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Misfiring batsmen can get better says wicketkeeper, after captain stands apart from rest

Andrew Miller24-Jan-2021Jos Buttler has hailed Joe Root’s performances in the last two Tests in Sri Lanka as “a masterclass”, and believes that everyone in the England squad – not to mention those watching back home – can learn from his example after a superb display of technical and physical prowess in Galle.Root was unluckily run out by a direct hit from short leg off the final ball of the third day’s play for 186, his second hundred in consecutive Tests after making a match-winning 228 in last week’s series opener at the same venue. And Buttler, who was England’s next-highest scorer with 55 in a fifth-wicket stand of 97, was confident that the captain’s example would rub off on his dressing room, as they build towards both the climax of this match, and the forthcoming four-Test series in India.”It was a quite amazing innings,” Buttler said. “To back up his double-hundred in the first Test, both physically and mentally, and to show the application to go and do it again. Today it’s been a masterclass in batting against spin, and it has been a great education for all of us, watching from the sidelines. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching him and we’re gutted for him to get out in that fashion at the end of the day.”Nevertheless, the gulf between Root’s performances in this series and the rest of the England batting line-up has been stark – aside from Buttler, only Dan Lawrence with 73 in the first Test has so far passed fifty, and in England’s first innings of this match, Lawrence was one of three top-order batsman to fall in single figures to the left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya – alongside the openers, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, who have made 28 runs in six innings between them.But Buttler insisted that the work that all the players were putting in, plus the lessons that they could glean from watching a batsman such as Root at the top of his game, could still stand them in good stead for the rest of the winter.”Not just young players but older players and people watching from home can learn a lot from watching Joe Root bat against spin,” he said. “The dressing room is right behind those guys, it’s only a couple of innings and starting against spin is a different proposition.”They are putting in an immense amount of work in the nets and it’s important those guys continue to trust their game. Once you get through that initial period it does change and become more comfortable. We’ve seen in both sides, once you get in, there are runs to be had on these surfaces. Those boys are working hard and everyone is right behind them. I’m sure everything clicking is just around the corner.”Joe Root and Jos Buttler’s partnership steadied England•SLC

A focus on conditioning, Buttler added, had been a significant part of Root’s durability in the first two Tests – particularly given the sapping heat of Galle – and he praised the efforts of England’s nutritionist, Emma Gardner, who has been present in Sri Lanka to help the team with their preparations.”Sri Lanka is as challenging conditions as we face,” Buttler said. “So, again, that just adds to the magnitude of the efforts of Rooty’s innings, really. For the eight days of cricket so far, he’s been pretty much on the field. It seems a lot hotter, a lot more draining, than the first game, which had rain breaks as well, so we have to not just praise the tactical and technical aspects of his game, but the physicality and concentration to apply himself for so long.”Fuelling correctly is a big part of that,” Buttler added. “We are very lucky that Emma [Gardner], our nutritionist, is out here and she’s brilliant at getting the right information to people about what they need to eat and drink; what things they need to take on and when.”That’s been a big part of the performance so far and a great help for everyone to have her here guiding that side of things. We know the effects it can have on performance.”Asked if Root’s motivation had been redoubled by a relatively lean 2020, in which he failed to make a Test hundred for the first full year of his career, Buttler acknowledged that he had seemed especially determined during their brief warm-up phase in Hambantota.Related

• Joe Root's 100th Test: Standing on the shoulders of giants, his best yet to come

• James Anderson's enduring class masks England fears about spin support

• Determined, dominant Joe Root defies conditions to make batting look easy

• Joe Root stars with 186 as Lasith Embuldeniya takes seven in tightly-fought contest

