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“I have played cricket here all my life, I have never seen a wicket like this at SuperSport Park. It’s unheard of that a spinner bowls that amount of overs on the first day. There’s a very subcontinental feel to it,” said South Africa’s fast bowler

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-20182:16

One of the hardest spells I’ve bowled – Morkel

Bowling at SuperSport Park is “100%” similar to bowling in India and “really hard work” for the quicks on a surface that traditionally provides assistance, according to Morne Morkel, whose career began at Centurion. Morkel is the first player to offer something beyond a mere acknowledgment that this surface is not what quite what South Africa wanted and agreed that bowling on it was closer to being in India than at home.”I have played cricket here all my life and I have never seen a wicket like this at SuperSport Park. It was really hard work. With the heat and conditions tough, it was one of the hardest spells I’ve bowled,” Morkel said. “It’s unheard of that a spinner bowls that amount of overs on the first day. We even took the option to open in the over before lunch with a spinner. There’s a very subcontinental feel to it. It’s tough scoring and tough to get people out. Luckily we’ve got some experience of that in the bank. But they are not the conditions that we want here in South Africa.”In temperatures in the mid-30 degrees and high humidity, Morkel delivered 22.1 overs over two days, more than any other quick and reaped the most reward. He shared the new ball with Keshav Maharaj, who was used for one over, and found there was only a short period of time when he could make it move. “You’ve got a small little window with the new ball. I think the first hour in the mornings, the reason might be because it’s under covers overnight, but in the first hour the balls seems a little bit quicker off the deck. But after that, there’s actually been no pace in the wicket,” Morkel said.The lack of significant pace and bounce has meant South Africa have had to come up with more innovative game plans. Faf du Plessis set unusual fields, especially when Maharaj was bowling but the seamers tended to stick to a line outside off stump. Morkel explained that they did not consider bowling straighter because they regard that as playing to India’s strengths.”There’s a very fine line when you bowl to them too straight. They are very good players when you attack the stumps. You can’t really attack middle stump, it’s too straight for them and they can take the game away,” Morkel said. “With the ball keeping low, reverse swing, those are the options we will discuss tomorrow. We’ll work out some different fields. But at first getting the ball outside the eye line with extra bounce and pace is the key for us.”The fifth and sixth-stump line was employed with particular rigour against Virat Kohli, with the intention to trap the Indian captain with the delivery that came into him, as Vernon Philander did at Newlands. This time, it did not work until Kohli had almost single-handedly taken India 28 runs shy of South Africa’s total.”We’ve got a couple of options that we turn to. It’s quite tough when the wicket is so slow. And if you get a batsman of his quality, he’s got time to adjust,” Morkel said. “For us, it’s just to keep him quiet on this sort of surface, and bowl as many dot balls as possible. He came out with a lot of intent yesterday, looking to score and looking to take the game forward. And for us it was just to hit our straps and stop them from scoring too quickly.”Knowing that Kohli will look to take them on again, South Africa will want to make sure they bat themselves into a position of safety before going on the attack, and Morkel thinks they are already almost half way there. “Off the top of my head, I think maybe 250 on Day 5. With the wicket now turning a little bit and keeping a little bit low, I think 250 can be a very good score,” Morkel said.If that proves enough, South Africa won’t care whether they got there in conditions which seemed closer to India or not.

The Chennai police commissioner advised CSK to “reschedule” the matches in the wake of the protests in the city over the Cauvery river water issue

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-20182:45

Dasgupta: Raina is the batting fulcrum of CSK

Chennai Super Kings will lose their home advantage for the rest of the 2018 season.* The IPL has decided to move their six remaining home games out of Chennai in the wake of protests during the first match, and threats to disrupt more fixtures. CSK’s home games will be played in Pune instead.Kasi Viswananthan, the Super Kings CEO, met the Chennai police commissioner on Wednesday and was advised to shift the matches because of the ongoing protests in the city over the Cauvery river water issue, a long-standing dispute between Tamil Nadu and its neighbouring state Karnataka.The Maharashtra Cricket Association president Abhay Apte told ESPNcricinfo he had requested the IPL to consider Pune as CSK’s alternative home venue. Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram were the other cities in consideration by the IPL.The Pune ground is familiar to CSK captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming, who were part of the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise in 2016 and 2017. The Super Kings already have experience playing home games away from home; four of their home matches were moved to Ranchi in 2014 due to the dispute between Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and the local municipal corporation.Chennai had hosted Kolkata Knight Riders on April 10, marking the return of the IPL to the city after the franchise had completed a two-year ban for corruption. However the lead-up to the game was not peaceful, with political parties organising rallies in the vicinity of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, protesting the Cauvery river water issue. Several local political parties and fringe groups wanted a boycott of the IPL matches in Chennai till the dispute was resolved.There was trouble during the match as well. A group of spectators flung shoes in the vicinity of Super Kings players on the boundary, prompting the intervention of police. The incident happened in the eighth over of the game, after which the concerned spectators were evicted from the ground and, as per reports, taken into custody. While there was no confirmation that the shoe-throwing incident was directly related to the Cauvery river water issue, it was the likely cause.*

