Opener shines with 84 at No.4 but seeks conversion inspiration from England’s new leading runscorer

Matt Roller09-Oct-2024Ben Duckett was at the non-striker’s end when Joe Root; hit the boundary that made himEngland’s highest-ever Test run-scorer and, after his dismissal for 84, is intent on following Root’s lead in converting his starts into match-defining hundreds. But Duckett was grateful to be batting at all after a dislocated left thumb briefly threatened to rule him out of this series.He suffered the dislocation when taking the catch – off Root’s bowling – that ended Pakistan’s first innings on the second evening of the first Test in Multan. England’s doctor Glen Rae quickly put the thumb back in place, but Duckett was unable to open the batting and feared that it would become “quite sore” overnight.In practice, it healed enough that he was able to come in at No. 4 with his thumb strapped up and he batted with characteristic aggression, hitting 40 off the 31 balls he faced from Abrar Ahmed. Duckett looked to be cruising towards a fourth Test hundred when he was trapped lbw by Aamer Jamal for his fourth score between 70 and 90 since his most recent century, in Rajkot earlier this year.”I’d done the exact same thumb in the same way a couple of years ago,” Duckett said. “When I looked at it, I knew exactly what was wrong with it. We made the decision of giving it as many hours as we could, icing it a couple of times and seeing how it was in the morning. The worry was it was going to stiffen up… thankfully, it didn’t really change too much.”I’d have certainly taken that [84] last night when it happened… I’m obviously really happy with the form that I’ve had. I’m always very critical of myself, and I know we’ve had an incredible day, so it can be looked past, but I’ve got myself in a few times in the last however many Tests, and I’m the first person to know that.”I pride myself on scoring hundreds, and today it felt like it was going to be one of those days until I missed that ball. It’s something that I’m very aware of, and that’s maybe the different side of things now: the mental side of the game of getting yourself into those positions, and really kicking on and going big.”Duckett was unable to open the batting on day two because of his injury•Getty ImagesIt is not long since there was a similar narrative around Root’s own conversion rate: from 2017-20, he passed 50 on 28 occasions but only converted six of those innings into hundreds. But since 2021, he has become a relentless run-scorer, with 15 scores of 50-99 and 18 hundreds in that time – and Duckett believes he can learn that trait from his team-mate.”The one thing now is kicking on and getting those big scores,” he said. “If I ever have that problem, I’d be pretty happy. But these things happen and for Rooty, with the amount of cricket you play, you’re going to go through periods where you don’t get over the line and you’re going to have periods – right now – where he’s cashing in and scoring hundreds for fun.”It’s just a pleasure to share the dressing room with him. You wouldn’t know that he’s achieved what he’s achieved, how he is in the dressing room: he’s such a good man to have and he’s probably still working as hard as he ever has, always grinding away in the nets. We make jokes that he says he’s out of form when he’s getting Test hundreds, so it is probably a good place for him to be.”Duckett has not had his thumb scanned, but is confident that he will be fit to play in Tuesday’s second Test. “I want to say 100 percent,” he said. “Obviously, today went well, and I’m hoping each day is going to get easier and easier… It seems like there’s no clean break, so I think it’s one of those ones where it’s going to be a bit sore for a couple of weeks.”More immediately, his focus is on helping England to win the first. “I would imagine we’ll probably try to bat for quite a lot of tomorrow,” Duckett said. “We’ve got to earn the right to do that and start well in the morning – try to limit the damage, and hopefully get ourselves in a position where, after lunch, we can really push on, and try to score as quick as we can.”[We have to] hope that there’s going to be 10 more chances. The pitch isn’t doing loads, but you’ve seen a little bit of variable bounce and a fraction more spin today… It depends how quickly we score and how well we start in the morning, and then we will be doing absolutely everything to try and take 10 wickets.”

Also: What is the record for the most ducks in a Test?

Steven Lynch27-Aug-2024There were 11 ducks in the second Test between West Indies and South Africa. Was this a record? asked Jamie Greaves from England

You’re right that there were 11 ducks in the recent match in Providence, four for West Indies and seven for South Africa (two by Keshav Maharaj, who bagged a pair). That actually equalled the Test record: there have now been 14 cases of 11 in a match, the first in an Ashes Test at Old Trafford in August 1888, and the most recent instance by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Mirpur in May 2022.South Africa’s seven ducks in the match was two short of the Test record. There have been three cases of nine by a team in the same Test: by Sri Lanka against India in Chandigarh in 1990-91, West Indies vs Australia in Brisbane in 2000-01, and Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka in Mirpur in 2022.Keshav Maharaj was dismissed three times in the recent Test series in the West Indies without scoring a single run. What’s the most a batter has been dismissed in a series without scoring a run? asked Gavin Truter from England

Keshav Maharaj was the 11th man to bat three times in a Test series and be out for a duck each time. Probably the most surprising name among the others is England’s Ben Stokes, in the home series against India in 2014.Only two men have batted four times in a Test series and been out for a duck each time: Pat Pocock for England vs West Indies in 1984, and Nuwan Pradeep for Sri Lanka vs Pakistan in the UAE in 2017-18. Four others have been dismissed for four ducks in a series: Iqbal Qasim for Pakistan in England in 1978, Danny Morrison for New Zealand in Australia in 1993-94, Phil Tufnell for England in Australia in 1994-95, and Dinanath Ramnarine for West Indies in Sri Lanka in 2001-02. Ramnarine actually batted six times, and had two 0 not outs to go with his four ducks. For the list, click here (note that this includes not-outs).The most ducks by anyone in a single Test series is six, by the Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst in the six-match Ashes series of 1978-79. He did score 44 runs in his other innings in the series though.Did I hear correctly that Milan Rathnayake’s 74 in Manchester was the highest on Test debut from No. 9? asked Anura de Silva from Sri Lanka

