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England Test coach looking for team to refine method but says he and Stokes won’t change approach

Vithushan Ehantharajah10-Mar-20241:57

What did this series tell us about England’s batting?

Brendon McCullum admits India exposed flaws in England, forcing them to play “timid” cricket, and says refinement and some tough conversations will be on the agenda in the aftermath of their 4-1 defeat.The fact that this was the first series loss of McCullum’s reign did not lead the head coach to sugarcoat his assessment of how matters played out following England’s opening win in Hyderabad. Strong positions relinquished in the next three Tests culminated in the fifth at Dharamsala, where India stomped to an innings victory inside three days.England’s overall record with McCullum at the helm and Ben Stokes as captain now reads 14 wins out of 23, with eight defeats. Seven of those defeats have come in 13 matches since the start of 2023. Though losing to India was nothing to be ashamed of, given they are unbeaten in series since the start of 2013, McCullum conceded lessons needed to be learned to refine the overall approach, along with specific aspects to address once the dust has settled.Related

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“Sometimes, you can get away with things,” McCullum said. “But when you’re exposed the way we have been in the back end of this series in particular, it does require some pretty deep thinking and some adjustment to make sure we’re staying true to what we believe in.”If anything, we got more timid as the series went on, and that was because of the pressure that was applied to us by the Indian line-up, not just with the ball. With the bat, they put us under a tremendous amount of pressure, too.”There are some things where you can get a little bit of luck on your side and you paper over a couple of the cracks. When you are exposed in the way we have been here, you know that you have to get better in some areas. The next couple of months will be us working out that and making sure when we come to the summer we are a more refined version of what we are at the minute.”Of frustration for McCullum were the missed chances over the last seven weeks. The third Test in Rajkot, when India were 33 for 3 on day one and ended up with 445 before England lost 8 for 95, having been 224 for 2 in their first innings, is one “at the forefront” of his mind. Allowing India to recover from 177 for 7 on day two of the fourth in Ranchi is another, as the hosts narrowed what should have been a vast first-innings lead, eventually chasing down 192 to seal the series.”We were placed under a lot of pressure in those games, and we had our opportunities when we were in front of the game and we weren’t able to close it out. Whether that affected our approach a little bit and put some doubt in our minds that wasn’t there early in the series, I’m not really sure why at this point in time.”They probably outplayed us at the style of cricket that we want to play and made us start to retreat a little bit. So that’s something that we will have to change.”England suffered one final collapse on day three in Dharamsala•Associated Press

The notion the England set-up is too cushy was dismissed out of hand by McCullum, along with the suggestion that a relaxed team environment lent itself to a lack of ruthlessness both here and in last summer’s drawn Ashes. He stopped short of divulging whether tough conversations were had on this trip, insisting “they should remain private”, but insisted both he and Stokes have no truck for players coasting given the support and encouragement afforded to them.”We didn’t get where we’ve got to in life and in our careers without having some sort of hard edge,” he said. “For us, we judge the input, the enthusiasm, the energy and always giving to the team, and the want to develop as a player. Not to be content with being the player you are now.”Occasionally, as we all have in our lives, someone might have to give you a little nudge and say, ‘Do you think you’ve got it right here?’ In your own way, you might then recalibrate and put your energy into gear, but that’s just natural. That’s part of running a cricket team. It’s just like running a family. It’s no different.”McCullum was also reluctant to reveal the “couple of areas” that require his immediate focus but stated they will be a priority when he and Stokes reconvene after a break. The squad will fly home on Tuesday, with McCullum heading back to New Zealand before he begins “plotting” to rebuild the team from this setback. The next assignment is a three-Test home series against West Indies, which begins at Lord’s on July 10.One area is certain to be around personnel, particularly with the emergence of Lancashire left-arm spinner Tom Hartley and Somerset offspinner Shoaib Bashir. The pair were the only two uncapped members of the touring party but finished as the leading wicket-takers, with 22 and 17 dismissals, respectively. Hartley’s tally, supplemented by 185 runs, had him second on the wicket-taking charts, four behind R Ashwin.Jack Leach, who left the tour with an injured left knee after just one appearance, has been Stokes’ No. 1 spinner. But the emergence of Hartley and Bashir means Leach now faces competition for his spot.”Jack will understand that himself,” McCullum said. “He will be proud of it, because he is a guy that invests in the team. Whilst he is desperate to be the number one spinner for England, he is also connected to try to help these other guys. He was the first person that rung Bash after he got selected and he was fantastic working along Tommy Hartley, along with Rehan Ahmed.”It’s a good place to be when you’ve got depth and different types of options. We’ve got to embrace that and there will be some challenging selections throughout the summer. That’s a good place to be. Rather than scrambling to find someone, we’ve got plenty of depth, so just need to make sure we get it right.”Another situation to negotiate is the wicketkeeper role, after Ben Foakes donned the gloves for the duration in India, having been usurped the previous summer by Jonny Bairstow. While Foakes was close to immaculate behind the stumps, taking 12 catches and effecting four stumpings, both he (205 runs at an average of 20.5) and Bairstow (238 at 23.8) underperformed as part of a misfiring middle order.While Bairstow, who brought up 100 caps in the fifth Test, could reprise the role he performed last summer, now may be the time to move on from the Yorkshireman and blood a new option, whether that is Ollie Robinson (Durham), Jamie Smith (Surrey) or James Rew (Somerset).”We’ve got time to be able to work out what we want moving forward,” answered McCullum when asked if Bairstow, Foakes or a new challenger will take the gloves this summer. “I don’t really need to go into that anymore.”I think Foakes has kept brilliantly here, and obviously Jonny had a decent series with the bat in the Ashes as well, so there are good options and we’ve just got to make sure we make the decision that we feel gives us the most amount of – I guess – weaponry to be able to ensure that we are able to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the world and we’ll make that decision in time.”Ben Foakes had a good series with the gloves but could again find himself out of the picture at home•Associated Press

