Does Dale Steyn make it? Is it even possible to leave him out with the numbers he has?

Saurabh Somani and Gaurav Sundararaman25-May-2020The Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-time XI•ESPNcricinfo LtdSunrisers Hyderabad/Deccan ChargersWe’re calling this the Sunrisers Hyderabad all-time XI, but we have considered players from Deccan Chargers too for selection. We debated this, and finally decided that since the playing group didn’t change when the management did, we would consider them one entity. It also gives players who did well for the Chargers a selection avenue. Two IPL titles and four straight years of qualifying for the play-offs since 2016 suggest some very good players and a very favourable success ratio. While that is true, there were still some challenges to picking an all-time XI, thanks to the bowling-heavy avatar that the franchise has had. In a sense, it is almost the anti-RCB, with a surfeit of bowling options, but a bit of a struggle to pick batsmen. That the franchise has two titles – beating RCB in both finals coincidentally – perhaps tells a tale of which discipline helps win tournaments.The picks
David Warner, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were straightforward picks. Each of them have been almost synonymous with SRH’s success. With the inclusion of the Chargers’ players, Adam Gilchrist also makes it – forming a dream opening combination with Warner. Both men have led the franchise to titles, and Gilchrist’s win in 2009 came on the back of a wooden-spoon finish in 2008 – but we decided to give the captaincy reins to Warner, since Gilchrist will be keeping wickets too. Shikhar Dhawan may be with the other DC now – Delhi Capitals – but he’s still the top scorer for the two franchises combined, shading Warner by 466 runs. With both Warner and Gilchrist there though, Dhawan will bat at No. 3.The debate
The struggle to pick SRH sides involved filling up batting spots. At first, Dale Steyn was thought to be a walk-in selection. He has 71 wickets for the two franchises combined – second only to Bhuvneshwar – and his economy rate of 6.68 is outstanding. But picking Steyn would mean no more overseas slots available, since Warner, Gilchrist and Rashid already occupy three. And the fact of the matter is, that while there are decent pace options available (even if not Steyn quality), we struggled to pick Indian batsmen. Which meant Steyn had to be replaced by Kane Williamson. It was not an easy decision, but team dynamics demanded it.The paucity of batsmen is best reflected in the fact that for the role of the No. 6, we had to go back to Rohit Sharma. He had done an excellent job for the Chargers, before becoming the face of Mumbai Indians, and in fact is still the for the two franchises combined. Gilchrist is fourth, and both have played only three seasons – as telling a stat as any on the franchise’s batting troubles. Rohit in his 2008-2010 avatar was a middle-order batsman and a finisher, who occasionally rolled his arm over too. He is picked in that capacity for this side.The bowling line-up is potent though, with Amit Mishra, RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha added to the roster. Singh and Ojha were superb for Deccan, while Mishra straddled both franchises well. His legspin is distinct from Rashid’s and both in tandem would be a compelling sight. There was still one spot to fill, and with only five batsmen so far, it had to go to another batsman. That meant we had no room for a Siddarth Kaul or Sandeep Sharma, both of whom had done much better for the franchise in absolute terms than any batsman available for selection. The batting spot came down to Yuvraj Singh or Manish Pandey. While Yuvraj’s average (27.11) and strike rate (137.07) compare reasonably with Pandey’s (33.05 and 123.37), we went with Pandey because he showed a significant upward trend in the latter half of the last season and has sustained his numbers for more matches than Yuvraj.In terms of balance, the team has a top four who might all be more comfortable opening the batting, but that is down to how the franchise has built its squad over the years, and who have performed well. Rashid at No. 7 might feel one spot too high, but with the bowling attack this team has and the quality of the top order, going a bit light on batting might not matter.Incidentally, there are plenty of individual achievements in this side. Warner won the Orange Cap in 2015, 2017 and 2019, while Williamson did so in 2018. Singh and Ojha won the Purple Cap in 2009 and 2010, while Bhuvneshwar won it in 2016 and 2017.Playing XI stats for SRH1. David Warner
71 matches (2014-2019)
Runs 3271, Ave 55.44, SR 146.872. Adam Gilchrist
48 matches (2008-2010)
Runs 1289, Ave 27.42, SR 147.823. Shikhar Dhawan
120 matches (2011-2018)
Runs 3737, Ave 35.59, SR 126.204. Kane Williamson
41 matches (2015-19)
Runs 1302, Ave 38.29, SR 135.065. Manish Pandey
27 matches (2018-19)
Runs 628, Ave 33.05, SR 123.376. Rohit Sharma
47 matches (2008-10)
Runs 1219, Ave 30.47, SR 130.37Wickets 14, Ave 25.14, ER 7.337. Rashid Khan
46 matches (2017-19)
Wickets 55, Ave 21.69, ER 6.558. B Kumar
86 matches (2014-2019)
Wickets 109, Ave 22.33, ER 7.419. Amit Mishra
61 matches (2011-2014)
Wickets 62, Ave 25.38, ER 7.2910. Pragyan Ojha
56 matches (2008-2011)
Wickets 62, Ave 22.19, ER 7.0811. RP Singh
44 matches (2008-2010)
Wickets 54, Ave 23.59, ER 7.91Want to pick your own DC/SRH all-time XI? Head over to our readers’ voting page here. all-time IPL XIs, .

