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A substantial knock in the next Test could put the Australia captain in the second position on the on the all-time list of most points accumulated by a Test batsman, only behind Sir Don Bradman

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2017Australia captain Steven Smith’s unbeaten 141 in the Brisbane Test earned him five points and helped consolidate his position at the top of the ICC rankings for Test batsmen. The other big movement on the batting charts was India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara’s rise to No. 2: he reclaimed the second spot after 143 against Sri Lanka in the Nagpur Test, moving above England captain Joe Root and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.Smith’s 21st Test century, a crucial effort in Australia’s ten-wicket win, took his points tally to 941, and put him at par with former England captain Peter May at No. 5 on the list of highest points tally in batting history, behind Sir Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942) and Ricky Ponting (942). A solid performance in the upcoming Adelaide Test, which starts from December 2, could boost Smith’s chances of climbing to second on this list.As for Pujara, this is the third time he has claimed the second rank, having first reached the position after the Ranchi Test against Australia in March, and then again in August, after scoring 133 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Pujara is currently 11 points ahead of his captain Virat Kohli, who remained at the fifth place despite adding 60 points to his tally, after his fifth Test double-hundred against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. Kohli has accumulated 877 points.In the bowlers’ rankings, Ravindra Jadeja re-occupied the No. 2 spot, with Kagiso Rabada dropping to third, while R Ashwin consolidated his fourth position with a match haul of 8 for 130, which helped him become the fastest bowler to 300 Test wickets. Australia’s Mitchell Starc made his way back into the top 10, gaining three places to the tenth position after returning match figures of 6 for 128 against England.ICC rankings: Top ten Test batsmen 1. Steven Smith (941), 2 Cheteshwar Pujara (888), 3 Joe Root (881), 4 Kane Williamson (880), 5 Virat Kohli (877), 6 David Warner (826), 7 Hashim Amla (795), 8 Azhar Ali (755), 9 KL Rahul (735), 10 Dean Elgar (732)
Top ten Test bowlers – 1 James Anderson (891), 2 Ravindra Jadeja (880), 3 Kagiso Rabada (876), 4 R Ashwin (849), 5 Rangana Herath (807), 6 Josh Hazlewood (798), 7 Nathan Lyon (753), 8 Dale Steyn (748), 9 Neil Wagner (745), 10 Mitchell Starc (744)

The Pakistan pacer is expected to be out of action for at least six months as a result of the injury

Umar Farooq04-Nov-2017Usman Khan, the Pakistan left-arm pacer, has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back in what is a career-threatening blow. The 23-year-old bowler, who had stunned Sri Lanka with figures of 5 for 34 in just his second ODI two weeks ago, will be out of action for at least six months as a result of the injury.He picked up the injury after second T20 against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, and missed the final game of the tour – the landmark T20 in Lahore. Medical screening confirmed lumbar-bone stress in his back. He had struggled with the same injury in the early days of his career, in 2013, after making debuting for Pakistan in T20 cricket. He has sustained back injuries twice before and missed a major chunk of season of 2014-15 as a result. “It is disappointing but this [course of treatment] will give him the best chance of recovering as quickly as possible,” Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan head coach, told ESPNcricinfo.Usman was brought into the ODI side for the Sri Lanka series after Mohammad Amir pulled out due to injury, and he made an immediate impact. His five wickets in the second game against Sri Lanka came within the space of 3.3 overs. The performance was a throwback to four years ago, at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, when he announced himself with five wickets for nine runs in 3.1 overs for Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan.Usman’s injury is the latest in a string for Pakistan. Amir recently missed the ODIs against Sri Lanka before returning for the T20 series, and Ruman Raees Babar Azam and Imad Wasim are recovering from a wrist impingement, groin strain and knee injury respectively. When asked whether he was concerned by this sudden spate of injuries, Arthur said: “A little bit, but a lot of them niggles just needed a bit of rest and that is why we have put such a lot of effort in working on our bench strength.”

