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County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy will both be up for grabs next season

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2020Essex will have the opportunity to defend two red-ball titles in 2021, after the first-class counties agreed to a revised league-based structure for next season’s County Championship, followed by a separate five-day showpiece final at Lord’s, in which the Bob Willis Trophy will be once again be at stake.Essex are the current holders of both titles, having pipped Somerset to the County Championship in 2019 after securing a draw at Taunton on the final day of the season, before claiming the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy against the same opponents at Lord’s last month, again with a draw in which their first-innings lead proved to be the decisive factor.The announcements follow discussions between the ECB and the chairs of the first-class counties, who are seeking to mitigate against further disruption from Covid-19 in the 2021 season. A full review into the men’s domestic structure is due in 2022, for which the existing split of ten first-division teams and eight in Division Two will be taken as the default position.Unlike this season’s short-term arrangement, in which the 18 counties were split into three regional groups of six and played a single fixture against each opponent before the top two teams progressed to the final, next year’s competition will feature three seeded groups, with 10 home and away fixtures, followed by a further round of games in which the top, middle and bottom two of each group form three new divisions, and play four further games against one another for a total of 14 fixtures.The top team in this newly configured Division One will be crowned winners of the 2021 County Championship, and be awarded the traditional Lord’s Taverners trophy, but the first and second-placed teams will then compete at Lord’s for the Bob Willis Trophy, in a repeat of the showpiece finale that capped the 2020 season. Playing conditions for both competitions will be confirmed by the ECB in due course.Essex were crowned inaugural BWT champions•Getty Images

Seedings for the group stage of the County Championship have been determined based on the 18 teams’ performances in the past two seasons, while a provision for local derby encounters has also been factored in (where it does not cut across the seeding) to enable Surrey and Middlesex, Yorkshire and Lancashire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire, and Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to compete in the same initial groups.Ian Watmore, the new chairman of the ECB, explained the reasoning behind the restructuring. “Since starting in my new role last month one of my key priorities, as a huge supporter of red-ball cricket, has been to collaborate with the first-class counties so that we could confirm a structure for next summer’s men’s domestic season,” he said.”I am delighted that the counties have been able to reach this agreement less than three weeks after Essex won the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s.”The success of that competition provides reassurance that this structure can help safeguard against any impact the global pandemic may have on next season while also ensuring the integrity of the County Championship.”It must be stressed that this structure has been agreed for next season only and during 2021 we will review and consult with the counties and other stakeholders to decide the appropriate next steps for the men’s domestic structure in 2022 and beyond.”

2021 County Championship Groups

Group 1: Essex, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Durham

Group 2: Somerset, Hampshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Leicestershire

Group 3: Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan, Sussex

Announcement comes following the BCB’s monitoring and assessment of the security situation in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2019Bangladesh’s planned tour of Sri Lanka at the end of July will go ahead, though marginally behind schedule, Sri Lanka Cricket announced via a statement on Monday.The confirmation had been on hold since May, when, in the wake of the terror attacks across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday the previous month, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had said that it would need to monitor the security situation before taking a decision.”We are concerned about the scenario,” BCB chief executive Nizam Chowdhury had said on May 7. “We will take advice from our foreign ministry and the Bangladesh High Commission in Sri Lanka.”We are also likely to hold talks with the SLC during the Asian Cricket Council meeting later this month.”The decision to go ahead with the tour is likely to have been taken after a great deal of thought on the part of the BCB, given the terror attacks in Christchurch in March, where some Bangladesh players had come perilously close to being caught in the middle of a shooting incident. That tour of New Zealand had been immediately called off with two matches still to play. It is understood that the BCB has assessed security risks ahead of this tour and the close monitoring is what caused the delay in the confirmation.”We have done our security assessment and we wanted to play all the games in Colombo,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s media director, told ESPNcricinfo, adding, “we are ready to go ahead with the tour.”The series will comprise three ODIs, the first on July 26, instead of the original date of July 25. The following two ODIs will now be played on July 28 and July 31 respectively, before Bangladesh depart on August 1. All three ODIs are day-night fixtures and will take place in Colombo.

