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Hosts have rested Ben Stokes, while visitors will be without injured regular captain Temba Bavuma

Firdose Moonda26-Jul-2022

Big picture

Right, we are on to the stuff that matters. After an ODI series that not even the weather wanted to be completed, we are entering the T20I season with all eyes on the World Cup. England have a whopping 13 fixtures before the tournament; South Africa have only eight matches, the bulk of which are in the next ten days, and without regular captain Temba Bavuma.You may think that puts England in a more stable place to prepare from, but they are at the tail-end of 12 white-ball matches in 24 days and will have to be careful to avoid flagging at the end, especially as they have only just entered a new white-ball era. These T20Is are Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler’s final opportunity to win a white-ball series at home after they lost both rubbers against India, and shared the spoils in the ODIs against South Africa.Even if the results don’t matter “Things do get a little bit crazy and frantic out there, but it’s just about having your clear plans and staying as calm as possible.”

Unbroken 137-stand with Swindells threatens Glamorgan promotion hopes after Hill, Kimber fifties

ECB Reporters Network20-Jul-2022Wiaan Mulder’s second consecutive century helped Leicestershire enjoy the best of the opening day as they seek to dent Glamorgan’s promotion ambitions in Division Two of the LV= Insurance County Championship.The South African allrounder followed his unbeaten 235 in Leicestershire’s club-record 756 for 4 against Sussex at Hove last week with 147 not out as the Foxes – still seeking a first win of the season – closed on 387 for 5.Half-centuries from Louis Kimber, Lewis Hill and Harry Swindells backed up Mulder’s efforts against a Glamorgan attack that were unable to build any sustained pressure and leaked too many easy runs. Crucially, the visitors missed a big chance when Mulder was dropped on 17 by wicketkeeper Chris Cooke, later giving him another life on 128.After Callum Parkinson unsurprisingly chose to bat first on winning the toss, Leicestershire had been 128 for 1 at lunch.There was a enough grass left on the pitch to give it a green tinge but it posed no hazard to the batter and openers Kimber and Rishi Patel were able to progress comfortably at four runs an over from the outset before new-ball bowlers Michael Neser and Michael Hogan took their first breathers of the day.David Lloyd made an almost immediate breakthrough when he replaced Neser at the Bennett End, inducing an edge to second slip by Patel that suggested there was some swing to be exploited in humid conditions, although it was the only time in the morning it would prove an effective weapon.Kimber had been promoted to opener in place of Hassan Azad, who has four fifties and a hundred to his name this season but was left out after a first-ball duck at Hove, where Kimber posted his maiden first-class century.Kimber completed his half-century with six over midwicket off Andrew Salter’s off spin before swing came into play again after lunch as Hogan, also from the Bennett End, employed consecutive balls to remove Kimber and Colin Ackermann, the latter following his career-best 277 not out at Hove with a first-baller. The deliveries that did the damage were almost identical, moving late to find a thin edge, Cooke taking two regulation catches.Mulder survived the hat-trick ball but should have fallen to the Australian on 17 a couple of overs later, Cooke blotting his copybook by putting one down as he threw himself in front of first slip.Hill helped Mulder maintain the momentum, passing fifty from 63 balls, but after the fourth-wicket pair had added 77, Hall was deceived by some extra bounce as he stepped back to cut Salter, caught behind off a thin top edge.A bonus wicket in the last over before tea, when Joey Evison, the on-loan Nottinghamshire player, obligingly hit a first-ball full toss from leg spinner Colin Ingram straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket, encouraged Glamorgan but again they failed to swing the momentum back their way.Mulder, who had been strong on both sides of the wicket as he mixed skill with power, completed his century from 117 balls when he hit Salter over the fielder at mid-on for his 16th boundary.Hogan, not for the first time the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers in his final season, was unlucky again when Kiran Carlson failed to hold on to a low chance at cover when Mulder was on 128 soon after the second new ball was taken. As it was, Swindells became the fourth Leicestershire batter to pass fifty and his sixth-wicket partnership with Mulder will resume at 137 on day 2.

