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Australia’s hopes at the Wanderers – and potentially for their home summer – took a major blow in the first session of the match when Shane Watson left the field with an injury to his right hamstring

Brydon Coverdale in Johannesburg17-Nov-2011Australia’s hopes at the Wanderers – and potentially for their home summer – took a major blow in the first session of the match when Shane Watson left the field with an injury to his right hamstring. The loss of Watson followed Australia’s decision to send the fast bowler Ryan Harris home due to a hip problem, which will place him in doubt for the first Test against New Zealand.Arguably Australia’s most important player, Watson left the field after bowling the fifth ball of his fourth over, having already made a breakthrough when he had Jacques Rudolph caught behind. It was not immediately clear how serious the injury was, but Watson’s history with hamstring complaints meant it was unlikely the Australians would risk him doing any further damage by bowling again in the match.Watson returned to the field later in the day and stood at first slip – he didn’t bowl again – and at the end of the day he was padded up ready to open the innings. However, the ICC’s new law forbidding runners means that Watson’s impact could be limited by how quickly he can make it to the other end of the pitch.While Watson is key to Australia’s setup due to his all-round abilities, the team is also without Harris, the best bowler in the side. Harris was ruled out of the Test, allowing the 18-year-old Pat Cummins to make his debut, and he was set to return to Australia immediately.”Ryan Harris had some right hip pain after the first Test in Cape Town,” Australia’s physio, Alex Kountouris, said. “He was still experiencing pain bowling during the team training session on Wednesday and has therefore been ruled out of the second Test.”He has had a number of investigations since arriving in Johannesburg that have at this stage excluded serious injury, however he will need to return to Australia for further assessment and to commence his recovery. His return to cricket will be guided by the improvement we see over the next week.”That timeframe does not bode well for his availability for the New Zealand series, which begins at the Gabba in a fortnight. Harris, 32, has been Australia’s best bowler since he made his Test debut in New Zealand early last year, easily topping the frontline bowling averages during that period with 35 victims at 21.37.However, Australia’s concern is that Harris has played only half the Tests during that time. He was sent home from the Pakistan series in England last year with a knee injury that required surgery, he suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during the Boxing Day Ashes Test last year and again needed an operation, and he missed the final Test in Sri Lanka in September due to a hamstring strain.Three Tests is the most he has strung together in a row. The injuries to Harris and Watson leave Australia with some serious concerns ahead of the New Zealand series and the four-Test series against India that follows.Harris was to be accompanied on the plane home from South Africa by the left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who the selectors felt would benefit from match-time back home. Trent Copeland and David Warner have remained with the squad but with an Australia A match against New Zealand set to begin next Thursday, it is not out of the question that one of them could be sent to take part in that match.

Mohammad Yousuf has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa after picking up a recurrence of an old groin injury

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010Mohammad Yousuf has been ruled out of the Test series against South Africa after picking up a recurrence of an old groin injury moments before the toss of the first match in Dubai. He requires at least two weeks to recover and will fly home but no replacement has been named.Yousuf, 36, returned to the Test side during the tour of England when he played at The Oval and Lord’s following his retirement after the disastrous trip to Australia which he captained. The initial groin injury meant he wasn’t able to take his place in the one-day squad against South Africa until being drafted in for the deciding match last week.”Its an old injury Yousuf sustained before the one-day series last month and since it will take two weeks to heal we are sending him back and there will be no replacement,” the team manager, Intikhab Alam, said. “It is indeed disappointing because Yousuf has been Pakistan’s most reliable batsman and we needed him for this series.”It is hoped that the return of Yousuf, and Younis Khan who resumed Test cricket in Dubai after patching up defences with the Pakistan board, will make Pakistan more competitive after an inexperienced line-up was regularly exposed in England with a string of sorry displays. But the wait goes on for the two experienced players to appear together again.

