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In Gambhir’s absence, Sitanshu Kotak, Ryan ten Doeschate, and Morne Morkel will take charge of the group

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-2025India’s Test squad in England will be without head coach Gautam Gambhir for the start of the closed-door warm-up fixture against India A in Beckenham from Friday. ESPNcricinfo has learnt Gambhir left for New Delhi on Wednesday due to a family emergency.In Gambhir’s absence, Sitanshu Kotak and Ryan ten Doeschate, the assistant coaches, along with bowling coach Morne Morkel, will take charge of the group. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, meanwhile, is in charge of India A.The match in Beckenham offers the senior India side an opportunity to tune up ahead of the team’s departure for Leeds ahead of the Test series opener against England from June 20.Gambhir’s absence comes at a crucial time, with the team management set to deliberate on the batting order, something he had said would be decided in the run-up to the first Test. The retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have opened up at least two slots, with B Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair in the running to fill them.Of members of India’s Test squad who featured for India A in two unofficial Tests against England Lions, Nair, Dhruv Jurel and Abhimanyu Easwaran were among the runs. Nair top-scored in the series with 259 runs, including a double-century in the first game in Canterbury.Jurel, meanwhile, hit three half-centuries to score 227 runs, while Easwaran struck two fifties. KL Rahul, tipped to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Test series, made scores of 116 and 51 in his only outing in Northampton.The team management will also potentially be toying over who among Shardul Thakur and Nitish Reddy will play as the seam-bowling allrounder. Reddy picked up two wickets across 26.5 overs while Thakur got two wickets across 43 overs across the two first-class games against Lions. For the pace attack, it’s likely that two out of Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will join Jasprit Bumrah in the XI for the first Test.”All in all, very happy with the start so far,” Morkel said ahead of the warm-up game against India A. “I was a little bit nervous in terms of the lack of red-ball [cricket] we’ve played. But seeing how the guys are moving around and training the last three days, it’s a pleasing sight. There’s some quality energy in this group, and that’s what you need. You need to go into a Test series confident, you need to have that team spirit in the group, and I think so far they have done a great job.”The five-Test series marks the start of India’s new World Test Championship cycle as well as the beginning of Shubman Gill’s tenure as Test captain.

Maxwell and Matthew Wade finished in a blizzard of boundaries after the equation came down to 43 off 12 balls

Sreshth Shah28-Nov-20233:33

Takeaways: Maxwell’s epic, Ruturaj’s blinder, Behrendorff’s magic

Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed an unbeaten 123 to lead India to an imposing 222 in Guwahati, but Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 104 stunned the hosts as Australia pulled off a miraculous come-from-behind victory to keep the T20I series alive at 2-1.Australia had kept pace with the asking rate for most of the innings courtesy a spunky cameo from Travis Head and Maxwell’s aggression. When it came down to Axar Patel’s 19th and Prasidh’s 20th, Maxwell and Matthew Wade feasted in dewy conditions, finding the boundary at will even when Australia needed 43 off 12 balls, 21 off six, and two off the last ball. Maxwell hit the last four balls for 6, 4, 4, 4, drilling Prasidh Krishna down the ground at the finish to silence the home crowd.Mathew Wade and Glenn Maxwell added 91 off 40 balls to take Australia to victory•BCCI

Maxwell owns the night

Maxwell entered at 66 for 2 in the sixth over, after Avesh Khan had ended Travis Head’s boundary-laden 35 in 18 balls. He took an early liking to Prasidh, smacking two sixes and a four in the eighth over to race away to 25 in 10. But Ravi Bishnoi’s dismissal of Josh Inglis and Axar’s of Marcus Stoinis put a brake on Australia’s run rate.Still, 88 off 39 in tough bowling conditions was always game on. Maxwell would have known this himself, having conceded 30 in the final over of India’s innings. He started the charge towards the target by thumping Avesh for six and four in the 16th and launching back-to-back sixes off Arshdeep in the 17th.A tidy 18th from Prasidh put the pressure back on Australia, but an expensive 19th from Axar, culminating in an error from Ishan Kishan behind the stumps brought the equation down to 21 off six balls. Wade and Maxwell got right on top of Prasidh, whose plans went awry with India’s slow over rate necessitating that he bowl with an extra fielder in the 30-yard circle. Prasidh went short, full and wide, and short and wide across the over, and it didn’t seem to matter, particularly to Maxwell.Ruturaj Gaikwad finished on 123* off 57 balls•Sportzpics

