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England’s second highest wicket-taker of all-time did not take kindly to the suggestion he should be dropped from Test team. He responded on and off the field

George Dobell at Headingley01-Jun-20181:00

I called Vaughan to express my disappointment – Broad

Dermot Reeve used to reckon that just about every player he ever captained reacted better to the carrot than the stick.So Reeve – captain of the Warwickshire side that won a treble in 1994 – would tell his players how marvellous they were and, in the case of his bowlers, would ensure the ball was returned to them by hand with a message of encouragement.There was one exception. In Paul Smith he had a hugely talented allrounder. He was, for a while, the youngest man to score a first-class century for Warwickshire and he had the pace to claim two first-class hat-tricks. Had he been born a generation later, he would have made millions.But, having enjoyed success as a young man, Smith sometimes found the day-to-day obligations of life on the county circuit something of a grind. And the temptations of a night out hard to ignore. So he would save his best for the big occasions – he bowled a spell in a semi-final that Allan Donald says was as quick as anything he witnessed and claimed the man-of-the-match award in the 1994 Lord’s B&H final against local rivals Worcestershire – but sometimes go missing on quiet days. Or after long nights.So Reeve, his frustrated captain, would tell him he was rubbish. He would throw the ball back to him at ankle height so he had to bend or over his head so he had to run and fetch it. He would do whatever he could to provoke a reaction, spark some resentment and unleash the talent that sometimes lay dormant. Smith needed, Reeve believed, to be angry to be at his best.Maybe Stuart Broad is the same. Certainly here, with the vultures beginning to circle, he produced the performance for which his side had been crying out. Bowling markedly fuller than he had at Lord’s – indeed, his first spell was the fullest new-ball spell of his Test career – he claimed both openers in that first spell and, having beat the bat regularly, was unfortunate to finish with just three wickets. He was, however, easily the pick of the bowlers.It was similar in New Zealand. After suggestions that Broad could lose the new ball following a disappointing Ashes, he responded with his first five-wicket haul at Test level for two years in Christchurch. Just as it seems the thing he values so dearly – his new-ball role and, perhaps, his England place – is about to be snatched away, he provides the performance to secure it once more.Getty ImagesIt’s probably unfair to accuse Broad of complacency. Despite all the years of success, he had the determination to look anew at his action when he returned from Australia. At a stage when many fast bowlers might be starting to find the hard work a bit of a chore, Broad retained enough passion for the game to force himself through the gym and technical work once again. Some of his bowling for Nottinghamshire this season has been exceptional.But he might have become just a little comfortable. The downside of the continuity of selection policy – and it’s clearly a great policy in many ways – is that players may come to feel safe in the environment. And while that is, to some extent, a good thing, it might also rob them of just a bit of their competitive edge. It is telling that, after the best period of his career – a period that lasted from August 2014 to July 2016 when he took his wickets at 22 apiece and his strike-rate was under 50 – he then experienced the most modest period of his career. Between July 2016 and January 2018, his strike-rate was an eye-watering 79.20 and his average was 36.60.So, while Broad denies it, England might owe Michael Vaughan some thanks. For Vaughan, the former England captain and now a ubiquitous pundit, has spent the last few days suggesting that there may be some merit in dropping Broad in order to “ruffle some feathers” in the dressing room. The suggestion clearly seems to have ruffled Broad – enough for him to phone Vaughan to express his disappointment – and produce a performance of channelled anger.”I’ve come under criticism a lot in my career and a lot of it has been justified,” Broad said. “You get used to it.”This time, it did anger me a little bit. I thought it was a bit unfair and a bit targeted. It did put me under a bit more pressure this week, certainly going into this game, but part and parcel of our job is to deliver under pressure.”So I called him and expressed my disappointment in his comments. I’m not going to hold a personal grudge – I’m friends with Vaughany; he was a fantastic captain to me, he gave me a great opportunity and he’s great company – but I didn’t feel I deserved it. It’s [about] personal columns and radio shows that need ‘likes’ and air time, isn’t it?Stuart Broad struck soon after lunch•AFP”I don’t think it stung me into action. At this level you’ve always got a point to prove. But we didn’t do ourselves justice at Lord’s and we left there angry. And, with the pressure we’ve been under, to come out and put in that sort of performance will give the changing room a lot of confidence.”The key to Broad’s performance was his fuller length. After England squandered helpful conditions at Lord’s, Broad produced a much more incisive spell here that was rated the fullest new-ball spell of his Test career. While, on average, just eight percent of his deliveries in his first spell are classified as full, here the percentage pushed up over 40. And with conditions helping him generate movement, that full length – making the batsmen play far more often than was the case at Lord’s – was lethal.It was also in stark contrast to James Anderson who looked frustrated by a display that again underlined that, for all his virtues, he doesn’t seem able to adapt to such conditions any more. Not a single ball in Anderson’s first seven-over spell would have hit the stumps and, even when he bowled Sarfraz Ahmed, Hawkeye showed the ball would have passed down the leg side had it not hit the batsman’s pads.That was not atypical of England’s fortune here. Sarfraz’s decision to bat first upon winning the toss was perfectly reasonable: the straw-coloured pitch led to that conclusion. But the ball swung around lavishly throughout the Pakistan innings providing England’s bowlers with perfect conditions. Broad later confirmed that England, too, would have batted had they won the toss.And, without being churlish, it does have to be acknowledged that some of Pakistan’s batting was fragile. While Asad Shafiq was the recipient of a fine delivery that demanded a stroke, bounced and left him, several other batsmen were complicit in their own downfall. Imam-ul-Haq, for example, chased a wide one and Sarfraz was punished for playing across one. Much of the discipline that they demonstrated at Lord’s deserted them here.The make-up of the slip cordon – which, in only missing one chance, was notably better than Lord’s – also owed something to fortune. Had Ben Stokes been fit, he would have been at third slip but, as it was, it was Joe Root who claimed a sharp chance at third slip in the day’s second over.Broad even admitted that his full length owed something to fortune. Pointing out that Sam Curran’s opening spell – notable for its full length and sedate pace – was full of very full deliveries, he explained that most bowlers struggle to adjust but he had relished the natural variation the conditions had created.1:14

