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Anya Shrubsole has achieved what England’s men have found beyond them by being shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2017Anya Shrubsole has achieved what England’s men have found beyond them by being shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Shrubsole won the accolade for an outstanding spell of five wickets in 19 balls, and 6 for 46 in all, against India at Lord’s – the best bowling figures in a Women’s World Cup final.As well as pulling off one of the greatest feats in England women’s cricket history, she became the first female cricketer to receive the Christopher Martin-Jenkins Spirit of Cricket award, for the manner in which she consoled South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk after England’s semi-final win, and also helped Western Storm win the Kia League title.”Humbled to be named amongst some incredible athletes!,” Shrubsole tweeted. “Top of the list of things I never expected to happen!”The latest honour is an indication of how England Women’s cricket is creeping into public consciousness, but as the men celebrate her success they will also ruefully wonder what they have to do.Ian Bell was the last male cricketer to be nominated, his stock never higher than when England won the 2013 Ashes.But two years later, as England won the Ashes once more, Joe Root and Stuart Broad missed out to general consternation, even though Root had established himself as one of the top batsmen in the world and Broad bowled out Australia in a single session at Trent Bridge with 8 for 15, with his look of amazement going viral.

Cricket’s SPOTY winners

1956: Jim Laker
1975: David Steele
1981: Ian Botham
2005: Andrew Flintoff

This year, England’s record was more prosaic, although Root did win his first two series as Test captain and James Anderson became the first England bowler to take 500 Test wickets.The relevance of the Sports Personality of the Year list – once eagerly awaited – is now widely debated as it is influenced by many factors, including the availability of BBC sports rights and the desire to ensure the shortlist serves all demographics.But Shrubsole will rightly be delighted at her recognition, for all that, as she joined a list that includes the likes of Mo Farah, Lewis Hamilton and Harry Kane.The fact is that cricketers have never done very well (neither, for that matter, have footballers). Only four have ever won and all of them after outstanding Ashes performances.It would probably take an England World Cup win on home soil in 2019 to change that.In the meantime, England’s women have set the example.Shortlist: Mo Farah (athletics), Chris Froome (cycling), Lewis Hamilton (F1), Anthony Joshua (boxing), Harry Kane (football), Johanna Konta (tennis), Jonnie Peacock (Paralympic athlete), Adam Peaty (swimming), Jonathan Rea (superbikes), Anya Shrubsole (cricket).

Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Dec-20172:11

Chopra: ‘Kohli’s hunger for runs is insatiable’

Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball. Virat Kohli brought up his sixth double-hundred and carried on to post his highest Test score, and, following a declaration in bizarre circumstances at 536 for 7, India’s bowlers took over, reducing Sri Lanka to 131 for 3 in their reply. An unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 56 between Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal raised Sri Lanka’s morale towards the end of the day, but they still ended it trailing by 405 runs.Sri Lanka’s fielders came out wearing face masks after lunch, and play was twice held up in smoggy conditions, with the air pollution in the vicinity of the Feroz Shah Kotla going up to “very unhealthy” levels. The two fast bowlers, Lahiru Gamage and Suranga Lakmal, went off the field midway through their overs, and eventually, with Sri Lanka struggling to put 11 players on the park, Kohli declared, signalling pointedly that his team was happy to bowl in these conditions.When Sri Lanka began their innings, it was their offspinning allrounder Dilruwan Perera rather than Sadeera Samarawickrama – who had been off the field since being struck on the helmet at short leg on day one – who walked out to open alongside Dimuth Karunaratne.India’s fast bowlers, with a total of 536 behind them, charged in at full tilt in the half hour that remained before tea, and blasted out two wickets. Karunaratne fell to the first ball of the innings, done in by Mohammed Shami, who angled one into the left-hander from around the wicket, hit the pitch hard on a shortish length, and got it to seam away from him. Forced to play by the angle, he feathered an edge through to the keeper.Then Ishant Sharma, going wide of the crease, did the No. 3 Dhananjaya de Silva for length. Shuffling across the crease, and neither coming forward nor going back, he jabbed uncertainly at the ball, playing well outside the line, and was struck on the back leg in front of the stumps.In the first four overs after tea, India dropped two catches at second slip. First, it was Shikhar Dhawan moving in front of Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip, shelling a chest-high chance when Dilruwan drove away from his body at Shami. Then it was Kohli, falling to his left when Mathews poked uncertainly at an Ishant delivery that straightened in the corridor.Dilruwan, who had looked fairly comfortable since his reprieve, timing his cover drives particularly well, then fell at the end of a 61-run stand with Mathews, sent on his way after India successfully reviewed a not-out lbw decision from Nigel Llong. A straighter one from Ravindra Jadeja struck him in line when he stepped out of the crease, and ball-tracking suggested the ball would have hit the stumps. Dilruwan, however, could have survived had he stretched out a little further; it turned out that the ball had struck his pad 2.99m from the stumps – at 3m, ball-tracking cannot reverse the umpire’s decision.Mathews looked extremely shaky in the early part of his innings, camping deep in his crease and poking away from his body on numerous occasions. In an effort to bowl fuller at him, however, the fast bowlers occasionally overpitched, and he put those balls away, a straight drive off Ishant particularly eye-catching. Slowly, he grew in confidence, enough to greet R Ashwin’s belated introduction – he came on in the 28th over – by hitting him for successive sixes to bring up his fifty.In fading light, Mathews and Chandimal survived a testing period before stumps, against Shami’s reverse-swing and the accuracy of Jadeja and Ashwin. With a few overs under his belt, Ashwin began looking particularly dangerous, finding the right pace for this pitch and threatening both edges from over and around the wicket. Bad light brought the examination to a halt three minutes from time, but it will begin all over again when Sri Lanka resume their innings.India began the day’s play on 371 for 4, and Sri Lanka, having picked up two quick wickets late on day one, may have harboured some hope of clawing their way back into the Test match. If they did, Kohli and Rohit Sharma quelled it with a fifth-wicket partnership of 135. It came to an end off what was to be the second-last ball before lunch, when Rohit fell for 65, bottom-edging a square-cut to the keeper off Lakshan Sandakan.India lost two more wickets after lunch. Gamage got one with the first ball after the first pollution break, R Ashwin reaching out at a wide one without moving his feet and steering it to gully – it wasn’t the first time he had been dismissed in this manner in the recent past.Then, in the midst of all the breaks in play, Sri Lanka finally found a way past Kohli. It was Sandakan’s fourth wicket, another good ball amidst an otherwise inconsistent mix, and another reminder of the talent that Sri Lanka will need to nurture with care. Kohli went back to a flat one bowled from left-arm around, perhaps playing the trajectory rather than the length. It skidded on – slow-motion replays indicated it may have been a flipper – and rapped him on the back pad, in front of the stumps. Kohli reviewed, but the ball didn’t have far to travel, and ball-tracking suggested it would have hit a good chunk of leg stump.If the 87 runs Kohli scored on Sunday didn’t come with quite the same ease as his first 156 on Saturday, it had little to do with Sri Lanka’s bowling, which remained unthreatening and inconsistent. Kohli, instead, had to fight his own body, which was beginning to show the toll taken by scoring three successive Test hundreds. A stiff back slowed him down between wickets, and brought India’s physio onto the field, but Kohli just kept batting.Sri Lanka persisted with spin for the first six overs of the morning, hoping for Sandakan to conjure up a wicket or two, but neither he nor Dilruwan made any impact on the pair in the middle. Rohit, on 6 overnight, took no time settling in, and launched Sandakan over long-off in the fourth over of the day before picking up two more fours in the next two overs.On came the second new ball, and Kohli clipped Lakmal’s first ball to the midwicket boundary. It turned out to be the first of six fours – the pick of them a Rohit pull off Gamage, hit just wide of mid-on – in six overs from which Lakmal and Gamage conceded 32. Kohli soon swept past the 200 mark, getting there with a pulled double off Lakmal, after which Rohit reached his fifty with a straight six off Dilruwan.