Warwickshire will say farewell to Jonathan Trott in September as a noble first-class career enters its final phase

David Hopps03-May-2018That Jonathan Trott would plan every innings to the utmost was at his peak something that English cricket came to value enormously. So it should be no surprise that he has announced that he will retire at the end of the season more than four months early. Certainty restored, he can now aim for a final flourish.Trott might not have been the most flamboyant or crowd-pleasing cricketer ever to represent England, but there was substance a plenty to him, enough for Andy Flower, then England’s coach, to describe him as England’s rock.He scored a century on his England debut, was a three-times Ashes winner (you could make a case for him winning two of them) and was a key cog in an England team that reached No 1 ranking in the world. He also averaged 46 for England at Tests when batting at No 3. Such luxuries for England are hard to imagine as things stand.He could dawdle at times, he could look miserable (it was serious work after all) and his between-ball routine remains a joy for amateur psychologists. But few have valued their wicket more dearly.”Choosing to retire at the end of the season is something that I have spoken about at length with my family and this is now the right time to look at the next chapter of my career,” Trott said at Edgbaston where Warwickshire were playing Derbyshire.”Warwickshire is a very special club and I’ve been immensely proud to have worn the Bear & Ragged Staff throughout my career. We’ve made a strong start to the 2018 season and I hope that I can make a major contribution to more success in my final year at Edgbaston as a player.””You want to be up front about a decision like this and Warwickshire is a club that is always looking to the future so I wanted to let them know that this is my decision so it won’t be sprung upon them at the end of the season and they can start planning.”It hasn’t been that difficult a decision. When you have played at a club for as long as I have it is important that not only is the decision right for you but it’s also right for the club.”All in all, a 17-year career brought 52 Test caps and 68 ODI appearances, but there was nothing instant about Trott’s emergence. For many years, he was a dedicated and uncomplaining servant of county cricket, initially trialling with Warwickshire in 2002 and signing his first professional contract two years later after scoring an impressive 245 on debut for the second team. He followed this with a century in his first-class debut against Sussex in 2003, and he went on to play a leading role in Warwickshire’s County Championship triumph in 2004.England came calling, perhaps belatedly, in the deciding game of the 2009 Ashes series. Four years earlier, they had gambled on the effervescence of Kevin Pietersen; now they gambled again, on the Bovril equivalent: something substantial, meaty, decidedly untrendy.Jonathan Trott celebrates a rearguard century•Getty Images

Once again, the risk paid off as his second innings century helped secure a memorable victory at The Oval. Ashes wins followed in the 2010-11 series in Australia and the home series in 2013. He also won the finest individual accolade in the international game by winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, a fact that went largely unheralded.His last Ashes tour was to end in sadness as he left the tour with a stress-related illness. Some of the ill-informed comments suggesting that he could not handle the pace of Mitchell Johnson should not be allowed to demean him. This was a batsman who thrived on difficulty If he was broken by anything – and fine sportsmen are allowed to be broken – it was the exhaustion deepened by perfectionism.Ashley Giles, sport director of Warwickshire, paid tribute. “Trotty will be remembered as one the greatest batsmen to have played for Warwickshire and England in the 21st century,” he said.”He made an immediate impact upon arrival at Edgbaston by scoring such a high volume of runs, and he has gone on to be part of one most successful periods in the club’s history, with five major trophies won across all formats.”At international level, he played a major role in one of the best England teams of the last 50 years; a team that went top of the world rankings, but which also won the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 25 years.”His retirement announcement, at 37, comes as no surprise, except for the fact that it might well have happened at the end of last season when Warwickshire were relegated and, like another Warwickshire and former England stalwart, Ian Bell, he struggled for runs.He leaves at a time when substance is under challenge from froth and instability, encapsulated by the ECB’s plans for 100-ball cricket. There would be no time for Trott’s prolonged scratching of his guard in that, little praise for reconnaissance, for the artful nudges of his hips, for his analytical approach to limited-overs run chases.Perhaps that approach did become outdated. And perhaps England did not recognise it soon enough. It feels something of an anachronism that Trott is still Warwickshire’s leading Twenty20 runscorer. But he need not over-analyse that because he has served England and Warwickshire nobly.The announcement made, his mind settled, it would be no surprise to find that a few more bowling attacks will suffer before the season is through.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav said his recent performances are the result of a consistent spot in the Test team, which has allowed him to figure out his strengths and weaknesses

