Plus: most runs in a Test by a New Zealander, and c&b by the same bowler twice in a Test

Steven Lynch24-Nov-2015 In the recent Test at the WACA six batsmen reached 50 – and all of them went on to make centuries. Was this a record? asked Ryan Kelly from New Zealand

All six half-centuries in the second Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth were converted to hundreds. There had been no previous Tests in which five or six scores of 50-plus were all translated into three figures – but, rather surprisingly, there is a case of seven! In Kolkata in 2009-10, Alviro Petersen (100 on debut) and Hashim Amla (114 and 123 not out) made centuries for South Africa, and Virender Sehwag (165), Sachin Tendulkar (106), VVS Laxman (143 not out) and MS Dhoni (132 not out) followed suit as India set up an innings victory. The next highest score in the match was 28, by Amit Mishra.Ross Taylor scored 326 runs in all in the Perth Test. Is this a new record for a New Zealander? asked Brian Hill from New Zealand

Ross Taylor’s 326 runs in Perth – 290 in the first innings and 36 not out in the second – was the 29th-highest match aggregate in all Tests, a list headed by Graham Gooch’s 456 (333 and 123) for England against India at Lord’s in 1990. Two of the higher aggregates were by New Zealanders: Stephen Fleming amassed 343 runs (274 and 69, both not out) against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2002-03, and Martin Crowe 329 (30 and 299) against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1990-91. Next come Kane Williamson, with 311 (69 and 242 not out) against Sri Lanka at Wellington earlier this year, and Brendon McCullum with 310 (8 and 302) against India in Wellington in 2013-14. Taylor’s 290 was the third-highest Test score for New Zealand, after McCullum’s 302 and Crowe’s 299, and their highest overseas, beating Fleming’s 274 not out.I think Glenn McGrath dismissed the most batsmen for ducks in Tests. But who holds the record in ODIs? asked Mitchell Langley from Australia

You’re right, Glenn McGrath dismissed most batsmen for ducks in Tests – 104, just ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne (both 102). Wasim Akram and Courtney Walsh are next with 79: the leading current bowler, in ninth place, is Dale Steyn with 74. There’s a clear leader in one-day internationals, where Wasim Akram inflicted 110 ducks. Next is Chaminda Vaas, with 76, just ahead of Wasim’s old sparring partner Waqar Younis (72), with McGrath on 71. Lasith Malinga is currently eighth with 50. Umar Gul leads the way in Twenty20 internationals, hitting the stumps 18 times: next come the Sri Lankan pair of Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews, with ten apiece.Is David Lloyd the only batsman to have scored a century in both Tests and one-day internationals without scoring a fifty? asked Bharani Ganesan from the United States

The England left-hand batsman turned commentator David Lloyd – better known perhaps as “Bumble” – scored one Test century (214 not out against India at Edgbaston in 1974, in his second match) and one in ODIs – 116 not out against Pakistan at Trent Bridge later that year. Apart from that he never reached 50 in international cricket: on the 1974-75 Ashes tour he was out for 49 in the Perth Test and 49 again in an ODI in Melbourne. He is indeed the only player to make a century in both Tests and ODIs but no fifties, although there are six other players – two of them current – who made two international hundreds without also recording a score of 50-99. The England pair of Allan Steel and Barry Knight, and the Australian Harry “Dasher” Graham, made two centuries in Tests, as has the present-day Indian batsman Lokesh Rahul. Jeremy Bray of Ireland and the current Afghanistan batsman Karim Sadiq have made two centuries in one-day internationals.Stephen Fleming holds the New Zealand record for the most runs in a Test – 343, in Colombo•Getty ImagesAm I right in thinking that Imran Khan took more Test wickets after his 30th birthday than before? asked Shoeb Bari from the United States

I’m afraid you’re not quite right – at the time of his 30th birthday, in November 1982, Imran Khan had taken 192 wickets in 43 Tests. After turning 30 he took 170 more wickets in 45 matches, which included a period when he didn’t bowl much because of leg trouble. Still, only 15 bowlers have taken more Test wickets than Imran after turning 30 (Chris Martin also claimed 170). Top of the list is Muttiah Muralitharan with 388, just ahead of Shane Warne (386). Then come Anil Kumble (343) and Courtney Walsh (341). The Australian legspinner Clarrie Grimmett took 216 Test wickets, all after making his debut at the age of 33.I spotted that India’s Farokh Engineer was out caught and bowled in both innings at Leeds in 1967. But that was by different bowlers – has anyone ever been “c&b” twice by the same man? asked Maneck Dewan from India