On the bowling front, McCullum singled out fast bowler Gus Atkinson, an unused member of the squad, for a debut this summer – “He’s got something that we need to take a good look at” – and Matthew Potts, who took 23 wickets in McCullum’s first six Tests and impressed for the Lions out in India with 20 dismissals at 16.95.McCullum has also challenged those outside the group to catch the attention of the selectors with big domestic performances, as he looks to broaden the net. As things stand, the only batter to have been dropped since McCullum took charge is Alex Lees.”It’s certainly not closed at all it’s just that at this stage these are the guys we believe are the best cricketers to win a series. You give them time for that plan to play out. If it doesn’t play out, of course, if someone is banging down the door you look at that. Certainly nothing is closed to anyone it’s just that you have to bang the door down.”As the first two years of McCullum’s tenure come to a close, the focus now is on the next phase of this project, which culminates in a home series against India, followed by the Ashes in Australia in 2025-26. Series against West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand await this year for a group of players who have been backed to the hilt so far. And while changes are coming, McCullum wants to retain a lot of what has made England an engaging and watchable side after the previous lows of just one win in 17 before he came on the scene.”It would be foolish of us to throw away the good work we’ve done in search of something else over the next little while. The skipper and I have total conviction in our methods and we won’t backing away from that. We’ll be trying to refine that absolutely, but we won’t be backing down from the way we think this environment should run. We’ve just got to make sure we are getting the best out of people.”We didn’t get what we came for [in India]. But I think so much good is going to come out of this series; I really do. It’s given us an opportunity to take a step back and look at areas we need to improve and have the conviction in ourselves to ensure that we make those changes and drive the team forward.”

The Australia allrounder reflects on his first-hand experience of facing new pace sensation Mayank Yadav

Alex Malcolm04-Apr-20242:25

Maxwell: Mayank’s consistent high pace is rare

Glenn Maxwell has described the pace of Mayank Yadav as “pretty formidable” and believes the speeds he produced were the equivalent of former Australia quick Shaun Tait in his prime.Maxwell was one of Mayank’s three victims in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s loss to Lucknow Super Giants at home on Tuesday.Mayank’s stunning display earned him his second straight player of the match award and sent shockwaves to Australia given he bounced out Maxwell and castled Cameron Green with two deliveries above 150kph.Related