A slow track in Hyderabad resulted in an attritional day’s play in which Ajit Agarkar’s hostile opening burst left Mumbai the happier side

Siddarth Ravindran in Hyderabad01-Dec-2009
ScorecardAn incisive spell from Ajit Agarkar helped restrict the hosts on the opening day in Hyderabad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It was less than a month ago that Sachin Tendulkar slammed a majestic 175 in a one-day international at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on a batting beauty. On Tuesday as well, there was little in the surface for the bowlers, but it was a slow track that resulted in an attritional day’s play in which Ajit Agarkar’s hostile opening burst left Mumbai the happier side.Hyderabad had a jolt even before the toss after regular captain Arjun Yadav and in-form fast bowler Alfred Absolem were ruled out due to injury. Anirudh Singh, an ICL returnee, stepped in to lead the side and won an important toss, but the home side’s batsmen squandered the advantage.Hyderabad’s new opening combination, Shashank Nag and Rushi Raj, fared no better than the four others tried this season. They were rarely at ease during a probing opening spell from Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni, being squared up several times. The accuracy of the new-ball bowlers and the slow outfield combined to stifle the runs. Nag was the first to go, popping a return catch to an alert Agarkar after closing the face too early. Raj lasted a couple of overs more before he was lbw shouldering arms to a delivery that was heading for the stumps.Mumbai had a slice of luck soon after when the umpire deemed Anirudh lbw after failing to spot the batsman gloving Aavishkar Salvi’s third delivery. Much now depended on Ambati Rayudu, and he survived Agarkar’s nine-over opening spell (2 for 17) despite feeling for the ball outside
off several times.Rayudu and Abhinav Kumar stalled the Mumbai charge with some patient batting and started to open out towards the end of the morning session. Rayudu played some delightful drives, Abhinav stepped out to loft offspinner Ramesh Powar beyond long-on. But with 10 minutes to lunch Abhishek Nayar got the big wicket of Rayudu, the third lbw victim of the day.Agarkar returned after lunch to add another lbw scalp that left Hyderabad at 98 for 5. Syed Quadri and wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel then combined to frustrate Mumbai for more than 30 overs. It was mostly dour batting with several edges past slip for four; Quadri played out 76 deliveries between his third and fourth boundary.It was one of Quadri’s rare aggressive shots that caused Mumbai most concern on the day: Rohit Sharma injured his left shoulder while diving to stop a carve through cover, and had to head for a scan. It remains to be seen whether Mumbai’s misfiring batting will have to make do without him for the rest of the match.Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer kept attacking even with almost nothing in the track to encourage the spinners. There were rarely any men in the deep when Powar and Iqbal Abdulla were operating, and three men usually hovering for a bat-pad chance. Hyderabad had crawled to 171 for 5 off 72 overs when Powar provided the breakthrough, Khaleel also falling lbw.The entry of allrounder Amol Shinde perked up proceedings. He slapped three fours and a big six over long-on to dominate a 29-run stand before ducking into a Salvi bouncer and gloving it to the keeper.Hyderabad’s batsmen haven’t converted on their starts all season -74 is the highest score in eight innings so far – and Tuesday was no different. Four batsmen were dismissed between 23 and 35 on a placid track, leaving the side at a poor 223 for 7 at stumps. They can’t wait for the return of VVS Laxman, possibly for the final two games of the season, to help stave
off a first-ever demotion to the Plate League. The one consolation for them is that the other relegation-threatened team in their group, Himachal Pradesh, did even worse: bowled out for 197 against Punjab.There were lesser concerns for Mumbai coach, Praveen Amre, who applauded the intensity shown by his side through the day on a difficult pitch. “I would have liked two more wickets but I am satisfied as it was hard work in the middle,” he said. “Everyone put in their efforts in the field till the last over of the day though the conditions were good for batting, which is a big plus.”Another gain for Mumbai was Powar’s problem-free return from injury after a side strain had kept him out of three games. On Wednesday, if Mumbai’s top-order returns to last season’s title-winning form, there can be little for Amre to complain about.