I was surprised to discover that it was true: Milan Rathnayake made 74 on his debut for Sri Lanka last week at Old Trafford, beating the previous record of 71 on debut from No. 9, by India’s Balwinder Singh Sandhu against Pakistan in Hyderabad in 1982-83.My slight surprise was because I knew there had been some debut centuries from low in the order, but it turns out that these came from even further down – No. 10! Australia’s Reggie Duff made 104 from there against England in Melbourne in 1901-02, and many years later Bangladesh’s Abul Hasan smacked 113 not out on debut against West Indies in Khulna in 2012-13. New Zealand’s Tim Southee clouted 77 not out – with nine sixes – on his debut, against England in Napier in 2007-08. He’s played 99 more Tests since and has still not beaten that score. Duff was a recognised batter going in down the order – he opened in most of his later Tests – but the others were genuine bowlers.The highest score by a No. 11 on Test debut remains 98, by Ashton Agar for Australia against England at Trent Bridge in 2013. No one else has reached 50 on debut after going in last.Milan Rathnayake’s (left) 74 is the highest on Test debut from No. 9 although there have been two hundreds from debutant No. 10s•PA Images via Getty ImagesI noticed that in the T20 WC final in 2014, all 22 players either batted or bowled, but no one did both. Was this unique? asked Edwin Kimberly Arockiam from India

That’s a good spot! In the T20 World Cup final in Mirpur in April 2014, India made 130 for 4, with only five batters making it to the crease since Virat Kohli was run out from the last ball of the innings. The other six Indian players then bowled as Sri Lanka won by scoring 134 for 4 – but the five players who didn’t bat all bowled.This was unique at the time, but it has happened in three T20 internationals since: the matches between India and West Indies in Chennai in 2018-19, Ireland vs Afghanistan in Belfast in 2022, and New Zealand vs Pakistan in the semi-final of the T20 World Cupin Sydney in November 2022. It has never happened in men’s ODIs, or women’s white-ball internationals.I spotted that Joe Root opened the bowling in three ODIs in 2014, and it set me wondering if he’d opened the batting and bowling in all three international formats. Alas, T20 batting is missing for him, but has anybody else done this? asked Sam Hurst from England

Only six men have opened the batting and bowling in Tests, one-day and T20Is. Three of them – Irfan Pathan of India, Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan and Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka – did it at least once in the same match in all three formats. The other three, who completed the set in different games, are Glenn Maxwell of Australia, Shoaib Malik of Pakistan, and Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The assistant coach during Scotland’s run to their maiden World Cup is New Zealand’s frontline offspinner at the tournament

Shashank Kishore02-Oct-2024In June 2022, Leigh Kasperek, at 30, found herself at a crossroads. She had just lost her New Zealand central contract and wasn’t sure of her immediate international future. But a trip to Scotland to see family that winter opened new doors.A casual stop at the Scotland camp to catch-up with old friends led to her stumbling upon an opportunity to coach. In April this year, Kasperek was Scotland’s assistant coach at the T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE. Now, Kasperek has returned to Dubai to be a part of the World Cup, not as a coach though, but as New Zealand’s frontline offspinner.On Thursday, when Scotland play their first-ever women’s T20 World Cup game against Bangladesh, Kasperek “will have a small piece of my heart” with the team that she was a part of not long ago.Related

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“When one door shuts, you have no option but to try and see how another one opens,” Kasperek says philosophically. “Watching the Scotland girls go about their work [during her stint with the team] and enjoying themselves was a good reminder of why you play the game.”Now, as a player, I am just trying to embrace that a little bit in my own cricket moving forward. It [coaching] probably gave me a little bit of an outside perspective. It’s pretty funny because when I was coaching on the sidelines, I felt very relaxed. I just enjoyed watching the girls go out there, and I have been able to take that little bit more of that into my playing career again.”At Scotland, Kasperek was coach to many whom she grew up playing with. Like Abbi Aitken-Drummond, the former Scotland captain. They played pathways cricket together until Kasperek decided to embark on an adventure of a lifetime.In Dubai, Kasperek and Aitken-Drummond may not cross paths on the field as New Zealand and Scotland are in different groups – the top two from each group make the semi-finals. “I’m looking forward to seeing her in the semi-finals,” Kasperek laughs.”Abbi has gone through some injuries, had a kid and now has fought her way back in. For someone like her who has gone through the tough times, it means a lot to make it to a World Cup.

“Watching the Scotland girls go about their work and enjoying themselves was a good reminder of why you play the game. Now, as a player, I am just trying to embrace that a little bit in my own cricket moving forward”Leigh Kasperek