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Speaking on ESPN’s , Maxwell said he had paid close attention to Mayank while watching LSG’s previous game against Punjab Kings but nothing could prepare him for the real thing.”I thought it was really impressive,” Maxwell said. “He hurried on a few of the Punjab batters and I certainly did a little bit of homework before coming up against him. But it’s nothing doing homework against someone until you actually see it coming out of the hand and have to try and pick up the length.”He bowled me the first one which was just a high bouncer and the wicket that we’ve been producing at [Bengaluru] has been a little bit two-paced and it sort of came through a bit slower than I thought it was going to. And I was like, ah, that wasn’t too bad.”And then the next one was hard length and skidded on probably faster than I thought it was going to be and as you saw I went to pull thinking that I picked up the length really well and before you know it, it’s on you, hitting the shoulder the bat and ballooning up in the air.”He has some real extra speed that you don’t really see a lot of around world cricket at the moment. You see guys bowl pretty consistently around the 140s [kph] or high 140s. But to have mid-150s consistently in your arsenal is pretty formidable.”Maxwell said that the closest comparison he could draw in terms of pace was to Tait, who he faced in Australian domestic cricket in the second half of his career.”It’s such a beautiful smooth action,” Maxwell said. “He [Mayank] sort of glided through the crease really nicely. I think pace-wise, the only one that I can sort of really resemble it to is a little bit like Shaun Tait when he was in his heyday.”I think when he was at the peak of his powers it was extremely hard to pick up the extra zip it feels like it has off the wicket. I think that’s as close as it probably comes to it.”Maxwell admitted that he and RCB had not started well after losing three of their first four games. Maxwell has bowled impressively but has scores of 0, 3, 28 and 0. He said that RCB’s overseas batters in particularly were having trouble adjusting to some unexpected surfaces in Bengaluru in particular.”It obviously hasn’t been a great start for us or myself individually,” Maxwell said. “It’s been a little bit of a struggle. I think we’ve been probably caught a little bit behind with our conditions that we’ve probably produced in the first few home games as well.”I think last year we had a beautiful even wicket that we were able to I suppose get ourselves into the game, get our top batters going and I’ve felt that those two-paced wickets it’s just been a bit of a struggle for our overseas players to get into the game and get that sort of consistency of performance. And when you start slow in T20 cricket it can be a hard thing to come back and find rhythm to get back into it. So hopefully this little away trip does us some good.”

Lancashire make early running on truncated day before former star digs in for visitors

ECB Reporters Network24-May-2024Three wickets from Lancashire’s Tom Bailey put the hosts in charge against Warwickshire after a truncated day at Emirates Old Trafford ended with the visitors 89 for three from 39 overs on day one of this Vitality County Championship Division One clash.Bailey, who has struggled for consistency so far this campaign, showed what the Red Rose had been missing, as he dismissed Rob Yates, Will Rhodes and Ed Barnard either side of tea to finish the day with three for 25 after the game had finally got underway at 2.10pm following overnight rain.Full of confidence following a fine performance in beating Durham at Blackpool, a win which has left them within striking distance of mid-table, Lancashire will be looking to move off the bottom with a similar result against the Bears, who are winless in six matches, their second defeat – added to four draws – coming on Monday against Essex at Chelmsford.Once the extensive mopping-up operation had finished, Warwickshire, having won the toss, began batting under typical overcast Manchester skies with Yates opening the batting with former Lancashire wicket keeper batter, Alex Davies.The opening pair had put on 38 when Yates badly misjudged a Bailey delivery which jagged back and removed his off bail in the 11th over as the left-hander departed for 19.Skipper Davies, meanwhile, was going along nicely against his ex-teammates, with some trademark cover drives and busy running, a painful reminder to the home crowd of his talents.But it was Bailey, who had the bit between his teeth and with a worn pitch, gloomy skies and Nathan Lyon at the other end in support, he produced a beauty to find Rhodes’ edge with the batter on 14 when keeper Matty Hurst took the catch.74 for two quickly became 82 for three when Barnard edged another excellent Bailey delivery to Hurst to depart for two.The score had progressed to 89 for three with Davies unbeaten on 47 and Dan Mousley one not out when the players left the field at 5.09pm due to a combination of drizzle and bad light.

