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The SSC Test has emphasised why South Africa may have to spring clean and find opening batsmen with more mettle and spinners with more control

Firdose Moonda at the SSC27-Jul-2014Spring cleaning usually includes two stages. First, throw out all the things you absolutely cannot hang on to, like clothes that no longer fit and food that has grown mould. For a South African Test team which had just lost Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis those discardables were abstract concepts like insecurity and doubt. They got rid of them as they showed with their victory in Galle.Then look at everything else and decide what is nearing the end of its run and is better replaced sooner than later. For this South Africa Test team Alviro Petersen and Imran Tahir fit that category. The SSC Test has showed them why they need opening batsmen with more mettle and spinners with more control. Day four emphasised it.Petersen’s is probably the more pressing concern because South Africa put on hold considering his position as they dealt with the aftermath of Smith’s retirement. The reality is that there was always more than one vacancy in the top two. Before this tour, Petersen had gone 17 innings without a Test hundred. That run has extended to 21.In that time, he has scored more than fifty on three occasions, all at home. He has also not managed more than 30 runs in 15 innings. His struggles gave come against what are considered unconventional for a South African player: subcontinental conditions, Pakistan’s left-arm arsenal or Sri Lanka’s strangling spin. He also struggled against himself and the certainty that comes with being assured enough to convert starts into something more substantial.In Galle, Petersen was both caught on the back foot against spin and drawn forward by it. Both times he was beaten by deliveries that did not turn. Both times he asked for a review and both times he was unsuccessful. In Colombo, the pressure had increased. He was out to a nothing shot in the first innings when he handed Rangana Herath a return catch which meant he had to view the second innings as the one that would save his career.Petersen is a patient man by nature. He waited seasons to get his chance opening the batting for South Africa and when he was dropped after not doing much wrong in favour of Jacques Rudolph, he went back, scored runs and waited again to get recalled. For four overs of this second innings he showed his willingness for that kind of wait when he needed it most.But it was the wait that undid him. Petersen and Dean Elgar took just four runs off the first eight overs and made it clear they were each going to attach themselves to one end and stay there. Petersen would face Herath, Elgar would face the offspinner Dilruwan Perera, who had dismissed Petersen both times in Galle. Herath had lured him forward in the first innings and was threatening to do it again.Herath tossed it up and turned it away and Petersen was lured further and further forward. After 25 balls, he leaned too far and pushed the ball into silly point’s hands.Petersen walked back to the changeroom. Quinton de Kock walked out. There will still have to be a debate about whether de Kock can keep wicket and bat higher up, even though he is a top-order batsman in the domestic game, but there is no question over Petersen. Even if de Kock is not the man to take his place, South Africa have other options. Stiaan van Zyl, a No.3, was the leading run-scorer in last season’s first-class competition and could be promoted to open. He is part of the touring squad so Petersen would have known he was on notice. And there have also been other signs Petersen may be ready to hand over the reins.He is 33 and seems to have realised if there is a lengthening to his career it needs to be done on the county circuit. Petersen has spent the last two seasons at Somerset and there is talk of him signing a Kolpak deal once his international career is over.He indicated that may not be far away on his blog on alviropetersen.com when he wrote about the difficulties of his family not traveling with him. “Family is the most important thing to me and if I am honest cricket is second, so in the future we will have to look at what is best for all of us.”Contrastingly Tahir is not ready to give up. Although he is 35, Tahir has only had tastes of international cricket but he has failed to take them through a lack of control. He was used ineffectively on the fourth day and allowed to continue bowling even when he was leaking runs and South Africa should have been creating pressure. In trying to show confidence in Tahir, Hashim Amla held back on using JP Duminy, who may have been the better tactical option.There is a young offspinner who can replace Tahir. Dane Piedt led the wicket-taking charts in last summer’s first-class competition and maintained an economy rate under three an over. The Cobras spinner is known for both variation and control.If Tahir battles on subcontinental pitches in the latter stages of matches, there will be questions about whether he is going to be a threat anywhere else except in limited-overs where he has proved his worth. There is every chance if they play against Zimbabwe next month and West Indies at home later this year, with no disrespect to either team, both Tahir and Petersen will be able to regain form but it is also possible that it would allow the successor a gentler introduction to Test cricket than they might have had against a team like Australia. Next year, South Africa have Test series in Bangladesh and India and they need to use the matches they have left this season to spring clean.