Chandika Hathurusingha has been appointed Sri Lanka’s new head coach and will begin his new role on December 20, at the start of the T20I series in India

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Dec-2017Chandika Hathurusingha’s first full assignment with Sri Lanka will be the tour to Bangladesh, where he will have just finished up as head coach.Though Hathurusingha had handed his resignation to the Bangladesh Cricket Board as early as October, the boards had been in discussions with him, and indeed with each other, as to what a peaceable relocation of the coach might look like. But SLC has now confirmed that Hathurusingha will begin his three-year contract with Sri Lanka on December 20, just as their T20s against India start. A two Test tour of Bangladesh is set to begin in January.An SLC official confirmed that Hathurusingha will be the highest-paid Sri Lanka coach in history. He is also due to visit Dhaka on Saturday, presumably in order to debrief and finalise his release from the BCB. He had signed on with Bangladesh until the 2019 World Cup, but eventually agreed to take a job with his home country, following several approaches from SLC. He had been Sri Lanka’s A team coach, and an assistant coach with the national team, before his relationship with a previous SLC administration soured in 2010.That SLC has secured Hathurusingha’s services is both a victory for the board, as well as a substantial financial commitment. Sri Lanka have been without a long-term head coach since Graham Ford’s resignation in June, and the board has struggled to attract high-quality applicants to the role. And in order to lure Hathurusingha, SLC has had to more or less match the figure he was being paid by the BCB – a sum in the vicinity of $340,000 (aspects of that pay package were also determined by team performance).Hathurusingha’s tenure with Bangladesh had been marked by progress both in the limited-overs formats and in Tests, where they achieved maiden victories against Australia, Sri Lanka and England. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have had a difficult year across formats, and will now count on Hathurusingha to replicate the success he had had with his previous team. Highly-rated by virtually every Sri Lanka player who had worked with him in the past, the likes of Rangana Herath, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, and current Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera, have all credited Hathurusingha with having had a positive effect on their cricket.He will be Sri Lanka’s 11th head coach (including interim appointments) since 2011. The three-year contract should take him up to the end of 2020, so long as it is honoured by all parties.

The selectors will not name a replacement, so the squad has been trimmed to 14 players, with the likelihood of Khaya Zondo being handed a debut now higher

Firdose Moonda30-Jan-2018Ab de Villiers has been ruled out of the first three ODIs against India with a finger injury. The selectors will not name a replacement, so the squad has been trimmed to 14 players, with the likelihood of Khaya Zondo being handed a debut now higher.De Villiers sustained the injury to his right index finger during the third Test against India and will need two weeks to make a complete recovery. He is expected to be fit for the fourth match, the pink ODI at the Wanderers, for which he is one of the ambassadors.South Africa had named a squad for the first three matches only as they look to launch vision 2019, their pathway to the World Cup. It was without Farhaan Behardien, a possible replacement for de Villiers in the middle order but included Zondo, who was part of the South African squad that toured India in late 2015 although he did not play a game. Zondo’s List A numbers do not put him among the top-performing domestic players but his performances for South Africa A and his “potential”, according to convener of selectors Linda Zondi, is what the selectors are interested in. Opener Aiden Markram, who could slot in further down the order, is also in the squad.The ODI series starts on Thursday in Durban and de Villiers will miss matches at Kingsmead, SuperSport Park and Newlands.

A round-up of all the top news from the Pakistan Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2018Teenager Afridi makes his mark
The buzz around teenager Shaheen Afridi continues to grow. He first made a splash with an eight-for on first-class debut last year, and then followed it up with an impressive Under-19 World Cup. He hadn’t made much of an impact in the PSL till Friday, when he took 5 for 4 to run through Multan Sultans and set up Lahore Qalandars’ first win of the season.”This is the first time I have played Twenty20 cricket,” Afridi said. “That was the reason why I couldn’t click in the earlier games.” The 17-year old became the fifth youngest to take a five-for in T20s, and his effort was also among the most economical five-fors in T20 history.Sultans coach Tom Moody was among those impressed by Afridi. “He is an exciting prospect, he is tall and has got some pace and will get quicker and has the spirit that I like. He is certainly one to look out for the future and to nurture.”Gohar hits form on comeback trail
Islamabad United spinner Zafar Gohar was thrilled with his three-wicket haul in his first game of the PSL season, a 26-run win over Peshawar Zalmi. He was even more delighted, as he has had an injury-scarred year, playing only a handful of domesic matches since last April.”I have had a problem with my left shoulder, which I have had surgery on,” Gohar said. “It’s been a tough 6-7 months for my career. I’m feeling better now, there was some pressure on me but I had confidence in my skills and my hard work.”The highlight of his spell against Peshawar was the ball which dismissed opposition captain Darren Sammy, pitching on middle and turn away to take the outside of offstump. “In my opinion, the delivery to Sammy was a magic ball.”Injury setback for GulOn Wednesday, the frequently injured Umar Gul took six wickets in his first match of the season. That didn’t lead to more opportunities with Multan Sultans though, with a knee problem sidelining him. “Unfortunately Umar Gul’s knee has quite considerable swelling but we are managing that,” Sultans coach Moody said. “We are certainly hoping that as the tournament unfolds, he will be back and available for selection.”

