The lowdown on dropped catches in the first half of IPL 2020

S Rajesh14-Oct-2020Royal Challengers Bangalore are among three teams sitting at the top of the table with 10 points, but they have reached there despite being the worst catching team of the tournament so far. At the halfway point, they have caught only 69.2% of the chances that have come their way, which is easily the poorest among all teams. Seven different players have dropped 12 catches, which is almost 23% of all catches dropped in IPL 2020 so far, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data. Only one other team has dropped more than nine catches – Delhi Capitals, and they are in the top three as well, indicating that these teams are winning despite giving extra opportunities to the opposition.ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to Luck Index, these 12 dropped catches have cost the Royal Challengers 130 runs. This value is calculated by through a complex algorithm, which takes the following factors into account:
– Runs scored by the batsman after the drop, and the team’s final total
– Runs which would have been scored by the other players, had that batsman been dismissed off that ball. The extra balls that the batsman faced is distributed among the batsmen who were unbeaten or didn’t bat in the innings. The runs they would have scored is calculated by taking into account their batting quality, the balls remaining in the innings, the bowling quality, and the match conditions
– The difference between the actual team score and the score obtained through this simulated exercise is the impact of the dropped catch, in terms of runs.Let us, for example, take KL Rahul’s unbeaten 132 against the Royal Challengers. He was dropped twice during that innings, and scored 48 off 13 after the first drop, and 42 off nine after the second. Luck Index calculated that the first drop cost them 24 runs, and the second 26, which means Kings XI would have scored 26 fewer runs had the second catch been taken.ESPNcricinfo LtdFor the purpose of this exercise, both those values of 26 and 24 runs have been taken into account, and are a part of the overall tally of 132, though there was a large overlap between the two. This is to ensure that each dropped catch has a run impact associated with it.Most dropped catches at the halfway stage of the league phase•ESPNcricinfo LtdHowever, that wasn’t the most expensive drop of the tournament. That honour belongs to Prithvi Shaw’s drop of Mayank Agarwal in the second game of the tournament, which went into a Super Over. Agarwal was on 35 off 37 when he was dropped in the 16th over, and eventually scored 89 off 60. Given the quality of the batsmen who were unbeaten or didn’t bat – Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell and Ravi Bishnoi – the algorithm reckoned that the drop cost the Delhi Capitals 46 runs. Of the top six most expensive drops, though, four belong to the Royal Challengers.ESPNcricinfo LtdShaw’s reprieve of Agarwal is one of three catches he has dropped in the tournament so far. Three other fielders have dropped three catches – Devdutt Padikkal, Tom Curran and Manish Pandey. Tom Curran is also among the bowlers who has suffered the most, with three drops off his bowling, though the bowler topping the list is current Purple Cap holder Kagiso Rabada, who has 17 wickets despite having five catches dropped off his bowling.The batting team which has benefited the most are the Kings XI Punjab, though it’s another matter that they haven’t made much use of their good fortune. They are the only team whose total benefit from the drops is more than 100 runs, thanks largely to the numbers adding up from the chances offered to Agarwal (against the Capitals) and Rahul (against the Royal Challengers). Among the batsmen, Aaron Finch and Jonny Bairstow have got four reprieves each, while Faf du Plessis, Ishan Kishan and Rahul have been dropped thrice.ESPNcricinfo LtdFinally, much has been written and spoken about how difficult it has been to take catches in Dubai, and the numbers justify that talk. One in four chances has been spilled here, while the catch percentage is 81.5% in Sharjah, and nearly 89% in Abu Dhabi.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