Cobras, elephants, a fierce cross-wind and some decent cricket are all in store in Sri Lanka’s deep south

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Dec-2014Hambantota: Sri Lanka’s city of the future. Where wild elephants block off traffic until tolls of bananas or wood-apples are exacted. Where palatial council buildings and immense cricket stadiums rise up from the paddy fields and thick scrub. And where, if you’re lucky, you might just get to observe politicians from a range of parties, undisturbed in their natural habitat, resplendent in their impunity.In the four years the Hambantota stadium has been active, cricket writers have largely not been fond of having to cover games in these parts. That the ground is actually nowhere near Hambantota is first among their charges. Public transport is rudimentary. Taxis are rare. There is a better chance of being eaten by leopards than finding a hotel room a convenient distance from the ground.And the cricket is not always high quality here either. After some dreary low-scorers were played out in the first 18 months, the pitch initially had a reputation for being too slow. When the surface sped up and became bouncier a while later, concerns arose about whether Sri Lanka were gifting their home advantage away. On top of all this, the weather has interrupted cricket far more than it should at a dry-zone venue, and the furious cross-wind that sometimes sets in virtually fences off one half of the ground.A lot of that is hard to defend. But then, can you trust the gripes of people who are paid to travel the world watching sport? Hambantota has its challenges, but Sri Lanka’s wild southeast spikes the touring experience with a sense of primal adventure almost certainly unique to this ground.Where else do you dodge metre-long cobras on the way to a press conference? Or throw nervous glances either side of the road, hoping an elephant won’t suddenly charge out of the bush. While heading back to his hotel after a recent ODI, a local photographer saw the vehicle in front stop with an almighty thud, then felt the night around him begin to move like thunder. The two-car convoy had hit a herd of water buffalo; their black hides closeting them in darkness. The animal that was struck died immediately. The car didn’t fare much better. Thankfully, passengers and driver were unhurt. Bars and restaurants are the setting for a thousand great touring stories, but there’s nothing quite like being stuck in a stampede.Sri Lanka’s deep south has parallels to its American equivalent, in that it is fiercely religious and socially conservative, but at times it can feel like the old West. Another touring story has a local journalist of large build, being treated like royalty upon entering a dodgy bar in the ground’s vicinity. Only when he was about to leave did the writer realise the staff had mistaken him for a local crime boss, who had enough of a reputation to un-ironically call himself “Sooriyawewa Ceasar”. Murder rates are notoriously high in the region, but have recently been substantially curbed by Hambantota’s finest. Cardboard cutouts of the local politicians that oversaw the cleanup stand manfully astride town centres, like gun-toting sheriffs of yore.If all this sounds a bit frightening, the edge, it has to be said, is taken off by local custom. While there could be other places in the world that are Sri Lanka’s match in hospitality, surely nowhere else are guests treated with more warmth and care. Directions aren’t just glibly recited, locals offer to get into your vehicle, direct you to the destination, then refuse a lift back to where they were. Even the cops who wield power with a surly manner in other pockets of the country, are generally polite and patient here.The stadium at Hambantota may not become the next Lord’s or MCG. The bat flapping about in the stairwell outside the press box as I write this, is possibly testament to that. But if you dodge the buffalo, and pay the elephant tollbooths their due, you could just end up having a bit of fun.

The best way to understand cricket in Melbourne is to walk to and through its most storied cricket ground