Farokh Engineer was caught and bowled by Ray Illingworth in the first innings and Brian Close in the second – a Yorkshire double! – against England at Headingley in 1967. He was the 13th man to fall this way in both innings, and there have been eight more since, most recently New Zealand’s Ross Taylor (to Kevin Pietersen and Monty Panesar) against England in Hamilton in 2007-08. Overall, four of those 21 batsmen fell to the same bowler. In Melbourne in 1884-85 Australia’s John Trumble was caught and bowled in both innings by Billy Barnes of England. It didn’t happen again until 1948-49, when Everton Weekes fell this way to Indian offspinner Ghulam Ahmed in both innings in Calcutta: Weekes probably wasn’t too upset, as he’d scored 162 and 101! In Melbourne in 1950-51, as England closed in on their first victory over Australia since the war, Keith Miller was caught and bowled in both innings by the visiting captain Freddie Brown. And in Sydney in 1960-61 Richie Benaud went this way twice to the West Indian slow left-armer Alf Valentine.Send in your questions using our feedback form.

Stats highlights from the second ODI between Australia and India at the Gabba where the hosts recorded their 16th consecutive win at home.

Shiva Jayaraman15-Jan-201616 Number of consecutive ODIs won by Australia at home including this. This is the joint longest streak of win in ODIs at home by any team. West Indies had such a streak from 1986 to 1990 and Sri Lanka won 16 consecutive ODIs at home (excluding the walkovers against Australia and West Indies in the 1996 World Cup).301 The previous highest target chased in ODIs at the Gabba, which the hosts themselves did against England in 2014. This is also the fourth highest target to be successfully overhauled in ODIs in Australia and only the seventh in excess of 300.2 Instances before this match when a team failed to defend totals of 300 or more in back-to-back ODIs. West Indies had lost to India in two consecutive ODIs in 2002. In the first game though, India were declared winners on the basis of Duckworth-Lewis method by 83 runs while chasing a target of 301. The second instance came in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in 2007 when Australia failed to defend targets of 337 and 348 in the second and third game of the series. With this defeat India have failed to defend targets of 300 or more on ten occasions, which is second only to England’s 11 instances.2 Batsmen who have got five or more ODI hundreds against Australia before Rohit. Sachin Tendulkar made nine hundreds in 70 innings and Desmond Haynes made six in 64 innings. Rohit is the quickest among the three, having taken only 20 innings for the milestone. Tendulkar took 21 innings and Haynes 28. Rohit has made 1151 runs in ODIs against Australia at 71.93 including five hundreds and two fifties.2 Batsmen before Rohit Sharma with back-to-back ODI hundreds against Australia in Australia. Graeme Hick had done this with hundreds in Sydney and Adelaide in 1999. VVS Laxman had got hundreds in Brisbane and Sydney in 2004.0 Number of ODI totals by visiting teams at the Gabba higher than India’s 308 in this game. The previous highest was Sri Lanka’s 306 against the hosts in 2011-12, made while chasing a target of 322. India’s score is also the fourth highest ODI total by any team at this venue.295 Runs scored by Rohit between dismissals in his last two innings – he had made an unbeaten 171 in the previous ODI – which is the second highest score by a batsman between dismissals in ODIs against Australia. Haynes had made 375 runs – scores of 102*, 104*, 123* and 46 in four consecutive innings – the highest such aggregate by a batsman.95.85 George Bailey’s average in ODIs against India. His 76* in this innings was his sixth fifty-plus score against them in nine innings. In each of these innings he has scored more than 70 runs.1 Number of batsmen before Rohit who scored three ODI hundreds against Australia in Australia. Viv Richards got three hundreds in 38 innings against them. Apart from Rohit, Laxman is the only India batsman to get more than one hundred against the hosts in Australia.2000 The last time Australia had an opening stand in ODIs against India higher than the 145-run partnership between Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh. Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh had added 163 runs for the first wicket in Adelaide. The partnership in this match was Australia’s joint fifth-highest opening stand against India in ODIs. This was also the fourth-highest opening stand at the Gabba in ODIs.125 Partnership between Rohit and Virat Kohli – the third highest for any wicket by a visiting pair in ODIs at the Gabba against Australia. Rohit and Kohli have already added 332 runs in two innings in this series. This is already the third-highest runs added for the second wicket in any bilateral series against Australia. This was the ninth century stand between the two in ODIs. Click here for India pairs with most century stands in ODIs.124 Runs by Rohit in this match – the highest by an overseas batsman in ODIs against the hosts at the Gabba and the joint second-highest by an overseas batsman against any opposition at this venue. This is also the joint second-highest score by an opener in ODIs at this venue.2 Number of scores by India’s No. 4 higher than Ajinkya Rahane’s 89 in ODIs, against Australia. Ajay Jadeja is the only one to make a century against them – he had got an unbeaten 100 at the Oval in the 1999 World Cup. Mohammad Azharuddin had got 94 in Mohali. Rahane also completed 2000 runs in ODIs during his innings. He has 2041 runs at 33.45 in 63 innings including two hundreds and 14 fifties.38/5 India’s total in the last five overs of their innings. India lost four wickets in the last two overs and scored only 13 runs. India were well placed at 233 for 2 at the end of the 40th over before their innings derailed, with the last ten overs producing 75 runs for the loss of six wickets.

