And what is the ideal opening combination now that Rory Burns is back?

Andrew Miller02-Feb-2021Related

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Who should open?Since making his debut at the end of 2018, Burns has established a reputation as the most durable of England’s Test openers of the post-Alastair Cook era. However, two centuries in 21 Tests and an average of 32.44 aren’t figures that demand an instant recall, and having chosen to sit out the Sri Lanka tour to attend the birth of his first daughter, Burns admitted last week that giving up his place came with risks.And yet, given the struggles of England’s incumbent openers in those two Galle Tests, the smart money would be on Burns slotting into his old berth, but at whose expense? Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley struggled horrifically on their Asian debuts, particularly against the new-ball spin of Lasith Embuldeniya, who exploited their combination of hard hands and lunging feet to undo them in seven innings out of eight, all told.And yet, the one innings that got away was a masterclass of mind over matter, as Sibley willed himself to endure in spite of his limitations, even adapting his technique mid-match to give himself more options for strike rotation, and grind his way to a priceless half-century. Crawley is highly rated by the management, and rightly so after his epic 267 against Pakistan in the summer, but on the basis of the Sri Lanka showing, he’s the likelier to have to make way.Vacancy at No.3 Jonny Bairstow contributed a top score of 47 in four innings in Sri Lanka, but even in the absence of a statement innings, he exuded an air of calm and competence at first drop (except when running between the wickets) to contribute to a pair of century stands and give the firm impression that he’s got over his hang-up about the wicketkeeper’s role, and is ready to become the frontline Test batsman that he’s always looked capable of being.But no sooner is he back in the side for the first time in more than a year, Bairstow is out on his ear again. The reasoning behind his resting from the first two India Tests is sound – as a key member of England’s T20 World Cup squad, he’ll need to be fresh and firing for the eight limited-overs games looming in March. However, the timing is broadly terrible, with no obvious replacement likely to make a case between now and Friday.There’s Crawley, of course. He averages 69.50 in four Tests at three and four, compared to 22.00 as an opener, but the challenge of Chennai is far removed from the Ageas Bowl, and given England’s issues further down the order, his presence might limit the scope for extra allrounders to balance the bowling attack. Ollie Pope is another contender, certainly in the long term – but he’ll be feeling his way back after injury and has rarely batted higher than No. 4 in his first-class career. Joe Root seems pathologically opposed to No. 3 too, but in the circumstances, and given his own resplendent form, he might be the obvious contender.One spinner or two? Chennai is renowned as a spin-friendly surface – only Galle has delivered more ten-wicket hauls for spinners in its Test history. However, there is reportedly more grass than usual on the pitch at this stage of its preparation, which may yet sway England’s thinking.Despite their combined haul of 22 wickets in Sri Lanka, Jack Leach and Dom Bess struggled for long periods in both Tests, particularly when the pitch was at its flattest in the opening exchanges of the second match, and either or both could well make way for Moeen Ali – now recovered from his bout of Covid-19, and seemingly eager to make up for lost time after 18 months away from Test cricket.As an offspinner (not to mention one of England’s most natural players of spin bowling) Ali would likely be a straight swap for Bess, whose consistency with the ball left much to be desired, but whose fighting spirit could not be denied, least of all with the bat – a not-insignificant consideration, given how crucial his two-hour 32 proved to be in the second Test. Leach, notwithstanding his legendary status as a nightwatchman, is not quite as equipped for survival in these conditions.Anderson and/or Broad Ali’s potential return also sharpens the debate about England’s all-round options, which in turn may inform one of the most crucial decisions of the series. With Stokes due to slot back in at No. 5, and Chris Woakes also on hand to deepen the seam-bowling-allrounder department, it is possible that England could field an XI with sufficient balance and depth to allow both of their stand-out seamers to play without placing too great a burden on either.Stuart Broad and James Anderson were simply magnificent in their alternating roles in Galle, proving incisive and restrictive in equal measure as they returned combined series figures of 57-27-80-9. After years of sniping about their lack of impact in unhelpful conditions, both men unfurled a full toolbox-worth of experience, chiselling their opportunities through a combination of stamina, consistency and subtle variation.Theirs were lessons that Woakes in particular seems equipped to heed, judging by his impact on placid decks in New Zealand and South Africa last winter, while Jofra Archer’s 90mph stylings have already been heavily informed by his impact at the IPL. As for Stokes, he is liable to hurtle in in whatever role is required of him. There is the potential for England to field a well-rounded attack, in spite of their lack of a nailed-on spin option.The danger with such an approach, of course, lies in the intensity of the itinerary, and the likelihood that India’s batsmen – fresh from their heroics in Australia, and reinforced by the return of Virat Kohli in particular – will make life significantly harder for England’s bowlers than Sri Lanka ever managed. Playing Broad and Anderson as a pairing would be the attacking option, but if it failed in the first Test, it might prove difficult for England to defend for the rest of the series.

Qalandars’ icon player showed little signs of rust as he took 2 for 16 to set up a big win against Team Abu Dhabi.