Benjamin Golby06-Jan-2015Melbourne’s bottomless love of sport centres on the MCG and a walk to, around and inside the oval is the best way to appreciate it. Through the picturesque parkland which leads to the ground to the pantheon of sculpted greats who guard it and the treasures that lie within, the MCG makes a great spot for a half-day’s stroll. This can be done on game day, with the thrill of the crowd permeating the air or, better yet, on a day when the ground is not in use. Then, with the sense of past glory electrifying the silence, the cricket lover is left in peace to ponder this capital of Australian sporting history.The Cricketers’ Bar, Windsor Hotel
Perched at the top of downtown Melbourne on Spring Street, The Cricketers’ is an old-fashioned stand-at-the-bar establishment. It’s hardly Melbourne’s most urbane pub but is a favourable spot from which to make the walk to the G. The atmosphere is often raucous, particularly on a match day, with the sound of nuggety sports-lovers discussing cricket, horses and footy (even at the height of summer). The bar memorabilia includes Bradman’s autograph on a bat and Shane Warne’s on a red teapot, among photographs of touring sides and old Surridge and Gunn & Moore gear.An overview of the Melbourne Park precinct, photographed in 2006•Getty ImagesThe bar is housed within the grand Hotel Windsor built with Gold Rush money. It was for many years the closest hotel to the MCG and hosted touring cricket teams; some of Bradman’s letters were written upon Windsor letterheads. Other guests have included Muhammad Ali, Margaret Thatcher and Meryl Streep; it was here, also, that the constitution to federate Australia was devised.The walk to the G
The best walk from the Windsor to the MCG leads over Spring Street, through the Treasury Gardens and up the hill along the tree-lined paths of Fitzroy Gardens. This is a time-honoured route, trodden by hordes of eager supporters on match day. In bygone days, cricketers themselves would commute this path and the writer Richard Whittington described Bradman being pursued by a pack of boys before the Treasury building. The route also leads past a statue of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, a marvellous conservatory, and bizarre symbols of Empire in the form of Captain James Cook’s reconstructed cottage along with a mock miniature Tudor village.Make your way to the MCG via Spring Street•Getty ImagesAround the MCG
The mighty MCG looms from the spur of Fitzroy Gardens with the route to the ground leading over a railway into Yarra Park. Saturated in history, some of the parkland’s towering eucalypts are scarred from having their bark removed to fashion canoes with by Aboriginals. Here, too, the first games of Australian Rules football were played with the remarkable local sport borne out of massed groups of men playing by regional English rugby rules – or none at all – engaging in extended wrestling bouts.While descending toward the oval, the towering sight of a boyish Neil Harvey in sculpted bronze, flourishing an on-drive, heralds that one is entering a sporting shrine. A ring of similarly deified figures surrounds the oval: an impish Shane Warne whose hand is inevitably graced with a cigarette by some passing wag on Boxing Day; the glorious arched sight of Dennis Lillee, all elegance and athleticism in delivery; the lesser known Victorian of the inter-war period, Bill Ponsford, charging down the wicket; a belligerent Keith Miller in delivery stride; and the affable valedictorian Bradman with hat doffed and bat aloft. Interspersed are statues of football greats denoting Melbourne’s reverential attitude toward her winter game.Have a chat about legspin and hair care with a hologram of Shane Warne•AFPWithin the MCG
The greatest wonders lie within the MCG’s immense walls and many are housed by the National Sports Museum in the basement of the Olympic Stand. The museum perfectly balances fun and history. Bright, exciting games and interactive exhibits offer children (as well as adults) the opportunity to throw down a wicket, shoot archery, or play Australian football, while quieter rooms hold superb memorabilia to transport any cricket lover. Alongside glitzy enclosures, like a talking hologram of Shane Warne, are rare artefacts from the Melbourne Cricket Club. There are not merely historic bats and balls but toby jugs, fine plateware, placards, papers, paintings and a grand piano. It’s a fascinating collection of cricket and, along with exhibits from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, gives a rich background for visiting the MCG.A visit to the sporting museum is well complemented by a tour of the ground (offered only on non-match days). The tour winds through dressing rooms, media boxes and the MCC Members Reserve. It’s not quite Lord’s but the Members is stunning with oil paintings and tapestries, and a patrician Long Room. The sight of the empty stadium itself is staggering and one feels both the grandeur of this colossal ground as well as how bizarre Sheffield Shield matches must be when watched by a couple of scattered hundred spectators here. The most rewarding aspect of the tour, though, is the guide, generally an older Member in a blazer, as weathered by watching sport as a fifth-day pitch. Brimming with anecdotes and character, the enthusiasm of these volunteers is a humbling and endearing experience for any cricket tourist.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2015Austrlia’s seamers used the overcast conditions and wrecked havoc, reducing Scotland to 95 for 8 by the 21st over•Getty ImagesBut rain, as expected, played spoilsport, causing a minor delay in the first innings•AFPJosh Davey and Michael Leask put on 35 for the ninth wicket, Scotland’s best partnership of the game, helping them to 130•Getty ImagesMitchell Starc was the architect of Scotland’s downfall as he picked up 4 for 14, including two scalps immediately after the rain break•AFPMichael Clarke surprised everyone by walking out to open with Aaron Finch, and he made 47•Getty ImagesBut once again, the team’s march to victory was put on hold by the weather. It left the hosts with a few nervous moments, as a washout would’ve meant that Australia played South Africa in the quarter-finals instead of Sri Lanka•Getty ImagesBut the rain did eventually let up, and though Scotland managed to dismiss Australia’s top three, David Warner and James Faulkner ensured a seven-wicket win•AFP

Shapoor Zadran has already become a cult figure and now Afghanistan’s shock-haired fast bowler faces Australia backed by the quickest, bounciest pitch in the World Cup

