All posts by h716a5.icu

A reader is extremely unhappy with Voges’ stratospheric Test average

Dick Stipe21-Feb-2016Cricket’s greatest statistic for as long as I have been alive has always been Bradman’s Test batting average, both for the poetic beauty of it being so close to a perfect century and its simply beyond comparison gap to the next best. Anyone who has had even a passing interest in cricket will have at some time come across the table headed by Bradman’s 99.94 and many will remember that the best of the rest is around 60. That single statistic has led to Sir Donald Bradman being spoken of as the greatest statistical outlier in any sport, at any time, anywhere on earth. Take a moment to think about that and you may start to realise why anyone who loves Test cricket should be deeply disturbed by the Adam Voges situation.For many of us who grew up playing cricket on the concrete pitches of the late 1970s and early 1980s cricket was always about batting and Bradman. It would be years before I heard any talk of Bradman the man or his questionable temperament but by the age of 10 I had learnt the numbers: 52 Tests, 80 innings, 10 not out, 6996 runs, Average 99.94 probably better than I knew the times tables. By 12, I had memorised the list of the greatest 10 batsmen in the history of the game and most of their averages as well:

Pollock 60.97
Headley 60.83
Sutcliffe 60.73
Paynter 59.23
Barrington 58.67
Weekes 58.61
Hammond 58.45
Sobers 57.78
Hobbs 56.94

At 12, I am sure my only real dream in life was to be the first Test cricketer to bridge that seemingly absurd gap between the Don and the best of the rest but by 14 I had come to realise that the good Lord had blessed me with a far greater mind for numbers than a body for wielding willow and thankfully other things grabbed my attention.Over the years though I have always held tight to that list of ten men that I first discovered in the back pages of Jack Pollard’s “Illustrated History of Australian Cricket”, and throughout my life it has been a constant. There have been times when the truly exceptional players of the past 30 years flirted with altering the list, Ricky Ponting at the peak of his powers from 2006-2009 got as high as 59.99, Jacques Kallis rose above Sobers briefly, Sachin always looked like he should rise above Pollock and Lara briefly did but both played the game until their averages had settled back among the mere elite in the lower 50s. Only Kumar Sangakkara has managed to enter that list in the entirety of my life and that was with a sustained finish to an exceptional career and just marginally above Jack Hobbs.Over the years I have read of the heroics of truly exceptional batsmen such as Doug Walters, Greg Chappell, Viv Richards, Neil Harvey and come to realise that each flirted with altering my beloved list at some stage of their career.Viv’s average was 60+ when Lillee bowled him with the last ball of the day at Melbourne in 1981, without doubt the greatest days test cricket I have ever witnessed, (god bless you Kim Hughes). Greg Chappell’s was as high as 58 in the middle of the Fire in Babylon days and Dougie Walters spent five years with an average of 60-plus. I wondered why older generations spoke so highly of Neil Harvey until I realised he averaged better than Bradman after 10 tests and maintained a 60-plus average for half his career before a rather precipitous fall as his powers deserted him with age. There have been others like our current captain Steve Smith who have ridden a purple patch at some stage of their career into the list but each has wearied and fallen much as I suspect Steve will.This weekend however that will all change. The little known fact about this list is that there has always been caveat of a minimum 20 innings and this has guaranteed the likes of Andy Ganteaume 1 innings – 112 average, Naveed Nawaz 1 innings – 99 runs, Vic Stollmeyer 1 innings 96 runs and Rodney Redmond 1 Test – average 81.50 are all little-known names that are not considered to have bridged the gap between Bradman and the rest. Even Barry Richards does not make the list with his 4 Tests, 508 runs at an average of 72.57.Voges will this week bat for the 20th time in Test cricket and with it will change forever that list I have long revered. This will be his 15th Test and at 36-and-a-half he is extremely unlikely to play many more. Australia’s next Test series are Sri Lanka in August (3 Tests), South Africa in Aus (4 Tests), Pakistan in Aus (3 Tests) and India in India in March 2017. Voges will inevitably always now be only one bad series away from the chop and his average is highly unlikely to drop below 75 when he is done.That is the simple maths of the equation but the greater impact to the game of cricket and Bradman’s legacy has to be considered. American pundits who have at times conceded that Bradman’s achievement outstrips those of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth will now be armed with the argument that he was only 33% better than Voges rather than 66% better than everybody who has ever played the game. It may seem trivial but in a world where the 10-second soundbite and the 140-character Twitter feed are the pinnacle of intelligence that fact will matter far too much.I have no beef with Voges for seizing the chances he has been offered although I do remind all that he was given a chance in Test cricket because he promised to solidify our middle order against the swinging ball in England last winter and on that front he failed miserably. Scores of 31, 16, 1, 1 and 0 when the Ashes were up for grabs in the first, third and fourth Tests speak volumes for the legacy Voges should have in Test cricket.Never in my life can I say I truly do not wish to watch when it comes to Test cricket but frankly it will be nigh on impossible for me to show but a zot of interest in this weekend’s fare. Brendon McCullum will sadly exit Test cricket on the same day my beloved list will forever be sullied by a statistical anomaly that defies belief. I blame Rod Marsh and his selection panel, I blame the West Indies Cricket Board for having conjured such an appalling assortment of Test bowlers, I blame the Cricket Australia for allowing Test wickets in this country to now offer the same bland batting paradise at every Test venue and I blame the ICC for their destructive mismanagement of the greatest sport on earth.RIP my beloved list.

