All posts by n8rngtd.top

ECB dismisses ‘speculation’ about 12-team Premier League but Division Two counties in dark

Matt Roller31-Mar-2022It seemed a long way off when Nottinghamshire’s squad photograph was interrupted by a snowstorm at Trent Bridge on Thursday morning, but the English season starts next week with a round of eight County Championship fixtures with the competition under more scrutiny than ever.After two years in which the structure of the domestic first-class game was altered by the pandemic, the Championship reverts to two uneven divisions in 2022, with ten teams in Division One and eight in Division Two. This format was originally planned to be introduced in 2020, and finishing positions for 2019 have been honoured, much to the relief of top-tier counties who have struggled in the last two years and the irritation of second-flight teams who have punched above their weight.Notts have more right to feel aggrieved than most. They were relegated in 2019 after a winless season, but made significant strides in 2021 as they finished third, four points behind champions Warwickshire in a six-team Division One after topping their early-season conference.

England must bring back selector role – Newell

England’s “red-ball reset” must include the appointment of an independent selector, according to Mick Newell, Notts’ director of cricket who spent four years in the role from 2014-18.
Ashley Giles, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, handed selectorial responsibilities to head coach Chris Silverwood last year when Ed Smith was made redundant but both men have since left their roles.
“There has to be a selector, absolutely,” Newell told ESPNcricinfo. “I think it was the wrong decision. There has to be somebody making the phone calls, watching cricket, putting the time in explaining decisions to players, and doing things that the head coach shouldn’t have to do because they should be concentrating on the performance of the team.”
Newell, who was beaten to the role of managing director by Giles in 2018, said he had not applied for the vacancy this time, with Marcus North and Rob Key among the leading candidates.
Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, said he would not categorically rule out the prospect of a third stint as England coach but that he was “pretty confident that they might not be looking my way.”

“We’ve accepted it,” Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We’d have liked the decision to have taken the two years after 2019 into account, but we also accept that we got relegated in 2019. Everyone’s got their head around it now and we’ve all decided that we have a job to do, which is to win that division.””We’re all disappointed that we’re in Division Two but those were the rules that they came up with, and that was the vote that was carried out,” Mick Newell, their director of cricket, added. “There’s no point blaming the ECB. It wasn’t their vote; the counties voted for this system. We feel that last year we were the third best team in the country, but we’ve got to prove it again. If we play as well as we did last year, I think we’ll be okay.”What comes next is anyone’s guess. Andrew Strauss, the ECB’s interim managing director of men’s cricket, announced earlier this month the launch of a “high-performance review” into the English game at all levels, due to be published in September so that recommendations can be implemented in time for the 2023 season, but it remains at a nascent stage.The ECB issued a statement on Thursday morning dismissing as “speculation” and “not true” newspaper reports that the Championship could be split into a 12-team ‘Premier League’ and a six-team second division. County chief executives were told the same thing in a meeting on Wednesday.Related

• Haseeb Hameed's Nottinghamshire form gives hope that dark days are behind him

• Peter Moores extends Nottinghamshire tenure after interest from PCB

• Andrew Strauss says ECB to launch high-performance review of English game

• Alec Stewart calls on England selectors to keep faith as he defends county 'breeding ground'

“The terms of reference for the Strauss report are not out yet,” Rob Andrew, Sussex’s chief executive, said on Thursday. “There’ll be a game-wide consultation – coaches, players, media, PCA, fans. This is going to be a massive piece of work. I understand why you want to ask questions on this but it’s all speculation.”Anybody that is writing anything in newspapers at the moment is making it up. Until this process starts and the consultation is worked through to whatever the end result is, you’re all speculating.”But for second-division counties, the lack of clarity is a frustration. Their finishing positions in 2022 will determine which division teams play in next year, but it may not become apparent until the final weeks of the season whether teams need to finish in the top one, two or three to get promoted. In the event of a radical restructure – three divisions of six, for example – it may be that no teams in this season’s Division Two are promoted at all.”Everyone will be thinking a little bit about 2023 without really knowing what they’re playing for,,” Newell said. “I’m not sure we’re going to get [clarity] very soon. But clearly, there will be that realisation that if you’re not in the top two, you will definitely not be in a Division One in 2023.”Division Two is going to be interesting. Durham are obviously coming back well; Sussex have strengthened their batting which had been a problem; Middlesex I think will be good with their new coach. Nobody is saying it’s a foregone conclusion that Notts will be in the top two, but it should be a good, competitive division.””If we won the division this year and then didn’t go into Division One, after getting more points than anyone else last year [across both phases of the season], then you’d think the system is wrong,” Moores added. “The whole idea of divisional cricket is to get the best teams in it but we’ve got to keep it really simple: we’ve got to try and win Division Two. What happens outside of that will be dictated by other people and then we’ll take it from there.”