Strauss, Swann and Collingwood was the best cordon I played with – Broad

“The fuller length can be due to the Headingley slope,” he said. “When you’re running down the hill, it really takes you in, then the square levels off and your foot hits quite early. So it does sort of shock you into bowling a bit fuller. With the nip that was available today it was really worthwhile throwing it as full as we did but not every Test pitch is like that.All of which should dispel any suggestion that, after one good day, all England’s troubles are resolved. There were moments during the day – when Broad was out of the attack – when this was an oddly low-quality encounter between a batting line-up apparently determined to thrash their way out of trouble and a bowling line-up which interspersed beauty with the beast. At times it was less a high-quality fight and more a scrap in the pub car park.But it was a step in the right direction for England. And with Broad inspired and motivated, England looked a far more dangerous attack. He may well find himself the victim of far more criticism from the team management as the evidence is starting to suggest it helps him find his best form.

Appointed prior to the Australia series in 2017, Sunil Joshi has been trying to get Mehidy Hasan and company not to worry when they get hit and instead keep looking for wickets

Shashank Kishore in Dubai27-Sep-2018November 13, 2000, Dhaka. Sunil Joshi walks in with India’s middle order wobbling after Bangladesh have made 400 in the first innings of their inaugural Test. India are still 164 behind and have only four wickets left. Joshi is greeted by a chirping Akram Khan at first slip. That it’s coming from a debutant amuses him, but he keeps his composure and makes a career-best 92 to give India a 29-run lead. Joshi then picks up three wickets in the second innings to go with his five-for in the first and is named Man of the Match. India win by nine wickets.Seventeen years later, Bangladesh arrive in Hyderabad to play another historic Test match. The BCB are searching for a spin consultant and ask Anil Kumble, then the India coach, for options. Joshi’s name figures in their shortlist, and Akram Khan, one of his victims in that inaugural Test, eventually facilitates the signing of a formal contract.On Friday, at the Asia Cup final, both Akram and Joshi will be in the same camp, plotting against not just India’s batsmen, but also helping Bangladesh tackle Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja.It will be an emotional moment for Joshi – his one-year contract is up for renewal, so there is a possibility that this could be his final game with the boys he’s developed a rapport with. The BCB has given him “positive feedback”, and while talks have been ongoing, a decision is still awaited.As Joshi looks back at his one year in charge of Bangladesh, he picks out the marked improvement in the mindset of the spinners as the biggest gain. There’s special praise for Mehidy Hasan, an offspinner who is among the “more complete bowlers of his kind” along with India’s R Ashwin.Joshi saw the 20-year old Mehidy on the first day of his job, prior to the Australia series at home, and told him: ‘you will win us the series.’ Bangladesh didn’t quite do that, but still managed to record their first-ever Test win against Australia, with Mehidy picking up five wickets in Mirpur.Mehidy had nervously watched David Warner and Steven Smith whack balls at training. Two days ahead of the first Test, Joshi indulged in a bit of mind games with Australia by announcing openly: ‘We’re focusing on the one ball that troubled Australia in India.’ Mehidy, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, the spin trio for the first Test, wouldn’t reveal much. This seemed to irk Australia, who only few months ago, had tumbled against Ashwin and Jadeja in India. Whether the tactic played a part or not, we wouldn’t know, but Australia lost 19 wickets to the Bangladesh trio.Ahead of the series, Joshi sat his boys down and spent hours analysing their strengths and weaknesses. “It helped me understand their mindset,” he says. “I could see while there was natural ability, there was also some apprehension. You could see Mehidy had all the tools to succeed. Natural drift is his biggest strength. But what I only did as coach was give him options: ‘for this batsman, we can do this. These are his weak areas, this is what you can look to try and do.’CWI Media/Randy Brooks”Once I engaged him with various ideas, it got him thinking, and he would work on these at training. This built confidence, and over the past year, Mehidy has matured beyond his years. Yes, he still has a lot of work to do. He is working on a carom ball, for example. So understanding his own game is what I have tried to facilitate by engaging him and working with him, rather than change much with his basics.”His mindset presently is ‘I’m not worried if I’m hit. I want to attack and get wickets.’ It’s taken a while to get him to think this way, and because they’re all exposed to so much T20 early, they subconsciously think, ‘oh, let me try and restrict.’ Mehidy is different now, he knows whether it’s a 60-metre six or a 90-metre six, he has to come back and try and get him to do that again next ball.”Then there’s Taijul, the left-arm spinner, who isn’t part of the Asia Cup, but Joshi makes sure to keep in touch through the High Performance coaches back in Dhaka. Ensuring constant and open dialogue with players appears to be an important part of his coaching method.”One of the things I try and stress on is the need to have different templates for different batsmen,” Joshi says. “The way you bowl to a top order bat and the way you bowl to a tailender can’t be the same. For starters, we ensure they bowl a certain number of deliveries at the nets, some of it is allotted towards trying our variations. So I’m in touch with the coaches there and see if these routines are adhered to, and then devise bowling plans.”Taijul, for example, worked on his lengths in West Indies. His action is such that he doesn’t generate bounce, so then you need to make the batsman play forward. He was pretty successful during our ODI series win in West Indies. They need cushioning because of the exposure to T20. Being hit shouldn’t get them thinking if they’ve bowled badly and if they’ll be dropped as a result. It’s these chats I’ve had with them, sharing my own experiences of success and failure that I look back on fondly over the last year. They’ve all warmed up to it and have acknowledged it.”