There is an opportunity for both teams to use this series as a kind of laboratory ahead of the Champions Trophy

Alagappan Muthu08-Feb-2025

Big picture: Kohli fit again

Cricketers. They’re just like us, from having for lunch to cueing up Netflix with dinner. This deeply normal kind of life may be beckoning a first-choice Indian team member as they continue on their Champions Trophy fact-finding mission.Shreyas Iyer usually plays entertainer, and he did this on Thursday night, his strokeplay containing everything but a backwards step even against extreme pace. He’s got his IPL coach, Ricky Ponting, sitting bolt upright in his seat saying things like “If Shreyas is out in the middle, then he’s as good as anyone” on the ICC review. India can’t keep him on and bring Virat Kohli in and explore the possibilities that Yashasvi Jaiswal presents them as a left-handed, top-order basher. Someone will have to switch to being the one that gets entertained.Related

• Virat Kohli fit to play second ODI against England

• India's left-arm orthodox spin twins give them a good headache to have

Despite their loss in Nagpur, England will be pleased with the work of Jacob Bethell, the 21-year-old displaying the kind of level-headedness that could prove invaluable over the coming weeks. Another ICC trophy comes up for grabs starting February 19 and although the pressure there will be significantly higher, this bilateral series, with the quality of players involved, should be able to replicate some of it.Performances like Bethell’s, or Shubman Gill’s in the No. 3 role, or Axar Patel’s as a disruptor at No. 5, are important beyond the context of winning and losing, because they offer exactly what all teams want going into a world event – options, a way to stand out, a way to surprise.

Form guide

India WLLTW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
England LLWLL

In the spotlight: Harry Brook and Virat Kohli

Ninety-one runs in six innings on tour is not the performance England wanted from a player in whom they have made a serious investment. Harry Brook plays all formats for them. He’s captained them. And when on song, he absolutely smashes it for them, but once again he has been unable to find a repeatable and consistent method of handling high-quality spin on pitches that are slower than he is used to. Fifty-over cricket offers batters a little more time and Brook could leverage that to get himself back in form.Harry Brook has struggled against spin on this tour•BCCI

The last time Kohli batted for India, he left the field in a fury, mistaking his thigh for a punching bag. It is unlikely that he thinks he is in decline. At least not to the extent that things can’t be turned around. His fans know things absolutely can turn around, and the switch in format could be just the break he needs to get the good times rolling again. India are weighing upsides. Iyer is already in form, and they know what he can do. If his making way means they get to arm an all-time great with game time and simultaneously find out if Jaiswal can be an asset in ODIs too, that’s probably a win.

Team news: A chance to experiment

This trophy doesn’t matter as much as the next one these two teams will be playing for so there is an opportunity to see this series as a kind of laboratory to know what works and what doesn’t. India picked Arshdeep Singh over Mohammed Siraj in their Champions Trophy squad and maybe they’re thinking of bringing him into the XI too. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to give Rishabh Pant some match practice either.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 KL Rahul/Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Harshit Rana/Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami.England rested Mark Wood from the first ODI. His pace has always been a point of difference and so there is always a temptation to stick him into a starting XI.England: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt (wk), 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood/Saqib Mahmood.

Pitch and conditions: A reprise of the 2017 thriller?

Cuttack hasn’t hosted any ODIs in half a decade but when it last did, it presented itself as a batting paradise. India and England have already experienced these highs when they put up totals of 381 and 366 in 2017. The game is unlikely to come under any threat from the weather with clear skies expected; there might be dew though, given the temperature drops from 30C at 5pm to 23C at 9pm.

Stats and trivia:

• In the last 20 years, England have beaten India in India only five times in 31 ODIs.
• Cuttack offers more or less equal help to pace (137 wickets at an average of 40.86 and economy rate of 5) and spin (88 wickets at an average of 36 and economy rate of 4.74).
• Gill has found incredible consistency in ODI cricket. He’s been good enough to score a fifty roughly once every 2.4 innings.
• Jos Butter is such a regular, and rapid, run-scorer in this format that he’s part of a pretty exclusive club: 5000 runs and a strike rate of 100-plus.