Jarrod Kimber03-Mar-2015Too much swing. Bouncer is good. Dennis Lillee, Brett Lee, Shoaib Ahktar. Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Shoaib Akhtar. Waqar, Shoaib, Wasim. Too much bounce, too much speed. My height is very big, my hair is very big and I have too much style. I copied Shoaib Ahktar: even when I was a small boy I was running 38 steps. Too much hair. Too much style. Height. Hair. Style. Speed, run up, too much six.These are the English words of Shapoor Zadran.He doesn’t need these English words. His description is quite evident from his every step. Shapoor could be driving a tuk tuk, hosting the G8 summit or piloting a probe to Mars: the pace, the hair, the style, it would still all be there. It is always there.At the WACA Ground, where he was preparing to unleash himself on Australia, they have a large net dividing the middle of the nets. It is there to stop the balls escaping. But what it does is really curtail Shapoor. He kicks off the net. Like a stallion bucking at a gate.At the nets at Manuka Oval, he had to practice in one of the nets on the right, as the ones on the left were about half a Shapoor run up. For all the talk of Eden Park being small, nothing could illustrate that more than Shapoor kicking off the fence before coming in to bowl.Every single thing in his life is about pace. His kid’s haircut is the same as his, and his haircut is the same as Shoaib’s.When he was interviewed about bowling, not one of the bowlers he mentioned wasn’t a quick bowler. Even his sentences are quick.Shapoor wants to be fast, and look good doing it.Before this tournament he was a man that cricket hipsters knew about. Now he is a bona fide cult hero. He is Eddo Brandes. He is Colin Miller. He is Pakistan cricket. He is pace. He is bounce. He is style. He is Afghanistan.There is not a single thing he does that is not worth watching. The flick of his hair seems designed for nothing more than turning on the whole cricket world. People are obsessed with him. I am obsessed with him.When I found out there were clips of him dancing on YouTube, I watched them. More than once. He was dancing the Attan, and it was absolutely every bit as good as you hoped it would be. I don’t watch it because of the religious connotations or cultural importance, but because I truly want to see Shapoor dance. I want to see Shapoor do everything. Shapoor is more than a cult hero, he is a cult.I want to see him hit more match-winning runs, and respond by running as if he invented life itself. I want to see him bowl short balls that slice batsmen in half. I want to see him scream as a catch is missed. I want to see him scream when a wicket is taken. I want to see him play cricket until his run up is quicker than his delivery.I have met most of the greatest modern-day cricketers because of my job. I have never taken a selfie with one. I wanted a selfie with Shapoor. Most of cricket wants one with him. He almost seems too good to be true. Like some film-maker came along and scripted this giant passionate man with style, with hair, with bounce, with pace, to save cricket.At the end of this World Cup, Shapoor will be walking in slow motion to a power ballad while the World Cup blows up behind him and a woman runs over to be in his arms. Sometimes it feels like this happens just on his epic walk back to his mark.And, if it was just Shapoor in this side, that would be enough. But Afghanistan have Hamid Hassan as well. Rocky; Rambo.There are times when it looks as if Hassan is just going through the motions. His run up is not a 12-second ode to joy, it’s like listening to a Rolls Royce engine start. It looks as if he is giving no real effort; that he is just jogging in the park. But you can hear the purr, and you can see the blur.Hassan is pace. Too much pace. Too much pace even for Shapoor.When the ball leaves Hassan’s hand, people make swooning noises. There was an eight-minute period in the nets at the WACA where Hassan either beat his team-mates’ bat or took the edge.Andy Moles, Afghanistan’s coach, yelled out: “That’s where you live, H”. Yes, that is where he lives, in a state of pure liquid awesomeness. Every ball is angled in at the stumps, and then leaves the batsman, it goes sideways, and it goes up. The back net stops it, barely. Without that net, the ball could have just kept going up forever.Later, Moles says: “Bowl there till you’re dead.” What he really means is, bowl there till everyone else is.In 30 minutes the only shot forward of square is a mis-hit drive that comes to an apologetic stop near his feet. He doesn’t bowl a bouncer, he doesn’t have to. This is the WACA. It gives him the bounce, the pace; too much of each. He just provides the ball.After terrifying his top order with length balls, Hassan is told to bowl yorkers. Mohammad Nabi, his captain, is batting. Nabi is told by the coaches that all balls to come will be yorkers from now on. Dawlat Zadran, no slowcoach, bowls a yorker first. Nabi plays it beautifully through cover.The next ball is from Hassan. It starts at leg stump, Nabi opens up, and before his muscle fibres have twitched, his off stump is out of the ground.”H, bowl yorkers” was all the command he needed. Hassan bowled the yorker.And he did it like that. Switched from unplayable length bowling to killer outswinging yorkers.After Hassan took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, he cartwheeled. At the Fan Zone park in Dunedin, people watched, people screamed. A few minutes later a kid in a Black Caps shirt tried to do a cartwheel. His inspiration wasn’t Rambo, it wasn’t Rocky, it wasn’t Shoaib, it was Hassan.The WACA has been graced by all the bowlers that Shapoor mentioned. It has had Devon Malcolm, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Imran Khan, and Jeff Thomson. The WACA is pace. The WACA is bounce.On March 4 the WACA is hosting a couple of blokes from non-Test playing countries. They are pace. They are bounce. They are Afghanistan cricket. They are cricket.

A series win against New Zealand would see England back to a respectable No. 3 in the Test rankings. A series defeat would see them slip to a desolate No.7. Hysteria could lurk, either way

