The statistical highlights from a day that England dominated in Galle

S Rajesh15-Jan-2021168* – Joe Root’s score at the end of the second day in Galle. It is the highest by an England batsman in Sri Lanka, going past Kevin Pietersen’s 151 in Colombo in 2012. There are only three instances of an overseas captain scoring more runs in an innings in Sri Lanka: Stephen Fleming’s unbeaten knocks of 274 and 174, and Mushfiqur Rahim’s 200.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 – Test hundreds for Root in Sri Lanka, making him the first England batsman to score more than one Test century in the country. Eleven England batsmen have a solitary hundred here.173 – The partnership between Root and Dan Lawrence, who made 73 on debut. It is England’s highest stand for any wicket in Sri Lanka, going past the Nasser Hussain-Graham Thorpe partnership of 167 for the third wicket in Kandy 20 years ago. It is also sixth-best for the fourth wicket by an overseas team in Sri Lanka.52.53 – Root’s average in Asia: he has scored 1366 runs in 15 Tests, with three hundreds. He is one of only three England batsmen to score more than 1000 runs at a 50-plus average in Asia; the other two are David Gower and Alastair Cook.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 – Non-Asian batsmen who average more than 50 in Asia since 2010, with a 1000-run cut-off. Neither Steven Smith (1200 runs at 48) nor Kane Williamson (1545 runs at 46.81) are in this club.ESPNcricinfo Ltd73 – Lawrence’s score in his debut innings, which is exactly what Root scored on his Test debut in Nagpur eight years ago. In the last 69 years, only five England batsmen have made more runs when making their Test debut in Asia: Keaton Jennings (112 in Mumbai), Ben Foakes (107 in Galle), Cook (104* in Nagpur), Owais Shah (88 in Mumbai) and Haseeb Hameed (82 in Rajkot).

All the action and talking points around England’s IPL contingent after week six

Andrew Miller04-Nov-2020Week six of the IPL, the struggle for play-off places is over, and so is the involvement of most of England’s representatives. Click here for week five’s update. Archer goes grossly under-rewarded after stunning displaysIt’s the World XI at one end, and Ilford 2nds at the other. Graham Gooch’s famous appraisal of Sir Richard Hadlee’s New Zealand has found a modern-day echo in the exploits of Jofra Archer, who has absolutely no right to be propping up the IPL table in the company of his under-performing Rajasthan Royals team-mates. True to this season’s irresistible form, Archer signed off a stellar personal tournament with another incredible week, and in such a tight table, you have to wonder what a modicum of back-up could have done for Rajasthan’s title hopes.ESPNcricinfo LtdInstead, his 20 wickets at 18.25 were exactly half of the 40 claimed by his team’s full stable of quick bowlers, with only the erratic rookie Kartik Tyagi providing any meaningful support with nine at 40.77. As for his economy rate of 6.55 – the best among any of the tournament’s front-line quicks – that figure could have been exponentially lower had Rajasthan bitten the bullet (as they were often tempted) and trusted Archer with a third over in his favoured Powerplay (a phase of the game in which he produced a remarkable 10 wickets and an all-time low economy rate of 4.34). Instead, they chose to hold him back to paper over his team-mates’ shortcomings at the death. In that role, Archer did take a few licks throughout the tournament, but he had his moments too – not least against Kings XI in perhaps his most symbolic moment of the tournament. One ball after being tonked over midwicket by the mighty Chris Gayle, Archer fired in the yorker to bowl the Universe Boss for 99, and received a hand-slap of mutual admiration for his efforts.Morgan thwarted at the last after hitting top formWhen KKR made their captaincy switch midway through the tournament, with Eoin Morgan taking over from Dinesh Karthik, the management might have thought they were signing up for ice-cool tactics in the clutch moments, as befits a man whose leadership credentials have gone through the roof since the World Cup. But as things turned out, Morgan barely got the chance to play any match-up poker, with KKR’s fragile batting conspiring time and again to leave their own bowlers with no place to hide.Instead, he was obliged to lead from the front – or middle, to be more accurate – with a range of cannily paced cameos keeping his team competitive to the bitter end, until Sunrisers’ scalping of the table-topping Mumbai Indians denied them a play-off berth in the final group-stage game. Morgan’s pièce de résistance was his final innings of the campaign, an outstanding 68 not out from 35 balls against Rajasthan, including five fours and six sixes, which dragged his side from a flaky 99 for 5 to a formidable 191 for 7. He saved his most savage blows for his England team-mate Ben Stokes, but showcased that icy temperament in the final over of the innings, as he twice turned down singles off Kartik Tyagi before thumping his final ball clean down the ground for six.Eoin Morgan was at his explosive best•BCCIStokes builds into opener’s role but bowling remains erraticAfter a low-key start to his truncated tournament, Ben Stokes found his range with the bat in the final rounds of Rajasthan’s campaign, with two more feisty onslaughts following his breakthrough century against Mumbai Indians. His 25-ball 50 against Kings XI was a fierce injection of impetus that set up a comprehensive win, but his 18 from 11 against KKR proved to be the alpha and omega of his team’s qualification hopes – while he was in situ, taking the attack to a rampant Pat Cummins, the prospect of a top-four slot was firmly on the cards. As soon as he was gone, those cards collapsed with a familiar flutter, as the team’s inherent instability flooded to the fore once again.3:22