The visitors were bowled out for 102 as their batting woes continued before Travis Dean and Peter Handscomb stretched the lead

Alex Malcolm27-Oct-2023A career-best return from Fergus O’Neill and a trademark display of metronomic MCG bowling from Scott Boland helped Victoria take control of a low-scoring Sheffield Shield clash against New South Wales as the Blues’ batting woes continued.Travis Dean’s patient half-century and an unbeaten 40 from Peter Handscomb in the afternoon helped Victoria build a lead of 225 with four wickets in hand at stumps on day two, although NSW fought back well with the ball to avoid the game getting away from them.But the damage was done earlier in the day. Four wickets from O’Neill, three from Boland and three from Mitchell Perry saw NSW bowled out for just 102 in reply to Victoria’s first innings total of 196. O’Neill finished with career-best figures of 4 for 23.Related

• Boland joins Durham for 2024

• Dwarshuis sparks Victoria collapse to put New South Wales on top

• Michael Neser returns to Shield clash after mid-match withdrawal for personal reasons

It was the ninth time in the Blues’ last 15 consecutive winless Shield matches that they were bowled out for under 200 and the third innings in a row after scoring just 186 and 136 in their loss to South Australia in Adelaide last week.O’Neill and Boland were masterful with the new ball hitting an immaculate line and length on the spicy MCG track. O’Neill rattled the stumps of both openers. Daniel Hughes was bowled in the second over after a length ball climbed and hit his bottom elbow as he tried to defend and Ryan Hackney scored just 2 in 30 deliveries before leaving a ball that pitched on middle and hit the top of off. O’Neill was then on a hat-trick when he scratched Moises Henriques’ outside edge to leave NSW 7 for 3.Perry got in on the act with Jason Sangha and Matthew Gilkes both caught well in the slips before Boland returned to remove the obdurate Blake Macdonald who had replaced the axed Kurtis Patterson. He made 22 off 87 balls but Boland’s suffocating length and line did for him as he chopped on trying to withdraw the bat late.Boland clean bowled Ben Dwarshuis shortly after to give him figures off 11-6-8-2. He should have had Jack Edwards cheaply but he was dropped twice in the slips by the usually reliable Handscomb and Matt Short.The reprieves meant NSW could avoid an unwanted record. At 54 for 8 they were staring their lowest ever Shield score at the MCG in the face with the previous record of 66, set in 1894, still 12 runs away.But Edwards and Jackson Bird swung hard and rode their luck to push NSW beyond three figures. Bird’s 29 included a massive six down the ground off Boland. The Australia Test quick claimed Edwards in the end but his figures took some damage, finishing with 3 for 36 from 15 overs.Victoria turned a 94-run lead into an 184-run buffer for the loss of just Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski in their second innings as Dean ground his way to the first half-century of the match with some disciplined defending and controlled punches into gaps.Chris Tremain continued his good form in removing Harris, who is struggling early in a season where a Test spot is set to open up, and Pucovski having cleaned up Victoria’s first innings in the morning, taking his tally for the match to six.But Dean and Handscomb frustrated NSW until Dwarshuis broke through claiming Dean caught behind. Henriques brought himself on and sparked a mini-collapse. Short was given out to a questionable lbw decision with the ball appearing to hit him outside the line then Will Sutherland was trapped lbw next ball to leave his opposing captain on a hat-trick and Victoria teetering at 92 for 5.Handscomb remained composed and guided the hosts to stumps but there was one more twist late with Sam Harper edging behind in the final over to give the Blues a glimmer of hope. Such was the dominance of the fast bowlers, Australia’s two Test spinners, Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, bowled just three overs between them for the day – all of them by Lyon.

Captain ready for “biggest Test so far” in his tenure as SA chase crucial WTC points

Firdose Moonda07-Sep-2022It’s nine months away from the World Test Championship final but South Africa are already playing what captain Dean Elgar has labelled “pretty much like a World Cup final,” in the deciding Test against England.With the series locked 1-1 and South Africa sitting second on the WTC points table, 12 behind Australia, the significance of this match has been so heightened that Elgar sees it as among the most crucial Tests this group of players has been involved in and he wants them to show that in their performance.”It’s the biggest Test so far in my captaincy period. I reckon it’s the biggest. I think the players know that, they sense that,” Elgar said. “We’ve got to play every game like it’s your last. This is one of those where you have to play like it’s your last. You have to empty the tank more times than none. You can’t leave anything behind. You’ve got to leave everything on that field. It’s huge. It’s massive for us.”For Elgar, the importance of this Test is three-fold: 1. It’s an opportunity for this squad to win a series in England for the first time after the golden generation did it in 2012 and 2008; 2. It will be a big step towards securing a WTC final spot and also feeling ready to play in a one-off red-ball final if they get there; 3. It’s the second-last time South Africa will play a three-Test series (Australia at the end of the year is the last) before 2026 and some of the current group may not be playing then which means tie-breakers are not going to be a feature of the next cycle and should be relished now.”I’ve never experienced a Test series win against England in 10 years of playing. It would be an unreal feeling for myself and massive for the younger guys in our change-room,” Elgar said. “From a confidence point of view, it can kind of give us a little edge going into the potential World Test Championship final. We are in a very good spot. We know if we manage to win this game, we are back at No.1 which will be really nice. It’s a very very big game for us.”Related