• Root passes Boycott as fluent batting form sets agenda

“You can talk about his under-performing, but it’s pretty good for others,” Buttler said. “He certainly sits at the top table of cricketers in the world, and the standards he sets himself and drives on to achieve is what makes him so good.”That hunger to back up a double in the first game, to go and score another massive hundred, just shows where he is at with his game. Knowing how much he loves batting, having not been able to bat for a while and with the ODI tour in South Africa getting cancelled, he looks hungry in the middle.”England will link up with significant reinforcements when they depart for India on January 27, ahead of the first Test in Chennai on February 5. On Sunday morning, the three absentees in Sri Lanka – Ben Stokes, Rory Burns and Jofra Archer – all touched down in India, where they will undergo six days of quarantine – with the prospect of individual gym work from day three onwards – before commencing full training next Saturday, five days out from the start of the series.Buttler himself, however, will be heading in the other direction after the first Test. He has been rested for the final three Tests of the India tour, given his importance to England’s white-ball fortunes, with the five T20Is and three ODIs against India in March replicating the conditions that England can expect to face in the T20 World Cup at the end of the year.”Like most people, there have been discussions with the selectors and the coaches, because it’s important to try and find gaps,” Buttler said. “No one wants to miss games but the ECB are looking after player welfare in such a strange time with the pandemic, and in such a busy calendar for English cricket. This year is important so that’s why.”

The first two rounds have thrown up some mixed results for Australia’s Test incumbents and contenders

Alex Malcolm22-Oct-2019Who’s going wellMitchell Starc probably made the biggest statement this week. On a Drummoyne Oval surface that is typically batsmen-friendly he tore through Tasmania, taking 10 for 60 in 44.2 overs across the match. He bowled with serious pace after making some minor technical adjustments with New South Wales bowling coach Andre Adams and looks to be coming together nicely for Brisbane. The other quick who has put himself back in the mix is Jhye Richardson. He has bowled superbly for Western Australia taking nine wickets in three innings at an economy rate of under two. He is bowling as quickly, if not quicker than prior to his shoulder injury. On a batting front no one is hammering the door down. Shaun Marsh‘s double hundred will inevitably spark the almost annual debate over his career while Tom Cooper and Nic Maddinson also cashed in with doubles on the flat Junction Oval pitch but are some way from the Test mix. Marnus Labuschagne has scores of 69, 52, 32 and 72 not out which on the surface doesn’t jump off the page, but given the difficulty of the batting conditions at the Gabba they have been impressive returns.Who’s doing enoughDavid Warner will be in Brisbane after an outstanding century on a difficult surface against Queensland at the Gabba. There will be dissenting voices claiming he has two other low scores but that is part and parcel of opening the batting in Shield cricket in October. Marcus Harris could claim to have done enough to retain his place with a hundred and a half century in three innings. The century will have an asterisk next to it, however, given it came at the Junction Oval where 12 wickets fell in four days. He was also dropped twice in the innings. Of the genuine contenders, Will Pucovski is doing enough to keep his name in the mix. Like Harris he has a century and a half century to his name on the same pitches. He has four Shield hundreds now in 13 matches at an average of 54.45. There will be a lot of public support for his inclusion. Tim Paine’s spot was never in jeopardy but he quietened any murmurs with his first Shield century in 13 years, on the same day Alex Carey produced a century in Melbourne. James Pattinson‘s figures don’t leap out but he bowled some outstanding spells against South Australia and Western Australia without much luck. He deserves to be in contention to play in Brisbane. Michael Neser was part of the Ashes squad and has done his chances to debut in Australia no harm with 10 wickets in four innings, including 5 for 56 against South Australia. He’s doing enough to stay in the frame although conditions in Brisbane have certainly favoured the bowlers.Who needs to do moreYou could mount an argument Matthew Wade has done enough to be picked for Brisbane. Scores of 40, 20, and 40 suggest he’s still playing well but he knows there are no guarantees, despite two Ashes centuries. Usman Khawaja is under pressure. Scores of 1, 24, 2, and 0 have done nothing to push his case for a recall, although his failures in the last match against South Australia need deeper scrutiny from the selectors as he appeared to be the victim of not one but two questionable umpiring decisions. He has also batted in the toughest conditions in Australia, although Labuschagne’s success makes those mitigating circumstances harder to argue for. Travis Head made a painstaking and unconvincing 51 against Victoria but butchered a golden chance to make a monstrous century as Cooper did on a road at the Junction Oval. He followed that with a 25-ball duck and 12 against Queensland, falling to two loose shots. Cameron Bancroft‘s form has dropped off quite significantly since his impressive performance in the Southampton practice match prior to the Ashes. He has scores of 30, 0, 10 and 6 not out so far this season and isn’t in the Test frame at this stage. Joe Burns was a man to watch but he probably hasn’t done enough to dispel whatever doubts that continue to surround him as a Test player, despite batting on some tough tracks. He has reached 20 in three of his four innings at the Gabba but his highest score is only 52. Peter Siddle, who played in Australia’s last Test, has been injured but did not set the world alight in his first game back against Western Australia.

