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15Dec

Ollie Robinson: 'Getting stuck into the opposition is a role I've taken upon myself'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The England fast bowler doesn’t mind playing the villain occasionally. For him, it’s all for the team’s cause

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jan-2024By Ollie Robinson’s estimation, he is currently in his longest stint without playing cricket since he was eight.His last competitive match was the third Ashes Test against Australia, way back at the start of July. “I reckon it got to November when I thought, ‘Hold on, this is quite bizarre,'” he says. “Then again, we’ve got, what, 17 Tests this year? So I’ll probably look back and be thankful for this time off.”A finger injury on his bowling hand meant he missed the end of Sussex’s County Championship campaign. But the break has been productive. With the help of England men’s strength and conditioning coach Peter Sim and recently appointed physiotherapist Ben Davies, he has knocked around 20 seconds off his 2km time trial.Related

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Robinson was chuffed to see “7 minutes 37” staring back at him after jumping off the treadmill, and a little relieved. “They’ve put in all this time with me the last few months – to not give it back to them I feel would be a waste. I really wanted to get fitter as well. I’ve never been someone who has excelled at distance running, but that was a bit of a milestone to tick off.”That personal best was set in November, on the eve of a training camp in the UAE that reunited him with those England Test team-mates selected for the upcoming tour of India who were not involved in the 50-over World Cup campaign. Even this small gathering, overseen by Brendon McCullum, with training sessions in the morning and – yep, you guessed it – golf in the afternoon, served as a top-up of morale, scope and vibes of the summer just gone. “It was good and relaxed,” says Robinson, “and just nice to be around some of the guys again.”It was while in Abu Dhabi he received a “weird” call. Weird because it was about something that had not been on his mind.”The ECB called, telling me the BCCI had been in contact saying a couple of teams were interested in Ollie Robinson. But I wasn’t registered for the auction. I mean, I’ve not played white-ball cricket in two years now or something.”I went into the auction and put my reserve at Rs 50 lakh. Obviously, I didn’t get picked up, but it would have been cool to experience. I’d love to do it one day.”

