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Mindset first, technique second. As a guiding principle, it is integral to understanding David Warner as he is today, and the secret of his Dhaka century. The working thesis is simple: if he bats with a clear mind, he sets the preconditions to be his best self at the crease. And that has always been the one that looks first to score.”I always talk about my defence taking care of itself if I am having that attacking approach,” Warner explained after the innings. “When things aren’t going my way, I’ve thought of defending rather than trying to set myself a platform looking to score. It is about trusting my game, and that is having that attacking approach with defence at the back of my mind.”I probably tinkered with it a lot over the last couple of years in these conditions and just didn’t nail the basics of what I do best – attacking and then defending.”One man in whom Warner keeps much faith is his long-term batting coach Trent Woodhill. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Woodhill elaborated on the mechanics of attack-first. “What that means to David and I is being in a position of power to be able to react to the latest possible cue from bowler, ball or pitch, which gives him the best chance to score off the ball,” he said. “Just as importantly, a chance to defend or let go with less risk. Like the set position in a race. To me, David looked to be aggressive without over-committing or being overly concerned how he looked. He was 100% committed to every ball.”The result was an innings Warner dubs the finest of his career. It is something he shares with Adam Gilchrist, who earlier this year cited a match-turning 144 he made against Bangladesh in Fatullah in 2006 as the knock he looks back on most fondly.It was doubly meaningful, given the added scrutiny on the vice-captain, entering the series without a century in the subcontinent and an average of 30 in Asia. “In a fourth innings in the subcontinent,” Warner said, “I proved to myself that I am capable of doing it on turning tracks as well with that positive mindset and energy in the legs. That’s the key to getting down the wicket, lunging forward and launching back and not getting caught in between.”That affliction, getting caught in between, has been Warner’s perennial downfall in this part of the world, and continued when he was cornered by Mehedi Hasan the first time around here. “Always in these conditions, especially for me with the new ball, I get caught on the crease,” he said with typical candour. “It’s basically about decision-making, whether to commit forward or back. That in between length – if you get out lbw or bowled – that is your own fault and there is no excuse.”This was his lot in life last August when he was toyed with by Rangana Herath and co. Then, he thought his nightmare may never end. “That probably hit me in Sri Lanka,” he recalled. “I just felt sometimes there, I was just getting beaten all the time on the inside.”It’s no coincidence that returning home from that tour, Warner took some dedicated steps to start clearing his mind of the negative energy that too often pervaded his thinking, as a batsman and a bloke. Meditation off the field and mantras when batting are now all part of the package to channel the best and discard the rest.David Warner’s wicket in the second innings in Dhaka started the collapse•Getty Images

Drawing on his own journey, he can empathise better than anyone with team-mates leaving Dhaka low on confidence, of which there are more than a few after the twin-collapses. “There are going to be times when it is going to be tough in these conditions in this environment,” he said. “I’ve been there before, it is not a great place to tour if you are not doing well, so you need the support of your friends and your team-mates. And more importantly, your family.”Not least Usman Khawaja, who he has been playing alongside for half his life. “It is almost like he has to go back to working harder on the basic stuff because he has been out of that period for a long time,” Warner said, noting Khawaja’s long break from the crease over the winter.Then, observing more broadly on the importance of successive meaningful partnerships when times are tough, he said: “You have got to dig deep in these conditions. You see the momentum swings massively. You let the opposition in, so you can never settle.”Woodhill has a more technical perspective. “Let’s take [Matt] Renshaw,” he says of his second innings lbw dismissal. “He chose to defend from the hand. Moved forward, a long way, early down the wrong line and met the ball with his pad rather than bat. If he has an aggressive approach to ensuring he hits the ball – not a carefree or high-risk approach but a high tempo – and he’s looking to score, he wouldn’t have committed as far forward, more than likely wouldn’t commit to the wrong line and the ball would strike bat, not pad.”In other words, they could do with being a bit more like Warner. With 19 centuries now in 65 Tests (as a modern reference, it took Michael Clarke 80 starts to reach that mark) there are worse starting points. “You should never go away from what you know best,” Warner concludes. “It takes time to get used to these conditions, and hopefully, my time has come now. That took probably longer than I expected, but I’ve got to keep taking the same mindset.”