Barny Read31-Jan-2021Day three of the Abu Dhabi T10 League saw its full quota of stars finally arrive in the UAE capital, with former Pakistan allrounder and Qalandars icon player Shahid Afridi the last man out of quarantine to star on Saturday night.Afridi had been held up by an expired UAE residency visa which forced him to briefly return to Pakistan before re-entering the country. But just hours out of mandatory isolation, he had taken 2 for 16 as Qalandars reduced Team Abu Dhabi to 100 for 5 in the second match of the day.Related

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That bowling display teed up the Qalandars batsmen to see their side home with nine wickets and nine balls to spare. Understandably, Afridi was pleased to be out of the makeshift gym of his hotel room and making his mark on the pitch.”Quarantine wasn’t bad because I was missing cricket but I tried to keep myself fit in the hotel room doing some different activities,” he said. “The good thing is that I’m still enjoying my cricket and I’m still passionate about it and my fans, they want to see me playing cricket so because of my fans I love to play and love to continue for maybe one or two years.”Despite the short turnaround moving from quarantine to playing, Afridi didn’t appear to have any rustiness to shake off with the ball. He said it is essential for him to stay razor sharp if he’s to continue performing at the highest level.”If you want to play cricket, you should be 100% and you should stay fit because cricket is full of skill. I’m trying my level best to not disappoint my fans.”Afridi’s instant impact was in contrast to Team Abu Dhabi’s own star man Chris Gayle, who followed up his 4 in the opening game with 5 this time around. It represents a sluggish start with the bat for Gayle but one his captain Luke Wright is certain will soon be addressed.”It’s only been two innings and you obviously have to have a good go at it early,” Wright said after his team’s second loss in as many days. “Hopefully he gets going in the comp, he obviously needs to start doing it soon but it’s not just about Chris, we’ve got other players that can do it as well. Chris is obviously world class so fingers crossed he gets going and we get some wins because we need to.”Seeing both players in action will have been a fillip for the league where Shoaib Malik also played his first game of the tournament, although he neither bowled nor batted as his Maratha Arabians side were comprehensively dismissed in a six-wicket Bangla Tigers victory.A thought must be spared for South Africa’s Colin Ingram who patiently waited for almost a week in Dubai before being told he couldn’t take part due to the local travel ban placed on his home country. However, the involvement of the likes of Gayle, Afridi and Malik are box office, and Wright is delighted with the quality of players on show, believing it raises the game of all the players in the tournament.”It’s great, isn’t it? I think for everyone, they want to play with the best players and they’re the best players that have probably ever played T20 so we’re all very lucky that we get to learn from them,” Wright said.In the final game of day three, Northern Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran became the eighth of nine captains to be put into bat first, but the first to win setting a target. Pooran hit a brutal 54 from 21 balls before Rovman Powell (24*) and Fabian Allen (28*) between them contributed 52 runs from just 18 deliveries as the Warriors hit the highest total of the competition.Their 137 for 3 was ultimately too great for Delhi Bulls, especially when Wayne Parnell (3 for 15) – their icon player who replaced Andre Russell at short notice ahead of the competition – took the third hat-trick in the T10 League’s now four-season history.”To even get wickets in T10 cricket is difficult, to get a hat-trick is fabulous,” Pooran said of Parnell’s contribution. “He’s been working hard and planning a lot, so I’m really happy for him.”

What did you make of the performance of the eight franchises at the IPL 2021 auction?

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2021Which teams do you think had a good IPL auction? And which teams have a better squad than in IPL 2020? Take a look and decide.Chennai Super KingsWhat they needed: Top-order overseas batsman, batting allrounder, fingerspinner
Who they targeted: CSK got into an intense bidding with RCB for Glenn Maxwell, but backed out when RCB bid INR 14.25 crore. Their big buys ended up being two allrounders who bowl offspin as well: Moeen Ali and K Gowtham
The players they got: K Gowtham, Moeen Ali, Cheteshwar Pujara, K Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, M Harisankar Reddy
Gaps filled: They got allrounders who bowl fingerspin. An overseas top-order batsman wasn’t picked, though Moeen Ali doubles up as a potential opener. They also added in C Hari Nishanth, who partnered N Jagadeesan at the top of the order for Tamil Nadu in their victorious 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.More on CSK’s IPL 2021 squad.

New Zealand quick has had extraordinary start to his career … because he is extraordinary

Jarrod Kimber20-Jun-20214:15

Match Day Masterclass: Swing vs seam – Dale Steyn explains

Batters wait patiently for tall bowlers to deliver full balls. They talk about the floatiness of these deliveries. When the ball is over-pitched, they go into attack mode.Because of this, tall bowlers rarely pitch the ball up. Instead, they stay on their best length and keep the batter stuck on the crease. The problem is that to get a lot of swing, you need to bowl fuller. So throughout the history of cricket, you don’t see a lot of tall bowlers in Test cricket over 80 miles per hour consistently swinging the ball.Today, Kyle Jamieson bowled very full, swung the ball massively, touched 87mph/140kph, while delivering it from 2.3 metres which is 30cm higher than a standard seam bowler. His Test bowling average is 14.13. This is a scary collection of skills in one person. If you were designing a creature in a lab to be a perfect seamer, this is pretty close to what you’d choose.

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There have been many changes to bowling styles over the years. After the war, the most common form of delivery was the outswinger. It dominated cricket until the West Indies method of seam bowling took over.And while West Indies had quite varied bowlers, their fundamental skill was pretty simple: fast bowlers, who were tall, and who got something off the surface, not through the air. The thought process was that swing is fickle and can disappear. Fast and tall will last you through the day.Kyle Jamieson pinned Virat Kohli lbw with a near-unplayable full-length seamer•Getty ImagesThe need for speed has changed what we look for in bowlers. Speed and seam can go together, as Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada, among others, have shown us. But few bowlers have swung the ball at speed. And those who do tend to be left-armed, which is an advantage already, as it generally allows them to over-pitch more. Or short and fast guys with a full natural length.It’s not that the tallest bowlers can’t swing the ball. Rather, it’s because their fuller balls are the easiest to handle, and they have so many other advantages naturally, so they rarely develop the skills. Joel Garner, Glenn McGrath, Curtly Ambrose, Steven Finn, and Morne Morkel could occasionally swing the ball, but their strength is hitting the track on a length.Watch cricket on ESPN+