****

England had an uncharacteristically quiet 2023 as far as Test fixtures were concerned. But with five of their eight matches housed in a frenetic Ashes series, Ben Stokes’ entertainers remained at the forefront of the year’s sporting narrative.Will Robinson stir the pot again like he did during the Ashes last year? “I just felt like that press conference [where he referred to the sledging of Ricky Ponting and others], it was the right thing to say at the time. That’s all you can do, really, is say what you feel at the time”•Getty ImagesRobinson played the first three Tests against Australia, before missing the final two after a back spasm in the first innings of the third Test, at Headingley. And while England finished with a degree of satisfaction, squaring the series 2-2 having been 2-0 down, even if Australia returned home with the urn, he carries personal regret.”Looking back, I feel like I didn’t leave it all out there,” he reflects six months on. “I feel like I missed opportunities to get things right, which is something I beat myself up about when I think back. And I’m not someone that dwells on things, but when it’s such a big Ashes series and such a big occasion in England, I felt like I didn’t do myself and the team justice.”I wish I could do it again, really. I wish I could start the summer over again. I feel like if we did play the series again, we’d beat them. Unfortunately, the rain in Manchester didn’t help. It’s a bit bittersweet, the Ashes.”Memories of the deep bone bruise in his landing foot (left), sustained in the build-up to the series, temper thoughts about what he could have done differently. “I played at Worcester, on a green seamer, got 14 wickets and felt unbelievable, I had really good rhythm, body felt great. Two weeks later I play at Hove [against Glamorgan] and my foot was sore almost straightaway.” In an ideal world, he would have played the one-off Test at Lord’s against Ireland, but the ECB decided it was not worth the risk.With ten wickets at 28.40, he was not quite the scourge of Australia’s batters. Stuart Broad secured that mantle (again), signing off with 22 dismissals in the series. But Robinson did trump Broad for Ashes villainy.There was the send-off to Usman Khawaja after dismissing him for 141 in the first Test. In his subsequent press conference, he explained it away as passion, adding that the Australians were only aggrieved “because the shoe’s on the other foot”. Comments that Australia’s line-up featured “three No. 11s” followed – riffing on a theme about their lack of lower-order runs – before another back and forth with Khawaja on the field the next time their paths crossed. All this across a few days in Birmingham.One of those “No. 11s”, Nathan Lyon, accompanied captain Pat Cummins to get Australia over the line in that first Test. The ill-feeling toward Robinson simmered throughout the 12-day lead-up to the second Test. The great and good of Australian cricket had their turn. Ricky Ponting – whom Robinson had cited in his press conference – returned serve, while Matthew Hayden labelled Robinson a “forgettable cricketer”, and introduced “nude nuts” into the game’s lexicon. Robinson also stirred the pot with a debut online column for Wisden Cricket Monthly.Robinson took 20 wickets in his three games in the County Championship last year, 14 of them in one game against Worcestershire in May•PA Images via Getty ImagesHe wore it all then and remains phlegmatic now. There is no remorse, not that his comments required any deep introspection.”Looking back, mentioning Ricky Ponting in a press conference wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But I’ve watched so much cricket, I’ve seen so many of them do the same thing to the opposition. I just thought it was so funny that they were then getting stuck into me for the same thing they used to do.”Still – what was it like being in the centre of an Ashes storm?”I remember waking up that week and people were texting me saying, ‘Oh Matt Hayden’s said this, [Adam] Gilchrist said this, Fox Sports have said this.’ Every morning, someone else would come out of the woodwork and have their 20p. But I enjoy that sort of thing, I feel like it really motivates me.”At Headingley, before I got injured, I felt really, really good. I had no inkling I was going to have a back spasm or anything, and I felt those comments really drove me on to finish the series well. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”Even the No. 11s thing: you say something, someone snicks off for none and you look like a genius. Or they hit the winning runs and you look like a fool. But it’s one of those things – you take the risk. If it comes off, it comes off. If it doesn’t, you hold your hands up. I just felt like that press conference, it was the right thing to say at the time. That’s all you can do, really, is say what you feel at the time.”And I’ve seen a few things since, people saying, ‘He should have kept his mouth shut.’ But you can’t see what’s going to happen. I was giving my all for the team and that’s a role I’ve taken upon myself, to get stuck into the opposition and get the lads going.”There are still Australian fans keen to drag Robinson on social media. “They love getting stuck into every post, every video,” he says, like a man who really does seem to find it funny they are still after him now. He “likes” the odd negative comment, which he squares as par for the course in his self-appointed role as antagonist.Robinson got Virat Kohli out three times in the 2021 series and is looking to add to that tally. “You always want to get the best players out. Kohli is one of those”•Gareth Copley/Getty Images”It’s just part of it, isn’t it? If you take it to heart, it makes it harder on yourself. A lot of them have probably watched a lot of cricket and can have their say.”Robinson, though, does have a line – when comments get personal. It is a line that, over the past three months, he feels has been crossed. Not just by private messages from newly created Instagram accounts wishing ill on him and his family, but in the broader media too.On August 11, 2023, the Daily Mail published an article about his break-up with his ex-partner. The piece contained criticism of Robinson from an anonymous source, along with details of his new relationship with Mia Baker, a presenter and golf influencer. Robinson said there were inaccuracies within the article on social media.”What they were writing was not factual,” he says. “I had so many messages saying, ‘You’re this, you’re that’, but people don’t know the whole story. They put out an article filled with assumptions, encouraging readers to create whatever storyline fitted their narrative.”I actually looked a couple of days after at my Instagram requests and the guy that wrote the article in the had messaged me and said, “Do you want to put your say on the story?” I hadn’t seen it until the article had already come out, so I couldn’t really do anything about it. But they sent me that message at 9pm – the article came out at 8am the next morning. So they obviously didn’t want me to have my say on it either. I understand their job is to generate stories that result in clicks but for them to write this without getting my input really impacts myself and others.”That was quite tough to handle, not only for myself but those around me. I’m grateful to have had the support from people close to me who understood the situation and how tough it was.”Robinson has a daughter, who has been front and centre of his thoughts throughout this period. He sees her as often as possible and remains a full part of her life.”Technology these days is so incredible because no matter where you are in the world, a video call really does make a difference. With England, we travel all over the world for long periods of time and everyone knows how difficult missing someone can be.Robinson has had a hard time of it with the tabloid media recently, who have covered the break-up of his relationship with his ex-partner•PA Images via Getty Images”But over the Christmas period, we’ve had the chance to spend lots of time together with family and it really has been amazing, which makes being away in India that bit harder.”The last year hasn’t been easy. Dropping your daughter off, knowing you’re not going to see her for a while, is upsetting. But in myself, I now feel in a much better place both mentally and physically.”