Lord’s match-winner reflects on how Test captaincy had started to have “unhealthy effect on the rest of my life”

Matt Roller05-Jun-2022Joe Root said he had been spurred on by the opportunity to “pay a bit back” to Ben Stokes after his innings of 115 not out guided England to a five-wicket win against New Zealand at Lord’s in their first Test match since his resignation as captain.Stokes described Root as “Mr Dependent” in the post-match presentation after his first fourth-innings hundred made him the second Englishman to pass 10,000 Test runs and Root said that after Stokes had single-handedly dragged England to several wins during his own tenure as captain, he had been determined to repay the favour.”For us to start like this under Ben’s leadership, with Brendon [McCullum] in charge as well, it’s a really exciting time,” Root told Sky Sports. “The amount of times that he won Test matches for me when I was in charge, it’s a great opportunity for me to pay a bit back to him. I’ll never be Ben Stokes and I’ll never be able to do the things that he’s done, but hopefully I can do it my own way.Related

• Joe Root ascends snow-capped peaks of greatness, carrying his team on his shoulders

• Ben Stokes: 'This is what me and Brendon are trying to work towards'

• Joe Root: I had an 'unhealthy relationship' with England captaincy

• Character becomes destiny as Stokes fires up England's new era

• Joe Root's 115* seals England march to victory

“It was nice to do it for him today and for the rest of the group. It’s a great motivator. I love batting. I want to just keep trying to bat for as long as I can and score as many runs as I can and help us win as many Test matches as I can. It was a great feeling today.”Root has kept a low profile since stepping down from the captaincy in mid-April and was visibly emotional on Sunday, both upon reaching three figures and when walking off to a standing ovation after sealing a five-wicket win with a pull through midwicket. He said that he had struggled to separate the role from his personal life and that while the decision to resign had been difficult, he had “thrown everything at it”.”I’d thrown every bit of myself into it and it was starting to take an unhealthy effect on the rest of my life as well,” he said. “I couldn’t leave it in the car or at the cricket ground; it was coming home. It’s not fair on myself and it wasn’t fair on my family.”It’s obviously been really tough. A lot of people will talk about my personal performances over the last year or so, runs-wise, but it’s never enjoyable when you’re losing Test matches and you’d give all those runs up to win.”I want to enjoy my cricket and I want to enjoy playing. It’s a role that needs someone who is going to give it so much energy and you can see that with Ben. I’m really excited for this team and for him that he’s in that position.”Root’s own innings started slowly as he looked to lead a recovery from 69 for 4 in pursuit of 277 and when Stokes was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson on the third evening, gloving a bouncer behind while attempting an uppercut, Root had made 34 off 89 balls; from that point on, he made 81 off 81 balls.He highlighted the ball change at the start of the 56th over – five overs after Stokes had been dismissed – as a turning point in the game, with the replacement ball hardly deviating off the straight. Ajaz Patel had been hit out of the attack by Stokes, who slog-swept him for three sixes over midwicket, while Colin de Grandhomme’s injury meant that Williamson had no choice but to give his main three seamers a heavy workload.”There was a specific moment in the game when it really turned for us,” Root said. “They obviously changed the ball twice and the second time they changed that ball, it became a little bit harder and it didn’t swing as much as the one they had previously, and that made it so much easier.”It was quite a slow wicket, quite hard to time the ball on. That made life a lot easier for someone like myself who can’t bully the ball like someone like Ben might be able to. They ended up putting a few sweepers out for me which I always quite enjoy, because you can get so many twos and you can rotate the strike and feel like the board is always moving and never feel stuck at one end.”It made a real difference. It got me going and meant that we could be really smart with our running between the wickets and really put pressure on that way and slowly creep up. I thought Ben was very smart in the way that he played it as well: he saw that match-up with the left-arm spinner and you talk about how T20 cricket can come into this [format] – it was a really important over.”With Colin going off injured it meant that they were going to have to keep bringing their seamers back, keep them tired, and it was almost like once I was in and I felt quite comfortable, trying to get ahead of it last night while there were overs in their legs was the smart play. To try and get the score as far down as possible last night was a really important factor in what we were trying to do.”

Ravi Rampaul, the former West Indies quick, has signed for Derbyshire on a three-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2017Ravi Rampaul, the former West Indies quick, has signed for Derbyshire on a three-year contract. Rampaul has been playing in county cricket with Surrey for the past two years and does not count as an overseas player due to his Kolpak status.Rampaul will be available in all three formats, as Derbyshire look to continue their rebuilding under Kim Barnett, who came in as Director of Cricket last year before taking on an advisory role at the end of the season.”We identified new-ball bowling as an area we wanted to strengthen for 2018, and we’re delighted to secure someone of the calibre of Ravi,” Barnett said. “He is highly skilled and vastly experienced, with over 100 internationals under his belt, and he will give us the additional firepower we needed alongside the likes of Hardus Viljoen and Will Davis.”Ravi will be available for all forms and has committed to Derbyshire full time, ruling out any clashes with the CPL during the English domestic season. It’s a massive coup for the club and shows our intent that we want to build on the progress we made in 2017 and kick on in 2018 and beyond.”Although Derbyshire finished eighth in Division Two of the Championship, they did enjoy a successful NatWest Blast – under specialist T20 coach John Wright – reaching their first quarter-final in 12 years. Rampaul, a World T20 winner in 2012 who also has experience of the IPL, can be expected to bolster their white-ball attack.Despite not being a regular during his time at The Oval, he claimed 59 wickets overall, including 18 in this year’s Royal London Cup as Surrey reached the final. Rampaul last played for West Indies in 2015, having been capped in 18 Tests, 92 ODIs and 23 T20Is.”I’m grateful to Derbyshire for giving me this opportunity to extend my career in England and play across all forms,” Rampaul said. “The club has ambitious plans for the years ahead and I’m excited by what we can achieve. Hopefully I can play my part, not only on the field helping to win games of cricket, but also help the younger guys in the dressing room.”