The biggest acknowledgment of your work is when the players take the liberty to not just agree with what you say but also question you and challenge you at times.Sunil Joshi

One of Joshi’s biggest challenges has been to look for a wristspinner, given how much they are in focus these days. The nature of his commitment – he’s in Dhaka five days prior to the start of the series – hasn’t allowed him the opportunity to handpick too many players, but he’s genuinely excited by Mohammad Rishad, who is part of the High Performance set-up, and is in line to play for Bangladesh at the Under-19 Asia Cup later this month. “He and Mehidy will rule spin here for years to come,” Joshi says. “They have to be handled well. But from whatever I’ve seen of him, he looks really promising.”For the moment, Joshi is satisfied at having fulfilled a commitment with all honestly. While the BCB still decides on a contract extension, he isn’t anxious about what his immediate future holds. Coaching is where his passion lies; he’s been with Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad and Assam in India’s domestic circuit, apart from stints with Oman during the 2016 Asia Cup and World T20. Before the Bangladesh job, he was the spin coach for the Under-19s at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, and was also in the running for the head coach of the India women’s team.”Coaching was always a natural transition, and being part of a national set-up has also broadened my vision. The biggest acknowledgment of your work is when the players take the liberty to not just agree with what you say but also question you and challenge you at times. This I’ve had in plenty with all our bowlers – whether it’s Shakib, Taijul or Mehidy.”

A list of the opportunities India missed on the field in Mohali on the way to a four-wicket loss to Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2019India’s defeat in the fourth ODI against Australia in Mohali kept the series alive, but the match could well have played out differently had India been sharper on the field. Virat Kohli admitted afterwards that India had been “sloppy”, with several chances missed, and India went on to lose by four wickets.Following is the list of those moments, from ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary.38.5 – 111 needed off 68Kuldeep Yadav to Handscomb, no run, steps out to whip, but misses as Kuldeep shortens his length. Rolls to Pant, who can’t grab the ball cleanly to effect the stumping. Huge opportunity missed43.1 – 72 needed off 42Chahal to Turner, 1 wide, Pant fluffs one down leg, another one goes begging! This one drifted in, he’s looking to tuck it fine but is overbalanced and well outside the crease. Oh, dear. Oh dear. Are India missing MS Dhoni behind the stumps or what? Pressure beginning to tell43.3 – 67 needed off 40Chahal to Carey, 1 run, right into the blockhole, Carey can just manage to squeeze it out somehow, but they hare a single as Pant under-arm flicks wide of the stumps46.2 – 20 needed off 23Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Turner, 2 runs, Jadhav puts a tough one down at deep midwicket! This mishit was dying on him, Jadhav late to pick it up, late to run in and so couldn’t get underneath the delivery. Confused how deep he should’ve been at the boundary. Oh, dear. Lost control completely46.4 – 14 needed off 15Kumar to Turner, 1 run, Dhawan drops a dolly at mid-off! Oh, dear. It’s all happening. Low full toss, Bhuvi goes full and wide, Turner toe-ends it, it wasn’t even travelling fast. Greasy hands, took it too easy. Pressure, pressure, pressure.

With England’s winter campaign now over, how is their probable World Cup squad shaping up?