An Anderson delivery did damage to the middle finger of the keeper’s left hand, but he is expected bat for England if needed

Melinda Farrell at Trent Bridge20-Aug-2018Jonny Bairstow gave England an unwelcome injury scare, sustaining a fractured finger before lunch on the third day at Trent Bridge, raising the prospect of a keeping and batting reshuffle being needed for the fourth Test, but he is expected to be able to bat as England try to survive two days or score 521 for victory.Bairstow was struck on the left hand in the 44th over after Cheteshwar Pujara left a James Anderson ball that swerved significantly. The blow clearly left the wicketkeeper in intense pain as he rolled on the ground, clutching his injured hand.Jos Buttler took the gloves for Englnad as Bairstow was taken to hospital for scans, which revealed a “small fracture” to the tip of the middle finger of his left hand but it was not displaced which improves Bairstow’s chances of a swifter recovery.”We will see how it is in the morning, it is fracture but it’s not displaced which is the good thing,” Bairstow told Channel 5. “We are hopeful with more icing overnight and a bit of protection. It’s the middle finger and it’s my top hand, so I tend not to use it much”It’s part and parcel of keeping wicket, you will cop a few on your fingers. It wobbled and did what it typically does in England sometimes does, so unfortunately copped it on the end.”The impact on Bairstow beyond the conclusion of this Test will be assessed in the coming days, but while the gloves can pass to Buttler in a reasonably seamless shift – a move championed by some, including ESPNcricinfo analyst Mark Butcher, as the way England should balance their Test side – if he was ruled out it would leave England needing to bring someone into the middle order for the Ageas Bowl Test which starts on August 30.”The doc’s been working on him this evening to relieve a bit of pressure in the nail, so hopefully when needed he’ll be okay,” Paul Farbrace, England’s assistance coach, said. “A lot will depend on how the next few days go, and the soreness in terms of catching balls on a consistent basis. We’ll have to see how he goes.”I’m no expert on broken fingers, but because it’s not a displaced break, then he should be okay, and it’s just a case of managing the pain level as opposed to doing any further damage. There’ll be a big bit of plastic stuck over his glove. Let’s see how he goes over the next couple of days. If there was a risk of making it worse, he wouldn’t bat.”Upon his return to the ground, Bairstow sat on the balcony of the home dressing room with his left hand plunged into a pint glass filled with ice. As Bairstow’s injury was external, as per the rules he would be able to bat whenever required even though he didn’t return to the field. Bairstow is currently England’s leading run-scorer in this series with 206 runs, including two fifties.

Kyle Coetzer has said Scotland, after putting in stellar performances against Full Member nations, deserve more chances than they’re currently getting

Peter Della Penna19-Jun-2017On May 21, Scotland’s home season began in momentous fashion with a seven-wicket demolition of Sri Lanka. On June 15, they secured another famous win, beating Zimbabwe by 26 runs. Now, after just 10 scheduled days of cricket, it’s all been wrapped up.”We play 10 days of cricket and that’s our season over. Where are we meant to go?” Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s just the frustration. We feel we’re playing good cricket. We just want to play more cricket. Ten days of cricket in our season just isn’t enough, clearly.”So we need to find ways around that. I guess we need some support too, to make sure we can get those extra fixtures. Fair play to Zimbabwe coming here and playing us in a couple of games. They like the idea of playing cricket and so do we, so we need to try and do that a bit more often.”One of the main legislative points of this week’s ICC annual conference is to determine whether Ireland and Afghanistan, the two preeminent Associates, should be granted Test status. Along with the right to play five-day matches, the increased funding and fixture opportunities are of great significance to up and coming teams.Scotland, however, are starting to get left behind. They are one of six Associates with ODI status, but lack a place on the 12-team World Cup qualification rankings table. While there is traditional lip service during World Cups about getting more games arranged for Associates against Full Members, Scotland’s series against Zimbabwe comprised their first ODIs against Full Members since the 2015 World Cup.Even with such limited opportunities, Coetzer said his side showed against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe that they are on the rise. “I think it’s pretty clear to see that the gap is getting closer and closer. Obviously on our behalf, having won the two games we have throughout this ten-day period is pretty massive for us. We need to be playing more cricket, it’s as simple as that.”There is a chance that Zimbabwe Cricket might invite Scotland over for a reciprocal tour in the coming months. The team’s captain Graeme Cremer said as much after a series-levelling six-wicket victory on Saturday. “We’ve enjoyed Scotland, the people are great here and they’ve looked after us. We’d love to come back here. We’re looking to have them later on in the year come to us. So that would be good if we can form that relationship with them because they play tough cricket. We know that and it’s good to have opposition that gives you a tough time.”‘It’s just the frustration. We just want to play more cricket. Ten days of cricket in our season just isn’t enough clearly’ – Kyle Coetzer•Peter Della Penna