South Africa’s captain has expressed sympathy for Steven Smith, but was less charitable to David Warner, whom he hoped would ‘reflect and see if he can change the way he has played the game’

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg29-Mar-2018From a “real, deep, place” in his heart, Faf du Plessis has sent his former opposite number Steven Smith a sympathetic text message following the ball-tampering saga that saw Smith reduced to tears on his arrival in Sydney.”I feel for the guy,” du Plessis said, on the eve of the fourth Test in Johannesburg. “You don’t want to see guys going through that and it’s going to be incredibly hard for him over the next days. I just sent him a message of support saying that he’ll get through this, he must just be strong. He appreciated the message. There is a lot of respect between the two of us. He’s a good leader for Australia.”After all the bad blood that has tainted this series, it feels momentous that someone has been able to find and utter the word “respect”. Du Plessis went even further. He offered Smith “compassion”, admitted to being in the same position (literally, as du Plessis has been found guilty of ball tampering twice) and suggested it is already time for Smith start picking up the pieces and for the public to allow him to rebuild his reputation.”I do feel sorry for Steve and I do have a compassion for what he is going through. I think he is one of the good guys and he’s just been caught in a bad place. He’s obviously taken responsibility for that,” du Plessis said. “We’re not sitting in a glass house where we think we are better than them in that aspect. It’s a mistake that was made and I feel that, it’s easier said than done, but they can move on now. You don’t want to see any cricketer or person go through that amount of pain. I feel for what he’s going through as a captain.”Like Smith, du Plessis knows the responsibility that comes with leading a team and believes one of Smith’s regrets will be that the chance to create a legacy under his own name has been squandered. “I know as a leader he would have tried to have his identity put into the Australian team and perhaps now that that chance has been taken away from him, that’s not nice,” du Plessis said. “To be a captain of your country is a huge honour and you can see the disappointment. I feel really sorry for him.”Asked whether the one-year ban, which includes a ban from the IPL, 100 hours of voluntary service, and an order to play grade cricket, is too harsh, du Plessis replied in the affirmative, though he accepted that the seriousness with which Australians regard their cricket provides some context about the severity of the sanction. “I think, yes, I think so, but I understand the context of it now,” du Plessis said. “Perhaps I didn’t understand how important it is to them, but you can really see how much it means to the Australian public. You can understand why they think they need to be so harsh.”Du Plessis and team-mate Vernon Philander would not have dreamt of a similar punishment being lumped on them when they were found guilty of the same offence. In fact, the opposite happened. Cricket South Africa came out in support of its players with team manager Mohammed Moosajee saying it was “harsh” to call du Plessis rubbing the ball on his zipper in the UAE ball-tampering. The management also tried to suppress footage of Philander’s incident and CSA mounted a staunch defence of du Plessis during the Mintgate scandal in Australia in November 2016. Now, du Plessis suspects punishments will be harsher, especially after the ICC has also opted to review its code.”From where I’m sitting, I think it (Smith’s sanction) is harsh if you go back into the history where certain players have been in similar situations. The positive from that is that this is making even the ICC realise that they (Cricket Australia) are going harsher than them so maybe they need to sharpen up. If you do intend to do something illegal with the ball, you don’t just walk away from it with three demerit points and a 75% fine,” du Plessis said, referring to the penalty handed down to Cameron Bancroft.Though that may mean du Plessis would also not get away as much as he has, he welcomed the ICC’s review, reminding that it was something he has called for during Mintgate, when CSA wanted a clearer definition of what constitutes a foreign substance being applied to the ball. “I think it’s overdue. I remember in Australia two years ago with Mintgate and there was no clarity as players. We don’t know what is allowed and what is not allowed. Once you have those grey areas I think a lot of things will happen that perhaps shouldn’t happen. Perhaps something like this is the good that can come from that … you can be a lot clearer and players can have a good understanding,” du Plessis said. “Also the penalties and you get the same penalties for different things. It’s good that they are thinking that way.”Getty Images