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When you have tall bowlers swinging the ball, it’s either only for short periods or from bowling more slowly. Jason Holder is an example of that in modern cricket. His speeds are significantly less than the traditional six-foot-plus quick, and so he gets consistent swing.But Kyle Jamieson is quicker than Holder, and he’s certainly more than a bowler who can just swing it occasionally. He’s a proper tall fast-medium consistent swing bowler. Test cricket really hasn’t seen many of those ever. And he can move it both ways, and also perform his craft from around the wicket. He’s got a magic toolbox. For someone who came late into bowling, either Jamieson is an excellent mimic, or a natural for seam positions.And facing someone like Jamieson is already an extra challenge. He is a faster bowler than most players his height, but any bowler of his size is tougher to pick up. Australia used to call Morkel a monster because of his release point.After just seven appearances, Jamieson is an automatic pick in New Zealand’s world-beating Test team•ICC via GettyTest match batting is something you get good at by consistently practising the same skills until you can filter information quickly enough to face someone at 80 miles per hour. Jamieson’s so tall that his release point is way higher than average. There is an adjustment that needs to be made for that which isn’t easy to make at his speed.But that’s only the first problem with his height; the second is the bounce. Bowlers have, at that height, a near-permanent tennis-ball bounce. If you’ve ever played cricket with both a tennis ball and a proper ball, you’ll understand the difference in facing both. Those kinds of balls need different shots. So this means that, in a way, shots played to a tall bowler have to be different to others. His height makes the game different.Now, add swing.

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Kyle Jamieson has the third-best Test bowling average of any player with 40 wickets. If you discount the bowlers before 1900 who had no assistance from the days before liquid manure was used in pitch preparation, he’s No.1.Now we know he won’t keep this average up. Quite apart from the very helpful people on social media who keep pointing out that he hasn’t played in Asia yet, Jamieson is not seven runs a wicket better than Malcolm Marshall, the bowler with the lowest average of anyone with 200 wickets. For fun, the next two bowlers on this list are Garner and Ambrose, two other tall men.Jason Holder lacks the extreme speed of many tall bowlers, so relies more on swing than seam•RANDY BROOKS/AFP/Getty ImagesJamieson’s first-class bowling average when not playing Tests is 24.21 from 28 matches. There will be a regression to the mean. People will get more used to him; he’s not bowled that much in his career to date, so with IPL and Test duties, he’s about to get a workload that will chip away at him.But this is an incredible start; and that’s before you even glance at his batting, in which he currently averages 47, towering over his first-class record of 21.This has been a remarkable run of eight Tests. If it happened in the middle of someone’s career, it would be a highlight, the fact it’s occurred at the start is even more amazing.

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So what does all this make when you combine it? Jamieson’s only obvious weakness is that he’s not a 90mph bowler. He’s accurate, swings it both ways, and delivers it from a comical height. If he was regularly over 90mph/145kph, he’d have achieved seam bowling’s singularity.So far in this Test, he’s averaged more swing than everyone except Tim Southee, at height. This is such a weird thing to play against.Look at his wickets in this match. Rohit Sharma’s was a simple outswinger that swung early and then travelled a long away, taking the edge. Rishabh Pant’s was a rare poor ball, and an even more poorly executed shot – but one that was also induced by the extra bounce. Ishant Sharma faced a ball angling into the stumps that swung before landing, and then hit a trampoline when it pitched. To follow that up, Jamieson started a yorker to Bumrah that tailed in from well outside off stump, as if it had a homing beacon on it.And then there was Virat Kohli’s delivery. This pitched outside off stump, went very straight, and then seamed back sharply. It was essentially an offspinner bowled from 230 centimetres at 85mph / 138kph. I am not sure how you play that. And apparently, neither is Kohli.

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Think about this New Zealand attack. They have three of their best bowlers ever, 827 wickets between them. Three completely different styles of bowling that complement each other well. They’ve travelled the world, carried New Zealand to No.1 in the rankings, and into the World Test Championship final. And coming into this match, had New Zealand chosen a spinner, most probably one of Trent Boult or Neil Wagner would have missed out.Related

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And while the others are more experienced and tested, given the combination of all Jamieson’s skills and his recent record, his spot was clearly safe.This is a great era for seam bowlers. Guys like Suranga Lakmal and Sharma have pulled in ridiculous numbers after years of huge bowling averages. Since the start of 2018, there isn’t a Test seamer with 50 wickets who has taken them at more than 30. Yet there are two, Ishant and Holder, under 20. All these things have to be taken into consideration, as do Jamieson’s eight Tests being split between New Zealand and England.But he’s averaging under 15 and taking a wicket every 36 balls. This isn’t normal, no matter what the conditions are.And, this isn’t just about natural talent and an incredibly handy combination of skills. There are plenty of bowlers who arrive with a natural talent that their opponents work out over time. That process slows them down, after which it’s about how they adapt. Jamieson’s end-of-play chat with the ICC crew showed that he recognised what he done wrong (relatively speaking) on Saturday and corrected it on Sunday by bowling fuller.This is someone in his 36th first-class match, who began bowling only a few years back, adjusting his length to bowl unnaturally full. This adjustment lead to him taking his fifth five-wicket haul in seven and a half Tests.Kyle Jamieson has height, some speed, swing, seam, control and the ability to change his plans. He’s not perfect, but if you’re standing at the other end when the ball is swinging, it may just feel as though he is.