What makes Ben Stokes an unreliable T20 bowler?

As for Stokes’ bowling, it remains curiously impotent in this format, given what a game-changing influence he tends to be in Test and 50-over cricket. His one telling outing came against Kings, as he scalped the dangermen KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran for his only wickets of the campaign. Two days later, he was left wondering once again why Kolkata’s got it in for him – and why he ever consents to bowl at the death anymore – as Morgan and Pat Cummins combined to pump 24 runs from his third, and Rajasthan’s 19th, over of their campaign-crippling loss.Sam Curran coasts to the end of eye-catching campaignAn unremarkable week by his elevated standards, but a quietly impressive one all the same. Having gone from being a lone spark in a misfiring engine, Sam Curran reverted to being a useful cog in a belatedly revved-up machine, as CSK finished their tournament on a relative high with three wins in a row once their elimination had been confirmed. This week, he didn’t take a wicket or bowl his full allocation of overs in either match, but Curran served up his total of five overs at a meagre cost of 36, and was also at the crease to help settle a tense chase against KKR – even though it was his not-out partner, Ravi Jadeja, who did the heavy lifting with three sixes and a four in the final eight balls of the game. But either way, after being pigeon-holed as a Test cricketer in his early England outings, Curran will travel to South Africa later this month with his white-ball credentials higher than they’ve ever been. And if CSK have any sense, he’ll be at the heart of their rebuilding efforts when the next IPL rolls around in barely six months’ time.Bairstow benched after flat-lining form Jonny B Gone. After his barnstorming 97 against Kings in week 3, it seemed that Jonny Bairstow was primed for mid-tournament lift-off. Instead, he’s paid the price for mustering barely that many again in his next five games, culminating in a 20-ball 19 against the same opponents two weeks later, when his ill-timed sweep in a well-set run-chase exposed a flaky middle-order and precipitated an appalling collapse. It was all the evidence that Sunrisers needed to hurry Kane Williamson back off the bench, and Bairstow’s fate was more permanently sealed when Wriddhiman Saha latched onto his opportunity at the top of the order, first with a blistering 85 from 47 against the previously high-flying Delhi Capitals, and then as David Warner’s foil against Mumbai, as Sunrisers’ brand-new bromance was sealed in an unbeaten 151-run opening stand, and a ten-wicket play-off-securing victory.Jordan proves his value after sticky start to campaignIt wasn’t to be in the end for Chris Jordan, or for Kings XI, whose remarkable late-season revival came so close to propelling them into the play-offs. After losing six of their first seven contests (including one Super Over and a two-run defeat), Kings were briefly installed as the tournament’s form team with a run of five wins in a row, only for that illusion to be shattered in consecutive thumpings by Rajasthan and CSK. Nevertheless, from his somewhat abject beginnings, Jordan finished his own campaign very much in credit, nailing his yorkers and trusting his variations even as other seamers of his ilk were reverting to the basics. His two economical wickets against KKR set up the last of Kings’ victories, while his third-ball removal of a hitherto rampant Stokes gave them a flicker of belief before the wheels came off. All told, Jordan claimed nine wickets at 33.77 in as many matches, but given that he went wicketless in his first three games while leaking his runs at nearly two a ball, his back-end record (average 18.77, economy 8.24) was far more to write home about.Chris Jordan in his delivery stride•BCCIButtler runs out of rope with qualification on the line Jos Buttler’s final week of IPL action epitomised the frailties at the heart of Rajasthan’s faltering campaign. His form was as good as it’s been all tournament long, but his role – reappraised from opener to finisher after a succession of middle-order mishaps in the early rounds – was very much after the Lord Mayor’s Show, for better and for worse. Against Kings, there could be no complaints about his impact as he rocked up in the 15th over and duly sealed a vital win with an unbeaten 22 from 11 balls; but against KKR, Rajasthan were 32 for 4 before he’d faced his first delivery, and 37 for 5 only moments after he’d laced the lethal Cummins for a first-ball drive through the covers. Even with his back to the wall, Buttler managed to rack up 35 from 22 before being forced into one boundary swipe too many. But then again, had he converted more of those sorts of scores from the top of the order, with contests begging to be seized in the early rounds, Buttler and his Rajasthan team-mates wouldn’t have been left eating the scraps at the bottom of the table.Banton, Curran, Moeen sit on the fringesTom Banton is set to swap six weeks on the fringes at KKR to a further three weeks as an England reserve in South Africa – which isn’t quite the career progression he signed up for this winter. But Tom Curran, included in both ODI and T20I squads, will be hoping to show that his hard yakka on the UAE’s variation-killing surfaces can reap better rewards on the more seam-friendly decks of Cape Town and Paarl. As for Moeen Ali, he – like Bairstow – is set to remain at the IPL for a few days longer than the rest of the England squad, but his chances of being involved in the play-offs are considerably skinnier.