The Tamil Nadu batsman’s 181-ball knock, featuring 12 fours and two sixes, helped India Red recover from 159 for 7 to finish the first day at 291 for 9

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2017Stumps:
File Photo – B Indrajith waltzed to his fifth first-class hundred, making an unbeaten 120 off 181 balls•PTI

B Indrajith notched up an unbeaten 120 to shepherd India Red to 291 for 9 at stumps on the first day after India Green reduced them to 159 for 7 at Green Park. After captain Dinesh Karthik elected to bat, the India Red openers failed to build on strong starts before fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot broke into the middle order.Indrajith’s 181-ball knock, featuring 12 fours and two sixes, came against the backdrop of India Red capitulating from 70 for no loss to 123 for 5 in under 40 overs, before losing the next four wickets for another 82 runs. Batting at No.4, Indrajith cruised to his fifth first-class hundred, despite finding little support at the other end. Even as his side kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Indrajith added 86 unbroken runs for the last wicket with Vijay Gohil, who struck a 35-ball 22.Opener Priyank Panchal, coming off twin centuries in the previous game, fell for 36 after a 70-run opening stand with Sudip Chatterjee (34). After Rajpoot trapped Panchal in front in the 25th over, Suresh Raina accounted for Chatterjee seven balls later.Of the seven bowlers used by India Blue, Rajpoot was the most effective, picking up three wickets for 44 runs. Barring Pankaj Rao, all of the others picked up at least one wicket, with Jaydev Unadkat bagging 2 for 64.

Will Rohit Sharma be tempted to tinker with his XI?

Sreshth Shah11-Nov-202325:23

Virat Kohli on the MCG Diwali miracle, part 1

Big picture: Will India give the fringe players game time?

They’ve been occasionally tested, but otherwise, India’s World Cup run has been nothing short of magical. Now on the day of the auspicious Indian festival of Diwali, they have a chance to gift their fans another dose of entertainment, and even though we know that anything can happen in sport, a defeat for the hosts is extremely unlikely.That’s because India have been absolutely dominant during their 8-0 run at this World Cup. Coming into their final league game, they face the least-fancied team of the tournament, Netherlands, even if they have performed better than expected. With a semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday their next big game, Sunday also offers India a chance to rest key personnel should there be a need for it.According to India head coach Rahul Dravid’s press conference, India are not looking at “tactical” changes, but they may yet be tempted to give some game time to the likes of Prasidh Krishna, who is playing his first World Cup, or R Ashwin, who hasn’t played since the first game against Australia last month.Someone who is unlikely to be rested, though, is Virat Kohli, who is chasing a century that will put him where no man has ever gone before – 50 ODI tons. Both Kohli, and India, will hope that a hundred on Sunday brings a close to all the chatter about records being broken, and by the time the semi-final comes along, the collective focus of the Indian side is on that elusive knockout win and not on milestones that, on some occasions, have taken importance over the ruthlessness of victory in this tournament.Netherlands will have their own statement to make. They’ve been in India longer than any other visiting side this World Cup, and despite the highs of two terrific wins, they wouldn’t want to finish rock-bottom on the points table. They wanted to desperately play the warm-up game against India that got washed out, but here is another chance to shine in what will most likely be their team’s most-watched game of international cricket. It will be excruciatingly difficult though, as eight other teams have already learnt.Bas de Leede played a brilliant game against Pakistan but has not hit those same high notes since•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