The allrounder wasn’t a frontunner to play in this series, or in Tests at all; but he made a valuable contribution on the first day

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg24-Jan-2018Andile Phehlukwayo was considered to have only an outside chance of playing in this Test. As a bowling allrounder whose speeds peak in the mid-130s but who does not move the ball with the same magic as Vernon Philander, and whose long-format batting average has only peeped over 20, Phehlukwayo could easily have been confined to the shorter formats, where his ability to take pace of the ball, his death bowling and hard-hitting have proved to be match-winners.But when the South Africa summer started and the squad had none of Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi or Chris Morris available, Phehlukwayo made his debut against Bangladesh. He played both Tests in that series and the one against Zimbabwe; but when India arrived, the big guns were brought out and Phehlukwayo was confined to drinks duty. In the lead-up to the Wanderers match, he only emerged as a contender when it was revealed that Chris Morris would need the week off on paternity leave.Instead of wondering when he his turn would come, Phehlukwayo used the time on the sidelines to get ready for a return by watching his team-mates’ success.”Being on the sidelines, you’ve got to keep yourself motivated. It’s such a good environment that you want to perform. I’ve kept myself motivated by watching the performance of the guys, learning about myself and the game. At a young age, I have been able to learn so much,” Phehlukwayo said.One of the bowlers Phehlukwayo has taken the most from is Philander, who bowls a similar pace as him but makes the ball talk, almost every time. Phehlukwayo was particularly in awe of Philander’s opening spell of eight overs, seven maidens, one run and one wicket, and wants to be able to emulate that. “Vernon showed his class again. Being on the field with him was unbelievable. When I watch him bowl, I get goosebumps,” Phehlukwayo said. “To imagine how consistent he can be on a length: I really look up to the type of bowler like that.”Another player Phehlukwayo admires is Ngidi, who he grew up playing against. Both Phehlukwayo and Ngidi are the children of domestic workers and both have enjoyed enormous success, both on the field and in uplifting their families and inspiring their communities.”When I watch Lungi and his parents at the game, it reminds me a lot of how we grew up. I’m really proud to see him. I am planning on bringing my parents to a few games too,” Phehlukwayo said.Ngidi flew his parents to Johannesburg for this Test and tweeted a photograph of them enjoying their first night in a hotel room on the eve of the match. Ngidi’s parents were in attendance on the first day and were spotted on television several times. Perhaps soon, Phehlukwayo’s parents will join them.

The batsman said that while he would enjoy captaining an IPL team again, the focus was on performing the role of a senior professional in the set-up

Gaurav Kalra25-Jan-20182:00

Agarkar: A team like Delhi Daredevils will bid for Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir feels at home in Kolkata. So much so that he once went around the city in search of a house he could buy. No surprise really. Kolkata has embraced him with open arms since the city’s IPL franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders, paid an astronomical sum of USD 2.4 million to bring him on board in 2011 after three middling seasons. Over the last seven years, Gambhir has led the team to a couple of titles, in 2012 and 2014, been its leading scorer, and helped forge one of the league’s most formidable outfits.Gambhir is in Kolkata these days, playing for the city of his birth, Delhi, in India’s domestic T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. He isn’t sure, though, if he will return to the KKR set-up. In a move that not many IPL observers saw coming, the franchise decided against retaining him in January, forcing Gambhir back into the auction.There was speculation that Gambhir and the owners couldn’t agree on his price point. There is also talk that KKR envisage keeping Gambhir in house by using one of their three Right to Match cards (RTM) at a lower price point than retention would have cost them. Gambhir, at least publicly, isn’t interested in the nitty gritty, insisting he understood the decision made by the franchise.”I get where they are coming from,” Gambhir told ESPNcricinfo. “Above all, the communication between the KKR management and myself has been superb. We spoke in a very cordial atmosphere and I respect their call.”The speculation will end this weekend of course and Gambhir will find out whether he will stay in Kolkata or head to another city. On reputation alone, he makes a compelling case to attract a substantial bid. Only three players – Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have made more runs in IPL history than Gambhir. While his strike- rate hovers around a none too collar grabbing 125, Gambhir catches the eye on several other indices. His 35 half-centuries are second most in IPL history after David Warner and he sits on top of the list of the most fours in the tournament with 484, comfortably ahead of Raina’s 402.Recent experience would suggest reputation alone no longer counts towards frenetic bidding at IPL auctions. Gambhir’s T20 form of late has been patchy with scores of 1,1,7 and 21 in his last four games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. However, he was the second-highest scorer in last season’s IPL, with 498 runs at an average of nearly 42 with four 50+ scores, playing a key role in another appearance in the knockout stages for KKR.His form in last season’s Ranji Trophy, where Delhi made the final, was also quite impressive. He scored 683 runs, including three centuries, and finished as the sixth-highest run-getter. At 36, Gambhir remains convinced he can continue to contribute to teams he is part of, and isn’t fazed at the prospect of having to compete with much younger players.”I won’t have been playing the format if I was not convinced about my abilities,” he said. “I am feeling strong physically. Fitness and motivation have never been a challenge. When I turned 30 I promised myself that I needed to up the ante fitness wise as the game was changing, I was moving on and there is that thing called self-pride which you never want to dent. So, I do extensive gym training with my personal trainers, cross country in the ridge area behind my house in Delhi, yoga, kickboxing and also play badminton to stay in shape.”Besides his pedigree as a batsman, Gambhir is sure to be on the radar of franchises for his leadership abilities. Only M S Dhoni has more wins as captain in IPL history with 83 wins from 143 games while Gambhir has won 70 of his 123. In his time at the helm at KKR, players such as Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav have pressed their claims for India call-ups while the likes of Sunil Narine and Andre Russel have grown in stature. Now, as this next phase of his IPL career beckons, Gambhir said that while he would enjoy captaining a team again, the focus was on performing the role of a senior professional in the set-up.”I’d prefer both but the dynamics of the sport are such that each phase of a professional sportsperson’s career comes with responsibility,” he said. “The way I played in 2011 or 2012 is different to how I play now. Bowlers don’t bowl in my areas, as a senior member it is my duty to curb my game as per the situation. At the end of the day it is about a balanced approach because a team sport has to be played with a team’s interests in mind and not an individual’s.”