They need control and consistency while bowling long spells

Aakash Chopra01-Feb-2021Pitches in the subcontinent are believed to be tailor-made for spinners, which is why it’s natural for overseas spinners to get excited whenever they travel to this part of the world to play. It presents them a rare opportunity to play the lead role in their bowling attack – as against mostly being defensive or restrictive while playing at home.While this observation might broadly be correct, it rarely plays out so well for overseas spinners while playing India in India. Given the spin-friendly pitches (read, very little assistance for the faster bowlers in terms of bounce and lateral movement off the surface) the workload of visiting spinners increases manifold, but most, including some of the more competent ones, realise that their hard work isn’t always rewarded as much as they might expect. Indian pitches encourage spinners to try and bowl magic wicket-taking balls every time they roll their arm over but most spinners end up being either too expensive or ineffective.The key reasons for this are how slow the surfaces are, and how well Indian batsmen are able to counter spin. The lack of pace off the surface allows the batsmen to play the length, and since the typical Indian batsman grows up on a healthy diet of spin, they are able to strike the right balance between attack and defence.Related

• What will it be like to take on Kohli and Co on their own patch?

• Jack Leach wants to 'cherish' every moment on first tour of India

• BCCI gives informal nod for spectators at second Chennai Test

• England's XI for Chennai Test: Can James Anderson and Stuart Broad both slot in?

• India's XI for Chennai Test: Four bowlers or five? Who will replace Ravindra Jadeja?

So how should Dom Bess and Jack Leach bowl against the Indians? In my opinion, that’s where the series will be decided – how the English spinners bowl to the Indian batsmen. If they complement their fast-bowling attack, England will compete, but if they fall apart, like many other spinners in the past, India will bulldoze their way to another Test series victory at home.While Bess and Leach found success in the recently concluded series in Sri Lanka, it’s probably safe to say they will be countering a more organised and competent attack from the Indian batsmen.Let’s start with Bess, a right-arm offspinner who bowls a little flat in the air and prefers to bowl the line outside off. His game plan is to go roundarm every now and then to bowl the arm ball that slides, instead of turning, after pitching. Inducing the outside edge is his key wicket-taking tactic and that seems to work fine in England, where the pitches aren’t spin-friendly, by and large. The fact that he rarely bows long spells, and that batsmen tend to go on the offensive the moment they see a spinner in those conditions, make the away-going delivery potent there.But that’s not a tactic that works as well in India because of the slow pitches. The arm ball doesn’t skid as much after pitching, and Indian batsmen typically use those deliveries to open up the off-side field for scoring. The one thing that you simply must not do as a spinner in India is allow the batsman to score on both sides of the pitch. When that starts to happen, it’s almost impossible to seize control back, which in turn will mean Joe Root will need to ask the fast bowlers to bowl a lot more than they should in these conditions.The pace at which Bess bowls is ideal for Indian surfaces, but he doesn’t have the kind of control that, say, Graeme Swann used to have, and that’s why it might be better for him to be more pragmatic about the role he is likely to play and reconsider his line of attack. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to bowl everything within the stumps and have an in-out field throughout. Going by how he bowled in Sri Lanka, there will be a few loose balls on offer, and if all those deliveries are dispatched for boundaries, the Indian batsmen will run away with the game quickly.On the other hand, Leach’s stock ball pitches and finishes within the stumps. He tends to go to the edge of the crease often to create the angle that makes batsmen play against the spin, but trust the Indian batsmen to not be fooled by that tactic too much. The key to his effectiveness will be consistency of length, for anything too full or marginally short will be taken for runs. Indian batsmen are quick to convert a slightly short-of-length delivery into a ball that can be cut or pulled – that will be Leach’s biggest challenge to counter.While the Indian batsmen will be quick to use their feet to come down the track and also to go deep in the crease, most, barring the likes of Rohit Sharma, are unlikely to sweep a left-arm spinner. So that’s the length Leach must bowl steadily for long durations to stay in the contest. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to bowl over the stumps and into the rough with a packed leg-side field later in the games.The English spinners have their job cut out, for it’s not easy to make changes to basic skill sets and tactics for an extended period, especially when you don’t see tangible returns in the form of wickets – and it’s more or less certain that Indian wickets aren’t going to fall in heaps to the spin of Bess and Leach.