Plays of the day from the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens

Vishal Dikshit16-May-2016The mix-up menace
Manish Pandey and Gautam Gambhir had upped the scoring after Robin Uthappa’s wicket, building a threatening stand. But a total co-ordination failure occurred when Chris Jordan came into the attack. Pandey slapped the last ball of the eighth over to mid-off and set off for a quick single even as Gambhir was ball watching. With his back to Pandey, Gambhir had edged along to nearly the halfway mark, then took two steps backwards when Pandey had almost crossed him. When Gambhir saw Yuzvendra Chahal had thrown the ball to the non-striker’s end, he changed his mind again and charged to the striker’s end. Pandey put in a last-minute, full-length dive at the non-striker’s end just before Jordan collected and broke the stumps. Seeing that it was too close to call, Jordan turned around and tried to catch Gambhir short but the batsman had reached the striker’s end safely by then. Chaos reigned but disaster was averted for Knight Riders.Gayle strikes back
Chris Gayle, who had been out of form, was mic’d up in the second over of the match. The television commentators asked him about his patchy form and he didn’t shy away from making a prophecy. “I’m fairly overdue by now, so why not fire tonight, eh?” he said. “I think the universe boss is allowed to have a few failures, so why not return tonight?” For a batsman whose last few scores read 6, 5, 7, 0, 1, 4, 5 and 4, that was some confidence. Gayle walked the talk in the chase; five fours and three sixes placed him on 42 off 24 after the Powerplay. He couldn’t get to a fifty, but Royal Challengers must be happy with 49 off 31.The return of Abdulla
Because Royal Challengers were sixth place on the points table and bowling had been their weak link so far, they brought in an extra spinner – Iqbal Abdulla – for Varun Aaron in Kolkata. On a pitch with prominent cracks, captain Virat Kohli brought Abdulla on in the third over, and Abdulla didn’t disappoint. He got in a loud appeal for lbw first ball, when Robin Uthappa missed a reverse sweep and was struck just outside the off-stump line. Second ball, Uthappa looked to turn a more flighted delivery to leg but edged it back towards Abdulla’s left and the left-arm spinner dived to complete a one-hand catch. Abdulla, who was wicketless in his previous three games, had broken the prolific opening partnership of Knight Riders.Jordan hits the blockhole
Chris Jordan had impressed many with his bowling in the slog overs during the World T20 recently, and he was given the same job on Monday night. He started the 19th over with a pin-point yorker that threw Shakib Al Hasan off balance. It was fired in right on the leg stump, and Shakib was flat on the ground in no time. Andre Russell, who was at the other end, had already been floored by a Mustafizur Rahman yorker earlier in the tournament, and he wasn’t spared by Jordan either. Four balls later Russell took strike and crouched early in an attempt to confuse Jordan, but the fast bowler had his plans in place. Just when Russell straightened up again, Jordan’s yorker found its way near Russell’s back foot; though the batsman managed to dig it out, he was left fumbling on all fours as well.