Gaikwad breaks free after Behrendorff’s miserly start

After Australia chose to bowl, Jason Behrendroff impressed on his return to the side with 17 dots in his four-over spell of 1 for 12. But Australia leaked 210 across their other 16 overs, including 64 in four from Aaron Hardie: the joint-most expensive spell in T20Is for Australia.Gaikwad was on a run-a-ball 22 when Suryakumar Yadav fell for 39 in the 11th over, with India’s score 81 for 3. Australia had an opening to plug the run flow initiated by Suryakumar after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan had fallen cheaply, but Hardie and Tanveer Sangha allowed Gaikwad to shift gears with some loose bowling. Gaikwad pulled them confidently when they dropped it short, and dispatched the full ones in the arc between long-on and deep extra-cover. This spurt of scoring enabled him to bring up his half-century in 32 balls.It was in the last three overs that the floodgates really opened, as India added 67 to their total. Gaikwad carted Hardie for three sixes and a four in the 18th over, before Nathan Ellis pulled things back slightly with a 12-run 19th. Wade went with Maxwell’s offspin for the 20th, however, and Gaikwad took full toll of the favourable match-up, clubbing three sixes and two fours in a 30-run over that took India to an imposing 222. Along the way, he brought up his century off 52 balls, and finished on 123 off 57.

His numbers since his international comeback are eye-watering: “it’s been a long journey but it’s not finished yet, hopefully”

Andrew McGlashan27-Oct-20223:46

What makes Rossouw so good against spin?

It has been a remarkable return to international cricket for Rilee Rossouw. After six years away, during which he took up a Kolpak deal in county cricket that did not go down well with CSA, he has now compiled back-to-back T20I centuries, alongside an unbeaten 96, in just seven innings.His numbers for the year are eye-watering: 340 runs at 68 with a strike rate of 184.78. In a way, those figures are made more extraordinary given he made two ducks against India. He has been given the pivotal No. 3 slot and has made it his own.Related

• Rossouw ton, Nortje four-for help South Africa demolish Bangladesh

All five of his T20 hundreds have come since 2019. In that time, he has averaged 38.55 with a strike-rate of 156.88; up to the start of 2019, the corresponding figures were 26.16 and 131.07. He is a player transformed in this format.He had come within one blow of a century in the second innings of his comeback, against England. But, against India in Indore, shortly before this tournament, he crunched a 48-ball hundred. Now, less than a month later, he has done it again and there was plenty of emotion on show at the SCG, a ground that had been good to him before. He has batted three times here for South Africa and passed fifty on each occasion.”I’m a very passionate man and getting across the line meant a lot to me, meant a lot to my family back home,” he said. “It’s been a good rollercoaster ride just to play for South Africa again, it’s been amazing. You know sometimes things go your way and this year has been like an unbelievable rollercoaster ride for me. So happy, so proud to be sitting here. Never thought about it in a million years.”It did not take him long to get going, any joy Bangladesh felt about removing Temba Bavuma in the first over quickly evaporating [that issue is not going away for South Africa]. On his eighth ball, Rossouw deposited Hasan Mahmud straight down the ground for six; in the next over there were two more, swept this time, off Mehidy Hasan Miraz.”If I get a boundary early in my innings I kind of feel like, okay, I could be on here today, and then I just grow from that confidence,” Rossouw said.A brief stoppage for rain did not really disrupt the flow, although there was some brief consolidation after the powerplay with Rossouw not finding the boundary in consecutive overs. Things got particularly ugly for Bangladesh in the 11th over, when Shakib Al Hasan, who had held himself back, was probably left wishing he hadn’t brought himself on when he was twice put into the stands over the leg side – the second off a huge no-ball full toss. To make matters worse, Bangladesh were penalised five runs when the wicketkeeper, Nurul Hasan, took a step back on the free hit, thus changing the field, which is not allowed.”I thought he played it well, played his cards [as he] could,” Rossouw said of Shakib’s decision to not bowl early on. “If I was in his shoes, I also probably wouldn’t want to bowl to myself or Quinton de Kock. He was hoping he could maybe get a breakthrough from one of the other bowlers… the longer it took for him to come into the game, the more attacking we were going to be.””So every moment you’ve got to cherish playing for your country”•ICC via Getty

Rossouw’s play against spin is among the best in the world: since 2021, only he, Alex Hales and Marcus Stoinis have averaged 35-plus and struck at 150 when facing spin. The amount of league and franchise cricket he has played around the world during his international absence played a key part, developing skills, notably a full range of sweeps, that can often not come naturally to batters brought up in South African conditions.”I think it’s somewhere I’ve definitely improved because I’ve played a lot of cricket in the subcontinent,” he said. “So I feel more comfortable now than what I used to maybe when I was in my 20s. You’ve got to expose yourself to that type of environment. And I’ve been fortunate enough in the last six or seven years of my career to be in that position, and it’s just made me a better player.”Rossouw sped into the 90s with three boundaries in four balls against Taskin Ahmed; the first of them highlighting terrific placement through point, the second brute power down the ground. He was within range of beating his 48-ball effort just a few weeks ago. In the end, the final five runs took a little bit longer – part of a wider slowdown in South Africa’s innings – but a dab into the off side got the run he most wanted. There was time for an eighth six before he found a fielder.”When you give up your right to play for your country, you expect, ‘okay, that’s just going be my last chance’,” he said. “So every moment you’ve got to cherish playing for your country. It’s been a long journey but it’s not finished yet, hopefully.”Rossouw missed out on what could have been a number of his best years at international level, but he’s doing all he can to make up for lost time.