With the IPL auctions and T20 World Cup coming up, there’s much at stake

Shashank Kishore09-Jan-2021Suryakumar Yadav
Why he has not played for India in T20Is is a common refrain from pundits. Yadav has opened the innings, batted at No. 3 and even played the role of a finisher in T20 cricket. One moment, he is finding ways to keep the runs ticking; he is playing inventive strokes at another – remember his reverse ramp for six off Jofra Archer in Abu Dhabi? Yadav’s 410 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2020 at a strike rate of 150 was his third straight 400-plus season for the Mumbai Indians. It’s this mix of the inventive with his industrious batting that India’s new selection panel may be excited by, especially if Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey – both nursing injuries at the moment – are ruled out of the T20Is against England in March. Yadav, 30, will hope a good Mushtaq Ali Trophy keeps his dream of playing for the country alive despite age not being on his side.Related

SMAT 2020-21: Teams in six groups, Ahmedabad to host knockouts

SMAT 2020-21: time to audition, fine-tune for IPL and T20 WC

Suresh Raina
Raina’s controversial departure from the UAE on the eve of IPL 2020 has remained a mystery, although he cited personal reasons for returning home. In his absence, the Chennai Super Kings never managed to fill the role Raina has performed with the bat in the middle order. But will the franchise retain him? Raina’s previous competitive game of any kind was over 18 months ago during the IPL final in 2019. But he now has a second chance as he represents Uttar Pradesh in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy. With IPL sides having until January 21 to submit their list of retentions, a good league phase – which finishes on January 19 – could give the Super Kings and Raina some encouragement.Can Rahul Tewatia force his way as a left-field all-round pick in India’s wider pool of probables for the T20 World Cup?•BCCIK Gowtham
An off-spinning allrounder, Gowtham defended 13 to help Karnataka clinch a last-ball thriller against Tamil Nadu in last year’s Mushtaq Ali final. His USP: Gowtham can bowl in the middle overs as well as with the new ball, and as batsman, a strike rate of 162 validates his billing as a lower-order power-hitter. Ask Jasprit Bumrah, who Gowtham clinically took apart to make 33 not out off 11 balls to win an improbable match in IPL 2018. But unfortunately for Gowtham, such performances have been far and few. In the previous IPL, he played just two matches for the Kings XI Punjab while also being expensive, leaking runs at above ten an over. With Karnataka missing Mayank Agarwal due to India duty, and with KL Rahul and Pandey injured, Gowtham’s experience will be key to a young side looking to defend their crown.Rahul Tewatia
Seldom has an uncapped Indian cricketer – one who hasn’t even been part of either India A or the Under-19 side before – received the kind of attention and adulation as Rahul Tewatia has. His IPL heroics for the Rajashtan Royals in Sharjah last IPL catapulted him into instant stardom, with his popularity – both on social media and among cricket experts – soaring to unprecedented heights. Tewatia is a powerful ball-striker, as those five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell showed. He is also an electric fielder and can fill in with a good few overs of legspin. Tewatia was the Royals’ second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2020, while his economy rate of 7.25 was second to only Archer. Another good Mushtaq Ali Trophy – after respectable success in the 2019-20 edition – and consistency in the IPL could mean the possibilities are endless. Can Tewatia force his way as a left-field all-round pick in India’s wider pool of probables for the T20 World Cup?Dinesh Karthik
