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Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai

Sidharth Monga25-Apr-2015The change-up
Praveen Kumar loves bowling the first over of an innings, but in the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack he is option number four. It doesn’t swing that much when you bowl second change, but Praveen can show he can swallow his ego. In his first over he beat Lendl Simmons with two slower legcutters that were short and outside off. Unmukt Chand would have seen both these balls from the other end, and would have had the slower balls at the back of his head when Praveen bowled short at regulation pace to end the over. Chand was late into the pull, the ball hit the sticker on the bat, and ended up in the lap of midwicket inside the circle.The overthrow
We saw in how Rahul Tewatia ran out M Vijay recently that spinners are actively looking to catch non-strikers short if the ball is hit back at them. At Wankhede Stadium, Simmons pushed one hard back towards Karn, who tried to deflect it on to the stumps behind him. He missed the stumps by inches and conceded a single to long-on. Replays also showed that Rohit Sharma, the non-striker, was not as dreamy with his backing-up as Vijay had been. Rohit had slid his bat back in by the time the ball went over the stumps.The penalty
After having hit the top of Simmons’ middle stump in the 13th over – redemption after going for two fours – Dale Steyn went to work on the new batsman Kieron Pollard. Steyn had his tail, and his pace, up. The first ball hit the sticker of the bat as Pollard looked to defend off the front foot. Steyn then dug the next one in short, getting it to rise towards the chest of the big man. Pollard fended, once again uncertainly. You would have expected one full and fast at his toes now, Steyn wanted to do the same, but missed his line by six inches. Instead of middle the ball ended at the base of leg stump, and Pollard got enough bat on it to beat short fine leg and take four. Margin of error for bowlers is almost non-existent at times.The unfriendly treatment
Harbhajan Singh and Shikhar Dhawan are good friends. Harbhajan calls Dhawan “Gabbar”, and you can see on Twitter the joy he derives from Dhawan’s success. In the brief duel on the field, though, Dhawan showed he knew his friend’s game better than the other way around. Dhawan and David Warner are two left-hand openers, and in defence of a small total Mumbai went to their No. 1 offspinner with the new ball. Dhawan, though, played him with aplomb: caressing the first ball of the innings for four, and reverse-sweeping the first ball of Harbhajan’s second over for four. More unkind shots were to follow. Harbhajan to Dhawan: 23 off nine balls.

Stats highlights from the first day of The Oval Test

S Rajesh20-Aug-201562.77 The average opening partnership for Australia in this series; England’s average opening stand in the first four Tests is 14.00. The top six opening stands in this series – each over 50 – have all come from Warner and Chris Rogers. England’s best opening stand in the series is 32.2053 Partnership runs between Rogers and Warner, the highest by any pair in Tests since the beginning of 2012. They’ve averaged 51.32 per completed stand, with nine century partnerships, which is also the highest among all pairs.94.42 Australia’s average opening partnership in Tests at The Oval since 2000, easily their highest among all venues in England during this period.87 Balls before Australia got their first boundary of the innings, when David Warner pulled Ben Stokes off the 88th delivery of the morning. Since 2002, there have been only four instances when the first boundary of a Test match has taken longer – by India against West Indies in Jamaica, 2006, (first boundary off the 114th ball), Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in Colombo, 2013, (107th ball), South Africa against England, in Durban, 2009, (95th ball), and India against West Indies, in Barbados, 2011 (89th ball). In the first hour this morning (14 overs), the Australian openers played 70 dots.2006 Rogers’ Test aggregate, with all his runs coming at the opening slot. Among openers who’ve debuted after the age of 30, Rogers’ aggregate is easily the highest – the next-best is 1231, by England’s Brian Luckhurst.6 Fifty-plus scores for Warner in 15 Test innings in England. However, the highest among them is today’s 85; his other 50-plus scores are 64, 77, 83, 52 (all in this series), and 71, in 2013. His previous five half-centuries had all been scored in the team’s second innings. Warner has also achieved the distinction of getting a half-century in each Test of this series.101 The unbroken fourth-wicket stand between Steven Smith and Adam Voges. In seven previous fourth-wicket stands in this series, Australia’s highest was 43, and their average 17.57. This is only Australia’s second century stand for any wicket other than the first in this series.

How can the BCCI fill the post of its president, following the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata on Sunday?

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Sep-2015Over the past few months, Jagmohan Dalmiya’s poor health had led to rumblings about whether he could continue as BCCI president for his third stint (including his interim period in 2013). As the 2015 BCCI elections drew close, there was talk among Dalmiya’s opponents about trying to find a way to have him relinquish the position. However, the process to displace him was not as straightforward as they would have wished and so Dalmiya was neither formally challenged nor forced to step down.The way forward for the BCCI