India: WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Netherlands: LLWLL

In the spotlight: Shubman Gill and Bas de Leede

Before the World Cup, Shubman Gill was the unanimous choice among fans and experts as the one player most likely to succeed at the World Cup. But it hasn’t been so. A case of dengue made him lose muscle mass and weight, he wasn’t at full fitness at the start of the tournament, and a run of only two half-centuries in six innings has meant his overall performance has been below the lofty stands he has himself set. With Rohit Sharma and Kohli churning out the runs, Gill’s scores have gone under the radar, but India would want a big score from the opener ahead of the big semi-final in Mumbai.He has the most wickets for Netherlands at this World Cup (14) but he also has the worst economy (7.10) among his team’s quicks. For Bas de Leede, this competition promised a lot of highs but all that followed after his all-round effort against Pakistan has been disappointment. He’s leaked runs, he’s failed to score crucial runs from the lower-middle order, and the bottom line is that he has not lived up to his potential. Here’s one last chance for him to make a mark, and you never know… a strong performance against hosts India could be the perfect finish with an IPL auction also looming next month.

Team news: Bumrah to rest?

Dravid said the team will not “experiment” tactically, but the odd change cannot be ruled out.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav / R Ashwin, 9 Jasprit Bumrah / Prasidh Krishna, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajShubman Gill was in good spirits during India’s training session•ICC via Getty Images

Netherlands should field the same side from the England defeat.Netherlands (probable): 1 Max O’Dowd / Vikramjit Singh, 2 Wesley Barresi, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Scott Edwards (capt), 6 Bas de Leede, 7 Teja Nidamanuru, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren

Pitch and conditions: Big score galore

Runs, runs and more runs shall be the theme at the last World Cup game scheduled for the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Australia scored 367 against Pakistan here while New Zealand thumped 401. If India bat first, their aim will be for a score in that region.

Stats and trivia: India chasing history

• India and Netherlands have played each other twice in World Cups previously (2003 and 2011). In 2003, Bas’ father Tim de Leede was the Player of the Match.
• Roelof van der Merwe is the only Netherlands bowler who has previously bowled to any of the Indian batters (Kohli and Rohit) in ODI cricket.
• India’s 8-0 streak at this World Cup is the third-best streak in this tournament, behind only the 11 consecutive wins achieved by Australia in 2003 and 2007.
• Fifteen years ago, Sybrand Engelbrecht played for South Africa against Kohli and Jadeja in an Under-19 World Cup final in Kuala Lumpur.
• No Dutch batter has reached a century at this World Cup.

Quotes

“We had a balance. We’ve structured the whole thing around certain things. But when that hasn’t happened, we’ve had the ability, the skill, and the mental fortitude to be able to bounce back, and to be able to still compete and do really well. So yeah, I think credit to the guys, credit to, like I said, I think even the NCA for all the work that they do.”

The ACB has given him a 12-month contract extension after a successful 2024 that featured the team’s maiden appearance in a World Cup semi-final

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2024Jonathan Trott will continue as Afghanistan men’s head coach till the end of 2025. His next assignment will be the ODI leg of Afghanistan’s multi-format tour of Zimbabwe, but he will not take charge in the other formats for personal reasons. In his absence, Hamid Hassan will deputise as head coach and Nawroz Mangal as assistant coach.The Afghanistan Cricket Board has extended Trott’s contract by 12 months following a highly successful 2024 for the team. The year featured Afghanistan’s first ever World Cup semi-final appearance following victories over New Zealand and Australia in the Group- and Super-Eights stages of the T20 event in the West Indies and the USA. They have since beaten both South Africa and Bangladesh in ODI series in Sharjah.Related

• Jonathan Trott to step down as Afghanistan head coach after 2026 T20 World Cup

• Mujeeb returns for Zimbabwe tour, Akbari earns maiden T20I call-up

• Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi to retire from ODIs after Champions Trophy 2025

Afghanistan’s next major global tournament is a maiden appearance in the Champions Trophy next year. They qualified for the event after finishing among the top eight teams on the 2023 ODI World Cup points table, after a campaign that featured wins over England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Trott’s tenure began in July 2022 with an 18-month stint that was renewed by a year in January 2024. Afghanistan have won 14 of the 34 ODIs and 20 of the 44 T20Is they have played since his appointment.The ongoing stint with Afghanistan is Trott’s first as head coach. He was a consultant with Scotland during the 2021 T20 World Cup. As a player, he made 3835 runs in 52 Tests at an average of 44.08, and was a key figure in England’s away Ashes victory in 2010-11. In ODI cricket, he made 2819 runs at an average of 51.25 with four hundreds and 22 fifties.