Allrounder believes he could have batted like Ben Stokes given the chance to perform

George Dobell27-Sep-2021Moeen Ali knew the exact moment he had to retire from Test cricket. He had won a long-awaited recall to the England side and he was involved in a thrilling match at Leeds. But in that Test and the following one at The Kia Oval, he found himself unable to fully concentrate.It wasn’t that he didn’t care. Far from it. But, after a couple of years playing short-format cricket, he found he no longer had what it took to flourish in Test cricket. He just couldn’t, as he puts it, “get in the zone” anymore.”I felt like I was done, to be honest,” he says now. “I was hoping to play the last Test – there were a couple of milestones I wanted to pass – but once that game got called off, I realised that was it.”Headingley was a great win but I just found I couldn’t concentrate. I’ve played rash shots before and had poor games before. But I just felt like I wasn’t in it. I’ve never felt that before. It’s not that I didn’t want to perform, I just didn’t feel like I was fully wholeheartedly into it.”You try your best. I just found it really hard to get in the zone bowling, batting and in the field. And the more I tried, I just couldn’t do it. In the past when I came back into the team, it might take a bit of time but then I’m all in. But that series, I just couldn’t do it.”The atmosphere felt really good. It was really nice to be back in the dressing room. But I just found cricketing-wise it was a bit of a struggle.”The roots of the decision stretch back far further, though. Ever since Moeen lost his full central contract, at the end of the 2019 English summer, he started to feel disjointed from the Test squad. And without that contract to rely upon, he started to pursue franchise opportunities as more of a priority. He reflects now that it set him “on a different path” from the rest of the team.Moeen Ali celebrates after completing his hat trick against South Africa in 2017•Getty Images”That did break me a little bit,” he says of the decision not to give him a full central contract. “I felt like I had a poor game [at Edgbaston in 2019] and rightly got dropped. But I felt I was at my peak in my bowling to that point.”If you look back now, I didn’t play towards the back end of the World Cup. We then had a Test against Ireland in which I hardly bowled and then two days of training for the first Ashes Test. It rained on those days, so I bowled indoors.”So, I didn’t really get the preparation I would have liked and I didn’t bowl very well in that game. But I felt like I was still at the peak of my bowling. Prior to that, I was bowling better than I ever had in Test cricket.”And then I didn’t get a contract. I had asked for a break and was told it was because they weren’t sure how much I was going to play. It was very disappointing at the time. So I looked to crack on and play franchise cricket.”But then it possibly took too long to make my way back into the team. I didn’t play enough first-class cricket and by the time I did get back into the team for that one Test in Chennai, I was on a different path.”I don’t think I lost interest in Test cricket but I think I lost the ability to do it as best as you can.”There was part of me thinking about the Ashes this winter. I would have loved to go back and do well because last time I didn’t do so well. But I just felt like I couldn’t do it for that long. It’s such a long trip if I’m not ‘in it’. If I felt like I did in India when I was out there, then I would probably retire after one match. So it’s done.”He admits he will miss it. In particular, he knows he will miss that sense of delighting a full-house crowd.Moeen Ali was dropped during the 2019 Ashes after a tough time at Edgbaston•Getty Images”Test cricket is amazing,” he says. “When you’re doing well, or when you have a good day, it is a better feeling than any other format of the game by far. It is more rewarding and you feel like you’ve earned it. Very rarely do you bowl poorly and get five wickets or play poorly and get a hundred. You’ve done something really well.”The hat-trick at the Oval and the 2015 Ashes are probably the highlights for me. There’s been some really good moments but I think they’re the two that really stand out.”I enjoyed being a crowd pleaser. When you hit a boundary, like a nice cover drive, and the crowd appreciate it… The buzz you get at Lord’s – that noise – is completely different to anywhere else in the world. And the noise at Edgbaston is also something I’ll definitely miss.”But the best was when I batted at Old Trafford against South Africa in 2017 [Moeen made an unbeaten 75 from 66 balls]. I was just trying to play a lot of shots and it was coming off. The crowd was going mad and my son was old enough to understand the songs. After that day he really loved cricket.”I’ve had some amazing support. But the one group of fans that I would definitely praise is the Barmy Army. There was a time where I wasn’t playing so well, and throughout the whole day they just kept singing my name and trying to encourage me. They were always on your side, no matter what. They are an amazing group of supporters; they are the heartbeat of Test cricket in England.”Moeen Ali claimed 195 Test wickets with his offspin•Getty ImagesWith the ball, Moeen is fulfilled. Indeed, he accepts he has probably overachieved for a player who grew up identifying as a batter who bowled a little. But, while he is keen not to dwell on regrets, he admits there is a sense of “wasted” potential over his batting.”Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would get so many,” Moeen says of his 195 Test wickets. “I remember hitting 50 Test wickets; it seemed amazing. But, from a bowling point of view, I felt like I could, with my best ball, get anybody out. That was a really good feeling. And it’s always nice when you get the top players out. I’m really proud of that.”And with the bat… well, initially, at least I always had that feeling that I was trying to score a hundred. And I used to love that feeling, because that really made me feel like a batsman.”But then I was in a team as a bowler and I concentrated on my bowling more in practice. I didn’t practice my batting as much. I look back and think I could have done better.”That century in my second Test [against Sri Lanka at Leeds in 2014] was my best by far. I didn’t even look at my bowling at that time. I just thought if I get a few overs, happy days. But my mindset with the bat was different. I was myself as a batter.”I feel a little bit wasted batting down the order. It’s not easy. I moved up and down the order such a lot. I think anybody would be quite unstable at times.

“I do feel like my batting was a little bit wasted. I could have done better than I’ve done. I feel like I could have scored more Test hundreds, for sure”