What happens to the BCCI presidency?
The BCCI constitution says that if the president’s post is vacated mid-tenure, “the secretary shall within fifteen days convene a Special General Body Meeting to elect the president who shall be nominated by at least one Full Member from the zone which proposed the name of the president whose term was cut short prematurely. Such person who is so elected shall hold office till the next elections”. It would mean Anurag Thakur will run the BCCI’s affairs until he convenes the SGM to elect Jagmohan Dalmiya’s successor.
Can there be an election to decide the new president?
Yes. Since it is the East Zone’s turn to nominate the president until 2017, and at least one affiliate unit from the zone has to propose a nominee, there is a possibility of up to six candidates entering the fray. All six affiliates – Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura and Kolkata’s National Cricket Club – had stuck together while proposing Dalmiya’s name in March this year. However, both the pro- and anti-Srinivasan lobbies will likely be at work trying to gain those votes.
Who are the front-runners to take over as president?
Two months ago, former ICC and BCCI chief Sharad Pawar had told his colleagues in the Mumbai Cricket Association that he intended to take over as BCCI chief in the AGM. The AGM has been postponed but Pawar remains a favourite. Rajiv Shukla, the former BCCI vice-president and current IPL chairman, is also eyeing the post. If Shukla, who had lost the BCCI treasurer’s election in March to Srinivasan loyalist Anirudh Chaudhry, does not generate support from the Srinivasan group, then Srinivasan may field one of his key aides – Chaudhry or joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary.

A senior Board member, speaking with the benefit of hindsight, now says it was “foolish” of the members to elect Dalmiya in March 2015 when they knew such a situation was likely to arise, due to his fading physical condition. Yet the reality was that there was no choice: Dalmiya emerged a consensus candidate because neither of the two rival groups in the BCCI – one headed by N Srinivasan and the other a broad group of his opponents – could force their man through.That rough equivalence of power remains today and is expected to trigger another round of jockeying for the top job. The anti-Srinivasan group now finds its unofficial and undeclared head in Anurag Thakur, who as board secretary holds the second-most powerful post. He latterly served as de facto head of the BCCI due to Dalmiya’s ailments but has been the subject of much grumbling in the board’s offices for his allegedly autocratic ways and unchecked power. Thakur’s critics believe that the situation could have negative consequences on the autonomy of the board in light of the Supreme Court instructions to the Lodha Panel to recommend changes about the BCCI’s constitution and manner of functioning.Replacing Dalmiya will not be easy for other reasons too. BCCI rules state that the six members of the East Zone will have the first say in picking the replacement considering it is their turn to elect the president till 2017. The pre-requisite for a presidential candidate is attendance of at least two AGMs and having been an office bearer (president, secretary, treasurer, joint secretary) or vice-president earlier.One of the most obvious potential candidates is Sharad Pawar, the Mumbai Cricket Association president, who is believed to have told his inner circle about his desire to lead the BCCI once again. But Pawar has decided to play the waiting game, not showing his hand, this modus operandi being the backbone of his longstanding success as a politician for more than half a century.There is also Rajiv Shukla, who has been trying hard to lobby support in the East. And then there’s the spectre of the invisible hand ruling the BCCI, that of the federal government – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Members believe Thakur, who is a senior BJP MP, will not upset the party leadership, where it is believed that Srinivasan has the backing of a top BJP politician.

The tone of cricket played at Adelaide Oval over the past two days has resembled nothing so much as the sort of play witnessed during the third and fourth Ashes Tests earlier this year

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide28-Nov-2015In concocting the right environment for the inaugural day-night Test, Cricket Australia were primarily concerned with preserving the pink ball and maintaining balance between bat and ball. As with any experiment, there has been an unintended consequence: the cricketers of Australia and New Zealand have been transported as if by magic to England.The tone of the cricket played at Adelaide Oval over the past two days has resembled nothing so much as the sort of play witnessed during the third and fourth Ashes Tests earlier this year. The 8mm of grass left on the pitch and the lush outfield have kept the ball in fine and visible condition; these conditions have also kept the ball seaming throughout, and then swinging sharply once the chill evening air and floodlights have taken effect.Upon hearing that this sort of a pitch was in the offing for Adelaide, Ricky Ponting noted critically: “You can’t in Adelaide, just because you’re using a pink ball, leave a heap more grass on the pitch. We want the pitches and the grounds to keep their identity and characteristics. You can’t just go mucking around with things like that, because that changes the whole way the game’s played.”The “mucking around” has created a scenario the Australian team had not envisaged for the summer; most have spoken of their experiences at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and the Oval in terms of remembering them for the next visit to the far side of the world. But in Adelaide, they have been confronted by a scenario in which the failures of that trip have been quickly revisited. There have been contrasting fortunes as a result.Having bowled and fielded grandly on the opening day, the hosts were able to round up New Zealand for 202. That then had the effect of forcing the batsmen out in the most difficult of the conditions, as the new ball swerved in the evening, in the eminently capable hands of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. What followed was a useful run-down of where each Australian batsman has got to by way of handling the moving ball.Having scored so prolifically in Brisbane and Perth, on pitches sharing more in common with King William Road than Adelaide Oval, David Warner did not prosper long. He had noted that England had made him tighter to begin an innings to his benefit in the first two Tests, but this time around, he was seen to be pushing at the ball with his hands well out in front of his body.Joe Burns survived for a more substantial 41 balls, and was unlucky to be dismissed when his inside edge grazed the top of the bails. It was not a major innings, but it did at least take some of the lacquer from the pink ball – something he had also managed on a seam bowler’s day at Lord’s during the ODI series that followed the Ashes, impressing Steven Smith by the manner in which he did so.Smith and Adam Voges were duly able to get some sort of platform established, and 2 for 54 at stumps on day one was a reasonable base for day two. However, they found Southee and Boult able to get the ball moving again when play resumed, and Voges was to be foiled by that very bend.In England, Voges had settled on a plan of playing the ball as late as possible, and prospered through this in his final two innings of the series. But here Southee pitched as full as possible, and a tentative Voges blade resulted in an edge where more assertiveness might have brought a boundary.Shaun Marsh, too, spent the latter part of the England tour working on his defensive technique in these conditions. His failure here was not a matter of batting technique but of running. As related by Chris Rogers in radio commentary, Marsh has been spoken to in the past about needing to be bolder and louder in his calling. This time a moment’s indecision allowed Brendon McCullum a narrow window in which to accomplish a brilliant run out: the reactions of Marsh’s parents told a painful story.That brought Mitchell Marsh to the crease, and he showed once more that a certain stiffness of movement and rigidness of back makes him vulnerable to the moving ball. The delivery he edged from Doug Bracewell did shape away nicely, but the bat was searching for the ball in a manner always likely to bring an edge. If he is to be persevered with, he has much work to do.Better was seen from Smith and Peter Nevill, who brought the only real substance to an innings that was reprieved enormously by Nathan Lyon’s bizarre DRS escape. Smith’s technique is presently well in sync, and he seldom looked in trouble against the seamers, only to surrender his wicket with a wild charge down the pitch at Mark Craig. Like his keeping, Nevill’s batting is neat and full of learning. He needs only to find a willing partner to go on from the 66 he fashioned here.The fight from the tail gave Australia’s bowlers something to work with and a beneficial time in which to do it. While shorn of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Marsh combined admirably, their overlapping spells making use of a swerving ball and freshening pitch to take regular New Zealand wickets. Hazlewood was particularly sharp, controlling the movement of the ball and posing consistent questions.It had little to do with the bowling that New Zealand were ultimately able to wriggle to 5 for 116 at stumps. Two catches downed in the slips, both by Smith, kept the match open. The captain may well sleep fitfully tonight, knowing there remains a chance that this manufactured form of England will carry similar regrets to the real one.