Since 2018, he hasn’t quite risen to the heights of that spectacular Nidhas Trophy final night, but Dinesh Karthik remains among the best finishers in India’s domestic circuit. Form wasn’t on his side during IPL 2020, which may have contributed to him handing over the Kolkata Knight Riders captaincy to Eoin Morgan midway through the season. Karthik’s struggles in the UAE could have been down to not having a fixed role in the batting order. However, bio-bubble restrictions and the need to pick jumbo squads in a pandemic world means he will continue to attract the selectors, especially with India still looking for designated finishers beyond Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Last season, 301 runs in 12 innings couldn’t quite deliver the title for Tamil Nadu. But Karthik will have the luxury of a fixed spot as captain for them. Can that translate into runs and glory for Tamil Nadu while also boosting his India prospects?Ishan Kishan was the fifth-highest run-getter in a victorious campaign for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020•BCCIIshan Kishan
He hit the most sixes (29) in IPL 2020, three more than Sanju Samson, his nearest competitor. However, unlike Samson, whose form tailed off after an impressive start, Ishan Kishan married game smarts to an already explosive game to finish with 516 runs – the fifth-highest in the tournament – in a victorious IPL 2020 season for Mumbai. Moreover, those runs were struck at 145.76. And though Kishan doesn’t keep wickets in the IPL, he does that job for his state team Jharkhand, whom he will also be leading at this year’s edition. With Samson not having capitalised on opportunities and Rishabh Pant also currently out of the frame of India’s limited-overs set-up, the national selectors may want to widen their wicketkeeping net as they build towards the T20 World Cup. Kishan is at best a batsman-keeper, but has improved considerably, having spent time with Kiran More and MS Dhoni. As much as his explosive batting, his glove work will be keenly watched too.Kedar Jadhav
When Jadhav had made his India debut in 2014, he was renowned for scoring quickly but his strike rates have dropped alarmingly since. During IPL 2020, he was ridiculed on social media, and even called ‘scooter’ by former India captain and national selector Krishnamachari Srikanth for being unable to turn strike. Five outings for the Super Kings yielded a mere 62 runs, and thus Jadhav was dropped midway. His stocks have plummeted since India’s 2019 World Cup exit. At 35, Jadhav isn’t an ODI regular anymore but now has a chance at the Mushtaq Ali Trophy to prove he still has a last lap or two both for India and at the IPL. Like many others, Jadhav will need performances of note to put himself up in the frame to be picked up at the mini-auction should the Super Kings release him to free up INR 7.8 crores from their auction purse.S Sreesanth
Bolt upright seam, late swing, bristling pace, snarls, stares – qualities we know of Sreesanth from 2013. Now pushing 37, he is coming back into the fold after seven years, following the Supreme Court downsizing the severity of his life ban. Sreesanth has been slowly been reintegrated into the Kerala set-up since June last year, when he first started training with members of the state Under-23 team in Kochi. He was assured of being given a fair run by bowling coach Tinu Yohannan should he comply with the fitness parameters. With Sandeep Warrier moving to Tamil Nadu, Sreesanth’s return could lend experience and immense skill to a young Kerala pace attack. Can he play the role of a senior statesman?