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Ranchi17-Mar-20171:09

‘Now know my strengths, look to focus on them’ – Umesh

Through the course of the 2016-17 home season, Umesh Yadav has played more matches and bowled more overs than any other Indian fast bowler. His efforts, though, haven’t always translated into wickets: before the start of the series against Australia, Umesh’s average for the season was 54.23.The rewards, though, have begun to arrive. Five bowling innings into the Border-Gavaskar series, he has taken 12 wickets at 22.00, at a strike rate of 44.5 – better than any other Indian bowler.Umesh has said his improved numbers in this series are a reflection of the confidence he has gained from playing regularly. He also said he has tried to weed out his weaknesses – including a widely-commented-upon tendency to bowl far too many loose balls.”Actually, I feel it is all the same. I’m doing the same things [through the season], but the confidence from playing matches, and the hard work that I have put in [have begun producing results],” he said at the end of the second day in Ranchi. “Usually, I used to be in and out of the team and so I didn’t understand what to do but as I started playing more matches, I was just focusing on my bowling – what I should do and what I shouldn’t.”I have figured out what my bowling is, where I must bowl, what my weaknesses are, and what my strengths are. Earlier, there was criticism in the media that I bowled a lot on the leg stump, and conceded boundaries on the leg side after building pressure for four balls. I have cut that down to a large extent. Slowly, I am getting back to my ways.”Australia batted first in Ranchi, and, on a pitch that played truer than expected, posted a first-innings total of 451. India began their reply confidently, ending day two on 120 for 1. Umesh felt it had been difficult for bowlers to control the flow of runs given the ease of batting on the pitch and the quickness of the outfield.”On this wicket, it is very difficult to stop singles,” he said. “450 has taken them four and a half sessions to get, so on an average [that is] 100 runs per session. We also made 120 in one session. On this pitch, it is hard to stem the flow of runs; it isn’t as easy to bowl as you might think because the singles will keep coming and the outfield is so quick that once it is in the gap, it will go to the boundary. 450 is there or thereabouts [as a good first-innings score here], 20-30 this side or that, but we will try to get to that total.”‘I have figured out what my bowling is’•AFP

Steven Smith top-scored for Australia with an unbeaten 178, his second hundred of the series and his sixth in his last seven Tests against India. Umesh said bowling to Smith was tricky given his unorthodox technique and his pronounced shuffle across the stumps.”Actually, it can be quite difficult,” he said. “You know you what to bowl in a certain way, but sometimes when he keeps moving, moves from leg to off and opens up, then it becomes a bit difficult – your plans are no longer effective. So you have to wait till the last minute, depending on how much he moves, before deciding what to do.”Umesh ended Australia’s innings with figures of 3 for 106. India’s most successful bowler was Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with 5 for 124 from 49.3 overs. Umesh said Jadeja was in the form of his life as a bowler.”I think he is bowling the best he has been. He has got a lot of five-wicket hauls in recent times and he is bowling really well. Jadeja is the kind of bowler whose bowling style suits any type of wicket. His variations and his control are very good. If he gets even a bit of rough, he knows what his aim is, where he has to bowl. I think he is bowling at his best and he is getting his rewards for that.”Virat Kohli went off the field with an injured right shoulder in the 40th over of Australia’s innings, and did not return thereafter. The BCCI have said he is fit to bat, and Umesh said he had already begun batting in the nets.”The bandage will obviously be there because if you have a shoulder injury, you need the bandage to hold it together but he [Kohli] is ready to play,” Umesh said. “He has been batting in the nets as well, so obviously he will come back.”Umesh wasn’t sure if the pitch would continue to behave as it has through the first two days, but did not think it would break up too quickly.”For now, I don’t foresee much change but still hope for the best,” he said. “If there is some change, good, but for now, as you can see, it still is good for batting. Normally you can’t say much about the wicket – how much it will change or help the bowlers.”