Mohammad Amir wasn’t quite at his menacing best on his return to Pakistan colours, but there was plenty of pace and promise for the months to come

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Auckland15-Jan-2016There had been a protest from team-mates, and a visa complication owing to his time in jail, but since he has landed in New Zealand, Mohammad Amir has kept a low profile. His work in the nets was earnest. Occasionally he struck up a conversation, but usually kept to himself. Neither life of the party nor outcast – Amir’s reintegration was almost becoming nondescript.He kept emotions in check through the early overs in his return, like a man who knows he is still in the dock, though it is years since his conviction. There had been cheers in the crowd when his name was announced in the XI. A few boos as well. Teammates might have been lukewarm but some Pakistan fans in the Auckland crowd embraced his return. They chanted his name in his first over. A few had brought “Welcome back” signs. At times, if you were in the right section of the crowd, it felt like the return of the prodigal son, brother or friend.The first over was low-key, like his attitude. Having sent his first ball down the leg side, he bowled sharp inswing at the right-handers, veering a little too far down the leg side, perhaps, but regularly breaching 140kph. It wasn’t quite Amir at his best; just the kind of bowling that prompted coach Waqar Younis to later say that his return was neither great nor poor, but “pretty okay”.In his second over, Amir got an abrupt refresher on what being a Pakistan fast bowler is all about. Having induced a mistake from one of the form batsmen in the world, Amir watched Kane Williamson’s mishit sail towards cover, where Shahid Afridi settled beautifully beneath it, before proceeding, of course, to drop the catch. Amir kept his cool on that occasion, as teammates sent sympathetic applause in his direction. He was less impressed with Sohaib Maqsood, who dropped another straightforward catch in the 17th over. Amir let out a curt yell of frustration, before regaining his zen.”I wanted those catches to be taken because it would have really given him that confidence at the beginning of the game,” Waqar later said. “Unfortunately that’s part of the game. I’m sure he knows that he will come back.”When the wicket finally came off his final ball of the evening, Afridi – the catcher – made the more triumphant jubilation, striking his star-man pose as teammates converged. There were some high-fives and pats on the back for Amir. On the scoreboard, his returns read 4-0-31-1 – figures in perfect step with the ethos of his last week.”I thought Amir bowled pretty okay,” Waqar said, summing up. “He’ll probably get better and better. I’m expecting him to give breakthroughs with the new ball, which I think he’s got the capability to do.”It may take time for those capabilities to be fully realised, but opportunity beckons, with an Asia Cup, a World T20 and, later, an England tour on the horizon. For now, Amir has suggested his skill belongs on the international stage, though he hasn’t quite set that stage alight.