The shortest format should be the environment in which the fastest men can thrive

Freddie Wilde19-Jun-2016Are fast bowlers getting slower? It often feels like they are. Admittedly, fast bowling of the past is arguably mythologised more than anything else in cricket and pitches now are more benign than they were a quarter of a century ago, not to mention that batting techniques and protective equipment have improved radically, but even accounting for this, it is hard to shake off the feeling that today’s bowlers just don’t seem as quick as those who came before them.But even if the pace of fast bowling is not getting slower and is in fact staying fairly constant, the really fascinating thing is it is certainly not getting any faster, when really it could, and should, be doing so.Significant developments in sports science in recent years have redefined the limits of the human body. At the highest level of sport every aspect of an athlete’s body, lifestyle, diet and psychology are analysed and fine-tuned. This information revolution has pushed many sports into unchartered territory, with new records set astoundingly regularly.Fast bowling, however, appears to have been left behind in this pursuit. The volume of cricket now played is most culpable. Bowling actions, training programmes and fitness plans are defined not so much in the name of speed, or even efficiency, but longevity and fitness instead. Since the retirements of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, only Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait can lay claim to being part of cricket’s speed elite. This is incongruous with an age in which sports science is pushing contemporary athletes to the brink of human capabilities.There is, however, hope yet that a resurgence in fast bowling is not only possible but a natural and inevitable stage in cricket’s continuing evolution. As the T20 format matures it is becoming clear that the framework of the game lends itself to the production of fast bowlers the likes of which cricket has never seen before. The relatively limited physical demands of bowling in a T20 – a maximum of 24 deliveries – coupled with increased opportunities and enormous financial rewards of the format at domestic level mean we could be on the cusp of a fast-bowling revolution.The enforced decision of England’s Tymal Mills, plagued by a serious back injury, to focus his attention solely on T20 is portentous. Unable to bowl more than a handful of overs a week, 15 years ago Mills’ career would have been ended by such an injury – now he could end up earning more money bowling four overs a match in T20 leagues around the world than he could have in a decade of toil in first-class cricket.At just 23, Mills is possibly the youngest professional player to commit to T20 specialisation but his situation is far from the last stop in this evolutionary process. A generation of players who intend to only play cricket’s shortest format have most likely already been born and the possibilities of this, especially for fast bowlers, are tantalising.If a portly Shoaib, whilst balancing the demands of white- and red-ball cricket, could break the 100mph barrier then imagine just for a moment what a bowler for T20 cricket could achieve. A bowler whose entire career from age-group cricket onwards is focused on bowling 24 balls a match at searing speed.Raw pace is an asset in any form of cricket but in T20, where the balance of the game is most skewed in favour of the batsman, it is at its most valuable. The size of bats and boundaries and the strength and power of batsmen are rendered irrelevant by speed.”Seriously fast bowlers will always have a place because the reaction time of the batsman is negligible,” explains fast bowling coach Ian Pont. “Defences get ripped apart, techniques get shredded and it doesn’t matter how brave you are or how good you are, 100 miles an hour tests every fibre in your body as a batsman.”T20 has reversed the psychology of the player with the ball being the one to be feared. Now, gym-monsters with enormous bats are the most intimidating individuals on the pitch. The T20 format offers genuinely fast, specialist bowlers the opportunity to turn back the clock and become the fear again; the consequences of that could be game-changing.

From spin surprises to tail-end onslaughts, ESPNcricinfo rounds up the memorable moments from the 2016 County Championship, from No.20 to 11 …

David Hopps23-Sep-201620 The return of the spinners

The County Championship season began in historic fashion with new regulations which allowed the visiting captain to bowl first if he wanted to, or toss if he didn’t. Never has the first toss (or non-toss) of the season drawn so much interest. By no means universally welcomed in April, by September there was evidence to suggest that the chief aim – to bring spinners back into the game – had been achieved.19 Tino’s relegation prediction

Tino Best inspired a Hampshire win against Nottinghamshire in late May and pronounced that they could escape relegation in inimitable style. One of the brighter voice grabs of the season. “We got a guy call Tino Best. We got a guy called Mason Crane. We got a guy called Michael Carberry. We got a brilliant allrounder named Sean Ervine. We got a smashing captain called Mr Vince. We got a grafter by the name of Will Smith – he’s got the same name as my favourite actor. I think our chances are brilliant.”18 Rob Jones’ maiden century celebration

It was mid-September, Middlesex were gunning for the title and Lancashire’s season was turning sour. Step forward Rob Jones, a 20-year-old makeshift opener from Warrington who not only made his maiden Championship hundred, but brought it up with a six over long-on off Ollie Rayner and went on to bat through the innings: the first Lancastrian to do that since Cyril Washbrook in the 1930s. His emotional celebration at reaching his hundred was reason enough for him to enter the Top 20.17 Jack Shantry’s astounding century

The international summer had just begun, leaving this Division Two encounter between Worcestershire and Gloucestershire at New Road one of those Championship matches that gains little attention. But Jack Shantry’s hundred from No. 10 delighted those who saw it, his second fifty coming in 14 balls, a load of fun for one of the characters of the county circuit.16 Ben Stokes keeps Durham up

Ben Stokes doesn’t get many opportunities to play for Durham these days but his pride in his county remains unstinting. Durham’s fear of relegation was apparent in their penultimate game when Surrey began the final session at Chester-le-Street with victory in their sights. Stokes, at that point, had scored 24 and 0 and was wicketless, but he stirred himself to take 4 for 54 in 21 second-innings overs as Surrey fell 21 runs short.