Dreary drew ensues after youngster stars for Warwickshire with career-best 93

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2024Nottinghamshire 400 (Duckett 218, Haynes 74, Slater 65, Hannon-Dalby 5-78) and 75 for 1 drew with Warwickshire 361 (Bethell 93, Barnard 69, James 3-65, Pennington 3-74)Another stalemate landed in the ocean of early-season Vitality Championship draws as the match between Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire petered out at Edgbaston.In reply to 400 all out, Warwickshire extended their first innings to 361, Jake Bethell posting a career-best 93 (163 balls), before Nottinghamshire went in again and acquired 75 for one.As soon as Warwickshire reached 251, which they did with some comfort with five wickets down, the match was consigned to a draw, the home side’s fourth in four championship matches and Nottinghamshire’s third in four.It was a dreary conclusion to a match which delivered some excellence – Ben Duckett’s double-century and the seam bowling of Olly Hannon-Dalby and Dillon Pennington – but was ultimately smothered by a docile pitch and the loss of more than a day to rain.After Warwickshire resumed on the final morning on 175 for five, 76 short of the follow-on figure, Nottinghamshire needed to strike quickly but Bethell and Danny Briggs (37, 79) were soon collecting boundaries. Stubborn batting, allied to a pitch which stubbornly refused to deteriorate, drew the sting of a seam attack which bowled with a quality during this match to suggest they will cause batters a lot of problems in more helpful conditions.Bethell and Briggs added 85 in 23 overs to take their side to the requisite 251. Almost immediately, Briggs swatted Calvin Harrison to mid on where Freddie McCann entered the history books as the first former Papplewick & Linby CC player to take a catch as a substitute in first class cricket with the floodlights on at Edgbaston on a Monday.Bethell’s classy and composed innings ended seven short of a deserved maiden century when he edged Olly Stone to give the former Warwickshire player his first wicket back on his old patch. Bowling remained a joyless assignment though and Michael Burgess (43, 63 balls) and Aamer Jamal (40, 46) added 71 in 15 overs before the latter hammered a return catch to Lyndon James.After Hasan Ali chipped James into the covers, Hannon-Dalby settled in with his customary aplomb before running out of partners when Burgess mowed to mid off. James’ analysis had been upgraded from 0 for 57 to three for 63 in 18 balls.Nottinghamshire went into bat again at 2.54pm and filled the rest of a grey afternoon with batting practice. Duckett followed his 264-ball 218 with a six-ball seven when Hannon-Dalby trapped him lbw but Haseeb Hameed (41 not out, 69 balls) and Ben Slater enjoyed an outdoor net for the remaining two hours as the match fizzled out in a manner redolent of Nottinghamshire’s visit to Coventry in 1928 when they amassed 656 for three, four of the top five scoring centuries (only Arthur Carr missed out with a paltry 58) but their victory hopes were thwarted by a benign pitch, weather damage and obdurate batting by Warwickshire legends Tiger Smith and Bob Wyatt.

The West Indies captain said to move up the rankings from ninth to third in a year was “tremendous work”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2024West Indies’ T20 World Cup 2024 campaign came to an end with defeat to South Africa in Antigua on Sunday, but their captain Rovman Powell was full of praise for the progress they made as a team in the year leading up to the competition.”I think when you look on a large scale, we haven’t won the World Cup. We aren’t in the semi-finals. [But] I think the cricket we have played in the last 12 months or so is commendable,” Powell said in the post-match presentation ceremony. “Credit has to be given to the team. If you can take a year to move from number 9 to number 3 in the world, that’s tremendous work.”Related

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“We haven’t won the World Cup, but there was a lot of improvement. There’s a lot of buzz around the Caribbean again about West Indies cricket. We have done some very good things over the last 12 months.”Now is where the work starts. It’s for us to continue to work as a group, still be tight, and hopefully, just hopefully, we can continue to climb the rankings and make the Caribbean people proud,” Powell said.Powell also acknowledged the support they received on and off the field during a home World Cup, and said that it is a sign of the team headed in the right direction.”That has been fantastic. For all the venues that we have played, for all the social media likes and stuff that people have given us, we as a team really appreciate it,” he said.”It’s good to see that some buzz is back in the Caribbean for cricket, because we know how long that has died down. Now people are rallying around the West Indies as they do. Now, when we hear the anthem play, as players we feel something. I think that is heading in the right direction.”West Indies fans show their support in North Sound•Associated Press

Powell: ‘A batting performance we will try and forget’