The numbers paint a picture of a team far ahead of the rest of the pack – and not just in this edition

Shiva Jayaraman11-Nov-2020Kieron Pollard hailed the Mumbai Indians as the best T20 franchise in the world after they won the IPL for a record fifth time. It may have sounded like hyperbole in an emotional moment, but Mumbai’s achievements arguably back Pollard’s assertion. Mumbai have seven titles, and are only one short of Sialkot Stallions, who are the most successful T20 team ever with eight titles. In addition to the five IPL titles, Mumbai have won the Champions League T20 twice.It’s not only the number of titles that define Mumbai’s supremacy over their competitors. It’s the manner in which they have demolished the field in the last couple of seasons – and specifically in IPL 2020 – that underlines how they are a cut above the others. For the second successive year, they blanked the losing finalist – the second-best team in the competition – by a 4-0 margin in the season (they beat Chennai Super Kings 4-0 on their way to the title in 2019).ESPNcricinfo LtdRarely has any team ticked so many boxes in any season of the IPL as Mumbai have in this season. Their Indian batsmen were among the runs, their overseas fast bowlers got them wickets, their allrounders chipped in, the spinners applied the squeeze at important stages and their captain turned up when it really mattered.Mumbai’s all-round performance is borne out by their overall batting and bowling numbers: their scoring rate in the season was 9.08 runs an over – half a run more than the next best team – but they conceded runs at the rate of 7.94 runs an over only. The difference of 1.14 runs per over between their scoring rate and the rate at which they conceded runs is the highest for any team from any season in the IPL’s 13-year long history. No other team has scored over a run per over more than what they have conceded in any season. The closest anyone came was back in the inaugural season in 2008, when Rajasthan Royals won the title and the T20 format was very much in its infancy. The Royals scored at 8.74 runs per over that year, and conceded at 7.90 for a difference of 0.85.ESPNcricinfo LtdMumbai’s scoring rate was half a run higher than the next-best team largely owing to the fact that their batsmen managed to hit more sixes than other teams in the season. At 137 sixes, they hit 32 more than the Royals, who were the next best. Even in terms of balls taken to hit every six, Mumbai took two deliveries fewer than the Royals did. Incredibly, they took half as many deliveries to hit a six on an average as the Royal Challengers Bangalore – the bottom-placed team on that parameter this season.Mumbai’s death-overs hitting was clearly a cut above the rest, one of the factors that added significantly to the distance between them and the competition. In the first 16 overs of the innings, Mumbai’s batsmen hit a six every 17.5 balls on average, but in the death overs that was cut to almost a third, with a six hit every 5.9 balls. No other team came close to this power-hitting. In fact, Mumbai’s death-overs batting this season has been the best ever in the IPL by any team: they scored runs at 13.2 per over at the death from overs 17 to 20, where no other team has topped 13 in any IPL season. Mumbai found the boundary every 3.2 deliveries on average at the death, also the best for any team in a season.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile their death-overs hitting set Mumbai apart from the rest in batting, their wicket-taking in the powerplay was the differentiating factor with the ball. The Delhi Capitals pacers matched Mumbai’s on the wickets count, but were well behind on taking wickets in the powerplay, where losing wickets has a much greater impact than at the back end of an innings. Led by Trent Boult, the Mumbai pacers took 28 wickets in the first six overs at an average of 19.85 apiece. In comparison, the Capitals’ pacers took just 13 wickets at 45.76 and were languishing among the bottom teams on this measure. The Sunrisers Hyderabad had the next best pace unit in the powerplay in terms of bowling average, but weren’t a patch on Mumbai given they conceded 12 runs more for every wicket. Overall, Mumbai were clearly the best with the ball in the powerplay, taking 31 wickets. They also did it at an economy rate of 6.92, the only team to go below seven this season in the powerplay.One of the defining contributions for Mumbai came from their uncapped Indian batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who scored 996 runs together at an average of 47.4 and a strike rate of 145.4. No team has had their uncapped Indian batsmen performing at this level in the past in any IPL season. With a cut-off of 500 runs, no team has had their Indian uncapped batsmen average above 40 or strike above 140 in any season.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe stability provided by Mumbai’s Indian contingent meant that they didn’t need too many changes in their XI. Their changes were either due to injury or were tactical. Dhawal Kulkarni got a game against the Sunrisers when Mumbai rested Jasprit Bumrah, Boult and Hardik Pandya. Even including Kulkarni, Mumbai ended up using just 15 players. This equals the second-fewest players used by any team in the IPL in a season.ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster tool illustrates the extent to which Mumbai dominated the field this year. It provides a way to express every victory in terms of runs – whether winning batting first or second. This is done by estimating the total a successful chasing team would have got if they had completed their innings (either by getting bowled out or by completing the stipulated overs). According to the Forecaster, the median margin for Mumbai in every game this season – win or loss – was +24.5. That means the team performed at a level where they were beating oppositions by this margin per game, on average. The only other team that had a positive value for this measure this season were the Sunrisers, whose median margin was +2 runs. The Capitals’ margin of 0 shows how far ahead of the rest of the teams Mumbai were this season.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