‘We got a grafter by the name of Will Smith – he’s got the same name as my favourite actor. I think our chances are brilliant’Tino Best on Hampshire’s survival prospects

15 Rob Keogh’s nine-for

Bringing spinners back into the game was a priority for the Championship in 2016, but Rob Keogh – with 36 victims in 44 first-class appearances – would be the first to admit that nobody had him in mind. However, his 9 for 52 was the sixth-best return in Northamptonshire’s history – “three-for was my best before so it wasn’t expected,” he said – and an entertaining hundred by Ben Duckett, the player of the season, rounded the day off in style. As their NatWest Blast success also proved, Northants had a penchant for the unexpected.14 Gareth Batty’s road rage

Gareth Batty sensed Surrey’s season was on the turn after they won a gruelling match against Hampshire on an Ageas Bowl road late on the final day. But Batty also offered some tart – and apt – observations about Hampshire’s treatment of their young legspinner, Mason Crane, who bowled a record 51 overs in Surrey’s first innings. “I thought he bowled really, really well. But you hear Warney talk a lot about how spinners are used and I thought he was thrown under the car, to be honest,” Batty said. “For a young fella to be bowling 50-odd overs and senior bowlers only bowling 20… that wouldn’t be happening under my watch. “13 Roland-Jones and Murtagh make Yorkshire seasick

The final-day Championship shootout between Middlesex and Yorkshire can all be tracked back to a remarkable Middlesex win against Yorkshire by the seaside in July. Middlesex led by 64 at the start of the final day in Scarborough with only two wickets remaining … whereupon Toby Roland-Jones and Tim Murtagh thrashed 107 in 9.4 overs to change the game as Yorkshire lost by an innings for the first time at North Marine Road. Middlesex went top, and remained there to the final day of the season …12 Marcus Trescothick equals Harold Gimblett’s record

Marcus Trescothick took his place alongside Harold Gimblett as Somerset’s most prolific century-maker in first-class cricket when he struck a hundred against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in July. The West Country celebrated a batsman who, at the age of 40 and after 24 seasons at Somerset, had come to symbolise staunchness and goodness in the shires.11 17 minutes, five wickets, Somerset win

That Somerset’s season was changing became apparent in 17 minutes at Taunton in early August when they took Durham’s last five wickets to win by 39 runs in a match where all four innings fell below 200. From that point, Taunton pitches turned and Jack Leach, a one-time rounder-up of supermarket trolleys, began to collect wickets instead.The top ten moments will follow at the completion of the season …

Chris Donaldson, New Zealand’s strength and conditioning coach, talks about his Olympic career and working in cricket