After being put in to bat in a virtual knockout game by South Africa, West Indies unravelled against spin in Antigua. They could only make 135, but they then had South Africa at 15 for 2 after two overs when rain set in. With the target revised to 124 in 17 overs, West Indies kept chipping away, especially with Roston Chase dismissing David Miller and the set Tristan Stubbs in consecutive overs.But in the end, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada sealed a three-wicket win for South Africa, with five balls to spare.”I think credit has to be given to the boys. I think they fight to the very end,” Powell said.”As a batting group, this is one batting performance we’ll try our best to forget. I think we didn’t bat well in the middle overs especially,” he said. “I think obviously you see both teams bat on the wicket. Obviously it wasn’t an easy wicket, especially to get started.”I think [in] the middle overs, we lost wickets in clusters. The first time in this competition we have lost wickets in clusters. That always breaks the back of a batting team.””I think it was a commendable bowling effort. 130 [135] at the halfway mark, we said we’re just going to give it our all,” Powell said. “Whatever happens, happens. Credit has to be given to the guys at the halfway mark. They believed, even though it was only 135.”

Fast bowlers fill void left by James Anderson, while paying tribute to retired great

Alan Gardner30-Jul-2024What’s the one thing better than having a 90mph fast bowler at your disposal? Being able to call on two quick men, of course. England’s new-look Test attack gave a glimpse of what might be possible in overseas conditions that tend to drawn the sting of medium-pace seam and swing – although both Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson paid tribute to James Anderson for his input as the team’s bowling mentor following his retirement one match into the series with West Indies.Wood bowled three of the fastest overs ever delivered by an Englishman (since speeds start to be reliably recorded two decades ago) in the second Test, although he had to wait for his rewards. Having taken 2 for 88 in the match at Trent Bridge, followed by 2 for 52 in the first innings of the third Test, at Edgbaston, he went in at lunch on day three with 0 for 31 from eight overs and feeling despondent.A chat with Anderson helped Wood maintain focus on the skill of bowling, rather than the outcome – and his ensuing spell was one for the record books, as the 34-year-old claimed 5 for 9 in six overs of rapid reverse-swing to set England on course for a 10-wicket win.Related

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“I was probably thinking too much: ‘Why am I not getting wickets?’ But Jimmy was great with me,” Wood said. “So too was Jeetan Patel and some of the other staff – just thinking about the process and, when the ball was reversing, Jimmy put in my mind more about, like, tactically what I would try to do with the ball. Some here, some there, field placings – and it sort of took my mind off it a little bit and when you get the first wicket, then the confidence came back and I stopped thinking about other stuff and then I just bowled.”While Wood was named Player of the Match for his efforts, England’s Player of the Series went to Atkinson for his 22 wickets at 16.22. Atkinson claimed 12 on debut at Lord’s, bowling alongside Anderson, before graduating to taking the new ball in his absence – but still benefiting from the advice of England’s most-prolific bowler of all time as he settled into a new role in the dressing-room.”He doesn’t need to offer too much,” Atkinson said of Anderson’s input. “I think there’s small things, little questions where he gives you confidence in yourself. Getting that from someone like Jimmy means a lot and really helps. I am looking forward to working with Jimmy again in the future.”Atkinson impressed with both his pace and his ability to move the ball, largely using a scrambled seam. Although not as quick as Wood, who was regularly in the 93-97mph region, Atkinson said that he was working on delivering consistently higher speeds over longer spells. He also revealed that he had made changes to his run-up since the tour to of India in January-March, withdrawing from his IPL deal with Kolkata Knight Riders to focus on his technical work which involved – like Wood – making it longer.”I changed my run-up. That was something I felt I needed to do. I didn’t feel consistent at the crease, so improving my run-up has helped a lot. That is the reason why I pulled out of the IPL, to get ready for the Test summer. I feel playing for Surrey in the Championship was important. Equally playing in the Blast helped me get rhythm for the series. I have done anything too crazy but just a few changes with my run up – [straighter] and it’s about three metres longer as well.”Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson brought a different dynamic to England’s attack•Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