With the World T20 around the corner, one may ponder on the relevance of the bilateral ODIs between India and Australia, but there are plenty of factors to keep fans interested

Sidharth Monga11-Jan-2016″For me, when you talk about bilateral series, Tests are what matters. No one remembers these ODI and T20I bilateral series. In those formats, it is the World Cups that matter.”Possibly India’s team director Ravi Shastri was trying to deflect the attention off the ODI series India lost (to South Africa and Bangladesh) and retaining memories of events where they did well (Test series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, and a semi-final position in the World Cup) when he said this to the Indian cricket board’s website in December. There is still, however, a grain of unwitting truth to his words. Shastri is there in Australia, the venue where India played a “meaningless” tri-series last year without winning a match, as India take the hosts on in a five-ODI series to be followed by three T20 internationals. At a time when the World Twenty20 is around, one can see the context in the T20s, but why should one care for a bilateral ODI series that, in Shastri’s words, “no one remembers”?There is dual interest, though. In the new world order, India have replaced Sri Lanka as their dial-an-opposition with Australia. There was a time in the late 2000s and early 2010s when hardly a season would go without India facing Sri Lanka in bilateral ODI series or tri-series that “no one remembers”. Now they have split their bilateral engagement of Australia into Tests and limited-overs over separate tours, which means hardly a year goes by when either of these teams is not spending at least a month in the other country. By the end of this tour, India will have faced Australia in 38 internationals since December 2011, 13 more than the next most common opposition for them.India’s frequent visits to Australia – this is Rohit Sharma’s fourth tour to Australia, as many as Rahul Dravid managed through his career – mean that the administration of Australian cricket looks at them as it did at West Indies in the 1980s. West Indies back then were the biggest entertainers, and much to their chagrin the Australian batsmen would find themselves facing up to the most menacing fast bowlers every year.India are hardly as successful as that West Indies side, but they are arguably a bigger commercial draw: 4000 people turned up for a warm-up Twenty20 against a second XI of Western Australia on a Perth weeknight last week. They have played in two tri-series and the World Cup since their 2007-08 trip, and have beaten Australia only twice – in an ODI and in a Twenty20 – but they have made sure Cricket Australia is reporting a profit from the international summer despite little commercial interest in the visits of New Zealand and West Indies earlier in the summer. Of particular interest will be the attendance for the Melbourne ODI after 80,000 turned up for the BBL derby clash.These bilateral series also have a way of coming to life once the matches begin. Narrative develops, rivalries bloom, sledging happens. The last time these two sides played each other in bilateral ODIs, no target was safe yet Mitchell Johnson would get Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina just by turning up. These three characters won’t be playing this series, James Faulkner and Ishant Sharma will. Don’t worry about the buzz, there will be more than a hum when the rejuvenated Ishant bowls to the Man of the World Cup final after Faulkner took 30 off an Ishant over in the previous ODI series between these sides.Don’t try telling Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni either that there is no context to this series. Kohli, who scored four Test hundreds on the last trip to Australia but averages 15 in ODIs in Australia against Australia, was asked before he left if he was eager to go. “I am all suited up. The shoes are shining. Can’t wait to get on the flight.”Dhoni is definitely in the last quarter of his career. He is not a big training man, but he has spent the two-month break he got by the virtue of the Test retirement “toning” himself down through proper training and playing badminton. Watching him operate of late has been fascinating: the shots are not all there but his presence of mind has kept him in the hunt, and the wicketkeeping to spin remains as amazing as ever. Every now and then the old Dhoni threatens to come out of the shell, but the truth that others have caught up quells that Dhoni. He has felt the pressure of late, having led India to those two ODI series defeats, ones that the team director wishes to write off. He will take every opportunity to show he doesn’t need such spurious defence of his team. He has put in all the hard work to prepare for this series. To perhaps lead one final regeneration in Indian cricket.Regeneration means new faces. Quicks Scott Boland and Joel Paris have already been told they are debuting in Perth. Barinder Sran and Gurkeerat Mann will surely make their India debuts over the series. Manish Pandey, all of 26, will get a shot at personal regeneration after having been left aside after just one ODI and two T20Is. It is often during such series missing conventional context that the future greats take their first steps.Here’s to big crowds, great debuts, a comeback or two, and most importantly a contest from India.