Also: is Darren Stevens the oldest bowler to take a five-for in the County Championship?

Steven Lynch04-May-2021Fawad Alam has now extended all four of his Test half-centuries into hundreds – is this a record? asked Zaheer Ahmed from the UAE

Fawad Alam’s 140 against Zimbabwe in Harare a few days ago made him the sixth man to convert his first four Test scores of 50-plus into hundreds. The first was the great George Headley, all in West Indies’ 1929-30 home series against England, and he was followed by another West Indian, Everton Weekes, Australia’s Neil Harvey, and the 1960s England pair of Norfolk-born left-handers, Peter Parfitt and John Edrich. Weekes went one better by making it five hundreds in a row, before a questionable run-out for 90 in Madras (now Chennai) spoilt the sequence, but Headley converted all his first six 50-plus scores in Tests to centuries.In a recent IPL game, three of Punjab Kings’ overseas players were West Indians. Has any franchise ever included four overseas players from the same country? asked Stuart from South Africa

I think the game you’re talking about was the Punjab Kings’ victory over the Mumbai Indians in Chennai on April 23, when their four permitted overseas players were Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran and Fabien Allen from the West Indies, and Australia’s Moises Henriques.But there have been 26 IPL matches so far in which a side used four overseas players from the same country, usually Australia. The first two were in 2010, when the Deccan Chargers fielded Adam Gilchrist, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Marsh and Andrew Symonds; the following year, playing for the Kings XI Punjab, Gilchrist and Harris were joined in eight matches by David Hussey and Shaun Marsh. Also in 2010, the Rajasthan Royals had chosen Aaron Finch, Adam Voges, Shane Warne and Shane Watson against the Kolkata Knight Riders; in 2011, Finch, James Hopes, Matthew Wade and David Warner all turned out for the Delhi Daredevils against the Pune Warriors.In 2012 Gilchrist, Hussey, James Faulkner and Shaun Marsh appeared for the Kings XI against the Rajasthan Royals, while in 2013 Faulkner, Brad Hodge, Shaun Tait and Shane Watson played together twice for the Royals, who the following year selected Faulkner, Watson, Kane Richardson and Steve Smith in five matches, with Hodge replacing Smith in another.The instances since have involved four South Africans: in 2016, the Delhi Daredevils had Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris in three matches, while the Kings XI Punjab selected Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien and David Miller in two.Darren Stevens completed a five-wicket haul on his 45th birthday last week. Is he the oldest to take a five-for in the Championship? asked Mike Berriman from England

Kent’s seemingly ageless allrounder Darren Stevens, fresh from being named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, took 5 for 53 against Glamorgan in Cardiff last Friday, which was his 45th birthday.He’s actually some way short of being the oldest bowler to take five in an innings in the Championship: Warwickshire’s Willie Quaife claimed three in 1926, when he was 54 years old. The oldest to take a five-for in any first-class match was William Lillywhite, who was 58 when he took six for Over-36 against Under-36 at Lord’s in 1850.I think the last 50-year-old to take five wickets in a Championship innings was Tom Goddard, the Gloucestershire offspinner, who did it three times in 1952 at the age of 51. However, Stevens might just have been the first to take a five-for on his birthday – that one’s a bit beyond the capabilities of our database!Darren Stevens’ birthday five-for came in a loss for Kent as Glamorgan won by ten wickets•Getty ImagesWe know about the 1000 runs before end of May record, but who has taken the most wickets before the end of May? asked Lee Davis from England

This record belongs to the Kent and England legspinner Alfred “Tich” Freeman, who took 65 wickets in May 1931, on his way to 276 wickets in the season (he didn’t play in April that year, as Kent’s first match started on May 2). Freeman was in the middle of an astonishing run that brought him 2451 wickets over ten seasons from 1926, including a record 304 in 1928. Freeman collected 86 wickets in August 1933, the record for a calendar month, but in 1930 he actually took 104 between May 21 and June 19. He played nine matches in that time, and took ten or more wickets in eight of them.I understand that a county once played two first-class matches at the same time. When was this? asked Gerry Schlittner from England

This remarkable double has actually happened twice. In 1919, Warwickshire took on Derbyshire in a County Championship match in Derby and also played Worcestershire, who did not take part in the Championship in that first post-war season, in a friendly at Edgbaston, with both matches starting on August 4 (all that season’s games were scheduled for two days).Ten years earlier, in 1909, Surrey had gone one better by staging two home first-class matches simultaneously, both starting on June 21. It was not a great success for them: Lancashire won their Championship match by an innings The Oval with more than a day to spare, while not too far away in Reigate, Oxford University needed the full three days but also won by an innings.There are more details of these matches in an interesting booklet called Double Headers, written by Keith Walmsley and published by the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians in 2013. For details of their other publications, and how to join the association, click here for the ACS website.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