On matching Wood’s impact on the speed gun, he said: “It will be pretty tough to get up to that sort of pace, but I will always be looking to improve my pace. It’s my first time playing three games back-to-back, so physically it’s a good test. But that is something I will try to improve on, getting my pace higher and higher.”To back it up and take wickets in the last two Tests is great. On flat wickets I like to do what the captain says. I’ll bowl bouncers, or whatever. To back it up was fantastic and I’m looking forward to the future.”The quicker I can bowl the better. Definitely something I will focus on, and it’s just trying to get quicker for long periods of time.”Wood was also pleased to have been able to maintain his speeds over the course of back-to-back appearances – albeit with an extra day of rest after the second Test finished in four days. He said that his body was “pretty sore now” but he would be focusing on rest and recovery while the Hundred was on, in preparation for the series against Sri Lanka starting in late August.And while Wood has sharpened his ability to swing the Dukes now that he has hit his mid-30s, he was under no illusions about his primary utility to the team.”I’m mainly in the team to bowl fast and try to make something happen there,” he said. “At times maybe I don’t want to just be pigeonholed as an enforcer, maybe I can bowl a skill [role]. And hopefully in that little period I can show that I can do that. But first and foremost, my role in the team is to bowl fast.”The wickets in England tend not to be as quick but with the Dukes ball I’m trying to move the ball at pace, rather than just being a straight-up fast bowler, actually trying to move it in some sort of way makes it a bit more deadly.”The other thing is that I’ve gone from someone that would maybe bowl one or two quick spells to now consistently keeping my pace up, and that makes another big difference. And I’m really proud that I’ve managed to go back-to-back and managed to keep my speeds up. Looking at the screen and seeing it still coming in at over 90 mile an hour is pleasing for me.”

Home side build lead worth 261 as Glamorgan attack toils in sunshine

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2024Anuj Dal led a strong Derbyshire batting display to put the home side in a commanding position on day two of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Glamorgan at Derby.Dal made 94 from 135 balls after Harry Came, with 84, and Wayne Madsen’s 70 put Derbyshire on course for a big first-innings total.Glamorgan spinner Ben Kellaway took his first wickets in first-class cricket, finishing with 3 for 59, while Mason Crane claimed 3 for 43 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 429, a lead of 261.Glamorgan were left with a tricky 12 overs to negotiate but they survived to close on 39 without loss, still 222 behind.It was a good day for batting with the County Ground bathed in sunshine which was a good sign for the overnight pair of Came and Madsen who proceeded in untroubled fashion to move past Glamorgan’s modest first innings.Ned Leonard again offered too much width which allowed Came to settle back into his innings by twice dispatching short balls to the point boundary.Glamorgan’s attack struggled to impose a measure of control with Madsen reaching his 50 off 88 balls and the stand was worth 130 when Came threw away the chance of a century.The opener came down the pitch to hit Kellaway back over his head but the bowler leapt to take an excellent catch at the second attempt to claim his maiden first-class wicket.He soon had a second as Madsen attempted a slog sweep but got under it and skied a simple catch to midwicket. That brought together the former Glamorgan pair of David Lloyd and Anuerin Donald, who was intent on taking the attack to the bowlers.He pulled Dan Douthwaite for six and crunched Kellaway through the covers to move to 28 from only 22 balls before a smart piece of wicketkeeping removed him two overs before lunch.Donald paddled Kellaway around the corner but Chris Cooke had anticipated the shot and moved across to take a fine catch at leg slip.Even so, it had been a productive morning for Derbyshire who led by 79 at the interval and they tightened their grip on the game in the second session.Lloyd was closing in on a half-century against his former team-mates when Crane got one to spin between bat and pad to take the off stump.Glamorgan’s hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly faded as Zak Chappell again showed how well he can bat by sharing a stand of 67 from 99 balls with Dal who straight drove Leonard for his sixth four to reach 50.By tea, the lead was over 200 but rather than give their bowlers a session to go at Glamorgan, Derbyshire batted on for another 18 overs, presumably to give Dal a chance of a century.Pat Brown stayed with him for 89 balls while another 48 runs were added but Dal fell short when he drove Crane to long-off.That left Glamorgan with an awkward period to get through and Kellaway enjoyed another landmark when he edged Chappell for four to open his account in the first-class game after three consecutive ducks.Chappell should have removed Billy Root in his next over but Donald spilled the chance at third slip and the pair stayed together to provide Glamorgan with some comfort at the end of another challenging day.