Also: has any cricket ground staged more than three Tests in a row?

Steven Lynch11-Aug-2020Old Trafford just staged three successive Test matches – has any ground done this before? asked Gordon Wilson from England
It’s the first time England have played three successive Tests at the same ground since 1905-06, when the first three matches of their South African tour all took place at the old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg. Oddly, there was more than two months between the first and second Tests in that long-ago series.England also did it in 1886-87 and 1887-88, when they played three in a row in Sydney (they had no Tests at home in 1887), and in Melbourne in 1876-77 and 1878-79 (the first three Tests of all). The only other instance – and the overall record – was set by Zimbabwe, who played five successive Tests at the Harare Sports Club between April 2013 and August 2014 (two against Bangladesh and Pakistan, and one against South Africa). England made four changes between the first and second Tests against West Indies. When was the last time they made four or more changes mid-series? asked Mike Sowerby from England
It looks like 20 years since England last made four changes to their team for successive Tests in mid-series. In 2000, also against West Indies, they made four alterations between the first Test at Edgbaston, and the second at Lord’s – and then made four more changes for the third Test at Old Trafford.It wasn’t mid-series, obviously, but last year England made five changes to their team between the third Test against West Indies in St Lucia in February, and their next Test, against Ireland at Lord’s in July 2019.The England record for mid-series changes was set in 1950, when there were no fewer than eight differences between the sides for the third Test against West Indies, at Trent Bridge, and the fourth and final Test at The Oval. It didn’t help much: West Indies won both matches by wide margins.In 1884-85, Australia changed their side entirely between the first Test in Adelaide, and the second in Melbourne, after a pay dispute. Don Bradman’s 6996 Test runs include seven ducks. Has any player scored more Test runs than the Don with fewer ducks? asked Joel Pojas from the Philippines
My first thought was that no one would have scored more Test runs than Don Bradman with fewer ducks, but actually that was emphatically not the case. Steve Smith has so far made 7227 runs with only four ducks, while Wally Hammond (7249 runs) and Clive Lloyd (7515) were only out for nought four times as well. Mark Taylor’s 7525 runs included five ducks, including a pair in his first match as captain, while David Gower made 8231 with a Bradman-equalling seven zeroes.But well clear at the top of this particular table is Pakistan’s Javed Miandad, whose 8832 runs in Tests included only six ducks.Tom Latham and Martin Guptill were dismissed for golden ducks by Dale Steyn in Centurion in 2016, the latest instance of both openers falling first ball in a Test innings•AFPHave both openers ever been out first ball in a Test innings? asked Krishna Shah from India
The ESPNcricinfo database throws up four cases of both openers falling first ball in a Test innings – it’s possible there are one or two more, from matches where we don’t have full ball-by-ball details. The first one was in Christchurch in 1932-33, when England’s openers Herbert Sutcliffe and Eddie Paynter both bagged golden ducks, with the New Zealand seamer Dennis Smith taking a wicket with his first ball in Tests (he never managed another one). But No. 3 Wally Hammond made up for it with 227, as England ran up 560.The next known instance came at Headingley in 1982, when Pakistan’s openers Mohsin Khan and Mudassar Nazar both fell first ball in Bob Willis’ first over in the second innings. Something similar happened in Centurion in August 2016, when Tom Latham and Martin Guptill both bagged first-ball ducks in Dale Steyn’s first over of New Zealand’s second innings against South Africa. Which Australian player was not dismissed twice by Jim Laker when he took 19 wickets in a Test at Old Trafford? asked Ian Hugo from Nigeria
The England offspinner Jim Laker famously took 19 Australian wickets in the Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1956 (no one else has managed more than 17 in a Test). Slow left-armer Tony Lock took the other wicket – Jim Burke early in the first innings – and Ray Lindwall and Ian Johnson remained not out in the two innings. So Laker dismissed eight Aussies twice – including Neil Harvey and Ken Mackay for pairs – and the other three batsmen once each.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

He hasn’t excelled in the IPL this year, and now finds himself out of favour in the India set-up. He still has his talent but his mindset might need some work

