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The BCCI will make its decision by December 2 after seeking opinion from the states

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020The 2020-21 Indian domestic season could be limited to just white-ball cricket as several state associations have told the BCCI that they prefer to play the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. A final decision is expected to be made by the BCCI soon after it seeks opinion from the states by December 2.With the Indian domestic season failing to start on time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BCCI sent out an email on Sunday, asking state associations to pick their preference from four options by Wednesday. The options included: only Ranji Trophy, only Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy, or only the limited-overs tournaments – along with tentative dates for each, in the timeframe between December 20 and March 18.ESPNcricnfo understands several states, including defending Ranij Trophy champions Saurashtra, domestic heavyweights Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, along with Baroda and Punjab, are all in favour of playing primarily the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare tournaments.The outliers among those contacted by ESPNcricinfo are the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) along with the Andhra Cricket Association and the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), who have chosen the option of playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy followed by the Ranji Trophy.The BCCI had listed December 20-January 10 as the window for the domestic T20s. The Ranji Trophy would span 67 days starting January 11 through March 18. The Vijay Hazare Trophy has been proposed between January 11 and February 7.The major concerns that the states have expressed are centered around preparation and team selection. While some states have gradually begun to restart operations, training camps, and local tournaments over the last few months, the majority of them will be forced into a hurried pre-season based on BCCI’s current proposed dates.According to Shah the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy should also be conducted “group-wise” and preferably in the same zones to avoid travel hurdles amid the pandemic. Most states associations also pointed out that based on the conduct of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the state of the pandemic in the country at the time, the BCCI could look at staging the Ranji Trophy thereafter.Rohit Pandit, chief executive officer at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, said that the central Indian state was “more or less okay” with the BCCI’s proposed dates. Given that cricket in the state has been ongoing since July, he pointed out that logistical challenges aside, the team should be ready.In a press release, the KSCA said they were pushing for all kinds of cricket – men and women, across age groups – to resume to safeguard the welfare of those who are involved in the game. They are also understood to be willing to play hosts, with at least eight first-class standard grounds available in the state.”We, KSCA, have suggested to the BCCI to conduct T20 and Ranji Trophy, and later Vijay Hazare Trophy,” the release said. “We have further suggested to conduct all tournaments for both men and women, for all age groups for the season 2020-21. We have further said, if need be, skip the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. We have said in case the activities are not held, then all the direct stakeholders including players, especially the age-group category cricketers, umpires, scorers, video analysts, coaches, support staff and others will stand to lose substantially on the cricketing front as well monetary front.”Bengal, who finished runner-up in the Ranji Trophy last season, are in favour of playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy. The Cricket Association of Bengal, which is currently headed by Avishek Dalmiya, has also expressed keenness to be one of the six bio-secure venues for the forthcoming domestic season.A senior office bearer at Mumbai Cricket Association said that it was “it was a difficult ask which BCCI has to handle” and hence in its response the MCA had not put any conditions, including when the tournament should begin.Incidentally, the MCA is yet to resume cricketing activities and Mumbai are currently without a selection committee as well as a head coach. VCA has also asked the BCCI to facilitate resumption of cricketing activity in Maharashtra in order for players to get ample time for preparation.Some states like Tamil Nadu have already set the ball rolling and have called for a selection meeting later this week to pick a longlist of probables. Most states have asked the BCCI to make their decision soon and provide the tournament dates so that they can pick the teams accordingly. They have also sought details of the bio-secure hubs, where the teams would be based during a domestic tournament, and quarantine requirements.