Bangladesh made just one change to the squad that sealed a 2-0 series win in Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2024Bangladesh made one change to their Test squad for the upcoming tour of India from their historic 2-0 series win in Pakistan, with uncapped batter Jaker Ali replacing fast bowler Shoriful Islam. Shoriful had suffered a groin injury during the first Test against Pakistan, and did not play the second.Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud and Khaled Ahmed make up Bangladesh’s pace attack in Shoriful’s absence.Yet to play a Test and ODI, Jaker has represented Bangladesh in 17 T20Is since making his debut at the Asian Games in 2023. He has played 49 first-class games, and averages 41.47 with four centuries.Selector Hannan Sarkar said that it was Shoriful’s groin injury that kept him out of the side, and the extra batter was included keeping in mind the Indian conditions.”Shoriful isn’t 100 per cent fit for Test matches. He would be required to bowl 15-20 overs so we didn’t want to take a risk,” Sarkar said. “Shoriful missed the second Test against Pakistan due to his injury. The physios and trainers are looking after him. He remains within the system. He is an important member of our white-ball team. We have a T20 series coming up against India.”Jaker’s recent good form, which included a 174 against Pakistan A in Islamabad, helped his cause. He was picked ahead of Shahadat Hossain, who has been Bangladesh’s go-to middle-order batter in the recent past in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan or Mushfiqur Rahim.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We picked Jaker Ali as a middle-order batter. We considered the conditions and opponents for this decision. We had taken five pacers in Pakistan, but we are taking four to India,” Sarkar said. “We had taken Dipu [Shahadat Hossain] in place of Shakib or Mushfiqur previously. I wouldn’t say he played really well, but he also didn’t do badly.”We have taken into account recent performance. Dipu played four-day matches in Australia and Pakistan. He isn’t in rhythm. His form is very important when he is going to play international matches. Dipu is part of our future plans. He is now preparing to play in the NCL.”Jaker can be a useful player in the longer version if you consider his record in domestic first-class cricket. He played a splendid innings in Pakistan recently, batting for a long time. This is what kept Jaker a step ahead.”Opening batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who missed the Pakistan Tests due to a groin niggle suffered during the four-day games between Pakistan A and Bangladesh A in the lead-up to the Test series, retains his place in the squad. However, Shadman Islam’s impressive showing in the first Test in Rawalpindi could see him keep his spot at the top alongside Zakir Hasan.The first Test against India begins on September 19 in Chennai, with the second one from September 27 onwards in Kanpur. Both games are part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, where India are currently placed on top, while Bangladesh are at No. 4 on the points table.

Bangladesh squad for India Tests

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Taijul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Nayeem Hasan, Khaled Ahmed

The Australia Test opener will take on the same role for his state in his first season since being replaced as captain having previously batted at No. 4

Alex Malcolm16-Sep-2024Usman Khawaja will open the batting for Queensland in the opening three Sheffield Shield rounds, having previously batted at No. 4 while being the Test opener, as new coach Johan Botha looks to create more stability in the Bulls’ middle-order following a disappointing season last summer.Despite being the Test opener, Khawaja had batted at No.4 in his last eight Shield games since last opening in February 2022 just after he had been elevated to open in the final Test of the 2021-22 Ashes series. Australia’s selectors have not been prescriptive in directing state teams to bat players in their Test positions in Shield cricket and have been happy to let Khawaja and others bat wherever they were needed at domestic level.Related

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However, New South Wales coach Greg Shipperd has asked for guidance from the national selectors regarding where to bat incumbent Test opener Steven Smith when he returns to play Shield cricket at the start of the summer, with conjecture continuing to swirl around his batting position in the Test team for the India series.Meanwhile, Michael Neser is set to be available for the start of the domestic season after overcoming a calf issue but Xavier Bartlett is expected to miss at least the first month after the side strain he picked up in the first T20I in Southampton. It’s understood there is hope he could be fit for the Pakistan limited-overs series in early November.Khawaja, who was Queensland captain last season, opted to bat at No. 4 in his four Shield games last summer and scored two centuries. But he and new Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne are only set to be available for the first three Shield games this summer before leaving to play in the five-Test series against India. Khawaja is unlikely to be available to play Shield cricket again until the end of the Sri Lanka Test tour in February while Labuschagne may not return to Queensland until the end of the Champions Trophy in March.Jack Clayton was Queensland’s leading Shield run-scorer last season and made two centuries at No. 4 when Khawaja was absent but had to bat at No. 5 when the Australian opener returned and finished the season at No. 3. The promising 25-year-old left-hander looks set to settle at No. 4 this season and Botha praised Khawaja for helping create some stability in the Bulls’ middle order.”I know Uzzie has a good record for Queensland at No. 4, but I had a chat to him and he understood what we’re trying to do with giving the younger guys a bit of stability through Nos. 4, 5, 6,” Botha told ESPNcricinfo.Michael Neser is currently on track to start the Shield season•Getty Images