The Bangladesh opener has enjoyed a productive time in the World T20 Qualifiers and the aspect that has stood out is how he has adjusted his game to the situation

Sidharth Monga13-Mar-20161:34

‘I just batted the way I know’ – Tamim

“If Tamim bats 20 overs he would like to have got a hundred.”That was Peter Borren after Tamim Iqbal’s 83 not out in 20 overs against a challenging Netherlands attack. Borren was talking about how sensibly Tamim played the situation. It was a different match. Against a more error-prone Oman attack, Tamim batted the whole 20 overs and went a step further to register Bangladesh’s first Twenty20 international century.This innings was not too dissimilar to the one against Netherlands. He scored 57% of the team’s runs here in 63 of the 120 balls; against Netherlands he faced only 58 balls and scored 54% of the runs. Here he had support through Sabbir Rahman, which helped him play a little more freely.Oman had done their homework. They reckoned Tamim is good off the pads so you can’t bowl straight. They knew he cuts well so you can’t give him width. The idea was to bowl around off stump, take the ball away and give him no pace to work with. Amir Ali did that with his Ramesh Powar-like offbreaks. Bilal Khan used the tackiness of the surface with his cutters to cramp Tamim up. It didn’t help that Soumya Sarkar’s troubles continued at the other end. At 19 for 0 after four overs, somebody needed to go. This is where Tamim had to bat differently than he did against Netherlands to pull Bangladesh out of this slow start.Tamim did so by picking his target: Ajay Lalcheta, whose left-arm spin came into him. The weapon of choice was the sweep over square leg. Having messed with Lalcheta’s length, Tamim used the pace of the flatter deliveries to guide them past short third man, and mixed it with the occasional big hit down the ground.”It’s easier for me as a left-hand batsman, it is easier than attacking an offspinner,” Tamim said of that ploy. “And we had a very good team meeting this morning. We knew exactly where he would bowl. The meeting was fantastic. He bowled exactly there. Outside off. I was waiting for it. I was lucky enough to connect a few and got off to a good start [against him].”Lalcheta and the other left-arm spinner, Aamir Kaleem, bowled 15 balls to Tamim for 41 runs.The other thing Tamim did really well was choose his times to take risks. Even against Netherlands he broke the shackles just when the opposition was turning the screws; here, too, he made sure the pressure was always on the opposition. “I need to wait till [they bowl to] my strength,” Tamim said of when he takes the risk. “I just wanted to see that if they bowl me a bad ball or if I get a boundary early in the over, the pressure goes back on them. If I can get a boundary early, then rotate the strike, you get eight or nine in an over. That is what my plan was.”Of the 14 boundaries that Tamim hit since the start of the fifth over, eight came in the first two balls of the over. One of those not off the first two balls was his final, the one that brought up the hundred. Off went the helmet even as he was running. For a moment it looked like he would do the Mahmudullah-style slide after the recent win, but he stood upright. He gestured towards the coach Chandika Hathurasingha, as if rubbing his hand on a bald head. Then he pointed to where the ball went. The coach had been asking his batsmen for a hundred. A big innings had been delivered.Of the celebrations Tamim said nothing had been planned. “I was too excited so I did everything possible,” Tamim said. “I wanted to celebrate the hundred. Till the last moment I didn’t know I will get the hundred. I didn’t plan any celebration. Whatever came in the heart I did.”At the start of the innings Tamim became the first Bangladeshi to 1000 T20I runs and took the lead over Shakib Al Hasan as the highest run-getter for the country. He is Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in all formats, and aims to cement his position. “You don’t play for the records, they come their way,” he said, “But whatever six-seven-eight years I play I should leave a tough task for the next guy to get, which will someday happen. That will be good for Bangladesh cricket.”An occasional hothead who used to react angrily to every criticism has come a long way. If that can happen, for Bangladesh in this World T20, “anything is possible”.

Stats highlights from Royal Challengers Bangalore’s thumping victory over Gujarat Lions in Bangalore

Bharath Seervi14-May-20161 Number of previous instances of two batsmen scoring centuries in the same T20 innings, in 5702 T20s. Kevin O’Brien (119) and Hamish Marshall (102) scored centuries for Gloucestershire against Middlesex in 2011, before AB de Villiers (129*) and Virat Kohli (109) for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this match.229 Runs added by de Villiers and Kohli for the second wicket, which is the highest partnership in the history of T20 cricket. Incidentally, the previous best was also by these two: 215* against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede in IPL 2015. They are the only pair to have shared two double-century stands in T20 cricket.3 Centuries scored by Kohli in this IPL – joint-most by a batsman in a T20 tournament. Michael Klinger had scored three centuries in the span of four innings in the Natwest T20 Blast in 2015.112 Runs accumulated by RCB in the last five overs of the innings – the most by a team in T20s. Previously, no team had scored more than 100 runs in the final five overs (where ball-by-ball information is available). The previous highest in the IPL was 88, also by RCB, against Mumbai, when de Villiers and Kohli shared that other double-century partnership in 2015.2 Number of overs that yielded 30 runs in RCB’s innings – the 18th and 19th overs, bowled by Dwayne Bravo and Shivil Kaushik respectively. This is the first such instance in all T20s.1 Number of higher totals in IPL than the 248 by RCB in this match. The highest is 263 for 5 also by RCB, against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013, when Chris Gayle smashed an unbeaten 175.20 Sixes hit by RCB – joint second-most in an innings in T20s. Fourteen of the 20 sixes were hit in the last five overs.4 Century stands between Kohli and de Villiers in this IPL – the most by a pair in a single IPL season. Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir in 2008, and Gayle and Kohli in 2012 had shared three such stands. Overall, this is the sixth century stand between Kohli and de Villiers, one lesser than the overall T20 record of seven between Kohli and Gayle.4 Centuries scored against Gujarat Lions this season, which is already the most against a team in a season. No other team conceded more than two centuries in an IPL season previously.144 Margin of victory for RCB in this match – the largest victory margin in the IPL. The previous record was 140 runs by Kolkata Knight Riders in the very first IPL match, against RCB, also in Bangalore.12.00 Chris Jordan’s economy in his first three IPL matches this season – 132 runs in 11 overs with just one wicket. In this match, he took four wickets conceding just 11 runs in three overs, his best bowling figures in T20 cricket. Both his four-wicket hauls in T20s have come in 2016.0 Number of times RCB got their opposition all out in this IPL, before this match. In the last IPL, they had done it three times. This was also the first time in 11 matches this season that a team scored less than 150 against RCB.