Amid weather concerns, India and New Zealand fight for a taste of silverware after near-misses in recent ICC campaigns

Andrew Miller17-Jun-20214:48

Manjrekar: Losing the toss will be ideal for India

Big picture

Imagine that the guardians of Test cricket, in a bid to assess the future health of the grand old game, dispatch a delegate from its golden age through time and space to watch the inaugural World Test Championship final of 2021.You can take your pick as to when that golden era might exactly have been, but whatever their year of origin, any time-traveller alighting on Southampton this week might assume Test cricket was in a pretty moribund state. Here, after all, is the sport’s brand-new showpiece occasion, more than a decade in the making after endless false starts – ones that screamed, more than anything else, of a fundamental lack of faith in the product.And instead of taking its rightful place at Lord’s, Eden Gardens or the MCG, the contest has been shunted out to a souped-up service station on the lesser-travelled east-bound carriageway of the M27, where for the next five days (or six) India and New Zealand are braced for weather as torrential as the abuse that the WTC format has attracted in the past two years – not least from the new ICC chairman, Greg Barclay, who declared on the day of his investiture last autumn that it was “not fit for purpose”.

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A maximum of 4000 people a day will be permitted to witness the spectacle – 25% capacity, in keeping with the UK’s current lockdown restrictions. That figure might have been more come day four, and the government’s so-called Freedom Day of June 21, but that date is a can that has been kicked on down the road for another day.So there’s a fair amount conspiring to dampen the mood, you might say.There is, however, an alternative narrative, one that, with an iota of heft from those who profess to love and nurture the sport, could be resonating high above this current air of mild apathy.The WTC final will be taking place in spite of a once-in-a-generation global pandemic at the now-famous Ageas Bowl, cricket’s original bio-secure venue, the existence of which unequivocally saved the ECB’s bacon in the summer of 2020, and showed the wider cricketing world how to ensure that the show can go on in these times.Related

• Five things India must keep in mind in the WTC final

• Ajaz Patel primed to add new chapter to 'a hell of a story'

• Bowlers promise the familiar as well as the unknown

• How New Zealand have transformed into world beaters

The contest will also feature, indisputably and thankfully, the two best Test teams in the world.There’s been nothing pretty about the permutations on the WTC table. The pandemic caused such havoc to the Future Tours Programme that a points average had to be introduced to mitigate the rash of cancelled series. But after flirtations from two flawed outfits, England and Australia, it is India and New Zealand who have surged to the top of the tree, and irrespective of how the coming days pan out, it would be difficult to wish for two better representatives for Test cricket in 2021, both as a statement of its current health, and as an expression of its future hopes.First and foremost, India’s presence is sacrosanct. They are here because they are an outstanding, well-rounded outfit, unbeatable at home and now indomitable overseas, as their stunning, bare-bones triumph in Australia last winter testifies. But the presence of their vast market also gives the format hope of long-term traction – of TV viewership, sponsorship interest, administrative buy-in. All the things that we wish did not matter so much in elite-level sport, but which we know to be key to the cause.The prospective absence of India from such a showpiece had, after all, been the main sticking point in the broadcast negotiations for the format’s abortive first attempts. And now, as it happens, the near converse status applies. Following last month’s postponement of the IPL, the void in India’s daily sporting diet is so gaping that this one-off contest has an even greater opportunity to seize the limelight and the narrative – if the weather can give it half a chance, of course.Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli take part in a fielding drill on the eve of the WTC final•ICC via Getty

But then there’s New Zealand – the David to India’s Goliath, the stones in their shoe, as Thomas Tuchel said of Chelsea’s Champions League victory over Manchester City. They are a team that has become used to being patronised as plucky underdogs, but they have shown some seriously sharp teeth in their six-year journey to the uppermost echelons of the sport – via Brendon McCullum’s heavy-metal cricket at the 2015 World Cup, to Kane Williamson’s more sanguine but no less intense leadership in more recent years.Back at the 2019 World Cup, it was quietly suggested that New Zealand had pooped the Big Three party by knocking India out in their semi-final clash at Old Trafford. However, the extraordinary events of that subsequent final against England proved beyond all question their right to be considered among cricket’s on-field elite.As model of what cricket can be when it looks beyond the self-interest of its big boys, New Zealand’s achievements in recent years have been little short of heroic. Who, apart from 1.2 billion-odd Indians, would begrudge them a taste of silverware after such agonising near-misses in recent ICC campaigns?Most fundamentally, the WTC final is the start of something new for an ancient format. It’s taken nigh on 150 years for the sport to reach this point: a willingness to cap Test cricket’s eternal quest for with a true coronation event.There have been title fights in the recent past, but usually only of a dynastic nature – perhaps most famously, Australia’s epic series victory in the Caribbean in 1994-95, the moment at which West Indies’ two-decade hegemony was finally ended. The world rankings have added an extra frisson in recent years, especially since the introduction of the ICC’s Test mace in 2003, but all too often the handover moments have been lacklustre and debatable, more Duckworth-Lewis recalculation than heavyweight knock-out.Finally, however, the sport has got its moment, and two sides to savour. New Zealand have warmed up, if that is the right word, with a significant achievement in their own right – a first series win in England since 1999, courtesy a complete squad performance across two Tests at Lord’s and Edgbaston. From the form of Devon Conway on debut at Lord’s to Tim Southee’s ageless display of swing bowling in the same game, they have shown a cohesion that transcends mere experience, and Williamson’s elbow niggles aside, could not hope to be better placed for their shot at glory.5:13