****

This will not be Robinson’s first tour of India. He travelled over in 2021 as a “reserve” in the extended squad that England took with them to mitigate any contingencies arising due to Covid.It was a gruelling experience beyond the result, which saw India win 3-1 after England triumphed in the opening Test, in Chennai. Those on the periphery spent time training, locked down in the hotel, and occasionally carrying drinks. “It’s why I’m really looking forward to this tour,” he says. “Last time we didn’t have full capacity crowds either, so it’s going to be incredible to experience.”Tests in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Rajkot and Dharamshala will offer a variety of surfaces and conditions. As is the way under McCullum, England will arrive with an open mind. Be that as it may, this will be the sternest examination of what they are about. That in itself excites Robinson.”You feel like you don’t know what you’re preparing for, which is a challenge I’ve not really had yet.”On this tour, it’ll be about being adaptable; look at the pitch a day or two before and assess how it’ll play, or try to get clues from the nets on the square. It’ll be a different challenge but one that I’m looking forward to because it’ll engage my cricket-nuffy brain.”Robinson’s nerdy side has already been at work. He has been studying footage of India’s attack in their home conditions, and workshopping those learnings.”I’ve actually been practising Mohammed Shami’s dead-straight seam,” he reveals. “He’s one of the best bowlers for India. I was looking at Ishant [Sharma] as well – he played at Sussex for a bit and he’s done really well in India for quite a while. He’s tall, similar to me.”Support act: Robinson says he’s looking to complement James Anderson, not take over from him as strike bowler•Getty ImagesAs for the batters, he has plans and fond memories of his last engagement with them in 2021. He took 21 wickets at 21.33 in the first four matches in a series that was eventually squared after England won the fifth at Edgbaston a year later. Of those dismissals, 15 were of full-fledged batters.He got Virat Kohli three times, and, unsurprisingly, the two were not short of words to each other. Robinson is relishing more of the same.”I actually saw the video of me walking out to bat at Lord’s a couple of days ago. I think [Mohammed] Siraj bowled the ball that hit length and hit me in the chest. And in the video, all the Indian players surround me and Kohli is saying… well, I can’t remember what he said.”You always want to play against the best players, don’t you? And you always want to get the best players out. Kohli is one of those. He’s got a big ego and I think playing on that, especially in India, where he is going to want to dominate and score runs, playing on the fact we’ve had battles in the past, is exciting.”The other strand to this tour is that it is Robinson’s first in a post-Broad world. There have been times in Robinson’s 19 caps to date when he has played ahead of the latter. But having ended the 2023 English season out of the XI, Robinson sees 2024 as an opportunity to restate his worth as a new-ball lock and a Test bowler outright.”Last time it happened [playing ahead of James Anderson and Broad] was before the Caribbean tour in 2022. Jimmy and Broady didn’t get selected, all the pressure was on me to lead the attack, then I go out there and get a back spasm in a warm-up game.”I prepared like I was going to be the leader of the attack for years, and probably looked too far ahead, if anything. I think now, maturing a little bit and knowing what can happen, I’m preparing like I’m playing another series and just going to do my best for England. Not looking too far ahead, not looking to be the leader of the attack or anything like that. Support Jimmy, support the spinners, and just support the team.”If I can have a big tour in India, then it should set me up for a while. If I do well, I can cement myself back in the team.”

15Dec

Shaharyar Khan: the gentleman strongman that Pakistan cricket needed

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Osman Samiuddin pays tribute to the arch-diplomat who oversaw the best of times at the PCB

Osman Samiuddin24-Mar-2024One way to reflect on Shaharyar Khan’s legacy in his two stints as chairman PCB is to digest the period in between, when he wasn’t chairman. It began with a doping scandal in late 2006; swiftly escalated to the death of their coach, which, for a time, was treated as suspicious with his own side among the suspects; plummeted with a terrorist attack on a touring team in 2009 which took the game away from Pakistan; it ended a few years later with the clownish toing and froing between Zaka Ashraf and Najam Sethi (no, not last year’s japes but those from 2013-14).In other words, the time in between was the worst of times and that was it, there were no other times.Either side, in two three-year phases of Khan, Pakistan cricket was a more serene place, a place that made more sense. And I’ll be damned if his naturally avuncular demeanour didn’t make the place seem safer, more nurturing and wholesome. And let’s not forget, a place of results. Pakistan were arguably the second-best Test side in the world for a brief period in 2005-06; they were officially the number one Test side in the world in 2016.At least that is how it seems right now, in the immediate aftermath of his passing. It’s probably too simplistic a perspective, mired in the impulse to seek out and credit the strongman, that individual authority who runs everything, be it an institution, a political party, a government or, in this case, a cricket board. He benefitted from a team of seasoned officials around him. On-field results were the results of on-field actors. The politics of the game, but also of the country, when he operated were more stable.Plus, he was hardly a strongman by nature. Indeed, one of his strengths was that he was able to work with strong executive personnel, whether it was Ramiz Raja, Saleem Altaf or Sethi. A genuine strongman would never have tolerated power residing anywhere else but within him.Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shaharyar Khan at a press conference•Getty ImagesSo, simplistic yes. But not misplaced because the bottom line is, he did preside over two periods this century which now, over six years after his last tenure ended, live in the mind undeniably like some good ol’ days.He was the kind of man – refined, gentle, erudite, careful with his words – about whom we might sigh that they don’t make them like that anymore. We might, were it not such a truism: it is precisely how time works, that as each day passes the world changes, and as it changes, the men it makes must necessarily be different and not like they used to be.Consequently, they don’t make cricket administrators like that anymore either. His love for the game was that of an older generation’s. Pristine white kits, red ball, high-elbow cover-driving, the spirit of cricket, gentlemen all round, cricket as a thing of manners.But there’s no room for romanticism in diplomacy so, for instance, although he didn’t much care for the shortest format, he knew it was the coming thing and was not one to stand in the way of progress. When the time came for Pakistan to jump in, in 2005, he didn’t hold back, enabling the birth of the suitably razzmatazz ABN-AMRO Twenty20 Cup. Back in the day, pre-IPL, it was one of the great T20 events.That’s what was beneath the cuddly old-man exterior, the hard-nosed pragmatism. He was a democrat but worked as chairman of an ad-hoc board in his first stint under the military dictatorship of the late Pervez Musharraf. He was fully committed to drawing up a long-delayed constitution for the PCB. But despite being unable to do so ultimately, he didn’t let the pursuit paralyse him from actually getting stuff done.When he returned to the PCB in 2014, he did so to a new global order run by the Big Three. He publicly opposed it but accepted that his board had signed up for it (before he took charge) and would be faithful to it. Until Shashank Manohar came along and an opportunity arose to dismantle it.He was in his element in those boardrooms of the ICC, mingling with and mediating between contemporaries from across the world, on matters that mattered. This was, after all, one of the brighter lights of his country’s foreign service, a man who had been a UN representative in Rwanda post-genocide, and written a book about it – one of six he authored. When Shaharyar Khan made a case for international cricket to return to Pakistan, people couldn’t help but listen. Dealing with player tantrums, such as the one Younis Khan once threw on the other hand, could hardly have engaged him the same way. Perhaps this perspective is why he never clung to the board job like so many of his predecessors and successors. Life, he understood, was more.Related