Bangladesh’s forward-thinking method against India made them look stronger and more confident, so it should not be overruled by a safety-first approach in the next encounter against UAE

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur24-Feb-2016Bangladesh made enough mistakes to lose the Asia Cup opener to India by 45 runs and they will have to duly improve in those areas quickly. But their general approach was fresh towards the format and opponent.The home side, perhaps influenced by India’s recent troubles on a similar pitch in Pune against Sri Lanka, went for a green top though it was mainly cut grass that the groudsmen sprinkled generously on the surface. But while seam movement wasn’t exaggerated, it was enough to encourage the pace bowlers.Bangladesh’s decision to go with four pace bowlers was hardly surprising given their own success using four pace bowlers against India just last year. The conditions in Mirpur back in June weren’t as helpful as they were on Wednesday, so Bangladesh’s plan to stop India through pace wasn’t out of place.Their batting order appeared a bit jumbled too with regular opener Imrul Kayes coming in at No. 4 which pushed Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah too deep down the order, especially chasing a stiff 167-run target. But as the captain Mashrafe Mortaza said later, they wanted to have at least one right-handed batsmen in the crease to counter R Ashwin’s consistency.Both approaches to batting and bowling were sensible ways to take on a format they are not really good at. Taking help from the conditions, tweaking the bowling attack and ensuring the batting order isn’t top heavy were all with the intention to rejuvenate a flagging T20 team but as a general rule, a T20 game has very little room for error. In this case, Bangladesh were undone by a crucial dropped catch, offcutters and legcutters that didn’t grip on the grassy pitch and a batting approach that required a slightly more proactive mindset.Mashrafe didn’t blame Shakib for dropping Rohit Sharma’s chance at point in the 11th over but said that dew played a part in Mustafizur Rahman’s specialty cutters sitting up to the Indian batsmen rather than gripping and getting big on them. There were one or two that took Rohit and Hardik Pandya by surprise but the slightly wetter surface ensured the ball didn’t get a kick after pitching.”[Dropped catch] is part of the game,” Mashrafe said. “We can’t really do much about it. A catch can be missed. He is one of our best fielders and I wanted him at point in that over because from the 12th or 13th over in T20s, we usually have most of our better fielders in crucial positions in the deep.””The grass on the wicket helped us and the new ball swung too. I think both teams bowled well in the first six overs. We were in the game for quite some time and even our spinners did well in these conditions. But I think since dew took over, the ball didn’t grip as we would have liked, particularly the cutters. With Rohit Sharma set in the wicket we also couldn’t bowl too full at him. I think we gave away 15-20 runs extra towards the end. If we could have had Rohit Sharma earlier, we may have stopped them for around 135-140.”In three out of the last five overs, India scored in excess of ten runs with one Mustafizur over going for 21 runs. Rohit and Pandya added 50 runs in the first 13 minutes of their fifth-wicket partnership, and ended with adding 61 runs in just 4.3 overs. By contrast, Bangladesh had only one over in the last five of their chase in which at least ten runs were scored. Sabbir Rahman, despite being dropped in the 11th over like Rohit – though it was a tougher chance for Pandya off his own bowling – couldn’t kick on as he tried to manufacture shots. Rohit on the other hand mostly played his natural game and succeeded.Mashrafe said that they lacked partnerships and the ones they did conjure had to be done at a faster rate. “We should have had some partnerships going from the start but we also had to consider that in T20s, it becomes harder if we try to build a partnership, particularly in a chase.”I think something like 15 runs is just a matter of one over but because those early wickets really hurt us. If we had wickets in hand towards the end, 15 or 20 runs in an over would have helped us,” he said.Bangladesh next take on the UAE on Friday against whom they would be expected to win. The forward-thinking method made them look stronger and more confident, so it should not be overruled by a safety-first approach. Bangladesh have long been in the back of the line when it came to getting on with the T20 bandwagon. Wednesday was one way to show that they can be bolder.

A tight finish saw Port Qasim Authority sneak past Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by six runs in a rain-curtailed Groub B tie of the Ramadan T20

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2013
Scorecard
Azam Hussain’s 4 for 17 led Port Qasim to victory by six runs•Pakistan Cricket Board