Ranjit Fernando has been appointed to replace Charith Senanayake as the manager of the Sri Lanka team for the tours of South Africa and Australia

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Dec-2016Former wicketkeeper-batsman Ranjit Fernando has been appointed manager of the Sri Lanka team for the tours of South Africa and Australia. Fernando will replace Charith Senanayake, who held the position for most of this year.Fernando’s appointment is one of three changes to Sri Lanka’s support staff. Neither long-time physiotherapist Steve Mount, nor fielding coach Nick Pothas, will be with the Test side in South Africa. Mount, SLC’s secretary has confirmed, will end his tenure with the team on December 15, while Pothas has been temporarily reassigned to the Under-19 squad as it prepares for the Youth Asia Cup at home.The board has appointed Ajantha Wattegama in place of Mount, and Manoj Abeywickrama as fielding coach, though these appointments are not understood to be permanent. Both these men had already been on the board’s payroll.Though the board has said Senanayake’s replacement is part of a “rotation policy”, and that he remains a board employee ostensibly until the end of his contractual term next September, its relationship with Senanayake appears to have deteriorated. Senanayake himself has expressed surprise, disappointment and concern over his sudden removal.”We in the organisation – the board and executive committee members – have brought in a policy where we appoint a manager on a rotational basis; on a tour-by-tour basis,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said. “Not only the manager, but the other support staff will also be appointed on a rotational basis.”The rotation policy, the board says, has been adopted in order to groom homegrown talent for long-term work with the national team. However, the board has also perceived the existing support staff’s supposed over-familiarity with the players also to be a concern.Fernando, the new manager, meanwhile, has served in that capacity before, and has a reputation for being one of the most knowledgeable and even-handed figures in Sri Lanka cricket.Sri Lanka depart on December 10 for their tour of South Africa, where they will play three Tests, three T20s and five ODIs there.

Somerset well placed to consolidate second place in group after only 9.3 overs are possible on third day

ECB Reporters Network08-May-2021Rain and bad light frustrated Somerset’s push for victory with just nine-and-a-half overs bowled before play was abandoned after just 45 minutes late on Saturday at the Ageas Bowl.Hampshire closed the day on 110 for 4 in their second innings – still trailing Somerset by 147 runs – with opener Joe Weatherley unbeaten on 34 and skipper James Vince 5 not out.A heavy overnight downpour in Southampton left the outfield saturated as ground staff worked from 10am to dry off the standing water before play finally got underway at 5.30pm with a minimum of 16 overs to be bowled.Weatherley and Sam Northeast came out to bat in perfect seam bowling conditions, their side on 92 for 3 as heavy clouds enveloped the ground and with the floodlights on.The pair did well to survive some testing bowling from Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory as Somerset pushed hard for early wickets.Related

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But it was the excellent Overton who finally made the breakthrough with his fourth wicket of the innings, as Northeast mistimed a push towards mid-wicket and George Bartlett took a stunning one-handed catch at short-leg.However, the visitors’ joy was short-lived as play was abandoned by umpires Graham Lloyd and Alex Wharf due to bad light.The forecast is better for Sunday with Somerset looking well placed to consolidate their second-place spot in Group Two after leaders Gloucestershire beat Middlesex at Lord’s.