Australia captain Steven Smith spoke carefully when addressing the issue of Ben Stokes’ potential absence from the Ashes series for the first time.Stokes won’t travel with the England squad to Australia at the end of October following the late-night brawl in Bristol last month which left a man in hospital and Stokes with a broken hand.Stokes, who was arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm before being released under investigation, is still waiting to hear what route the police will take, but the ECB withdrew him from the Ashes squad and Steven Finn was named as the replacement.Speaking to ABC Radio, Smith confirmed he had watched the video which emerged shortly after the incident and is alleged to show the fight outside the Mbargo nightclub in Bristol but largely kept his counsel on the issue.”Whether he comes or not, that’s out of our control. You always want to come up against the best and test your skills against the best. That’s what Test cricket is all about.”There’s no doubt Ben Stokes is one of the best players around the world at the moment.”When asked how such an issue would be dealt with in Australia, he said: “I certainly don’t condone that kind of behaviour. Hopefully it never happens to one of our boys.”Darren Lehmann, Australia’s coach, has previously spoken about the issue being a “touchy” one for him in light of his memories of the incident in Melbourne 13 years ago when his friend and mentor David Hookes died after being punched to the ground by a hotel bouncer. He briefly made the link again before shifting the debate back to the impact Stokes’ absence would have on England.”It’s a hard one to comment on because you don’t know the full scenario. Having been in a similar situation with David Hookes, the one punch, it isn’t a nice scenario to be in either way and it’s a sad scenario for multiple people,” Lehmann said, also speaking to . “If I’m talking in pure cricket terms, with someone like Ben Stokes he’s obviously got some issues and whether he comes or not I’m not privy to that conversation.”They need him playing, he’s one of their best players and really shakes the make-up of their side because he’s their fourth quick and can bat top six which allows them. They’ll miss him, we’d miss Steven Smith for example. You miss your really good players.”When pressed on how Australia would deal with such a situation, Lehmann added: “It’s a tough one, I’d know what we’d do. I can’t really talk about it here, I’d love to. We’ve had situations like that in the past. We’ll let them deal with it.”Even before the police have decided their course of action, the fallout has been substantial for Stokes with the Ashes now looking a slim prospect and kit supplier New Balance having ended a £200,000 sponsorship deal with him.Last week, Stokes made his first public comments since the incident although they were to apologise to Katie Price for the video which emerged appearing to show Stokes mock her disabled son Harvey. Stokes’ agent, Neil Fairbrother, issued a statement saying the allrounder would give his side of the story into the events in Bristol when the investigation allows.

James Anderson would happily accept the vice-captaincy for the Ashes tour if offered it.With Ben Stokes, England’s official vice-captain, currently unavailable, Joe Root has confirmed he will name a deputy for the Ashes series in the next few days. That vice-captain will be expected to captain the team should Root be injured at any stage during the series.Alastair Cook, who has captained England in more Tests than anyone, remains the most likely choice. But Anderson and, perhaps Stuart Broad – who used to be England’s T20 captain – are also sure to be considered. And while England may be reluctant to give the role to a seam bowler for fear that injury should cause further complications, Anderson feels he has long held a leadership role within the team.”Of course I wouldn’t turn it down,” Anderson said. “In the last couple of years, I’ve seen my role in the team as a leader. It’s kind of your responsibility to be a leader. It’s part and parcel of the job as a senior player having played over 100 Tests.”There are a lot of players on this tour who have not played in an Ashes series before and not toured Australia before. So our job is to try and help as much as we can. It’s kind of your responsibility to be a leader. With young bowlers coming into the team I’ve tried to help out as much as I can. I think it’s important that Joe has people he can rely upon.”England arrived in Adelaide on Monday ahead of the first first-class fixture of the tour on Wednesday. The match, a day-night affair, will provide an opportunity to gain experience with the pink Kookaburra ball that will also be used in the day-night Test in the city at the start of December. England have played one previous day-night Test – at Edgbaston in August – but they used a Duke’s ball.James Anderson limbers up during England training•Getty Images

“I’ve heard the pink Kookaburra does swing a bit more,” Anderson said. “I guess finding out how much the ball swings and what time of day it swings will be really useful for us. We spoke to the South Africans in our summer and they said it was difficult for batsmen in the twilight period and when the lights came on.”While Steven Finn and Moeen Ali remain unavailable for the game in Adelaide due to injury, the rest of the squad emerged from the warm-up game in Perth unscathed. They will train at the ground under lights on Tuesday.”The couple of days in Perth was more about getting the cobwebs out and trying to get the body moving again,” Anderson said. “As bowlers we’ve got to find our feet and get overs in our legs quite quickly. It was a good run out for us.”Anderson also revealed that he had watched “as much of the Australia team as possible” over the last year or so in preparation for the Ashes.”The main thing is for us to focus on what we do well and our strengths,” he said. “But we need to know things about the opposition, so keeping tabs on them is a sensible thing to do. I’ve tried to watch as much as possible of the Australia team over the last year or so knowing that we had an Ashes coming up. I’m sure in the next couple of weeks we’ll do more research.”