The former Australian legspinner will be joined by another old Royals hand Zubin Bharucha, who has taken over as head of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-20181:00

Warne announces Royals arrival

Shane Warne has returned to the Rajasthan Royals franchise as its mentor ahead of the 2018 IPL season. Warne, 48, will renew his association with the side he led to a title in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008. The former Australian legspinner went on to lead the Royals for the next three editions, before retiring after the 2011 season. Warne, who has mentored the side in the past, remains the Royals’ third-highest wicket-taker of all time, with 58 scalps from 56 matches.”I am very happy and excited to be back with the Rajasthan Royals, who I believe hold a very special place in my cricketing journey,” Warne was quoted as saying in the Royals website. “I am overwhelmed by the love and affection showered on me by the franchise and fans of Rajasthan Royals. We have a strong, young and energetic bunch of boys, and I am looking forward to work with them.”While Warne has worked with India batsman Ajinkya Rahane in the past, he will work with compatriot Steven Smith – the frontrunner to lead the side – for the first time in the IPL. Warne will also be joined by another old Rajasthan Royals hand Zubin Bharucha, who has now taken over as head of cricket. Bharucha and Warne had worked together during the early years of the Royals. Manoj Badale, co-owner of Royals, said bringing back Warne was a way of giving back to the fans “who have stood by us in trying times.””As we are looking to build a strong team that can be in contention for the title, we believe Warne is the right person to mentor the Rajasthan Royals,” Badale said. “Zubin has also contributed immensely to the growth of the team, and we are happy to have both back on board. We are excited and looking forward to a successful comeback.”According to the Royals website, Warne will have a “multitude” of tasks on and off the field. “His main role will be to work closely with the senior leaders in the team, particularly the captain, to ensure all areas of strategy and tactics are covered. In addition, he will be working with all the spinners to impart technical knowledge in the art of spin.”

The Australia allrounder is thrilled at the attention the women’s game has been getting over the last couple of years, and is all praise for the atmosphere she has experienced at Indian grounds