The Royals have a lot of questions to deal with, their captain’s poor form one of them

Shashank Kishore16-Oct-2020

Big picture

Who would have imagined that Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith would become a bit of a no-contest at the halfway mark of IPL 2020? Kohli started slowly, but has found his rhythm, and is making a difference. Smith, in comparison, has gone off the boil after a promising start, when he hit two half-centuries in winning causes. There’s more to the contest, of course: the Royal Challengers Bangalore are well-placed with five wins from eight games, and the Rajasthan Royals are struggling with three wins from eight games.The Royal Challengers are at the end of a hectic week. By Saturday, they would have played four games in eight days. Their previous outing – against the Kings XI Punjab – made headlines for their tactical mix-ups: the Royal Challengers sent in two left-handers – Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube – ahead of the in-form AB de Villiers to combat two legspinners on a slow surface. Kohli agreed the execution was off.Now, data goes beyond conventional logic. It shows de Villiers may have gotten out to a legspinner, as he has against bowlers of other varieties, but that is no reason to hold him back. If it was M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi on Thursday, he will have Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, or maybe even Mayank Markande, coming at him on Saturday. Since the start of 2019, de Villiers has averaged 52.5 against legspin while striking at 135.77. That alone is enough reason to ensure he gets enough time to set himself up, whether they bat first or chase.The Royals have questions over their batting order too. Do they continue opening with Ben Stokes? Or can they do with his insurance in the middle? What do they do with a misfiring Robin Uthappa? Do they bring in a youngster, at a crucial stage, or keep their faith in the veteran? How do they balance out their bowling to ensure Jofra Archer isn’t the lone man standing? There’s more. Like Sanju Samson’s dwindling returns. Saturday could either answer a few of these questions or throw up new ones.

In the news

• The Royals are not fretting over where they are on the points table. “We’ve been in this situation before and have come back from this, so we’re not panicking about this,” Jofra Archer said. “We know it can be done and I believe in this team to do it. There are wins out there and we just as a team need to go out there and get those wins.” Well, last time they played an afternoon game in Dubai, they pulled off a heist courtesy Riyan Parag and Tewatia.
• Mohammad Siraj had an off day in Sharjah. RCB have tactically strengthened their bowling by playing seven options at the smallest ground. In Dubai, it’s possible they could go back to Gurkeerat Singh. If they are willing to look beyond, they could even hand Shahbaz Ahmed a debut. The allrounder bowls Axar Patel-like left-arm spin apart from being an excellent lower-order batting option.

Previous meeting

The Royals huffed and puffed to 154 after Yuzvendra Chahal applied the brakes with a three-for. The Royal Challengers hardly broke a sweat as they cruised home by eight wickets, with Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli hitting half-centuries.AB de Villiers smacks one through the leg side•BCCI

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Mohammad Siraj/Shahbaz Ahmed, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Ben Stokes, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Robin Uthappa/Manan Vohra, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal/Mayank Markande, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Kartik Tyagi

Strategy punts

• Why fix something that isn’t broken? Kohli held Washington back for Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, the two big-hitting left-handers, on Thursday and it backfired. At the first sign of attack, Washington was taken out of the attack. In all other games, he’s bowled superbly in the powerplay, conceding at just 4.5 runs an over. He’s also dismissed quality batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis. Kohli might want to go back to the tested formula, irrespective of whether Stokes opens or bats in the middle.
• Padikkal likes pace on the ball, but against spin, especially early on, he has tended to lose his shape at times while playing the big shots. Aaron Finch, meanwhile, has been out to spin five times this season, the most for a top-order batsman, while only averaging 16.8 against it. Perhaps there’s a case for the Royals to give the Royal Challengers a taste of their own medicine and getting their spinners bowl in the first six.

Stats and trivia

• RCB haven’t lost a game when they have picked up a wicket in the powerplay this season.
• After the first ten balls, de Villiers’ strike rate zooms from 122 to 224, and he finds the boundary once in three balls.
• Shreyas Gopal has struggled this IPL, but now he’s up against his favourite team. He has taken 13 wickets against the Royal Challengers, almost double of what he has taken against any other team. He also concedes at less than six an over against them. He even has a hat-trick against them.
• Halfway into the tournament, Archer is the only bowler to bowl 100 dot balls. This is more than 50% of the balls he has bowled, the highest for anyone.