Visitors face stiff final day of batting after being set a target in excess of 400

ECB Reporters Network14-Apr-2024Glamorgan pulled in front on day three of their Vitality County Championship match against Derbyshire after they posted 361 for seven declared to set a target of 401 for the visitors.The mainstay for Glamorgan was Chris Cooke who finished on 126 not out, by far the highest score of this match so far. He was well supported by 61 not out from James Harris and a well made 32 from Dan Douthwaite.In the 12 overs that were bowled before the close Derbyshire reached 40 for one with David Lloyd and Luis Reece undefeated.With Derbyshire still 361 runs away from their victory target a Glamorgan victory is the most likely outcome as the match heads into a final day with a mixed weather forecast.Mason Crane had come into bat as a nightwatchman late on day two and he did a good job of supporting Colin Ingram in a 45-run stand for the fifth wicket. Crane was trapped lbw by Thomson for 19 to bring the experienced pair of Ingram and Cooke together. For the first time in this match, batting started looking straightforward.Ingram was batting with great rhythm as he passed fifty from 76 balls. Shortly after reaching the milestone, he called Cooke through for a single and was sent back too late and was run out by a throw from Sam Conners.In the first two innings of the match, it was at this point that wickets had come in a hurry. Here Cooke and Douthwaite put together a partnership worth 109, the highest of the match up to that point. Cooke missed out on a chance to bat during the record-breaking efforts at Lord’s last week and he made the most of his chance in the middle in this game as he made the 13th hundred of his first-class career.After seeing the ball spin appreciably throughout the first two days, it was a lot easier going on day three, but Thomson continued to be a threat. He bowled the first 33 overs of the Glamorgan innings from the River Taff end and sent down 44 overs in total as he finished with career-best match figures of 12 for 201.Cooke was joined by Harris after Douthwaite was dismissed by Thomson to complete his second five-wicket haul of the match and Glamorgan continued to turn the screw with a second hundred-run stand in succession, eclipsing the stand by Cooke and Douthwaite as they made 116 undefeated for the eighth wicket. When the declaration came it set Derbyshire a target of 401.Harris was the man to make the one breakthrough on the third evening when he had Harry Came trapped lbw for three. As the clouds came over Sophia Gardens in the early evening it became too dark for play to continue and the players left the field with three overs unbowled.With the ball still turning on this pitch much will depend on how well Crane bowls on the final day with Glamorgan still needing nine wickets for victory.

The road to 2027 begins already for two teams in search of better 50-over fortunes

Andrew Miller02-Dec-2023

Big picture – Caribbean reboot

The return to action hasn’t been quite so jarringly immediate as it was for India and Australia in the wake of the World Cup final, or indeed for England’s T20 World Cup winners in Australia last winter. And, let’s face it, a four-island jaunt to the Caribbean in December is a reasonably palatable assignment after the indignities that preceded it.Nevertheless, it’s still only three weeks since Jos Buttler’s browbeaten squad limped back to Blighty with their World Cup dreams in tatters, and less than a fortnight since their four-year reign as 50-over world champions was formally ended in Ahmedabad. Whatever way you look at it, it seems a curious juncture in the global cycle to be undertaking another three-match ODI series.And to judge by the inexperienced squad lining up against them, West Indies might be in broad agreement. Not only did they miss out entirely on the World Cup just gone, having fallen short in the brutal qualifying tournament that took place in Zimbabwe in June and July, it now transpires that that failure has condemned them to onlooker status at the 2025 Champions Trophy as well. The road to 2027 will feel all the more dim and distant without that staging post to aim for.Related

• Switch Hit: Woe-DIs

• Darren Bravo steps away from cricket 'just for a bit' after ODI squad exclusion

• Switch Hit: Dreaming of a white-ball Christmas

• Shane Dowrich announces international retirement

• 'The system failed again' – Dwayne Bravo on brother Darren's exclusion from WI ODI squad

Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder are among the big names who have opted out of ODIs since the qualifiers, seemingly indefinitely, while Shane Dowrich’s retirement only days after his recall – having played his one previous ODI back in 2019 – was further evidence of the format’s lowly standing within the region at present.Rovman Powell, Dominic Drakes, Kyle Mayers and Jayden Seales are among the other familiar names missing for this campaign, and while Shimron Hetmyer is back in favour with the selectors, the decision to move on from the veteran Darren Bravo feels peculiar in light of the reasons given for Hetmyer’s absence in Zimbabwe. Though he is already 34, and therefore unlikely to feature in 2027, Bravo was still the leading run-scorer in this year’s Super50 Cup, as he captained Trinidad and Tobago to victory in the final.In the bigger picture, it feels there’ll be significantly more at stake for these two teams come the T20I leg of the tour later in the month, when the narrative shifts from two World Cup also-rans to a clash of the defending champions versus the impending hosts of the 2024 tournament next June. Nevertheless, all revivals have to have a starting point, and in the 50-over stakes, that begins at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday afternoon.From England’s perspective, it’s a shot to nothing. A chance for a cast of talented fringe players to impress their captain (and indisputable white-ball GOAT, notwithstanding his recent struggles) Buttler, and make the case for a 2015-style cleaning-out of the stables – even if Ben Duckett, one of the players with most to gain in the coming weeks, has played down the likelihood that any long-term places are up for grabs in the coming days.As for West Indies, at least it’s a return to the fray after their telling absence in the months just gone. Financially, if not necessarily competitively, England’s visit – and moreover the hordes of supporters that are sure to accompany them – offer significant compensation for the recent dents in their coffers. And besides, it’s cricket in the Caribbean with Christmas drawing nigh. What’s not to enjoy?

Form guide

West Indies LWLLW
England WWLLL

In the spotlight – Shimron Hetmyer and Will Jacks

There are a fair few players with a point to prove in this series, but Shimron Hetmyer’s back-story takes some beating. He’s been powerless to influence not one, but two recent World Cup campaigns. In 2022, he was axed on the eve of West Indies’ T20 World Cup campaign after missing a connecting flight to New York, then last summer, he was overlooked for the ODI qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe because the selectors decided to stick with the players who had made their mark on the tour of South Africa earlier that year … and we all know how that decision panned out. Never mind that Hetmyer’s absence had been due to his forceful displays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, or that in 2019, on his previous ODI tour of India (the venue for the World Cup that West Indies missed) his fifth and most recent century had helped to secure a startling eight-wicket win in Chennai. He’ll no doubt be eager to make up for that lost time.Of all the England players who might believe their time has come, few have a better case than Will Jacks. As a hard-hitting opener for Surrey and Oval Invincibles, he had been outshining the mighty Jason Roy at a domestic level long before the selectors decided that Roy’s lock on a World Cup place was untenable. Jacks wasn’t awarded a central contract in the recent round of deals, but that fact has the potential to work in his favour at this early juncture – with nothing to lose, he has everything to win next time out if he can set about making a long-term case. And to judge by his forceful 94 from 88 balls against Ireland in September, he offers an unfettered attitude to top-order strokeplay that wasn’t adequately replicated in Roy’s absence last month.

Team news – Rookies to the fore

Bravo may have been a notable omission but his Trinidad and Tobago team-mate Kjorn Ottley – only a year younger at 33 – is back in favour for the first time in three years and looks set to open alongside Brandon King. Shai Hope, the captain and wicketkeeper, is by some distance the most experienced man in their ranks, although Hetmyer, Alzarri Joseph and Oshane Thomas offer a decent spine to a side that could feature two new ODI caps, including the talented allrounder Matthew Forde, 21, who impressed for the Academy side in the Super50 Cup.West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Kjorn Ottley, 3 Alick Athanaze, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 5 Keacy Carty, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Sherfane Rutherford, 8 Yannic Cariah, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Matthew Forde / Gudakesh Motie, 11 Oshane ThomasAll change for England after their World Cup catastrophe, although how much of it will be permanent remains to be seen. For now, only Jos Buttler remains from the class of 2019, but with the ink still drying on a host of multi-year ECB contracts – including for the likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid – you’d suspect one or two of the old guard aren’t quite done yet. That said, there ought to be at least seven names in this opening XI who played no part in the tournament just gone, including the same top three who finished the series against Ireland – Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Zak Crawley – and potentially a spot for the Lancashire left-arm spinner, Tom Hartley.England (probable): 1 Will Jacks, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Ben Duckett, 6 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Tom Hartley, 11 Gus Atkinson.