Fire and Ice: The Kohli-Williamson story

India, by contrast, have had only an intra-squad practice to wet their whistle since arriving in England. Yet they have the depth of quality within their ranks to rehearse for most contingencies, and they have been acclimatising in Southampton throughout their build-up period, so could not be better attuned to the ground’s vagaries – not least the Australian-style acreage of its vast outfield.In spite of everything that has conspired against this concept, the moment has finally arrived for Test cricket to reach its pinnacle. Better late than never.

Form guide

India: WWWLW
New Zealand: WDWWW

In the spotlight

There were times during India’s recent home series against England in which Rohit Sharma was simply outstanding. His 161 on the first day in Chennai was more than his opponents managed in four of their next six completed innings, while his mastery of the ultra-spinning conditions in Ahmedabad provided an even more stark gulf in class. And yet, he arrives in England with a significant point to prove, given the gulf in his home and away averages is threatening to become every bit as much of a chasm. In 18 Tests in India, he averages a staggering 79.52 with seven hundreds and six fifties; elsewhere in the world that slumps to 27.00 from 20 matches, with his highest score outside of Asia coming in Auckland seven years ago, when he made 72 from No. 5. The challenge of the swinging ball, in particular Trent Boult’s arc back into the right-hander, will be a significant one for the whole Indian line-up, but the man at the top of the order has the form and the stature to set the tone for his team, so long as he heeds VVS Laxman’s advice, and focuses on the whereabouts of his off stump.It’s often said of Kane Williamson’s long-standing elbow injury that he is suffering “irritation” in the joint, which is arguably the only time such a mealy-mouthed emotion manifests itself in New Zealand’s extraordinarily chilled-out captain. Williamson missed the Edgbaston victory to give himself every chance of full fitness for this, the culmination of his five-year stint as Test captain, and whatever the long-term prognosis, he has done the needful to reclaim his place at No. 3, taking a cortisone injection in the lead-up to the match that he described, with typical under-statement, as “nice”. Like McCullum before him, Williamson’s personality is imprinted on his team – likeable, tougher than anyone gives them credit for, and perfectly content to be considered a touch dull if it affords them to space to extend their repertoire to its fullest. This week he’s been usurped by Steven Smith as the ICC’s No. 1-ranked batter, but this is a week, at long last, when such rankings can take second place to tangible rewards. If Williamson bats long, his team has a greater chance to slot into their roles around him.Kane Williamson and Tom Latham will be key to New Zealand’s batting effort•ICC via Getty

Team news

New Zealand made six changes for their series-sealing victory at Edgbaston last week, and they stitched together a perfect match-winning outfit from the outer extremities of their squad. From Will Young at No. 3 to Matt Henry with his player-of-the-match-winning haul, through to Ajaz Patel, who has now officially leap-frogged Mitchell Santner as the team’s premier spinner, every man in the XI did his duty to give the team management a serious dilemma. Ross Taylor’s mind-over-matter 80 will have done enough to reassert his hold at No. 4, while – fitness permitting – BJ Watling will return behind the stumps for the final appearance of his career. The real dilemmas centre on the fast bowling. Sentiment demands that the old guard – Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner – get the chance to finish the job that they have started, but Henry’s form is hard to ignore, as is Kyle Jamieson’s point-of-difference lankiness. Might they copy England’s approach, and bench Patel in favour of an all-seam attack? Wagner’s thirst for exhausting spinner-length spells, allied to Colin de Grandhomme’s canny swingers, would mitigate such an approach – even if England’s recent experience would caution against it.New Zealand (possible): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ajaz Patel/Kyle Jamieson, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult.The beauty of a one-off Test such as this is that both teams can, to a greater or lesser degree, sack off any over-riding concerns about the conditions and the team balance, or the need to prioritise certain players at certain venues, and just unleash the very best XI that they can muster. And to that end, India have chosen – notwithstanding a week of rain in the offing – to back their twin spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin to bring their A games in the first instance, and balance the batting in the second, in what on paper looks a devastatingly complete team. There’s a fire and ice mixture in the top six, where Rishabh Pant’s last Test innings in England gives no reason to doubt that he’s ready to kick on from a breakthrough start to his year. Had India felt they needed the extra batter, Hanuma Vihari would have been the back-up option. Jasprit Bumrah is the nailed-on new-ball option with Kohli opting for Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma as other pace options as the BCCI announced the team on the eve of the final. Shami was desperately unlucky on the last tour of England in 2018 – more so than his 16 wickets at 38.87 suggest – but Ishant has been averaging 23 in all conditions since 2015. The experience he’s gleaned in a 14-year career probably deserves to be trusted.India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.The WTC final will be taking place in spite of a once-in-a-generation global pandemic at the now-famous Ageas Bowl, cricket’s original bio-secure venue•ICC via Getty