If the New Zealander can carry forward the high standards he has set as a batsman into his leadership, he could finish as the country’s finest cricketer

Firdose Moonda26-Jul-2016Somewhere around bored o’clock during the third Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Wellington in March 2012, after Kane Williamson had been struck on the shoulder, the arm and the box, but before he raised his bat to a match-saving century, one member of the media pack, who had spent lunchtime imbibing in a sponsor’s box, spoke the most memorable sentence of the tour.”That guy,” our colleague with a voice that scratched like sandpaper said. “He’s gonna be a great player.”The rest of us shot each other sideways glances of bemusement. The local journalists had seen Williamson score a century on debut, and not much after then. The foreign ones, myself included, were impressed by his stoicism against a fiery South African attack, but we didn’t think he was good. If anyone knew that Williamson had 40 hundreds to his name by the time he left school, they didn’t say so. Instead, some of us rolled our eyes, others giggled under their breath, and even when Williamson saw out the draw, we were far from convinced.Williamson’s century was not enough to earn him the Man-of-the-Match award – that went to Morne Morkel – so our only interaction with him was the next day, at the airport. Some of us from the press corps had a brief chat with him and he wished us well on our travels. We concluded that he was a nice kid, soft-spoken and thoughtful, but we still didn’t see any signs of greatness.When the South Africans next encountered Williamson – in a Test series in early 2013 – nothing about New Zealand seemed great. They lost both matches by margins of more than an innings and appeared completely out of their depth.Things started to change towards the end of the trip, when they redeemed themselves, and Williamson was responsible for it. He struck an unbeaten 145 in the second ODI, in Kimberley, to give New Zealand a first series win in any format in South Africa. Williamson’s innings was an aggressive but polished display that combined his ability to punish anything overpitched and to play spin. Suddenly the phrase “great player” did not seem too much of a leap.

“He has his own thoughts on the game, yet will be a very inclusive captain. He will find that right balance between being one of the lads and the leader”Jason Gillespie

At the time, Brendon McCullum called Williamson’s and the team’s achievement “phenomenal”, and said Williamson’s innings was “as good as we’ve seen from a New Zealander”. No one knew it then but that tour would also be the catalyst for a complete change in New Zealand cricket.In the two years that followed, they went from being a fractured group that was unable to settle on a captain after Ross Taylor was sacked, or command respect for the coach (one of the few on the circuit who had not played professional cricket at any level), to a united outfit. They stole hearts and put smiles on faces during their magical run to the final of the 2015 World Cup, in a campaign defined by the power of dreaming big and having fun.Central to all that was Williamson. Although he operated mostly in McCullum’s shadow, he racked up runs in series wins over India and West Indies, and in a closely contested drawn outing against Pakistan in the UAE. He scored carefully in Tests and quickly in shorter formats, and quietly climbed the batting rankings.These days he sits second on the Test rankings, fourth on the ODI charts and sixth in T20s. It is believed that he will finish as New Zealand’s best batsman ever.If he can translate that potential into his other job – leadership – he may be their most successful cricketer. That’s a lot of expectation for a 25-year-old to carry, especially as he only sits on the eve of his captaincy debut, but those who know Williamson don’t think it’s too much for him to handle.”He is very mature and does not let much faze him,” Jason Gillespie, Williamson’s coach at Yorkshire, told ESPNcricinfo. He has the right personality and temperament to lead New Zealand in all formats. It is the right time for Kane to make the step, and I have no doubt he will be a very good captain.”Kane Williamson: “We are looking to play smart all the time, as the team did under Brendon, who was obviously fantastic”•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesAlthough Williamson did not captain at the county, Gillespie has seen in him all the qualities to do the job. The one that stands out is a willingness to learn. “He has his own thoughts on the game, yet will be a very inclusive captain and be open to suggestions and feedback. He will find that right balance between being one of the lads and the leader,” Gillespie said. “What he will do well is take on board advice, suggestions and feedback, but no one will be left in any doubt who is in charge. He communicates very well, from what I have seen at Yorkshire in his time with us.”Williamson has the advantage of having inherited from McCullum a team on the up, with an ingrained culture that does not need much tweaking. “Brendon is someone Kane has and will continue to look up to and seek advice from,” Gillespie said. “They are really good mates and I see Kane simply looking to build on to the culture that New Zealand cricket already have.”Already Williamson has spoken about how McCullum’s ideology of smart cricket will serve him on his first assignment, which will be tricky if only because it presents so much of the unexpected. New Zealand have not toured Zimbabwe for a Test series in five years, and even then it was only for a one-off Test. Bulawayo has not hosted any Test cricket since then, so no one really knows what to expect from the conditions except that they are likely to be slow and low and favour a more old-fashioned style of play than what we have become used to in recent years.The strength of the opposition aside, New Zealand will want to get the better of the conditions. “We are looking to play smart all the time, as the team did under Brendon, who was obviously fantastic and we’ve all learnt so much playing under him,” Williamson said. “We are looking to be aggressive but at the same time skinning it. In certain countries you do it differently.”