R Ashwin has hit back at the criticism of the pitch in Mohali, which South Africa batsman Dean Elgar had described as “not a very good cricket wicket” after 12 wickets had fallen on the first day

Sidharth Monga in Mohali06-Nov-20151:44

‘The mistakes I’ve made got me here’ – Ashwin

R Ashwin has hit back at the criticism of the pitch in Mohali, which South Africa batsman Dean Elgar had described as “not a very good cricket wicket” after 12 wickets had fallen on the first day. Ten more fell on the second day, but batsmen did show batting was possible on the pitch, which has offered a lot of sideways turn but not alarming bounce. Sunil Gavaskar had said in his pitch report that he “had never seen before” such a day-one pitch in Mohali.”I think it’s very important to bowl good pace on this wicket,” Ashwin said after his five-wicket haul gave India the lead after they had squandered the toss advantage by getting bowled out for 201. “I have not seen any batsman defending and get out apart from the one that happened to [M] Vijay, where he thrust forward, defended and got out.” Cheteshwar Pujara, too, got out defending in the first innings, but the larger point was taken.None of Ashwin’s five wickets came because of alarming misbehaviour from the pitch. Stiaan van Zyl offered no shot to a topsinner, which Ashwin got to come back in to the left-hand batsman. Dean Elgar slog-swept and was beaten in the air by the dip. Ditto Hashim Amla, who looked to charge at him. Dane Vilas got out sweeping, and Imran Tahir is a tailender. “To bowl [on this pitch] it’s all about how it’s coming out of your hand,” Ashwin said. “For me it’s coming out really well. So I don’t think I require much turn from any pitch at this point of time.”Ashwin went on to compare the perceived reaction to green tops when India are touring outside Asia. “Honestly I think it’s the batting that makes the wicket look what it is,” Ashwin said. “I don’t know if any Indian journalist knows the name of the curator in Johannesburg or Port Elizabeth, but we seem to get a hang of Daljit Singh [the curator in Mohali] very quickly. None of us go to South Africa and say the wicket is green, this much grass is less green at the bottom. I don’t hear any such statements, but unfortunately here the first day some of my good friends came and said the wicket is a little drier and stuff. We have played way too long in Mohali to know how the wicket works.”Ashwin’s words were keeping in line with Virat Kohli’s emotions in the lead-up to the Test. “When someone comes to play here, there is a lot of focus on the pitch,” Kohli said. “It is unfair to say that it spins a lot or that it is slow. When we go abroad, I don’t think there is a single article about the pitch. We go there and take up the challenge. The other teams also have to take up the challenge.”It was not clear whose criticism Ashwin and Kohli were responding to, but it was true that day one did not feature great batting. The three Indian specialist batsmen that fell to spin on the first day did so because they did not reach the pitch of the ball, not because the ball kicked at them. However, there was sideways turn available on the first morning itself, and balls did keep low.It is not accurate, though, that Indian players do not complain about perceived green tracks away from home. After India lost 4-0 in Australia, Gautam Gambhir and Kohli were two of the players to complain about the “green tops” while Australia scored heavily in every match. It was duly reported too.