This series, in addition to helping Zimbabwe build up to a tour of Sri Lanka starting June 30, was also a chance to get accustomed to conditions considering Scotland and Ireland have jointly bid for the rights to host the 2018 World Cup Qualifier in April. Likewise, Scotland would also benefit from an advance series in Zimbabwe should the qualifying tournament be held there.”We knew with us coming here, we need to assess conditions in case we do play [the 2018 Qualifier] here,” Cremer said. “We’re hoping we’ll get the bid and have it in our home country but that’s not up to us. It’s nice to come and see what you might be up against and we might meet Scotland in a crucial game in the Qualifiers so it’s good to play these teams and know what we’re up against.”Meanwhile, Netherlands – who host Zimbabwe for three ODIs this week – sit three points clear of Scotland on the WCL Championship table. The winner of that competition is expected to be the 13th team in the proposed ODI League to be used to determine the teams that play the 2023 World Cup.”After beating Namibia and then Namibia coming back and beating us, it’s clear to see that gap [at the lower end] is even closer too,” Coetzer said. “Namibia came over with a very strong team having lost in the final of the Cricket South Africa [provincial] competition. So they’re not a bad team at all. They’re a good cricket team and there are a lot of good cricket teams in that WCL.”For us, looking at the situation where we are at the moment, we’ve lost two games. That’s all we’ve lost in the WCL so far: played 10, lost two. Where we sit is where we sit. You can’t expect sides to go out and win every single one of their games. How is that meant to happen?”But what we do know is that we need to play more cricket. We need more fixtures like this [against Zimbabwe] and more of an even share of some of that money that’s going around because that will help us go a long way, help us keep our players in the game as long as possible.”

Pacers could have a bigger role to play in St Kitts as Australia and South Africa square off in their third fixture of the tri-series

The Preview by Firdose Moonda10-Jun-2016

Match facts

Saturday, June 11 2016
Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)

Big Picture

Round Two. All even. Just about.The Guyana leg of this triangular series resulted in a win for each of the three teams, with South Africa and Australia claiming bonus points. The caravan moves to St Kitts, where South Africa and Australia kick off proceedings on Saturday.Relations between both countries have improved since the sides last met, after South Africa agreed to play a Day-Night Test in Adelaide in November after initially rejecting the idea. It’s only fitting that on the field, they are battling under lights at the moment, with South Africa having the upper hand.After being run down by Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard in the tournament opener, South Africa surged back to humble Australia, who just two days earlier had brought West Indies down to earth.Bowling has been South Africa’s stronger suit thus far, with Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, in particular, excelling in dual roles of attacking and containing. That has meant time on the bench for Morne Morkel, although he is likely to force his way in at some stage.Australia’s attack has been equally impressive. After restricting West Indies to under 120, they dismissed South Africa for 189. Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood have been misers and their two spinners – Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa – have worked well together. That leaves both teams with concerns over their batting.South Africa’s tail was exposed too early in both matches and while Australia were untested in their first outing, they fell apart against quality seam and spin in their second. Some of that may come down to conditions, however. Providence’s slow, spinner-friendly surface made for slow scoring rates and a scant boundary count, but that should change with change in venue.Both line-ups will want to work on partnership-building in what could be an important match in deciding who holds the advantage before they take on the hosts.

Form guide

(last five completed games most recent first)Australia LWLWL
South Africa WLWWW

In the spotlight

Faf du Plessis’ recovery from a finger injury and Dean Elgar’s calls up means there’s that much more pressure on JP Duminy to perform. Duminy has not scored an ODI half-century in eight innings, since July 2015 against Bangladesh. He has had starts in both innings in the tournament, but uncertainty outside offstump has cost him.Unlike Duminy, Australia’s captain Steven Smith hasn’t managed to get into double figures in either of his innings so far. Smith has been out lbw on both occasions while shuffling across his stumps to play through the onside. He will want to get back to the kind of form he was in against India earlier in the year, when he hit a century and a fifty, along with two scores in the forties.