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Still, sometimes you wished he would have been more autocratic. In curbing the power Inzamam ul Haq accrued as captain in his first stint for example. Or being more forceful in the moments that led up to the Oval Test forfeit (It’s remarkable, by the way, to think that the culmination of that forfeit and Younis’s resignation is what compelled him to leave that first stint in late 2006. These days that constitutes a few funny tweets and memes, and that’s it.) Or in asserting greater authority over Sethi in his second stint, when the administration in Pakistan was being pulled in two different directions.But these are minor quibbles really, because ultimately, only a wariness to recency bias prevents him from being remembered as one of Pakistan’s finest cricket heads. Were AH Kardar and Nur Khan (both, incidentally, archetypal strongmen) more transformative? Maybe, though the counter as you pick through Khan’s tenures – the introduction of T20s in Pakistan and central contracts for players (now reaching down to a pool of 70 U19 female cricketers), the return of international cricket, the launch of the PSL – is that we’re not nearly done weighing the effects of the transformations wrought under his leadership.

15Dec

James Anderson in numbers: How England's greatest got even better

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Our data visualisations make clear Anderson’s improvement as his career has worn on

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2024After more than 40,000 balls across 188 Test matches, James Anderson’s international career is over.England’s greatest-ever bowler and the leading wicket-taker in Test history among seamers bowed out with three second-innings wickets in a crushing victory over West Indies at Lord’s on Friday, 21 years after making his debut in the format against Zimbabwe at the same venue.Anderson sits third in the all-time list of leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, behind only Shane Warne and Muthiah Muralidaran. Joshua da Silva became his 704th and final wicket on Friday morning, edging an outswinger through to England’s debutant wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.Throughout his career, Anderson has been among the world’s most prolific bowlers. Since his debut in May 2003, only three other bowlers in the world – Stuart Broad, Nathan Lyon and R Ashwin – have managed to take 500 or more Test wickets, let alone 700.

15Dec

Yash Dayal's year – stung by Rinku to stinging CSK

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Last year, he failed to defend 28 in the last over. This time, he denied Dhoni a fairytale finish

Ashish Pant19-May-20243:23

Moody on Dayal: He’s now remembered for one significant over

Cast your mind to April 9, 2023. Yash Dayal is bowling the final over of Gujarat Titans’ league game against Kolkata Knight Riders. He has 28 runs to defend but is carted for five sixes in a row by Rinku Singh as GT lose the game by three wickets. Dayal is heartbroken. The image of him on his haunches, covering his eyes with a towel is splashed around the internet for the next few days. Dayal does not get a game for more than a month and is then released into the auction pool where he is picked by Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Fast forward to May 18, 2024. Dayal, who has had a good run in IPL 2024, is tasked with perhaps the most important over of his short IPL career. His team’s playoff hopes hinge on these six balls. He has 16 runs to defend for RCB to advance and is bowling to one of the greatest finishers in IPL history in MS Dhoni. The first ball he bowls is a full toss on Dhoni’s pads which he duly clatters out of the stadium for a 110m six.Dayal’s subconscious mind immediately takes him one year back to that difficult evening in Ahmedabad. The nerves start to jangle. Is history repeating itself? With CSK requiring 11 off five to qualify, Dayal takes a moment for himself. This is his shot at redemption, a way to show that he belongs. He runs in and delivers a back-of-the-hand slower ball on a length around off stump. Dhoni swings across the line but is deceived by the lack of pace and the big top edge carries to deep-backward square leg.Related

