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'My last day' – Ashwin announces retirement from international cricket

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Ashwin played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-20241:59

‘Truly an emotional moment’ – Ashwin retires from international cricket

R Ashwin has retired from international cricket with immediate effect, announcing his decision at the end of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Brisbane. He will be leaving for India on Thursday.”This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said after the Brisbane Test at a press conference. “I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to express that and probably showcase that in club-level cricket, but this will be the last day [for India].”I’ve had a lot of fun. I must say I have created a lot of memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my other team-mates, even though I have lost some of them [from the India team] over the last few years. We’re the last bunch of OGs, if we can say that, left out in the dressing room, and I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level.”Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and the fellow team-mates. Several of them. I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who have been part of the journey. Most importantly, Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years.

“Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team, who have been very fierce competitors. I have enjoyed my time playing against them.”Saying that he wouldn’t be taking any questions from the media and was there just to make the news public, Ashwin said, “Truly a very emotional moment. I don’t think I am in a position where I would be answering the questions in the right way. Please pardon me for that. Thanks for being the journalists you’ve been, writing good things and of course writing nasty things on occasions. That’s a relationship I think we would maintain forever, and I hope the cricketers to come in the future will also get the same amount of love.”And finally, he confirmed that he would be staying connected to the game, and possibly not just as a cricketer in the IPL (he is part of Chennai Super Kings now) or in the TNPL (Dindigul Dragons). “See you soon. As a cricketer, I have just stopped it. Might go on to be involved with the game, because this is a game that has given me everything.”He was bought by CSK, his first IPL team, for INR 9.75 crore at the mega auction last month, and will be playing for them in IPL 2025.Rohit, sitting alongside Ashwin as the latter made his announcement for the press, said, “Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has [made] a choice, he has to be given that choice, and somebody like Ashwin who has been there for us for so many years is allowed to make those kind of decisions on his own and we as team-mates have to respect it. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team has complete backing of his thought process.

“Obviously, there’s a bit of gap [between Tests] now so for us, as a team, to regroup and collect our thoughts on this is very, very crucial right now. We’ve got some time to think about how we need to proceed further. But speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about his decision.”I heard [about the plan to retire] when I came to Perth. Obviously I was not there for the first three or four days of the first Test match, but this was in his mind since then and there are obviously a lot of things that went behind it. I’m pretty sure Ash will be in a position to answer that but he understands what the team is thinking, he understands what kind of combinations we are thinking, and when we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner is going to play. We just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get in front of us.”But when I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had and I somehow convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test match and then, it just happened so that if he felt that if I’m not needed right now in the series, I’m better off saying goodbye to the game.”But obviously we’ve not been to Melbourne yet so we don’t know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination. But just keeping Ash particularly in mind, giving him that respect that if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way. And we should all stand by what he is thinking at this point in time.”That is what I’m thinking right now and that is the kind of chat we’ve had as well – me and Gautam Gambhir as well. It’s important when a player like him who has had so many moments with the Indian team and he’s been a truly a big match-winner for us is allowed to make those decisions on his own and if it was now, so be it.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ashwin ends his Test career as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Tests.He played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide. In the previous series, the 3-0 defeat at home to New Zealand, Ashwin had picked up only nine wickets at an average of 41.22.With him not being a regular in the XI in India’s overseas fixtures, and their next Test series an away tour of England, Ashwin will be 39 by the time India’s next home season comes around.In addition to his wickets, Ashwin also scored 3503 Test runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties, making him one of 11 allrounders with more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, level with Muthiah Muralidaran.In an international career that started in 2010, and included the 50-over World Cup win in 2011, Ashwin also played 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is, picking up 156 (average of 33.20) and 72 (economy rate of 6.90) wickets in the two formats respectively. He hasn’t had a go in white-ball cricket for India since October 2023, though, when he turned out in an ODI World Cup match against Australia in Chennai.