Mark Stoneman admitted life was likely to get “a hell of a lot” tougher next week after registering his first century in an England shirt.Stoneman, who has passed 50 in every innings of the tour, dominated an inexperienced Cricket Australia attack on an easy-paced deck in recording England’s first hundred since they arrived. With Alastair Cook he posted an opening stand of 172 and, with Joe Root and Dawid Malan also cruising to untroubled centuries, England enjoyed something approaching a perfect day.But there is, Stoneman insists, no chance England will be lulled into a false sense of confidence. They know that the opposition – and the pitch – in Brisbane next week (where the Ashes begin on November 23) will be vastly more demanding and they are preparing for it accordingly.To that end, each of the England batsman is facing a barrage of short balls in the nets. Mark Rampakash, the batting coach, is hurling yellow balls – the sort used for indoor cricket in Australia – with a sidearm from around 18 yards to replicate (or even exaggerate) the level of ferocity they envisage.”It’s been well documented and everyone is critical of the opposition we’ve faced in the warm-up games,” Stoneman said. “We’re going to be tested a hell of a lot more next week, that’s for sure. There’s no doubts about that and everyone’s aware of it.”Obviously there’s going to be more pace and bounce from the attack and the pitch in Brisbane. But we’re playing here against a different team so all you can do is go through the processes that stand you in good stead.”It’s going to have to be enough. We can’t change the preparation we’ve been given. That’s where self-awareness and knowing where you are within your own game is key. We’re being tested as much as we can by Ramps [Ramprakash] and his yellow balls, so from the opportunities we’ve had, we’re happy with where we are.”Moeen Ali, meanwhile, is using a tray on the pitch to help exaggerate the bounce he anticipates in the series. He took a blow on the helmet during training on Thursday but was unscathed.”It’s up to the individual to take that practice a bit further knowing that what we face in these games isn’t going to be the level we get next week,” Stoneman continued. “Ramps is fast with the sidearm. He throws from a lot closer [than a bowler would deliver] because we all know we’re going to be facing a lot of pace.”We’ve put in the work we can against the opposition and worked hard in the nets. We’ll be ready for the Gabba.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFirst, win a session. Then another. Then win the day. And maybe, just maybe you might have a chance of winning the match. England have enjoyed few such small victories during this series, but on a day when they claimed Australia’s last seven wickets for 67 runs, and Alastair Cook scored a drought-breaking hundred, and England finished the day comfortably at 2 for 192, it was obvious which team had taken the honours. For once, it wasn’t Australia.Of course, much work remained ahead for England. Australia’s strong performance on Boxing Day set the platform for a total of 327, and by stumps England were still 135 runs behind. But their position – albeit with the Ashes already in Australian hands – was much healthier than it had been 24 hours earlier. Cook brought up his hundred in the final over of the day by swivelling a pull for four off Steven Smith’s legspin, and finished unbeaten on 104 alongside Joe Root on 