Aakash Chopra05-Nov-2020Rishabh Pant is the only Indian wicketkeeper to score Test centuries in Australia and England. He was the second-highest run scorer in the IPL in 2018. He’s young, he’s dynamic, and his style of play is refreshingly liberating. His early exploits in Test match cricket ensured that he would get a long run in the India side, and his style of play almost guaranteed a place in limited-overs cricket as and when the opportunity arose. It felt like the world was at his feet.But though the new blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket seemed to quickly get everything he might have desired, it didn’t last long. Pant is no longer in India’s white-ball squads, and he is second in line after Wriddhiman Saha in the Test team. His successes in ODI cricket for India were sporadic, and the modes of his dismissals converted some of his fans into critics. Who goes for a glory shot when you need less than a run a ball to take the team home? Or how do you justify a high-risk shot first ball when the team has just lost a wicket?Pant’s Test and IPL returns suggested he had cracked the longest and shortest formats but simply didn’t understand the rhythm of the 50-over game. Is that possible?We’ve seen it in the past. Virender Sehwag bossed Tests but was below average in ODIs. We make attempts at understanding the anomaly to make sense of it, but we are far from deciphering it completely. However, we must keep trying, and here I too will make an attempt.ALSO READ: Why Rishabh Pant is perhaps India’s first T20 batsman with a T20 attitudePant burst onto the international scene after his exploits in the IPL. There were no expectations of him to play a certain kind of cricket and he played in the fashion he knew best. That’s how a lot of young cricketers start their careers: see the ball and react. He did just that in Test cricket. It didn’t always work but that can be said about any method one might employ. Nothing is foolproof, but the success of a method is in the percentages. And when your preferred method stops yielding an acceptable success rate, you ought to reinvent. Is it the case that Pant does not know his methods of play completely?Scoring runs and knowing how to score runs aren’t the same thing. Lots of players score a lot of runs to merit selection but few know the art of scoring runs. Confused? Let me elaborate.The ability to react to a ball that’s coming your way is built over years, decades even. The more you play, the more you learn about eliminating errors, and that, in turn, enables you to score runs. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have understood your game inside-out. While you know that you react differently to different situations, you don’t really fully know how and why you react to a particular situation in a certain manner, and what your best response should be – if it isn’t the one you’re presenting. You know you have played a bad shot and got out, but you don’t remember what mindset you were in, because of which you played that bad shot. Unless you know the state of mind and the thoughts that led to that false shot, you won’t see the red flags in time the next time and will repeat the mistake.Awareness about your own play and what makes you behave differently in different situations isn’t acquired overnight. I scored over 5000 first-class runs before I made my India debut, and to be honest, I didn’t understand my game even after I was dropped from the side in 2004. That understanding developed only in the summer of 2007, while playing league cricket in England.Going back to Pant – he comes across as someone who is confused about his role and his responsibilities towards his own game. I’m not talking about what the team or the situation demands of him but just his comfort with his own style of play. His last couple of Test matches and this edition of the IPL have brought that uncertainty to the fore. He is blessed with the ability to hit the ball long and hard, but it seems that he is unsure of the right time to do so.2:45

Tom Moody: Rishabh Pant not in the best shape when he arrived for this season

There have been instances in this IPL where left-arm spinners have come and gone unscathed. The bowlers he wouldn’t allow to settle down in the past have kept him quiet this season because he chose to let the moment pass and wait for a better, more opportune moment. Pant was Pant because he could change the tide, but now he’s trying to swim with it and by the time he thinks about changing it, it’s a little too late.There’s a theory doing the rounds that since he is batting slightly lower down the order, he has been asked by his franchise to play a different role. While data suggests that he has been at his best when he has had more overs to bat through in T20 cricket, and so that there is merit in the argument that this new role isn’t doing him any favours, the fact is that batting lower down the order should give him the license to go berserk quicker. That is when he is at his best, right?Wrong. Once you’ve tasted some success at the top and have been dropped thereafter, your overriding thought is about making it back into the side. Now your best game is no longer the game that got you the India cap in the first place but the one that you think is likely to help you regain it.It’s time for Pant to clear the cobwebs and spend more time with his own game, understanding its nuances. He is the same player who everyone thought had the X-Factor, he is the same player who was seen as a natural successor to Dhoni, and he is the same player who produced consistent performances at high strike rates in T20 cricket. He is the same player because you don’t lose these skills overnight.Temperament is the combination of knowing the demands of the situation and the best response based on your own strengths and weaknesses. Some of us are born with exceptional hand-eye coordination and the ability to pick the length and line a fraction earlier, but temperament has to be acquired.Pant has entered the second stage of his career. This phase is about understanding and acquiring. The sooner he does that, the better for him and for Indian cricket.

A look back to 50 years ago, and the protests against South Africa’s tour of England

Alan Gardner26-Dec-2020It is often tempting to look around and conclude that we live in uniquely troubled times (and the effects of a global pandemic have certainly given 2020 a boot up the annus horribilis league table). But while the world has roiled these past few years amid schisms over race and culture, concerns about democratic accountability and the way governments function in an interconnected world, it is worth keeping in mind that the good old days often don’t live up to their billing.In , Colin Shindler revives the fractious arguments and bitter enmities that characterised a polarising campaign to stop South Africa’s 1970 tour of England. In doing so, he draws parallels with the 2016 European Union referendum – one of the side effects of which has been the demise of the Kolpak era in county cricket – and reminds us how sport can play a central part in shaping our civilisation (even as sportsmen claim their perennial aversion to being lumped in with politicians).If the past is another country, to borrow from the novelist LP Hartley (who finds his way into Shindler’s account, along with many and varied other bits of correspondence dug out from the archives), the UK of half a century ago may not look so alien – particularly to a cricket fan. South Africa returned from sporting isolation in 1992, but cricket in the country to this day is still reckoning with a history blighted by apartheid.Related

• When politics killed a tour

• The D'Oliveira Affair

• Dolly mixture

• What has English cricket been like for black players?