Pitch and conditions

Gadzooks! The long-range weather forecast clearly has a sick sense of humour. The week began with the hottest day of the year in many parts of the UK, the mercury pushing a sweaty 30 degrees, but all it took was the suspicion of a final trim for Simon Lee’s lovingly prepared pitch for the heavens to open and all hell to break loose. Assuming the flood warnings subside sufficiently for play to get underway on Friday, Lee has promised a surface with “pace, bounce and carry”, which will please the seamers in both squads, and doubtless give Ashwin and Co. plenty to work with too. But if this weather persists, you can expect a nice fuzz of live grass too, many even an entire rainforest beneath the covers.

Stats and trivia

• India have lost both of their previous Tests in Southampton – by 266 runs in 2014, and by 60 runs in 2018.
• However, India did emerge victorious in all three of their previous ICC tournament fixtures at the venue, beating Kenya by 98 runs in the 2004 Champions Trophy, before overcoming South Africa and Afghanistan at the 2019 World Cup.
• New Zealand have won both of their previous completed fixtures at Ageas Bowl, two ODIs against England in 2013 and 2015.
• Williamson needs 44 runs to overtake Stephen Fleming’s aggregate of 7172 in Tests, and become New Zealand’s second-highest run-scorer of all time, behind Ross Taylor.
• Jadeja needs 46 runs to complete the 2000-run, 200-wicket double, a feat previously achieved by four Indians in Test cricket – Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Ashwin.
• India have beaten New Zealand just once in five previous ICC events – at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. They also lost in the final of New Zealand’s only trophy-winning campaign, the ICC knockout in Nairobi in 2000.

Quotes

“Every team has their challenges, and some people see ours as being a slightly smaller population. But we are just looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead, and committing to the sort of cricket that is important to us.”
“This is not one-day cricket, this is not a T20 game that finishes in a few hours. This a hard-brand of cricket, that we take a lot of pride in. And a great example of that was what you saw in Australia.”

For more than a year, the spectre of retirement has hung over Mashrafe Mortaza’s head despite his assertions to the contrary

Mohammad Isam13-Jan-2020The Mashrafe Mortaza Retirement Speculation Circus™ has rolled into its 13th month. The end of his side Dhaka Platoon’s BPL campaign on Monday became the latest occasion on which to pitch the uncomfortably large tent. The press conference, which at times veered into terse and tense exchanges, ended with Mashrafe clearly stating that he has “no interest” in receiving a prepared send-off from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). A response, no doubt, to board president Nazmul Hassan saying they had offered Mashrafe a massive going away party, “the likes of which has never happened and never will”.In the Circus™ terms, Monday’s press conference was better than his Friday proclamation where he questioned his own selection in the ODI side based on his 2019 World Cup performance. It was certainly edgier, as he shot back at every question that either contained the word “retirement” or hinted at it.His appearance in the BPL’s eliminator match itself had piqued the Circus™. Mashrafe played with 14 stitches on his left hand. He batted and bowled without showing any discomfort, and then took a one-handed catch to dismiss Chris Gayle. His wife and kids were seen in the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s grandstand too. Surely this was it?In the face of several questions, Mashrafe was firm in his stance to keep playing as long as he is enjoying the game, and not retiring just because the BCB president has said that they would throw a big party.”Till yesterday, I was a centrally contracted cricketer with the cricket board but not anymore,” Mashrafe said. “I always believe the BCB is the cricketers’ guardian. I never took pride in going against them. I thank the BCB for considering me to give me a proper send-off, but I don’t have much interest in it.”I have always said that a cricketer’s entire career isn’t only about playing for the national team. I think I have the freedom to play as long as I want. I think we have had bigger cricketers who couldn’t retire from the field. Habibul Bashar, who always made runs in crisis situation, didn’t get to retire while still playing. I think only Sujon [Khaled Mahmud] did it, but otherwise it is a rare case. I even have thought of it at times, but it is not really necessary.”This Circus™ couldn’t be avoided given Bangladesh have not had occasion to play any ODI cricket since July 2019. If there had been something – anything – during the home season, Mashrafe might have got some clarity. Instead, he’s stuck in the Circus™On Friday after Dhaka’s defeat to Khulna Tigers, Mashrafe had said that he wouldn’t expect to be picked in the ODI squad based on his World Cup performance.”As far as I am concerned, I shouldn’t be selected based on my one wicket in eight games at the World Cup. If I am selected, I will give my best. But how can I say I will play for the national team after taking one wicket in eight games? Someone else in my place would have been axed much earlier.”Mashrafe said that he got a lifeline when the selectors picked him for the ODI series against Sri Lanka last July, but since then he is unaware of their position since they have not been in contact with him.”I was picked for the Sri Lanka series, which would have been an opportunity for me to get back in form. But there hasn’t been any playing opportunities. I don’t know what the selectors are thinking. I haven’t spoken to them. But if they decide to give me a chance, I will certainly welcome it. The board shall decide whether I should be the captain too,” he said.In an ideal world, Mashrafe should have been left alone long ago, at least after the last match in the World Cup, where he didn’t announce his retirement even though he was largely expected to. He made himself available for the Sri Lanka series that followed, but missed it due to injury. It is now January 2020, and he has gone through a full season of the BPL, just like he has done over the last seven seasons. Clearly there is fire in the belly.The Circus™, however, rolls on. Next, perhaps, the tent will be pitched at the selection panel’s meeting for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in February or March. Nobody is paying attention to his repeated assertions that he wants to retire at his own discretion, never on anyone else’s, big party or no big party.