Pitch and conditions

No major damage has been reported after a 5.2-magnitude earthquake in the early hours of Saturday morning in Antigua, so there’s no suggestion that the match will be affected. The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is not traditionally the most high-scoring of Caribbean venues, with just three scores in excess of 300 in 20 previous matches, and none higher than the 322 for 6 posted by Ricky Ponting’s all-time-great Australia in the venue’s maiden fixture during the 2007 World Cup. It’s been an intermittent host for ODIs in recent years, however, with just three matches since 2017. Local knowledge suggests the pitch will take spin.

Stats and trivia

• England have won 52 of their 102 previous ODIs against West Indies, against 44 losses and six no-results.
• West Indies, however, have the edge on home soil, with 23 wins against 17 defeats since their first ODI meeting in the Caribbean in 1981.
• England have won each of their last four ODIs at the venue, spanning their tours in 2014 and 2017, having lost their first three, including two at the 2007 World Cup.
• England’s last series, in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, ended in a 2-2 draw, including a memorable match in Grenada that featured a world-record 46 sixes.
• Jos Buttler needs 39 runs to reach 5000 in ODIs. However, he has passed that total just once in his last 12 innings.

Quotes

“You see the depth of talent of guys coming through and you want to help shape that period of white-ball cricket. That’s something I feel responsibility and motivation for….to get England white-ball cricket back to where it’s been for a long time.”

Two years on from what should have been his final Test appearance, allrounder returns to Old Trafford for extraordinary encore

Matt Roller17-Jul-2023As Moeen Ali celebrated his second IPL title with Chennai Super Kings after a breathless final in Ahmedabad seven weeks ago, Test cricket could not have been further from his mind. He was in his second year of retirement from the format, balancing his commitments as England’s white-ball vice-captain with lucrative opportunities on the T20 circuit.Now, with an Ashes series on the line in Manchester, he is not only England’s lead spinner, but their No. 3 batter, too. It is a unique all-round role for England in modern Ashes cricket; to find a precedent, you have to go back to the days of ‘Young Jack’ Hearne, Frank Woolley and Wilfred Rhodes.This was not meant to happen. Moeen planned to spend these few weeks enjoying some rare time off in the short gap between the T20 Blast and the Hundred, but events – Jack Leach’s back, Ollie Pope’s shoulder and Moeen’s conversation with Brendon McCullum on the third evening at Headingley – have taken over, as they often do.”Things happen for a reason,” Moeen said on Monday. “I genuinely believe that and I’ve always believed it. That’s why, when the call came, I thought, ‘It’s an opportunity I can’t turn down.’ It’s a great challenge but yeah, things happen for a reason. I’m a big one on faith and destiny and all that.”Emirates Old Trafford was meant to be the scene of Moeen’s final Test two years ago, but India’s withdrawal from the game hours before the first ball was bowled meant that his farewell appearance never happened. Two years later, he should get the chance to bow out at The Oval: “It would be amazing to win an Ashes and finish Test cricket properly.”Moeen’s promotion to No. 3 at Headingley was a move in keeping with the rest of his Test career, engineered for the benefit of others rather than himself. He knew that Harry Brook was more comfortable at No. 5, and thought Jonny Bairstow would have more influence shifting down a spot or two, so approached McCullum and pitched his idea.He explained: “If I can even just play 10 overs and we get through that hardness of the ball, it’s probably easier for the other guys to come in – especially in a chase like that. I just thought it was better, and they obviously all agreed.”Moeen only made 5 off 15 balls before losing his leg stump to Mitchell Starc, yet his promotion was a qualified success: it meant Brook walked out in the 20th over, rather than the 10th, and his 75 was the decisive innings in England’s three-wicket win. “I know you want your best players up the order,” he said, “but with Popey out of the side, it’s obviously short-term.”And it is easily forgotten, amid his self-deprecation, that Moeen is an experienced No. 3. He has batted there 75 times in first-class cricket for Worcestershire, averaging 53.61 with seven hundreds and two doubles, and has long said that the higher up the order he bats, the more he feels like a genuine batter: “You end up preparing differently.”Related