• Dean Elgar shrugs off injury scare as Ryan Rickelton prepares to take his chance

• Harry Brook prepares to take his chance, as Ollie Pope hopes his Test life begins at 30 caps

• Hundred done but Test series decider could yet satisfy short-form thrill seekers

There’s rain around and an inevitability of interruptions, but Elgar dismissed thoughts that the hype could turn into a soggy draw, given the fast-forward way both teams approach their game. “There’s definitely going to be a winner. With the styles of cricket we’ve been playing, there is definitely going to be a result,” he said. “We can’t control the weather but I am pretty confident there’s going to be a victor and there will be someone that loses. Going into this Test one-all, it’s pretty much like a World Cup final for us. That’s the way I am viewing it. We are going in with a result in mind and we’ve got to give our best effort for that.”The teams come into this fixture after an 11-day break (lengthened from nine days because the second Test ended inside three) during which South Africa “did not pick a bat,” Keegan Petersen said yesterday, or presumably any balls besides golf balls. They set up camp at the Belfry Resort, half-an-hour north-east of Birmingham and “played a bit of golf and we did a bit of go-carting as a team,” Elgar said. Both were competitive. “We had a few days away from the game, out of the noise, the hustle and bustle and just trying to refocus and realign and remind ourselves why we are here. We are here to win a Test series.”To do that, South Africa have to bat better than they have done in this series, and probably better than they have since Elgar took over. They’ve only crossed 400 once in the 11 Tests since he was named permanent captain, against Bangladesh in Gqeberha, and in the five times they’ve scored 300-plus, it’s the lower order that got them there. “Upfront it’s pretty tough. We haven’t executed the runs as of yet,” Elgar said.Dean Elgar and Ryan Rickelton talk during a nets session at Lord’s•PA Images via Getty Images

South Africa’s top six – which is certain to have one change with Ryan Rickelton coming in for the injured Rassie van der Dussen, but could have two if Khaya Zondo replaces Aiden Markram – is under pressure and Elgar expects them to perform. “I understand how much top-order runs means for a team to set up a chance of victory. We’ve spoken at length about this topic. It’s now time to walk the walk.”Elgar is fit to lead the charge as he brushed off a knock to the shoulder administered by his coach Mark Boucher on the toughest training session before the match, which South Africa routinely undertake a few days before the Test. “We have competition day, which is two or three days out from the Test. Our head coach was in the competition yesterday,” he explained. “It’s not the first blow I’ve taken. I’ve learnt how to get over those things.”Both he and South Africa have also “got over,” the defeat in Manchester and won’t be gloating about their win at Lord’s as they isolate the Oval Test as one for the ages. “We know it (the Old Trafford loss) wasn’t our proudest moment. You have to go through the grievance and jog on. You have to. You can’t be pining for too long in Test cricket,” Elgar said. “We are still pretty fresh. We’ve only had six days of Test cricket. With regards to freshness, we’ve got no excuse. With regards to hunger, we’ve got no excuse. Guys have to stand up and bring out their best game.”

The 36-year-old was undergoing treatment for cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2021Vivek Yadav, a legspin-bowling allrounder who was part of Rajasthan’s back-to-back Ranji Trophy title-winning squads in 2010-11 and 2011-12, died on May 5 in a hospital in Jaipur following Covid-19-related complications. He was 36, and is survived by his wife and daughter.According to a PTI report, Yadav was undergoing treatment for cancer and had gone to the hospital for his chemotherapy, where he tested positive for Covid-19. His health deteriorated quickly after that. Yadav, originally from Haryana, played 18 first-class matches between 2008-09 and 2013-14. He picked up 57 wickets in those games at an average of 30.87, while also scoring 349 runs at 15.17. He was a part of the Rajasthan XI in the 2010-11 final, picking up 4 for 91 and scoring 27 and 13 as his team beat Baroda on the basis of the first-innings lead.