• Dear Mr Arlott

Meanwhile, despite great strides in many areas, the experiences so eloquently given voice and amplified during an English summer touched by the Black Lives Matter protests around the world – from Ebony Rainford-Brent and Michael Holding to Azeem Rafiq and Michael Carberry – remind us that questions of race and reconciliation are yet to be solved at home.Even in the current climate, it is hard to imagine the deployment of barbed wire – as referenced in the book’s title – searchlights and security guards at cricket grounds around the country simply in order to host a game. But that was merely one aspect of the planning (predicted cost: more than £250,000) for a proposed tour that pitted English cricket’s hidebound establishment against a motley alliance of students, clergymen and MPs.Trouble had been brewing since the D’Oliveira affair of 1968, and South Africa’s refusal to countenance the inclusion of a non-white player in the MCC touring party. Yet the authorities in England persisted in attempts to host South Africa less than two years later, in the belief that blandishments about “building bridges” and claims by the South African Cricket Association that future squads would be selected solely on merit might override objections about the iniquities of apartheid. As Shindler writes: “The bridges did not appear to be facilitating any sort of traffic into the townships.”The temptation of seeing England take on what was considered the best team in the world was obvious. South Africa had just thrashed Australia 4-0 at home, and could field a side containing Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock and Mike Procter, among others; Basil D’Oliveira himself was in favour. But ranged against the blazers at Lord’s was an equally compelling cast.John Arlott had declined to tour South Africa again after observing the country’s racial segregation in 1948-49, and he stepped down from BBC commentary duties ahead of the 1970 series out of opposition to the “completely evil regime” of the John Vorster government. The Reverend David Sheppard, once of Sussex and England, led opposition from the church, while the more militant Stop the Seventy Tour movement was orchestrated by future Labour MP Peter Hain. Learie Constantine, the former West Indies allrounder, then recently ennobled as Baron Constantine of Nelson, voiced fears that the arrival of South Africa “could be disastrous for race relations in this country”.Pitch PublishingMost colourful was the irascible commentary provided by the journalist and broadcaster Michael Parkinson, who railed against the “Marylebone Clodpole Club”, whose refusal to bow in the face of public protest he characterised as follows: “It is a rag-bag of cliché, red herring, zig-zagging, bobbing and weaving, and as an argument in favour of the tour has all the watertight qualities of a string bag.”As well presenting a range of material from newspapers and magazines (in which, amusingly, some people were complaining about the “left-wing bias of the BBC” even 50 years ago), Shindler adroitly sifts the cultural milieu of the time, touching on anti-Vietnam war riots in America and the rise and fall of the Beatles, as well as connecting events to the present day: “The fault line running through the country that divided Leavers and Remainers in Britain after June 2016 is not far removed from the line that divided those who supported the tour from those who exulted in its cancellation in 1970.”The fight to stop the ’70 tour during a summer when cricket grounds became battlegrounds remains an important episode in the history of the game in both England and South Africa, for whom years of isolation were to follow. Shindler’s book, as Parkinson writes in the foreword, is a “powerful reminder of those turbulent times”, as well as of cricket’s capacity to promote change. In another divided era, the struggle for a better world beyond the boundary continues.Barbed Wire and Cucumber Sandwiches
by Colin Shindler
Pitch Publishing 2020
£19.99, 320 pages

Plenty to ponder as England weigh up their XI for the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad

George Dobell23-Feb-2021Despite a chastening defeat in last week’s second Test, England sense a real opportunity to reclaim the series lead in Ahmedabad, due to the prospect of a day-night Test playing to their seam-bowling strengths. But dare they presume too much about a venue that has never hosted a Test before?Two spinners or one?
This is the biggest question occupying England’s team management ahead of this game. While they are confident the pink ball (and the slightly more grassy pitch provided to accommodate it) will provide more assistance to seam bowlers, they are still playing a Test in Ahmedabad. Under that live grass is the more familiar dry red soil which suggests there will, sooner or later, be assistance for the spinners, too. For that reason, England will not make a final decision about their XI until after their final training session, which is under lights on Tuesday evening.The form of Dom Bess may be relevant here. For, while England may be facing this selection dilemma in any circumstances, you suspect that, were Moeen Ali available for this game, he would play. But Bess struggled with his length in Chennai – in particular, with a series of full-tosses – so there may be just a hint of trepidation about picking him for another Test at this stage. Put simply, if part of Bess’ role is to bowl dry, England may feel they can achieve that better with another seamer.”One thing we could improve with the ball was the amount of times we couldn’t quite string a maiden together or bowl six balls at one batter,” Root said on Tuesday. “We’ve still got to look to build pressure for long periods of time, try to squeeze the game, make it very difficult for guys to score freely and score boundaries, and by doing that build pressure at one end and on one batter to try to force an error.”Joe Root, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns warm up during England’s practice session•BCCIBut Leach will play?
Yes, Leach will play. After a tricky 14 months or so in which Leach has been seriously unwell and Bess has been favoured as the solitary spinner in England, he is back in the side and established as first-choice. In English conditions, where spin could play a less prominent role and the spinner’s batting may be deemed more important, that could change. But for now, Leach is England’s No. 1.So who would the extra seamer be?
Chris Woakes has been a non-playing member of this tour party for every one of the four Tests to date and is due to go home next week. But this could be his moment. While his overseas record with the ball is modest, the usage of the pink ball – and the increased opportunities it appears to bring for conventional swing bowling – may be key. Equally, although it’s a small sample size, evidence from England’s tours to New Zealand and South Africa suggested Woakes had found a way to be effective without the use of the Dukes ball or English pitches.But his batting may be as important as his bowling in this scenario. Unless he plays, England could be facing the prospect of one of Leach or Jofra Archer batting at No. 8. That’s a tail which would make a Diplodocus feel self-conscious.Ben Stokes at training in Ahmedabad’s new stadium•BCCIDon’t England already have three seamers in their side?Yes, they do. It seems to get over-looked a little at present, but Ben Stokes has 159 Test wickets and, unlike James Anderson or Stuart Broad, he has a Test five-for (in Mohali in 2016) in India. But Stokes has only bowled 12 overs in the series to date and has not bowled more than six in an innings since July. While England say he is fit, he doesn’t seem to have been able to build up the volume of overs to be relied upon as the bowling force he has been in the past. In an ideal world, though, this is the exact scenario in which a top-quality all-rounder proves their worth: allowing a team to hedge their bets with selection as they know they have all bases covered.Could Broad return?
It’s possible but it seems unlikely. While Stokes said that Broad was among the England seamers “licking their lips” at the prospect of using the pink ball under lights, it seems he may be frustrated. You could make a decent case to play him ahead of Woakes, but Broad’s declining powers as a batsman count against him. Equally, you could make a case for him to play ahead of Archer, particularly if Stokes is able to provide the pace bowling that he has in the past. But England regard Archer’s skills – not just his pace, but his movement – as a point of difference. Many of Broad’s qualities – not least his control – can be provided by Anderson. And, don’t forget this is the first of another couple of back-to-back Tests. It fits with England’s recent policy to keep Broad fresh for the final Test.What about the top-order batting?
The return to fitness of Zak Crawley and the return to the tour of Jonny Bairstow has given England options at the top of the order. That is almost certain to mean Dan Lawrence – who has averaged 9.66 in his three most recent Tests – will make way for Bairstow at No.3, who looked assured in Sri Lanka prior to his break from the tour (though without reaching 50 in any of his four innings).Related

• Stokes: England's seamers are 'licking their lips'

• Root excited by pink ball possibilities

• Virat Kohli on 36 all out – These are experiences, not scars

Where does that leave Rory Burns?
Sitting precariously, you would think. Not so long ago, there was talk of him emerging as a future England captain and he looked to be on the brink of establishing himself in this side. You wonder how he reflects on his first-innings dismissal in the first Test in Chennai. Having got himself in on the flattest of surfaces, he had every chance to convert his start into a significant innings. Instead, he attempted a reverse-sweep – a shot he has rarely played in Test cricket – and departed for 33. Had he made a century there, this discussion wouldn’t be happening. But since the start of August he has played five Tests (eight innings) and averaged just 9.75. With Ravi Ashwin and Ishant Sharma especially effective against left-handers, there is a case for replacing him with Crawley.”It’s been quite tricky for everyone,” Root said. “But in particular the lefties against Ashwin because of how skilful he is, how good his record has been against our left-handers, and in world cricket against any left-handed batters.”Crawley has hardly made an irresistible case for selection himself, though. He had a top-score of just 13 from four innings in Sri Lanka and looked as if he had plenty to learn about combatting spin in such conditions. For that reason, the team management may decide to give Burns one more chance. Crawley is seen a major developing talent, though, and it’s not impossible he could replace Burns. Dom Sibley, having found himself under pressure only a few weeks ago, has emerged as England’s first-choice Test opener.