“Priyanaz Chatterji and I played Under-17s [together]. So yeah, it was an obvious decision to be able to work with them in a different capacity [when the opportunity came]. It was really rewarding and enjoyable. I’ll be rooting for them when they play that first game.”Kasperek’s own career received a massive fillip earlier this year. Having been recalled during the T20I leg of a tough England tour in June-July, she will now feature in her fourth T20 World Cup, having played previously in 2016, 2018 and 2020.”I actually first got a call-up last July as a replacement for the Sri Lanka tour, but it was totally out of the blue,” Kasperek says. “I was meant to be away in the Netherlands with the Scotland team but had to pull out of the tour when I got the call.”I came back from Sri Lanka and kept working with Scotland and went to the pre-qualifiers in Spain, where we came up against sides like Italy and France. Then they [Scotland] had a great series in Ireland. Then I came back to play for Wellington in the [New Zealand] domestic summer. So yeah, it’s been quite an interesting journey.”Scotland were keen on having her as part of the backroom for the World Cup, but she wasn’t going to let a chance of playing for New Zealand pass.Scotland are playing their first women’s cricket World Cup, across formats•ICC/Getty Images”It would’ve been lovely to play in Bangladesh [the original hosts for this World Cup], with all those spinning wickets,” she chuckles. “But I guess the UAE isn’t all that bad in terms of pitches either. As a spinner, it’s just trying to add more tricks to your bowling in terms of change of pace and angles, to stay one step ahead.”Another change in the women’s game [compared to the men’s] is only having four fielders out [after the powerplay]. So, I guess, in a sense you’re slightly limited in what lines you can go with. Sometimes you feel like you can bowl really well and get hit around the park and it can be the other way round too, so yeah, I’m always on my toes.”Kasperek’s perspective on her own cricket may have changed in recent times, but not the drive to keep getting better. Her decision to leave Otago and move to Wellington in early 2021, once cricket resumed post-pandemic, is a prime example.”I made the move because at the time it had the best training structure in New Zealand,” she says. “I just thought if I wanted to try and kick on a little bit with my cricket then, they had like full-time coaches and great facilities. I just thought that I wanted to try and give myself the best chance to improve. And I really enjoyed the city, the vibe around the team we’ve got there.”Kasperek still divides her time between New Zealand and Scotland, but there’s more clarity and purpose to her pursuits. “It’s been hectic, but also very rewarding,” she says. “I guess I really had to invest in other parts of my life outside of [playing] cricket. It was forced upon me [because of not having a contract].”Having got into coaching, I feel a lot less daunted about the future planning. Even if I won’t get many more opportunities [to play], the place I’m in today, I’ll be okay. I’ve enjoyed coaching and would love to go down that path.”For now, winning as many games as possible for New Zealand will do.

We knew he could strike the ball 100m relentlessly. What we hadn’t seen was the prodding before the power

Cameron Ponsonby03-Nov-2024Liam Livingstone asked for more responsibility. Got it. And delivered.Six weeks ago, Livingstone got a call saying he was dropped. The conversation was 30 seconds long, but preceded a chat with managing director Rob Key where cards were laid on the table. Livingstone understood why he had been left out. His returns over the past two years, by his own admission, weren’t good enough.But something rankled. His one complaint was that he felt that time that he hadn’t been given the chance to dictate games. He had been the bit-part player England called when they wanted him, but never when they needed him. In 30 ODIs, he had batted above No. 6 twice, and bowled his full allocation only twice as well.Related

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One Jos Buttler calf setback later, though, and he got another call saying they wanted him back for the Australia series, and they needed him back for the West Indies series. As captain.”It’s a bit like a relationship,” Livingstone had joked before the first ODI against West Indies.Across his last five ODI innings, Livingstone averages 133.50 with a strike rate of 145. A dramatic surge in form that he dates back to a single ball he faced in the Hundred against Luke Wood. Facing a hat-trick ball, Livingstone told himself to relax and just react to whatever comes. The ball is bowled into his ribs, and he tucks it away for one. Watching it back, it is entirely unremarkable.”Jesus,” Livingstone remembers recalling to himself at the time. “I think I’m back here.”Livingstone further said after the second ODI against West Indies, “It’s really weird because it’s one ball in the middle of the summer,” when he smashed an unbeaten 124 off just 85 balls in a successful chase of 329. “But I spent two years trying so hard to work it all out.”Livingstone is one of few players on this tour playing with real jeopardy. Interim head coach Marcus Trescothick had said after the first ODI that the message being framed to the group was to enjoy their “free-hit” opportunity with a mountain of players to come back in. But Livingstone isn’t in that boat. His ultimatum with Key had been agreed, and these matches were his opportunity “to not only say what I thought, but [also] for me to show people I mean what I say”.When he arrived at the crease in the second ODI, England needed another 222 runs in 29.5 overs. A required run rate of 7.50 that climbed all the way to ten an over the moment the 39th over came to an end. England required exactly 100 runs off the final 60 balls. They did it in 45.Of Livingstone’s nine sixes, eight came in the final 25 balls of his innings. His second 50 arrived in just 17 deliveries. He hit consecutive sixes on three occasions, and took two overs for north of 20.Combining the clubspeed of Byson DeChambeau with the biceps of Mike Tyson, Livingstone peppered all sides of the ground. Gudakesh Motie was bludgeoned out to the leg side, Jayden Seales was slapped over extra cover, and Shamar Joseph was lucky to survive when a straight drive flew back past his face.”I see my ability as being able to hit more than a couple of sixes”•Getty ImagesIt wasn’t a one-man effort, with all of Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran contributing with half-centuries of their own, but it was a one-man show. After the 35th over, every England boundary was off the bat of Livingstone.Counterintuitively, despite the fireworks that got England over the line. The first 50 of his runs arguably proved the point Livingstone was trying to make more than the final 74.We knew he could strike the ball 100m relentlessly. He hit the ball over the football stand at Headingley, which was the type of shot that you only hear about from the 1800s when Sir.What’sHisChops apparently cleared the pavilion at Lord’s using a toothpick. That is to say, when people are lying. But Livingstone actually did it. We saw it.What we hadn’t seen was the prodding that came before the power. His 50 off 60 balls took the game deep, and put it on his shoulders. He had struck only three boundaries. England’s team selection, swapping Jamie Overton for Saqib Mahmood, meant that the tail was long, and Adil Rashid was at No. 8, just two wickets away.”People see me as this guy who can go in and smack a few sixes in a T20 innings,” Livingstone said. “But I see my ability as being able to hit more than a couple of sixes – being able to do things like I’ve done today.”Liam Livingstone reaches a maiden ODI century•Getty ImagesIt was a remarkable innings that more than saved what had otherwise threatened to be an ordinary day for the new captain. For the second time in history, England used nine bowlers across an ODI innings, with the only time before coming in 1987 when all of Bill Athey, Allan Lamb and Chris Broad bowled the only over of their ODI careers in a dead run chase.It encapsulated the other end of Livingstone’s desperation to do well on this tour. Muddled thinking in the guise of proactiveness, that resulted in Jofra Archer having an over left in the tank when Will Jacks, Dan Mousley and Bethell had sent down seven between them.”No,” Livingstone said. “It wasn’t the plan.”But where clarity was absent in the field, it was present in abundance with the bat. Livingstone admitted himself that despite his showing, “I don’t think I’m ever going to bat [at No.] 5 for England when we’ve got a full squad”.But regardless of the tangible long-term results of his performance, the intangible can matter just as much. He had proved to himself, and others, that he was capable of something he had always believed he could do, but until Saturday never had.”It’s amazing,” he concluded. “The last time I was here, I lost my grandad. I’m looking forward to speaking to some family back home. He’ll be looking down pretty proud.”