Holder urges West Indies to 'come together as a region' after World Cup setback

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“I don’t think all is lost. There’s a lot of youngsters who can definitely develop and turn things around for West Indies cricket”

Firdose Moonda01-Jul-2023Putting strong structures in place for current and future West Indies teams is the only way to stop their downward spiral, according to former captain Jason Holder.Speaking shortly after West Indies were confirmed as being out of contention for the 2023 50-over World Cup, Holder acknowledged their defeat to Scotland was “probably one of the lowest points I’ve had with the team,” but urged everyone in West Indian cricket to move on quickly.”I don’t think all is lost. There’s a lot of young guys in the group who can definitely develop and turn things around for West Indies cricket,” Holder said at the post-match press conference. “We’ve got a young crop of players and we’ve got to put some support around them. It’s really important that we try to utilise time outside of competition and put things in place where we can develop our talent.Related

  • Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph to return home early from ODI World Cup qualifier

  • Bishop: 'West Indies' decline pre-dates this group of players'

  • Shai Hope: 'We can't just wake up one morning and be a great team'

  • Scotland crush West Indies' World Cup hopes

  • A Caribbean calamity – how West Indies botched their ODI World Cup chances

“We have to look at the levels below and improve them so that when guys get here, they have a good foundation. It’s an area we need to pay some special attention to. It’s not a quick fix. It’s something we need to spend time on. Development is the most important thing. Hopefully in the next couple of years we can see the fruits of that crop.”Holder’s call for more focus on the totality of West Indies cricket comes on the same day CWI announced their new director of cricket Miles Bascombe, who has already identified an “urgent need to improve performances.” One of Bascombe’s earliest tasks will be to establish High Performance systems throughout the territories under the CWI’s ambit. That kind of uniformity is also what Holder wants to see.”We’ve all got to do it. It’s not an individual thing, it’s not a territorial thing, we’ve got to come together as a region and really think about how we want to go forward as a group and make it happen,” he said.But all those are things that will be addressed in the weeks and months to come, which will include a quiet October-November period when West Indies should have been at the World Cup. For Holder, who played in the 2015 and 2019 events, missing out is a particularly sore point. “It’s disappointing, especially after last year’s effort in the T20 (World Cup – where West Indies did not make the Super 12s). I’ve had the luxury of playing in two fifty-over World Cups before and some T20 World Cups. There are special occasions so this one will hurt as the one last year did.”Dejected West Indies players leave the field•ICC via Getty Images

On the field, Holder was among those who showed emotion from around the time that Scotland needed less than 50 runs to win. He stood at mid-on, hands on hips, head bowed and at one point even sank to his haunches and remained there while waiting for the next ball to be bowled. Unlike when West Indies lost at the same venue to Zimbabwe a week ago, there were no last-ball meltdowns and though Akeal Hosein, who was consoled by Craig Ervine and Sean Williams seven days ago, needed an arm around his shoulder as he trudged off, there were no tears.Those may have come in the morning when, put in to bat, West Indies were 81 for 6 in the 21st over and the only team with India on their minds seemed to be the Scottish. “We knew what was at stake and that we still had a chance to qualify. We had a really good opportunity today to play against Scotland, and beat Scotland and we didn’t do that,” Holder said.So when the inevitable happened, West Indies were gracious losers, congratulated the Scotland players and those of them who had been on the bench started to run shuttles. Pointless? Not quite. They still have to play Oman and Sri Lanka before racing home to begin a series against India. As is the case with cricket schedules these days, there’s no time to dwell on this defeat, however significant it may be.”But there’s no point moping on and keeping our heads down. We have to find ways to get better and head in the direction we need to head in consistently. There have been too many fluctuations between good performances and bad performances. It’s a matter for us to understand where we are at, know where we want to go and all of us putting our hands up.”

Round-up: Mumbai trump Delhi as Shreyas Iyer puts on a show

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Karnataka and Jharkhand made it two in two , while Maharashtra had little trouble putting it past Bengal