‘We feel they have the potential to be important members of Sri Lanka cricket in the future,’ Ashantha de Mel said of the batsmen, who are part of an extended 17-member squad

Madushka Balasuriya 30-Nov-2018According to the new chief selector Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka are hoping to give some of their out-of-favour batsmen a chance by announcing an extended 17-member touring squad for the upcoming two-Test series in New Zealand.”One of the reasons for extending the touring squad to 17 players was so that we could include the likes of [Sadeera] Samarawickrama and [Lahiru] Thirimanne,” de Mel told ESPNcricinfo. “We feel they have the potential to be important members of Sri Lanka cricket in the future.”Samarawickrama, 23, has long been identified as a player of tremendous potential, so despite an unspectacular Test career to date, his selection is a means of rewarding promise. Thirimanne’s meanwhile is a case of hitherto wasted potential; following a prolonged rough patch in 2017, he was dropped from the Test side, but de Mel believes he is someone who, even at 29, can offer something extra to the Sri Lanka team.”We feel he is someone who has the talent, but has been somewhat overlooked in the recent past,” de Mel said of Thirimanne. “Yes he hasn’t managed to put a string of good performances together yet, but it’s important that players like him get longer stints in the side.”Thirimanne’s latest recall is down to recent runs for Sri Lanka A, though his average of 23.06 in 29 Tests will give his detractors plenty of ammunition. De Mel, though, insists that Thirimanne deserves another shot, especially in seaming conditions – like those in New Zealand and Australia – that may bring the best out of the batsman. Indeed, in the three Tests he has played in those countries, he averages 41.90.”We found that he has done better on the faster, bouncier tracks that are likely to be produced in countries like New Zealand and Australia. When we prepare spin-friendly wickets at home, sometimes it’s hard for our batsmen to score runs consistently.”While it remains to be seen if Thirimanne gets a game on tour – de Mel has said he is unlikely to play the first Test – someone who is certain of a place is newly-appointed vice-captain Dimuth Karunaratne.Karunaratne’s promotion is down to his relative security in the side, as well as his analytical nature, explained de Mel.”Karunaratne is a thinking cricketer, and we wanted someone like that in that role, someone who will also help improve those around him,” he said. “His performances, in difficult batting conditions, against England were very impressive, and we hope to see him continue this form in New Zealand.”

Leicestershire reached the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast this season but are currently bottom of Division Two in the County Championship