New Zealand coach pleased with Kyle Jamieson prioritising Tests by not putting his name in IPL auction this year

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2022New Zealand coach Gary Stead is confident that Kane Williamson will be able to withstand the rigours of Test cricket when he returns from a long-standing elbow problem against England next month.”Absolutely, yep,” Stead said when asked if Williamson would be ready for the start of the series. “He’s going really well. Been talking to him regularly the last week or so and he has no issues at all, training almost completely unrestricted now.”Still just being careful around the overloading side of it so if that means he has a really big day batting just making sure he’s not doing too much the next day. It will be an ongoing thing probably for the rest of his career that we will need to keep managing.”Related

• Jamieson on sitting out IPL auction: 'About time to work on my game'

• Bracewell earns NZ Test call-up for Eng tour; Williamson nears return

• New England captain Stokes calls for team to revive Test fortunes

Williamson has missed New Zealand’s last five Tests, and sat out the entire home season due to the tendon injury in his left arm. His recovery was very carefully managed by the NZC medical team, which included being limited to 20-minute batting sessions. He has now returned to the action in the IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad – where he is averaging just 24.37 at a strike-rate of 99.48 – and as soon as his participation there is finished, will be heading to England for the three-match series.One remaining unknown for Williamson – and the other New Zealand Test players at the IPL – is how long they will have to prepare for the first Test once they reach England. They will certainly miss the two warm-up matches In late May, and if any are involved in the final on May 29, they would likely arrive just three days before the Lord’s Test on June 2, although it is a balancing act New Zealand have been through before.”That may cause us some discussions if we have a number of players who are in [the final] but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Stead said.One key player who will benefit from the full warm-up period in England is fast bowlerKyle Jamieson as he opted not to put his name forward for this year’s IPL auction after bagging a US$ 2 million deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021.”Think it’s a very brave move for someone of Kyle’s age to make,” Stead said. “He’s had some experiences there and worked out what he needs as a cricketer. He wants to play all forms for New Zealand if he can, but Test cricket being the pinnacle for him is really important to him.”He identified that, we had some conversations, and I think to not put his name in the hat was something not many cricketers would do. But I congratulate him on looking after what he thinks he needs to play Test cricket.”New Zealand, who beat England 1-0 last year ahead of the winning the World Test Championship final, will be facing a side going through upheaval in the format, and now under new captain Ben Stokes.Stead, who was Canterbury coach when Stokes made a brief appearance for them in 2017 during his ban from international cricket, is hopeful his team can make life tough as soon as the series gets underway.”I imagine there will be an immediate steel to their group,” Stead said. “Think the abrasive way he plays will probably have a rub-off to the group as well. Part of what we will be trying to do is making things very, very hard for Ben Stokes as immediately as we can. And if we can do that then hopefully that might nullify the strength of the English.”But they are still a quality team. You look through the list, there’s world-class players throughout the team so it’s certainly not that we are going over there expecting just to roll them over.”

Second straight loss for defending champions CSK as Super Giants steal it at the close