Team news

After resting Mitchell Starc from their first meeting with South Africa on Tuesday, Australia will be keen to unleash him here. The changing conditions could mean space for only one of Zampa or Lyon, with Nathan Coulter-Nile and Josh Hazlewood forming part of the pace attack.Australia: (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steve Smith (capt), 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Adam Zampa/Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodRilee Rossouw’s injury should pave way for du Plessis’ return at No. 3 even though Dean Elgar has been called-up as a replacement. South Africa are unlikely to field three specialist spinners again. That would leave them with a choice between Aaron Phangiso, the left-arm spinner, and Tabraiz Shamsi, the left-arm wrist spinner. They may opt for a holding spinner in Phangiso if Morkel gets a game. Shamsi could yet find a place if Kyle Abbott plays.South Africa: (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Morne Morkel/Kyle Abbott, 10 Aaron Phangiso/Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Imran Tahir

Pitch and conditions

The biggest difference between Warner Park and Providence is the size. Smaller boundaries are likely to mean more big hits, although a livelier surface could bring the pacers into play a lot more than they did in Guyana. The rain threat from Guyana has been reduced to next to nil, although humidity levels could test the players’ fitness.

Stats and trivia

• The average first innings score at this ground is 282, well ahead of the Providence’ average of 211.
• Both Australia and South Africa have made totals over 300 here, Australia four times including a match-winning 377 for 6 against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup and South Africa once.
• Warner Park is the venue of Herschelle Gibbs’ six consecutive sixes against Netherlands at the 2007 World Cup.

Quotes

“I just thought we didn’t pick the ball out of the spinners hand. It’s just the basics of batting. We needed to be a bit more patient, maybe. We talked about adapting, we’ve talked about partnerships. Probably we didn’t do any of those things the other night.”

Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has said he is eyeing a return to competitive cricket after a knee injury he suffered in South Africa kept him out of action for more than six months

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2013Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul has said he is eyeing a return to competitive cricket after a knee injury he suffered in South Africa kept him out of action for more than six months. Gul suffered the injury in the second ODI of the series against South Africa and six weeks after undergoing a knee surgery in Australia in May, he started his rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.”I’m pretty optimistic of getting back the rhythm as I feel fine at the moment,” Gul told , a Pakistan daily. “It is just that there is no competition at present to find out the actual status of [my] fitness. Everything appears to be settling down. The knee is fine with no signs of ill-effects from the surgery I had a few months ago. Over the past 15 days, I have started bowling in the nets as well.”Pakistan’s next international series is next month, against South Africa again, and Gul said he has started bowling in the nets but the absence of any form of cricket currently has made it difficult for him to assess his fitness and form properly. His fitness will most likely be assessed by the PCB during the pre-tour camp, which begins in Lahore next week.”I am yearning to play some matches to test myself,” he said. “Although I have trained [during rehabilitation] and then bowling [in the nets], one can’t aspire to judge both the level of fitness and form if there is no competitive sort of matches.”The injury kept Gul out of the Champions Trophy, Pakistan’s tour of West Indies in July and the series against Zimbabwe in August and September. Pakistan’s performances varied in these months as they first lost their three matches in the Champions Trophy, won the ODI and Twenty20 series against West Indies and Zimbabwe but suffered a shock defeat in the second Test against Zimbabwe to share the series 1-1. Whatever the results, Gul said he was not worried about missing out on cricket because of the surgery.”I’m obviously not worried about the number of matches I missed because of the surgery,” he said. “But it was quite difficult to sit out and watch team-mates playing without me. Fortunately, the injury this time was not as serious as the one I suffered in 2004 when three stress fractures of the back sidelined me from the game for more than a year. At that stage I feared my career was over.”Starting October 14, Pakistan will host South Africa in the UAE for two Tests, five ODIs and two T20s, a tour Gul would be targeting. However, his recovery in the next few weeks will decide if he will be able to regain full fitness or not.”It will be a great Test series because Pakistan have the potential to compete against them,” Gul said. “We may have lost against them earlier this year but our side can win because the conditions will suit us more than we encountered in South Africa. I would love to play against them, but it all depends how it all goes for me in the coming weeks.”