Williamson seems to understand how to separate work from his personal life. He does not have a Twitter or Instagram account, which allows himself a degree of privacy

Then they move on to South Africa, the scene of that embarrassing display early in 2013. This time, though, New Zealand could even consider themselves favourites. They are ranked fifth, a place above South Africa in Tests, and will have game time under their belts, unlike the hosts, who have not played a Test since January. The Zimbabwe experience will also ensure New Zealand are better equipped for early-season conditions in South Africa. All things considered, Williamson could eye this as a chance to claim a massive scalp early in his tenure and he knows it.”There’s so many opportunities that lie ahead. For us as a team, it’s very much about the next game and the next series and we are looking to continually improve as a team. We know if we are doing that, we will be playing better cricket,” he said.But with everything Williamson has to look forward to, he will undoubtedly also meet some obstacles along the way, chiefly around the structuring of his own schedule. “Kane’s biggest challenge is to find that cricket-life balance,” Gillespie said. “He is captain in all three formats of the game, and of a country that travels more than any other, in part due to their geographical location. New Zealand have a heavy itinerary over the next period.”The life of a modern cricketer is fantastic – lots of options and opportunity. However, we have to remember that first and foremost they are people, and while it can be a glamorous lifestyle with lots of perks, at the end of the day everyone needs a recharge every now and again.”Williamson seems to understand how to separate work from his personal life. He does not have a Twitter or Instagram account, which allows him a degree of privacy. He has also showed an awareness of the importance of time out. He asked to sit out a first-class match for Yorkshire, citing mental fatigue, which could also have been related to his form. Williamson scored just 42 runs from four first-class innings before taking a break. He has since declared himself ready for the African adventure and the chance to become the great player someone once predicted he would be.

The inaugural WSL went a fair way towards providing England with a women’s competition between county cricket and the international game

Raf Nicholson29-Aug-2016It’s the second week of the new women’s Super League. Southern Vipers are playing Yorkshire Diamonds at the Ageas Bowl and the game is finely poised, with Diamonds 32 for 2 after seven overs, chasing 119. Vipers captain Charlotte Edwards, unsure where to turn, brings a 21-year-old left-arm spinner called Linsey Smith into the attack.Her first over is a wicket-maiden. Two overs later she removes Alex Blackwell with a brilliant head-high reflex catch. She finishes with 4 for 10, the best figures by any spinner in the entire tournament.Smith has never worn an England shirt, probably never hoped to wear one. She was not even named in the original Vipers squad; there is no handy profile of her to be found. ESPNcricinfo still has her down as a medium-pacer, although she switched to spin a while ago. The BBC commentators are baffled.Another day, another Vipers game, and an ECB employee – who shall remain nameless – wanders into the press box. After watching the opposition’s innings, he turns to me and says: “Who is that keeper, and why isn’t she playing for England?””That keeper” is 22-year-old Carla Rudd, who was dropped from the Academy last year and is now fighting to remain in England contention.The Women’s Cricket Super League was designed for players like Smith and Rudd.