George Dobell03-Sep-2017Pierre de Bruyn has left his role as Leicestershire’s head coach with immediate effect after tensions in the dressing became too much to resolve.He had been named in the role a year ago and began last October as Andrew McDonald’s replacement. Leicestershire reached the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast this season but are currently bottom of Division Two in the County Championship without a victory and did not make it out of the group stage of the Royal London Cup.Graeme Welch and John Sadler will take charge of the first team until the end of the season. Welch might also be in the frame for the role of England’s new bowling coach.De Bruyn first joined the club at the start of the 2016 season to work with 2nd XI before moving up to assistant coach. The promotion to head coach was his first high-profile position in cricket.The news is not a complete surprise, though. De Bruyn had not endeared himself with senior players when he provided an unflattering appraisal of their recent performances ahead of the season and there were rumours of serious clashes key figures in the dressing room.Notably, Angus Robson – the club’s highest Championship run-scorer in 2014 and second highest in 2015 – who left the club earlier in the season saying his relationship with the club had “broken down.”And while de Bruyn insisted he was committed to bringing through young players, the Leicestershire teams remained uncomfortably reliant on imports – many of them not especially young – from far and wide.”Sometimes things can’t wait until the end of a season and an issue has to be dealt with,” Wasim Khan, the Leicestershire CEO who appointed de Bruyn less than a year ago, told BBC Leicester. “At the end of the season we’ll do a thorough search and no doubt there’ll be interest from all over the world, but we want to make sure we get it right.”People’s characters are very different – characters either gel or not with individuals in any dressing room in any sport. Sometimes there’s disconnection, and if it becomes too much of a gap and too much of an issue, action has to be taken. Pierre is a good man and we’ve tried to make it work as long as possible, but unfortunately it just hasn’t worked out.”Most of all, though, it seems de Bruyn was simply unable to keep the squad on-side as he attempted to rebuild.Matters appear to have come to a head on the final day of the Championship match against Kent at Canterbury last week. With the third day lost to rain, promotion-seeking Kent indicated they would be prepared to set-up a chase but de Bruyn declined to take part. For a club rooted to the bottom of the table, it seemed an oddly conservative response and one that appears to have infuriated both Kent and the Leicestershire captain, Mark Cosgrove. Rumours persisted that several more players were threatening to leave the club if de Bruyn remained.”I would like to thank the board of directors for the great opportunity to become head coach of Leicestershire County Cricket Club, it has been a fantastic experience,” de Bruyn said in a statement. “I have enjoyed my time here and thank everybody at Leicestershire CCC for their support. I wish the club the best for the future and am now looking forward to the next challenge in my career.”While Wasim’s suggestion that there will be interest in the coaching job from “all over the world” there might be a concern that Leicestershire has been a troubled club for some time now. Turing it around is clearly not at all straightforward.

Cricket Australia’s experiment with a youth team in the Matador Cup will continue this summer, with the Cricket Australia XI confirmed as a seventh one-day team for 2016-17

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2016Cricket Australia’s experiment with a youth team in the Matador Cup will continue this summer, with the Cricket Australia XI confirmed as a seventh one-day team for 2016-17.The CA XI were included alongside the six states in the 2015-16 tournament and the squad was made up of young players who had missed out on selection in their respective state one-day squads.Although they suffered some extremely heavy losses and finished last on the Matador Cup table, they also provided one upset by beating Tasmania by three runs.CA XI squad members included Queensland legspinner Mitch Swepson, who has been chosen in the Australia A squad for a series of upcoming winter matches.”We said initially that we were prepared to back this for a two-year trial and we are sticking to that for the second season as we felt that there were significantly positive results for Australian Cricket,” CA’s executive general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, said.”With the postponement of the Test tour [to Bangladesh] last October, the CA XI came up against very strong state sides, which was wonderful for the competition but was also a tough introduction for the young group. It is important we continue to review the concept again this season, as there were many positives.”

Kevin Pietersen, skippering St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League while the Investec Ashes takes place without him, is exploring opportunities as a freelance batting consultant