‘X-factor’ quick could hardly have done more in training to show he’s ready to return from injury as Jofra Archer remains in doubt

George Dobell in Port Elizabeth13-Jan-2020Mark Wood would appear to have given himself an excellent chance of playing in the third Test with a blistering bowling performance in the nets on Monday.Wood, who has not played a match since the World Cup final on July 14, bowled with outstanding pace as he attempted to prove his fitness for selection. Required to demonstrate that he could back up Sunday’s equally impressive display for a second successive day, Wood bowled a long, hostile spell without any obvious difficulty. He could hardly have done more to convince the England team management of his readiness to return.His performance came in contrast to that of Jofra Archer. Also required to bowl at full speed as he recovers from an elbow injury, Archer looked considerably slower than Wood in the nets. As a result, Archer looks unlikely to be considered ready for selection in the third Test starting on Thursday.ALSO READ: Harris backs Maharaj to rise to the occasion if Port Elizabeth spinsAhead of the session, it appeared England may opt for Chris Woakes to replace James Anderson in the side. For while the team management are understandably keen to include a bowler of Wood or Archer’s pace, they are even more keen not to recall them too quickly and risk further lay-offs. They seem particularly cautious over the recall of Wood, who has not played a first-class game since February, when he bowled England to victory over West Indies in St Lucia.Woakes remains very much in contention. A final decision will not be made until Wednesday, or perhaps even Thursday morning. The squad are not due to train on Tuesday – they have been given a rest day – and will have a light session ahead of the Test on Wednesday at which it will be clear if Wood has suffered any reaction to his recent exertions. Archer now looks the least likely of the three to play.With the Port Elizabeth pitch expected to be fairly slow and dry, England are keen to include a point-of-difference bowler within their line-up. And as Wood showed in St Lucia – or at various times during the World Cup, when he delivered the fastest ball of the tournament – he can generate the sort of pace that can unlock even international quality batting line-ups on decent batting surfaces. Woakes, for all his all-round qualities, cannot necessarily do the same thing.Selecting a man with no recent match action is not ideal. The England management had attempted to find some sort of competitive game for Wood to play over the last week or two, but nothing appropriate was available. Certainly unleashing Wood in Monday’s form on club batsmen may have proved unwise.”I’ve got no qualms he could come in this week and be successful because of what he’s done in the past and what he can draw upon,” Paul Collingwood, one of England’s assistance coaches, said. “He’s got the skills to go out there and make an impact.”Here at Port Elizabeth it’s generally a slower pitch so sometimes having that kind of X-factor bowler would be great. We have enough bowlers in and around the county circuit who can bowl at 82 to 85 mph and try to nip it around. You want the likes of Wood and Archer to give you that X-factor.”Ideally we would have loved Woody to go out and get some competitive games in. We had a look around but it’s not as easy as it sounds. So we’ve tried to replicate the amount of hours on his feet with running and walking. All you can do is get the overs under their belt and make sure they can come back for second and third spells and get the miles in the legs.”England also received encouraging news in a swift return from sickness for Joe Root. The England captain missed training on Sunday due to illness, but took a full part on Monday. The team management insist his absence on Sunday was mainly precautionary with a view to preventing further contamination.While a first look at the pitch on Monday may have seduced England into thinking they could field an all-seam attack, they seem intent of retaining Dom Bess, who made a favourable impression in Cape Town. The last Test on the ground, in January, lasted three days with Sri Lankan off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva claiming five wickets in the match.”If you look at the data, spin tends to play a bit more of a part here than the other grounds,” Collingwood said. “But we’ll gauge it. There’s no point looking today. These pitches change so quickly over 24 hours. We’ll have a good look on Wednesday and see which combination is best to take 20 wickets.”On the evidence of the last two days, it’s hard to leave Wood out of that combination.