Hemant Brar31-Mar-20221:57

Jaffer: Super Giants can’t drop Lewis for Stoinis now

KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock set the platform with a 99-run opening stand, Evin Lewis smashed an unbeaten 55 off 23 balls and Ayush Badoni played a cameo towards the end as Lucknow Super Kings chased down 211 with six wickets and three balls to spare. It was the sixth instance in seven games this IPL that the chasing side won the match.Earlier, Super Kings never took their foot off the pedal after being put in. Robin Uthappa struck a 27-ball 50, which included eight fours and a six, and Shivam Dube smashed 49 off 30 to help the side to a formidable 210 for 7.Super Kings, though, were aware it wasn’t necessarily a winning total. The conditions were dewy – the umpires changed the ball in both innings – and Super Kings were without Adam Milne, who missed out because of a side strain.It came down to Super Giants needing 34 from the last two overs. Ravindra Jadeja then handed the ball to Dube, who hadn’t bowled until then. And it showed. Badoni started the over by moving across and sweeping him over square leg for six. The next two deliveries were wides, and the last three were right in the slot for Lewis, who smashed them for 4, 4, 6.With nine needed from the final over, Mukesh Choudhary also bowled two wides before Badoni pulled him over backward square leg to level the scores. Two balls later, he hit the winning run to give Super Giants their first win.Uthappa, Moeen give Super Kings blazing start
Rahul had a big smile on his face after winning the toss but it didn’t last long as Uthappa hit Avesh Khan for two fours on the first two balls of the innings. That set the tone of the innings.Two balls later, Avesh pinged Uthappa on the helmet but when he tried another bouncer, to end the over with, it sailed over for four byes. In the second over, Uthappa flicked Dushmantha Chameera, first for a six and then for a four, and by the end of two overs, Super Kings had 26 on the board.Ravi Bishnoi’s brilliance in the field – a direct hit from backward point to run out Ruturaj Gaikwad – did give Super Giants the breakthrough but not the respite. Uthappa continued in the same vein, striking four fours in Andrew Tye’s one over, and Moeen Ali, who had opened his account with a hooked six off Avesh, smashed 4, 6, 4 off Krunal Pandya’s successive balls. At the end of the powerplay, Super Kings were 73 for 1.Dube keeps the fireworks going
Bishnoi once again provided the breakthrough, this time by trapping Uthappa lbw with the one that skidded off the surface and beat the batter with the pace. But Dube, promoted to No. 4, kept the scoreboard racing. He hit Chameera for three fours in four balls, and Super Kings crossed 100 in just 9.1 overs.Moeen fell to Avesh for 35 but with the dew set in by now, it didn’t get any easier for Super Giants. Dube’s hitting, coupled with some sloppy fielding, meant runs kept flowing.Rahul introduced Deepak Hooda into the attack but Dube didn’t hold back even against the offspinner, hitting him for a four and a six. His innings came to an end when he holed out to long-on off Avesh while attempting another big hit.Dhoni applies the finishing touch
MS Dhoni came to the crease with Super Kings 189 for 4 in 18.2 overs and straightway forehanded Avesh over extra cover for a six. It was the first time in the IPL that he hit a six off the first ball he faced. The next ball he carved over backward point for one-bounce four. Tye dismissed Jadeja and Dwaine Pretorius off successive balls in the final over but Dhoni wrapped up the innings with yet another four, which also brought him 7000 runs in T20 cricket.MS Dhoni scored a six-ball 16•BCCI

Rahul, de Kock start in style
Super Giants needed a quick start, and Rahul and de Kock gave them exactly that. Against the inexperienced new-ball pair of Choudhary and Tushar Deshpande, they hit eight fours and two sixes in the first five overs.Jadeja turned to Bravo for the sixth over and he almost removed de Kock but Moeen dropped a straightforward catch at mid-off. The next three overs featured two sixes, three fours, and Deshpande shelling a tough chance off Moeen to reprieve Rahul. At the halfway stage, de Kock was on 51 off 35 balls, Rahul on 40 off 35 and Super Giants on 98.Lewis steers Super Giants home
Pretorius ended the opening stand by dismissing Rahul, with Ambati Rayudu running sideway from backward square leg and taking the catch over his shoulder. Manish Pandey fell soon after, which left Super Giants needing 97 from the last eight overs.Lewis hit Deshpande for a four and six to keep the asking rate under control, but Pretorius struck again – de Kock top-edged a pull and Dhoni settled under the swirler.Lewis and Hooda kept the chase alive, both muscled a boundary each off Dwayne Bravo in the 16th over. Pretorius gave away only nine in the 17th and Bravo, after getting hit for a six, sent back Hooda in the 18th. Super Kings might have fancied their chances at that stage but a 25-run penultimate over by Dube dashed their hopes.

The availability of Gayle, Russell, Bravo and Pollard makes the hosts a terrifying proposition on paper