Steven Finn was confident of a smooth transition between the England captaincy regimes of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook

George Dobell30-Aug-2012If there were any doubts about the smooth transition between the captaincy regimes of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, they should have been largely dispelled by the comments of Steven Finn ahead of the third ODI of the series between England and South Africa at the Oval.Finn, in many ways, represents the new England. Aged just 23, he has the talent to represent the international team in all formats for much of the next decade. While still perceived as a relatively junior member of the attack, he is quickly emerging as the most dangerous bowler and, having come through the England system from Under-16 level, he is well-placed to speak about life as part of the England development programme.Finn’s experience as an England player also reflects that of many of the next generation. Like Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor, Finn has played under the captaincy of Strauss and Cook and understands that, while the personality of the captain may have changed, the policies and principles that have governed this side for some time have not.Finn actually made his Test debut under Cook, called into the England squad for the tour of Bangladesh in early 2010. But, as a county colleague of Strauss at Middlesex, he has known him for even longer.”The first time I met him was when I was 14,” Finn said. “I was bowling in the indoor nets just before he was going off to the West Indies for a one-day tour, I think.”I jagged one down to him, he ducked under it and fell over. I remember the coach shouting from the back of the net, ‘You just got put on your arse by a 14-year-old!’ That was the first time I ever met him. It was quite a surreal scenario: a 14-year-old bowling to an England player and eventually being in the same team as him.”But Cook was the one who told me I was making my Test debut, so that always holds a great place in my heart. He made it very easy for a young player to come into an England team and just settle in, go about my business. That was the first experience I had of being in an England dressing-room and Alastair was excellent at welcoming me in and making me feel like one of the boys.”I think the transition between the two will be smooth. Alastair has been used to working with Andy Flower as one-day captain. Alastair may have his own plans to introduce to the Test team but I would imagine the fundamentals will be very similar. We won’t see a drastic change and I think that’s good for us as a team.”Finn, like most of the England players, was only informed of Strauss’ decision to retire after the ODI on Tuesday night. He was also among those to be given a letter from Strauss.”It was a surprise,” Finn said. “There were some shocked faces in the dressing room when we were told. Obviously it’s a disappointing time when somebody who has been so great and inspirational for us as a team and a sport steps down from their position. Yes, there were some sad and disappointed people.'”He’s been a massive part of my career. It’s been great to have him there at first slip when he’s come back to Middlesex and to have him there to bounce ideas off and talk about different scenarios has been fantastic.”He didn’t want to be influenced by other people. That’s part of the reason he didn’t talk to the players before his decision. The letter just said he’d had a great time leading us and has been very proud leading us. We’ve been very proud to have him as our captain.”But Cooky is a similar sort of leader to Straussy. He leads from the front as an opening batsman. He goes out and sets the tone, which is very good for a captain. He’s grown into his role as a one-day captain and we’ve played quite aggressive cricket, especially with the way we’ve attacked people with ball and bat. I have a slip quite a lot when I’m bowling, which you don’t always see in ODI cricket. That can only bode well for the future.”While the end result of Tuesday’s ODI was a thumping win for South Africa, Finn made the perfectly reasonable point that the margins between the sides were perhaps not quite as big as might be presumed from the scorecard. England’s opening bowlers, Finn and James Anderson, beat the bat frequently in the early overs and might, with a little bit of luck, have claimed several early wickets.”Amla had a couple of lives,” Finn said. “We could have had either him or Graeme Smith quite early. I thought we bowled well up front and we could have taken a couple of wickets, but it wasn’t to be. Amla is obviously in very good form at the moment and people are allowed to play well against us and we have to find a way to counteract that.”As an opening bowler who has played a fair amount of county cricket in recent times, Finn might be expected to have well-informed views about the potential top-order replacement for Strauss in the Test team. While he was reluctant to be drawn on the issue, it was interesting to note the two names he mentioned: Nick Compton, who is enjoying a prolific season for Somerset, and Michael Carberry, who enjoyed a brief taste of Test cricket alongside Finn in 2010.”There are some excellent guys out there,” Finn said. “Nick Compton has had an excellent season, Michael Carberry has played international cricket as an opening batsman in Bangladesh. We made our debut together. So there are definitely guys out there are more than capable of coming in and playing Test cricket.”