George Dobell19-May-20151:08

‘Business as usual’ for England under Farbrace

Andrew Strauss addressed England’s players and backroom staff for the first time at the team hotel on Tuesday. With only 48 hours before the start of the first Investec Test against New Zealand, he had some explaining to do. Such as why was Peter Moores sacked and why is Kevin Pietersen still persona non grata?Just as no memoir from Titanic focuses on the excellent catering or the smooth journey before that pesky incident with the iceberg, so no contemporary report on English cricket can look far beyond the sackings, the infighting and the soap opera that has become the life of Pietersen.It seems hard to believe that, less than two years ago, England won the Ashes without conceding defeat in a Test and reached the final of the Champions Trophy. Now, the reputation of English cricket has arguably never been lower. It is the job of the new director of England cricket to address it.With such a task facing Strauss, it would be naïve to expect that he could quell all doubts in one go. If some players or staff remain sceptical, the majority of cricket followers are even harder to pacify.There will be some comfort for Strauss, nevertheless, in the response of England’s wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, who insisted that for the England team it was business as usual. Buttler has only met Strauss once before when, as a Middlesex player, he guested for Somerset against India in 2011 to find some form ahead of the Test series, but he knows his record and that will have counted for a lot.”He was very open and honest about what has gone on and all the players respected that,” Buttler said. “Nothing has been kept from anyone and everyone knows the reasons why things are happening and what the plan is moving forward.”The players respected that and it was great to hear from the man himself what his visions are. You read things in the press and you pick on hearsay but to sit in a room and hear him say why these decisions have been made and what the plan is moving forward gives the players clarity about what is going on.”To some extent, the ECB only have themselves to blame for this situation. Their role in the carve-up of the ICC, their sometimes high-handed attitude towards those who pay their wages (the “outside cricket” press release, for example), their hubris and their handling of major decisions – such as Pietersen’s sacking – has left themselves open to criticism. Derision, even.And yet, beneath all that, there are admirable things going on, too. To see Mark Wood, who may well make his Test debut on Thursday in place of Chris Jordan, or Adam Lyth, or Ben Stokes or Buttler train at Lord’s on Tuesday was to see the nucleus of a hugely talented, young, exciting and likeable side in development. It was to see the future of England cricket.

Graves admits West Indies error

Colin Graves has admitted he was wrong to refer to West Indies as “mediocre” opposition ahead of their Test series with England.

Speaking at the dinner to celebrate England’s cricketers of the year, the new ECB chairman accepted he had “been proved wrong” and was happy “to hold up his hands” and admit it.

Graves remarks, made in an interview with a local radio station ahead of the series, infuriated the West Indies team. Ahead of the first Test of the series in Antigua, the word “mediocre” was cut out and placed on the door of their dressing room to provide extra motivation. At the end of the series, Phil Simmons, the West Indies coach asked dismissively: “Who is Colin Graves? How much cricket has he played?”

While Graves suggested that West Indies’ result for the two years ahead of the series had partially justified his position at the time, he acknowledged that he had been proved wrong.

Equally, to witness the admirable Luke Sugg, who hit four centuries in the Blind World Cup in South Africa before Christmas, presented with England’s Disability Player of the Year award of Monday night, was to be given a reminder that the ECB – for all their faults – have led the world in their funding of disability cricket. Women’s cricket, too. And while these things may not generate many headlines, they still matter.A series win against New Zealand would see England back to a respectable No. 3 in the Test rankings. A series defeat would see them slip to a desolate No.7. Hysteria could lurk, either way.But which is the real ECB? Which is the real England?It was a dichotomy typified by Strauss’ first foray into the world of cricket administration. Here was a man who, not long ago, was the golden boy of English cricket: the captain who led them to No. 1 in the Test rankings and a batsman good enough to play Ashes-defining innings. He was respected, admired and liked.But the move from whites to blazer has not been comfortable. The decision to continue Pietersen’s period in exile – a period that may well end at the World T20 in India – could be used to argue either a lack of objectivity (Strauss allowing his personal feelings to interfere with the best interests of the team) or for the benefits of his recent dressing room experience. Less than 18 months ago, Strauss said he felt he lacked the experience to apply for the job he is now in. One wonders what relevant experience he gained from a year working as a pundit for Sky.Strauss’ record is more similar to Pietersen than he may like to accept. Not only have they both been responsible for ending Peter Moores’ spell as England coach (Pietersen the first time; Strauss the second), but they both used the same word – albeit in a different language – to describe one another.There are more double standards at play. It would, according to Strauss, “be harsh” to judge Eoin Morgan on his World Cup performance, but fair to sack Moores on his. He feels sorry for Moores because he “lacked time” to make a difference, yet he was the man who decided his time was up. England requires, according to Strauss, players that can make their own decisions under pressure, yet he has micro-managed to such an extent that the new coach will not be at liberty to select his own captain, vice-captain or England’s record international run scorer. Not many top coaches will put up with such interference.There is some irony the ECB talking about “trust,” too. Whatever you think of Moores and Paul Downton, they deserved better than to learn of their sackings from the media. Indeed, in time, we may come to reflect that the latest instalment in Pietersen-Strauss actually helped the ECB by obscuring their wretched treatment of Moores.The point of this is not to lambast the ECB – or Strauss – once more. It is to demonstrate that even those who have served England cricket with distinction can err or be judged harshly and that Strauss, now appointed, will need time to achieve the change he desires. If he really believes Moores was not the man for the coaching job – and one wonders with whom he consulted, because the Test squad seemed squarely behind their coach – then he is right to have acted swiftly and decisively. He will be judged by the results.The point of all this?A new summer of international cricket brings new hope. England have an exuberant, young side. A side that could inspire and engage. It is time to stop the in-fighting, time to stop focusing on the past, time to stop judging the team on the failings of the board. Just as Pietersen should be brought back into the fold – and that does not necessarily mean, just yet, into a Test team which has a fine-looking middle-order – Strauss and Graves and co. need to be given time to bring about the change of which they talk. In short, can’t we all just get along?As Buttler recognised, it’s time to start again. Again.