“I just remember when we played New Zealand [at Lord’s in 2015] and Ben Stokes had that amazing Test. I’d been batting at No. 6 and he was No. 8. I think I’d scored 60-odd in my last Test at No. 6 in Barbados. But Alastair Cook said, ‘look, I know you’re playing well, but we’re going to swap things around because we think Stokesy can do more.’ It was disappointing. I wouldn’t say I knew it was the right decision.”Obviously Stokesy turned out to be an amazing player. But I sometimes feel, maybe, that could have been me if I was given a bit more of a run there. I would have loved to bat up the order more. I didn’t always have the temperament or the technique but I certainly feel if I’d been given a run somewhere for a while I’d have been fine.”I do feel like my batting was a little bit wasted. I could have done better than I’ve done. I feel like I could have scored more Test hundreds, for sure. I could have scored a lot more runs.”But maybe it was the reason I played so many Tests. If I’d [just] batted at No. 6 and not done well, I would probably have been dropped. So being an all-rounder, being someone who would do whatever was best for the team, is the reason I’ve played 60 Tests. It’s more than I ever thought I’d play.Moeen Ali scored five Test centuries in his 64 Tests•Getty Images”It’s always nice when you look back and think I did do a lot more for the team then probably another guy. It’s fine. I feel like I was wasted but wasted in a good way.”Such regrets are few and far between. Instead, Moeen’s conversation is littered with happy memories and people to whom he owes thanks. With no social media platform of his own – he gave that up after the criticism of his performances in the 2017-18 Ashes started to play on his mind – Moeen is making the announcement of his decision to retire from Test cricket to a couple of media outlets (ESPNcricinfo and the Guardian) and requests only the inclusion of some personal thank yous in return.Among them are his coaches, Chris Silverwood, Trevor Bayliss and, in particular, Peter Moores, who demonstrated such belief in him. His captains, Cook and Joe Root, are also thanked, while his “brothers and sister” are praised for “supporting no matter what”. His wife is also credited for her “support and patience”.”They always wanted to try to lift me up and do well,” he says of his family. “Everything I did I did for those guys.”Related

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But it is the enormity of the sacrifices his parents made, the couple who went without food to ensure he had every opportunity to excel at cricket, which have left the most lasting impression.”My parents are number one,” Moeen says. “Without their support there is no way I’d have made it on the journey they took me on. I know that, deep down, they’re really proud of me. The sacrifices they made were amazing. Every game I played was for them.”Moeen’s career will always have a wider significance, though. His preparedness to speak about his faith, and act as a role-model for the British Muslims, may well endure after memories of his batting and bowling dim.”I did feel like you there was a bigger purpose for me than just batting and bowling,” he says. “There was a purpose of trying to inspire others. It’s a big thing, but it didn’t feel like a burden.”When I was doing well, it was great. It would be ‘Moeen is a role model’ but when things weren’t so good it was highlighted a bit more. From the moment I wore those Palestinian wristbands, it would break out to be bigger news than intended. But that’s a proud moment for me, really. I didn’t mean it to happen, but I did wear them to increase awareness.”I hope things will be easier for the next British Muslim. And I think they will be, too. It always takes somebody to inspire you or say ‘if he can do it, so can I’. I certainly felt that way when I saw Hashim Amla when I first saw him on TV. There were guys at Warwickshire who played before me who made it easier. Ravi [Bopara] made it easy for me to get used to the England environment on a different level.”It does take a little spark and hopefully I’ve provided that. I’d love one day, in 10 years’ time, somebody to say ‘Moeen made it easier for me’.”So, even though I feel like I could have done better, I’m really pleased. For someone from where I’ve come from… I am really happy and content with how I did.”

Only after a cold, clinical, devastating first spell did Anderson let his emotions flow

George Dobell25-Aug-2021It’s hard to say what the most impressive aspect of James Anderson’s career is. The longevity is incredible, of course. The range of skills is remarkable. But perhaps the most outstanding aspect of Anderson’s career is his ability to keep learning.We saw that in action on the first morning in Leeds. Anderson’s first spell – a spell of 8-5-6-3 – was a masterclass in controlled swing bowling. He not only removed the cream of India’s batting within the space of 31 balls, but demonstrated a greatest-hits package of skills picked up over almost two decades in the game. This is what it must have been like to watch Picasso paint or Hemingway write. This was a master at work.At the heart of this spell was Anderson’s outswinger. It’s his primary skill, really. It was picked up in his early days as a teenager at Lancashire from Mike Watkinson. It remains a key part of his armoury; he bowled 21 of them in this spell. But it became far more potent once he was able to combine it with the inswinger – a skill which he has said took “years” to master and which he delivered 20 times here – and more dangerous still when allied to the wobble-seam delivery, which he picked up having watched Mohammad Asif and Stuart Clark in action, and which he bowled only once or twice in this spell. In combination, they are devastating.But there was another aspect to this spell beyond the technical. It was that Anderson delivered his skills with cold, clinical precision. He didn’t just bowl fine deliveries, he set batters up like a poacher laying traps. He kept his cool. He stuck to his plans. He was relentless.It has not always been this way. Ahead of the third Test, Anderson admitted England had allowed their emotions to get the better of them at Lord’s. They had been upset by Jasprit Bumrah’s spell against Anderson – an excellent spell that interspersed a fair few short deliveries with some well-directed full ones – and then appeared set on revenge rather than Bumrah’s wicket when he came out to bat. The resultant partnership with Mohammed Shami changed the game. Anderson had learned his lesson.Related