The inexperience in the bowling ranks didn’t help, the Zimbabwe captain says

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur25-Feb-2020Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has said that his batsmen should have taken advantage of the drizzle to stay in the one-off Test against Bangladesh for longer. The visitors were bowled out for 189 in their second innings, eventually losing by an innings and 106 runs. They lasted just 52.3 overs on a cloudy fourth day with occasional drizzle.Ervine said that the batsmen shouldn’t have played shots in the air, rather let the ball get soaked more in the rain. “Batting first, we should have got at least 400,” Ervine said. “The wicket was good enough to post a score like that. Getting bowled out for 265 put us on the back foot and allowed Bangladesh to go past us. We could have also batted better in the second innings. The wicket wasn’t really that bad. I thought our bowlers worked hard to get those six wickets. Obviously [we] didn’t hit the right areas enough, but I just thought that our batting let us down.”It was a combination of application and execution. The guys obviously tried to go over the top and didn’t execute the plans properly. In the past, it has been difficult to bat last in Dhaka. Possibly, guys played a few too many shots because of the turn. But the ball was wet because of the drizzle.”Zimbabwe still had some conviction left in their batting when Ervine, who made a century in the first innings, got set with Sikandar Raza. They added 60 for the fifth wicket before Mominul Haque ran out his opposite number with an excellent direct hit from the covers.”It was very disappointing,” said Ervine. “At the time it seemed like myself and Raza were going well. We got some momentum on our side, and then we basically gave it back to Bangladesh. I have always wanted to get back-to-back hundreds in a game, and I thought today was the perfect opportunity.”He said that Zimbabwe missed Sean Williams the most, but also suffered due to an inexperienced bowling attack.”Sean Williams is a big part of our team,” Ervine said. “He contributes with the bat, ball and field. We missed him hugely.”We have an inexperienced bowling line-up. Charlton Tshuma was playing his first game. Victor was playing his third Test match. Ainsley played a handful of games. Donald Tiripano is the experienced one. We just didn’t hit the right areas for long enough. Without doing that, you can’t build any pressure.”

Jack Clayton stood firm but the rest of the Queensland batting fell away at the MCG

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2023Will Sutherland’s appointment as Victoria captain may have raised eyebrows in some circles but the 23-year-old allrounder has sailed through his first test as skipper with flying colours.Victoria romped to a massive 164-run win over Queensland at the MCG on Sunday to kick-start a flagging Sheffield Shield campaign and displace their opponents in second spot on the standings.Requiring 350 to win, Queensland rarely threatened and after reaching 2 for 94 crumbled to be all out for 185 just prior to tea on day four.Veteran spinner Jon Holland impressed with 3 for 24 from 17 overs, while Fergus O’Neill picked up 2 for 28 among six different wicket-takers for the hosts. Holland’s third wicket was that of fellow left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann who had just been confirmed as being added to Australia’s Test squad. He had earlier removed Queensland captain Jimmy Peirson when he shouldered arms and had his off stump hit.Sutherland was appointed ahead of the more experienced Marcus Harris, with the opener contributing a match-winning 100 on day one. He returned match figures of 5 for 91 and chipped in with a handy 26 just as Queensland sought to fight back late on day one.”To get a win in my first game as captain, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Sutherland said. “I have certainly loved the captaincy side of things, loved being involved in things all the time, trying to lead the boys and set the example, and they came along with me beautifully.”Having resumed at 2 for 65, Queensland retained their hopes until opener Bryce Street’s dismissal for 21 – carving an out-of-character drive to backward point off Matt Short – saw the visitors lose 4 for 30 before the lunch break.Middle-order batter Jack Clayton was the only other Queenslander to dig in but he was adjudged lbw to Holland for 66 to signal the beginning of the end.The one-sided winning margin was all the more noteworthy given Victoria’s many absentees.Regular skipper Peter Handscomb, as well as Scott Boland and Todd Murphy, are in India on Test duties, while Victoria were also without a host of first-choice batters including Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell and Will Pucovski.”So many young boys are chipping in for us and making contributions,” said Sutherland. “This is going to be the team that will be carrying us forward for the next two or three years. Hopefully we can now snowball a bit, build some momentum and win a couple more.”It was a modest display with ball, and especially bat, from a Queensland side who could have put edged closer to a Shield final berth with a win.”There are a couple of things we need to work on coming out of Big Bash to get our season back on track,” Kuhnemann said.