PCB chairman Ehsan Mani went so far as to say there was “nothing that happens in Pakistan cricket that this committee cannot look at”

Danyal Rasool26-Oct-2018A new cricketing committee will be given wide-ranging powers to oversee the state of all aspects of Pakistan cricket. It will be chaired by Mohsin Khan, and includes among its members Wasim Akram, Misbah-ul-Haq and Urooj Mumtaz. Three other former cricketers – Mudassar Nazar, Zakir Khan and Haroon Rasheed – will provide functional and administrative assistance to the committee as it carries out its work.The committee, while not allocated any decision-making power, has been handed a wide remit and will meet thrice in a year. PCB chairman Ehsan Mani went so far as to say there was “nothing that happens in Pakistan cricket that this committee cannot look at”. Subhan Ahmed, the board’s chief operating officer, said the committee will evaluate and make recommendations on the state of pitches and balls used in domestic cricket. Further duties include overseeing grade-level and women’s cricket and meeting with the head coach at least three times a year to “assess their performance and understand what their plans and goals are and guide the PCB in these aspects”. It will also oversee the performance of the national selectors and national coaches.A key power invested in the committee will be the authority to appoint members to the selection committee, but Ahmed insisted it wouldn’t be allowed to interfere in day-to-day selection matters. “The selection committee will continue to function independently from this cricket committee. They have separate roles to perform. The cricket committee has been given a remit to independently oversee various aspects.”Mohsin promised that the committee would function “without any favouritism”. “I would like to thank chairman Mani for the opportunity,” he said. “The chairman told me he wanted to form a committee that included some of the best cricketers in Pakistan’s history, and you can see that in the presence of Wasim, Misbah and Urooj Mumtaz. We will all work together on issues ranging from domestic cricket to international cricket, be it about selection, captain or coaches. We will make all our decisions on merit, without any favouritism. That is my goal, and I’m glad the chairman has given me such a fine team to work with.”Wasim Akram also thanked Mani, and said the main idea was to find the best way to help Pakistan cricket. “People have often asked me why I haven’t got involved in coaching, especially with my experience of the past 8-10 years. But it’s about finding the best way to improve Pakistan cricket, which involves improving the first-class structure. It won’t happen overnight, but with the experience of all of us, we can make a difference.”Urooj Mumtaz, the only female cricketer on the panel, said she was honoured Mani had “considered her worthy” of the appointment. “I can easily say I’ve been there from the inception of women’s cricket in Pakistan,” she said. “I feel I have a lot to offer, with how much women’s cricket I’ve played and watched. I’ve been the captain and a selector for the team at various times. We can make significant improvements to women’s cricket because there’s a great scope for improvement in that department. We want to become a force to be reckoned with, and the upcoming women’s World T20 – the first standalone women’s World T20 – signifies it’s time for us to leave our mark on the game.”The most recently retired player to be part of the committee, Misbah-ul-Haq, who is still active in the domestic circuit, said he felt he understood the problems facing domestic cricket. “It’s a good opportunity for all of us to share our ideas and make suggestions to the board. There’s a great need for improvement.”Misbah had shared video footage of squalid dressing rooms at the LCCA ground in Lahore during the first round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy this year, sparking nation-wide criticism. It triggered a wider conversation about the need to invest in the first-class game, for which Misbah has been an ardent spokesman for several years.”The first-class cricketers are the only ones we have that will go on to represent Pakistan at international level. So we need to provide them with the requisite facilities and make domestic cricket competitive, otherwise you can never improve the standard of cricket in your country.”That I am still playing enables me to get a first-hand account of the current problems facing first-class cricketers. This speeds up the implementation process, because you don’t need to ask anyone else about the realities on the ground. We want to have a significantly improved
domestic system by the time the next Quaid-e-Azam trophy season rolls around.”It was telling most of the talk about the functioning of the committee concerned first-class cricket, the plight of which has begun to receive increasing attention over the past few years. It may be suggestive of the area most of the committee’s attention will be devoted to. The problems range anywhere from substandard pitches and the wrong types of balls used to poorly thought-out schedules that see the Quaid-e-Azam trophy pushed to the margins of the cricketing season in Pakistan. This year, the tournament began on September 1 in searing heat, the earliest it has begun since 1969.As ever with Pakistan cricket, there are motifs of a power struggle in the background. Exactly what the committee will discuss with the head coach – who they must meet at least three times a year – is not yet clear, but what is obvious is some bridges will have to be built if those discussions are to be productive. Just last week, the committee’s chair Mohsin Khan was contemptuously withering in his assessment of head coach Mickey Arthur, calling him a “stupid donkey”. Whether he can offer more constructive advice than that, or indeed whether Arthur and his coaches are willing to take it on board, will be fascinating subplots to watch out for over the coming months.