Port Qasim Authority sneaked past Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by six runs in a rain-curtailed Group B tie of the Ramadan T20. Needing 21 to win off the final over, Zafar Gohar hit two sixes but fell off the last ball to mark Port Qasim’s second win in as many matchesShahzaib Hasan constructed a good platform for Port Qasim after they lost the toss, scoring nearly twice as many runs as his partner Khalid Latif to power their 55-run opening stand. Port Qasim were cruising at 83 for 1 in 11 overs when three wickets fell in ten balls, including that of Hasan for 48, and returned balance to the match. Afsar Nawaz struck a timely cameo but Hussain Talat, who along with Gohar claimed five of the seven wickets, limited Port Qasim to 145.Rain delayed the start of the chase and curtailed it to 14 overs. ZTBL, chasing a revised target of 112, lost a sluggish Sharjeel Khan in the third over. Eighteen-year old Babar Azam struck 22 off 13 balls but fell eight balls after Shakeel Ansar’s dismissal to leave ZTBL at 43 for 3 in six overs. Azam Hussain, who picked up 4 for 17, dealt a further blow by removing the captain Imran Nazir and Talat in the next six balls. Gohar and Atif Ashraf shared a productive 34-run stand for the seventh wicket but the Ashraf’s fall in the 13th over, still 21 runs adrift, left Gohar with too much to do at the end.

Cricket’s sole appearance in the Olympic Games will be re-enacted later this month when teams from France and Britain meet to reprise a match that took place in Paris 112 years ago.

David Hopps09-Jun-2012Cricket’s sole appearance in the Olympic Games will be re-enacted later this month when teams from France and Britain meet to reprise a match that took place in Paris 112 years ago. France Cricket (FC), the national governing body for the sport, will field a side against the MCC in Twenty20 and 50-over matches at Chateaux du Thoiry on June 16.The MCC already has its own Olympic connections. Its Lord’s home will stage the archery competition in the London Olympics later this summer.The matches, which have no official Olympic status, are being played to raise awareness of cricket in France, although they will doubtless attract a miniscule amount of attention compared to another France v England clash – in the European football championships on Monday.In an Olympic year, however, the matches will offer a reminder of one of the more unusual episodes in Olympic history when Devon County Wanderers played a mixed France side drawn from Standard Athletic Club and Albion CC in Paris at the Velodrome de Vincennes. The match was 12-a-side and the majority of France’s team were ex-pats. Britain won the game by 156 runs.Although the match was eventually classified as an OIympic event, more than a century passed before cricket was given full recognition as a sport by the International Olympic Committee OC in 2010.The ICC has yet to decide whether to apply to become an Olympic sport – it would presumably play havoc with an already overcrowded international calendar – and the absence of cricket from the London Olympics has meant that an obvious opportunity has already passed the game by.France claims about 4,000 active players and more than 200 qualified coaches. They have already achieved one notable success by getting permission from the French Primary School Sports Association to deliver cricket training to teachers, raising ambitions to spread the word in 200 primary schools by 2015. Because of a shortage of cricket grounds, the plan is to develop short forms of the game indoors.France are among the lowliest nations in world cricket, with ambitious to qualify for Division Eight of the ICC’s World Cricket League in Samoa in September. After indulging in a spot of Olympic history, they will take part in a four-nation qualifying tournament from June 20-23 against Austria, Belgium and Gibraltar.

Three wickets from Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard helped his side begin their Friends Life t20 campaign with victory over the Northamptonshire

03-Jun-2011
ScorecardThree wickets from Leicestershire Foxes captain Matthew Hoggard helped his side begin their Friends Life t20 campaign with victory over the Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road.The Steelbacks were restricted to 135 for 5 from their 20 overs, with South Africa international Johan Botha top-scoring in making 36 from 40 balls on his debut and Hoggard taking 3 for 21.The Foxes had little trouble in meeting their target with six deliveries and six wickets to spare, as veteran wicketkeeper Paul Nixon made 44 from 47 balls to help inflict Northamptonshire’s first defeat in any form of cricket this season.Northamptonshire won the toss and chose to bat but they lost Rob White for just a single at the start of the second over when he launched Harry Gurney to Will Jefferson, who was waiting at third man. The Foxes attack restricted the Steelbacks to 22 for 1 in the opening Powerplay and Botha survived a scare on 4 when he was dropped by Jefferson at mid-wicket off Claude Henderson.Chaminda Vaas had his middle stump sent tumbling by Hoggard before Botha then went very cheaply. He chipped Henderson straight to Hoggard, who took a straightforward catch at midwicket. James Middlebrook departed when former England bowler Hoggard’s delivery flicked off his pad and on to his off stump.Alex Wakely followed two balls later when he smashed the same bowler to Jacques du Toit at long leg after blasting 30 from 23 balls. Steelbacks captain Andrew Hall and David Willey survived the rest of the innings on 18 and 10 respectively as the hosts posted a target which looked attainable.Chasing 136, the Foxes had an early setback when they lost Australia international Andrew McDonald for 6 in the third over when he was bowled by Hall. Jefferson was the next to walk when he was caught and bowled by Vaas, but the Foxes had already opened with a faster run-rate than their opponents had managed.Josh Cobb clubbed 26 from just 15 balls before throwing his wicket away by hoisting Lee Daggett high into the air and White was waiting underneath it at mid-off. Nixon and James Taylor (36 not out) added 84 for the fourth wicket as they edged their way towards the target with minimal fuss.With the scores level, Botha bowled Nixon before Du Toit hit a clinching boundary off the same bowler through mid-on from the only ball he faced.