49.Cook’s performance was significant, for he entered this match having failed to post a half-century in any of his past 10 Test innings – the longest such drought in a career spanning nearly 12 years. Dead rubber though it may be, his free-scoring innings was highly encouraging for England, as he struck 15 boundaries and punished Australia’s bowlers through point, straight back down the ground, through leg, and even with the occasional cover-drive.By the end of the day he had not only made his 32nd Test hundred, he had also moved past Mahela Jayawardene and into eighth position on the list of all-time Test run scorers. The Australians shook Cook’s hand as he walked off at stumps but they must also have rued giving him a life on 66 when he edged Mitchell Marsh and Smith, standing very close at first slip, failed to cling on to a challenging catch.On a very hot day when the fast bowlers baked and Pat Cummins struggled with an upset stomach, it took a brilliant catch for Australia to claim their first wicket of the innings. For the second time in the series Nathan Lyon plucked a return chance with one hand, this time off the leading edge of Mark Stoneman, who had made 15.Alastair Cook rocks back and plays a cut•Getty Images

James Vince would not have wanted to see replays of his dismissal when he returned to the rooms after making 17. Adjudged lbw off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, Vince decided against a review, but Hot Spot showed that the ball had brushed his inside edge on the way through to his pad. His departure left England at 2 for 80, but Root and Cook settled in for a partnership that had reached 112 runs at stumps and solidified England’s position.Root played an important accompanying role and was within touching distance of his third half-century of the series. However, his inability to turn those starts into hundreds in the manner of his Australian counterpart, Smith, has been one of the key factors in the series.The importance of Smith for Australia was reinforced when his dismissal early in the day sparked the collapse that resulted in the last seven wickets falling for 67. A no-ball from debutant seamer Tom Curran on the opening day had denied him David Warner on 99 as his first Test wicket, but inducing a chop-on from Smith, trying to force a short and wide ball through off on 76, was a fine replacement for Curran.It was the first time Smith had been out in a Melbourne Test since 2014; he had scored 445 runs between MCG dismissals. Mitchell Marsh also dragged a wide one onto his stumps for 9 off the bowling of Chris Woakes, and Tim Paine later did the same on 24 while trying to pull James Anderson.In the meantime, Shaun Marsh had passed fifty for the third time in the series, raising his half-century from his 130th delivery, but fell lbw for 61 to Stuart Broad via a well-judged review from Root. Jackson Bird, curiously promoted to No. 9 ahead of Josh Hazlewood and Lyon, was lbw to Broad for 4, leaving Australia at risk of failing to bat out the opening session.They went to lunch on 8 for 326 and added just a single run after the break for the loss of their final two wickets, as Cummins edged Broad to slip for 4 and Lyon was trapped by Anderson for a duck. Anderson finished with 3 for 61 and Broad collected 4 for 51, his best analysis in a Test innings since November 2016. Throw in a Cook century, and it was the day on which England’s old heads finally stood up to be counted.