The ICC has agreed to support Sri Lanka Cricket and Kusal Perera’s claim for costs and damages from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has said

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Jul-2016The ICC has agreed to support Sri Lanka Cricket and Kusal Perera’s claim for costs and damages from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has said.Perera had been suspended after a Qatar-based lab found a banned substance in his urine sample, but the doping charges were dropped in May when an independent analyst found that the WADA-accredited lab’s findings were not sustainable.Though the ICC had previously said it “does not accept that it is responsible” for the consequences the lab’s findings, SLC believes it has got the ICC’s support in its attempt to obtain both costs and compensation from WADA itself.Sumathipala said the board’s request for compensation for Perera received widespread support at the recent ICC meeting in Edinburgh.”We appealed to the ICC about the injustice that had happened to Kusal, and we were given an audience at the CEOs’ meeting. I must say the committee comprising of the CEOs unanimously supported our claim,” he said. “Then it came to the board meeting, and at the board meeting we made the appeal that there should be compensation – not just the cost. It was decided that the costs and the compensation should be paid to him, because the ICC took the position that the claim made by Kusal is fair and justifiable. ICC decided to stand by Sri Lanka Cricket and support the claim.”SLC said it spent about 13 million Sri Lankan rupees (US $92,000 approx) on fighting the case. The player himself is expected to pay this figure back to the board, according to Perera’s management. The board, however, has been adamant that those responsible for the imposition of the five-month suspension on Perera should ultimately bear the costs. Sumathipala suggested that no less than 35 million rupees (US $246,000) was appropriate, given Perera’s loss of earnings during the suspension, and the “damage to his reputation”.”This kind of compensation has never ever been paid to anybody in the history of cricket,” Sumathipala said. “The ICC and SLC are together in this – the money is ultimately coming from WADA, through the ICC, to Kusal. It is a new experience for WADA as well.”Sumathipala said the board was optimistic WADA would provide compensation, as it has already accepted there was a flaw in its processes. “I don’t think we will have to go to court over it,” he said. According to Sumathipala, the ICC and WADA have also blacklisted the Qatar-based lab.Discussions with WADA are believed to be in their very early stages, though, and Perera himself is yet to be brought up to speed on the situation. SLC officials are expected to meet with Perera and his management after the player returns from the England tour on Thursday.Perera missed a full tour of New Zealand, bilateral T20s against India, the Asia Cup and the World T20 as a result of the suspension. He was also ineligible for this year’s IPL auction, as well as the initial Test squad for England as he had only recently returned to training.

He knows the five-for may not be enough to keep him in the team for Melbourne, but is “happy to go either way”

Alex Malcolm21-Dec-2021Jhye Richardson’s return to Test cricket could not have gone much better, taking a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings to help Australia claim a 2-0 Ashes series lead in Adelaide. But his reaction in the aftermath said a lot about his character.”More of a relief than anything,” Richardson said. “Especially after the first innings having a bit of a tough time of it out there, to come out again and most importantly get the win. It’s nice to make a contribution as well, but there’s no better feeling a Test win.”He also knows that a Test match five-for may not be enough to keep him in the team for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, with Pat Cummins certain to return and Josh Hazlewood pushing to be fit as he recovers from a side strain.Related