Gaurav Kalra21-Mar-20185:58

Women’s cricket has become a lot more exciting – Perry

You can tell that Ellyse Perry loves her job as a professional cricketer. She’s only 27 but has already been doing this for a decade, debuting as a not-yet-17-year old in 2007. Nothing of the grind, though, appears to have worn her down. An easy smile greets every question and Perry, the world’s pre-eminent allrounder, is relishing this era of televised games, packed stadiums, decent wages and the respect her peers get as professional sportspersons.”We’ve spoken about how it almost feels like a second career at the moment,” she tells ESPNcricinfo in Mumbai, ahead of the T20 Tri-Series also involving England and India. “We are very fortunate to have the support of Cricket Australia back home who have made our roles full-time and we are all full-time professional cricketers now who get to train every day and work really hard at our craft.”The quality of cricket being played now around Australia and around the world has just grown really rapidly and it’s just an exciting game to watch and people are really drawn to that. As a result, we are getting lots of crowds and people wanting to watch the matches on TV and a lot of interest from the media. From that point of view, it has been absolutely brilliant.”I think it was growing really solidly for the 10 years that I have been involved and before that as well, but for whatever reason things have just come into alignment in the last couple of years and there’s been a huge shift and growth in the sport. I think in a large part the ICC have done a lot to make sure that the game is built on really solid foundations but also that we’ve got a lot more to build on and grow which is exciting for the future.”Much of the impetus for women’s cricket came from the World Cup in England last year. In an unforgettable semi-final, Perry’s Australian team was demolished by India on the back of an astonishing assault from Harmanpreet Kaur. Though Perry politely sidesteps the question when asked if revenge was on their minds as they landed in India for a three-match ODI series earlier in the month, they certainly have played like a team possessed. The games in Baroda were won by eight wickets, 60 runs and 97 runs. Perry herself, as she usually does, made an impression with both bat and ball, making 127 runs and picking up four wickets with her lively medium-pace.”Certainly, in terms of the process and development of our team it has been a really important series for us and particularly in the manner that we’ve played, not just the result,” she says. “The performances across the board from so many different individuals in each match was just brilliant and really satisfying for us because it’s never easy to come to India and playing in Indian conditions so to do what we’ve done has been really great.Getty Images

“It has been amazing, looking at the amount of people that came to our matches in Baroda, the support that they were displaying for the Indian team was just brilliant. It was one of the best atmospheres I have played in front of and consistently across those three games. The Indian team are very, very good, they’ve got some exceptional players who are world class. Some senior players and also some really great youth that are up and coming and are going to be wonderful cricketers for a long period of time.”Over the next ten days, Perry and her teammates will lock horns against England and India in a tri-series of T20 matches in Mumbai. Perry believes that with the World T20 later in the year in the West Indies, the series, which she says features “arguably the three best teams in the world at the moment”, provides the opportunity for invaluable match practice and to identify personnel and tactics for the tournament.While the focus is on the limited-overs formats for now, Perry, who has played only seven Tests over her career, would like to see more long-format games played. She suggests more teams could adopt the formula used for the Women’s Ashes where the series is decided based on points accumulated across Test, ODI and T20 games. However, for now, Perry’s focus is on ensuring she can help Australia capture a fourth World T20 title in November. And, of course, build on the momentum the women’s game has gained in recent times.”I think the World Cup last year where the final was sold out was just tremendous and it has really set a very high standard for future tournaments,” she says. “Since that we have obviously seen the reception of the Indian team here and how much support they’ve now got and interest in how the girls play. Back home we had a very successful Ashes series, it drew lots of crowds and people to that event which was absolutely brilliant.”Going forward, I hope that occurs everywhere around the world, wherever we are playing, so it’s a great opportunity for the West Indies and everyone is really looking forward to this competition. From my point of view, every T20 World Cup we have played since it started, each one has got bigger and better. I think the quality of play has gone to a new level as well. So, I think it is really exciting.”

The former Australian batsman will no longer continue as a selector after his contract ends in August because of his increasing involvement in TV commentary