Ishant Sharma has said he will undergo surgery on his injured ankle after the conclusion of India’s tour of Australia tour early next year

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2011Ishant Sharma has said he will undergo surgery on his injured ankle after the conclusion of India’s tour of Australia tour early next year. Ishant was ruled out of the limited-overs series against England after he sustained a ligament injury to his left ankle during the third Test at Edgbaston.”It [the tour of Australia] is a very important tour and nobody wants to miss it,” Ishant told the . “So I’ll get the surgery done only after the Australian tour. I am going to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, where I’ll stay for a week or 10 days to undergo rehab and seek a proper schedule. At the moment, I’ve been told to do strengthening exercises.”At the time of the announcement of the team for the limited-overs series, a board release said Ishant had responded well to treatment on his ligament “but will need to undergo a course of intensive rehabilitation and training to prevent recurrence of the pain in his left ankle”. Ishant, however, said surgery was unavoidable. “I have a ligament tear in my left foot, and there is also a bone impingement in my left ankle. Surgery is the only way out. But if I undergo that now, my foot will be in plaster for about three months and the rehabilitation in all could take about 6-8 months.”India travel to Australia in December and will play four Tests, two Twenty20s and a tri-series also involving Sri Lanka, with the final game of that tournament slated for February 28. A rehab period of six to eight months means Ishant could miss the IPL, which is expected to be played in April-May 2012, as well as a yet unconfirmed Test and ODI series against Pakistan prior to that. India tour Sri Lanka for three Tests in July, and then host New Zealand for three Tests in August-September. This will be followed by the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and the Champions League. If Ishant goes through with his plan, he is only likely to be back when India host England for four Tests in November-December.Ishant had a busy Test series in England from the time Zaheer Khan injured himself on the first day at Lord’s. He was the second-highest wicket-taker for India in their 0-4 defeat and said Zaheer’s absence had a bearing on the team’s performance.”You can’t say our morale went down,” Ishant said. “We were always in the game. But if a bowler with 10 years of experience isn’t there, it affects the performance. We had England on the ropes in the second innings at Lord’s, and if Zaheer was there and had taken a couple of wickets, the result could have been different.”Ishant dismissed Kevin Pietersen with a short ball in the second innings of the Lord’s Test, a wicket he will “cherish a lot”. He said bowling in English conditions had been a tremendous learning experience. “Bowling in different venues in different conditions teaches you a lot. In India, you know that after the initial burst, you have to wait for the third or fourth day to get something i.e. reverse swing. In England, if the sun is out and there is no moisture on the track, it gets really very flat and that makes it tough to bowl on.”

South Australia pushed the much-fancied Mumbai Indians to the brink of elimination after a pulsating match in Durban

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran14-Sep-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Cameron Borgas and Tom Cooper were part of an amazing heist•Getty Images