• Starc expected to be fit for Boxing Day but Hazlewood remains unlikely

• Scott Boland added to Australia squad for third Ashes Test

• Josh Hazlewood returns, Pat Cummins available for Melbourne

• Australia reassert age-old dominance of England at home

• Stats: Australia make it 9-0 in pink-ball Tests

“The beauty of Australian cricket at the moment is we’ve got fast-bowling stocks for days,” Richardson said. “I think that’s a wonderful problem for the selectors and JL [Justin Langer] to have. Whatever happens, happens. I had an unfortunate first innings and then bowled a little bit better second innings. I’m happy to go either way. As long as we’re winning, then that’s all we can ask for.”Richardson, 25, marks himself harder than most young fast bowlers. He is a deep thinker and a perfectionist in terms of his craft.After nearly three years out of Test cricket following a shoulder dislocation that kept him out of the 2019 World Cup and the Ashes series that followed, and multiple surgeries thereafter that saw him nursed back through Sheffield Shield cricket while still being unable to throw with any venom in the field, Richardson could have forgiven himself for his first-innings figures in his first Ashes appearance.But the disappointment was written all over his face. Having bowled superbly on the second night, repeatedly beating Haseeb Hameed’s outside edge and bowling three consecutive maidens, he returned on the third afternoon to leak more than four runs an over without taking a wicket.”I think getting back into the intensity of Test cricket, it’s obviously a step above playing domestic cricket,” Richardson said. “You can often find yourself – if you haven’t played for a while – trying too hard because you feel like you need to impress. But having said that, I don’t think I bowled too badly.”Steven Smith on Richardson: “He thinks about the game really well and he’s got good control of his skills.”•AFP/Getty Images

Richardson went away and came back a different bowler in the second innings, something which his stand-in captain Steven Smith noted having never played with him before.”I think the way Jhye adapted throughout this match was really pleasing,” Smith said. “First innings we made a concerted effort to try and get the ball a little bit fuller, and we went for quite a few runs in that first session but I wasn’t too disappointed with that. We were still a long way in front of the game and we tried to bowl a lot fuller than England perhaps did.”In the second innings, I think he wanted to work his way up in terms of length. He wanted to start back a little bit and sort of drive his way forward from there. So that was fine. He’s a thinker. He thinks about the game really well and he’s got good control of his skills.”Richardson explained that he just wanted to get himself into a rhythm the second time around.”I think for me on a personal level, I probably started a little too full and didn’t give myself a chance to get it in the right area,” he said. “I sort of started too full and then struggled to bring it back a little bit and get into a rhythm. Whereas I think second innings, I probably started a little bit back of a length, and allowed myself to sort of creep up a bit more and get into a bit more of a rhythm.”Richardson’s skill set is unique, and he showed his full repertoire among his five wickets. At just 178cm, he is naturally skiddy but he can also produce extra bounce from nowhere, like he did to blow Hameed’s glove off on the fourth evening and to remove James Anderson to close out the match late on day five.He even dismissed Rory Burns with a skillful piece of bowling from around the wicket, angling in and seaming away to catch the outside edge. His ability to move the ball both ways did for Chris Woakes after his partnership with Jos Buttler frustrated Australia. Richardson’s wider release point always challenges the right-hander’s inside edge, but his ability to shape it away also threatens the outside edge. Woakes played for the latter and had the top of his middle stump rattled as it nipped back sharply through the gate at 139kph.”It was quite funny, I was getting frustrated at myself looking at the speed gun each ball and seeing sort of 131-132kph – I wasn’t too happy with that,” Richardson said. “So I said to Starcy [Mitchell Starc] at mid-on [that] I’m just going to charge in here, [and] try and get some airspeed because I was getting annoyed at the speed gun. I just tried to bowl fast and bowl straight. Thankfully, the wicket did something.”Most importantly, he took the key wicket of Buttler in unusual and fortuitous fashion, after he trod on his stumps as he pushed off for a single, having defended from deep in the crease. Amazingly, it is the second time he has dismissed Buttler hit-wicket. The first came in a BBL match nearly three years ago in January 2019. Buttler, on 55 playing for Sydney Thunder then, tried to reverse sweep a Richardson slower ball and clipped the stumps with his bat in his follow-through.”Maybe it might be worth mentioning if I get another Test,” Richardson said.

The team’s success in levelling the two-Test series against England means Bangladesh may persist with surfaces that take spin quite early