Arun Venugopal22-Oct-2016When Chris Donaldson speaks, words bolt out of his mouth. He doesn’t so much speak as sprint through syllables. Quite like how he did on the track as an Olympic athlete.He was once called the “fastest man in New Zealand” and holds the national record in the 200m. He took part in two Olympics, Atlanta and Sydney, set his personal best in 100m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and at 32 became the oldest athlete to clinch the New Zealand 100m title.In Sydney in 2000, a 25-year-old Donaldson was at the prime of his career when he suffered an Achilles injury that required surgery. He still has a deep scar on his calf from it. “I kept going but it wasn’t the same after that,” he says.But the many injuries he faced through his athletics career brought him to his current job, in cricket, as New Zealand’s strength and conditioning coach.”[The injuries] really helped me understand athletes from both sides – from being an athlete as well as dealing with the athletes now,” Donaldson says.”And, the mental side of training – you know what it takes. You also know what it feels like to train. You experience doing all the things that go with the sprinting, so it was really a good learning experience for me. I had some great mentors.”In a season when New Zealand have toured Zimbabwe, South Africa, now India, and then head home to face Pakistan, Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa, the work Donaldson puts in with the players is crucial.”We really load them and then they taper off effectively when they are playing,” he says. “They are reliving [the conditions] now which we have created there. And we come over early sometimes to try and cope with the heat [in India].”Donaldson explains the process behind rehabilitating Corey Anderson, who played his first international game in the Dharamsala ODI earlier this month after being sidelined with a back injury for more than six months.Donaldson (right) runs the 200m race at the 1998 Commonwealth Games•Getty Images”This started four-five months ago and he has worked incredibly hard. He has worked in conjunction with the high performance group [staff]. There has been overall work in progress and building him. He has really been brilliant to come back to this level.”Donaldson’s theories involve invoking the Usain Bolt example of applying force as quickly as possible in the shortest possible time. It’s all about movement, he says.”Sprinting and running and all that stuff is about movement and efficiency of how you generate a lot of force and go forward. It is also about being able to handle that [the speed at which you apply force at the ground]. If you can apply [the force] you have to be able to handle that.”He believes it’s the force that breaks cricketers, which is why they need to manage the body, make it resilient and adaptable to cope with the workload.”Cricket is now full noise, all year around. There are amazing athletes in all the teams. You can’t control [how] the ball bounces and all that, but athleticism and training, you can control that.”He is not a big data person, he says, but tries to marry it with instinct when it comes to calibrating workloads for different cricketers. “I can actually show them, ‘Look, you started from here, now you are here. You are stronger, you are faster. You were here when we did speed test and now you are here.’ Just the basic stuff in understanding this is why we train, this is what the training will help in and that’s the outcome we have had. If you don’t understand or don’t have goals or reasons to do it then it becomes really tiring.”It was his athletics coach, Brent Ward, who got Donaldson interested in training sportspersons. Before coming to cricket, Donaldson had worked as a strength and conditioning consultant with the New Zealand Winter Olympic team and Otago Rowing and found the experiences enjoyable and fulfilling.”I had some wonderful people that helped me significantly in my life, working hard behind the scenes,” Donaldson says. “You realise I have been lucky enough since I have become strength and conditioning [coach]. You can see why coaches do it. It’s such a satisfying feeling to see [other] players and athletes do well.”Donaldson chats with coach Mike Hesson ahead of an ODI in Wellington, 2015•Getty ImagesBorn in Auckland, Donaldson grew up in Dunedin, and knows Mike Hesson, the Blackcaps coach, right from the days when Hesson was working with Otago Cricket. “Mike Hesson was the coach, and he was very kind to ask if I wanted to help out a bit [with Otago Cricket] and it developed from there.” In July 2011, Donaldson signed with the national side in a full-time role.He says the friendships he shares with the coaching staff – Hesson and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen – and physio Tommy Simsek have helped create a comfortable working environment.”I think it’s an open and honest kind of conversation that we had and we are trying to help each other. We are genuinely really good friends and we enjoy each other’s company. We just try to keep each other up to date.”While Donaldson had a normal New Zealand childhood playing many sports, he had an “interesting lifestyle” back at home. His father, Roger, is a film director with many successful ventures, like the Kevin Costner-Gene Hackman starrer and to his credit.”I grew up in New Zealand and Dad spent a lot of time in the US for his work. Dad still lives there. It’s just a job that happens to be well-known with regards to the movies that he makes.”Donaldson credits the “New Zealand system” that makes it easy to access different sporting facilities at school. Sprinting, though, was a passion aroused by the Olympic dream. “That was sort of my goal and then it just happened to be that I found it in sprinting.”Asked if he ever shows footage of himself or other elite athletes to motivate the New Zealand players, he laughs. “No, no, I think they seen enough. They love sports, all sports. They loved the Olympics recently and followed the New Zealand athletes. It’s better I am in the background.”

Aakash Chopra examines the techniques of India’s centurions and praises Chris Woakes’ use of the crease in his analytical observations from the third day of the Rajkot Test