Shahidi and Asghar Afghan also stitched together Afghanistan’s first 300-run partnership in the format

Sampath Bandarupalli11-Mar-20211 Hashmatullah Shahidi (200*) became the first Afghanistan player to score a double-century in Test cricket. Asghar Afghan briefly held the record for the highest individual score for Afghanistan with his 164 before Shahidi overtook him. Before Thursday, Rahmat Shah’s 102 against Bangladesh in the 2019 Chattogram was Afghanistan’s only hundred in their first five Tests.307 Partnership runs between Shahidi and Asghar for the fourth wicket, the highest for any wicket for Afghanistan. Their previous highest was 139 between Ihsanullah and Rahmat for the second wicket against Ireland in 2019.1 Number of partnerships in Test cricket in the UAE higher than Shahidi and Asghar’s 307. The South African pair of Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers had added 338 for the fifth wicket against Pakistan in 2013. The 307-run stand between Shahidi and Asghar is also the third-highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket against Zimbabwe.0 Countries before Afghanistan with a triple-century partnership and 500-plus total in their first ten Test matches. The previous record for the fewest Tests required by a team for a 300-plus partnership was 16 matches by Pakistan, while Zimbabwe, with 544/4 in only their 11th match, held the record for the fewest Tests for breaching the 500-run milestone.6 Matches Afghanistan took to record their first individual double-century in Test cricket, the joint-fewest by any team. West Indies had also got their maiden Test double-centurion in their sixth match when Clifford Roach struck 209 against England in 1930.2016 Last instance of No. 4 and No. 5 batsmen scoring 150-plus runs in the same Test innings before Shahidi and Asghar. The Indian duo of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had scored 211 and 188 respectively against New Zealand in the first-ever Test at the Holkar stadium in Indore.

Conway’s record start, and all the stats highlights from England’s first home series defeat since 2014

Sampath Bandarupalli13-Jun-20213 – Number of Test series wins for New Zealand in England, including their latest win by 1-0 margin. New Zealand won the three-match series in 1986 by a 1-0 margin and the four-match series in 1999 by 2-1. The latest series victory is also the third consecutive Test series win for New Zealand against England, having triumphed at home in 2018 and 2019.ESPNcricinfo Ltd13 – Consecutive bilateral Test series without a defeat for England at home, before the series loss to New Zealand. It is also the first Test series defeat at home for Joe Root as captain. England’s last Test series defeat at home came against Sri Lanka in 2014, also by a 1-0 margin during a two-match series.122 – The second-innings total of England in Birmingham, their lowest at home against New Zealand. England’s previous lowest total at home against New Zealand was 126, also at Edgbaston in 1999.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 – The number of players with a score in the 80s in this match, the first such instance in Test cricket. It is also only the third Test match to record five scores in the 80s, the previous instances were during the Australia vs South Africa Test at the SCG in 1964 and England vs Australia match at Old Trafford in 1968.88-10 – England’s win-loss record when they have made 300-plus in the first innings of a Test match at home. The eight-wicket loss to New Zealand is only the third defeat for England after scoring 300-plus in the first innings of a home Test in the last 20 years.0 – The number of New Zealand players to have won the Player-of-the-Series award in their debut Test series, before Devon Conway. The opener is also the second after Sourav Ganguly to win the award in their debut Test series in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd306 – Runs for Conway in this Test series, the second-most by a New Zealander in the debut Test series. Stewie Dempster leads the list with 341 runs, scored during the four-match series against England in 1930. Conway’s tally of 306 runs is fifth-most by a visiting opener in a Test series on debut in England.3 – Instances of New Zealand winning away from home, despite conceding 300 and more runs in the first innings of the Test. The Edgbaston win is also just the ninth instance of New Zealand winning a Test even after giving away 300-plus runs in the first innings of a Test match.

“While doing commentary with him, I felt I was learning cricket all over again”

As told to Hemant Brar13-Jul-2021The first time I met Yashpal was during a Ranji Trophy match in 1981-82. I picked up 14 wickets in that game, including his in both innings.The pitch wasn’t a great one to bat on but I could see his determination in the way he batted. [Sharma scored 74 out of Punjab’s first-innings total of 156.] And since he was already an India player, getting him out twice was a big achievement for me.In the next season, we were team-mates for North Zone at the Duleep Trophy. That’s when I realised how serious he was about his cricket. Even in the nets, he batted with the intensity of a match. He was so much into the game that he wouldn’t sit idle after he was done with batting. He would come and bowl his offspin, or work on his fielding.I learnt how to improve my fielding first and majorly from Maddi [Madan Lal], but when I saw Yashpal Sharma working on his fielding, I told myself if I could also do that, I would become a good fielder too. So there was a lesson to be learnt from his work ethic.He was a very disciplined cricketer, overall. He was fond of food but at the same time he was conscious of what he ate. He didn’t want anything to affect his cricket. If he was playing the next day, he would avoid a heavy dinner. On a match day, he would have a light lunch.