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Pandemonium sets in the Bengaluru stands. The RCB fans are ecstatic, the CSK fans stunned.But Dayal knows the job isn’t done. Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja are more than capable of getting 11 off four. Dayal, though, remains unflappable. He lands four slower balls on the spot for 0, 1, 0, 0 as RCB complete the most stunning turnarounds to qualify for the playoffs. Virat Kohli is nearly in tears, Faf du Plessis doesn’t know what to do, and the RCB fielders are haring around the Chinnaswamy Stadium. And amid all that, Dayal stands tall with a beaming smile and a final-over redemption story for the ages.”After what happened to me last time [against KKR in 2023], there was nervousness,” Dayal said after the game. “When I got hit off that first ball, I subconsciously went back to that place. But I have done well in the past, I have done well after that, so all that was running through my mind was to deliver a good ball. I didn’t want to look at the scoreboard or the result. I just wanted to bowl well. I was confident with my execution.”But Dayal wasn’t even supposed to bowl the last over. “I was supposed to bowl the second last over,” he said. “Suddenly DK [Dinesh Karthik] and Faf talked to each other, and it was decided that Lockie [Ferguson] bowls the 19th and me the last. I was fine with anything.”Perhaps it was meant to be for Dayal.Yash Dayal bowled a superb final over, conceding only seven•AFP/Getty ImagesIt was a performance worthy of a match that had so much at stake. RCB-CSK clashes, in general, have that extra bit of spice to them and the air of anticipation around this one was palpable hours before the start of the game. The games at the Chinnaswamy generally have a sea of red dominating the stands, with the aar-cee-bee chants taking the decibel level through the roof. But not when CSK are in town. There were as many yellow shirts in the stands as red. At any point that the RCB-RCB chants went up, they were quickly drowned by the CSK-CSK shouts. If Kohli was welcomed with wild frenzy, there was bedlam in Bengaluru when Dhoni walked out.Sent into bat, RCB started like a train, then saw their momentum stymied by rain before a middle-order revival and a strong finish took them to 218. The equation was simple. To qualify for the playoffs, RCB needed to restrict CSK under 201. Glenn Maxwell prised out Ruturaj Gaikwad for a first-ball duck, Daryl Mitchell fell cheaply to Dayal, and when Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube fell in quick succession, it seemed like RCB were destined to make it to the playoffs.Jadeja and Dhoni, though, had other plans.They got together with CSK needing 72 off 30 to qualify. By the end of the 18th over, they needed 35 off 12. Then Ferguson went for 18, and with 17 required in the final over, the game once again was in balance.As Dayal stood at the top of his mark, all he wished for was to “deliver two balls well”. He hadn’t had the best of days up to that point, going for 35 off his first three overs. The execution with the first ball of the 20th went awry too, but he came back splendidly bowling the next five on the spot to take RCB into the playoffs. The redemption arc was complete.But after the game, Dayal had to face the banter for conceding a six off the first ball.”The best thing that happened today was Dhoni hitting a six outside the ground… we got a new ball which was much better to bowl with,” Karthik said in a video tweeted by RCB. “Yash, that was good bowling. If you have a doubt, always bowl a hip-high full toss on leg stump. It is a good mantra to follow when the ball is wet.”For the longest time, Dayal’s name has been associated with the bowler who failed to defend 28 in the final over. From Saturday, perhaps, he might be known as the one who denied Dhoni a fairytale finish.

15Dec

Switch Hit: Can SL poop Pope's party?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

England return to Test action against Sri Lanka, with Ollie Pope captaining in place of the injured Ben Stokes. Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Andrew Fidel Fernando to preview the series

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2024After a three-week interlude, England return to Test duty for the three-match series against Sri Lanka – but they will do so without their captain, Ben Stokes, after he was injured while playing in the Hundred. On this week’s podcast, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Fidel Fernando to discuss Ollie Pope’s captaincy debut, Sri Lankan preparations and what the series might mean for Test cricket as a whole.

15Dec

How often have India been whitewashed in a Test series at home?

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Also, who was the fastest bowler to 300 Test wickets by time?

Steven Lynch29-Oct-2024New Zealand have just won a Test series in India. Have they ever done that before, and how often have India been whitewashed at home? asked Michael O’Sullivan from New Zealand

New Zealand had never previously won any of their 12 Test series in India, and indeed had won only two previous Tests there – in Nagpur in October 1969, and in Mumbai in November 1988. That first win enabled them to draw the series 1-1, and a two-match rubber in 2003-04 was drawn 0-0; India won the other ten. New Zealand have done much better at home, winning six series (and ten Tests overall).India might have lost the series after their defeat in Pune, but there’s still another Test to come so it’s too early to talk about a whitewash. The only time they have ever lost every match of a series (more than one Test) at home was in 1999-2000, when South Africa won both matches. They did lose three-match series 2-0 to England in 1933-34 (the first Tests in India), Australia in 1956-57 and West Indies in 1966-67. As this list shows, India have lost three matches in five longer series at home, which included 3-0 defeats to West Indies in 1958-59 (five Tests) and 1983-84 (six).I saw that Kagiso Rabada was the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets in terms of balls bowled, but who got there fastest by time? asked Andy Johnson from England