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“[I’ve been] going back to simple things about batting: playing the ball late; playing as straight as I can; and just leaving a few balls,” he explained. “Just trying to get my mindset right for No. 3.” He netted in the indoor school at Edgbaston between Tests, and since arriving in Manchester has been “just hitting balls, training quite a bit, trying to get myself ready for a tough challenge”.Moeen is 23 runs away from reaching 3,000 in Tests, to go with his 200 wickets, and would become only the 16th man to complete that double. “I think it means more to my dad,” he said. “It would mean a lot to me as well but my dad is the one who is buzzing for it so hopefully I can get there. I know it’s only 20-odd runs but it feels like miles off.”He has thrived with the ball at Old Trafford, taking 16 wickets in his three previous Tests here, and proved at Headingley – where he dismissed both Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith – that his spinning finger has healed sufficiently for him to fulfil his role after the seam of the ball ripped his skin at Edgbaston.Moeen was sent an anti-bacterial gel called ‘Medihoney’ by an NHS worker after the first Test, who wrote him a letter explaining that she was a big fan; it helped to heal the wound almost straightaway. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is amazing,'” he told the BBC. “Those little things are what make me content and happy.”Moeen will be part of one of the oldest, most experienced bowling attacks in England’s Test history this week. They have 1,974 Test wickets between them, breaking the record set by the attack that played in the first match of the series. “I was always told that old is gold,” he said with a smile.Everything about Moeen’s comeback has been surreal, yet somehow utterly in keeping with the rest of a mercurial Test career. When he first retired, it seemed Moeen’s legacy would be his selflessness and adaptability. If he can help England square the series this week, it could be even greater.

The wicketkeeper-batter will join forces with Quinton de Kock at the top of the order

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2023Melbourne Renegades have pulled off a significant BBL signing by luring English wicketkeeper-batter Joe Clarke from cross-town rivals Stars.Clarke, who briefly played for Perth Scorchers in the 2020-21 season, has been an integral part of Stars over the last two seasons with 800 runs 30.76 and a strike-rate of 136.98.But he now becomes Renegades’ third overseas signing alongside Quinton de Kock and Mujeeb Ur Rahman having not been taken in the draft last month. A mechanism exists which allows clubs to sign their third name after the draft has taken place.Related

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Clarke is set to open the batting alongside de Kock, but it will be the South African who will initially take the gloves before handing them to Clarke when he returns home for the SA20.However, Renegades will need to secure another wicketkeeping option with Clarke due to leave for ILT20 towards the backend of the BBL. They lost Sam Harper when he was traded to Stars in return for Adam Zampa.”Joe was an active part of our overseas draft strategy this year,” Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said. “While we were limited in how we could use our picks at the overseas player draft, we had a plan to secure Joe as quickly as we could and it came off which is great for our Club.”To have secured three overseas players that were listed in the platinum overseas player group is a super result for the Renegades and our members and fans.”Whilst Quinton will take the gloves as our primary wicketkeeper, Joe is also a strong keeper who will be able to keep when Quinton is unavailable, giving us greater flexibility with our overseas replacement player options.””We really like the way Joe plays the game,” he added. “He’s an attacking player from the top who can set up a game quickly and we think he’ll a perfect fit with our other top order batters.”Renegades will also lose Mujeeb late in the season as he, too, holds an ILT20 deal.Melbourne Renegades squad Nic Maddinson (capt), Joe Clarke, Quinton de Kock, Harry Dixon, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jon Wells, Adam Zampa

Falcons are the first Antigua-based CPL franchise after a ten-year gap

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2024Antigua & Barbuda Falcons, the newly unveiled franchise, will replace Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League. Worldwide Sports Management Group, owners of the franchise, made the announcement on Tuesday, February 20, in an opening ceremony at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, which is set to be their home ground.”The Antigua & Barbuda Falcons will bring a unique energy and vitality to the Republic Bank CPL,” Krishna Persaud, founder and president of Worldwide Sports Management Group, said. “We want to establish a winner’s culture within the team and also a culture of winning and success off the field – among every individual associated with this franchise and the amazing fans we will have at our special home base at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in lovely Antigua.”Antigua previously hosted a franchise named Antigua Hawksbills in the first two CPL seasons, but they won only three matches and were replaced by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2015.Related

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Antigua & Barbados’ entry means Jamaica will not host a game in CPL 2024. A CPL spokesperson had mentioned there will be efforts to create a Jamaica-based franchise but that it will be in 2025 at the earliest. Sabina Park, in Jamaica, last hosted a CPL match in 2019 and league’s chief executive Pete Russell had criticised the island for its reluctance to engage with cricket.Details on the overall structure of the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons and the coaching and management staff for the team will be announced at a later date.The 2024 edition of the CPL will take place from August 28 to October 6 with games taking place in Antigua for the first time in ten years. Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago are the other venues. The National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, will host the final.