How RCB, Sunrisers, Mumbai and KKR stack up ahead of the auction

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2021

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Main Talking Point:
Royal Challengers Bangalore have offloaded three big-ticket overseas signings: Chris Morris, Moeen Ali and Aaron Finch. Morris came with a price tag of INR 10 crores. The franchise revealed in a video after his signing that they were ready to shell out more. Now, he finds himself out after one season where he picked up 11 wickets in nine matches at a more-than-acceptable economy of 6.63, due to his history of injuries and lack of cricket since IPL 2020.Moeen played all of three matches last season, while Shivam Dube, among their Indian players to be let go, couldn’t quite make an impact down the order with the bat, and was sparingly used with the ball. The franchise has filled in the allrounders’ void by securing Harshal Patel and Daniel Sams through trades from Delhi Capitals.ESPNcricinfo LtdHarshal was one of the best seam-bowling allrounders in India’s domestic circuit across formats in 2019-20 and is a much improved bowler to the one who represented the Royal Challengers from 2012-17, having increased his pace and developed the potential to become a finisher.Meanwhile, Australia’s white-ball captain Finch will be searching for a ninth IPL team after being released. Finch didn’t have a great run with the bat in IPL 2020, tallying just one half-century in 12 innings, and lost his place towards the end of the group phase. His poor run for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL season – 169 runs in 11 innings without a half-century – may have not helped his cause.What they need:
A strong Indian middle-order batsman who can tonk the ball, and one back-up seamer to strengthen a strong bowling line-up consisting of Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Sams and Harshal.Balance purse: INR 35.90 crore, the second biggest purse after Kings XI PunjabWhat they said:
Morris did really well for us, but the thing is he had injuries. He missed a bit of cricket [during the IPL] and hasn’t played since then, so there’s a bit of a risk for us there [with the INR 10 crore purse]. Finch was a great addition from a leadership perspective, whether he played or not, but we decided to go a slightly different way. Josh Phillipe gives us that top order cover.”
Mike Hesson, RCB’s Director of Cricket

Sunrisers Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo LtdMain talking point:
Fabian Allen and Billy Stanlake were the two big names released by Sunrisers Hyderabad. They also let go of Sanjay Yadav, B Sandeep and Prithvi Raj. None of the five released players got a game last season.The fact that captain David Warner, Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson/Jonny Bairstow are automatic picks in the XI makes it difficult for other overseas players to break through. Last year, Allen was contesting with Mohammed Nabi for the allrounder’s spot but once Bhuvneshwar got injured, they found the best balance with Jason Holder in the side.Holder was drafted as an injury replacement for Mitchell Marsh, and the Sunrisers decided to retain both. They also showed faith in their young brigade, comprising Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma and Virat Singh.Balance purse: INR 10.75 croreWhat they need:
If all their players are available, the Sunrisers have most bases covered. What they are missing is an experienced, Indian middle-order batsman.What they said:
“The thing is the Sunrisers can play only four overseas players and they would want to play five ideally. They have to make a choice between Bairstow and Kane Williamson every day. So I don’t think they need any more overseas players.”