You’re right that Kagiso Rabada was the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets by balls bowled – he got there when he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim during South Africa’s recent Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur. That wicket came with Rabada’s 11,817th legal delivery in a Test, 132.3 overs quicker than Waqar Younis (12,602), who himself was three balls quicker than Dale Steyn.The fastest in terms of time was Shane Warne, who got there in six years and three days from his debut against India in Sydney in January 1992. R Ashwin ran Warne close, reaching 300 in November 2017, six years and 21 days after his debut. Rabada played his first Test in November 2015, so is well down this particular list, in 15th place.Was Zimbabwe’s 344 the other day a T20 international record? asked Burton Mugambwa from Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe ran up 344 for 4 in their match against Gambia in Nairobi last week, during the African qualifying tournament for the next T20 World Cup. It was not only the highest in a T20 international, but the biggest in any senior men’s T20 match, beating Nepal’s 314 for 3 against Mongolia in the Asian Games in Hangzhou (China) in September 2023. As mentioned two weeks ago in this column, there have been higher totals in women’s T20 internationals.Zimbabwe won by 290 runs, another record for men’s T20s, beating Nepal’s 273 in the match mentioned above. Argentina’s women won successive games against Chile in October 2023 by 364, 281 and 311 runs.Sikandar Raza reached his century – Zimbabwe’s first in T20s – against Gambia in just 33 balls, putting him joint-second in men’s T20 internationals behind Sahil Chauhan’s 27-ball onslaught for Estonia against Cyprus in Episkopi in June 2024. That’s also the fastest in all men’s T20 matches.Sydney Barnes’ 189 wickets came in just 27 Tests, an average of seven wickets a Test•PA PhotosPrabath Jayasuriya currently has 97 wickets in 16 Tests – that’s more than six a match. Has anyone else had a higher average? asked Nishantha de Silva from Sri Lanka

Slow left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya currently averages 6.06 wickets per Test, a rate he’ll have to sustain for a long time to stay ahead of Muthiah Muralidaran, who took 800 wickets in his 133-Test career, at the rate of 6.01 per match.Leading the way is the great England bowler Sydney Barnes, who took 189 wickets in just 27 Tests, an average of exactly seven per match. Among those who took 50 or more Test wickets, the only others above six are three 19th-century bowlers in Jack Ferris (6.77 wickets per Test), Tom Richardson (6.28) and George Lohmann (6.22). Lohmann is the only man to have more wickets after 16 Tests (101) than Jayasuriya’s 97.The only other current bowler who averages more than five wickets per Test is R Ashwin, who stood at 5.12 per match after the second Test against New Zealand in Pune.Saim Ayub opened the batting and the bowling in Rawalpindi. How often has this happened in a Test? asked Abdul Hameed Majeed from Pakistan

Offspinner Saim Ayub took the new ball for Pakistan in the third Test against England in Rawalpindi – a one-over spell before Noman Ali returned! He’d earlier opened the batting, and became the 70th man to do both in the same Test. There are now 154 instances in all, and two Indian allrounders lead the way: Manoj Prabhakar did it no fewer than 22 times, and ML Jaisimha 13. Next come Pakistan’s Mudassar Nazar (nine times) and Abid Ali of India (six).The most recent instance before Saim Ayub was by Solomon Mire, for Zimbabwe against West Indies in Bulawayo late in 2017; the previous year Dilruwan Perera did it for Sri Lanka against Australia in Colombo. Perhaps the most surprising name on the list is another Indian, Budhi Kunderan, against England at Edgbaston in July 1967 – he was usually a wicketkeeper!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

15Dec

Stats – England's first series win in NZ since 2008, New Zealand's worst home defeat

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

All the stats highlights from the Wellington Test in which Root, Brook and Atkinson broke records

Sampath Bandarupalli08-Dec-20244 – Consecutive Test defeats for New Zealand at home. They lost the two-match series against Australia 2-0 before their back-to-back defeats to England. It had happened only once before, when New Zealand suffered five consecutive Test defeats at home between 1955 and 1956.2008 – England’s previous Test series win in New Zealand when they beat the hosts by a 2-1 margin in the three-match series. England have played four series in New Zealand in these 15 years, losing two and drawing the other two.323 – The margin of New Zealand’s defeat in Wellington is their worst in terms of runs at home. The previous biggest was by 299 runs against Pakistan in Auckland in 2001. The 323-run defeat is also New Zealand’s third-biggest by runs in Tests.3 – The 323-run win is England’s fourth-biggest win, away from home, by runs in Tests. It is also their second-biggest win outside of home since 1934, just behind the 329-run win against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2003.ESPNcricinfo Ltd36 – Hundreds by Joe Root in Tests are the joint-fifth-most by any batter, alongside Rahul Dravid.Root did go past Dravid in the list of the most 50-plus scores in Tests. He is now only one of the four batters with 100 or more 50-plus scores.7 – Hundreds for Harry Brook in 10 Tests away from home. These are the most by any batter in his first 10 Tests on foreign soil. Don Bradman and Ken Barrington stand next with six centuries apiece.10 – Matches Gus Atkinson took to complete the treble of a century, a 10-wicket match haul, and a hat-trick. He is the quickest among the seven men with this treble, with the previous fastest being Johnny Briggs in 18 Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd140 – Runs aggregated by New Zealand’s top five batters across both innings in the Wellington Test. It is the lowest by them in a Test match at home since the 2000 Auckland Test against Australia, where they aggregated only 109 runs.82.3 – Overs batted by England in their second innings without playing out a maiden. It is the second-longest Test innings not to feature a maiden, behind England’s 88.5 eight-ball overs against South Africa in Durban in 1939.