Virat Kohli is set to play his first Ranji Trophy game since 2012, and was at the Delhi stadium on Tuesday to prepare for this

Daya Sagar28-Jan-20251:02

Watch: Kohli’s nets session with Delhi ahead of his Ranji comeback

A larger-than-usual crowd had gathered outside the gate of the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Word had spread that Virat Kohli was going to join the Delhi team to train ahead of their next Ranji Trophy game, which he will be playing from Thursday. Even some TV and YouTube journalists were in attendance, which usually doesn’t happen ahead of a Ranji match.But then this is Kohli and he is returning to domestic cricket after more than 12 years; he last played in the Ranji Trophy in November 2012. Seeing the crowd that had already gathered in anticipation, two days before the game, the sub-inspector stationed at the gate remarked to his colleague that they would have to beef up the security in the coming days.Around 9.30am, Kohli emerged from a black Porsche, the last among the Delhi players to enter the ground, with around 10 others buzzing around him, including Delhi’s head coach Sarandeep Singh. He joined his Delhi team-mates for football drills, bouts of laughter, and 100-metre sprints, before it was time to hit the batting nets.Kohli padded up, donned his helmet and took out an unusual-looking bat to face a throwdown session. The blade of this bat was much thinner than his usual bats, probably a change forced by the outside edges that led to all eight of his dismissals in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. For about 15 minutes he took throwdowns, delivered from the middle of the pitch; five minutes were spent on front-foot strokes and the rest went on facing back-of-length balls off the back foot. This session was a mix of defensive and aggressive strokes; he was beaten a couple of times outside off but otherwise middled some along-the-ground pulls and short-arm jabs.Virat Kohli tried out a few different bats in the Delhi nets•PTI Now it was time to move to the other nets to face some spin. Here he switched to his normal bat and for nearly 20 minutes faced left-arm spinners Harsh Tyagi and Sumit Mathur and offspinner Sumit Sharma. He cut short balls from all of them. Tyagi beat Kohli’s outside edge a couple of times and some deliveries bounced extra, meeting Kohli’s bat on the sticker. Once when Kohli went after a full delivery from Tyagi, attempting a lofted stroke, he managed only a leading-edge. Sarandeep praised the bowler but it was a session in which Kohli was largely steady and in control.Next, he went to face the fast bowlers for another 20 minutes; the line-up included Navdeep Saini among a bunch of right-arm quicks and a lone left-armer in Siddhant Sharma. When Siddhant beat Kohli’s bat twice, with the angle taking the ball away from him, it was time for Sarandeep to step in. He advised Kohli in Punjabi to switch to a middle and off-stump guard, and Kohli did so. He beautifully middled some of the deliveries that followed, drawing applause from the coach.Saini, the highest-profile of the bowlers, also beat Kohli once but otherwise he looked steady and calm, leaving plenty of deliveries outside off. He transferred his weight on the back foot for the shorter balls, punched some of them through off and nudged and jabbed others towards midwicket.Virat Kohli was happy to take questions from a young one•PTI While Kohli went through the drills, an eight-year-old fan, Kabir, closely watched all his movements, his father telling him to observe how Kohli’s head remained still while he played his shots. It turned out that the father was former Delhi player Shawej Khan who had played with Kohli in age-group cricket. Once the nets session ended, Kohli gave Shawej a bear-hug, autographed his son’s bat and imparted some advice.Kohli finished his day with some slip fielding and outfield catching, which he did for about half an hour before posing for some pictures – first alone, and then with some Delhi & District Cricket Association officials – in front of the pavilion named after him.

With multiple languages, accents and dialects in the mix, players, coaches and captains often have to find innovative ways to communicate

Matt Roller04-Apr-2025The start of any IPL season sees old friendships rekindled and new relationships formed – particularly in the first year after a mega auction. All ten franchises have undergone major transformations and each dressing room will have already seen interactions between players and staff who have never previously crossed paths, let alone spoken to one another.Those meetings are easier for some than others. For those who have been around the IPL for years and are fluent in several languages, fitting into a new environment is no issue. But for some, joining a team – or the league itself – for the first time may bring a sinking realisation that communicating over the following two months will be a major challenge.”I wouldn’t call it a language barrier; barrier isn’t the right word. It’s the beauty of this country,” says Piyush Chawla, the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. “There are so many different languages – and even in Hindi, there are so many different accents or dialects.” Chawla himself speaks Hindi and English, and can understand Punjabi and some Tamil.India does not have a single national language: Hindi, the most widely spoken, is considered one of two official languages of the country’s government alongside English, but there are 22 different “recognised languages” across the country. The IPL itself is beamed around the world in English, but the Indian broadcaster JioStar has feeds in 12 different languages, including the Bhojpuri and Haryanvi dialects.Related