England have scaled some magnificent heights during their development into a world-class one-day team, but captain Eoin Morgan called his team’s series-clinching 16-run victory in Sydney their best since the revival began after the 2015 World Cup.There were plenty of justifiable reasons for that: Australia played their strongest attack of the series, it was a slightly tricky two-paced surface on which to set a score, England were only touching five an over at the 40-over mark, and they overcame the loss of Liam Plunkett two balls into his second over with a hamstring injury.Jos Buttler, with his fifth ODI century, and Chris Woakes added an unbroken 113 – 48 runs coming off the last three overs – then Morgan marshalled his resources expertly, as he had at the Gabba, to coax the required overs from Joe Root to absorb Plunkett’s absence. Adil Rashid produced his most economical display of the series leaving Woakes and Mark Wood some breathing space to close things out.”This is certainly right up there. It was a huge contribution in what was our best performance as a group to date, throughout the last two years,” Morgan said. “Throughout the game today there were a lot of questions asked of us. With the bat, the way the pitch turned out, it wasn’t as good as we thought it would be, and we never really got away from Australia. It was a bit of a cat-fight for quite a stage and Jos anchored the innings until about the 40th over and then really did pull the trigger.”To have a guy with his capabilities and talent in our team, we are very privileged. We have seen him do that before but against one of the best sides in the world it is great to watch.”When Plunkett limped off after attempting the third ball of his second over, Morgan knew he would need to find the best part of eight overs from part-timers. Though Root went at nearly seven an over, the fact that Australia couldn’t score at a run a ball against Rashid and Moeen Ali meant Morgan never felt he lost control of the innings.”Liam going down was a bit of a hammer blow but Joe stood up and all the bowlers contributed at different times. It was awesome,” he said. “When he went off he sought of flagged it that it wasn’t going to be good. So it was a matter of trying to get as many overs out of Joe without Australia really pushing the button. He managed to sustain that, ended up bowling two spells, and at no stage did Australia bring the run rate down considerably – that would have meant bringing one of our better bowlers on earlier than intended.”However, without the power-packed finish from Buttler and Woakes England would probably not have had enough to defend having been made to work much harder with the bat than in the opening two matches. Buttler said that initially the aim was to reach 270 but the late charge went so well they were able to cross 300 for the 19th time in 28 ODIs batting first since June 2015. For that, Buttler, happy to turn the spotlight off himself, praised Woakes’ role.”Jonny [Bairstow] came back into the dressing room after he got out and said that 270 would be a really competitive score, so we were just trying to work towards that and give ourselves three overs to really take it on. Woakesy is playing so well at the minute, he probably went earlier than I did and played some fantastic shots and really got us up to a stage where we could pass 270 and get a fantastic score on that wicket.”After a slow start to the series at the MCG, Woakes has impressed with bat and ball in the next two matches.”Like the other day it was outstanding. It went under the radar at Brisbane, but he really did bounce back from the MCG exceptionally well, back to the Woakes that we know and appreciate in the side,” Morgan said. “He does a fantastic job and a lot of the time doesn’t get the limelight.”With the bat I thought he created a big partnership with Jos and played some beautiful shots and was rewarded for them. With the ball he leads the attack which is great.”

Oman finished their WCL Division Two campaign on a high after completing a two-wicket win against Kenya in Windhoek. Chasing 183 (adjusted by D/L method) after bowling Kenya out for 200, Oman’s lower-middle order rallied together to see their team through with five balls to spare.Kenya finished the tournament without a win, but came close to victory against Oman. Fighting twenties from Mohammad Nadeem (20) and Jay Odedra (23*) ensured, however, that Oman finished on top. Their chase started off well despite losing an early wicket. Zeeshan Maqsood’s 58 took Oman close to hundred, but a middle-order collapse saw them reduced to 138 for 6 in the 30th over. The lower order, however, kept stitching together useful partnerships to keep Oman’s run-chase on course, and a late flurry from Kaleemullah (five-ball 11) saw Oman through.Kenya, though, started poorly batting first. Kaleemullah’s three wickets and one from Fayyaz Butt reduced them to 36 for 4 in the 13th over. A small recovery later, Kenya were back to struggling at 87 for 6 with half their innings yet to go. That’s when No. 6 Rakep Patel stepped up for Kenya, making 72-ball 59 with assistance from the captain Shem Ngoche (29) and Emmanuel Bundi (22) and helped them reach 200.Maqsood held Oman’s chase together despite wickets falling regularly. Left-arm spinner Hiren Varaiya was Kenya’s star with the ball, collecting 3 for 28 and almost sent Oman packing with three late wickets, but the batting team’s lower order applied themselves well enough to cross the line in the 42nd and final over.