Andrew Miller11-Mar-2019England have reached the end of their tour of the Caribbean, which means they are entering the home straight in the run-in to the 2019 World Cup. Which players have cemented their credentials this winter, and which have fallen out of the reckoning? Let’s run the rule.First names on the team sheetEoin Morgan
Simply undroppable. The most calculating leader in world cricket at present, and worth his place for his field placings alone, not to mention the confidence he imbues in key performers such as Adil Rashid. The fact that he’s in some of the best form of his career is a handy bonus.Jason Roy
Started 2018 by setting a new England ODI record at Melbourne (180 v Australia), and started 2019 in the same vein, making a 65-ball century in a startling 361-run chase in Barbados. Of the three opening batsmen vying for two positions, Roy is by some distance the most assured of his role.Joe Root
England’s tempo-setter . Others have a greater weight of stroke, but no-one else in a power-packed line-up offers more versatility – whether it’s finding the boundary with cutely weighted dinks through the field, or simply rotating the strike to keep the score moving in the pressure moments.Ben Stokes
Has seemed slightly subdued with the bat since the Bristol incident, as if trying too hard to make amends. But with the ball, his ability to find prodigious swing, hit the deck and generally disrupt a settled partnership is a huge asset. The IPL, oddly enough, may be just what he needs to rediscover his free-spirited best.Jos Buttler
The jaw-dropping ferocity of Buttler’s Grenada onslaught drew comparisons with Viv Richards, no less, and little wonder – when you can arrive at the crease in the 26th over and still leave with 150 from 78 balls to your name, you are clearly an exceptional talent.Adil Rashid
A decade into his England career, and Rashid is absolutely at the top of his game. The loose balls have been all but abolished, the subtlety of his variations remain extraordinarily hard to fathom, particularly for new arrivals and tailenders. And with Morgan calling the shots, he’s a threat at any moment of an innings, not least – as he proved in Grenada – at the death.Moeen Ali
He’s hot, he’s not, he’s hot again … Moeen’s England career has been marked by some extraordinary peaks and troughs, and right at this moment he’s slipping into another fallow spell – no wickets in the ODI leg of the Windies tour, and next to no runs either. But on home soil he will be a different proposition. There’s no way on earth he won’t be in that first XI.Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler put on 204 runs together•Associated PressStarting XI shoo-insJonny Bairstow
Almost certainly Roy’s designated opening partner, but Bairstow’s career has been fuelled by suspicion, doubt and a desire to prove people wrong. Therefore any suggestion that he’s not an automatic pick will doubtless lead to a redoubling of his form – which, to be fair, has been a touch sketchy of late, with just one ODI fifty in 11 innings, though he also smacked 68 in the first T20I.Chris Woakes
Fitness permitting, Woakes will be England’s attack leader throughout the World Cup – but fitness is the one thing he’s struggled for this winter. The management of a chronic knee condition limited his availability, and he came in for some fearful tap in between whiles. Home comforts will help, no doubt.Mark Wood
A thrilling four weeks for England’s resurgent quick. Fast, furious and incisive whenever he was thrown the ball, Wood has finally lived up to the potential he’s been hinting at for the past four years. But those injury worries are never far from the surface. England will want to keep him fresh for the sharp end of the tournament.Alex Hales swings across the line•AFPSquad probablesAlex Hales
The kingpin of England’s world-record 481 for 6 against Australia at Trent Bridge last summer, Hales’ struggle to get a regular berth epitomises the enviable strength and depth of England’s ODI batting. But what a talent to have waiting in the wings, keeping everyone else’s standards as high as possible.Liam Plunkett