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2019Deshpande, Iyer sparkle as Mumbai beat DelhiThe two best scorers for Delhi in their game against Mumbai were Dhruv Shorey and Lalit Yadav, both with 33. But those 66 runs took up 55 balls, meaning Delhi could only put up a modest 144 for 7, which Mumbai had little difficulty topping with eight wickets and a whole over in hand in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League match in Indore.Medium pacer Tushar Deshpande was the best of the Mumbai bowlers on show on the day, as he nipped out Unmukt Chand and Nitish Rana off consecutive balls in the tenth over of the Delhi innings and then sent back Lalit Yadav and Subodh Bhati at the death.Prithvi Shaw fell cheaply at the start, but with a not-too-imposing target facing them, Jay Bista and Shreyas Iyer got their eyes in and chipped away at the target without too many worries. Bista fell after scoring 39 from 33 balls, but Iyer, the captain, saw the chase through with an unbeaten 53, while Suryakumar Yadav hit 42 not out in 26 balls in an unbroken 76-run stand for the third wicket.It was Delhi’s second defeat in as many games in the Super League stage after they put up a poor batting performance to go down by nine wickets against Vidarbha in their opening fixture.Second win in a row for all-round KarnatakaThis one could have gotten tricky for Karnataka, as Uttar Pradesh crossed 90 for the loss of just one wicket by the 13th over of their chase of 150, but the superior experience and class of Manish Pandey’s men saved the day for them.Batting first, Karnataka put up 149 for 6, with Rohan Kadam (35) and Mayank Agarwal (33) the biggest contributors even as three other batsmen crossed 20.M Prasidh Krishna then sent back Samarth Singh to leave UP at 31 for 1 in the fifth over before Akshdeep Nath and Upendra Yadav, the captain and wicketkeeper respectively, fought back to push Karnataka on the back foot.They added 60 runs together before Nath fell, and the chase went off the rails completely after that. Wickets fell in a rush, medium pacer V Koushik picking up three of them, as there was almost no resistance from the UP batsmen. They stopped at 139 for 8, losers by ten runs when they could have gotten on the points board in their first game itself with a little more fight.Muthuswamy, Tripathi lead Maharashtra to victoryWriddhiman Saha was dismissed for a duck for the second game in a row as Bengal put up only 138 for 7 in their 20 overs. Maharashtra cantered to victory in just 17.1 overs with seven wickets in the bag in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League Group A game in Indore.Domnic Muthuswami, the right-arm medium pacer celebrating his 38th birthday, was the one to cause most damage to the Bengal batting line-up, sending back Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran with only three runs on the board – it was 3 for 3 when Easwaran was dismissed, Saha having fallen first to Samad Fallah.Muthuswami ended with 3 for 15 from his four overs after striking late in the Bengal innings again, but there was a fightback led by Manoj Tiwary, the captain, and Shahbaz Ahmed, the No. 7 batsman. After they came together with the scoreboard reading 25 for 5, Tiwary and Shahbaz collaborated for 55 runs before Tiwary fell for 41. Shahbaz went on to hit a breezy 44-ball 60.It looked like a below-par target, and Rahul Tripathi made it appear even smaller with an unbeaten 46-ball 60 from the top of the order. Ruturaj Gaekwad was the early aggressor in the chase, hitting 20 of the 25 runs for the first wicket, and Tripathi then put together 59 runs for the second wicket with Rohit Motwani (36) to put the game beyond Bengal.Jharkhand beat Railways by five wicketsFifties from Virat Singh and Anand Singh helped Jharkhand beat Railways by five wickets and with an over to spare, as they took the top spot in Group A of the Super League phase.Jharkhand had been able to restrict Railways to 135 for 8 after putting them in. Medium-pacer Rahul Shukla, who is the second-highest wicket taker in the tournament with 16 wickets in seven games, took 2 for 19 in four overs, with support from offspinner Utkarsh Singh who took 1 for 14 in his three. Railways had only one substantial individual performance with the bat, opener Pratham Singh’s 41, which came off 39 balls.For Jharkhand, Anand dominated an opening stand of 47 with Ishan Kishan who made an 18-ball 16, before reaching his fifty as he put on 51 for the second wicket with Virat. Railways pulled things back in the middle overs, with Jharkhand falling from 98 for 1 to 110 for 4 in less than three overs, but Virat steered them home in the 19th over, bringing up the win and his fifty with 10 off the last two balls.

McSweeney seals thriller for Heat days after Test omission

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The 25-year-old got Heat home in an innings of composure and character.