15Dec

Nicholas Pooran on his 100th T20I: 'I feel like I can play a hundred more'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The West Indies batter has had an extraordinary year in the format, and looks set to go further, faster

Philip Spooner14-Nov-2024Nicholas Pooran arrived at Kensington Oval on Sunday afternoon fully prepped for the second T20I against England, his 100th international in the format. He gave thanks for another day to showcase his flamboyant batting, knowing there was a time when it seemed like he might never play again.”It’s what I love to do. I just love playing cricket, it’s what I wanted to do from a child and I get to live my dream,” he said.”Everyone knows my story: when I had the accident [in 2015], when many people felt I would never play cricket again. At the time I felt playing cricket again was impossible. When I recovered in the hospital the first thing I asked was if I would be able to play cricket again.”Now I’m on both feet and I enjoy everything I do for West Indies cricket and for the fans who come to see me play. I play for them. When the fans are around that is when the magic happens. There was a time during the pandemic when we had no fans [in the stands]… that felt strange. I always give thanks for my blessings. Having represented West Indies in my 100th T20I is a special feeling… I feel like I can play a hundred more.”Hearing the West Indies anthem and seeing the fans celebrating West Indies cricket is what makes me happy. As a little boy growing up, I used to love to see Brian Lara and hearing Ian Bishop’s voice on TV, that’s what I enjoyed as a young fan… so that inspired me.”Related

Pooran: 'One bad season is not going to change the player I am' (2022)
Pooran: 'The complete T20 batsman can bat at 135, 140 and 200 SR'
How Nicholas Pooran came back from the brink (2017)

Off the cricket field, Pooran is soft-spoken, mild-mannered and engaging. On it, he is vocal and demonstrative behind the stumps with the gloves on and sensational in front of the stumps with bat in hand.Ahead of the England series, he had scored 2251 T20 runs at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 161 in 67 innings in 2024 – a record for most T20 runs in a calendar year. His 165 sixes is also 65 more than the next highest batter on the 2024 list.”In the last 14 months I have been playing really well and winning games. Everything is happening nicely. I’m still pretty young and I believe I still have a lot of cricket left in me.”There is a still a lot I want to accomplish, there is still a lot to win. I believe this is the start for me… I will remain humble, and I will remain grounded and be the best version of myself. I want to continue to put smiles on the faces of my fans.”Sunday was a bit of a blip on this otherwise stellar year of performances. As far as landmarks go, this one was not marked by anything memorable or marvellous. There was no signature special edition “Pooran” jersey with “100” emblazoned on his back, and he did not send the colourful crowd into a frenzy with his 14 off 23 balls in an seven-wicket defeat to England, which put West Indies on the back foot, trailing 0-2 in the five-match series.Eight years ago in the UAE, Pooran made a slow start to his career and recorded scores of 5, 4 and 16 against a potent Pakistan attack. He was the rookie in the camp, but he was surrounded by a wealth of experience, including Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine — and he learned the ropes quickly.”It was my first match, and I was delighted to get my first cap from the team manager, Joel Garner. Everyone made me feel at home in the West Indies dressing room, and I felt that my journey started.”I wanted to be a household name. I wanted people to want to watch me bat. Whether it’s 7 o’clock in the night or 4 o’clock in the morning. I wanted to put smiles on people’s faces. I want to continue to share the talent I have been blessed with from my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

15Dec

PSL in numbers: Peshawar's unique feat, Shaheen's first-over strikes, and Usman's tons

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A look at the key records from the nine seasons so far, with the tenth edition upon us

Sampath Bandarupalli10-Apr-2025

Transition of dominance from bowlers to batters

The PSL was once known as a bowler-dominant league, with the UAE hosting most of the games. But the batters have taken the lead ever since the tournament moved completely to Pakistan. Across 124 matches held in the UAE, the average batting strike rate was 123.36. That has gone up to 138.79 in the 158 games hosted by Pakistan.The balls per wicket are more or less the same – 18.21 in the UAE, and 18.39 in Pakistan – but the average has gone up by three runs, from 22.25 to 25.52. The boundary frequency has also increased, from 6.40 balls per boundary to 5.35, and the balls-per-six ratio has improved from 20.23 to 17.63.