And if the ICC is reading, du Plessis does not think sledging should be banned from the game because he thinks it is minimally made use of, and equally minimally effective. “I don’t think that sledging has had that much influence on the way people play. I think it’s something in the past that people maybe thought had a huge impact,” he said. “Maybe there are one or two guys that still feel a bit more pressure when they feel there is a bit of verbal on the field. For me, it motivates me when I hear people say things on the field. Generally in cricket over the past two years I haven’t felt like that boundary has been pushed a lot with playing different teams.”Australia, of course, have been the exception. “As I said at the beginning of the series, we were expecting that from Australia and that’s the way they play. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong,” du Plessis said.After talk of team introspection and cultural change, du Plessis suspects that will change but he hopes the Australian team will retain some of its character nonetheless. “I don’t think every team in the world should play exactly the same way. It’s just been the Australian way,” he said. “But what we have spoken about this series is that line has been crossed too many times.”With sympathy for Smith and, to a less-talked-about degree, Bancroft and understanding for the Australian position, the only thing that remained was to ask du Plessis whether he felt any of the same goodwill for David Warner. As diplomatically as possible, du Plessis, like so many others, indicated that Warner would be more harshly judged, because of his past behaviour and the way he has acted in this series.Warner sparked the original series of sideshows during the first Test in Durban, when his two-hours of chatter at Quinton de Kock resulted in de Kock answering back and led to the stairwell saga from which the rest of the bad temper has flowed. Though the way Warner and particularly his wife Candice were treated by South African crowds was nothing short of shameful, Warner will find it difficult to find emphatic ears in most circles.”As a captain, the conversation between myself and Steve is on a different level. I don’t know Dave that well. This series has been fiery and he has been in the middle of it,” du Plessis said. “It’s interesting to see his thoughts. It might be a nice opportunity for him to see if he can reflect and see if he can change the way he has played the game.”

With Andre Russell in Kolkata and training since March 24, and Chris Lynn and Mitchell Johnson arriving on Monday, the Knight Riders CEO was confident of a full-strength XI for the team’s season-opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2018Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – Kolkata Knight Riders’ big three overseas players – will all be available to play in their season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, according to team CEO Venky Mysore.There were questions over the availability of Russell (who reached Kolkata last month) and Lynn, after both players pulled out of the PSL with hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively, but Mysore was confident that the two T20 stars, together with Narine and Mitchell Johnson, would feature at the Eden Gardens when Knight Riders’ campaign starts.”Lynn’s fine, Johnson’s fine – they’re all on a plane as we speak,” Mysore said at a press conference in Kolkata on Sunday. “Tomorrow, we’ll have a practice game. If the physio feels they’re fit to play the practice match after the flight, then you’ll see them in action. Lynn’s available for the first match.”Captain Dinesh Karthik and vice-captain Robin Uthappa pose for a picture•PTI

