast has had another consistent season for Kent where he is one of five batsmen to average more than 30 only for their prospects of reaching the quarter-finals to be in the balance with two final-week victories against Essex and Surrey essential. No Finals Day means no publicity – and clearly, for whatever reason, he needs it.As in the NatWest Blast, so too the Championship, where Kent are again challenging for promotion without suggesting that their pace attack is strong enough to complete the job.The message for Northeast, Kent’s captain, seems obvious. If you want Kent, and your own career to progress, sign some bowlers.Sports Analytics Advantage prefers to put it this way. “It’s difficult to understand why the selectors will not give certain players positions in the squad when the data makes a very strong case for them. Perhaps it’s to do with a big/small county mentality, perhaps it’s to do with influence from captains, or a preference to have consistency with other formats, perhaps it’s to do with subjective assessment (which has the issue in that it is almost always inherently biased), or perhaps it’s to do with the fact that they don’t have a clue what they are doing.”