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English is taught widely in Indian schools in metropolitan cities, but – inevitably, in a country of 1.4 billion people – cricketers’ ability to speak it fluently can vary wildly when they reach the IPL for the first time. Chawla, who grew up in Uttar Pradesh, was 19 when the league launched in 2008: he could understand English, but recalls: “I couldn’t speak naturally in it. What if I say the wrong thing?”The first dressing room he joined, Kings XI Punjab, featured a strong Australian contingent, including Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, and head coach Tom Moody. “English wasn’t the problem. The accent was the problem,” Chawla says, laughing. He relied on team-mates – like captain Yuvraj Singh – to act as translators: “I used to ask Yuvi all the time: ‘What did he just say?'”David Warner once joked that he needed to use Google Translate to communicate with Mustafizur Rahman, the only Bangladeshi at Sunrisers Hyderabad•BCCIMoody arrived in India knowing that language could be an issue, after two years as Sri Lanka coach. “I would talk to players one-on-one about their development and tactical messages,” he recalls. “Three months in, Mahela Jayawardene came up to me and said, ‘Coach, the guys are really enjoying it. But Mali [Lasith Malinga] can’t understand a word you’re saying!'”In many cases, multilingual players and support staff find themselves acting as translators. “Whenever new domestic players come into the IPL, you have to be aware of it,” says Mike Hesson, who spent five years working at Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bengaluru after coaching his native New Zealand. “You might need to deliver a message across a number of different mediums.”You’re conscious of speaking slowly around players where English isn’t their first language. You might bring another coach along to a one-on-two meeting, just to reaffirm that the player understands the message you’re delivering – especially for the newcomers to a squad. It’s up to us as coaches to make sure that players can express themselves to us.”Later in his IPL career, when he had become a fluent English speaker, Chawla helped mentor a young Rinku Singh when he joined Kolkata Knight Riders: “We had Jacques Kallis and Simon Katich as coaches. Rinku would ask me to translate. [When that happens] you feel good on the inside. My job at that time was not only on the field, but to guide him off it: he is like a younger brother.”It is not only domestic players who struggle to communicate with English-speaking coaches. In 2016, Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman joined Moody’s Sunrisers Hyderabad and found that only one other player in the squad – the young batter Ricky Bhui – spoke his mother tongue of Bengali. “We had a real challenge there in the early stages,” Moody recalled.ESPNcricinfo LtdDavid Warner, Sunrisers’ captain, would converse with Mustafizur primarily using body language, and once described pointing to his head at mid-off in an attempt to tell his young fast bowler to use his head. Mustafizur appeared to take it on board, but then ran in and bowled a bouncer: he had interpreted the message to mean he should aim at the head.”That’s where you have to be careful,” Moody says. “You might think you are getting a message across, but the player you’re talking to might be taking something completely different away with them. But it is part of the charm of the IPL: it tests your ability to communicate. It’s not always as easy as speaking to a fellow countryman that totally gets your sense of humour or sarcasm.”Mustafizur overcame the challenge, taking 17 wickets as Sunrisers won the 2016 title. It made Moody and Warner one of three overseas captain-coach combinations to win the IPL, and the first since 2009. Surprisingly, it took until 2022 for an Indian head coach to lift the trophy: an Indian captain and a foreign coach is by far the most common combination for a winning team.Gradually, most franchises have employed more local backroom and support staff. “It was quite organic,” Moody says. “We found that our staff covered a number of different areas organically, and between us could speak English, Hindi, Tamil… It became a bit of a melting pot of players and staff that could all contribute to the central cause.”When Moody signed a teenaged Rashid Khan in the 2017 auction, he made sure to recruit a fellow Afghan alongside him. “We needed [Mohammad] Nabi’s skill set, but on another level, it made sure Rashid wouldn’t be isolated in that squad.” In 2022, Rashid was the senior partner in a similar relationship with Noor Ahmad at Gujarat Titans: “I can translate things into Pashto for him,” he said.Rashid Khan paid forward Mohammad Nabi’s mentorship by taking Noor Ahmad under his wing in an otherwise unfamiliar environment for the youngster•BCCIBut language divides extend beyond lines of nationality – and can be turned into a strength. A curiosity of the IPL is that squads often bear minimal resemblance to the regions they represent: Chennai Super Kings, for example, rarely pick players from the state of Tamil Nadu. In 2020, a stump microphone even picked up Kolkata Knight Riders’ Dinesh Karthik communicating with Varun Chakravarthy in their native Tamil while playing CSK.This season, nine out of ten franchises have Indian captains: Pat Cummins, at Sunrisers, is the only exception. But communication and language remain a pressing issue: before Delhi Capitals’ first match of the season, against Lucknow Super Giants, captain Axar Patel handed over to Faf du Plessis in the team huddle, who delivered a pre-match speech in English.Hesson is a rare example of a native English speaker who went out of his way to pick up some Hindi during his time at the IPL. “I wouldn’t say I’m brilliant, but I can understand a fair bit,” he explains. “My speaking is more pidgin than full sentences… It’s a bit of a respect thing, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s right if someone doesn’t feel comfortable expressing themselves in their own country.”Yet even as the IPL is in its 18th season, the expectation that Indian players should learn English prevails, rather than the other way around. Perhaps, in a decade or two, it might become common for foreign players to learn to communicate with Indian players in their own native tongue: as Hesson puts it, “It is the Indian Premier League, after all.”