Chris Rogers and David Warner are very different types but the assumption that they don’t get on has become one of the myths of the Ashes series

Daniel Brettig22-Jul-2015Contrary to what you may have heard, no-one in the Australian team has a better appreciation of Chris Rogers’ value than his opening partner David Warner.As many at Lord’s and around England mulled over rumours that Warner and Rogers are perennially feuding, the younger man actually walked down the wicket and told his more seasoned partner these words: “Mate, you can’t leave me.”While arriving at the time of their 100 partnership in the second innings, it was a strong acknowledgement from Warner of the role Rogers has played in his success. Anyone believing the pair have little time for one another need only look at the way Warner has been trying to re-shape his game for English conditions, having observed how Rogers goes about it.They can also look at the concern Warner has felt for Rogers as he undergoes further tests to determine the nature of the dizzy spells he suffered during the latter part of the Test. While Warner joked about his partner’s loss of balance early on the fourth day of the Test, he knows how much the team will suffer if Rogers is not passed fit in time for the next match in Birmingham.

“Chris said to me the grandstand is moving and I said ‘no it’s not’. I was worried, I had no idea what was going on”

“I came down the wicket and I had to look twice because I didn’t really know what was going on and with all the talk of him and me not getting along I thought it was just him not wanting to come and talk to me,” Warner said. “I just let him go for a little bit.”He actually said to me the grandstand is moving and I said ‘no it’s not’. I was worried, I had no idea what was going on and so was he, he said I don’t know what’s happening here so I said just sit down. He went off for some scans and I don’t know what they said but I saw him the other night and he said he was ok.”There is no question about the fact that Warner and Rogers are different characters. And it is also true that a few of Warner’s rougher edges have grated on other members of the team at times over his tempestuous but highly successful four years in the Test team. But the view expressed by Ravi Shastri that “all cricket teams have players in it who don’t talk to each other and this is clearly an example of that” is wide of the mark.”It’s quite funny, obviously in Australia we talk about yin and yang, two different people as in he reads a lot of books, I wouldn’t read a book, he is on his Kindle but I’m on my iPhone looking at news,” Warner said. “But it is totally blown out of proportion, I have no idea where it has come from, but it doesn’t help when your mates like Brad Haddin stir the porridge a little bit and tell people we actually don’t like each other.”We get along very well, everyone in the group knows that we always … everyone gives each other banter and for some reasons we get picked on. When we put on the hundred partnership in the second innings I came down the wicket and shook his hand and said ‘mate you can’t leave me’. He just laughed. He is playing with freedom, he is playing with a clear mind.”I don’t know what he said in the papers about his career afterwards but he is on a mission to score as many runs as he can and that’s the positive attitude he brings to the table with his experience. He is in a great frame of mind at the moment. He said the other day he is playing his best to date for Australia. I would love to see him go on but he will know when it is time.”Rogers’ success so far in this series – he is shaded only by Steve Smith in the aggregates – has only encouraged Warner to look for a different method by which to score runs. It is something he hinted at doing during the West Indies tour, and while some criticised his approach in Cardiff as untypical, he is determined to emulate Rogers’ more reliable methods on pitches that offer more lateral movement than Australia.”I can’t cover drive a swinging ball off a good length against Jimmy so it’s quite hard to play your normal game, you’ve actually got to play a straight bat,” Warner said. “That’s the game here in England, the ball swings a lot, you’ve got play straight down the line.”If the ball’s in my area I’m definitely going to go after it, but I think here I have to let the ball come to me. I’m not finding it hard to score runs early, you just can’t because they’re bowling the ball in the right areas and that’s the hardest thing. I look at Cardiff and I’ve looked over the footage from both my innings and there’s no way I could have played it any different.David Warner and Chris Rogers: happily running in different directions•AFP”You can try and play a cover drive but the ball is moving way too far to try and hit it. I’ve got to keep backing my game and that’s the intent I need to show – look to score but when you’re looking to score you always have your defence there. I have to be as patient as I can and keep bringing the bowlers back. Last two innings and in Cardiff the last innings I think I have worked out what I have to do. I am not getting any freebies in the first spell that’s for sure. It’s all about hard work.”That hard work may eventually extend also to the way Warner tackles Moeen Ali, who has dismissed him three times out of four, yet is not a bowler who needs to be hit off his length in quite the same way as Graeme Swann once was. Warner will get his chance to score off Moeen, so does not need to go out chasing as he did to be dismissed on the first day at Lord’s.”I think the difference with Swanny was he was very consistent and always in the same areas,” Warner said. “It’s hard for you to score as a batsman, so you do have to try and change the patterns. With Moeen, I don’t think we really have to go as hard against him.”No disrespect to Moeen, but you will get that bad ball. Whereas Swanny was relentless and you never really got that bad ball, especially as a left-hander. The other day, coming out probably too hard and too aggressive was probably silly on my behalf.”Not as silly as thinking Warner and Rogers cannot work together. The more pertinent question, as Rogers tries to shrug off his dizzy spells, is for how long they will continue to do so.