Mumbai Indians

ESPNcricinfo LtdMain talking point:
Mumbai Indians all but emptied their overseas fast-bowling contingent by releasing Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson and Mitchell McClenaghan. Earlier this month, Lasith Malinga also informed the team management about his decision to retire from franchise cricket.Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai and Digvijay Deshmukh were the others with whom Mumbai parted ways.While McClenaghan might have been let go because he doesn’t fit into the franchise’s long-term plans, Coulter-Nile and Pattinson’s removals come as a surprise since both of them were impressive as third seamers to Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. Pattinson picked up 11 wickets from ten games at an economy of 9.04 while Coulter-Nile bagged five from seven at 7.92. Both could contribute with bat as well.Balance purse: INR 15.35 croreWhat they need:
With Bumrah, Boult and Dhawal Kulkarni being the only fast bowlers with international experience in the squad, expect Mumbai to go big on pacers, especially the overseas kind, and fast-bowling allrounders. They may also try to rope in a legspinner as back-up for Rahul Chahar.What they said:
“Lasith Malinga has been at the core of Mumbai Indians for 12 years. We respect his decision, even though I would have liked to him to be part of our bowling attack for another five years. Malinga is an MI legend. We will miss the Wankhede chant for him.”
Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani

Kolkata Knight Riders

ESPNcricinfo Ltd Main Talking point:
Despite two poor IPL seasons, the two-time champions have retained left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav. Dinesh Karthik, who quit as captain after seven games in IPL 2020, has been retained as well, along with Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins and the 2018 Under-19 World Cup trio of Shubman Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi.Their core squad remains untouched, and the players released – Tom Banton, Chris Green, Ali Khan, Harry Gurney, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik and Siddhesh Lad – have never really been starters. The list of low-profile player releases, though, means that their available budget – the second-lowest among all teams – is roughly 20% of what Kings XI Punjab have. Balance purse: INR 10.85 crore What they need:
A capped Indian fast bowler will be high on their priority since they have none. They also need a back-up wicketkeeper for Karthik with Banton and Naik released. What they said:
“I was enjoying the rumours that were floating around, rather than the reality. Challenging taking some calls because you’re shooting in the dark about the location of IPL 2021 – India or the UAE. Our think tank felt we have a balanced squad. Over the years, we’ve had small squads and go into mini-auctions looking to do small fine-tuning. We don’t need too many significant changes. Eoin Morgan will have a full season.”In our set-up, we don’t put players back into auctions to try and buy them back cheaper. Auction dynamics are demand-and-supply, and particularly in mini-auctions there’s no logic when pricing goes. Price tag as we are concerned doesn’t matter at all. First four years, Russell was at an INR 60 lac contract, so these things balance each other out. Was more a matter of squad composition and balance. We forget about the money honestly.”
KKR CEO Venky Mysore By Sreshth Shah

Where teams stand

ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shoaib Akhtar, Lisa Sthalekar, Tabraiz Shamsi and others weigh in on the contentious episode

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2021

Record breaking inning. Simply Outstanding @FakharZamanLive. What about this cheeky giggle from Quinton tells you ? #SAvPAK pic.twitter.com/5HD0sLYTk1

— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) April 4, 2021

Plenty to ponder as England weigh up their XI for the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad

George Dobell23-Feb-2021Despite a chastening defeat in last week’s second Test, England sense a real opportunity to reclaim the series lead in Ahmedabad, due to the prospect of a day-night Test playing to their seam-bowling strengths. But dare they presume too much about a venue that has never hosted a Test before?Two spinners or one?
This is the biggest question occupying England’s team management ahead of this game. While they are confident the pink ball (and the slightly more grassy pitch provided to accommodate it) will provide more assistance to seam bowlers, they are still playing a Test in Ahmedabad. Under that live grass is the more familiar dry red soil which suggests there will, sooner or later, be assistance for the spinners, too. For that reason, England will not make a final decision about their XI until after their final training session, which is under lights on Tuesday evening.The form of Dom Bess may be relevant here. For, while England may be facing this selection dilemma in any circumstances, you suspect that, were Moeen Ali available for this game, he would play. But Bess struggled with his length in Chennai – in particular, with a series of full-tosses – so there may be just a hint of trepidation about picking him for another Test at this stage. Put simply, if part of Bess’ role is to bowl dry, England may feel they can achieve that better with another seamer.”One thing we could improve with the ball was the amount of times we couldn’t quite string a maiden together or bowl six balls at one batter,” Root said on Tuesday. “We’ve still got to look to build pressure for long periods of time, try to squeeze the game, make it very difficult for guys to score freely and score boundaries, and by doing that build pressure at one end and on one batter to try to force an error.”Joe Root, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns warm up during England’s practice session•BCCIBut Leach will play?
Yes, Leach will play. After a tricky 14 months or so in which Leach has been seriously unwell and Bess has been favoured as the solitary spinner in England, he is back in the side and established as first-choice. In English conditions, where spin could play a less prominent role and the spinner’s batting may be deemed more important, that could change. But for now, Leach is England’s No. 1.So who would the extra seamer be?
Chris Woakes has been a non-playing member of this tour party for every one of the four Tests to date and is due to go home next week. But this could be his moment. While his overseas record with the ball is modest, the usage of the pink ball – and the increased opportunities it appears to bring for conventional swing bowling – may be key. Equally, although it’s a small sample size, evidence from England’s tours to New Zealand and South Africa suggested Woakes had found a way to be effective without the use of the Dukes ball or English pitches.But his batting may be as important as his bowling in this scenario. Unless he plays, England could be facing the prospect of one of Leach or Jofra Archer batting at No. 8. That’s a tail which would make a Diplodocus feel self-conscious.Ben Stokes at training in Ahmedabad’s new stadium•BCCIDon’t England already have three seamers in their side?Yes, they do. It seems to get over-looked a little at present, but Ben Stokes has 159 Test wickets and, unlike James Anderson or Stuart Broad, he has a Test five-for (in Mohali in 2016) in India. But Stokes has only bowled 12 overs in the series to date and has not bowled more than six in an innings since July. While England say he is fit, he doesn’t seem to have been able to build up the volume of overs to be relied upon as the bowling force he has been in the past. In an ideal world, though, this is the exact scenario in which a top-quality all-rounder proves their worth: allowing a team to hedge their bets with selection as they know they have all bases covered.Could Broad return?
It’s possible but it seems unlikely. While Stokes said that Broad was among the England seamers “licking their lips” at the prospect of using the pink ball under lights, it seems he may be frustrated. You could make a decent case to play him ahead of Woakes, but Broad’s declining powers as a batsman count against him. Equally, you could make a case for him to play ahead of Archer, particularly if Stokes is able to provide the pace bowling that he has in the past. But England regard Archer’s skills – not just his pace, but his movement – as a point of difference. Many of Broad’s qualities – not least his control – can be provided by Anderson. And, don’t forget this is the first of another couple of back-to-back Tests. It fits with England’s recent policy to keep Broad fresh for the final Test.What about the top-order batting?
The return to fitness of Zak Crawley and the return to the tour of Jonny Bairstow has given England options at the top of the order. That is almost certain to mean Dan Lawrence – who has averaged 9.66 in his three most recent Tests – will make way for Bairstow at No.3, who looked assured in Sri Lanka prior to his break from the tour (though without reaching 50 in any of his four innings).Related

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Where does that leave Rory Burns?
Sitting precariously, you would think. Not so long ago, there was talk of him emerging as a future England captain and he looked to be on the brink of establishing himself in this side. You wonder how he reflects on his first-innings dismissal in the first Test in Chennai. Having got himself in on the flattest of surfaces, he had every chance to convert his start into a significant innings. Instead, he attempted a reverse-sweep – a shot he has rarely played in Test cricket – and departed for 33. Had he made a century there, this discussion wouldn’t be happening. But since the start of August he has played five Tests (eight innings) and averaged just 9.75. With Ravi Ashwin and Ishant Sharma especially effective against left-handers, there is a case for replacing him with Crawley.”It’s been quite tricky for everyone,” Root said. “But in particular the lefties against Ashwin because of how skilful he is, how good his record has been against our left-handers, and in world cricket against any left-handed batters.”Crawley has hardly made an irresistible case for selection himself, though. He had a top-score of just 13 from four innings in Sri Lanka and looked as if he had plenty to learn about combatting spin in such conditions. For that reason, the team management may decide to give Burns one more chance. Crawley is seen a major developing talent, though, and it’s not impossible he could replace Burns. Dom Sibley, having found himself under pressure only a few weeks ago, has emerged as England’s first-choice Test opener.