South Australia pushed the much-fancied Mumbai Indians to the brink of elimination after a pulsating match in Durban, pulling off a massive chase to make it two wins in two and get a toehold on a place in the final four. In a game filled with frenetic scoring, Mumbai’s abysmal fielding gifted the opposition plenty of lives and free runs, which proved to be the major difference between the two sides.Mumbai seemed overwhelming favourites when Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo were dancing to the music after Pollard mowed Shaun Tait for the biggest six of the tournament in the penultimate over. However, there were cameos to outshine the Trinidad duo, as a nerveless South Australia plundered 69 off the final 5.3 overs to snatch victory. The late fireworks would have been to no avail had it not been for the solid 112-run opening stand between Daniel Harris and captain Michael Klinger.With 41 needed off 18 deliveries, and with two new batsman at the crease, South Australia seemed headed for defeat. The choice for Mumbai was to go with either Bravo or the spinner Ali Murtaza. Sachin Tendulkar opted for Bravo, who was carted for three fours in his over by Dan Christian and Cameron Borgas. Still, Zaheer Khan removed Christian in the next over. Borgas was on 9 off 3 at that stage, and after a sliced four over point handed strike to the new man, Tom Cooper, formerly of the Netherlands.Cooper faced the next five deliveries, which was all he needed to wrap up the game. The first was a full toss on the pads nonchalantly flicked over fine leg for six, before a yorker was kept out for a single to retain strike. Eleven off the final over from Harbhajan Singh. The third delivery was whipped to deep midwicket where JP Duminy dived to keep it to two. The next was swiped way over the stands to make the equation three off four. A full toss was offered, duly thumped past mid-on for four leaving Cooper in dreamland. He finished with 19 off 5, making Borgas’ 14 off 5 seem a little bit pedestrian.Before the manic finish, Harris and Klinger got over a rough beginning full of swings and misses. They also capitalised on the many chances Mumbai offered – Tendulkar and Tiwary dropping catches, and Duminy missing a run-out – and started to hit out once the main bowlers, Zaheer and Lasith Malinga, were taken off. Murtaza was welcomed with a couple of sixes, Bravo taken for 18 in the 11th and Pollard slapped around for 16 two overs later.Mumbai hit back, taking a wicket in each of the next four overs to reduce South Australia to 140 for 4, but the tenacity and brilliance of Borgas and Cooper proved too much in the end.Mumbai had earlier showed their batting wasn’t overly reliant on their captain, Tendulkar, by fighting back from 59 for 3 at the halfway stage to finish at a strong 180. After South Australia’s unheralded spinners stifled the scoring in the middle overs, Saurabh Tiwary and Pollard clobbered 58 from four overs to transform the match.Mumbai were at an unsatisfactory 79 for 3 after 12.1 overs when Pollard walked in. Tiwary and Pollard smashed sixes over long-off in the rest of the over to kick start the innings. Pollard blasted another over long-on in the next before showing off his touch, paddling a full ball wide of fine leg for four to move to 18 off 8.It was then time for Tiwary to take over. He mauled left-arm spinner Aaron O’Brien for 25 in the 16th, belting two sixes over midwicket and another over wide long-on off consecutive deliveries. In four overs, the Mumbai run-rate sprang from 6.5 to 8.5Pollard and Tiwary provided most of the pyrotechnics, but contrasting efforts from Ambati Rayudu early on and Dwayne Bravo at the end were also important contributions.Rayudu had scratched around early on when Mumbai was in trouble. He was just opening out by cracking the left-arm spinner O’Brien for a four and an effortless six over extra cover when he mishit Cullen Bailey to hand him his first Twenty20 wicket. Bravo came in with Mumbai on top and pushed them into a position of command with a four-filled cameo, looting 22 off 12 deliveries.The tall total that Mumbai finished with hardly looked possible given their insipid start. Shikhar Dhawan didn’t bother with footwork and was caught out by the away swing of Gary Putland in the second over. Tendulkar was also not at his fluent best, swinging and missing several wide deliveries. He handed Dan Christian a pasting in the fifth over, but struggled otherwise, nearly stumped in the sixth before being cleaned up by O’Brien, charging down the track and attempting a swing towards long-on but beaten by the lack of turn.South Australia celebrated the dismissal wildly, but the celebrations weren’t as big as when Borgas and Cooper turned it on at the death.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Arsenal and Aston Villa produced a thrilling encounter at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

For much of the game, it looked as though the Gunners would come away with nothing as the Villans twice took the lead, first through John McGinn and then Wesley Moraes.

However, despite being reduced to ten men after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off for two bookable offences, the Gunners put in a gutsy second-half display to come away with all three points thanks to a 3-2 victory.

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It was a big day for Nicolas Pepe, in particular. The Ivory Coast international has endured a slow start to the season, but he finally got his first goal for the club against the promoted side, albeit from the penalty spot. Nevertheless, his display was full of attacking threat.

The 24-year-old led the way in so many of the offensive statistics for Unai Emery’s side. He registered the joint-most shots on target – two, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hitting the same number – and he also had the most successful dribbles, with three. None of his teammates were able to match the four key passes he registered, either, showing that his vision was on point.

In general, his passing was impressive. He had an accuracy of 91.4%, and also provided three accurate crosses. Once again, that was the most on his team, and indeed across both sides.

It was important to note that Pepe was back in his favoured position on the right-wing for this match. Last weekend, against Watford, Emery had decided to play him up front alongside Aubameyang.

While he was not necessarily poor against the Hornets, he was not as effective alongside the Gabon international. Here against Dean Smith’s side, though, he was able to display the full array of weapons he has at his disposal.

The Emirates faithful will be hoping that their team can do it the easier way in future. With Pepe beginning to hit his stride in England, the chances of that happening will only increase.