Daniel Brettig14-May-2018Australian cricket will soon rid itself of a major conflict of interest after Mark Waugh chose to step down as a national selector in order to commentate full-time for the pay-TV provider Fox Sports.Officially Waugh is still slated to be the selector on duty when the limited-overs team travels to England in June for a series also to be broadcast on Fox, but he will have moved on by the time the next home summer begins.Waugh, who has been a selector since May 2014, will be part of Cricket Australia’s new host broadcaster, with Fox Sports (part-owned by News Corporation) having paid the lion’s share of the A$1 billion television-rights fee sought. In return for the cash, CA has hidden two of three international formats – ODIs and Twenty20s – behind a paywall for the first time in Australian history.For the past year, Waugh has been officially designated CA’s T20 selector in addition to being on the panel to choose teams across all formats, despite concurrently commentating for the Ten Network on its successful coverage of the Big Bash League (BBL). Ten’s loss of the rights to the BBL, alongside Nine’s forfeiture of the rights to international cricket for the first time in 40 years, has led to a feeding frenzy for commentary positions at Fox and also Seven, which will show Test matches and some BBL games on free-to-air television as part of a sub-licensing deal.Alongside the CA board director Mark Taylor while he was also commentating for Nine, Waugh’s has been the most obvious conflict on Australian television screens over the past four seasons, making for numerous awkward moments – not that Ten minded the recurring source of conversation starters. Shaun Graf, Cricket Victoria’s operations manager, said what many were thinking after Waugh offered a thinly veiled criticism of Glenn Maxwell on one broadcast by saying of D’Arcy Short: “Haven’t seen him play a reverse sweep, have we in six games? I think some of the other batsmen around the country, take note.””I know he puts himself into a little bit of a conflict of interest by being a commentator as well, [but] I don’t think that’s the forum to discuss anything like that,” Graf told SEN Radio last summer. “Maybe ‘Junior’ should concentrate on his special comments but not maybe talk as much in relation to the selection side of things.”The Olympic hockey player and respected coach Ric Charlesworth, a state cricketer for western Australia in the 1970s and ’80s, raised the issue of Waugh’s conflict in a 2016 book. Charlesworth is a mentor to the new Australian coach Justin Langer. “Another boundary that seems to have been crossed in cricket is that of selection,” Charlesworth wrote in .”One of the Australian selectors, Mark Waugh, appears on television as an expert commentator and gives opinions on form and performance… this appears an extraordinary conflict of interest. Many of the traditional boundaries are being crossed and there is increasing pressure for coaches and players to ‘come out’ of the game during the contest and sponsors, broadcasters and producers drive this behaviour.”Given to following his instincts rather than relying overly on numbers, Waugh made a mark upon the final squad-selection he has been involved in, choosing Nic Maddinson for the T20 leg of the England tour even though the former state captain had been left out of the New South Wales contract list for next season.Waugh’s signature with Fox Sports joins those of Isa Guha, Mel Jones, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Hussey and Michael Vaughan. Seven, meanwhile, have signed Ricky Ponting. Nine’s long-time commentator Bill Lawry has declined approaches from the two networks.

The Bangladesh coach expects pitches in the Caribbean to favour quicks, and is setting up preparations for his team accordingly.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018Having signed with Bangladesh earlier this month, Steve Rhodes is coaching an international team for the first time and he does not want to be caught napping. The former England wicketkeeper has been scouring the web for videos of the players he will be training and the support staff he will be working with just to know what everybody looks like.There was more nuanced work to do on Wednesday, though, with Rhodes leading a camp to help prepare the players for a full tour of the West Indies starting on June 27. “Everything is new,” he said. “I don’t know too much about the players, but I’ve been checking on the internet regularly, looking them up on YouTube – as well as highlights – getting to know some faces, of the support staff as well. All a bit of a rush to be honest, but now we’re on the eve of going away to the Caribbean, and honestly that’s what I’m looking forward to doing best – which is helping support the team and improve them as cricketers.”

Tour Schedule

June 27-28: Warm-up match, Coolidge
July 4-8: First Test, North Sound
July 12-16: Second Test, Kingston
July 19: Warm-up match, Kingston
July 22: First ODI, Providence
July 26: Second ODI, Providence
July 28: Third ODI, Basseterre
August 1: First T20I, Basseterre
August 4: Second T20I, Lauderhill
August 5: Third T20I, Lauderhill