Had the World Cup been 12 months ago, Plunkett would have been the first quick on the team sheet. His deck-thumping abilities in the middle overs have been invaluable in England’s post-2015 resurgence, but he’s 34 now, and the years of hard yakka are just threatening to catch up with him.Jofra Archer
Now then … here’s a conundrum for the England selectors. There’s a ready-made superstar waiting in England’s wings – with pace, variety, huge experience of pressure situations, as well as hard-hitting batting and world-class fielding. But he’s played just 14 List A games in his career. Regardless of the reasons to be cautious, much like Kevin Pietersen going into the 2005 Ashes, he is surely too good to ignore.David Willey
Overlooked for the ODI leg of the tour, much to his chagrin, Willey took his opportunity to push his case in the T20Is, finding new-ball swing with his left-arm line to ransack a slap-happy line-up. He’ll surely be in the squad, even if his work is limited to six overs a match at the top of an innings.Sam Billings
It will require a surfeit of injuries for Billings to move any higher up the pecking order, but his impressive initiative-seizing in the second T20I was a vindication of the faith that England have placed in him. Has struggled to take his sporadic opportunities in the past few seasons, but he undoubtedly has the talent to be a world-beater.Joe Denly
A bit of a bolter in England’s World Cup planning. And strangely enough, it’s been his legspin, rather than his perfectly serviceable (if unremarkable) white-ball batting that has brought him to prominence. If Jamie Dalrymple can play in a World Cup, then Joe Denly certainly can.Liam Dawson
Hampshire’s Mr Reliable. Like James Tredwell in 2011, he’s a ready-made go-to second spinner, a bloke who can come into a competition cold, and still pick up a bag of cheap wickets before thumping a few boundaries in the run-chase.Chris Jordan claimed career-best figures of 4 for 6•AFPChris Jordan
Man of the Series in the T20Is in West Indies, Jordan dropped a sizeable hint that there ought to be more than one Barbados-born Sussex-employed fast-bowling allrounder vying for that final 15. He’s been pigeon-holed in T20s for the past three years, but with a more reliable stock ball to complement his cunning variations, he’s looking capable of mounting a 50-over case too.Tom Curran
As Stokes inadvertently showed in Kolkata three years ago, there’s a clear value in handing your death-bowling duties to a specialist, especially in the heat and noise of a global world final. And few bowlers in England’s ranks would relish the challenge more than Tom Curran. But does that skill alone justify his inclusion over and above other bowlers who may contribute more at other moments of the innings?Not at the racesDawid Malan
Malan’s T20I record – four fifties in five innings at a strike-rate of 150 – implied he’d be a shoo-in for the Windies matches. But instead he was banished to the margins, a clear hint that he’s not what England are looking for in the immediate future. Harsh, maybe, but England aren’t lacking batting options in white-ball cricket.Sam Curran
Let’s see what happens at the IPL, where Curran’s £800,000 price tag suggests he’ll be given a central role in the King’s XI campaign. But he’s not yet been given his head in England’s white-ball squads, and despite being called back to the Caribbean in as a late replacement for Moeen, that doesn’t look like changing in a hurry.James Vince
Another man who just can’t help but be mentioned in dispatches. But Vince hasn’t played in England’s white-ball set-up since last summer, when he was an injury replacement, and seems too far down the reckoning to be resurfaced in a hurry. The Ashes, however, could be another story …Olly Stone
A burst of pulse-raising aggression in the Sri Lanka ODIs before Christmas – his snorter to Niroshan Dickwella was a reminder of everything England’s seam bowling had been lacking – but the stress fracture that ended his Caribbean tour has likely scuppered his chances.