“I think he realized that if he went in at No. 4 then we’ll have to change our line-up around. And he’s been great with that. He said, ‘I’ll do whatever the team needs,’ and we want him to open so he’s going to do that for us to start with. So that’s a nice result for us. We can have a bit of stability through our Nos. 4, 5, 6 when the [Test players] leave after the third game.”Khawaja is already in some fine touch having helped his Queensland premier cricket club Valley claim the T20 Max title last week before smashing 114 off 119 balls in Valley’s first 50-over match of the season against a South Brisbane attack featuring Bulls seamer Gurinder Sandhu.On the bowling front, Neser looks set to be available for the start of the season after recovering from a calf problem. He got through six overs in a practice game for Queensland against South Australia last week and bowled 10 overs for his club side Gold Coast on Saturday.”He’s in a good spot,” Botha said. “You never want to be injured. But I think it came at a good time where he could freshen up a bit. He was over at Hampshire. So in a way, it probably worked out well. If he starts the season and he goes well, then it’s obviously worked perfectly, but we’ll have to see how that start goes and manage that maybe a little bit. But at the moment, he’s in a good space. He’s fresh. He’s good to go and he’ll be a big player for us this summer.”There have been concerns building over Australia’s fast bowling depth ahead of the series against India with Neser’s calf issue among a host of injury worries. Scott Boland is managing a long-term knee complaint while Lance Morris is set for a slow return following a stress fracture in his back.Bartlett’s significant side strain along with injuries to other white-ball quicks Nathan Ellis (hamstring) and Riley Meredith (side) has stretched Australia on the tour of the UK while they try to carefully manage Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc ahead of a huge workload against India.

Nathan McAndrew took 5 for 38, including Matt Renshaw for 21, as South Australia claimed a 129-run win over Queensland at Allan Border Field

AAP23-Oct-2024South Australia 314 (Hunt 136, McInerney 51, Whitney 5-57) and 352 for 9 dec (Carey 123*, McSweeney 72) beat Queensland opener Matt Renshaw did himself no favours in his bid to push for the vacancy at the top of Australia’s Test batting order, dismissed cheaply on the final day of the Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia.Already an outsider for the India series after being overlooked for Australia A, Renshaw had begun the summer with scores of 6, 15 and 2 and needed a big total on the final day of the Shield match at Allan Border Field, won by the visitors by 129 runs after wicketkeeper Alex Carey and Nathan McAndrew starred.There appeared little need for Renshaw to play at McAndrew’s delivery wide of off stump, but he mistimed his cover drive and edged the ball straight to Carey after compiling 21 runs.Bulls skipper Marnus Labuschagne said Renshaw’s failures had not helped his Test cause, but added that all was not lost.”I certainly think it counts against him. If other guys are making runs and it is going to be a tight call, it is always going to work like that,” Labuschagne said.”That doesn’t mean he can’t bat well in the next two [Shield[ games and maybe change people’s opinions or views.”Test opener Usman Khawaja (39) joined Renshaw in the pavilion, also edging to Carey without kicking on as Queensland chased 359 for victory.Labuschagne (10) and Ben McDermott (0) were dismissed either side of lunch as the hosts stumbled to 79 for 4.Jack Clayton fought hard to make 91•Getty Images

Debutant Lachlan Hearne (44) and Jack Clayton (91) got the Bulls back into it with a 106-run stand for the fifth wicket.Wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson (10) was unlucky to be given out caught behind to a lifter from speedster McAndrew as South Australia turned the screws to bundle Queensland out for 229.McAndrew completed a stellar match after taking three wickets in the first innings and making a vital 46 in the second dig.Carey was named player of the match. His first-innings 42 followed by an unbeaten 123 stamped his class, and the Test gloveman snared 10 catches, including seven in the second innings.”He has been excellent for us since coming back from his Test duties,” South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney said.”Last week he scored a 90 and a hundred for us as well. The way he plays and the runs he makes are match-winning.”It is never easy coming up here to Queensland and winning. This game has been good for our team morale. After having a couple of tough years, hopefully it is the start of a good year for us.”