Rhodes, 54, expected West Indies to prepare pitches with pace and bounce, and said he would make Bangladesh practice accordingly. “You will have watched the Sri Lanka series. The pitches are currently bouncing, and going to potentially suit their bowlers,” he said. “My hunch is the pitches are going to be pretty similar. So we will try to incorporate our practices with bouncier, greener wickets in the three days of practice we have.”Bangladesh do play a tour match ahead of the two Tests but Rhodes felt conditions in that game may not be challenging enough. “I’m pretty sure the West Indian practice wickets will be a bit like Bangladesh wickets [without pace and bounce]. We need to make sure our batsmen, allrounders, and fast bowlers, are ready to face some quick bowling on bouncy pitches. West Indies are in a good place right now, so if that makes us an underdog, then fantastic. Let the underdog win.”That preparation will include making plans for how to face Shannon Gabriel, who took 13 for 121 against Sri Lanka in the second Test, the third-best figures by a West Indian bowler.Rhodes had signed Gabriel when he had coached Worcestershire and acknowledged that the fast bowler was in top form, but was confident the Bangladesh batsmen could do well. “Test matches, they’re not complicated,” he said. “In trying to win a Test match, you need a good start. There are ways of winning without that, but it’s not rocket science. It’s about getting out of the traps, building on getting a good score, or bowling the opposition out. Really, it’s about not letting the opposition back in the game.”Rhodes identified Mustafizur Rahman’s absence through injury as the biggest challenge for Bangladesh. “I think that there’s no going away from the fact that losing Mustafizur for the first Test, maybe the full series, will play [on our minds] daily,” he said. “But the four quicks who are going – what a wonderful opportunity for them. The depth of fast bowling is something we want to try and improve, and if the Fizz is one of four or five of those bowlers, then we’ll be in a great place. Our spinners are world class. They may not get the purchase off the wicket, but the footholes will help as the game progresses.”Rhodes has played 11 Tests and nine ODIs and is known for his talent-spotting skills. He had been in charge of Worcestershire since 2006, having played for them from 1985 to 2004, and was looking forward to applying all that he had learnt on this stint with Bangladesh.”It’s a great opportunity for me, personally,” he said. “I’ve cut my teeth in county cricket, and the England Lions programme and the England team when we came to Bangladesh. I’ve done a long apprenticeship in that place, and I’m looking forward now to the challenge of international coaching. I’ve played cricket and coached for a long time, and whatever team you’re involved in, you’re wholeheartedly, 100% putting all your efforts into winning. If that’s against England in a World Cup game – then it’s fantastic. It’s time for Steve Rhodes to become a ‘Tiger’.”

England’s centurions react to their team’s record-smashing effort in the third ODI against Australia

Andrew Miller19-Jun-2018Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales hailed “another very special day” at Trent Bridge, after capitalising on the pristine batting conditions at their favourite ground for ODI cricket and smashing England’s own record for the highest team total in one-day cricket.After being asked to bat first in the third ODI – on the grounds that Tim Paine, Australia’s captain, didn’t know what would constitute enough runs on what was self-evidently a belter of a pitch – England rampaged to a massive total of 481 for 6, beating by 37 runs the previous record of 444 for 3 that they made here against Pakistan in 2016.And Hales, who top-scored on that occasion with a (then-) England record of 171, was once again the stand-out scorer, with 147 from 92 balls, including a century from 62 deliveries. It was the ideal riposte from a batsman whose place in the side had been under scrutiny, with Ben Stokes expected to dislodge him when he returns from injury against India next month.Asked if he felt excitement or relief at his innings, Hales told Sky Sports: “I’d say a little bit of both, but more excitement. What a ground, we’ve had some great memories here as a team, chasing 380 against New Zealand, and setting another record here as well. They are great memories and today’s another very special day.””What a pitch,” Bairstow said. “It was really, really good fun out there.”Bairstow’s 139 from 92 balls was his fourth ODI hundred in his last six innings, and he admitted he couldn’t pinpoint what was making his current form so destructive.”I’ve got no idea, to be honest with you,” he said. “It’s just a case of relaxing and watching the ball. Each opposition gives you different challenges, each bowler gives you different challenges.”I mean, you look at [Billy] Stanlake, at 6ft9, compared to [Jhye] Richardson, who’s smaller and skiddier. That’s just the nature of bowlers around the world. It’s just a case of maintaining your consistency, doing your same things day after day, and keep enjoying it, and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”Hales arrived at the crease in the 20th over, with 159 runs already on the board thanks to Jason Roy’s opening effort of 82 from 61 balls, and it was clear from the outset what his job would be.”Just keep the momentum going,” he said. “I’ve got enough experience of playing here to know it’s a good pitch and a fast scoring ground. I know it like the back of my hand, so it’s nice to come in, get off to a decent start and build a partnership with Jonny. It gave us a real platform to do something special.”England’s innings didn’t quite overhaul the overall record in ODI cricket – 491, as set last week by New Zealand’s women against Ireland – but it did at one stage look as though 500 was on the cards.”Potentially,” admitted Bairstow. “When Morgs [Eoin Morgan] got going right at the end there, it was definitely something that the lads were thinking.”It was murmured,” said Hales. “Morgs was saying if ever there’s a chance to do it, now’s the time. We just couldn’t get going at the end there with the wide slower balls, but what a day…so far.””They’ve got to come swinging, so we’ve got to be smart with our variations, and field well.”