On the way to the series win in SL, Nathan Lyon also became the third Australian to 550 Test wickets

Namooh Shah09-Feb-20254 – Australia have clean swept their opponents for the fourth time in a Test series in Asia where they have played at least two matches. The previous instance of that had come back in 2006, when they had beaten Bangladesh 2-0.5 – Number of Test wins by Australia in Galle is the most by a visiting team in Sri Lanka at any venue, going past Pakistan, who have four wins in Galle. Victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka, which concluded on Sunday, also gave Australia their first Test series win in the country since 2011.33 – Number of wins Australia have across the two cycles of the World Test Championship. That takes them past England, who have 32 wins.Related

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3 – Australia’s win by nine wickets in the second Test against Sri Lanka was only the third instance of a visiting team winning a Test in Sri Lanka with nine or more wickets remaining. The last time it happened was in 2022, when too Australia had won in Galle.43.58 – Difference between the batting and bowling averages in the Test series against Sri Lanka for Australia. It is the highest for Australia in an away series of at least two matches. The next highest of 30.21 had come way back in 1949-50 in South Africa.5 – Steven Smith now has the joint-most Test wins by an Australian captain in Asia, equaling the record of Ricky Ponting.ESPNcricinfo Ltd24 – Number of Test hundreds by Smith in winning causes. He goes past Don Bradman and Matthew Hayden – 23 hundreds each – to become the player with the fourth-most Test centuries in victories. Only Ponting (30), Joe Root (25) and Steve Waugh (25) are ahead of him.200 – Catches taken by Smith is the most by an Australian fielder in Tests. With that, he equals Jacques Kallis, and is only behind Rahul Dravid (210), Root (207) and Mahela Jayawardene (205).553 – Number of Test wickets taken by Nathan Lyon after the completion of the second Test in Galle, where he took seven wickets. Lyon became the third Australian bowler to reach the landmark of 550 Test wickets, after Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563). He also completed 150 wickets in Asia, which is the most by a non-Asian bowler there, having already started the series against Sri Lanka well clear of Shane Warne.

A lot can change over the next two years, but as Australia and South Africa return to ODI cricket, these are some of key questions that will need answering

Andrew McGlashan and Firdose Moonda18-Aug-2025

Cameron Green will be a key figure in Australia’s ODI side for the next World Cup•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

The halfway point between ODI World Cups is approaching with the next edition to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in late 2027. In Cairns on Tuesday, Australia and South Africa play their first matches in the format since the Champions Trophy, when they both exited in the semi-finals.Following that tournament, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Heinrich Klaasen have announced their retirements from ODIs – the latter from all white-ball internationals – and, as is often the case during World Cup cycles, there is a sense of renewal and rebuilding ahead of the next edition, where Australia will be the defending champions after their triumph in India.Since the 2023 World Cup, these two sides are at the lower end of the table in terms of ODIs played, and Australia in particular have rarely put their strongest side on the park, either because of workload management or injuries. Pat Cummins, who remains the official ODI captain, has only played two matches since that memorable day in Ahmedabad and will miss this series.A lot can change over the next two years – there is definitely a chance some players available now don’t make it all the way to 2027 – but with an eye on the future, here are some key questions from both sides.Head’s opening partner; Smith’s spotRelated

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Travis Head, the hero of Ahmedabad, should still be in his prime in 2027 but who will be alongside him at the top of the order is more of a question. Matt Short has had the early running and has shown glimpses, particularly his 63 against England in the Champions Trophy, but will miss this series due to a side injury, which has been worryingly slow to heal.Mitchell Marsh, who will captain against South Africa in Cummins’ absence, enjoyed considerable success opening in the lead-up to, and at, the last World Cup but there is always the lingering question over what his body will allow him to do in the years to come.In the middle order, Smith’s retirement has created a permanent vacancy, which will likely be taken by Cameron Green, who missed the Champions Trophy through injury. Green had a fill-in role at the 2023 World Cup but, providing he has no further setbacks, should be a central figure with bat and ball in 2027.Temba Bavuma has had to defy injury of late•Associated PressCan Bavuma reach 2027?South Africa’s regular ODI captain Temba Bavuma has made no secret of his desire to get to the home World Cup in two years’ time, but often caveats that with a clause about what his body will allow. Bavuma has suffered a spate of injuries in the last three years, mostly involving his elbow and his hamstrings, and was hampered by the latter during the recent World Test Championship final and the last ODI World Cup.He battled through both but continues to bat with heavily strapped elbows and at the age of 35 now, faces the real possibility of not physically being able to get to the 2027 tournament. That could mean his role over the next 12 months or so is a transitional but crucial one. Of South Africa’s squad in Australia, Bavuma has the highest ODI average and while he is not known as a quick run-scorer, he provides stability upfront and will be key to their build-up to the next World Cup.Aaron Hardie is among a group of allrounders in the mix for Australia•AFP/Getty ImagesHow do you replace Maxwell?You don’t find many cricketers like Maxwell, so this is an interesting one for the selectors. There is the loss of his dynamic, match-changing batting but there is also the vital balance he brought to the side with his offspin. In 2023, he was the second spinner alongside Adam Zampa (having been the lone spinner at the 2015 edition) and finding those overs will be important. It makes Short, who is a handy offspinner, a valuable player while the selectors are clearly keen to develop Cooper Connolly’s left-arm spin – he was a late addition to this squad after Mitchell Owen’s concussion. Head’s offspin remains a useful option while Marnus Labuschagne’s legspin has claimed useful wickets in the past year.Owen and Aaron Hardie, another injury replacement against South Africa, will be vying for an allrounder’s position over the next couple of years, while among those outside the current squad, Jack Edwards and Will Sutherland could also come into the mix. They provide seam bowling rather than spin although conditions in southern Africa may work in their favour.The next superstar?•Getty ImagesLife after KlaasenKlaasen’s international retirement leaves a power-hitting hole in South Africa’s middle order, not least because he has the highest strike rate for the team in ODIs and was named their ODI Player of the Year at the most recent Cricket South Africa awards.Though David Miller, who is second to Klaasen on the strike-rate charts, remains available, South Africa need to find someone else with six-hitting skills in the middle order and they may be looking to Dewald Brevis as the next big deal. Brevis was the leading run-scorer in the T20I series and, with only ten caps to his name, already holds the record for the highest individual score by a South Africa batter in the shortest format.His 125 not out in Darwin included 96 runs in boundaries and demonstrated a fearlessness South Africa’s coach Shukri Conrad wants his players to live by. The Miller-Brevis combination will not be on show at this series as Miller is currently playing in the Hundred, but the Australia matches are a good opportunity for Brevis, who is uncapped in ODIs, to show what he can do. To date, Brevis has played 25 List A matches, averages 48.40 in the format with a strike rate of 112.10, and was the second-highest run-scorer in the most recent domestic one-day cup, so there’s plenty to suggest he has what it takes to make the step up.Will it be one more time for this great trio?•ICC/Getty ImagesWill Australia’s big three all be there?Mitchell Starc will be 37 by the next ODI World Cup and Josh Hazlewood, who will play this series, 36. Starc has always said Test cricket will be the format he puts first and Australia have a huge period of that prior to the 2027 tournament. Cummins has tentatively indicated he has eyes on captaining again to defend the title but he, too, will be a key figure in a heavy Test run.Australia’s pace stocks are strong, although Lance Morris’ withdrawal from the South Africa series with another back problem is a concern and Jhye Richardson is still a long way off a potential return.However, Xavier Bartlett has made a very promising start and Nathan Ellis will have the chance to build on his T20 pedigree. It was eye-catching to see the inclusion of Tom Straker and Callum Vidler, recent members of the Under-19 set-up, in the Australia A one-day squad for the India tour next month and it’s possible that generation, which also includes Mahli Beardman, starts to emerge in time for 2027, although the following cycle is perhaps more realistic.South Africa need to fine-tune their bowling combination•AFP/Getty Images Specialist bowlers or allrounders for South Africa?Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi were not part of the T20I series as South Africa placed a premium on allrounders, but Maharaj is back for the ODIs, alongside Senuran Muthusamy and Prenelan Subrayen, which suggests there is still some experimentation on the go.Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch make up the seam-bowling allrounder contingent and will likely compete for one spot in the absence of Marco Jansen, who is recovering from a thumb surgery and is not part of this squad.Jansen’s return will crowd the field even more, which leaves South Africa with a problem of plenty and a question of how to find the best combination. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka and Nandre Burger are the specialist seamers, so there is a lot to work with and getting it right will be key before the title tilt at home.