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“Bridging the gap” has been the Super League’s catchphrase ever since its conception in June last year. “This is the game-changer,” said Clare Connor at the tournament announcement, “for as many talented cricketers to be the best they can be; to drive a high-performance culture.” Edwards agreed: “We’ve been crying out for this for a number of years, to bridge that gap between international cricket and county cricket.”To understand that gap, it is important to be aware of the current domestic structure of women’s cricket in England. It is entirely amateur: no money to be made by players; none available for paid coaches, none for support staff. The women’s County Championship is played on Sundays (because players have jobs or studies during the week), on club pitches that are often not of the best quality. Some of these players barely train during the off season. Indoor net sessions are expensive when you don’t have a ground to call your own. It’s hard to see this as a sustainable model to create the England players of the future.Vipers coach Nick Denning, who had been the coach of Berkshire Women for several years prior to his appointment with Vipers, is well placed to compare the women’s county set-up with that of the Super League: “Professionalism is the main difference. We get our strength and conditioning coach, we get our physio, we get all these extra coaches, we get great facilities at the Ageas Bowl. You cannot replicate that in an amateur environment.”Vipers’ Georgia Adams put it more succinctly: “It’s another level.”For Vipers batsman Georgia Adams, the chance to bat in front of a crowd was an incredible experience•Getty ImagesThis is where the ECB’s £3 million worth of investment has gone. This is money well spent. This is the start of bridging the gap.It is not just about facilities. Connor has repeatedly said that the aspiration is for the Super League to provide a level of cricket that is semi-professional. And professionalisation is partly about pressure: how you handle it, what you do with it, whether it makes or breaks you in a match situation. The Super League provides that pressure.It has a different feel to county cricket. The stakes are higher – prize money and match fees – and the crowds are far, far bigger. For Adams, playing in front of 2240 spectators during the first Vipers game at the Ageas Bowl was an incredible experience: “Looking out and seeing so many people, it’s completely new to me. I’ve never played anything quite like this. It’s brilliant.”Some players thrived under the spotlight. Adams made 41 in that first game at the Ageas Bowl. Loughborough Lightning’s young allrounder Paige Scholfield followed her lead in Lightning’s very first home game, against Lancashire Thunder, entering the fray at 88 for 7, with her team chasing 165. The third delivery she faced was cut for four; England seamer Kate Cross was quickly dispatched for four boundaries in an over; and then there was a glorious six off Deandra Dottin. Eventually Scholfield was bowled, and Thunder won by six runs. It could have been a lot more.Scholfield admitted to being nervous walking out to bat in front of the 600-strong crowd. “But,” she said, “the women’s game is growing, so I guess we’ve got to get used to it if we want to play at that higher level. And it’s nice to have the home crowd behind you. For me I was nervous at the start, but then once we got going, it was a good backing behind us, and it almost builds your confidence really.”Other players struggle to deal with the pressure. In Bristol against Western Storm, Surrey Stars lost a game they looked certain to win, thanks to a poor performance in the field: leaked runs and dropped chances. “Just at the end,” said captain Nat Sciver as she reflected on the defeat, “when we needed a bit of composure, we put down a couple of catches. This has been a really good standard of tournament. It really shows what the step up is and for some of the county girls it is a little bit different. It is definitely a learning curve.”But she promised to “have a chat with the team and let them know that a bit of composure and calm can help”, and in their very next game Stars pulled off three run-outs – the best a neat piece of work from 20-year-old Cordelia Griffith at short fine leg. The players were learning, game by game, what it meant to step up and deliver.They also learned from their team-mates – the six international players (three England, three overseas) in each of the squads. “Sharing knowledge” became another Super League catchphrase – as exemplified in several of the opening partnerships across the tournament.There was Adams, promoted to open with Suzie Bates at the last minute following an injury to Edwards. Adams paid tribute to Bates after the game: “Her knowledge of the game and of the bowlers that we were facing – it just helped so much to keep me calm, keep me level out there… Suzie guided me through that innings.”There was 18-year-old Bryony Smith, who looked in no way out of her depth alongside opening partner Tammy Beaumont as she played classical drives and cheeky ramp shots, taking on bowlers left and right, including the ferocious Katherine Brunt. “Being around some of the girls here is just amazing,” she said, after making 31 at The Oval. “It gives you something to aim for.”And then there was Emma Lamb, also 18, who opened in every game for Lancashire Thunder alongside her captain, New Zealander Amy Satterthwaite, and who – with scores of 25, 26, 34, 27 and 10, all at a strike rate of over 100 – was the only non-international player to feature among the top ten group-stage run scorers. “To see the young ones like her blossom in this tournament has been really great,” said Satterthwaite. “Bryony Smith played similarly for Surrey and that’s just what England will want to see from those players.”These players were asked to shine among the world’s best. Those who managed it surely are the stars of the future.

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I spoke to Linsey Smith after her 4 for 10 for Vipers. She seemed shell-shocked, perhaps unable to quite believe that she was the story of the day. I might just have been the first journalist to ever ask her for an interview.I won’t be the last. Suddenly everyone knew her name. A review of the inaugural Super League is not complete without a mention of Smith. When she came on to bowl on Finals Day, everyone sat up, knowing that this was a player who could make things happen. It was the kind of scrutiny that some of these players had never experienced before, but which, as the women’s game grows, they will need to learn to deal with.Smith seemed to be handling it just fine, thanks. “I feel amazing,” she said. “It’s a massive honour to be part of the Vipers, with such a huge variety of players at such different levels, and some world-class players. To get out there on a big stage like this is great.”The Ageas Bowl, she says, is her new favourite cricket ground.

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Some Super League players will grow into international cricket. Others will not. But all have had an opportunity never before on offer to English domestic female cricketers.For Smith, nothing has ostensibly changed: she went back to county cricket last weekend, and is headed back to university in September. But everything has changed, too. “As a player,” she said, “it has helped me get better and better. It’s a huge opportunity.”That is the power of Super League. That is bridging the gap.