All the statistical highlights from RCB’s ten-wicket win

Sampath Bandarupalli22-Apr-2021178 – Target successfully chased by the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Rajasthan Royals on Thursday; the third-highest target chased down in the IPL without losing a wicket. The Kolkata Knight Riders had chased 184 against the Gujarat Lions in 2017 without any loss, and the Chennai Super Kings also won by ten wickets in 2020, chasing a target of 179 against Kings XI Punjab in 2020.4 – Ten-wicket wins for the Royal Challengers in the IPL while no other team has more than two such wins. Their previous three ten-wicket wins came against the Royals (in 2010), the Delhi Daredevils (in 2015) and Kings XI (in 2018), all while chasing targets under 100.ESPNcricinfo Ltd4 – Players who have scored a century in the IPL before their international debuts, including Padikkal against the Royals. Shaun Marsh (115 vs Royals in 2008), Manish Pandey (114* vs Deccan Chargers in 2009) and Paul Valthaty (120* vs Super Kings in 2011) are the other three uncapped players with an IPL century.2 – Players younger than Padikkal (20 years and 289 days) to score a century in the IPL. Pandey was 19 years and 253 days old when he scored 114* in 2009, while Rishabh Pant scored 128* against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 at the age of 20 years and 218 days.Padikkal is also the youngest to score a hundred in an IPL chase, with the previous youngest being Quinton de Kock (23y 112d), when he scored 108 against the Royal Challengers in 2016.ESPNcricinfo Ltd6021 – Runs scored by Kohli in the IPL, the first player to reach 6000 runs in the league’s history. Kohli was the first player to complete 4000 IPL runs as well, and the second to 5000 IPL runs only after Suresh Raina.181* – The opening stand between Kohli and Padikkal, the highest opening partnership in the IPL for the Royal Challengers. The previous highest was 167 between Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan against the Pune Warriors in 2013.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0 – Partnerships higher than Kohli-Padikkal’s 181* for the Royal Challengers while chasing in IPL. Their previous highest partnership in a chase was 144, between Gurkeerat Singh and Shimron Hetmyer for the fourth wicket against the Sunrisers in 2019. The unbeaten 181-run stand is also the second-highest by an Indian pair in IPL, behind the opening stand of 183 between Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul in 2020, also against the Royals.

No such thing as a dead rubber anymore as race for 2023 qualification dictates final match

Matt Roller04-Jul-2021″It’s Coming Home / It’s Coming Home / It’s Coming / The Royal London One-Day International Series is Coming Home.” So the fans didn’t sing as they milled out of The Kia Oval on Thursday night after England took a 2-0 lead to wrap up the pelican-shaped silverware, nor in the Bristol showers on Sunday afternoon as the third ODI meandered towards a no-result.Sri Lanka’s limited-overs tour has struggled to capture the attention of the wider public – perhaps no surprise with Euro 2020 and Wimbledon among the events running simultaneously – and this soggy climax felt like a mercy killing. The lack of a spectacle has been a disappointment to the many fans returning for their first live international cricket for two years, but it has demonstrated how the World Cup Super League and the context it provides has changed the nature of bilateral ODI series for good.England were so ruthless and clinical – both virtues for Gareth Southgate’s side, but indirect criticisms of Eoin Morgan’s – that large swathes of this series were pretty dull. They won the toss and opted to bowl in all three games, and Sri Lanka’s powerplay scores – 47 for 3, 47 for 4 and 45 for 4 – demonstrate that each match was over as a contest within 10 overs as their top order crumbled against the swinging new ball, with Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and David Willey all wreaking havoc. Boring, boring England, thrashing Sri Lanka without breaking sweat – how things have changed.David Willey and Moeen Ali have spent enough time on the sidelines already, without being rotated to give others a chance•AFP/Getty ImagesThere were legitimate grievances with England’s stone-cold, intransigent approach to the third ODI: the opportunities to have a look at George Garton or give a further opportunity to Liam Livingstone, or to test themselves by choosing to set a total ahead of a bigger test against Pakistan rather than chasing for the third time in a row, were missed. Pulling Tom Banton out of the Vitality Blast to run drinks just as he had found form looks like a strange decision, too, even if the need to have Covid or concussion replacements on hand and in the bubble necessitates larger squads than usual.But the uncompromising decision-making was rooted in sound logic, and a reminder that while cricket’s regular existential crises lead to concerns about the product and package offered up, England’s primary concern is simple: winning as many games as possible, with automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup the tangible reward. In the era of the Super League, the result of a bilateral series carries even less weight than it used to, and the fact a game like this is still mis-sold as a dead rubber does not change the number of points on offer in the qualification stakes.England have already let 10 points slip by taking their eye off the ball in the final game of one series, against Ireland last summer, and were in no mood to do it again before the weather intervened. They came into this series with four wins and five defeats from their nine Super League games to date and while there is no real jeopardy around their qualification for 2023 – the top seven teams plus India as hosts go through automatically, and they are top of the nascent league table – there is enough to keep them honest.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have to scrap for every point. The five they gained here meant they leapfrogged South Africa and Zimbabwe into the lofty heights of 11th place, having played three times as many games, and the draw has been particularly unkind to them: they play neither Ireland nor Netherlands in this cycle, the two teams that look most beatable.The result was that Morgan opted to bowl with an eye on the weather, made only one change after hinting there would be several, and went for the kill by posting attacking fields throughout – there were three slips in during the 26th over, and four in the 33rd. It was not much of a spectacle, but the blame for that should fall on Sri Lanka’s dire efforts with the bat throughout this tour, rather than on England. Nathan Leamon, their white-ball analyst, writes in his new book Hitting Against The Spin that a winning record in the years leading up to a World Cup is a key predictor for success in the tournament itself: picking a full-strength team and developing a winning habit is not to be sniffed at as an idea.Related