AAP22-Dec-2024Brisbane Heat 175 for 7 (McSweeney 78*, Renshaw 54, Pope 2-17) beat Adelaide Strikers 174 for 6 (Jamie Overton 45*, Prestwidge 2-16) by three wicketsNathan McSweeney has rebounded from his Test axing to inspire Brisbane to a last-ball BBL victory over Adelaide Strikers with a brilliant and unbeaten 78. He was “devastated” on being dropped from Australia’s side for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the 25-year-old got Heat home in an innings of composure and character.Heat spinner Mitchell Swepson hit the final delivery of the chase off Liam Scott for a single over point to secure a three-wicket win, but the hero was McSweeney. After being put under pressure by India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the Test series, he found himself in a high-pressure chase after Strikers had posted 174 for 6.Related

  • McSweeney 'devastated' by Test omission

McSweeney took 16 runs off the second over of the power surge, off Henry Thornton, and celebrated with a six off Matthew Short in the next before guiding Heat to victory. McSweeney received a huge cheer from the 23,681 fans at the Gabba when he came to the crease and initially played second fiddle to a rampant Matt Renshaw.Renshaw (54 off 27) was in scintillating form with his placement, power and purpose all elite. He launched three sixes over the on side and an assortment of exquisite cuts and drives before flicking a Lloyd Pope delivery onto his shoulder and then the stumps.His 66-run partnership with McSweeney for the third wicket off just 39 deliveries got Heat back in it.Earlier, Strikers pace bowler Thornton bowled Jimmy Peirson (8) in his first over but then dropped a sitter at midwicket when Heat skipper Colin Munro skied one off Jamie Overton. Thornton made amends immediately when he cleaned up Munro (7) with the first ball of his next over.Strikers’ English contingent of Pope and Overton fired with the bat to lift the visitors to a competitive total.Overton hit hard and often in the latter overs in his unbeaten 45 off just 24 deliveries. At 196cm, the allrounder has a long reach and immense power and he utilised both to put the hosts’ bowlers off their length and crunch three sixes.Pope (34 off 29), fresh from two half-centuries in the Test series against New Zealand, started with consecutive boundaries off rookie seamer Tom Whitney before holing out to McSweeney in the outfield. Heat pace bowler Xavier Bartlett gave his side the perfect start by snaring D’Arcy Short (1) in the first over.That brought former Gabba favourite Chris Lynn to the wicket and he opened his account with his 209th BBL six, a cracking flick over midwicket. Lynn (24) was well caught attempting his 210th at long-on by Bartlett.Impressive 22-year-old Will Prestwidge (2 for 16) hit the pitch hard and picked up the key wickets of Pope and Lynn.

Marcus Harris celebrates Australia contract with immediate Ashes audition

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Glamorgan struggle to push home their advantage as Australian defies them for the second time

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2023Marcus Harris produced a convincing early audition for a place in Australia’s Ashes side with a brilliant hundred against Glamorgan in Cardiff. Harris, who won an Australia contract this week, struck 148 as Gloucestershire had a near-perfect day with the bat after a poor showing in their first innings.Harris didn’t make any mis-steps on his way to his fourth first-class hundred for Gloucestershire. In the first innings he made 59 but in testing conditions he didn’t hit the ball to the boundary until the 92nd ball he faced. In the second innings he was markedly more expansive and reached his hundred with his 16th boundary from his 131st delivery.Starting their second innings 239 runs behind Glamorgan, a redoubtable display with the bat was essential, and the hundred from Harris and fifties from Chris Dent and Miles Hammond gave them hope of getting something out of a game that remains in the balance.Glamorgan struggled to find the control that they had shown in the first innings of this game on a pitch that appears to be flattening out as the match progresses. When bad light brought the day to a close Gloucestershire had reached 373 for 5, 134 runs in front.Glamorgan began the day on 388 for eight, 223 runs in front of Gloucestershire. They had added just 16 more runs when their last wicket fell with Joe Root not out on 117. This still represented a sizeable lead, and they would have been hopeful of making inroads in the morning session.That wasn’t to be, with Harris and Chris Dent progressing serenely on a pitch that has changed markedly from an opening day where batting demanded great care.There was clear intent from the Gloucestershire openers who made a large dent in Glamorgan’s lead in the opening session of day three. The fifty stand between Dent and Harris look just 53 balls and they had reached 133 without loss at the lunch break.It looked as if the opening pair would surpass Gloucestershire’s first innings effort of 165 but they came up just short. Dent chopped a ball from Timm van der Gugten onto his stumps when he was on 78 to leave Gloucestershire at 161 for one. They erased the first-innings deficit for the loss of just two wickets with Miles Hammond and Harris sharing a partnership of 111 either side of the tea break.Harris was dismissed when he attempted to reserve sweep a Kiran Carlson yorker and was trapped lbw, with Hammond departing 12 runs later when he missed a pull shot and was bowled by Dan Douthwaite.With Australia set to play the World Test Championship and the Ashes in England this summer this was a reminder of what Harris is capable of. Squads have yet to be selected, but with Harris already rewarded with an Australian central contract he is clearly in the selectors’ minds.