Aakash Chopra11-Nov-20161:09

Compton: Gut feeling was that Pujara lbw was out

Done in by the shine?Gautam Gambhir has changed his stance to avoid falling over and, while he has been getting runs, he has also been dismissed leg before twice in three Test innings since his return. The way he got out today was slightly strange because his new stance does not allow his front foot to fall across much. Strange things happen at the start of a new day and this was one of those things. But was it also a case of trusting the shine? The ball had started reversing in the 11th over and Gambhir had seen it from close quarters the previous evening. Perhaps that led him to assume that the ball would go away in the air, because the shiny side of the ball was towards the left-hander’s off side.Gautam Gambhir fell over and was trapped lbw, despite an open stance that was intended to avoid that outcome•Associated PressNimble-footed PujaraMooen Ali has bowled about 5 kph quicker than R Ashwin in this Test. In addition to the pace, he bowls a lot flatter. It is difficult to use your feet against him but Cheteshwar Pujara did so exceptionally well right from the beginning. He went down the pitch off the last ball of the 28th over and hit a boundary through midwicket. That caused Moeen to drop short in the first ball of his next over and Pujara helped himself to a boundary off the back foot.Bouncers bother PujaraDespite his tight defensive technique, Pujara was troubled by the bouncer on a number of occasions. While it is indeed tough to play bouncers on slow, low Indian pitches, Pujara’s problems against Chris Woakes had little to do with that. He has a slightly wide stance, which is followed by a forward stride in his trigger movement. His front foot points down the ground, but his leg still falls across slightly. The length of Pujara’s front-foot stride makes it difficult for him to rock back, and the across-movement leads to his upper body closing, leaving him with no option but to take the body blow if the ball tails back in.Cheteshwar Pujara’s wide stance and slight across movement make it tougher for him to handle bouncers•Associated PressWoakes uses the creaseIf the pitch is not offering much to fast bowlers, they have to do more in the air, and that is where using the crease to create angles comes in handy. Woakes was the pick of England’s bowlers and used the crease optimally. He went wide of the crease, both to bowl bouncers tailing back into the right-handed batsmen and to bowl full balls outside off that went away. To vary it up, he went close to the stumps and tried the same things, minus the bouncers. Vijay played him extremely well.Balance and patience underlie Vijay’s successBalance is Vijay’s biggest strength, because he does not have exaggerated foot movement, thereby keeping his limbs compact. Usually, players who do not move much tend to reach out with their hands, and that gets them in trouble. But Vijay know exactly where his off stump is and also has the patience to allow the ball to come to him. Once he leaves a lot of balls alone, bowlers are forced to bowl closer to him and that is how he thrives. But, for someone who can clear the ropes at will, Vijay displayed extraordinary patience to defend a lot of balls.

Is Baz the victim of cyber-bullying by fellow cricketers? Find out in our Twitter round-up

Alex Bowden20-Jan-2017We know you’ve all spent many years pondering Rob Key’s position on snow.Finally, let the truth be revealed!

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And, to put that into context…

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So, should you ever happen across Rob at a winter wedding, don’t air kiss him and then ask him if he fancies a dance outside.This column heartily endorses all of his selections, incidentally. Especially number four.As well as providing insight into cricketers’ positions on meteorological phenomena, Twitter can also give us a glimpse of the lifestyle of a professional athlete.The key to being a top-level cricketer is to train hard.

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He doesn’t state it explicitly, but Kieron really showed The Big Wedge who was boss during that day’s session.In contrast, the key to being a retired top-level cricketer is to relax hard.

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Tough times.It’s also important to find new interests.

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Cricketer food?

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No, not that. Try again.

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Yes, that’s cricketer food. Quite subtle as these tweets go, but there’s no mistaking that restaurant.But time away from the game is only fun when it’s not enforced by the governing body. No cricketer welcomes a suspension.However, it seems that one of their main gripes is simply that it’s an unimaginative form of punishment.

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There isn’t enough multi-tasking in those suggestions for our tastes. Perhaps they could have taken inspiration from their coach.

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Finally, it’s in-flight selfie time – but we’ll leave you with a question.Are they in a helicopter?

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The CoA has not been adamant in its discussions with other boards over the new ICC constitution, but the BCCI will be represented at the ICC meetings by its secretary, who is part of the old order