Mohammad Isam03-Nov-2016Pitches that start turning quite early could become the norm in the Test matches Bangladesh play at home. The series against England was played on such surfaces, and Bangladesh competed admirably. They came within 23 runs of victory in Chittagong before taking all 10 wickets in single session to level the series in Dhaka.While it would certainly enhance their biggest strength – spin bowling – it may also pose a challenge to the batsmen. But Bangladesh’s top three have showed signs of being up for it.Tamim Iqbal avoided some shots, assessing their risk to be too much, on a turning pitch but still made a century at a strike-rate of 70.74 in the second Test. His opening partner Imrul Kayes was fully committed to being aggressive, his 78 off only 120 balls in the second innings helped set a target beyond England’s reach. Mominul Haque, at No. 3, was his usual composed self and contributed with his 10th half-century.With confidence that their batsman can handle it, Bangladesh are set to welcome touring sides – especially those with a reputation of struggling in the subcontinent – with tailor-made pitches for the spinners.”I think wickets at home will be made according to our opponents,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “If we are playing against teams from the subcontinent, then I don’t think playing on such wickets will help us, but it will be different when we play against teams like Australia, England and New Zealand.”Tamim added that standing up to tough conditions was quite pleasing. He was the only batsman from either side to score a hundred in the two Tests. “It feels really good to have made runs in these kinds of difficult tracks. The team took a decision, and we stuck by it. The planning meant that we had to work hard, so scoring around 230 runs is something good.”I think my 78 in Chittagong has its own value. The ball spun a lot with many things out of the batsman’s control. The 104 in the second Test is most valuable among my hundreds against England, considering the conditions and the fact that we won the game.”Mominul’s had an additional challenge. He isn’t a regular in ODIs and T20Is and was coming into the Tests having not batted in international cricket for over a year. He got a three-ball duck in his first innings of the series, the outside edge carrying off the wicketkeeper’s leg to gully, but adjusted better later on with help from batting consultant Thilan Samaraweera.”When I was playing and got four months [off], it was very hard [coming back],” Samaraweera said, “Especially in the first innings of the first Test. However you train and whatever you do, when you come to the game, you are under pressure. That’s a different pressure. Importantly, you have to stick to the routines to get your body right for the game.”In the first inning of the first Test, the way he [Mominul] got out, that’s hard. The first few balls, you don’t know. We talked a little bit, different things. They are willing to work, that’s the key thing. Whatever I say, if they don’t listen to, it won’t work. But these boys are absolute superstars. Straightaway they work [at it].”Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza also praised how the team read the pitches in Dhaka and Chittagong and attacked England.”The thing I liked the most was the batting approach, it was very positive. Since it was hard to stay in these wickets, the batsmen had to score rapidly. Batsmen like Alistair Cook and Joe Root didn’t do well, so it showed that settling in these wickets wasn’t easy.”Bangladesh’s batting was criticised because there were some bad shots and some untimely dismissals. While it is hard to deny such mistakes, what thrilled me was how they were able to read the wicket. They knew they had to play the shots, so guys like Tamim and Imrul batted very well. And at least one batsman stood up whenever necessary.”

Hamid Hassan, Waqar Salamkheil and Azmatullah Omarzai are also yet to join Afghanistan’s squad

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2021Five Afghanistan players including mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, fast bowler Hamid Hassan and allrounder Gulbadin Naib await the resolution of a “visa issue”, according to an ACB release, before they can join their team-mates for the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe in the UAE. The two other players on the wait list are left-arm wristspinner Waqar Salamkheil and the allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai.A 15-member squad, led by Asghar Afghan, is already in the UAE ahead of the series, which begins on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. A number of these players were involved in the two-match Test series, which ended on Sunday, with the teams winning one Test apiece.Afghanistan squad for T20I series: Asghar Afghan (capt), Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Afsar Zazai (wk), Usman Ghani, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Amir Hamza, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Farid Malik.
Players awaiting visas: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Gulbadin Naib, Waqar Salamkheil, Azmatullah Omarzai.