Danyal Rasool27-Jul-2021

Big Picture

West Indies’ extended warm-up for the T20 World Cup continues apace, with Pakistan the latest side the defending champions will host ahead of the global event later this year. While there might be legitimate concern around how relevant T20 cricket in the Caribbean is to a T20 World Cup on the other side of the planet in the UAE, you can’t really argue West Indies will go into it undercooked.A slightly below-par series in Grenada saw South Africa give the home side a bloody nose and walk away with the trophy, but Nicholas Pooran’s men bounced back strongly in St Lucia to hammer Australia 4-1 and get themselves back on track. Part of the excitement around West Indies stems from the return of most of their key players that have, for one reason or another, been unavailable to them for the large parts of the previous decade. With Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard all back in the maroon, West Indies are perhaps the most intimidating side on paper, and will be the most closely watched.Certainly more so than Pakistan, who fly to Barbados off the back of a 2-1 series reverse in England. It’s a measure of how much expectations have been managed in Pakistan that that result was viewed as something of an over-performance, so heavily unfancied was Babar Azam’s side against England. Things don’t get much easier, though, even if Pakistan have a perfect series record against West Indies, because the side they face bears little resemblance, both in personnel and intensity, to the one they beat on these shores in 2017.Still, that positive head-to-head means Pakistan are unlikely to fear the hosts going into this Covid-shortened series. Three T20Is in England ensure they don’t come in rusty against a well-oiled West Indian machine, and with the CPL among the more popular overseas T20I competitions for Pakistan players, this land carries little of the unfamiliarity it might have done in previous years. These two sides are very different from each other, both in style and T20 philosophy, and that contrast should make for an absorbing four games over the next week.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLWWW
Pakistan LWLWWHasan Ali is shaping up to be one of Pakistan’s most crucial players•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Is the greatest batsman in T20I history now a liability for West Indies? Chris Gayle is difficult to omit whenever he makes himself available, the 41-year old now appears to be a pale shadow of the man who carried his side’s T20I hopes for a decade and a half. No longer a basher of the ball from the outset, Gayle likes to take his time settling in before unleashing, except more often than not, the opposition get rid of him before that actually happens.In 12 T20Is this year he averages under 18 with a strike rate of 120.88, down from a career figure of 140.16. If he’s looking to play himself in, he doesn’t do much of that either; just two of these 12 innings have seen him cross 21. The PSL is the league he’s struggled in more than any other, so it isn’t like Pakistan’s bowlers don’t know how to keep Gayle quiet either. Expect an engaging battle.If there’s one Pakistani player who might feel at home in the West Indies side, it’s Hasan Ali. Not that there aren’t other members of the visiting squad good enough to get into a West Indies team, but there’s something delightfully Caribbean about Hasan’s charismatic personality and outgoing disposition. There’s a swagger about him that should endear him to any crowds allowed to attend.It isn’t just style, though; there’s substance to go with it. He missed the first two T20Is against England, but played crucial parts with both bat and ball in the thriller at Old Trafford. His nascent rise as perhaps Pakistan’s most valuable power hitter down the order is perfectly timed, coming as it does ahead of a series in the nation that has revolutionised the power game in the shortest format.

Team news

Kieron Pollard is slated to captain West Indies, but did not play the T20Is against Australia, with Pooran standing in.West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Kieron Pollard (capt)/Fabian Allen, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Hayden Walsh, 10 Obed McCoy, 11 Fidel Edwards.Misbah-ul-Haq admitted after the England series Pakistan weren’t making much headway in working out how to resolve their middle-order issues. That, arguably, is what series like these are for, so expect some tinkering over the next few games.Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Sohaib Maqsood, 5 Mohammad Hafeez/Sharjeel Khan, 6 Azam Khan, 7 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Showers are expected for the late morning in Barbados, around the time the game starts. A shortened contest likely benefits the big-hitting West Indies, but there are enough dry spells tomorrow to perhaps get a full contest in.The Kensington Oval isn’t the highest-scoring T20I ground, but with no T20I played here for four years, predicting how the pitch might turn out is something of a fool’s errand.

Stats and trivia

• This will be just the fourth four-match T20I series between two Full Member nations. One of the others also involved these two sides, when Pakistan beat West Indies 3-1 in 2017. The most recent such series took place in April, when Pakistan triumphed 3-1 in South Africa.
• The last T20I in Barbados took place in 2017. It was also a West Indies-Pakistan game, a low-scoring contest with Pakistan chasing 113 and winning by six wickets.

Quotes

“All those bad mistakes we committed in England, we don’t want to repeat them. We discussed them and we are taking forward all the learning curves. Batting and bowling is one thing but we are putting extra, a lot of time into fielding in practice. This is an important series in a way that we will check out different combinations and check our bench strength.”