With David Warner injured, Pucovski has firmed to open the batting for Australia in Adelaide

Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-2020A likely Test debut. Filling the shoes of David Warner. Forming a new opening partnership with Joe Burns. Tackling the pink ball. Facing Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and the rest of the India attack. While that may read like a daunting list, Will Pucovski is keeping it all perspective ahead of a fortnight that, barring some unlikely events, will see him open the batting for Australia at Adelaide Oval.”It’s still just another ball coming down at you,” was a common refrain from Pucovski as he spoke two days out from the Australia A match against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval.Until Warner injured his groin in the second ODI at the SCG last week, it was looking unlikely that Pucovski would debut at the start of the Test series despite back-to-back double hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. A host of names including the national selection Trevor Hohns, coach Justin Langer, captain Tim Paine and Warner himself had vouched for the incumbent Burns despite his lean start to the season.ALSO READ: Joe Burns rediscovers the fundamentals of opening ahead of David Warner’s absenceNow, however, with Warner seemingly scrubbed from at least the opening Test of the series with what is expected to be a four-week recovery, Pucovski is set to walk out alongside Burns to open Australia’s innings.Pucovski had not been paying any attention to talk of a “bat-off” between him and Burns in the Australia A match – instead, he is training at Junction Oval in Melbourne and enjoying some trips down the coast after the Shield hub finished – and the fact a Test debut is now far more realistic is not changing much.”Selection, injury and stuff like that is out of my control,” he said. “Obviously, you never want anyone to be injured, especially such a good player and as a group, we would love to be available for the first Test. If I play in Adelaide, I play; if Dave gets up and I don’t play, it’s just one of those things. Hope he gets better as fast as possible.””If you are in the 17-man [Test] squad you know you are pretty close either way. It’s not a huge difference, to be honest.”One of the reasons Pucovski was appearing unlikely to debut before Warner’s injury was the successful opening stand formed between the latter and Burns in which they have an average partnership of 50.55 across 27 innings.”Joe and I get along really well, which is obviously a good start,” Pucovski said. “We haven’t batted together heaps, but that’s cricket, you end up batting with people you don’t bat with very often – so long as you know how to bounce off each other, get each other going or know what each other requires that’s all that matters. We’ve had a few conversations, just about little things, to help each other through.”Depending on how the opening Test plays out, there is a chance that Australia’s openers will have to combat the most challenging period of a day-night Test during dusk as the lights take hold into the final session. Pucovski has played two day-night first-class matches, against England in 2017-18 and Pakistan last season, with scores of 4, 5 and 1 but is currently a player riding a wave of form and confidence.”It can be a bit different, but it’s pretty cool and pretty fun especially once it gets into that dusk evening time,” Pucovski said. “It’s one of those things growing up you never really thought would happen but that’s part of Test cricket now and it’s an unbelievable atmosphere.”I haven’t been playing in a Test with a crowd and the pink ball, but just watching, when Australia played New Zealand at Adelaide two or three years ago, I just happened to be in Adelaide and we went down for an hour or two and it was an incredible atmosphere.”Neither is Pucovski overthinking the step up in class when he faces the Indian attack. “Obviously they are very good bowlers, but I’ve faced a lot of very good bowling in first-class cricket. At the end of the day, I look at it as it’s just a ball coming down and you and I just have to do my best to react in the best way possible.”Overall, there was excitement in Pucovski’s voice about what lies ahead. “It’s pretty cool, you watch these blokes on TV dominating around the world and never think that could be me facing them one day,” he said. “But it could become a reality.”