Sam Curran's five-for sets England up before Joe Root, Eoin Morgan seal clinical run chase

Sam Curran stands tall for home crowd in England's merciless display against Sri Lanka

Sam Curran a 'real competitor' who thrives under pressure, says Graham Thorpe

Tom Curran claims four-for but rain saves Sri Lanka after latest collapse

And much as it is easy to clamour for the bench-strength to be tested, it is much harder to tell someone they’re sitting one out. The team England put out on Sunday was filled with players keen to find some form before Pakistan’s arrival, many of whom have been short on cricket since the IPL’s early finish or through their own injuries: good luck telling Jonny Bairstow or Sam Curran – both rested during the India Test series to keep them fresh for the home straight ahead of the T20 World Cup – that they are wearing high-vis so the back-ups can have a go.Just as the World Test Championship has changed Test cricket – for evidence, see England and New Zealand’s half-strength teams last month in a series that wasn’t part of it – the Super League has already had an impact on ODIs. Of course, that might not be a positive in this series, where the gulf between the sides is so big that England experimenting would have made for a better spectacle.But as with the WTC, the final rounds – when the risk of having to play in a World Cup Qualifier will seem significantly more real to sides that have been in cruise control – will prove that this structure and context makes the Super League worthwhile, making qualification for global tournaments a meritocracy in the way that an opaque rankings system cannot. In England’s case, as with their footballers, a few dull wins in qualifying will be long forgotten if they succeed in the tournament itself.

Joe Root’s purple patch, top-order support and the continued rise of Ollie Robinson