Marks out of ten for West Indies, who suffered a 2-0 defeat to India at home

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Aug-20167Roston Chase (190 runs at 38.00, 8 wickets at 41.75)Chase came into the Test side as a batting allrounder, and bowled more overs than anyone else in his debut series. He scored a match-saving hundred in only his second Test, did not look troubled by any of India’s bowlers during the innings, and while he did not make any other scores of note, his batting always looked Test-quality. Chase’s height and accuracy made his offspin hard to score off, particularly during India’s first innings in St Lucia, and he comfortably outperformed Devendra Bishoo through the series.6Shannon Gabriel (5 wickets at 46.00)His figures do not reflect it, but Gabriel was West Indies’ most consistently threatening bowler through the series. In Antigua, where he was their only real fast bowler, the match looked like an even contest whenever he bowled, and like a stroll in the park for India whenever he was out of the attack. Gabriel was unlucky to only take two wickets there, and remained an unlucky bowler through the series, consistently beating the bat without finding the edge, and seeing catches go down when he found them. He could have bowled more overs than he did, but West Indies were probably doing the pragmatic thing by using him mainly in short spells, given his injury record.Shane Dowrich (168 runs at 33.60, six catches and one stumping)Dowrich began the series with a costly drop in Antigua, putting down R Ashwin, who went on to score 113, when he was on 43. Dowrich was otherwise safe behind the stumps, and his spectacular dives kept West Indies down to 22 byes through the series even though a lot of balls swung belatedly and extravagantly, just before reaching him. His batting was a big positive for his side – neat, busy, his hands always soft while defending the spinners. By the end of the series, few were missing Denesh Ramdin, who had been left out in controversial circumstances.5Kraigg Brathwaite (200 runs at 33.33)Scored more runs and faced more balls than any other West Indies batsman, but somehow seemed to have regressed since a strong showing during the 2015-16 tour of Australia. One reason for this was the conditions, which were more challenging than the flat Australian pitches on which Brathwaite made 229 runs, at 45.80. Seam movement exposed some of the flaws in Brathwaite’s technique, such as a limited front-foot stride and a tendency to play across the line even while offering a straight bat. Though he made two half-centuries and largely showed good judgment outside off stump, there was never a moment where India seemed to wonder how they could get him out. That cannot be a good thing for a largely defensive batsman.Jason Holder (132 runs at 26.40, 1 wicket at 239)Bowled better than his figures would suggest, and was willing to plug away on a fifth-stump line and bowl long spells. Looked better with the bat than his series average might suggest, and played an important innings to help West Indies save the Sabina Park Test. But numbers, at the end of the day, win and lose matches, and Holder needs to improve them, whether he is a bowling allrounder still to realise his potential or a batting allrounder doing the wrong job. That he also happens to be West Indies’ captain casts an even harsher light on his performances. Tactically, he seemed to retreat into defence far quicker than he probably should have, and failed to seize a few vital moments, whether it was delays in taking the second new ball, or not using his best bowlers at the start of new sessions or against new batsmen.Miguel Cummins (9 wickets at 21.00)Waited 280 balls before getting his first Test wicket, and then took nine in his next 76 to finish his debut series as West Indies’ highest wicket-taker. He bowled better than his first 280 balls would suggest, giving KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane a testing time with the short ball in the first innings in St Lucia, but not quite as well as the next 76 would suggest, with six of his wickets coming when India were trying to score quickly and declare in their second innings. Either way, he should have played the first Test and given West Indies at least one more attacking pace option.Alzarri Joseph (3 wickets at 30.66)Gangly, fast, exciting. Nineteen years old. A nasty short ball to Virat Kohli to get his first Test wicket. Joseph showed plenty of promise in his debut Test, and was possibly West Indies’ best bowler in the first innings in St Lucia. He was left out for a second spinner in Port of Spain, but should feature regularly for the Test side in the months to come.4Carlos Brathwaite (no wicket in 25 overs, 51 runs at 51.00)Played the first Test as one of two medium-fast workhorses in a bowling attack light on attacking threat, and while he did his job as well as he could, the composition of the attack simply did not work, and Carlos did not get another opportunity. Scored a half-century in the second innings in Antigua, his third in three Test matches, and, like Holder, seemed a man with a skillset at odds with his role. Brathwaite ended the series as West Indies’ T20 captain, and with a greater focus on the shorter formats, it remains to be seen where his Test career is headed.Marlon Samuels had yet another disappointing Test series•AFPJermaine Blackwood (146 runs at 24.33)Blackwood has played 19 Tests and only two ODIs, the last of them in November 2015, and is yet to make his international T20 debut. He has played as many Tests as T20s at any level. West Indies, effectively, have invested in him as a long-format player, but you wouldn’t think so when you watch him bat. He drives on the up, hits over the top, and doesn’t really hold back even when the ball is moving around. When it comes off, as it did in both innings in Jamaica, it can be spectacular, if brief. When it doesn’t, it’s just hard to justify. Blackwood has lots of potential, but are West Indies giving him the best possible guidance?3Darren Bravo (139 runs at 19.85)Like Kraigg Brathwaite, Bravo failed to build on a productive Australia tour, and ended the series with his Test average dipping below 40. Along the way, he showed himself vulnerable against well-directed short balls, and his failures were a big reason for West Indies’ top-order collapses in the first two Tests. He improved as the series went on, grinding out tough runs in the first innings in St Lucia and scoring 59 while everyone else crumbled around him in the second, and should hopefully be in better nick when West Indies tour the UAE. He will be buoyed by the fact that his away average – 51.18 – far outstrips his home average – 29.35.Devendra Bishoo (4 wickets at 67.50)A disappointing series on pitches that usually had something in them for the spinners. Bishoo’s legspin was unthreatening for most part, and often just all over the place, with his lowest point coming in the first innings in Kingston, where he kept serving up short balls. If he keeps his place, he will need to be far more accurate when West Indies tour the UAE, where the pitches are slower, lower, and offer less turn.Marlon Samuels (152 runs at 25.33)Was this Marlon Samuels’ last Test series? Given the retirement talk swirling around, it could well be. Given how he batted, it could still be, even if he has no intention to retire. In his younger days, he was a lavishly talented batsman who did not make the most of his potential. Now his game seems to have regressed to the point where, even when he does score runs, he seems to be playing around limitations of footwork and eye. In the second innings in St Lucia, he seemed to have ceased even doing that, and played a series of limited-overs shots before eventually getting out to one.2Rajendra Chandrika (53 runs at 13.25) and Leon Johnson (32 runs at 10.66)Two Guyanese batsmen. One an opener with a first-class average in the mid-20s, the other a middle-order batsman played out of position as an opener. West Indies jettisoned Chandrika after the first two Tests and tried Johnson in the next two. Neither seemed a long-term solution to their top-order troubles.