Australia may also host India for a day-night Test next summer

Daniel Brettig22-Nov-2019Brisbane’s inferior facilities may yet see it hosting Afghanistan under lights in the first Test match of next summer, before the better-equipped venues in Adelaide and Perth claim the first two of four matches against India who are expected to be open to a day-night fixture for the very first time.Cricket Australia’s negotiations with the BCCI for next season’s Test fixtures will be aided by the fact that India will have finally played day-night matches by then, starting with a Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata on Friday.However as the Indian board’s administration makes numerous moves back towards more traditionally bullish postures – under the new presidency of Sourav Ganguly – there will be the question of how many concessions the BCCI will make to CA’s tour schedule preferences, which will include at least one day-night Test.The Test team will be eager for the advantage of hosting India at the Gabba, where they have been unbeaten against all comers since 1988, but this must be balanced with India’s desires and also the fact that Adelaide Oval and Perth Stadium are a long way ahead of Brisbane in terms of amenities, likely crowds and capacity. Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, admitted to the possibility of the Gabba hosting Afghanistan for the first Test of summer before the India matches are played elsewhere.”If the Test summer proper did start that way, it’s a possibility, but there’s a lot to work through,” Roberts told SEN Radio. “We don’t have any preconceived ideas on that, we’re in the middle of executing the season, making sure we can deliver a really good experience to fans at the ground and through our broadcasters, and then we’ll get on to planning next season. We’re really keen on making sure we can learn from each season before we approach the next one.”From a playing perspective there’s no doubt there’s a very strong case for the Gabba to host the opening Test from a playing perspective, and that’s consistent with the comments from Shane Warne and Michael Vaughan and others. There’s a number of other perspectives though, we’ve seen governments around the country invest significantly in venues – a new stadium in Perth, the government’s invested upwards of a billion dollars in that, and that adds another dimension.”So you’ve got to consider the fan perspective, the players’ perspective, government perspectives, and that’s the beauty and complexity of sport, everyone has a piece of it, and it’s never simple to balance things across all of those different groups.”The Gabba has long drawn complaints about both its issues of accessibility – being surrounded on two sides by two of Brisbane’s major arterial roads – and also the lack of ambience within a concrete bowl suited far better to football than cricket.An investment of some A$35 million has been pledged by the Queensland state government to improve these areas in concert with the construction of a cross-river rail service linking the Gabba to the Brisbane CBD, though this is not expected to be completed before 2024. In a five-Test Ashes series, the Gabba is guaranteed the first match, but India’s preference for four matches makes things somewhat more complex for CA.”That $35 million will go basically into better amenities for the fans and it all leads towards the cross-river rail opening in about 2024, so a very different experience for fans not only getting to the match but a better experience of the facilities,” Roberts said. “So more contemporary spaces for fans to mingle rather than just coming along and sitting in a seat as you might’ve done 10 years ago.”Either way, the prospect of a day-night Test against India is growing by the day. “There’s no question day-night Test cricket needs to play a stronger role in the Test landscape going forward,” Roberts said. “We’re having productive conversations with India about the prospect of us playing day-night tests against each other in the future. Let’s hope this week’s experience in Kolkata is a really powerful one for them and a good experience that gives them more confidence about more day-night Test cricket to keep going forward.”

Jofra Archer set to win a chance in England’s next ODI engagements as coach admits some are playing for their places in the World Cup squad