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In isolation, some of these dismissals look as if they’re the result of loose strokes. A replay of KL Rahul’s wicket, for example, will show the batter drawn into pushing at one outside off stump. Cheteshwar Pujara, too, may reflect he could have left the one he edged. But just as the knock-out punch often doesn’t tell the full story of a boxing bout, the delivery that takes a wicket doesn’t paint the entire picture of a dismissal.Anderson only bowled four balls at Rahul. But the first three all swung back into him. And while the wicket-taking delivery did require Rahul to reach for it a little, it was also fuller and inviting the drive. That it left him just enough to take the edge was a plan perfectly executed. Sure, Rahul didn’t have to play. But a rabbit doesn’t have to wander into a snare, either.It was similar with Pujara. Anderson bowled eight deliveries at him in total. Four of them swung in to the batter, three of them left him and one went straight on. And remember: Anderson long-ago mastered the ability – a skill he picked-up after watching Zaheer Khan – to hide the ball with his left hand until the moment of release so batters are unable to pick-up any clues as to his plans.The result was a delivery to Pujara that was bowled from slightly wider on the crease, pitched in line and swung away wickedly late to take the edge. Yes, we now know the ball wouldn’t have hit the stumps (only six balls in the spell would have done) and might have been left. But there’s little way Pujara could have known that from the information he had before committing to a decision.The big wicket – whatever his recent struggles might suggest – remains that of Virat Kohli. While there is, no doubt, much respect between these two proud and magnificent cricketers, they sometimes give every impression of loathing one another on the pitch. Maybe that’s unfair: perhaps they just recognise in one another a dangerous opponent and know the outcome of their personal encounter could go a long way towards defining the result of the match. Either way, each time they face one another at present presents compelling viewing.At the start of the series Kohli had looked keen to assert his authority. He seemed determined to make a statement about his fearlessness in the face of England’s premier swing bowler. That led him into pushing at his first ball in Nottingham and an outside edge to the keeper.There was no room for such statements here. India were already two down, after all, with only four runs on the board. Instead, Kohli was determined to reassert himself as a batter and rebuild for his team. So, he left his first five balls – all of them outswingers from Anderson – before pushing his sixth (another Anderson outswinger) through mid-off for three.Anderson’s 11th ball to him was different. Instead of the traditional, swinging delivery, this one was bowled with a slightly scrambled seam. So while Kohli may have noted the seam angled into to him and thought the direction of the ball would follow, it instead pitched and left him. It was fuller, too, and inviting the drive. Kohli, having batted more than half an hour for his seven runs, fell for the bait.Then the emotion flowed. Then Anderson roared and leapt and allowed himself the uninhibited smile which spoke volumes for his joy and relief. He knew he had allowed the moment to get the better of him at Lord’s. He put it right here.

A new book reveals that the history of the revered ground contains plenty of prejudice and politicking

George Dobell27-Jun-2021A squabble over the leasehold value of disused railways tunnels wouldn’t appear to have the ingredients for a gripping story. Nor do many of the protagonists of this tale make for especially sympathetic characters. Really, if you want a summary of the saga, imagine a fracas in St John’s Wood high street featuring lots of braying, blazered old men interspersed with cries of “He’s not worth it, Tarquin.”But so well researched is Charles Sale’s book, so broad the range of interviews and so remarkable his access to source material, that this is, against all the odds, a compelling read.It will not be for everyone, but if you want an in-depth understanding of the MCC and Lord’s, it really is required reading. It’s or without the shoulder pads and glamour.Our soap opera begins in earnest in November 1999. Railtrack, which controlled the UK’s railway infrastructure at the time, was looking to sell assets, and offered the MCC the opportunity to buy the tunnels that run under part of the Nursery Ground. Those tunnels include 179 metres along the Wellington Road side of Lord’s (where the Nursery pavilion is currently situated) and about 38 metres into the ground. The MCC controls, via lease, only the top 18 inches of that land. Railtrack wanted £1.75m for it.But the MCC, having recently overspent on the media centre (a building that seems to be admired far more by those who don’t have to work in it), had an overdraft of around £15m and were uncomfortable with further borrowing. As a result, they dithered.Railtrack took the land to auction, where the MCC stopped bidding at £2.35m and Charles Rifkind, a barrister turned property developer, prevailed with a bid of £2.35m. It was perhaps the most expensive error in the history of the club.Related

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Rifkind’s dream was to work with the MCC to develop a “Vision for Lord’s”. This involved a residential development on the strip of land along the Wellington Road (and at the opposite end of the ground, behind the pavilion), which would realise somewhere around £400m to enable the MCC to update its own facilities. At various times there were plans to use the tunnels as an underground nets area as well as to provide more space to the neighbouring Wellington Hospital. Crucially, the proposals allowed for the retention of the Nursery Ground as a decent-sized venue for fixtures below first-class level.But some at the MCC were unconvinced. Perhaps they didn’t like the plans; perhaps they simply didn’t like Rifkind. But 20 years later, the “vision” remains unfulfilled and the relationship between the protagonists has become increasingly fractious. It is unclear how or when the MCC is going to fund the next phase of the redevelopment of a ground whose reputation sometimes outstrips its reality. tells this story. Sale, the former sports writer, has been granted access to a remarkable amount of evidence – including plans, emails, letters and minutes of meetings – which, combined with his diligent efforts to talk to the protagonists (more than 60 interviewees are thanked in the acknowledgements) furnishes an almost dizzying level of detail. It might sound prosaic, but Sale does such a terrific job of presenting it that the end result is a real page-turner.Is it a fair account? Oliver Stocken, the former MCC chair, is portrayed in such a dim light that you can almost imagine him wearing a cape and finishing every sentence with a roar of “Mhawahaaa.” Rifkind, by contrast, is generally seen as a man whose amiable determination is undimmed despite the wrongs inflicted upon him. You suspect such characterisations do not allow for shades of grey.

It is unclear how or when the MCC is going to fund the next phase of the redevelopment of a ground whose reputation sometimes outstrips its reality