“I realised how serious he was about his cricket. Even in the nets, he batted with the intensity of a match. He was so much into the game that he wouldn’t sit idle after he was done with batting. He would come and bowl his offspin, or work on his fielding”

I have always believed that to be successful in international cricket, you have to be mentally strong. And he was. He was gritty. He didn’t look 100% technically sound but at that level if you are mentally strong, you can make up for it.He was a massive fan of [Indian actor] Dilip Kumar. I remember on my first tour to Pakistan, in 1982-83, we were staying at guesthouses at certain places. There used to be VCRs and he would watch Dilip Kumar movies. Sometimes just to annoy him, some of the players would put in a different cassette when he went for a toilet break. That was the only time I saw him getting angry.After our playing days, we did umpiring and commentary together. We stood in a couple of games together and his concentration level was as high as when he was playing.There was also a lot to learn from him about the game when we did commentary. As I was junior to him, we didn’t communicate much during our playing days. But during our commentary stints, I felt whatever he said on air, he used to apply all that in his own game too. While doing commentary with him, I felt I was learning cricket all over again.Related

1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma dies aged 66

Sometimes I felt he was a bit too serious. But that was his way of life, and everybody cannot be like that.We met recently during India’s home series against England. And he looked fit and fine. He was very health conscious; he would go for his walks quite regularly. So when the news of his death came, I was in absolute shock. I still cannot believe this has happened. For someone who was so disciplined in his life, so health-conscious, he is gone too soon.I can’t shake the thought from my head, perhaps he took the departure of his hero [Dilip Kumar, who died on July 7] to heart.

Unglamorous left-armer completes another frugal spell as Scotland fight hard against NZ

Matt Roller03-Nov-20214:45

Borren: Scotland took the foot off the throat when NZ were three down

Left-arm fingerspin is a grubby, unglamorous skill at the best of times but in T20 cricket, particularly so. The majority of its purveyors in this World Cup hardly try to spin the ball, instead bowling defensive lines and lengths in a desperate attempt to escape from their spells unscathed. Few of them have wrong ‘uns, instead they rely on arm balls, angles and changes of pace for their variety. Their art is constructing an over, finding a way to string six balls together without becoming predictable.The poster boy for defensive darts at this tournament has been Mark Watt, Scotland’s broad-shouldered, combative linchpin. He has bowled his full allocation of four overs in every game, taking exactly one wicket in each, and has been hit for seven boundaries in total. With games against India and Pakistan to come, he is yet to concede more than 23 runs in a spell.Counterintuitively for a defensive bowler, Watt’s strength lies in his variety. His delivery points are hugely varied, sometimes bowling from a two-pace run-up with a release-point in line with the umpire, and regularly going so wide on the crease from round the wicket that his front foot lands off the cut strip. He regularly bowls at up to 65mph/104kph, and his height helps him generate both good bounce from a good length and dip on his yorkers.

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Watt’s variety is a natural response to bowling on Scotland’s small ground in Edinburgh when they play at home. “Bowling spin at the Grange is quite tough,” he said earlier in this tournament. “It’s a small round, fast outfield, and a good wicket. If you can bowl spin there, you can bowl pretty much anywhere. You need to think about different variations to keep the batter guessing when it’s only fingerspin.”The wickets you get in international cricket these days, they don’t do a lot for fingerspinners,” he told Wisden’s podcast after Scotland’s win against Bangladesh. “It’s about trying to keep the batter guessing, trying to keep them watching you all the time, and finding any sort of advantage you can get. White-ball cricket for a fingerspinner is tough.”It might be a bit cheeky bowling from 25, 26 yards – but if it gets me a dot ball in T20 cricket, I’m going to try and keep doing it. Everyone in the nets tries to hit it to the moon so I was a bit scared bowling it in games but it seems to work: the batter is looking down at his toes, then looks up and the ball is halfway through its flight.”Perhaps the biggest compliment paid to Watt was New Zealand’s approach against him in Dubai. He took a wicket with his first ball, having Devon Conway caught behind off the glove while reverse-sweeping, and despite the fact that both Martin Guptill and Glenn Phillips were set for the second half of his spell, New Zealand’s batters made only two boundary attempts off him; neither was successful.Mark Watt celebrates Devon Conway’s wicket with his team-mates•Getty ImagesHis death bowling has been particularly impressive, jamming in yorkers and cramping batters for room: he was entrusted with the 18th over against New Zealand, conceding only five runs – including a leg bye – after nutmegging Phillips with a yorker with his first ball. Watt’s figures of 1 for 13 were his best in the tournament to date, and the cheapest four-over spell by a Scotland player in all men’s T20 World Cups.”He just doesn’t give a lot,” Guptill said. “He wasn’t trying to turn the ball necessarily, or anything like that. He’s just bowling good lines and lengths, getting inside our arcs so that we couldn’t really take him down. He bowled very well and it was just a matter of trying to get through it and not let him bog us down too much.””Mark was fantastic,” Kyle Coetzer, Scotland’s captain, said. “He’s been bowling extremely well for quite a while now on this whole tour that we’ve been on. He’s been the guy who you can throw the ball to at any end: short boundary or long boundary, into the breeze or against the breeze, he’s there and he’s willing to do it.Related