Mignon du Preez hits through the leg side•ICC/Getty Images

India’s quest for a maiden bilateral series whitewash against South Africa was thwarted by the hosts with a resounding seven-wicket win in Potchefstroom. Laura Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez, who both struck half-centuries, played protagonists in South Africa’s first win in the three-match series, aided by a brisk 41-run cameo from captain Dane van Niekerk and India’s sloppiness in the end overs of their 240-run defence.Needing 63 off the last nine overs, and the fourth-wicket stand between du Preez and Niekerk worth only nine runs, Shikha Pandey dropped a Niekerk force at mid-off off the first ball of the 42nd over. Four balls later, legspinner Poonam Yadav gave herself a chance of picking up her second wicket and India a shot at sending back du Preez, only to be squandered by wicketkeeper Sushma Verma in the form of a missed stumping. When Poonam came back in the 44th to bowl her ninth over, she dropped a return catch off van Niekerk, who subsequently unleashed a flurry of drives and sweeps – some while falling on her knee – and peppered the square-leg boundary for quick runs. She totaled five fours in her unbeaten 30-ball innings, while routinely capitalising on overthrows from India in the back-end of the chase.Van Niekerk’s ingenuity amounted to a 72-run stand with du Preez, who anchored the chase with an unbeaten 111-ball 90 that steered a 118-run third-wicket partnership with 18-year-old Wolvaardt. Coming into the game on the back of scores 9 and 21 in the previous two ODIs, Wolvaardt weathered the early loss of opening partner Lizelle Lee, and put on 41 runs with Andrie Steyn (30 off 53) en route to her 88-ball 59. In doing so, Wolvaardt became the youngest South African to notch up 1000 runs in ODI cricket. After Ekta Bisht removed Wolvaardt, du Preez kept the chase on track with plucky singles, including the one that sealed the chase with four balls to spare.Out of the three changes made to India’s winning combination from the previous two matches, debutant Pooja Vastrakar, the teenage medium-pacer who came in for Jhulan Goswami, and Bisht, who replaced fellow left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, leaked 77 runs between them for a solitary wicket in their combined 18 overs. The other change – in the batting department – Mona Meshram, who came in for Punam Raut, pinched 11 in her 22-ball labour during an India innings that blew hot and cold in their 240-run effort.While Smriti Mandhana, the Player of the Series, followed her 135 and 84 with a duck, captain Mithali Raj fell for a 24-ball 4 as both found themselves in the middle of a blistering opening burst from Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail, who topped and tailed her 9-1-30-4 with the wickets of Mandhana and tailender Bisht. Deepti Sharma, however, validated Raj’s decision to promote her to the opening role with a 112-ball 79. After van Niekerk brought Harmanpreet Kaur’s 35-ball 25 to an end, Deepti steadied India’s innings with an 83-run stand with Veda Krishnamurthy, becoming the youngest Indian to get to the 1000-run mark in women’s ODIs.Krishnamurthy, meanwhile, added urgency to the innings with a quick-paced second straight fifty, before a run-a-ball 17 from Verma and 31-run blitz from Pandey hoisted India to 240 as the hosts bowled them out off the last ball of the innings, concluded by part-time bowler Chloe Tryon who took two wickets in her 10 overs.

The ECB has been thrown into further turmoil by the resignation of a second board member but has declined the request for an independent inquiry into the issue of compensation payments to Test-hosting counties.Three weeks after Andy Nash, the former Somerset chairmen, stepped down citing what he saw as failures in corporate governance at the ECB, Richard Thompson, the Surrey chairmen, has also departed expressing concerns in the leadership of Colin Graves and the lack of transparency regarding ECB policies.The catalyst for the resignations of both men has been payments made to Glamorgan and the suggestion further payments will be made to Test-hosting counties in years they do not host such games.While the ECB has suggested such a policy was, in the broadest of senses, endorsed by the board during a teleconference in September 2016, it is clear that Nash and Thompson feel the issue required greater scrutiny and discussion in relation to the circumstances in which such payments might apply, beyond the specific circumstances of Durham that were being discussed at the time.Thompson also questioned during the county chairmen’s meeting on Monday whether the policy contravened the requirement of the constitution of the ECB to treat all of the first-class counties equitably. His concerns were echoed by the chairmen of several other counties, notably Sussex and Somerset. Kent and Essex are also understood to have reservations. But a request for an independent enquiry into the compensation payment issue found little support at the chairmen’s meeting and was declined.The ECB subsequently put out a press release suggesting that Thompson’s resignation was due to a restructuring of the board. While it is true that directors who held cricket roles within the domestic game would have had to either resign those roles or step down from the board at the AGM in May, Thompson’s resignation is far from procedural.There is also growing concern that the board restructure will lead to the first-class counties being underrepresented at board level. While the counties all signed up to changes in the make-up of the board to ensure greater gender and ethnic representation – as required by Sport England – those alterations were bundled in with others which will mean no county representation on the board. The extent of those changes were not required by Sport England.ESPNcricinfo also understands that the ECB is considering introducing payments for board members. Most could be eligible for payments of around £15,000 to £20,000 a year, though the chairman could, in future, be paid around £150,000. It is understood Graves will decline any personal payment.