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.

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2016A blip after the solid beginning meant Sri Lanka slipped to 125 for 4•AFPDilshan, however, carried his bat through to make an unbeaten 75 as Sri Lanka finished on 150 for 4•AFPMohammad Irfan, who was poor on the field, didn’t have a bad bowling day, finishing with 2 for 18 off his four overs•AFPMohammad Hafeez started well, but was foxed by Shehan Jayasuriya as Pakistan lost their first wicket in the fourth over•Associated PressThat, however, did not stop Sharjeel Khan from muscling the bowling. He hit five fours and a six in his 31. He was complemented well by Sarfraz Ahmed•AFPUmar Akmal and Shoaib Malik then took control of Pakistan’s chase with a 56 run-stand for the fourth wicket•AFPUmar eventually fell with his side one run short of the target, but Malik took Pakistan home with six wickets in hand•AFP

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.

They don’t want to be patronised or praised for potential. Afghanistan want to play Full Members and beat them, just like they did against West Indies

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur27-Mar-20162:38

Chappell: Terrific to see Afghanistan win against WI

It is one thing for an Associate team to want more frequent matches against Full Member teams. It is entirely another for an Associate team to say they will beat those Full Members “very easily” if they get that kind of exposure.That is what Asghar Stanikzai said, on the eve of Afghanistan’s World T20 match against West Indies: “In the next one or two years we will be a serious team and beat these Full Members very easily, as we have potential.”The Afghanistan captain spoke in Pashto, and something may have been lost or gained in team manager Sher Agha Hamkar’s translation, but “beat these Full Members very easily” are the words future cricket historians will unearth when they pore through the English-language cricket pages of 2016.”What audacity,” they will think to themselves. “What chutzpah.”There was plenty of chutzpah on Sunday too, whenever Afghanistan picked up a West Indies wicket. When Evin Lewis miscued a slog-sweep and holed out at deep midwicket, the bowler, Amir Hamza, broke into a jig. It wasn’t just any jig. It was a step from a music video performed by a player from the opposition team, Dwayne Bravo. A music video titled “Champion”, no less.It was a bit of a taunt. It would have taken chutzpah to do this even if Afghanistan were in a winning position; Hamza did it when West Indies were 17 for 1 chasing 124.The “Champion” jig resurfaced when Mohammad Shahzad stumped Denesh Ramdin off Rashid Khan, the portly wicketkeeper performing it rather more flamboyantly than the slightly built legspinner, with vigorous hip thrusts complementing the pumping of the arms.By then West Indies were in serious trouble, against a quartet of spinners getting the ball to stop, grip and turn off a sluggish pitch, and daring them to take on the long boundaries. Stanikzai had predicted on the eve of the match that the slow pitch and long boundaries would make it hard for West Indies to play big shots against his spinners. It had taken chutzpah to say that as well.Not long after Afghanistan had wrapped up a six-run win, Mohammad Nabi logged on to Twitter. Other cricketers in his situation might have used this moment simply to express their delight, or to talk about history being made – Afghanistan had beaten a Full Member side other than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe for the first time – or to reiterate the need for more matches against the top sides.Nabi, instead, said this: “I think so we have had enough of winning the hearts of cricket fans so this time we won the match.”In that one tweet, Nabi seemed to list everything Afghanistan were tired of. Tired of being patronised. Tired of being praised for their spirit, their fearlessness, their potential, and their personalities. Tired of being praised for all those things when they were losing games. Tired of everyone else thinking they were doing well to run big teams close while they themselves believed they could do better and beat those big teams.World bosses: Afghanistan’s players pose with Chris Gayle•IDI/Getty ImagesOnly time will tell whether Afghanistan will continue to back their belief with performances like this one. But the belief is real, and is fuelled by confidence in their own ability.Najibullah Zadran, whose unbeaten 40-ball 48 injected momentum into a laborious Afghanistan innings, had shown this belief even against Sri Lanka. Then, walking in at No. 9 with only three balls left in the innings, he lofted the first two balls he faced nonchalantly over extra cover, for six and four.Here, it was Rashid’s turn to walk in at No. 9 and hit the first ball he faced for six. It wasn’t unexpected, because he has talent with the bat, and his self-belief is always evident when he bowls his legbreaks and googlies, a teenager varying his pace and trajectory like an international veteran.Hamza, the first Afghan player to perform the “Champion” jig, came into this match having bowled the game-changing over against England. That over went for 25 runs, and turned the match England’s way. Fresh from bowling that over, Hamza took the new ball, bowled three of his four overs in the Powerplay, and finished with figures of 4-0-9-1.Through the tournament, Afghanistan’s self-belief has been evident in their selections. Until recently, fast bowling was reckoned to be their biggest strength, and Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran and Dawlat Zadran were among their biggest household names. But given slow, low, spinning conditions, they had no qualms in picking only one of the three in most of their games. They had faith in the spin of Rashid, Hamza, Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari.And by picking only one specialist quick and loading their side with allrounders, Afghanistan were lengthening their batting order. It was a compromise, but the batting depth allowed them to recover from a mini-collapse against Zimbabwe and a poor start against Sri Lanka, to keep punching in a steep chase against South Africa and to stay in the game and post a defendable total against West Indies.At 6.20pm, when Afghanistan had completed their successful defence of 123, the West Indies players walked onto the field to congratulate them. There was just about time for a final act of chutzpah. Shaking hands with Chris Gayle, who had been rested for this game, Shahzad requested he pose for selfies with the winning team. He agreed to do this. When all the Afghanistan players had assembled around him, it was left to Gayle to hold the selfie stick.