Rising Pune Supergiants have lost two games since their win in the tournament opener, and require a victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore to get their campaign back on track

The Preview by Nikhil Kalro21-Apr-2016

Match facts

Friday, April 22, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big picture

Rising Pune Supergiants’ inaugural IPL season got off to the perfect start with a thumping win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener. Supergiants have lost two games since, and require a victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore to revive their campaign.Royal Challengers, who also won their first game before losing two consecutively, have depended on a strong top order to mask their bowling fragility. Chris Gayle, who did not feature against Mumbai Indians, having flown to Jamaica to be with his partner for the birth of their first child, will miss this game too. Till Gayle returns, Royal Challengers could persist with KL Rahul opening and Travis Head at No. 5.Royal Challengers have failed to find a settled bowling combination. Barring Harshal Patel, no other specialist bowler has played all three games. West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree has been ruled out of the tournament after failing to recover from an injured shoulder, and has been replaced by the South African chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi.Supergiants haven’t found their best combination either. It isn’t often that MS Dhoni makes wholesale changes after two matches – Supergiants made three against Kings XI Punjab, including drafting in Thisara Perera and Irfan Pathan for Mitchell Marsh and Rajat Bhatia as like-for-like replacements. The batting has been held together by Faf du Plessis’ consistency (170 runs in three matches), but a misfiring middle order has been shown up. Supergiants have the personnel, but need to perform consistently to bid for a playoffs spot.

Form guide

Rising Pune Supergiants: LLW (most recent matches first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: LLW

In the spotlight

Ajinkya Rahane is a vital cog in Supergiants’ batting order. He started the season with an unbeaten 66 against Mumbai, but has scored only 30 runs over his next two games. A solid start could help an unsettled middle order come into its own.Shane Watson was the most expensive purchase at the IPL auction (INR 9.5 crores), and his all-round abilities have made a telling difference to the Royal Challengers line-up. He has bowled four overs in all games, taken four wickets, and scored 57 runs at a strike rate of 154.05. With his experience, he will be asked to bowl at crunch times and provide Royal Challengers with impetus towards the end with the bat.

Team news

Supergiants brought in Perera and Pathan against Kings XI, but neither enjoyed a productive game. Dhoni may be forced to make changes again.Rising Pune Supergiants (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Steven Smith, 5 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 6 Mitchell Marsh/Albie Morkel/Thisara Perera, 7 Rajat Bhatia/Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ankit Sharma, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 M AshwinRoyal Challengers made six changes for the match against Mumbai. Head and Rahul’s cameos mean they are likely to retain their place. Iqbal Abdullah picked up three wickets, but conceded 40 off his four overs. Will Yuzvendra Chahal return?Royal Challengers Bangalore (probable) 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Travis Head, 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal/Iqbal Abdullah, 11 Varun Aaron/S Aravind

Pitch and conditions

In the last T20 that Pune hosted, India were bowled out for 101 on a seaming deck against Sri Lanka. The pitch may not be as green as that night, but could retain its seam-friendly nature. There is no rain forecast.

Stats and trivia

• In 15 innings since the start of 2016, MS Dhoni has scored 190 runs at an average of 47.30, with a highest score of 30. He has only been dismissed four times.
• In the same period, Virat Kohli has scored 812 runs in 15 innings with an average of 101.50.