Sunrisers top order brushes Kings XI away

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Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson set up Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 207 for 3, a total they defended comfortably with the help of Rashid Khan’s legspin

The Report by Nikhil Kalro28-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:33

Highlights – Dhawan, Warner, Willamson guide Sunrisers home

Sunrisers Hyderabad showed intent from the outset to get ahead of Kings XI Punjab via quickfire fifties from their top three batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson. Thereon, Sunrisers never looked like squandering the decisive advantage they gained within the first quarter of the game, putting on the joint second-highest total of the season and following it up with another relatively comfortable defence.Shaun Marsh put on a display of timing in a belligerent 50-ball 84 to keep Kings XI in the hunt for the majority of the chase despite an increasing required rate. However, Kings XI’s insufficient resources towards the end meant they fell 26 runs short. Sunrisers’ win pushed them to third on the points table.Getting ahead of the gameIshant Sharma, one of two fast-bowling inclusions for Kings XI, bowled an accurate first over and generated appreciable lateral movement. Anureet Singh, the other, started with three leg-side deliveries. Dhawan flicked two of those deliveries to the boundary. Ishant’s line was wayward in his next over, and Dhawan picked him off for plenty of free runs. Dhawan helped himself to 20 of his first 23 runs into the leg side. Warner laid into the left-arm spin of Axar Patel, and Sunrisers plundered 60 in the Powerplay, their best this season.The field spread but the Sunrisers openers’ intent didn’t change: Warner and Dhawan hit five boundaries in the first five overs of the innings and six more between overs 6 and 10. Warner was bowled for 51, looking to swat Glenn Maxwell in the 10th over. By that time, Sunrisers had scored 107.T20s not all about powerWilliamson isn’t the most powerful of ball-strikers, especially while hitting straight. What he lacks in power, he makes up in touch. After Warner’s dismissal, Williamson took his time, accruing nine runs in nine balls. As soon as he felt a need to attack, he picked his areas and executed flawlessly.When the spinners dropped short, Williamson pulled. When the seamers were wide, he cut. He also improvised to hit behind square on either side as fatigue crept in. He faced the same number of deliveries as Warner, but scored three runs more without a muscular stroke.Falling behind legspinBefore the game against Kings XI, Rashid Khan had conceded just 48 runs off 45 balls against overseas batsmen this season. Kings XI required 141 runs off 13 overs when Warner introduced Rashid. Shaun Marsh and Eoin Morgan weren’t particularly comfortable against Rashid’s legspin. So they decided to chip away as opposed to putting Rashid off his length.While Marsh and Morgan, aware that Kings XI’s lower order was thin on batting, prodded about, the asking rate soared over 12. Rashid conceded just 16 off his four overs and had Eoin Morgan caught in the deep. It wasn’t the worst tactic from Kings XI, but the target proved to be too much to ‘play out’ a bowler.

Cummins and Cowan set up New South Wales win

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ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the fourth day’s play between New South Wales and South Australia in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2017
ScorecardIn his first Sheffield Shield game for nearly six years, Pat Cummins finished with match figures of 8 for 104•Getty Images

New South Wales cruised to an eight-wicket win on the fourth day of their Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia at the SCG, where they were set a modest target of 100 for victory. The Blues reached their goal with only two wickets down, with Ed Cowan striking a brisk unbeaten 48 to add to his 125 from the first innings, while Kurtis Patterson finished on 33 not out.The chase had started badly for the Blues when Daniel Hughes was bowled by Daniel Worrall from the first ball of the innings, but the Redbacks managed only one further wicket when Nic Maddinson fell for 18 off the bowling of Adam Zampa. South Australia needed more runs on the final morning to set a tougher target, but having resumed on 5 for 228 lost their last five wickets for 82.The key moment was when Tom Cooper, the last of the specialist batsmen, fell in unusual circumstances when he was stumped off the bowling of Trent Copeland. Batting out of his crease, Cooper shouldered arms to a delivery which was pouched by Peter Nevill, standing back; Nevill then threw the ball at the stumps from a distance and Cooper dropped his bat while casually walking back towards his ground.Copeland picked up two wickets on the fourth day, while Pat Cummins also claimed two to finish with innings figures of 4 for 47 and a match analysis of 8 for 104 in his first Sheffield Shield game for nearly six years. English legspinner Mason Crane, playing for New South Wales for the first time, collected 3 for 66 in the second innings to end up with match figures of 5 for 116.