Knight Riders lost the services of Mitchell Starc, their $1.47m buy at the auction, who picked up a shin injury in South Africa, the outcome of which was Johnson becoming the team’s frontline pacer. Despite his age, Mysore backed the 36-year-old to deliver for Knight Riders in the tournament’s early stages.”With every adversity comes an opportunity and it could be one of the youngsters who shine this season,” Mysore said. “So, yes, we are disappointed but we’re not going ‘Oh my God, what happened.'”Johnson’s played a lot at the IPL and won two championships [with Mumbai Indians]. He’s an outstanding bowler – you saw how he bowled at the Big Bash. He’s still fit, still bowling 145+ and is an experienced campaigner. So, at least in the initial stage we won’t miss Starc, but we’re looking at replacements. Give us 24 hours.”Knight Riders, however, are not a big-name team, or so Mysore believes. He said staying low-key before the IPL’s start was beneficial to the team and that the other squad members, on whom the spotlight hasn’t shone much, also possess the desire and talent to do well for the side.”Yes, we talk about [Shivam] Mavi, [Kamlesh] Nagarkoti and [Shubman] Gill, but don’t forget Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana and Ishank Jaggi,” Mysore said. “Jaggi’s a highly under-rated player and had an excellent season for Jharkhand. It’s good that we’re under the radar. People are saying, ‘where are the names, where are the names?’ You don’t need names here, you need people who are hungry to do well.”Knight Riders’ season opener is at home, against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, on April 8.

Former England women’s captain will combine management role with continuing to play for Hampshire

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-2018Charlotte Edwards, the former England women’s captain, has made her first movement into cricket administration by being appointed as Hampshire’s director of women’s cricket.Edwards, who will continue to captain Hampshire Women for a second season this summer, will head up the management of both Hampshire Women’s first-team and player pathway sides, as well as the Southern Vipers – the team she led to the inaugural Kia Super League title in 2016.She takes over the role filled by former Hampshire wicketkeeper Bob Parks, who has announced his retirement after more than 45 years involved in the game.”I’m extremely excited about my new role as director of women’s cricket,” Edwards said. “Having played for Hampshire and Southern Vipers for the past two seasons, I see an ambitious organisation that will complement my passion for domestic cricket. I look forward to working with players, coaches and staff to help Hampshire become one of the leading domestic clubs in the country for women’s cricket.”Edwards, who captained the England Women’s side for more than a decade before retiring in 2015, scored more than 10,000 international runs during her 20-year career.Her career spanned four Ashes series victories, a World T20 title and the 2009 World Cup victory as England captain. In 2014, she was awarded a CBE for her services to cricket.”We’re delighted that Charlotte has agreed to take up the role,” Hampshire’s chief executive officer, David Mann, said. “She’s a legend in the women’s game and has been a superb ambassador for the Vipers both on and off the pitch over the past two seasons.”Her wealth of experience and knowledge of the game will be invaluable assets for our management group and we’re excited by the qualities she brings to the role.”Our thanks must go to Bob Parks who has been an integral part of what the Southern Vipers and Hampshire Women have been able to achieve over the past two seasons and we all wish him well in his retirement.”

Head coach hopes to put in place a proper communication system to report injuries so they cost players as little time as possible

Sidharth Monga in Dehradun04-Jun-2018Bangladesh don’t have world-class wristspin or mystery spin to compete with the Afghanistan spin wizards on the slow and low Dehradun surface, but they sure have a bowler who can be a handful in these conditions. Except that he is not playing this series. Mustafizur Rahman is out for four weeks with a hairline fracture in his foot, which he stuck out to try to stop a straight drive in what turned out to be his last IPL match on May 20.Mustafizur came back, didn’t inform the BCB or the physio how bad the pain was, and made it worse when he turned up for a warm-up match. Bangladesh coach Courtney Walsh says a clear message has been sent to Mustafizur that this is not on. That he owes it to the national team to give them a chance to get him back to full fitness as soon as possible.”We didn’t know about his injury,” Walsh said. “That he was injured wasn’t even the frustrating part. There is nothing we can do with the injury, but he is a key component in the set-up of the team. We are going to miss him a bit. It has given a chance for someone else to step up. Had we known about his injury earlier, I don’t know if we could have done something to get him back on the park quicker, but the game he came to play, a warm-up game… if we would have known about the injury, for sure he wouldn’t have played those games.”This is a scenario impossible to imagine with teams like Australia and South Africa and England. They are known to pull fast bowlers out of the IPL just as precaution. They manage the workloads of their players to the last detail. None of their bowlers can bowl more balls in the nets than what their medical teams prescribe. Here, Bangladesh’s young talisman didn’t even inform his own team of how bad his injury was.”It’s a cause for concern for me,” Walsh said. “It’s the second time Mustafizur has come back from the IPL with an injury. We need to look at that. We need to assess that. Unfortunately, when you play the game there is chance you will get injured. We need to make sure we keep him fit and get him stronger because he is young, talented and has everything to offer. We need to get his mind right, and get his bowling up to the standards he can be.”When asked if the BCB manages to control the workloads as closely as Cricket Australia does, he said the onus ultimately was with the individual more than the board. “There are reports passed back and forth as to have an idea of the workload,” Walsh said. “Then we try to manage that when he comes back. We get an idea of the workload once he comes back. That is the reason why he got some time off when he came back because he had played quite a number of games in the IPL.”That is something we look to monitor but at the end of the day, the player himself has got to own that responsibility because you are working for two different environments. Something that we look to manage, but we can only do so much. There is nothing we can do about injuries. Once you get injured, you have to get the injury right.”Walsh said they had learnt an important lesson, and going forward they will look to put in place a proper communication system to report injuries so they cost players as little time as possible.