Pakistan need to regroup even as rain forecast swirls around second ODI

Matt Roller09-Jul-2021

Big Picture

It’s a week short of two years since England played an ODI at Lord’s, and barring a 500-plays-500 tie, it’s hard to see how Saturday will match their last outing there. The euphoria on London’s streets in the past two weeks as England’s footballers edge closer and closer to European Championship glory has rarely been matched in terms of scale, but the scene in Trafalgar Square on July 14, 2019 was as close as another sport has come to replicating it in recent memory – limbs flying and beer thrown when Jos Buttler ran Martin Guptill out three miles away as England won their first 50-over World Cup.Needless to say, Saturday’s cast will be much-changed from the group that lifted the trophy, with only two of the 15 World Cup winners involved in both squads. In the aftermath of that final, the idea of Ben Stokes captaining England in an ODI in 2021 would have involved Eoin Morgan retiring prematurely and an injury to Buttler as a bare minimum, but these are unprecedented circumstances. Stokes’ involvement in Thursday’s thrashing at Cardiff was minimal, bowling a single over and being unused as a batter, but he can expect a greater role on Saturday.The other survivor is James Vince, whose international career looked as good as over until sporadic namechecks from Morgan while he was scoring freely in the BBL over the winter and this week’s last-minute recall. Vince was on the field as a sub fielder for Mark Wood during the Super Over two years ago, but one intervention he made in the final is little-known. With two required off the last ball, Vince came out as 12th man with a towel and a drink. “‘I think we win if we get a single,’ Vincey told me,” Stokes recalled in his book – mercifully, he checked the details with Marais Erasmus, rather than clipping a single into the leg side and celebrating with open arms on reaching the non-striker’s end only to find out there was still work to do.Much as Lord’s holds fond memories for Stokes and Vince, England have not been hugely successful there over the last six years. Since the start of the 2015-19 World Cup cycle, Lord’s is the only home ground where they have lost as many games as they have won, including a heavy defeat to Australia in the tournament itself. In his book , England’s white-ball analyst Nathan Leamon puts this down to two things: there has been more lateral movement for seamers at Lord’s than any other ground in ODIs, and overall scoring rates have been the slowest of any venues. Neither of those suits their batting-heavy strategy.Pakistan, by contrast, have won four of their last five ODIs at Lord’s, including victories against South Africa and Bangladesh in the 2019 World Cup. They will have a returning home crowd to content with – an English cricket ground will be at 100% capacity for the first time since 2019 – but a significant proportion will be made up of the Pakistani diaspora from around the UK.There is plenty to be said for Shahid Afridi’s advice to Pakistan this week – “We should forget this match as soon as possible!” he tweeted – given their recent record in 50-over cricket. They had lost one (two including a Super Over against Zimbabwe) of their last dozen ODIs heading into this series, and while a heavy defeat against a second-string side was humbling, it seems unlikely that Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam will fail to score a run between them for the second game in a row. England have won four consecutive tosses in their home ODIs this summer – if their luck finally runs out, Pakistan will be keen to bowl first under dark skies.

Form Guide

England WWWLW
Pakistan LWLWT

In the spotlight

Cardiff’s short straight boundaries are unforgiving for spinners, not least when bowling from the River Taff End when the risk of being chipped into the drink is all too real. As a result, Matt Parkinson‘s returns – 2 for 28 from seven overs – in the first ODI were pleasing for England. That said, while conditions were not conducive to legspin, the game situation meant he was not put under pressure by any recognised batters, and Saturday will probably be a bigger test. Discussion around Parkinson revolves around his pace (or lack thereof) and his struggles to left-handers, given his googly is still a work in progress; a strong series against a good batting line-up would help him answer both questions.Babar Azam‘s superlative record in England – 1006 ODI runs at 47.90 in 24 innings – was dented by his second-ball duck on Thursday, playing away from his body as he searched for bat on ball against the fiery Saqib Mahmood, but it is rare for him to fail twice in a row. His three ODI innings at Lord’s to date have brought scores of 30, 69 and 96, and he will be keen to consolidate his position as the ICC’s No. 1-ranked batter in the format, too.

Pitch and conditions

Saturday’s forecast for NW8 is not ideal, with dark clouds and persistent rain due throughout the morning, but the suggestion is that it should clear up in time for long enough to avoid a no-result. Lord’s has been relatively high-scoring in this year’s T20 Blast, with the three teams batting first posting 223, 183 and 166, but with the current batch of white balls swinging for prolonged periods at the start of an innings, conditions are likely to suit seamers early on.

Team news

It would be harsh for England to discard any of the side that routed Pakistan so comprehensively in Cardiff, though with three matches scheduled in six days, they may opt to give one of the seamers a rest, with Tom Helm, Jake Ball and David Payne the candidates to come in. With the bat, they will surely want to give Ben Duckett an opportunity at some stage in the series, but John Simpson can expect to keep the gloves on his home ground.England: (possible) 1 Phil Salt, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 James Vince, 5 Ben Stokes (capt), 6 John Simpson (wk), 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Craig Overton/Jake Ball, 9 Brydon Carse/Tom Helm, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Matt ParkinsonPakistan were blown away so quickly that it was difficult to evaluate any individual performers on Thursday, and they are likely to stick with the same core and balance. Debutant Saud Shakeel was one of Mahmood’s four victims and it would be harsh to dispense with him after a single game, while the recalled Sohaib Maqsood showed a glimpse of his power-hitting when flogging Carse over cover for six. Haris Rauf bowled with good pace but was relatively expensive, and Mohammad Hasnain is waiting in the wings for an opportunity.Pakistan: (possible) 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Sohaib Maqsood, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf/Mohammad Hasnain.