England's chance to be on top of the world again

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The series returns to London with England on a high and Pakistan in a corner. A win for the hosts will crown them No. 1 in Tests

The Preview by Alan Gardner10-Aug-2016

Match facts

August 11-15, 2016
Start time 11am (1000 GMT)3:46

‘England’s depth gives them edge’

Big Picture

Less than four weeks have passed since Pakistan wrapped up a rousing victory at Lord’s in the first Test, capped by a military-inspired set of press-ups in front of the pavilion, but they return to London with very little of that inspirational vim remaining. Trips to Manchester and Birmingham have resulted in two strength-sapping defeats and it is now England who are flexing their muscles ahead of the Oval encounter.From entering the series ranked fourth in the world, and thanks to Australia’s unexpected capitulation in Sri Lanka, England can suddenly see a shortcut to No. 1. That would require victory in the final Test and a 3-1 series scoreline (as well as West Indies to hold off India in one of their two remaining matches) but they are moving in the right direction regardless. In contrast to their tightly drilled ascent to No. 1 five years ago, England seem a little surprised to have found themselves wandering around the summit so soon – and Alastair Cook is sticking to his line that they have plenty to learn, whatever the rankings say.An improvement on their record in the final Test of a series is clearly the next matter to address. A draw at The Oval will be enough to give England all nine series trophies but a win would underline the sense of progress rather more emphatically. In recent times, England have finished off Test tours with defeats in Centurion, Sharjah and Barbados, while last summer they were beaten at The Oval and Headingley. Such flakiness is unbecoming of a side with aspirations to be the best in the world.Another reason to guard against complacency is Pakistan’s good record at The Oval. Putting aside the memory of their forfeiture in 2006 (a game in which they were well placed), Pakistan have secured several memorable wins in south London, including Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis reverse-swinging their way through England in 1992 and victory on their most recent visit, six years ago. By contrast, since England clinched the 2009 Ashes on this ground, they have only beaten India (in 2011 and 2014), while suffering three defeats and a draw.Pakistan will always have Lord’s and this tour will be remembered for Misbah-ul-Haq’s hundred, the heroics of Yasir Shah and the return of Mohammad Amir. But they have a chance to leave with even better memories if they can pull it all together again back in the capital – not to mention an outside shot of reaching No. 1 themselves with a drawn series. The drill sergeants of Abbottabad, just like everyone else, will be watching keenly.

Form guide

England: WWLDW (last five completed matches, most recent first)


Pakistan: LLWWW

In the spotlight

Having struggled against Pakistan’s left-armers, Alex Hales finally produced a substantial contribution with the bat in the second innings at Edgbaston, putting on a vital century stand to help erase England’s deficit. However, he is still waiting for the defining, three-figure innings that will secure his tenure as Test opener for the near future. The final Test of the English summer is often the occasion for auditions but Hales – who has put faith in his technique – is hoping to shut the door on prospective top-order newcomers.As the tour has gone on, confidence in Pakistan’s batting has steadily eroded. The fortunes of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have been divergent but they have common cause to try and finish the series with heads and bats held high. Misbah has coped admirably with the conditions on his first Test experience of England but another defeat would doubtless trigger talk about his age and the captaincy; Younis, though four years younger, is also unlikely to be back again and, 15 years after his first tour here, is in need of an innings to stave of similar talk of retirement.