Peter Miller10-Jul-2015As the Ashes takes shape in Cardiff, Kevin Pietersen is 4500 miles away playing for the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. While his thoughts on all things English cricket are well worn enough to be known by every fan of the sport worldwide, it is rare to hear Pietersen talk about his experiences as a travelling T20 batsman, how the format is evolving and where the shortest format sits in relation to the Test game.By Pietersen’s own admission he can live without fielding, but the art of batsmanship still excites him. As he reaches the end of his playing career – he celebrated his 35th birthday last month – he says is duty bound to pass on what he has learned.”Your responsibility when you finish is to hand over your knowledge and that is what I have been doing a hell of a lot,” he said. “I did it at Big Bash, I’ve done it at the IPL and I am doing it here at the CPL and it is just amazing.Pietersen takes pleasure when he hears his Zouks team-mate, Andre Fletcher, and others like him, describe him as a role model.”I had a wonderful opportunity working with him last year and adding a hundred and whatever stand the other day against Barbados Tridents batting together. It is just so cool that you can spend time with youngsters like that and grow people’s games and make people feel a lot more confident about the job that they are doing.”When Pietersen does call time on his career he says he is attracted to the role of batting consultant. He says discussions are under way although he would not be drawn on with whom. What he is very clear about is that when he does give up playing he is not interested in a coaching role in the year-round slog that is international cricket.”There are so many other things going on with business and my life that I can never, ever commit to being on the road 24/7 as a coach of an international team. There is no chance: that is not something that I am interested in. But I would be interested in speaking – and I have been speaking to some set-ups – about doing consultancy work which brings me in for a few weeks at a time and helps out with young batters.”Despite having played 127 Twenty20 matches all over the world, Pietersen says he is still learning, and that the process of information-sharing with young batsmen teaches him as much about his game as it does them about theirs.”Absolutely, you never, ever stop learning. And it is amazing that when you go and spend time with a youngster it just brings back memories of how you played and it also brings back simple techniques that you may have forgotten about and you think ‘I can actually do that now’. I have started doing some of the drills that I have taught others to do.”It is amazing that you think you know everything but that is when you come unstuck in our great game. The stuff that you might have forgotten and you take for granted when you are teaching somebody younger than you and learning the ropes, it brings back brilliant memories and simple basic techniques that you need to perform.”Pietersen is wary of comparing the different franchise tournaments that have popped up around the world, but it is interesting to hear how the events in Australia and the West Indies differ from the IPL. But it seems that the CPL’s reputation for freedom is well earned.”I don’t like comparing the competitions because they all bring positives to the domestic structure, but, yes, there is a lot more freedom at the CPL. It is similar to the Big Bash where you do whatever you want.”You can go out, you can spend a day on a boat, you can go play golf. You can go and party. You can spend a lot of time with friends. You’ve got the freedom to be yourself. Obviously in the IPL it is a lot more strict. I wasn’t there this year but it seems from all reports that it was pretty much ring-fenced and sort of closed off which players don’t like.”Speaking of the Big Bash, Pietersen says that playing in Australia when it isn’t an Ashes contest could not be more different.”Of course, it is hugely different. My relationship with the Australian public now is an amazing one because I am part of the Australian family in terms of the Melbourne Stars, the commentary stints that I did there, and just being about to play as a local in their local league, growing their league, growing their franchises and being attached to something that the Australians take to over a great period of the year.”I have always loved Australia, but obviously in the heat of an Ashes battle it is quite different, but being part of a franchise and having a home in Australia it is totally different.”I had such a positive reception whenever I walked out to bat, if I was commentating, if I was on the boundary, It was totally, totally different. I don’t think they saw me as just a pom, I think they saw me as someone who was there to entertain, somebody who was there to encourage the franchise system, somebody who was there to positively influence the game in Australia.”Pietersen has recently been made captain of his CPL side with the news that Darren Sammy will miss the rest of the tournament with a fractured hand. His association with T20 cricket and the franchises it has spawned grows year on year. Despite this he says Test cricket should remain the way that players are judged.”I think in terms of the not too distant future you will see guys definitely picking T20 ahead of 50-over cricket. I think that the guys that play Test cricket and have great careers in Test cricket are duty bound to talk positively about Test cricket because no one cares about your numbers in T20 cricket, no one cares about your numbers in one-day cricket.”People do care and your true test of character and your judgement amongst your peers is on your Test cricketing ability, not how you whack a little spinner or medium pacer in a franchise tournament.”It is how you deal with Test conditions. That is when you get tested – in Test match cricket – and that is where you are ranked by your peers. When you walk around the breakfast room of a hotel you don’t get judged on your T20 numbers you get judged on your Test numbers.”

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, could be considered for the ODI squad for the tour of India, days after he was dropped from the same, according to ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq

Umar Farooq19-Dec-2012Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, could be considered for the ODI squad for the tour of India, days after he was dropped from the same, according to ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Afridi looked in good form during the ongoing practice matches at the conditioning training camp ahead of the India tour, scoring two back-to-back half-centuries to press his case for a recall. He was, however, named in the Twenty20 squad.”If his form remains like this and we need him, we will definitely consider him,” Misbah said at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “The form of senior players, who are experienced enough, is very important. They are seniors, whenever you give performances like this it will be good for Pakistan.”Afridi had a poor World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, where he scored 30 runs in six matches at an average of six and claimed four wickets at 42.74. In his last 12 international innings across all formats, he averages 6.30 with the bat. He failed to make an impact in the recently concluded national Twenty20 competition and looked rusty.However, during the one-day practice matches, he scored 52 off 40 balls on Monday and clubbed another impressive 92 off 64 balls on Wednesday. He looked composed and controlled with the bat, cutting, sweeping and executing with a straight bat rather than slogging wildly. A lofty six over the bowler’s head into the dressing room was perhaps the biggest hit in the last three days. But if he is to cement his place in the side as an allrounder his bowling needs to improve. At the moment, though, his power hitting is a positive for Pakistan.Misbah said Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s batting consultant, has given the batsmen tips on how to tackle pressure while playing against India. “Inzamam has been very useful in helping us prepare both psychologically and mentally – what type of hurdles we are going to face, how to get out of it, how as a batsman you should carry yourself,” Misbah said. “No doubt in India-Pakistan cricket you have to play aggressive cricket and we will try to apply it over there.”Misbah was wary of India despite their defeat in the Test series against England at home. “There is no point underestimating them. We will have to play hard cricket. Every bowler has a role to play. Against India you need a balanced attack,” Misbah said, stopping short of naming Saeed Ajmal as their key bowler. “You can’t depend on any one, otherwise you will be under a lot of pressure. India has depth in their batting line-up and you can’t catch them with any one bowler.”