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Apr-2017Will the BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhury adopt the conciliatory approach established by the Committee of Administrators when he represents the Indian board at this week’s round of ICC meetings? Or will Choudhury, a loyalist of former BCCI president N Srinivasan, be confrontational like previous Indian administrators have been?The new ICC constitution – the focal point of next week’s meetings – was approved in principle in February but the BCCI, represented then by CoA member Vikram Limaye, was one of two boards to vote against it.Limaye had criticised the governance structure reforms, and in particular the proposed financial model because the BCCI’s share of ICC revenue is considerably reduced. The objections have since been spelt out in detail and sent to the ICC. To a large extent, the fate of the new ICC constitution will depend on how the BCCI approaches this meeting.Over the last two months, the heads of several boards have travelled to India to meet the CoA to try and ensure the BCCI isn’t hostile at the April meetings. Though CoA members, Vinod Rai and Limaye, and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri have expressed reservations to the draft constitution, they said they would try and resolve the issues amicably. Their conciliatory approach is in sharp contrast to that of past BCCI office-bearers, a difference that hasn’t been lost on other Full Member boards. They came across as a set of officials without “agenda or baggage,” said one visitor.Contrary to public perception of not being strong, however, the CoA and Johri have bargained hard and not compromised the BCCI’s interests.”The rest of the ICC Board could have easily said you can object but we will get the reforms done,” one official said. The fact that board heads travelled to India for meetings suggested, as one member director said, that the “importance of India” remains. And every visitor was given the message that, “if India lose something it is bad for everybody.” They were also told the BCCI would like to resolve the issues beforehand rather than take it to a vote during the meetings.This week, however, Choudhury will be attending the ICC meetings as the BCCI representative, a decision taken by the Supreme Court of India. And the relationship between the CoA and the board’s office bearers has been difficult because of the issue of the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.Though both parties have started communicating better, tensions are unavoidable: the office bearers insist the BCCI should be run according to the old order in which they have the power and authority. They have refused to abide by the Supreme Court order that approved the Lodha Committee recommendations; the CoA has been tasked with supervising the BCCI while those recommendations are implemented.All three BCCI office bearers – Choudhury, treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and president CK Khanna – have submitted affidavits in court saying they will adhere to the order and work under CoA supervision. But in reality they say they are empowered by and answerable to the state associations, who want to take a divergent path to the CoA.Before Choudhury left for Dubai on Friday, the CoA sought a meeting with him to ascertain what stance he would take during negotiations with ICC directors. Choudhury is understood to have said that he would either ask the ICC board to defer the decision on the new constitution, or oppose it if it went to a vote. When the CoA said that a “rigid mandate” would run into difficulties, Choudhury said he would speak to other boards.”If they go for an extreme position they will be outvoted,” one ICC director said. “Why would the other countries agree to defer any decision to June? They – other Full Members – would instead think this is their best chance to get whatever they can.”A top official of another board, who has been in touch with the CoA and Johri, said Choudhury could not afford to stall matters. The official said that most members on the ICC Board were united in pushing for the new constitution to get approved. “What this gentleman (Choudhury) might want to do is use the delaying tactic. I don’t believe anybody will want that to be case. You cannot go into June and still not know. It needs to be decided in April.”The CoA and Johri have tried to gain support at the ICC through engagement and subtle tactic, not through coercion. Will Choudhury play ball?

What resistance to change? We take a look at how the Quaid-e-Azam trophy has evolved in the last 15 years

Danyal Rasool13-Jul-2017.2002-03: This QeA season comprised 24 teams, divided into four groups. Regional teams and departmental teams competed together. For example, Faisalabad (a regional team) was in the same group as WAPDA (a departmental team).2003-04: This season saw dramatic changes to the QeA trophy. Departmental teams were removed. Instead nine regional sides, all in one group, competed against each other for the title.2004-05: The format remained the same as the previous season, except two more regional teams were added to the mix, and 11 teams, all in one group again, vied against each other.2005-2006: This season saw another extensive overhaul, with a new, 13-team format. The teams were split into two leagues: seven in the top-tiered Gold league and six in the Silver league. Promotion and relegation was introduced for the first time. Departments and regions remained segregated. Departments competed in the Patron’s trophy instead.2007-08: The Gold and Silver league experiment came to an end after just two seasons. Twenty-two teams competed in this season’s competition, placed in two groups of 11. In another significant change, departmental sides returned to the QeA trophy, and competed alongside regions for the first time in five years.2010-11: Further changes were made to the way regional and departmental sides competed in the QeA. This season featured 22 teams, split into two divisions – 12 and 10, as opposed to 11 each. Twelve teams – the six best regional sides and departmental sides based on the previous year’s results – constituted division one. At the end of the league phase, the lowest-placed regional and departmental sides were relegated to division two.2013-14: The number of sides was reduced to 14 in another revamping of the format and structure. They were split into two groups of seven, with the top four teams from each group proceeding to the Super League of the tournament and the remaining six teams going through to the Plate League.2014-15: In another wide-ranging refurbishment, a whopping 26 teams competed this season – 14 regional and 12 departmental. The top six teams from the 2013-14 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the top six from the previous President’s Trophy made up the Gold League. All 12 teams played each other once, leading to a final at the end of the round-robin series. The Silver League consisted of two groups, each with four regional and three departmental teams. In both groups, all 12 teams played each other once, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.2015-16: The number of teams was reduced to 16, eight departmental and eight regional. Of the 16 teams, 12 – six regional and six departmental – gained automatic qualification on the basis of their performance the previous season. The last four places were filled through a qualifying round – two regional and two departmental teams – from which FATA made their way into the top competition.