Australia skipper won’t play in Tasmania’s Shield clash against WA; will instead play club cricket and in Tasmania’s Second XI against South Australia

Alex Malcolm17-Nov-2021Australia captain Tim Paine is set to go into the Ashes series without a first-class fixture under his belt but he is set to play club cricket and second XI cricket for Tasmania over the next week before Australia’s intra-squad clash in Brisbane ahead of the Gabba Test.Paine is recovering from neck surgery he had in September and has not played at all yet this summer. His last competitive game was in April.Related

• Khawaja and Head set to compete for Aus's final batting spot

• Tim Paine details invasive neck surgery, confident for Ashes return

He was hopeful of playing up to four full matches, including a Shield game, before the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in December.Rain last week washed out any hopes of playing for his club side University of Tasmania. He is now set to play on the first day of their clash with South Hobart Sandy Bay on Saturday, but he won’t take part in Tasmania’s Shield clash against Western Australia, starting on Sunday.He will instead play in Tasmania’s Second XI team in a four-day game against South Australia which is scheduled to begin on Monday. Paine will also have the chance to play in the intra-squad clash in Brisbane starting on December 1.Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey was not concerned about Paine’s preparation.”Just get some cricket under his belt, which we’re really confident he’s going to get back this weekend,” Bailey said on Wednesday. “And I think from all reports, surgery has gone really well. He’s feeling really, really confident. I think they’ve actually had to hold him back a little bit in the last couple of weeks to make sure the actual healing process has gone well and now it’s just a matter of actually getting some game time under his belt, so he’s really confident and really excited to be leading the team come the first day at the Gabba.”Paine will turn 37 on the opening day of the Ashes series and told last week that he has not given any consideration to his future beyond this summer.Alex Carey and Josh Inglis have both been named in the Australia A squad on Wednesday but Alex Carey is expected to be the second wicketkeeper in the intra-squad match and the Australia A wicketkeeper, and possibly captain, for the England Lions game starting in December. Inglis is set to play as a batter given he was part of the group that was required to do 14-day quarantine on the way back from the T20 World Cup in the UAE and is likely to head back to Perth Scorchers for the start of the BBL.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between England and South Africa at the Ageas Bowl

The Preview by Andrew Miller26-May-2017

Match facts

May 27, 2017
Start time 11am local (1000 GMT)2:32

Morgan’s innings was the game-changer – Amla

Big picture

With due respect to their recent triumphs over West Indies and Ireland, Wednesday’s emphatic win over South Africa, the No.1-ranked team in ODI cricket, was the result that Eoin Morgan’s men needed to rubber-stamp their credentials as favourites for next week’s Champions Trophy.For months on end, almost since the moment of England’s white-ball awakening after the 2015 World Cup, this is a team that has scotched all pre-conceptions – so much so that even the captain of one of the few teams to have got the better of them in recent times, India’s Virat Kohli, was yesterday forced to concede that England have “no weaknesses” going into a tournament that surely counts as their most outstanding opportunity to lift that elusive 50-over global trophy.Well, they have perhaps one weakness. Despite being passed fit to play at the Ageas Bowl following a scan on his knee, the sight of Ben Stokes, the team’s talismanic allrounder, limping from the pitch during the Headingley contest was enough to make both the management’s and marketing men’s blood run cold.Stokes, the newly-crowned MVP in his maiden IPL season, is utterly fundamental to the balance of England’s first-choice XI. With his tub-thumping presence in England’s top six, England have the luxury of including two spinners and four genuine quicks in what is surely the most versatile (if not necessarily the most incisive) attack in the competition. Without him, the choices become more stark – sacrifice a spinner to shore up the batting firepower (and Jonny Bairstow, to be fair, is just gagging to get involved), or trust the occasionally mercurial Moeen Ali to front up with bat as well as ball, as he did to fine effect with a match-turning 77 from 51 balls in the opening ODI.Mind you, these are not the sorts of worries that England are used to addressing on the eve of a global tournament. To cast one’s mind back to the horrors of the 2015 World Cup, for instance, is to be reminded of an era when Stokes’ temperament wasn’t trusted, when Gary Ballance’s ballast at No.3 was preferred to the long-levered walloping of Alex Hales, and when Jos Buttler was treated as an orthodox wicketkeeping No.7, rather than a order-roving deliverer of batting hellfire.None of this is to say that England are either shoo-ins for the Champions Trophy, or even out of sight in this still-to-be-settled three-match series against South Africa. But the underlying truth of their 72-run win in Wednesday’s opening match is that England didn’t actually play to their absolute potential, but still rolled out handsome winners – thanks as much to South Africa’s exhaustion in the closing overs of the run-chase, as much as anything else. As Kohli succinctly put it, “for them it’s all about attack, throughout the 50 overs, which is exciting for the fans and challenging for the opposition.”As for South Africa, there were plenty of reasons for optimism in the midst of their opening defeat. Hashim Amla showed enduring form at the top of the order, Faf du Plessis played a strong hand as well, while AB de Villiers showed glimpses of his true self before his 45 from 38 balls was undermined by wickets tumbling at the other end.But they’ll need their bowlers to regroup quickly if they are to restore their challenge in this series – not least the legspinner Imran Tahir, whose nine wicketless overs were milked for 68 runs at Headingley, a rare toothless day for one of his side’s most enduring one-day weapons.Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada are two other players to factor into South Africa’s challenge. Both are too good to fail for long, as de Kock in particular showed during England’s last ODI campaign against South Africa in February 2016, when his twin centuries helped turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.It’s all food for thought as two of the best ODI teams in the world fine-tune their preparations. But, both sides know, there’s a far bigger prize than the Royal London trophy up for grabs in the coming weeks.Ben Stokes had to leave the field at Headingley after feeling pain in his knee•Getty Images