Steven Smith was four when Shane Warne entered cricket folklore by ripping a legbreak the width of Mike Gatting, and next month Smith could become the first Australian legspinner to play a Test in England post-Warne

Brydon Coverdale at Old Trafford26-Jun-2010Seventeen years ago, an Australian legspinner walked out for his first Test match on English soil and promptly delivered the ball of the century. Steven Smith was four when Shane Warne entered cricket folklore by ripping a legbreak the width of Mike Gatting, and next month Smith could become the first Australian legspinner to play a Test in England post-Warne.Nathan Hauritz has flown home with a foot injury and unless he enjoys a miraculously quick recovery, Smith is in line to make his Test debut against Pakistan at Lord’s. He has spent plenty of time around the Test squad, having been called in as cover in Perth and Melbourne last summer before touring with the team in New Zealand.On Saturday, Smith sat in the pavilion at Old Trafford, the venue of Warne’s most famous moment, and briefly pondered the possibility of winning a baggy-green. Although he was keen to focus on the more immediate challenges of Australia’s stuttering one-day series, he said joining the elite ranks of Australia’s Test cricketers would be a magic moment.”It’s a different standard,” Smith said of Test cricket. “It’s the highest level you can play at. At the moment, Pakistan are a good side, and if I get the opportunity to play in a couple of weeks it will be a dream come true to wear the baggy green. I’m not really thinking too far ahead, it’s just about playing my best cricket at the moment and trying to win a couple of one-day games and get back in this series.”If a Test call-up does arrive, Smith should be in a positive frame of mind. He finished the domestic season with a seven-wicket Sheffield Shield haul for New South Wales, having also scored four hundreds in the tournament and finished sixth on the run tally.Then came the New Zealand tour, which was followed by an impressive World Twenty20 campaign, in which he ousted Hauritz as Australia’s preferred slow bowler and finished third on the wicket list behind Dirk Nannes and Charl Langeveldt. Throw in a solid combination of 41 with the bat and 1 for 40 with the ball on Thursday, in his second ODI, and Smith feels good about the state of his cricket.”Everything is coming together pretty well,” he said. “I learnt a lot about myself as a player in the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies. It was a big learning curve for me and coming back and playing one-day cricket, it’s always been a dream of mine to play for Australia.”It’s hard to predict what he will show in Test cricket, if given the opportunity. As a precocious, confident Australian legspinner, the Warne comparisons are inevitable, but Smith is a vastly different player.He might not have the ripping legbreak or perfect flipper, but could Warne bat in the top six at Test level? Could Warne hare around the boundary rope and take one-handed screamers time after time? Smith had some tuition from Warne during the Australian season, but doesn’t expect his bowling to leave quite the same mark as Warne did on his first trip to England.”He hasn’t taught me that one yet,” Smith joked of Warne’s Gatting delivery. “Hopefully it will come in at some point. Warney was probably the reason I started bowling legspin when I was about 14. I’ve had a few sessions with him and he’s been great for me.”Judging by Smith’s form over the past six months, he’s right about Warne’s influence. Now to start making his own mark.