Poor you. Haven’t heard of the Hundred then?

Alan Gardner16-Aug-2021The Hundred is here, bat slung casually over one shoulder, proudly wearing a cricket:team t-shirt and with its official merch snapback turned to face the other way – very much a “How do you do, fellow kids?” kind of vibe. And don’t worry, if you had any doubts about whether cricket could be considered a cool sport, they’ve now been fully dispelled.The game’s fourth format (although it’s technically recorded as T20 – more on that later) has arrived to take the world of sports entertainment by storm. “Not a fan of cricket? That’s okay! We’re not that bothered about it ourselves. Look, we’ve got fireworks and a band! Plus a DJ… We’re all about the choons!” If you turn up during the afternoon, it’s basically just a kids’ party with some human billboards promoting snack foods in the background. Of course, it then descends into something more like a kegger once the grown-ups have indulged on their fruit juice for a few hours…Still, are we not entertained? (Don’t answer that unless you’re a nine-year-old with a guileless smile.) The take-no-prisoners approach has been most evident on the TV broadcasts, which tries to sex up and dumb down at the same time – and remember this is still cricket we’re talking about, a sport which is both too clever by half and about as sexy as a librarian in galoshes. (It’s fine if that’s your thing, we’re not here to judge.)Related

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• The Hundred is tearing English cricket apart

• Did we really need the Hundred?

Obviously a bit of flannel for a new enterprise is to be expected – in the early days of the Light Roller, we liked to describe ourselves as “like the Briefing, but funny” – but some of the Hundred’s coverage would make the editor of wince. Kass Naidoo, brought in to anchor Sky’s coverage, seems a very personable sort, but her habit of standing in front of an empty stand while hailing the “great crowd today” is bold, to say the least. You suspect even Prof Pangloss might recommend toning it down.Meanwhile, a cavalcade of former players have picked out choice spots on the bandwagon – and some are noticeably more objective than others. The astonishment with which Andrew Flintoff greeted a decent crowd for Old Trafford’s first fixture would suggest he’d never even been to a T20 Blast game, never mind played in several (including bringing out the Freddie-as-Jesus pose to rapturous applause at Finals Day a few years back). Kevin Pietersen, too, seems ready to lose the run of himself every time he steps into the pod. But maybe he’s just excited at being back in the ECB’s good books.And the product itself? Well, if you think of it as 20 five-ball overs with one or two quirky playing conditions and a real fetish for timekeeping, it all looks suspiciously like T20. Which, you may have noticed, was already quite successful. But then some clever folk thought New Coke was a good idea too.

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To Bangladesh. Which is not a phrase you hear Australians utter very often. And perhaps that’s understandable, what with the gulf between the sides, the inevitable mismatches, lop-sided scorelines, and so on. Anyway, after the conclusion of Bangladesh’s 4-1 win in the T20Is, reports emerged that Justin Langer was involved in a “heated confrontation” with a staffer from cricket.com.au, after Cricket Australia’s media arm posted a video showing the home team celebrating enthusiastically, while being politely applauded by the visitors. But what was it that got Langer in such a stew? Was Australia’s coach perhaps hoping that, with the series not being broadcast back home, people might not find out about the result? Maybe he felt the humility being displayed by the Australians fell short of “elite”? Either way, as the wags on Twitter have pointed out, if you don’t want people to laugh at the fact you got thrashed by Bangladesh, you should try not getting thrashed by Bangladesh in the first place.

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To Bangladesh… at some unspecified date in the future. That is what’s been agreed between the ECB and the BCB, after they announced that England’s limited-overs tour scheduled for later in the year was postponed. Is it a coincidence that this removes a clash with the IPL, meaning England’s players will now be able to participate in the rearranged second half of the tournament? Or maybe someone at the ECB simply spotted the aforementioned footage on cricket.com.au? We’ll let you be the judge.