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.

Plays of the day from the tri-series final between West Indies and Australia in Barbados

Daniel Brettig27-Jun-2016The starts


Australia’s batsmen will not remember this tournament with enormous fondness, for reasons as much self-inflicted as they were to do with awkward conditions. The starts made by Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith and George Bailey rounded off a competition in which only the injured David Warner passed three figures. This is not to say that none of the aforementioned batsmen have managed to get themselves going. Finch epitomised the sense of opportunities missed this day when he rushed to 47 from a mere 41 balls before falling prey to a change of pace from Kieron Pollard. Finch’s anguished reaction summed up a feeling that he, like some teammates, had left a few runs in the middle.The Maxwell


Never dull, the latest Glenn Maxwell interlude lasted four balls for as many runs. He started off with a leave, then next an open-faced run of the ball to backward point. Things began to get a little more Maxwell-like from there – another delivery outside off stump from Shannon Gabriel drew an outside edge that flew low to the right of Denesh Ramdin and scuttled away to the third man boundary, drawing an impish grin from Maxwell. And then, almost as quickly as he arrived, Maxwell was gone, lbw to a fast and well-directed ball from Gabriel that demonstrated a technique that can still be quite porous amid the audacity.The muscle

Earlier this year, Matthew Wade threw his head back in frustration when he was caught on the boundary against New Zealand in Wellington, having mis-hit a pull shot. The fact he did not make great connection at the time was underlined at Kensington Oval when, in the midst of a fighting hand that helped build a decent Australian total, he nailed a trio of sixes. All were struck with tremendous power, and all three were across the line to deliveries going across him. Carlos Brathwaite encouraged the last of these by offering up a full toss, but even then Wade had demonstrated enough power to mean he shouldn’t be worried about being plucked on the boundary.The cross-seamer

Slow wicket bowling skills have occasionally looked lost on Australian seam bowlers over the years, a far cry from when the likes of Geoff Lawson used to delivery cutters, swingers and seamers with skill and parsimony on a parched SCG pitch. However in the midst of Mitchell Marsh’s match-shaping spell he showed the virtues of sending the ball down across the seam, with a delivery that did for Marlon Samuels. In the previous two encounters between these sides, Samuels had been formidable, but this time he could do nothing about a ball hat landed on the seam, stopped in the wicket, and drew a front edge to short cover. Marsh celebrated passionately, not just in taking a vital wicket, but in doing so with a method that showed good understanding of prevailing conditions.

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 …