As a window into the committee rooms at Lord’s, the book is devastating. While the MCC executive – especially the chief executives – are portrayed as diligent, honest and well-meaning, it feels from this book as if they are tethered to a committee system that is, at its best, cumbersome, and at its worst, fuelled by prejudices and self-importance. Some of those mentioned sound utterly ghastly, and some far less attractive than that. The voice of reason – the likes of former prime minister John Major – are effectively silenced.And that takes us to the two most serious claims made by Sale. The first is that some of the resistance to Rifkind, who is Jewish, was inspired by anti-Semitism and the second that the recent redesign of the Compton and Edrich stands was motivated, in part, by “spite”, as Rifkind puts it.That first claim is strong. But while Lord Grabiner (who is quoted as calling Stocken a “f****** c***” in one meeting), says, “I’m sure MCC were very determined to protect their original bad decision and to make sure the Jew would not make any money out of this”, and Sir Simon Robertson (former chair of Rolls Royce) says, “… there was a whiff of anti-Semitism; no question”, it is not a line of attack that feels entirely convincing.But the second one? Well, such is the footprint of the new stands that they encroach heavily on to the area previously taken up by the Nursery Ground. As a result, if the club has any intention of keeping that area as a cricket ground – and it insists it does – there is no room to build on the land owned by Rifkind.Mensch PublishingStocken himself is quoted as admitting that it was a tactical move by the club. Even more plain are the words of Blake Gorst, the former chairman of estates and long-time MCC committee member, who says there’s no denying that the extra width of the new Compton and Edrich stands was a blocking tactic against Rifkind. “It means that to keep the Nursery End as a cricket pitch, we will have to put the boundary at the edge of the leasehold land. That will put an end to any development at that end of the ground.”And that, perhaps, is the overriding message of this book. While Lord’s is a wonderful ground in many ways, there is more than a touch of hubris about the oft-repeated claim that it is, immutably, “the best ground in the world”. Anyone claiming this has not, presumably, been to Adelaide or Sydney recently. Whisper it quietly, Lord’s may not be the best ground in London.Equally, for all the self-satisfaction of those on the myriad committees, they have made some wretched decisions over the years. Look at the houses bordering the ground that were sold for £50,000, subsequently bought back for £8.5m, and are currently worth £4m. Look at the recent £25m redevelopment of the Warner Stand, which still resulted in dozens of seats with restricted visibility. Look, most of all, at the D’Oliveira affair. Really, you wonder why they are so pleased with themselves.The last word goes to a little known committee member who, quite early in the farce, makes a point his colleagues would have done well to heed. “The committee must focus on what the club wishes to achieve rather than blocking RLP [Rifkind’s company] in what they wish to achieve,” Jonathan Wileman is quoted as saying.Sale provides a compelling argument the latter was the primary motive. The Covers Are Off – Civil War at Lord’s
by Charles Sale
Mensch, £20

“It’s about going out there, trying to enjoy ourselves, and trying to hit as many sixes as we can and taking as many wickets as we can”

Aadam Patel19-Nov-2021For Liam Livingstone, it has been a breakthrough year, and a year that has also seen him clock up the air miles. From cementing his place as a regular within the England white-ball set-up to plying his trade in franchise leagues around the world, the 28-year-old has represented England, Lancashire, Birmingham Phoenix, Rajasthan Royals, Peshawar Zalmi and Perth Scorchers over the last 12 months.And now his whirlwind year will culminate with his first experience of the T10 format, as captain of Team Abu Dhabi, before heading home for Christmas – he will be with his family for the first time in four years.The Abu Dhabi T10 gets underway on Friday evening, and although it is a new format for Livingstone, it should fit his explosive power-hitting ability to the tee.Related

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“I’ve never played T10, so I don’t really know what to expect,” Livingstone said. “Everybody says it’s a great competition, and as somebody that plays the game the way I do, I think it’s something that’s going to suit my game down to the ground. I’m not somebody that ever puts too much pressure on myself to go out and perform. It’s about going out there, trying to enjoy ourselves, and trying to hit as many sixes as we can and taking as many wickets as we can, and I’ll certainly be encouraging all the other boys to play the game the same way.”After the jam-packed English summer, Livingstone flew out to the UAE for the IPL before joining up with the England squad for the T20 World Cup. It has been a year of constant movement from bubble to bubble and hotel room to hotel room for Livingstone, and he used the few days between England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand and the start of the Abu Dhabi T10 to get away from cricket, and do things many cricketers haven’t been able to recently – seeing his friends and family, and going to restaurants in Dubai.”I’ve played a lot of cricket over the last three or four months. So I don’t really think I needed the prep time that the lads coming in would have needed,” he said. “I think the biggest priority for me was to get away from cricket for a couple of days and refresh my mind more than anything else.”

“If you told me 12 months ago that I’d play every game for England in a World Cup, I wouldn’t have believed you. So yeah, it was disappointing for a night, but I guess it was more the satisfaction of how far I’ve come and how far my game has developed”Livingstone on England’s loss to New Zealand at the T20 World Cup

In fact, Livingstone will only be out of his required quarantine on Friday afternoon, just in time for Abu Dhabi’s first match against Bangla Tigers.That agonising loss to New Zealand was “devastating”, but for Livingstone, it is a matter of recognising how far he has come. “If you told me 12 months ago that I’d play every game for England in a World Cup, I wouldn’t have believed you. So yeah, it was disappointing for a night,” he said. “But I guess it was more the satisfaction of how far I’ve come and how far my game has developed, and I guess how much the hard work that I’ve put in travelling around the world for the last three or four years has probably paid off for me and got me to where I wanted to go.”I fulfilled a childhood dream to represent my country in any sport. For me, the reflections were more about how far I’ve come. And yeah, I guess the opportunities that we’ve got as a team going forward is that we get a chance to redeem ourselves in 12 months’ time [in the T20 World Cup in Australia], and that’s the exciting part for us.”Another exciting prospect for Livingstone is the mantle of responsibility that has been placed upon him as the leader of the Abu Dhabi outfit, and he insisted that he had learnt a great deal from playing under various captains across the world, but that it was still a job he would look to do his own way.”When you play under people like Morgs [Eoin Morgan], you realise that being pretty relaxed and backing your team-mates is probably ultimately the biggest strength you can have as a captain,” Livingstone said. “I’ll certainly do it my own way. It’ll be a little bit different in T10 cricket than in T20, but I’ll keep encouraging the boys to take the game on and to play some entertaining cricket.”Livingstone on opportunities in leagues: “Those experiences and chatting to people, you can’t really buy that time and that knowledge”•BCCIWith the amount of balls in the T10 format halved from that in a T20, looking to attack from ball one is even more crucial, and that is a change that Livingstone must make. “Usually, I’ll have a look at three, four or five balls before we start going. I guess in T10 we’ll have a look at one and then off we go,” he said.He is second only to Glenn Phillips with the most sixes in the world (86) in T20 cricket in 2021, and over a four-month period from November 2019 to March 2020, Livingstone played more T20s than anyone else.”Those experiences and chatting to people, you can’t really buy that time and that knowledge,” he said. “I’ve always said that one of the biggest things of franchise cricket is the time spent with the world’s greats that you usually wouldn’t get. It’s still pretty cool for me and it’s probably even cooler for the younger boys that haven’t played that much cricket.”Team Abu Dhabi is full of players from around the world, including Chris Gayle, and the fact that Livingstone would be leading Gayle is a cause for some excitement for him.”It’s pretty cool. He’s been a hero of mine growing up, and I guess he’s probably changed the way that T20 cricket was played,” Livingstone said of Gayle. “He’s one of the best – if not the best – T20 player that’s ever lived. It’s somebody that I’ve watched so much growing up, and I admire the way he strikes a cricket ball, so it’ll be pretty cool to be out in the middle with him at some point during the tournament.”Gayle holds the record for the fastest hundred in T20 cricket, whilst Livingstone hit England’s fastest century during the home summer this year. There is every chance that one of them could become the first T10 centurion over the next fortnight too.