Rawalpindi’s run feasts

The Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium has the best run rate among all the venues that have hosted PSL games. The run rate here is 9.71 across 25 matches, one run higher than the second-placed National Stadium in Karachi.Across 18 matches in the last two seasons, Rawalpindi saw 16 totals of 200 or more. In seven matches, both teams breached 200. Four of the top five match aggregates in the PSL, including the top three, have come in Rawalpindi.Peshawar Zalmi have made the knockouts, or playoffs, every single season•PSL

Finishing in top four every year

Peshawar Zalmi are the only team in the PSL to have made it to the knockouts, or playoffs, in all nine editions. Although they have won the title only once (in 2017), they have qualified for the final four times and finished as runners-up three times (2018, 2019 and 2021).Multan Sultans have also reached the final in four different seasons – 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Islamabad United, the most successful team in the league with three titles, has failed to make the playoffs only once, in 2020.

Multan Sultans’ fortress

Sultans have an impressive record when playing at their home ground, the Multan Cricket Stadium. They have a win-loss ratio of 5.5 at this venue, the best among all teams at any venue in the PSL. Sultans have won 11 of the 13 matches they played here, losing only two – by margins of one run and five runs.Five of their 11 wins came by a margin of 30-plus runs, including four by 50 or more. Twice, they won chasing with five or more overs to spare. In those 13 matches in Multan, their batters averaged 39.36 and scored at 9.07 runs per over. Their opponents averaged 18.35 at a scoring rate of 7.89.

Ronchi, the boundary hitter

Luke Ronchi, who last played the PSL in 2020, has hit a boundary every 3.7 balls – the best among those with 500-plus runs in the PSL. Among the active players, Mohammad Haris has the best ratio: 3.92 balls per boundary.Tim David is at the top when it comes to six hitting, with a ratio of 7.84 balls per six. He has hit 42 sixes off 337 balls across 22 matches. Asif Ali is the best among those who will be playing this year, with 8.53 balls per six. Only Fakhar Zaman (104) has hit more sixes in the PSL than Asif’s 90.Shaheen Shah Afridi is different gravy in the first over of the innings•AFP/Getty Images

Can Gladiators get their mojo back?

Quetta Gladiators finished in the top four in each of the first four editions, and played the final the first three times – in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Till 2019, when they won their maiden title, Gladiators had the best win-loss ratio among all teams – 1.625; they won 26 matches, and lost 16. But since then, they have won 18 and lost 31, and their win-loss ratio of 0.580 is the worst among six teams.Till 2019, Gladiators’ scoring rate of 7.98 and economy rate of 7.66 was the best in the league. Since then, they are worst on both metrics, with a run rate of 8.31 and an economy rate of 9.23. In the last five seasons, they have made the playoffs only once, in 2024.

Shaheen’s first-over strikes

Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of only three bowlers to take 100-plus wickets in the PSL. But when it comes to striking in the first over, he is a clear leader. He has struck 19 times in the first over of the innings, seven times more than the second-best Hasan Ali.

Three hundreds in seven innings

Sultans’ Usman Khan came under limelight when, in PSL 2023, he smashed a 36-ball century, the fastest in the league’s history. He returned in 2024 with back-to-back unbeaten tons, becoming the first player to score hundreds in successive innings in the PSL. Usman’s three centuries came in a span of seven innings; no one else has even two in seven innings.Usman Khan has three hundreds in just 17 innings•PCB/PSLUsman is currently tied with Kamran Akmal for the most PSL tons. Usman has played only 17 games while Kamran played 74.

An unlikely record-holder

Predominantly a batter, Ravi Bopara has only one five-for in his 21-year T20 career. And only once did he take six wickets in an innings in his 1000-plus match professional career.That came in the PSL when Bopara took 6 for 16 against Lahore Qalandars in the inaugural 2016 season. Three others have taken six-fors in the PSL since then, but none have managed to better Bopara’s figures.

Team hundred in the powerplay on cards?

No team in the PSL has scored 100 runs inside the powerplay. The highest powerplay total is 97 for 0 by Islamabad against Gladiators in 2021. They reached the 100-run mark in 6.2 overs, the fastest team hundred in the PSL. With the increasing scoring rates in the past couple of years, PSL 2025 could see the 100-run barrier breached in the powerplay for the first time.

15Dec

Switch Hit: Buttler bites the bullet

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

England crashed out of the Champions Trophy and Jos Buttler quit the captaincy. Alan Gardner, Matt Roller and Vish Ehantharajah pick through it all

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2025England were dumped out of the Champions Trophy at the group stage, losing three from three to bring an inglorious end to Jos Buttler’s captaincy. On this week’s Switch Hit, Alan Gardner was joined by Matt Roller and Vish Ehantharajah to discuss the fallout. Who should succeed Buttler? Can England find a better balance between formats? And where will the next generation of ODI players come from?