Captain’s poor form with bat typified off-colour display and leaves questions to be answered before Lord’s

Matt Roller06-Jul-20251:46

Harmison: England’s top-order returns a worry

Ben Stokes was surrounded. Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal seemed convinced that he had edged Washington Sundar down the leg side in the over before lunch, and Indian fielders converged on England’s captain. Ravindra Jadeja pointed to Stokes’ thigh pad. Shubman Gill decided against using his final review. Stokes chewed his gum, hand on hip, and glared.One ball later, India’s fielders went up in appeal again. Stokes was dumbfounded when umpire Sharfuddoula raised his finger, and held out his left hand in bemusement before reviewing. But the decision was spot on: DRS confirmed that Washington’s in-drifter had hit his pad before his bat. He shook his head as he walked off, past a fan waving an India flag in Edgbaston’s South Stand.Stokes’ innings was a grimly compelling watch, a public disavowal of his previous stance that he was “not interested” in drawing Test matches as captain. With every high-elbow defence and exaggerated leave off the seamers, he made ever more clear the extent to which his team had been backed into a corner by India. After three years, the option of last resort had finally arrived.Related

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The trouble for Stokes was that Gill knew he could attack him with spin. Stokes never settled in England’s run chase in Leeds, compulsively reverse-sweeping – he played the shot 16 times in 51 balls, the last of which brought about his dismissal. He has always been a stronger player against pace but his numbers against spinners have fallen off a cliff.Here, Stokes put his reverse-sweep away against Jadeja, but was never in control. He shifted his guard, batting across his stumps, and was caught between stools when confronted with a rough patch outside off. He lunged forward to sweep, missing as many as he hit, and gloved one ball just short of Gill at leg slip as he looked to defend.Just briefly, Stokes had started to look like his old self when back-cutting, driving and pulling Mohammed Siraj for boundaries, finally exerting his dominance on a bowler. But his dismissal to Washington felt almost inevitable: 16 of his 25 Test dismissals since the start of last year have been to spinners, and he is averaging 18.43 against spin in that time. It has been a barren run, and it was telling that Gill pushed his fielders back at the end of overs, allowing Stokes singles that would keep him on strike.

“The task today was batting out the 80 overs. The result we always try to push towards and look forward [to] was beyond [us]… It just wasn’t meant to be”

Stokes has had a bad week in Birmingham. He took five wickets in the first Test at Headingley but admitted that bowling 35 overs left him as “a shadow of my normal self”, and after 15 more on day one at Edgbaston, managed only 11 overs thereafter. Uncharacteristically, he seemed to run out of ideas in India’s second innings as the game drifted away from him slowly.His decision to bowl first at the toss backfired, with India enjoying the best batting conditions and grinding England into the ground. “As the game got deeper and deeper, it was pretty obvious that [the pitch] was not playing the way that we thought it was going to,” Stokes said. Brendon McCullum was clearer, saying: “We probably got it slightly wrong.”India’s relentlessness with the bat left England facing an unprecedented situation under Stokes’ captaincy, attempting to bat out the final day to secure a draw with a win off the table. “The task today was batting out the 80 overs,” he said. “The result we always try to push towards and look forward [to] was beyond [us]… It just wasn’t meant to be.”4:11