Form guide

England WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWLWL

In the spotlight

There’s surely no pressure being exerted from the England management, who know full well what Jason Roy is capable of, but there’s little doubt either that he is stuck in a bit of a fallow patch of form at present. His maiden IPL stint with Gujarat Lions was a disappointment – just three appearances and a top score of 31 – and following scores of 0 and 20 against Ireland, he chose to return to Royal London Cup duty with Surrey, rather than head back out to the nets in India. His game remains in good working order – one scorching straight drive off Tim Murtagh at Lord’s was a reminder of how effortlessly powerful his game can be. But he could do with a score going into the Champions Trophy.Roy, however, wasn’t the only stroke-playing international batsman to suffer a rough time at this year’s IPL. AB de Villiers fell a long way short of the standards that he expects of himself, and that his adoring fans at Bangalore Royal Challengers expect of him too. He produced flashes of his most brilliant self – not least in making 89 not out from 46 balls against Kings’ XI Punjab – but more often than not he appeared weighed down by the collective malfunction of RCB’s storied batting line-up. He looked a touch jaded in the Headingley ODI, if truth be told. And, shock horror, he even produced a fumble in the outfield. South Africa desperately need him to build on the relative success of his cameo in the first ODI.

Team news

Stokes was declared fit to play in the second ODI after taking a full part in England’s training on Friday. But nevertheless, having bowled just two overs in Wednesday’s opening rubber, and with a heavy IPL workload behind him, there must have been a temptation to protect such a talismanic figure with less than a week to go until the Champions Trophy opener. Jonny Bairstow is in the form to deputise supremely with the bat, even Stokes’ absence would have left England’s bowling options a touch stretched. David Willey was the obvious addition to the fast-bowling ranks.England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Mark WoodFew reasons for wholesale changes in South Africa’s line-up, despite the eventual size of their defeat at Headingley. It’s a case of improving what they’ve got, rather than reinforcing what they lacked. However, there may be a temptation to find room for Morne Morkel and his aggressive line of attack in light of the relative success that the short ball had against England’s top-order – Joe Root, for one, fell victim to a top-edged bouncer from Andile Phehlukwayo.South Africa: (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Andile Phehlukwayo/Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

The weather is gleaming and runs are all but guaranteed on a surface that rarely fails to offer plenty for the bat. Only once in the last seven ODIs at the Ageas Bowl, dating back to 2012, has the side batting first made less than 287, while New Zealand racked up a hefty 359 for 3 back in June 2013, thanks to Martin Guptill’s 189 not out.

Stats and trivia

• On the last 10 occasions that they have batted first in ODIs, England have racked up a formidable run of totals: 324 for 7, 444 for 3, 302 for 9, 309 for 8, 350 for 7, 321 for 8, 296 for 6, 328, 328 for 6 and 339 for 6. An average figure of 334 for 7.
• Amla needs another 47 runs to reach 7000 in ODIs. He has 12 innings in which to get there ahead of Virat Kohli and continue his record of being fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000.
• Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali both need four more wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.

Quotes

“”You get guys batting at 4 and 5 coming late in the game and getting a hundred, that’s why Morgan’s innings was a game-changer.”
“Batting at No. 7 is one of the hardest jobs going because you don’t know whether to shoot or not. [Moeen] was very calm and composed in what he did, gave himself some time at the crease and was able to take the game to South Africa at the end.”
England captain Morgan praises Moeen Ali’s game-turning innings at Headingley

Australia great passes away in Thailand following a suspected heart attack

Andrew Miller04-Mar-2022Shane Warne, one of cricket’s all-time greats, has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Koh Samui, Thailand, while on holiday.Warne, who was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century, claimed 708 Test wickets in a 15-year career for Australia between 1992 and 2007, and was also an ODI World Cup winner in 1999.According to his manager Michael Cohen, he died of a suspected heart attack.”Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” Cohen’s statement read. “The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”Related