Team news

Alastair Cook said England were “hoping” to play the same team, which would mean Adil Rashid and Jake Ball missing out again. James Vince has recovered from a finger injury sustained attempting to take a catch at Edgbaston but won’t field in the slips.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 James Vince, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Steven Finn, 11 James AndersonMickey Arthur hinted at various options for Pakistan’s selection, with the need for a fifth bowler even more pressing in the second of back-to-back Tests. If Iftikhar Ahmed – who “bowls offspin and decently,” according to Arthur – wins a Test debut, he would likely come into the side at Mohammad Hafeez’s expense but bat in the middle order, with Azhar Ali asked to open. A rare four-Test series has increased the workload on Pakistan’s pace bowlers and there may also be changes to the attack.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez/Iftikhar Ahmed, 2 Sami Aslam, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Sohail Khan, 11 Rahat Ali/Wahab Riaz

Pitch and conditions

As before the Ashes Test at The Oval last year, a distinctly green-tinged pitch was on show (although that didn’t stop Australia from racking up 481 in an innings win) and Cook suggested it would be “suited to pace bowling”, with some turn later on. In Surrey’s last Championship match here, in June, spinners Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty took 12 wickets between them. The forecast is for a warm finish to the week, which could facilitate the surface breaking up.

Stats and trivia

  • A 3-1 series win for England will send them top of the rankings, at least until the completion of India’s tour of the West Indies
  • Aside from forfeiting the 2006 Test at The Oval, Pakistan have not lost at the ground since 1967
  • Chris Woakes needs one more wicket to break James Anderson’s record of 23 for an England bowler in a Test series against Pakistan
  • Joe Root is 60 runs short of 4000 in Tests; if he gets there in his next innings, he will go level with Kevin Pietersen as 14th fastest overall

Quotes

“It would be a great achievement. We’ve just got to focus on playing good cricket, we’ve been consistent the last two games, up against it at times but played some consistent cricket – can we have that same hunger and determination in this game? If we can do that, we’ve got a good chance of winning.”
“In the third Test match, I believe it was some of our mistakes that let England come back into that game. After doing so much well, we were really in the game until the fourth day – even on the last day, until lunch, it was looking like a draw. So the team can do it but we need to combine those performances.”

Sethi offers Babar Azam conditional backing as all-format captain

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The PCB chairman acknowledged for the first time that he had sought selectors’ views on retaining Babar as captain

Umar Farooq10-Apr-2023PCB chairman Najam Sethi has attempted to calm speculation around the role of Babar Azam, backing him as Pakistan’s all-format captain for now. In his first public comments offering further detail on what has become a lingering locus of instability for the Pakistan side since Sethi took over, he tweeted that everyone “should support Babar and not make matter controversial in interests of the national team”.However, Sethi’s tweets did not offer the Pakistan captain his complete backing, acknowledging that he had weighed the “pros and cons” of removing him, and he would be “guided by the selectors and head coach”.Related

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“For months media and cricketing circles have been discussing pros and cons of retaining Babar Azam as captain in all formats of the game,” Sethi said. “Since this decision is ultimately Chairman’s, I have sought views of Selection Committees headed by Shahid Afridi and now Haroon Rashid. Both Committees thought matter merited discussion but both later came to the conclusion that the status quo should be retained.”I have subsequently publicly stated this position. In the final analysis my decision will be subject to the success or failure of status quo. I will also be guided by what the Selectors and Director Cricket Ops and Head Coach have to say going forward. I expect they will be in the best position to advise me. Therefore we should support Babar and not make matter controversial in interests of national team.”Since Sethi took over from Ramiz Raja as chairman, the PCB has been reviewing team structure. As ESPNcricinfo had reported in January, the PCB is pondering taking away Babar’s all-format captaincy after a disappointing last two home seasons. Over the 2022-23 home season, Pakistan lost 3-0 against England in Tests and 4-3 in T20Is, drew 0-0 in a Test series and lost 2-1 in an ODI series against New Zealand. They fared better away, though, winning a T20I tri-series in New Zealand and reaching the final of the T20 World Cup in Australia.When Sethi took office, the PCB made Shan Masood vice-captain in ODIs somewhat out of the blue. Until then, Shan had only played 5 ODIs, the last of them coming in 2019. At the time that was perceived to cause internal strife, with Babar insisting he would have the last say in selection matters. The new vice-captain did not play the first two matches, only taking part in the third, where he was dismissed for 0.For a recent T20I series against Afghanistan, Pakistan rested a core of senior players – Babar, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. Shadab Khan, the official vice captain, took over at the helm, but Pakistan went on to lose that series 2-1. As a white-ball series against New Zealand looms, the seniors have returned to the squad, with Babar resuming the captaincy.