Lancashire Thunder’s new coach believes the arrival of Indian stars Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana is good for the KSL

Annesha Ghosh21-Jul-2018The recruitment of Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana to the Kia Super League (KSL) is an “endorsement” of the pair’s impressive T20 calibre. That is the verdict of former Australia vice-captain Alex Blackwell, who will be debuting in a coaching role in the third edition of the English T20 tournament.Harmanpreet, India’s T20I captain, and her deputy Mandhana will represent Lancashire Thunder and Western Storm respectively, the first Indian players to participate in the KSL. The signings have increased the buzz around the tournament, which begins on Sunday with a triple-header.”From a coach’s point of view, I don’t see much more than that we’re recruiting the best players in the world,” Blackwell, Thunder’s head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We want to be attracting the best players from around the world to make sure the Kia Super League is a world-class tournament. One of the highest priorities is to ensure it produces the highest-quality England players, but also to make sure it’s highly engaging for the fans.”Mandhana has also been an opponent of Blackwell in the Women’s Big Bash League, playing for Brisbane Heat in 2016. As for Harmanpreet, few have seen her big-hitting skills from closer quarters than Blackwell, who has captained her for two consecutive seasons at Sydney Thunder. It’s no surprise then that Blackwell, Australia’s most-capped female international player and an astute cricketing mind, attaches such currency to the value the signings.”I think it’s wonderful to have a diverse group of players in a tournament like this and have young players learn from this diversity, how these players go about their business,” Blackwell said. “For instance, Harmanpreet goes about her business quite differently to what I do – there’s no right or wrong. As elite cricketers or even as coaches, you accumulate knowledge from all parts of the world and to your exposure to different players. So I think the addition of Harmanpreet and Smriti will be great to both teams they are part of.”Later in the year, after the World T20, Harmanpreet will join Blackwell for her third season at Sydney Thunder. The two-year extension of Harmanpreet’s WBBL contract, on a back of her prolific debut season in 2016 and, more memorably, her match-winning 171 not-out in the World Cup semi-final last year, is further proof, according to Blackwell, of Harmanpreet’s stand-out qualities as an all-round T20 cricketer. That may have played a bigger part in Lancashire roping in Harmanpreet than Blackwell being coach.”It’s a huge endorsement, yes, to try and get Harmanpreet on. I was coach here so she may have found that appealing, but I’m not so certain, to be honest [if that was a factor]. I have been in touch with her through the process, letting her know I would love to work with her [as player and coach]. Knowing how huge an addition she could be to the team, I was keen to let her know I would love to have her here.”It’s quite remarkable how a person of such slight built can hit the ball so powerfully, and I guess it comes down to her flair and her technique. It’s lovely to watch. We’ve enjoyed the time we’ve interacted together at Sydney Thunder and I’m looking forward to working with her here in Lancashire in a slightly different capacity.”Harmanpreet is most likely to miss Thunder’s tournament opener on Sunday, due to a delay in her visa. The season, however, presents her with an opportunity to bring the focus back on her cricket in the wake of a tumultuous time back home. For Thunder, it’s a chance to improve on their last-place finish in both editions of the six-team competition; for Blackwell, to make the most of an offer that came about through her final game for the NSW Breakers, where she captained the state side to the title against Western Australia.”I think it was a case of right place and right time for both me and the team,” Blackwell said. “At the end of my final match for NSW, our 19TH WNCL title, I was talking to [England and Lancashire seamer] Kate Cross, one of the senior players, and Nicole Bolton was heading over to play for Thunder. Theirs is a very talented team but may not have had the kind of success they had been hoping for.”I understood they were looking to bolster the resources for the team. So they were looking for an injection of new ideas maybe, I guess with someone like me, with my 17 years of experience in domestic cricket, 17 domestic titles, five world cups, having seen many successful domestic teams and led many of them.”