Adil Rashid’s successful return at international level has given England a weapon they have often lacked for – and one other sides may covet

Andrew McGlashan10-Sep-2015You would not have to go back very far to find the notion that England would field a legspinner in nine consecutive one-day internationals – and 11 white-ball matches in all – as scarcely believable.But over this summer Adil Rashid has found himself a secure place among England’s bowling attack and on Tuesday produced his most consistent display at international level with 2 for 41 at Old Trafford. Conditions were in Rashid’s favour but he was not overwhelmed by the scenario and, barring the occasion full toss which will remain a professional hazard, pitched his legspinner and googly with encouraging accuracy. A Test debut beckons against Pakistan next month.It has been a test of nerve for Rashid throughout the season. The batsmen’s first priority has often been to try and put him into the stands. More than just occasionally they have succeeded, but a more mature Rashid – having been toughened up in the hard-knock school of Yorkshire cricket – has kept coming back.He has benefitted from a coaching set-up that understands the value of an attacking spinner: Paul Farbrace often had them when with Sri Lanka and as an Australian Trevor Bayliss has come through a culture that has, more often than not, embraced spin.”Farby is doing exceptionally well, a top job, he wants us to play fearless cricket, go out there and play how we want to play,” Rashid said. “It’s the same with Trev, he has been really encouraging, personally encouraging me to spin the ball, looking to take wickets and be positive and that is throughout the whole squad as well.”It often needs a deep breath, and that is likely to be the case in the future too, but with sides batting so deep in one-day cricket the ability to take wickets, even if the cost is sometimes high, is not to be overlooked. He has 15 wickets in the calendar year and with England having another six ODIs in 2015 will surely become just the sixth English spinner to take 20 in a year. That highlights the limited role spin has historically played for England in the one-day game – certainly from a wicket-taking point of view – but it is to Rashid’s credit that he has not blinked first.”Before I came into this one-day series I had a clear mindset of what my role is in the team and what I’m looking to do,” Rashid said. “It’s a bit of a risk but my aim is to create chances, sometimes I might get hit for a few, sometimes I might get wickets but that’s the risk I take.”It’s different set up from when I first came in, a whole different environment, my mindset is a lot clearer, the coaches, the captain, the mindset of the team is a lot clearer.”A bowler like Rashid can, in some ways, been seen as a beneficiary of the increasing scoring rates and batting power in one-day cricket rather than the victim bowlers are often perceived as. If you have a few tricks up your sleeve, you become a valuable resource.”Wrist spin is seen as a way of taking wickets and that’s what my job is in the team. Over time things have changed and people are looking to get wickets in that middle period as well,” Rashid said. “It’s a key period, and that’s why you get people involved who can bowl variations, legspinners, topspinners whatever.”There is a comparison worth noting between these two teams. Australia, too, are forming a new-look spin attack but they have gone down the orthodox route of Ashton Agar who made his debut at Old Trafford. They have previously tried to find a legspinner for the one-day side; on the previous Ashes tour in 2013 Fawad Ahmed made his debut but his international career – hampered by poor batting and poor fielding – has never taken off.James Muirhead was then given the T20 role in early 2014 – and went to the World T20 in Bangladesh – but has since drifted so far down the pecking order that he struggles for a game in any format for Victoria and was traded from Melbourne Stars to Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash.Cameron Boyce and Adam Zampa are the current youngsters in the mix. Boyce made a 20,000-mile round trip to England for what ended up as one over in the T20 in Cardiff. Zampa, meanwhile, was used as a net bowler during the Ashes although has yet to have a taste of international cricket.Darren Lehmann acknowledge the role Rashid – and legspin in general – can play. “It’s an advantage to have any wrist spinner if they’re bowling well,” he said. “He bowled well the other day, previous games he probably hasn’t bowled as well as he would have liked. They go for runs but they get wickets, so he’s a good young prospect for them.”Australia are still ahead in the one-day series, and will wrap it up with victory at Headingley, but even if they come out on top over these five matches England do have one thing they would like. And for that to be a legspinner is a turn up for the books.