West Indies have made yet more clumsy errors in an absorbing Test, but they haven’t allowed their heads to drop, and that could yet be critical

Melinda Farrell at Lord's08-Sep-20172:46

Windies fight on after Anderson makes history

Jason Holder had three slips in.It seemed the sensible thing to do. Rain had prevented play for most of the first session, the players were back out after lunch, the ball was still swinging, England were 64 for 5 and Shannon Gabriel was trying to break up the partnership between Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. Pressure time.Gabriel ran in and angled the ball into Bairstow, who turned it into the vacant leg side for a single. Now it was time to turn the heat up on Stokes, who had weathered the moving ball and, on 24, was starting to look more comfortable.Holder moved the fielder at second slip into the covers and waved Kyle Hope, fielding at third slip, towards the vacant spot.Gabriel ran in once more. This time the ball reared up from the pitch and off the splice of Stokes bat straight to the man at third slip. Who wasn’t there. Hope made a valiant dive to the left – where he had been standing moments before – and just got a hand to the ball. Ben Stokes, dropped. Different day, same tune.Almost sheepishly, Holder shifted into reverse. No more cover, three slips. It still seemed the sensible thing to do.Gabriel bowled again and Stokes punched the ball straight back past him and down to the rope at the Pavilion end. Take that. Holder kicked the ground in frustration. It would not be the only time. Sometimes you’re ahead of the game and at others you’re frantically trying to hang on, with all the success of holding water.****Stokes was on 60. Easily the highest innings in a low-scoring match in which conditions so favoured the bowlers. Gabriel had the ball again. Coming around the wicket, he found enough inswing to beat Stokes’ bat. Bowled. Except it wasn’t. It was one of six no-balls in Gabriel’s extras column.This time, Gabriel quickly made amends, bowling Stokes two balls later – before he could do any more damage – with a quicker ball angled in.At Edgbaston, mistakes were punished. At Headingley, they were balanced out by some outstanding performances. At Lord’s, the bandaids were holding it together.***Ben Stokes and Jason Holder share a joke during a hard-fought passage of play•Getty ImagesThey were required to patch things up once more when Shane Dowrich made an absolute hash of what should have been a straightforward catch; Toby Roland-Jones offering a thick edge off Kemar Roach. This time it was Dowrich kicking the turf. The jeers of the crowd were loud when the big screen showed the replay. They were even louder soon after, when Dowrich tripped and fell when tossing the ball back.The wicketkeeper hasn’t made double figures this series and hasn’t convinced behind the stumps. Both the Hope brothers keep wicket and Jahmar Hamilton is waiting in the wings. Dowrich may struggle to keep his place beyond this tour.****In the first Test of the summer at Lord’s, South Africa’s bowlers were pummelled by the free-swinging bats of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Someone should have shown West Indies that tape, before Broad teed off once more. The tenth-wicket partnership was worth 31. Like the 36 runs scored by Stokes after he was dropped, or the two scored by Roland-Jones after he was dropped, or the seven no-balls, it wasn’t a major cost. No one went on to score centuries and England’s first innings lead was a not insurmountable 71 runs. Small margins.****The mistakes West Indies have made are not new. They were there in the warm-up matches – in Derby, where Gabriel bowled 24 no-balls, and in the first Test, where poor fielding and even worse batting proved to be critical. But England have dropped catches, too. And the fight shown at Headingley can still be seen in the way that, after kicking the turf, the players didn’t drop their heads.Roach’s impressive five-wicket haul was punctuated by clever use of the swinging ball and the obliging seam movement. Gabriel’s response to his no-ball to Stokes was swift and decisive. Holder may have erred with a fielding change early on but claimed four wickets off his own bowling and rallied his players.And there is something of the gritty resolve of Headingley still hovering over this side. They haven’t folded when England have landed punches. They’ve scrapped and dug in and while Shai Hope is at the crease, it would be unwise to write them off. Their lead may be slender but they still have wickets in hand and they are in the battle.’We’re here to fight, to put up a fight against the English,” said Roach. “Came here to win, things we can brush up on but we’re going to fight in the second innings.”This has been a Test of small margins.And small margins could prove to be all that’s required.