The last time these two sides met in a T20, Carlos Brathwaite wrote himself a place in West Indies cricket history

Preview by Andrew McGlashan15-Sep-2017

Big Picture

“Remember the name,” was the immortal line from Ian Bishop when these two sides last met in a T20 as Carlos Brathwaite smoked four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to steal the World T20 crown from under England’s noses. It’s doubtful they have forgotten.England have been reunited with Brathwaite since then – in the one-day series earlier this year – but this is the format that gave him a place in West Indies cricket history. Sadly, the controversial decision to rest Stokes for his home ground game has robbed the match of its strongest themes; a chance to take on Brathwaite and the latest chapter against Marlon Samuels.Samuels is one of the senior players back in the mix following the thawing of tensions between the players and the board. He, Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor played against India earlier this year and the potential power in West Indies’ batting line-up is eye-watering when Kieron Pollard and Evin Lewis are also considered. None of the 13-man squad for the one-off T20 were involved in the Test series.Tom Curran and Dawid Malan were England’s biggest gains from their 2-1 series win over South Africa earlier this season. Malan made 78 off 44 balls on his debut, an innings that played a key part in his move to the Test side even though the formats are polar opposite, but whether he retains his spot will depend on how the batting is shuffled with Joe Root available again.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLL
West Indies WWWWL

In the spotlight

Adil Rashid has been overtaken in England’s Test legspin pecking order by Mason Crane (despite Crane still being uncapped) but returns to the T20 line-up having missed the South Africa series where Crane made his international debut. He had an impressive T20 Blast campaign with 15 wickets in 12 matches and an economy rate of 7.10, but will need to show a strong nerve if any of West Indies’ hitters get going.Chris Gayle’s previous two T20 innings against England have been from opposite ends of the spectrum. At the start of the World T20 in Mumbai he smashed an unbeaten 100 off 48 balls, then in the final in Kolkata he fell second ball for 4 against Joe Root. His international comeback innings was a relatively sedate 18 off 20 balls against India but he is entering this tour on the back of being the third-highest-scorer in the CPL with 376 runs at a strike-rate of 127.02.

Teams news

England will need to decide how many spin options they require for a mid-September evening match. Curran made a good impression against South Africa so could retain his place. Jake Ball and David Willey are also in the squad.England 1 Alex Hales, 2 Jason Roy, 3 Joe Root, 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Liam Dawson, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Liam PlunkettAshley Nurse was recalled to the T20 squad after a gap of more than two years and could take Samuel Badree’s place in the side as a second spinner. Alternatively, Ronsford Beaton could earn his first cap if an extra pace option is preferred.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle 2 Evan Lewis, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Chadwick Walton (wk), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Jerome Taylor, 10 Keswick Williams

Pitch and conditions

Scores in the T20 Blast were less daunting at Chester-le-Street than at most venues during a high-scoring tournament. Late in the season, there could be some assistance for the seamers especially with it being an evening game. The start time also means that spectators may want to take an extra layer with them. The forecast says the odd shower is possible but the game should get through.

Stats and trivia

• Three players have scored two hundreds in T20Is and two of them will be playing in this match: Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. The other is Brendon McCullum
• Jos Buttler needs 16 runs for 1000 in T20Is – he would be the fourth England batsman to that mark behind Kevin Pietersen, Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan

Quotes

“We’re a very young side and we have a long way to go in T20 cricket. Our consistency levels have been up and down so it’s all to play for tomorrow.”
“It isn’t something that will be forgotten for a little while but I know it probably will never happen again so it’s about me being as consistent as I can now.”