Guerilla Cricket, the alternative commentary provider, has been appointed by Cricket Ireland to provide ball-by-ball commentary of their inaugural Test against Pakistan.Guerilla, which was previously known as Test Match Sofa, has spent much of its existence fighting off legal threats from national boards and their broadcast partners. Commentating from TV pictures in the comfort of their own homes or studios – a policy the ECB and some other broadcasters feel contravenes and compromises rights deals – they have adopted a deliberately irreverent style designed to appeal to an audience either unable to afford subscription TV or left cold by the more formal Sky or BBC commentary.While it is understood the BBC and TalkSPORT were also, initially at least, in discussions with Cricket Ireland, it seems that Guerilla’s commitment to broadcast every ball of the match proved crucial. Both the BBC and TalkSPORT have pre-existing obligations – TalkSPORT, for example, left their IPL coverage to cover races at Aintree – meaning they were struggling to provide such a guarantee.It is also understood that Guerilla were obliged to pay a modest fee – perhaps amounting to little more than a few hundred pounds a day – to secure the rights for the Test that starts on May 11.”When it came to ball-by-ball radio commentary of the Test Match it was imperative that we find a broadcast partner that would guarantee Irish cricket fans innovative, worldwide and uninterrupted coverage,” Warren Deutrom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland, said. “For such an historic sporting occasion, we believed the fans shouldn’t miss out.”While a number of possibilities were assessed, what eventually won Guerilla Cricket the radio broadcast rights was their ability to deliver unique and uninterrupted coverage. For our fans this means that every ball and every key moment should be available.”Quite what listeners in Pakistan will make of the Guerilla style – which includes jingles (the one for Mohammad Amir has been the noise of a cash register), a revolving door of commentators and guests and liberal use of swearing – remains to be seen. But a key characteristic of the service is a commitment to involve listeners through reading out as many of their tweets, texts and emails as possible.While Guerilla have launched a funding campaign to ensure the best possible service – and Ireland player George Dockrell, omitted from the squad for the Test, is rumoured to have been recruited to add some insight to the commentary – they have also promised not to stray from the style that has earned them many long-term supporters.”It’ll still be the irreverent commentary with which our long-term listeners will be familiar,” Nigel Henderson, a co-founder of the commentary team, told ESPNcricinfo. “Maybe we’ll try to be a bit slicker, but we won’t suddenly start talking about cakes and buses and all that stuff. And if someone says we can only swear twice a day…well, really, who only swears twice a day?”Either way, the news is a coup for a commentary company served by volunteers and which survives through donations from its listeners. Set up as Test Match Sofa a decade ago, the service has experienced many highs and lows including losing its founder and lead presenter, Daniel Norcross, to their BBC rivals, Test Match Special, while a partnership with The Cricketer ended in tears when the ECB applied increasing pressure to silence the broadcasts and key figures at The Sofa and The Cricketer fell out. Re-born as Guerilla Cricket in 2014, the somewhat iconoclastic commentary has retained a loyal support base and hopes Ireland’s first Test provides an opportunity to reach a new audience.”We are grateful to Cricket Ireland in showing the foresight to allow a new form of cricket broadcasting to be heard in a mainstream context,” Henderson continued. “It’s the same kind of enterprising spirit that has enabled Ireland to develop so rapidly at international level. We are thrilled to be part of this historic occasion.”