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“He’s shown that the skill he has and the ability to be able to restrict runs. It’s not just about being able to deliver a ball that has some revs on it or might turn, or being able to bowl a good yorker; it’s about understanding and reading the game and he has excellent game sense, and showing why he’s on this stage. Mark’s very aware on who does what, whether players sweep or reverse-sweep, and where they look to hit the ball.”Watt has had two brief experiences playing county cricket, signing a short-term deal with Lancashire in 2018 and playing for Derbyshire for some of the following summer, and since he qualifies as a local player, his performances in this tournament should attract further interest ahead of the 2022 season.”I think Mark deserves that, as far as I’m concerned,” Coetzer said. “He’s certainly got the ability to go and play in those competitions – not only the county stuff, but maybe other franchise tournaments around the world. He’s certainly put his hand up to be one of the best left-arm spinners in this competition.”

From having a name the principal couldn’t pronounce at school to hitting the shot to win the WTC – it’s been some journey for Ross Taylor

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Jan-20223:26

‘Turning myself into a Test player was the biggest achievement’

When you’re a half-Samoan kid from Masterton, life has some possibilities laid out for you, but other paths seem steep and narrow. This being a small town deep in rural New Zealand, there’s always the chance paddocks could be in your future. If you were into sports, the region is better known – like many of this description are – for rugby.So if you’ve got shoulders the size of a milking shed, your fast-twitch fibres are in good order, and you have height, there’s gotta be a No. 8 jersey somewhere with your name on it, right? The principal at your primary school might have mangled your actual first name, Luteru, to the point where your mother just brought your one Anglicised given name to the front of the queue, but rugby announcers, even in the provinces, are by now well-versed with the Polynesian names on team rosters.Related

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But there was always the matter of the bat hitting the ball like a fearsome peal of thunder, and in those moments, the prosaic stuff – who you are, where you’re from – tend not to matter. And when you’re hitting, no matter how withdrawn and affable you are, or how nervous you might feel, coaches, teammates, and opponents see a strut. Don’t feed that rasping cut of his. Beware of those booming drives. And for the love of all that is holy, stay the hell away from those pads.In the early days, before there is a real defence, the hitting is a crutch. On first viewing, Martin Crowe thinks: here’s a slogger. Crowe would change his mind to such an extent that he becomes a treasured mentor and confidante, but his initial appraisal is echoed elsewhere. You’ve made the New Zealand team, scored some early runs, and rapidly become a fixture in the middle order. Life becomes big fast. And cricket bigger and faster still. At the IPL, you’re a million-dollar buy in 2011. When the slog sweep is pinging off the middle, you’re worth every cent.In international cricket, things are more complex. This is not a good New Zealand side that you are a part of. In fact, it is said, perhaps not uncharitably, that it is one of the worst. When in this context, you become captain, and hole out to deep midwicket playing that shot that is one of the foundations of your game, there are questions about responsibility. Or worse. On the global scale, New Zealand is a broad-minded and generous place. But even in New Zealand, athletes from certain ethnic backgrounds find themselves the subject of more cynical strains of criticism than others. You’re never told you don’t have the talent.Ross Taylor has a moment with his kids ahead of his 100th Test•AFPWhen the captaincy is yanked away, suddenly, and acrimoniously, there is a gash that needs healing, but also a growing. The next year, 2013, is the richest of your Test career to date – 866 runs flowing at an average of 72.16. The hitter is giving way to the hustler. You’re running the fast twos, trading in the slog for the paddle, the big heaves for the legside dinks, and this, in turn, becomes the bedrock of your ODI game, which in later years, is to hit the stratosphere. No one is making backhanded compliments about your talent now.Still, life is not without its trials. You have a growth in your eye that comes on so gradually you don’t notice you’re not picking bowlers out of the hand under lights any more. The Test schedule for New Zealand goes cold just as your own form is running hot. And oh, just to drive the point home, you literally get hit in the balls – a missed reverse-sweep in the nets leaving your gonads in such a state they require surgery, the injury forcing you to miss matches.In your last years come the serious milestones. Passing Crowe’s run tally of 5444, then his century count of 17, is moving even for watchers-on, deeply affecting for you. Stephen Fleming’s New Zealand run tally of 7172 tumbles too. When you play the cut or lay into a drive, a little of that early strut survives, but the batting is a little more like the man now: unruffled, determined, reserved. And while you’ve been on your own path, your team has transformed around you. The best your nation has ever produced, probably. It falls to you to hit the runs that win the World Test Championship – a whip off the pads to deep square leg. Sometimes life catches up and meets you where you want it.If we’re being critical, there is the matter of only briefly having threatened to push the Test average past 50 (although, if you play the majority of your innings on pitches where even normally unremarkable seamers can spit venom at any time of the day, these can feel like fantasy numbers). Could that conversion rate have been higher? We’re nitpicking.If you’re that kid from Masterton, though, with the name the principal can’t pronounce, you might look back and think that for all the publicly-played out travails, dramatic turns, and blows both physical and emotional, there could hardly have been a more gratifying road for you.