Lumb and Wessels lead a record run glut

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A match replete with English records saw Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels share an opening stand of 342, Nottinghamshire rattle up 445 for 8 and Northants’ chase fall only 20 runs short on a day of 35 sixes

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2016
ScorecardMichael Lumb and Riki Wessels took toll of a flagging Northamptonshire attack at Trent Bridge to set a new record stand for a List A game in England on a staggering day of batting domination.Lumb and Wessels logged an opening stand of 342 in 39.2 overs for Nottinghamshire under cloudless blue skies in a Royal London One-Day Cup group match before the partnership was finally broken when Wessels fell to Stephen Crook for 146, lifting him to short third man.Their stand beat the previous record in England – 318 amassed by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly against Sri Lanka in Taunton in the 1999 World Cup. The India pair left of a slew of records in their wake – at the time the stand was the highest in any limited-overs international.Nottinghamshire went on to make 445 for 8 in their 50 overs. It was the second highest total in List A matches worldwide, beaten only by Surrey’s 496 for 4 against Gloucestershire at The Oval in 2007.

At a glance

  • 342 Highest partnership in List A matches in England; 3rd worldwide

  • 445 Second highest List A score worldwide

  • 870 Highest List A aggregate runs in England; two short of world record

Astonishingly, despite being stricken by injuries, Northants got within 20 runs under the Trent Bridge floodlights in a match that included an aggregate of 870 runs – another domestic record and only two runs short of the world record – and a barely credible 35 sixes.Lumb said: “It was an incredible match and hats off to Northants, they came out and pushed us to the wire. What a great game of cricket for everyone who rocked up to Trent Bridge today.”It was one of those days when you walk out there and the stars are all aligned and you have a day out. It was a bit like that for me and Riki and we were able to put on a great partnership. That’s all we were trying to do, get the team off to a good start, and today we kept on going and going.”Lumb and Wessels did not quite manage to overhaul the highest List A stand of all time, finishing third on the all-time worldwide list.The record was set in February last year when Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels took 372 off the Zimbabwe attack at Manuka Oval in the 2015 World Cup.Lumb scored 184, making his runs from 150 deliveries, with 21 fours and six sixes, and Wessels hit 146 from 97 balls, with 14 fours and eight maximums, with both players reaching their highest one-day scores.Lumb’s fifth one-day ton was his first since scoring 106 on his England ODI debut in Antigua in 2014 and his first in domestic cricket since 2009. His 184 is also a county record, bettering the unbeaten 167 made by Paul Johnson in 1993. He also left to a standing ovation after being bowled by Sanderson, trying to deflect the bowler down to fine leg.Neither opener offered a clear chance, although one or two mishits fell harmlessly into the outfield and a couple of run out opportunities went begging. That said, both batsmen deserved any good fortune that was going, due to their cleanness of their ball striking.Nottinghamshire, easily surpassing their previous highest total of 368 for 2 made against Middlesex two years ago, predictably emerged victorious but Northants regained some kudos by amassing 425 in reply to lose by a much smaller margin than most would have assumed would be the case.Northants’ spirited retort was all the more remarkable considering that they were handicapped by a shoulder injury to Richard Levi, which meant he didn’t bat until No 11. Veteran South African Rory Kleinveldt, nursing a calf injury, also batted with a runner and almost helped the visitors pull of a stunning run chase.He hit 128 from only 63 balls, smashing 10 fours and nine sixes to put Notts under real pressure, all after Adam Rossington had made 97 at the top of the order.Kleinveldt’s incredible innings came to an end when he was superbly caught in the deep by sub fielder Anuj Dal, who had spent the day playing for Nottinghamshire’s Second XI at Hinckley, against Leicestershire.Dal also caught Graeme White for 40, leaving 21 required from the final two overs but Harry Gurney kept his nerve to bowl Levi in the penultimate over.David Ripley, Northants’ head coach, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. Obviously it wasn’t a game for the bowlers – on both sides. It was a great run chase from us, I don’t think I’ve ever come across such a dangerous score that’s been put in front of us and come so close. We’re very disappointed, but we are very proud of the way we chased.”