Joe Root fronts up, but ECB is to blame for end to seven-year home record

George Dobell13-Jun-2021There was to be no miracle. Even before the clock on the Thwaite scoreboard at Edgbaston had ticked round to 11 o’clock, England’s second innings had been ended. And a target of 38 in a minimum of 177 overs was never likely to test New Zealand.Before noon, they had completed their first Test series win in England since 1999 (and their third in all) and England had succumbed to their first home Test series defeat since 2014. New Zealand were, indisputably, the better side. India and Australia will be, figuratively at least, licking their lips.It is inevitable at such a moment that we will look for quick fixes. And it’s true that the form of senior players such as Joe Root (whose top-score was 42) and James Anderson (who took three wickets in the series; none of them with a new ball) did nothing to help. Equally, a well-balanced side would no doubt have included a spinner. But that’s not what cost England in this match.No, England’s problems are more substantial than that. And they basically come down to this: if you take one brick out of a dam it will probably hold. If you take two, three or even four it might well hold. But when you start removing foundations, you risk the viability of the entire structure. Eventually, the dam breaks.That’s what’s happened in England cricket. Instead of nurturing and protecting our County Championship, we have squeezed it into the margins of the season and robbed it of many of its best players. We have played it in conditions which bear little relation to Test cricket in the rest of the world and in circumstances where spinners and fast bowlers become close to irrelevant.Meanwhile, we have pushed a generation of experienced county performers into premature retirement by introducing incentives for young players; we have encouraged the government to end the Kolpak influence and we have made it ever more difficult to make overseas signings. Our best Test players have been encouraged to pursue opportunities in T20 cricket ahead of sharing their wisdom in county cricket or working at their games against the red, moving ballAt the same time, we’ve given the prime weeks of summer to limited-overs tournaments and prioritised white-ball success. Young batters have been encouraged to learn short-format skills and excel at performing in conditions where the pitches are perfect and the white-ball hardly leaves the straight. They can afford to be mediocre in the first-class game. Attack has been prioritised over defence.Joe Root has fronted up for England’s failures on and off the field, but the ECB has been silent•PA Photos/Getty ImagesTechnical coaching has been replaced by something very close to cheerleading – correcting a player’s technique is believed to undermine their confidence, though less than failing at international level, you would have thought – and a scouting system has been introduced which has led to such gems as Jason Roy opening and James Bracey keeping in Test cricket. Really, whoever thought those were good ideas needs to be in a different line of work.English cricket might have been able to withstand one or two of these errors. But in combination, they have decimated the competition which develops Test players. For it’s not one or two top-order batters who have failed. It’s a generation of them. And when that happens, you have to look at the system. Finally, the dam has broken.England has, in the past, masked some of these issues with an ability to utilise home advantage. For just as only very fine teams win Test series away in India or Australia, it has tended to be only very fine teams who win away in England.But the current management have decided to try to do things differently. In an attempt, essentially, to prepare for the Ashes, they have challenged their players to perform in conditions where they can expect far less assistance from the Dukes ball and seaming surfaces. They have basically unpicked something that works in the hope of building back better.That is not by any means an unreasonable tactic. It may even be viewed as brave and ambitious. But there is not another country in the world who would spurn home advantage in the same way. England are becoming terrifically generous hosts.Related

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Joe Root: England were 'outplayed in all three departments' by New Zealand

It was telling that it was Root who appeared before the media after this defeat. Just as it was telling that it has been Root (or other members of the playing and coaching staff) who has been obliged to answer questions about the Ollie Robinson affair, a rest-and-rotation policy over which he has little control, or a million other issues.Root was in an impossible position here, really. But he defended his team, he took responsibility for underperforming personally and he refused to hide behind excuses. Some will never take to Root’s style – his soft voice, his refusal to roar and his inclination towards consensus- but there are different ways to lead. Root really wasn’t dealt a fistful of aces with this team.And that’s relevant. For while Eoin Morgan is about to have his strongest squad – injuries permitting – for a second successive T20I series, Root has probably not had his strongest squad available to him since the first Test of the series against Pakistan at the start of August. That’s 11 Tests ago. England’s priorities are very clear.In contrast to Root, Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, hasn’t given an open press conference this year. For any National Governing Body, that seems odd. For one which is currently introducing a new format of the game; contesting allegations of institutional racism, and wrestling with the issue of historic social media posts which demonstrate the sexist and racist attitudes which pervaded in the past, it feels inappropriate. Now is the time for some accountability in English cricket.So let us not quibble over whether Jack Leach should have played at Edgbaston or whether England’s slip cordon is standing at the correct angle. The problems go far deeper than that.