Stats and trivia

• Ben Stokes will become the 25th England player to reach 100 caps in men’s ODIs, drawing level with Nick Knight. Eoin Morgan, the man he is standing in for, has the most, with 223 (and a further 23 for Ireland).
• Fakhar Zaman is the third-highest run-scorer in men’s ODIs this calendar year, with 349 runs in four innings. Mushfiqur Rahim (407 in nine) and Paul Stirling (546 in eight) are the two men ahead of him.
• Dawid Malan has made two fifties in his first four ODIs. If he can continue his run-scoring form, he is in with a chance of becoming the second England player to score an international hundred in all three formats, after Heather Knight.
• A comfortable win would see Pakistan leapfrog Australia and Bangladesh (on net run-rate) to go second in the World Cup Super League table.
• Zak Crawley has scored 378 runs in three innings against Pakistan in all formats, compared to 384 runs in 22 innings against all other international opponents.
  

  Quotes

  “Within sport we’re slightly in a different place to the public and having to be pretty careful with regards to Covid and not picking it up. It is slightly strange being stuffed in your hotel rooms when a lot of people are roaming around free but equally, it allows us to play in front of full houses and have this opportunity.”
  
  “It wasn’t a shocker but one bad day. Every day isn’t the same so I have a full confidence and belief on my boys and I will still tell them not to worry. There are ups and downs but you have to learn quickly from your mistakes. We will try our best to bounce back and not repeat our mistakes.”

“The word from anyone overseas that I chat to is they don’t want to come here for that long and be stuck”

AAP24-Jan-2022Peter Siddle has urged BBL administrators to trim the length of the season but believes they were right to block Steven Smith’s request to play.Siddle’s Adelaide Strikers will face Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Wednesday night, when the winner advances to Friday night’s final against Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium. This season will end within school holidays. But concerns about its length, routinely raised since a broadcast deal in 2018 resulted in the competition expanding to a full home-and-away season, remain.Related

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Strikers spinner Rashid Khan and Sixers opener James Vince are among the international recruits to have already departed Australia.Siddle believes this summer, in which fixtures have been repeatedly rejigged because of Covid-19 cases, shows it is possible to squeeze the tournament into a tighter window.”It’s not a hidden fact that it is a bit long,” Siddle said after being named captain of the BBL’s team of the tournament. “Making it shorter is the key focus. The word from anyone overseas that I chat to is their biggest worry is they don’t want to come here for that long and be stuck.”If you’re a shorter tournament, you’re probably not losing guys like Rashid Khan, James Vince, Sandeep [Lamichhane]. This year we’ve had to rearrange games…now we realise that maybe to make this season shorter, we might have to play back-to-back games and do different things.”The decision from CA to deny the Sixers’ attempt to sign Smith for the finals has been widely criticised. Siddle disagreed, arguing it was a simple case of “rules are rules”.”They need to be followed sometimes and obviously they just fell a little bit late for the Sixers,” he said. “It’s probably no different to us having Heady [Travis Head] and Kez [Alex Carey] on contract for the whole season. That’s the risk you take.”Sixers opted against signing Smith because they believed he would be part of Australia’s ODI series against New Zealand, which was ultimately postponed.Meanwhile, Siddle also defended Fawad Ahmed after he claimed a contentious catch in Sunday night’s win over Sydney Thunder.Thunder captain Usman Khawaja said he accepted the umpire’s decision but “it looked like a blade of grass 100 percent touched the ball”.”I was at cover, so I had a good view,” Siddle said. “It looked clean live. Back in the day it would have been – you just take the fielder’s word for it and it’s out.”I enjoyed the good old days where you take a word for it, get over it and move on. Line ball, that’s the game.”