West Indies score their highest total in a men’s T20 World Cup match as they finished the group stage with a perfect record

S Sudarshanan18-Jun-2024It’s been a World Cup for the bowlers, but Nicholas Pooran set the tone early for a dominant batting display from West Indies as they thrashed Afghanistan to finish the group stage with a perfect record. He tore into Azmatullah Omarzai in the powerplay, who leaked a world record 36 runs in an over. And that was a blow Afghanistan never quite recovered from.Pooran’s 98 off just 53 balls helped West Indies to 218 for 5, which was 104 too many for Afghanistan in the last group match of the T20 World Cup 2024. The result had little bearing on the Super Eight seedings that were pre-decided with both teams already cementing their spots. Afghanistan were blown away in the chase to be dismissed for 114, with all the five bowlers the hosts used sharing the spoils.It was the highest total for West Indies in men’s T20 World Cups, and Pooran, who hit eight sixes in his stay, surpassed Chris Gayle to become the leading six-hitter for them in T20Is.

Edgy Charles sets the tone

He has a stand named after him at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, and Johnson Charles did not disappoint. He had two ducks and a 44 heading into the game, and understandably, was tentative at the start of his innings. Yet he started with a flurry of fours, mostly via outside edges – beating short third to either side in the second over and then getting one over point in the third.Related

• Pooran bursts on to the T20 World Cup, pedal to the metal

• Pooran goes on rampage as Omarzai bowls joint most expensive over in T20Is

Anything with pace, he confidently dealt with. However, Naveen-ul-Haq’s change of pace was too much to contend with, and he chipped one to cover after a duel that saw a dropped chance.

Powerful Pooran raises decibels

Two balls were all Pooran needed to get his eyes in on a belter of a pitch in Gros Islet. He signaled his arrival with a record 36-run over against Azmatullah Omarzai, in which he hit three sixes and two fours, including one off a no-ball. Afghanistan generally turn to Mujeeb Ur Rahman for control in the powerplay. But with him out injured, Rashid Khan had to bring himself on in the powerplay for the first time this T20 World Cup. He was welcomed with a couple of fours as West Indies finished the powerplay on 92 for 1, the highest score in the first six overs in men’s T20 World Cups.

Afghanistan rein West Indies in in the middle overs

At 85 for 1 in five overs, West Indies looked set to bring back a template we were so used to in IPL 2024 – scores around and over 250. But Rashid and his spin-twin Noor Ahmad used the slight purchase from the surface to tie the batters down. Both varied the legbreak and googly, and also the lengths to keep the batters guessing. The bounce from the surface also came to their aid. As a result, only one four and three sixes – two of them by Shai Hope against Mohammad Nabi – came in the middle phase (overs 7 to 16), where West Indies scored only 66 and lost two wickets.

Deserving Pooran misses out on ton

The 17th over almost woke up the sleeping giant Pooran, who got his first four since the powerplay when Gulbadin Naib misfielded one at sweeper cover. He then tore into Rashid, who had figures of 0 for 21 heading into his last over, in the 18th. Pooran stayed deep in the crease and often cleared his front leg in a bid to convert the good length deliveries that Rashid generally bowls.Pooran’s leg side was the longer boundary, and Rashid bowling full only helped his cause. He struck three sixes and a four in the over to take 24 off it, decisively turning the tide in the hosts’ favour. He couldn’t do much damage to Naib, who bowled a couple of superb overs for two wickets, using the slower ones to trick the batters. When Pooran clobbered back-to-back sixes in the last over off Naveen, he looked primed to get to a century, only to be denied by a direct throw from Omarzai from deep cover.Obed McCoy’s three-for dented Afghanistan’s progress•ICC/Getty Images

Afghanistan no match in the chase

Coming into the match, Afghanistan’s middle order (Nos. 3 to 6) averaged a mere 19.71 with the openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran doing the heavy-lifting in the big wins against New Zealand and Uganda. Gurbaz fell early trying to take on powerplay enforcer Akeal Hosein, exposing the Afghanistan middle order in a tall chase.Ibrahim managed to punish an erring Alzarri Joseph, hitting him for one four and two sixes in the first six overs. He also managed to get a few away from Hosein but could not keep down a languid flick off Obed McCoy – brought in for Romario Shepherd, who was home for the birth of his second child – to deep backward square leg.Playing his first match in this T20 World Cup, McCoy then dismissed Najibullah Zadran a couple of balls later before knocking Nabi over to reduce Afghanistan to 63 for 5 inside the tenth over. Omarzai managed to strike a few lusty blows but Hosein, Gudakesh Motie and Andre Russell never let them get away.As a result, West Indies registered their second-biggest win in T20 World Cups (by runs) and head into the Super Eight stage with a clean slate, as if to say, “talk now!”