The South Africa captain thinks allowing the visiting team to always decide on whether they want to bat or bowl will bring back some balance to Test cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle14-Jul-20180:57

No toss will add more balance to Test cricket – Du Plessis

The visiting team outclassed in unfamiliar conditions, twice being dismissed for less than 200; the match – barely competitive – hurtling to a conclusion inside three days. The above could describe either of South Africa’s two most recent matches against Sri Lanka. In Johannesburg last year, a South Africa attack featuring four frontline quicks had scythed through Sri Lanka twice to record a victory of an innings and 118 runs. Now, in Galle, Sri Lanka’s trio of spinners have dismissed South Africa for record-low totals to sweep to victory by 278 runs.These kinds of disparate results are why Test cricket should do away with the toss and instead allow visiting teams to choose whether to bat or bowl first, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has said. South Africa have only recently become outspoken about creating made-to-order pitches at home, while New Zealand have also attempted to capitalise on their seam-bowling advantage by preparing very green tracks for Asian sides in recent years. In South Asia, meanwhile, teams have long produced tracks to suit themselves.These practices are why the ICC cricket committee recently considered doing away with the toss, before eventually deciding to keep it. Du Plessis, though, wants a toss-less Test future.”I’m a big fan of taking away the toss,” he said. “I think even in South Africa you’ll still prepare the conditions the way you prepare them now, but you just make sure that you bring some balance. In home conditions teams will still win the majority of the games, but you still do even it out a little. I think over the last two or three years away-records have definitely gone down, and games are finishing a lot sooner than they used to.”Matches have certainly grown shorter in Sri Lanka, which has just seen its 20th consecutive result Test – a record for any host nation. Spin played a major role in most of those Tests, with Sri Lanka preparing tracks to suit Rangana Herath in particular. New Zealand, meanwhile, have won 14 and lost only three of the 21 most-recent Tests they have played at home. India and Pakistan (who play their home games in the UAE) also have fearsome home records over the past five years, and are understood to also instruct curators to produce pitches that suit them.”When I started playing Test cricket, 400s and 500s were happening quite regularly,” du Plessis said. “So I’m not just speaking about subcontinent conditions. In South Africa games hardly reach the end of day four anymore. I think that’s one of the ways you can make sure that balance is a little better.”Du Plessis’ request to can the toss also comes amid teams finding ever more creative and intensive means with which to disadvantage an opposition. There have been several complaints in recent years that the pitches produced for practice matches the visiting teams play ahead of a series have been too dissimilar to the tracks encountered in the actual Tests. Du Plessis suggested the same had occurred in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, and even hinted that South Africa should do the same.”We played a warm-up game in Colombo which was on a flat wicket – it didn’t spin. So you have to give credit to Sri Lanka for doing that well. That’s some learning in that to take when we’re playing in South Africa. The nets that we’ve been playing in haven’t been spinning at all. So we could have even come a month earlier but if you’re practicing on facilities that don’t spin, you’re not going to get what you get out there [in the Tests].”