Stokes: We weren’t able to deliver our skills when needed

His team now faces a quick turnaround to Thursday’s third Test at Lord’s. Stokes does not expect the 336-run margin of defeat to affect their performance next week, but he needs to step up with the bat. Gill, his opposite number, does not look a natural leader in the field, but his runs have bought him scope to make mistakes that Stokes is not giving himself.The opening day of this match marked the two-year anniversary of Stokes’ most recent Test hundred, a rage-fuelled 155 in defeat to Australia at Lord’s, and he has not scored a century in any format of the game since the 2023 World Cup. He declined the opportunity to play for Durham or England Lions ahead of this series to manage his body, but his batting has suffered.Since the start of last year, Stokes has faced only 1280 balls in professional cricket, limited heavily by knee and hamstring injuries; the next fewest among England’s top seven is Zak Crawley with 2414, while Joe Root has faced 4523. If batting is a skill that relies on rhythm and tempo, then Stokes has been dancing to a very different tune.Stokes shrugged off a post-match question about his own form with the bat but his five Test scores this year read 9, 20, 33, 0 and 33, and his career batting average has dipped to its lowest mark (35.31) since the 2019 Ashes. He has been an inspirational and tactically astute captain, but Stokes’ leadership alone cannot mask his struggles with the bat.

South Africa’s all-right-hand batting lineup faces a growing test against left-arm spin, a tactic opponents are exploiting early in the tournament

Vishal Dikshit08-Oct-20254:32

Preview: Left-arm spin to the fore in Vizag?

Around the time Pakistan’s Nashra Sandhu was running through the Australia middle order in Colombo with her left-arm spin on Wednesday, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was taking left-arm spin throwdowns in Visakhapatnam to prep for their next clash. That match is against South Africa, who had dramatically crumbled to the left-arm spin of Linsey Smith in their opening game.The theme of left-arm spin kicked off this World Cup especially after South Africa had rolled over for 69 in Guwahati, that too against the new ball, when Smith struck in each of her first three overs with deceptive use of her drift and natural variations. If Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits hardly moved their feet, Marizanne Kapp tried to reach the pitch of the ball and still saw the ball go through the gate, making the top order look clueless against left-arm spin.But do South Africa really have a problem against left-arm spin?Related

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Wolvaardt had been prepping with batting coach Baakier Abrahams on match eve for England’s left-arm spinning duo of Smith and Sophie Ecclestone, and the use of Smith with the new ball turned out to be key for England. It was, however, no surprise that Wolvaardt dismissed any similarities between that and how South Africa lost six wickets to Sandhu – four by the 17th over – in the third ODI against Pakistan just before the World Cup, because in the series before that, South Africa didn’t look troubled while facing left-arm spin against West Indies and in the tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka earlier this year. In fact, since the start of 2024, the South Africa batters average a solid 42.50 against left-arm spin, which ranks third among Full Member teams, after England and Australia.But it’s for a reason that England handed the new ball to Smith as soon as they opted to field. South Africa’s scoring troubles against left-arm spin appear more prominent when the ball is new: since the start of 2024 and until that match against England, South Africa had been scoring at just 4.03 an over in the powerplay against left-arm spin – much slower than England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and India – even if they weren’t losing as many wickets (just three in 192 balls).1:33

De Klerk: ‘We do expect to be spin-heavy for game against India’

England were also not the first ones to use the left-arm spin threat against South Africa, who have faced the most such deliveries since the start of 2024 (192 in 11 innings), while India have had to face just 120 such balls in 10 innings. Even if England employed Smith early on to put the brakes on South Africa, the Guwahati pitch that had turn and grip on offer worked wonders for her, while the South Africa batters played the wrong lines.It obviously doesn’t help South Africa that their entire line-up is stacked with only right-hand batters, which gives the opposition the luxury of attacking or strangling them with left-arm spinners. It’s a tactic New Zealand, South Africa’s next opponents, could not employ as their only left-arm spinner – the uncapped Flora Devonshire – was ruled out of the World Cup just before their clash, and South Africa had no issues in tackling the New Zealand’s offspinner or legspinner on a much flatter track in Indore.But why are left-arm spinners tougher to face for right-hand batters than offspinners or legspinners?”…Especially with the conditions that we’ve got in Guwahati and in Sri Lanka with the ball gripping and turning a bit, it’s always an advantage for a [left-arm] fingerspinner,” India’s Jemimah Rodrigues said on Wednesday. “And if someone has that good quality who can mix it up with bowling in (angling it in) and bowling out (turning it away), I think that’s where the challenge comes. I think it’s always great to have a good left-arm spinner on your team.”Laura Wolvaardt will be key for South Africa against India’s spin threat•ICC/Getty ImagesCome Thursday, South Africa will be up against a team who have two left-arm spinners in the squad, even though only Shree Charani has played the two India games so far while Radha Yadav has sat out. Whatever the conditions in Visakhapatnam, if India pick the more experienced Radha as well, it will surely plant a seed of doubt in South Africa’s mind of how to go about their approach against them.It’s not all doom and gloom for them though. Even if South Africa have the third-worst powerplay scoring rate (2.60) and the most wickets lost (three) against left-arm spinners in the early stages of this World Cup, they can take confidence from the fact that their captain Wolvaardt, who opens the innings, doesn’t fall too often to left-arm spinners and has largely picked up her scoring rate against them since her debut in 2016, averaging 67 and 51 while facing them in 2024 and 2025 respectively. South Africa will hope she leads them from the front on Thursday and then against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well, who can all slot a few left-arm spinners in their XIs.