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According to Reuters, Thai Police said Warne and three other friends were staying in a private villa and one of them went to inquire about him after the former cricketer did not turn up for dinner.”The friend did CPR on him and called an ambulance,” Chatchawin Nakmusik, an officer with the Bo Phut police in Koh Samui, told Reuters by phone.”An emergency response unit then arrived and did another CPR for 10-20 minutes. Then an ambulance from the Thai International Hospital arrived and took him there. They did CPR for five minutes, and then he died.”The police did not know the cause of death but were not treating it as suspicious, Chatchawin said.The shocking news comes hours after the death of another icon of Australian cricket, former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, who also suffered a heart attack earlier this week at the age of 74.”Warnie”, as he was known throughout the cricketing world, was without question one of the true icons of world cricket, a man who almost singlehandedly revived the art of legspin in the early 1990s.Although luminaries such as Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir had kept the art alive, Warne brought a new glamour and attacking intent to legspin, with his bottle-blond hair allied to a keen tactical brain that he used to outfox a host of unwitting opponents in his pomp.After an underwhelming debut against India in January 1992, where his solitary wicket came at a cost of 150 runs, Warne hinted at his full potential in bowling Australia to an unlikely victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, before – in his fifth appearance – he ripped out seven match-winning second-innings wickets against West Indies at his home ground of Melbourne in the 1992-93 Boxing Day Test.4:17

Shane Warne’s ball of the century

However, it was the 1993 Ashes tour that truly cemented Warne’s legend. In the opening match of the series at Old Trafford, and having been shielded from England’s batters during the preceding one-day series, Warne’s first delivery left the sport dumbfounded as he served up the so-called “ball of the century” to Mike Gatting – a drifting, dipping, spitting legbreak, that turned a full two feet from outside leg to hit the top of off.Gatting was so confused, he did not initially realise he had been bowled – and in that moment, Warne exerted a hold over England’s batters that was so absolute, they would not come close to reclaiming the Ashes for another 12 years. And even when they did, in the seismic summer of 2005, Warne’s fingers were the last to be prised from the urn, as he carried Australia’s attack with a career-best haul of 40 wickets.Away from the cricket field, Warne could not help but court controversy. He was rarely far from the front pages of the tabloids amid a string of revelations about his personal life. In 1995, both he and his then team-mate Mark Waugh were fined for giving information to an Indian bookmaker during the previous year’s tour of Sri Lanka.In 2003, on the eve of that year’s 50-over World Cup, Warne was suspended from international cricket for a year after a banned diuretic was found during a routine drugs test – he claimed it had been given to him by his mother to help him lose weight.However, though that setback might have ended lesser careers, the year away from the game arguably gave Warne an extra lease of life going into his mid-30s. He returned to action with four five-wicket hauls in a row to lead Australia to a memorable 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka in March 2004, and then played a quietly crucial role in their subsequent “final frontier” victory in India.He retired from international cricket with typical showmanship in the 2006-07 Ashes, leaving the field arm-in-arm with his long-term bowling ally Glenn McGrath – a fellow great in one of the all-time great Test teams – after reclaiming the Ashes with a 5-0 whitewash (the first that Australia had inflicted on England since 1920-21).Even at the age of 37, the Warne legend was not done. In 2008, he was recruited by Rajasthan Royals to captain their franchise in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and duly delivered the title with 19 wickets at 21.26 in the course of the campaign. Though he went wicketless in the final against Chennai Super Kings, he couldn’t be kept out of the action, as he and Sohail Tanvir sealed the victory with the bat in a thrilling final-over finish.Prior to his IPL involvement, Warne had spent eight seasons (2000-2007) in county cricket with Hampshire, after being recruited by his friend and England rival, Robin Smith. He claimed 276 first-class wickets at 25.59 in his time at the club, and later had a stand at the Ageas Bowl named after him.In retirement, Warne became a trenchant commentator, primarily for Fox Sports in Australia – ever insightful on tactical matters, if at times a touch bombastic. He also dabbled in professional poker, a card game that he said replicated the sort of mind-games that he had revelled in during his playing days. He became a fixture at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne and at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where in 2009, his deep run into the tournament meant that he arrived late for his commentary duties at that summer’s Ashes.Tributes to Warne have poured in from the cricket world, from team-mates and rivals alike. Brian Lara, arguably the greatest batter to have faced Warne in his pomp, tweeted an image of a broken heart, adding: “Speechless at the moment. I literally don’t know how to sum up this situation. My friend is gone!! We have lost one of the Greatest Sportsmen of all time!! My condolences goes out to his family. RIP Warnie!! You will be missed.”Adam Gilchrist, Warne’s team-mate in one of the greatest Test teams of all time, added: “Numb. The highlight of my cricketing career was to keep wicket to Warnie. Best seat in the house to watch the maestro at work. Have often felt a tad selfish, that Heals [Ian Healy] and I pretty much exclusively are the only ones who had that thrill and pleasure at Test level. Rip Warnie.”