If Knight Riders lose on Sunday, then Sunrisers will sneak through to the playoffs despite finishing on only 12 points

S Rajesh04-May-2019Chennai Super Kings are on top of the leaderboard, and they will stay there if they beat Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. A defeat will push them out of the top spot if Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders, but Super Kings could still finish among the top two if they don’t lose too badly: if they’re chasing 180, they can afford to lose by as much as 41 runs and still stay above Delhi Capital’s net run-rate; if they bat first and score 160, they can afford to lose in about 15 overs. There’s a huge incentive for them to finish in the top two, as they will then get the opportunity to play in the first qualifier at home.The one team that Super Kings have lost to at home this season are Mumbai Indians, and they will have a chance to repeat that performance in the first qualifier if they beat Kolkata Knight Riders at home in the last match of the league stage on Sunday. Mumbai’s excellent net run-rate of 0.321 means that a win by any margin will push them above Capitals on the points table. If Mumbai win, and Super Kings lose their last game, then Mumbai will top the points table.For Capitals to finish among the top two, at least one out of Super Kings or Mumbai will have to lose on Sunday. If Super Kings lose, the margin will have to be significant enough for them to slip below Capitals on the net run-rate (as explained above); if Mumbai Indians lose, they will finish on 16, to Capitals’ 18.The other battle on Sunday will happen for the fourth spot. If Knight Riders beat Mumbai, they will take that fourth spot, and those two teams will clash again in the Eliminator on Wednesday. If Knight Riders lose, then Sunrisers Hyderabad will sneak through despite finishing on only 12 points – it will be the first time in IPL history that a team would have qualified with 12 points.Kings XI Punjab will finish on 12 too if they beat Super Kings, but they are so far behind on the net run-rate that they will need a victory margin of around 250 runs to surpass Sunrisers’ net run-rate.