Promising signs for the future after first glimpse of England’s new quicks

Cameron Ponsonby17-Mar-2022England’s new generation of Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher have known each other for years. Playing their junior cricket for rival counties Lancashire and Yorkshire, they encountered each other regularly, with one scorecard from an Under-14 game in 2011 reading Fisher 31 (64) b Mahmood.Eleven years later, they made their debuts together as England players – and almost before they had had time to sample the nerves of their first stint in the field, Fisher was in the thick of the action, with the eventful figures of 0.2-0-4-1.A Test debut at 24 would be a fast rise to the top for most. But Fisher made his professional debut as a 15-year-old in 2013. He’s been playing professional cricket for the last nine years of his life. In that context, his debut switches from being one of a youngster breezing through to the top and instead becomes a long-awaited one.What’s more, that doesn’t speak of the pressure that accompanies a debut at 15. Whether you like it or not, from that moment on you’re anointed as a future England player. And failure to reach that level will result in murmurs of wasted potential and a place in the pub-quiz annals of the Yorkshire Dales. Alongside the joy, pride, nerves and excitement that Fisher must have felt when he was told of his impending Test debut, you can only imagine a fair element of relief was involved as well. “I’ve done it.”When Fisher took his wicket – luring John Campbell in the channel outside off, one ball after being steered through third man for four – he did so with an explosion of joy before a sustained release of emotion as he pointed to the sky in memory of his dad, who died shortly before he made his professional debut nine years ago.Speaking on TalkSPORT 2, Darren Gough mentioned how impressed he’d been with Fisher’s maturity, having spent time together at Yorkshire through Gough’s role as Interim Managing Director. He spoke of Fisher’s clear abilities with the ball but mostly of his abilities as a leader who is able to mix confidence with empathy. Fisher may only be 24, but he’s already a seasoned professional who has been through more than most.”Everyone has something which means something to them,” Ben Stokes said at the close, after making his own gesture to his father following his second-day hundred. “It’s great to see someone like Fish – he’s had a difficult lot of years since his debut at 15 with injuries. To watching a young lad make his debut, bowl well and get his first Test wicket is quite special.”Matt Fisher and Saqib Mahmood made their England Test debuts•Getty ImagesA penny, however, for Mahmood’s thoughts when that wicket fell. Joy mixed with a tinge of envy, perhaps? After all, his debut was the one that had been trumpeted in advance, following the decisions to leave out both Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood. Fisher’s opportunity only arose on the morning of the match, when Craig Overton also pulled out with illness.Mahmood’s debut has hardly been diluted because of starting alongside Fisher but he does lose the intangible benefit of being the newest kid on the block. The two are different bowlers, one new-ball and one old-, but nevertheless, they’ve been dragged into a shootout whereas previously Mahmood’s rival bowler was unarmed and out of the team.Mahmood, however, proved with the excitement that he generated in the ODI series against Pakistan last summer that he’s unlikely to stay in the shadows for long. His action is 50% Brett Lee and 50% Shoaib Akthar, but his beard is 100% Brad Pitt. To watch Mahmood bowl is exciting. A bowler like Glenn McGrath would impress you over time with relentless accuracy, and a steady realisation that this is what elite performance looks like. But with Mahmood it takes just one ball. What is this? And where can I get more?Related

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His first wicket failed to arrive on Thursday evening but it’s surely only a matter of when and not if. Four overs of good pace were delivered in which he conceded just three runs. Mahmood is the fastest bowler in the team, now that Wood is out of action, and though he failed to breach 140kph in his opening gambit, there was at least one occasion when the ball seemed to gather pace through to Ben Foakes behind the stumps, in a way that has not often been seen over the past two days.”He came in and hit the wicket really hard,” Stokes said of Mahmood. “He got a few balls to go off the deck and going through a bit, considering what it was like on day one. I don’t want to eat my words here but I can’t see [the pitch] getting any better. I think the spinner is in the game and the seamers felt in the game the whole way, so it’ll be an exciting day tomorrow.””Seeing two lads get presented their caps, and being lucky enough to present one of them – I gave Saqqy his cap – there’s a lot of great things that can happen and memories that you can create playing international cricket,” Stokes added.”Seeing the excitement on Fisher’s face even when he got his cap, his smile was ear to ear for 15 minutes – and then obviously you could see how excited he was when he got his wicket today. It means a lot for him and a lot of other people – family and friends, everyone that has supported him.”After a somewhat false dawn for England’s new era in Antigua, circumstances have conspired to unleash the “good young bowling talent” that Andrew Strauss, the interim managing director, had referred to before the series began. And to judge by this most fleeting of first glimpses, it looks likely to be a fun one.