George Dobell29-Aug-20213:32

Bell: The character England showed was most pleasing

After England levelled the series with an innings victory at Headingley, we take a look at some of the things that have started to go right for the hosts.Root’s remarkable run
It’s been a long time since an England batter played with the consistency and freedom that Joe Root is showing currently. In recording his sixth Test century of the year – a century that looked inevitable by the time he had 30 – he not only drew level with the England record (held by Michael Vaughan and Denis Compton) but kept himself in with a chance of overhauling Mohammad Yousuf’s record of 1788 Test runs in a calendar year. Root currently has 1398 which leaves him 390 behind with a maximum of 10 more innings available to him. The result also gave him the record for the most victories as an England Test captain (27) and ended a winless stretch of eight Tests. They had also gone six Tests in succession in England without victory before this; their worst streak since 1989-90.The last few months have been tough for Root. He’s had to contend with the loss of two of his best players, in Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, and see his plans for the Ashes unravel. He knows his team are jaded by bubble life and yet he, as a young father and key player, has somehow found a way to unlock the best form of his career. England still face a struggle to win this series, but few could doubt that Root is the natural leaders of the side. “As long as I am enjoying it and I feel like I am the right person to take this team forward, that will be my focus,” Root said afterwards. “As long as we feel like we are moving in the right direction and that I am the right man for it in my own mind, I am more than happy to keep doing what we are. I’m living my boyhood dream in captaining England.”Openers click
In recording England’s highest opening partnership since the India tour of 2016, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed went a long way towards “setting the game up”, in Root’s words. It’s no coincidence that England’s top four subsequently all passed 50 in the same innings for the first time since the Dunedin Test of 2013; in seeing off the new ball and putting overs into the legs of the bowlers, Burns and Hameed performed a valuable role in their first go at starting the innings together.It was only one innings, of course. But while the number of ducks in Burns’ career – he went into this match having been dismissed for six in his 14 most recent Test innings – is still a concern and Hameed did get a little bogged down on the second day, going 28 balls without scoring before his dismissal, this was an encouragingly solid partnership that provided hope of better times ahead. You would think Zak Crawley’s game was pretty well-suited to Australian pitches – he produced perhaps his second-best Test innings at Johannesburg – but, if the Ashes goes ahead, Burns and Hameed have a fair chance of being England’s opening pair in Brisbane. The way back to the Test team looks long and arduous for Dom Sibley.Malan’s assured return
It could easily be overlooked in light of more eye-catching performances elsewhere, but this was an impressively assured return from Dawid Malan. Despite having batted only once in first-class cricket this year, he demonstrated excellent judgement over which balls to leave around off stump and looked solid in defence. He has some attractive attacking strokes, too, including a sweetly timed cover drive suggesting that he has the game to make the No. 3 spot his own despite having rarely batted there in his first-class career. His dismissal, caught down the leg side, was a little unfortunate, but he should have taken confidence from this innings and the knowledge that his place is probably now secure for the rest of the series. Given that he seemed a long way from this side only a few weeks ago and hadn’t played a red-ball innings in the interim, it represents a pretty remarkable comeback.An Ollie Robinson inswinger did Cheteshwar Pujara in early on the fourth day at Headingley•Getty ImagesRobinson on the rise
In recent weeks, England have been without at least six seamers – Stuart Broad, Archer, Chris Woakes, Olly Stone, Mark Wood and Stokes – seamers who might have been selected ahead of Ollie Robinson. At the same time, it has become more apparent that James Anderson, for all his skill and good-intentions, is struggling to sustain his impact across entire matches. Dating back to the start of the 2020 international season in England, Anderson has claimed six second-innings wickets in 14 Tests at an average of 57.50 a time; in the same period, he has claimed 40 first-innings wickets at a cost of 17.30 apiece. But so impressive, so consistent and so effective have Robinson’s performances been that he has mitigated against these other factors and may well have established himself as one of England’s first choice new-ball bowlers. His performance here – he claimed his second five-wicket haul in his fourth Test (it would have been three in four, but for a dropped catch on debut) – won him the Player of the Match award and went a long way towards helping England achieve their first victory with him in the side. But it’s not just the wickets that have been impressive, it’s the manner in which he has taken them: hitting an immaculate length delivery after delivery and demonstrating an ability to move the ball both ways and also achieving bounce (only Kyle Jamieson releases the ball from a higher point in Test cricket at present), there seems no reason he won’t continue to enjoy success.Overton proves his worth
This was also Craig Overton’s first victory as a Test cricketer in his fifth Test. And while his returns didn’t grab the limelight in quite the same way as Robinson, this was a quietly assured performance. With bat, ball and in the field he played his part, with six wickets, an innings of 32 and a sharp slip catch. You know what you’re going to get from Overton: he will deliver a high number of overs and thump out a consistent length all day. Yes, in a perfect world, you would love him to have a few more mph or an ability to gain a little more movement. But he is willing and able to bowl long spells, he will never take a backward step and, as he showed at Old Trafford in 2019, is the sort that is happy to bowl uphill and into the wind when others are not. He is, to use an old-fashioned expression, very much the sort you would want beside you in the trenches. It’s entirely possible that, when England are back to anywhere near full strength, Overton will miss out. But he may well have pushed ahead of Sam Curran for a spot and, in reducing his Test bowling average to 30.93, and taking his batting average to 22.28, has shown he deserves respect. Overton is a tough, reliable cricketer and has never let England down. Every captain needs such a player.