The second ODI between West Indies and India went quickly from being a contest to the familiar sight of the team from the Caribbean imploding

Aishwarya Kumar in Port of Spain12-Aug-2019One minute, the stadium was abuzz with chatter. West Indies were very much in the game – their death bowling had limited India to under 300 and with Nicholas Pooran and Roston Chase in the middle, they looked like they had it under control.Then wickets fell like a pack of cards. Pooran. Chase. Carlos Brathwaite. Kemar Roach.The crowd started to clear. It was an all too familiar feeling. It was an all too familiar sight. West Indies are almost always close, but somehow, almost always short.”They say in the islands that the West Indies know how to lose,” Gerald Ramkissoon, former chief curator and current maintenance head at Queen’s Park Oval said. “Same old, same old West Indies,” was the take of Ian Ramsey, part of the pitch staff at Queens Park Oval.The team has been struggling for a while – they last won a bilateral ODI series in 2014, against Bangladesh. But experts and fans had renewed hope before the World Cup, particularly given a drawn series against England leading up to the event. The general perception was that the squad had the tools – with their deep and exciting batting line-up and the in-form pace attack – needed to succeed. Now, it was all about execution.That’s exactly where they failed, close to winning several matches but not going over the line. They were 15 runs short in their run chase against Australia, a heart-breaking five against New Zealand, and 23 against Sri Lanka. Those three results going their way could have meant a semi-final spot for the team.”Again, we were in front today and then we found a way to give away our wickets, so it’s just a matter of us now learning from our mistakes and trying to dig deeper,” West Indies coach Floyd Reifer said after the defeat to India in the second ODI, which put them 1-0 behind in the three-match series with one game to go.Captain Jason Holder has been saying that their main batting focus is taking time with the new ball, understanding the conditions, and then scoring runs at a steady pace. But that approach runs contrary to how many West Indies batsmen usually play – the slam-bang T20 style. And that’s the style that has resulted in the batsmen, particularly the middle order, making careless shot choices.Ramkissoon reminisced about the time when West Indies had someone like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whom bowlers would spend hours trying to dislodge.”T20, especially CPL, Big Bash and IPL changed everything,” Ramkissoon said. “Don’t get me wrong, the current team, Pooran, (Evin) Lewis and (Shimron) Hetmyer, they have the ability and the game to take West Indies far, but it’s about how you approach cricket, how you play the game.”Both Ramkissoon and Ramsey feel that the relative lack of experience in the line-up is crucial. “(Kieron) Pollard should have been in this series. He played in the IPL, he knows how most of the Indian players work, he was in good form – he would have helped players on the field, bowled and batted, we call him the triple threat in Trinidad,” Ramkissoon said.With Gayle’s looming retirement, there is also the gaping hole that is West Indies’ opening spot. Evin Lewis seems more or less set at the top, but without a solid partner, West Indies will struggle to build the foundation that Holder is keen on.These are just some among a number of issues West Indies need to address sooner rather than later. After all, among the fans, the cricket public, and even the local press, there is continuing hope for the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s to return one day. If it is within reach, as some feel, the players need to do what they can to grab it.

The current team has half a dozen all-time XI contenders, and matches up well to the Hadlee-Crowe side of the 1980s

Sidharth Monga10-Dec-2019In 2009, ESPNcricinfo asked a 10-man jury made up of veteran journalists, cricket historians and administrators to pick an all-time New Zealand Test XI. You might accuse the jury of an anti-recency bias, but you still probably would have struggled to add more than one to the two players picked who played primarily after 1990: Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond. Ten years on, New Zealand’s Test cricket has thrown up seven bona fide contenders: two all-timers in batsmen Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, two wicketkeepers in Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling, and three of the top-seven wicket-takers for New Zealand in Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner.That this group of players has been able to put up these big numbers is down in no insignificant part to the number of Tests they have managed to play. Six teams have played more Tests than New Zealand in this decade, but they still have two representatives each in the top-10 batsmen and bowlers. That speaks of continuity and consistency, not out of charity because these players have repaid the faith shown in them.In the 1980s, for example, 41 players played in New Zealand’s 59 Tests; in this decade only 50 players have been required to play their 81 Tests. And this includes super specialists such as Will Somerville, who gets to play only when a third spinner is required in Asia.