Ashar Zaidi has given Comilla Victorians exactly what they were looking for at the BPL player draft: a genuine allrounder

Mohammad Isam12-Dec-2015Ashar Zaidi’s walk to the crease, while approaching it to bat or bowl, is that of a man with the certainty that comes from playing 107 first-class matches. He has brought all that experience to the BPL and provided Comilla Victorians exactly what they had been looking for since the draft pick: a genuine all-rounder.The Comilla management went through a long list of potential allrounders from around the world but when they settled for Zaidi, they didn’t know his match-winning abilities. He has so far made 199 runs at an average of 66.33, and his 16 wickets have come at an average of 9.43. He bowls economically, and with the bat his slogs, pulls and cuts remind you of Darren Lehmann in his pomp.On Saturday, Zaidi’s 15-ball 40 and four-wicket haul came at crucial stages for Comilla in their Qualifier battle against Rangpur Riders. It won him the man-of-the-match award too, though he didn’t want to talk big. It seems to go with his on-field performance and persona; he said his main aim with the bat and ball was not to go overboard.”We speak in the meeting about what we should do in different situations,” Zaidi told ESPNcricinfo. “So we are prepared for anything that happens in a match. It is happening for me. I don’t try to overdo anything. I get in first and try to target different bowlers.”I am happy that the team has gone into the final. It is a young team which has made a big achievement. I am proud to be part of this team. I think all the boys should get credit.”But he has made telling contributions. In the first three matches he didn’t get to bat but took six wickets. Then came the unbeaten 53 against Sylhet Super Stars in Chittagong before he hammered unbeaten scores of 45 and 20 in his next three innings. In Comilla’s last league match, Zaidi blasted 31 at a crucial period too.He has done an important job batting down the order, particularly when required to provide the final thrust in the last five overs. In the first qualifier too, Zaidi’s late-overs hits took Comilla to what Shakib Al Hasan called a “formidable” score. But Zaidi believed the 79-run opening partnership between Imrul Kayes and Liton Das was more helpful.”Everyone will talk about the last over but I think the more important job was done by the openers who batted out a difficult period,” he said. “Things would have been tougher for us had we lost two or three early wickets. So the credit should go to them, and not really all the credit should go to the last few overs.”Zaidi said his bowling plan was quite simple, especially in T20s, based around gathering together enough dot balls to get batsmen to panic. “I have been playing here for the last two years so I know how the wickets help the spinners,” he said. “There is no bounce so I have to bowl stump-to-stump and try to bowl dot balls, and wait for the batsmen to make a mistake.”The plan is not to get panicked, and keep bowling the dot balls. They will try to make it up with a boundary here and there, and that’s when you have to look for mistakes.”Comilla captain Mashrafe Mortaza said Zaidi had given his team the boost it required with bat and ball, but said he had not predicted the extent of his contributions.”The way Zaidi has given us service in this competition is unbelievable,” Mashrafe said. “We never expected him to perform that way. With regards to his batting, we had given him a message that we want to score 140-145, but the way he finished it for us, was unbelievable.”If Comilla fall into trouble in the final on Tuesday, they know who to look for.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2015Shaun Marsh was in at No. 5 on his latest comeback•Getty ImagesA punch towards mid-off was brilliantly fielded by Brendon McCullum, who threw at the stumps without getting up…•Getty Images…to run out Marsh by several yards after he hesitated mid-pitch•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesDoug Bracewell then had Mitchell Marsh caught behind as Australia slipped to 80 for 5•Getty ImagesSteven Smith helped settle Australia but his half-century was hard work…•Getty Images…and Mark Craig had him caught behind as the tea interval approached•Getty ImagesBJ Watling took an excellent catch after Smith had come down the pitch•Getty ImagesSmith left the field having made 53•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesCraig took his second wicket in the over when Peter Siddle was taken at short leg•Getty ImagesJosh Hazlewood became Mitchell Santner’s maiden Test wicket, Australia 116 for 8 at tea•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesThere was controversy after the break as Nathan Lyon survived a review for a top edge attempting to sweep Santner•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesLyon appeared to think he would be given out after Hot Spot showed a mark on the bat…•Cricket Australia/Getty Images…but New Zealand were left unimpressed when Nigel Llong decided not to overturn the decision, saying the evidence was inconclusive•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesBrendon McCullum queried the decision with umpire S Ravi, to no avail•Getty ImagesPeter Nevill was batting tidily, meanwhile•Getty ImagesLyon helped to add 74 for the ninth wicket, another 72 after he was given not out•Getty ImagesNevill recorded his second Test half-century•Getty ImagesTrent Boult finally removed Lyon for a punchy 34•Getty ImagesDespite an injured foot, Mitchell Starc came out to bat at No. 11 and clattered five boundaries in 24 off 15 balls, helping Australia to 224 and a lead of 22•Getty ImagesAfter the dinner interval, Hazlewood continued a probing spell with the new pink ball•Getty ImagesHe removed Martin Guptill and Tom Latham to leave New Zealand 32 for 2•Getty ImagesMitchell Marsh had to shoulder extra overs due to Starc’s injury and he got the key wicket of Kane Williamson•Getty ImagesMarsh then had McCullum lbw…•Getty Images…and Hazlewood picked up Ross Taylor as New Zealand struggled to 116 for 5 at the close, leading by 94•Getty Images