George Dobell in St Lucia03-Mar-2019You might think, after four years as England coach, that Trevor Bayliss might be inured to England’s occasional – and, perhaps, not so occasional – propensity for a batting collapse.But, seeing him at the team hotel on the morning after the night – okay, the early afternoon – before is to see a man clearly struggling to come to terms with events. He uses words such as “embarrassed” and admits he “can’t get my head around” the disparity in quality between England’s performances. For them to suffer the largest defeat, in terms of how long it took West Indies to knock off the target, in their ODI history on Bayliss’ watch clearly hurts.It wasn’t just the extent of the defeat, though. It was the fact that it came in the final ODI before England were obliged to select their World Cup squad. Despite all the tours and training and faith in the players, it seems the England team retain a propensity, when confronted by conditions outside their comfort zone, to collapse in spectacular fashion. A difficulty in adapting to conditions is clearly a recurring problem.And while Bayliss admitted the performance – perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the lack of performance? – could be the “wake-up call” his side required, he also said that some of the current players have had every opportunity to nail down their places and failed to do so. As a consequence, Jofra Archer be given an opportunity to show what he can do during the ODIs against Ireland and Pakistan despite having just 14 List A appearances to his name. He would appear to have every chance of winning a World Cup spot.ALSO READ: ‘It’s been an honour to wear the crest’ – Gayle bows out“Was it the worst yet?” Bayliss said of defeat in St Lucia. “I think it was. To lose in such a fashion… I think they [the players] were embarrassed.”We talk all the time about playing smart cricket but, quite simply, we didn’t play smart cricket. We kept making the same mistakes.”Whether it’s a bit of overconfidence – have we gone into the match with, not a blasé attitude, but an overconfident attitude where they go out and play their natural games and think it’ll just happen? Batting can’t be easy and free flowing all the time. And it’s happened a few times.”Bayliss hopes the game will prove to be something of a watershed moment. Straight afterwards, the team held a long meeting in the dressing room where they reflected on their failings and, he believes, understood where they went wrong.”I didn’t have to say very much,” he said. “Eoin Morgan started the conversation and three or four of the most experienced players in the team led it. They were on the money.”They were talking about getting to 220-230 on that pitch. That conversation was going on out in the middle and in the dressing room. But we didn’t put it into play.”You’re not going to score 400 on a wicket like that but you make high 200s, 300, 350 and it’s enough to win games on those wickets. Yesterday we just didn’t. Two hundred and we would have been right in the game.”If it doesn’t sink in after this one – so close to the World Cup – then there’s something wrong. I’d like to think that, after their chat yesterday in the changing room, it will sink in.”While the batting was the focus of most reports, Bayliss was also underwhelmed by some aspects of the bowling during the series. There had, for example, been talk ahead of games about bowling yorkers at Chris Gayle. But very few were delivered and Gayle was able to hit 39 sixes in four innings; one every 8.10 balls.”We just bowled a lot of balls in his strike zone,” Bayliss said. “We just didn’t get the ball in the right area enough. Yorkers were spoken about a lot. Sometimes the bowlers go out to try and do it and just can’t.”Partly as a result, Bayliss confirmed that Archer – who is now just a few days from qualifying as eligible for England – is almost certain to made his debut in the ODIs to be played in May ahead of the World Cup. While England are obliged to name their 15-man World Cup squad by April 23 (they are expected to name it a week or so early), they can make as many changes as they like until May 22. After that date, they need ICC approval for any change and they will only be allowed in the event of injury or exceptional circumstances.”Jofra Archer’s name keeps cropping up and I think, at some stage, we will give him an opportunity,” Bayliss said. “Those matches against Pakistan and Ireland, I think he will get an opportunity to show us what he can do. He’s said publicly that he’s keen.”He’s a bowler you don’t get many of: someone who is able to bowl in all three phases of the game. He can take the new ball, he can bowl through the middle and he can bowl at the end which is a good skillset to have.”There was a little bit of contact made during the Australian summer and there was talk a month or two ago about when the date was that he qualified. At the time, it was around 31 days that he needed to be back in the UK.”Are the players he’s competing with aware of the situation? I don’t know, you’d have to ask them. There is plenty of speculation all the time in the papers and I’m sure they read that.Ben Stokes was dismissed by Carlos Brathwaite•AFP

“The guys in the team, they’ve got hold of those positions and in a way it’s theirs to lose. If they keep performing and doing well it’s difficult to bring people in.”The implication? That they been performing. Several fringe members of the squad now face an anxious wait.England resume training on Monday ahead of the first of three T20Is against West Indies in St Lucia on Tuesday. They will be without Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali, who have all been given time off before they depart for the IPL, while Jason Roy will shortly go home to be present at the birth of his first child. Mark Wood is also likely to be rested for one or two of the T20 games.The likes of Sam Billings, Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan and Sam Curran – who have all been brought in for the T20I series – are likely to win opportunities in the coming days, as is Joe Denly who has been a non-playing member of the ODI squad.

Aaron Finch also pitched in with a half-century, helping Australia progress to 6 for 277 at stumps on day one

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu14-Dec-20181:44

Laxman: Bumrah is leading the pace attack in a short span of time

Contrasting half-centuries from local boy Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch and Travis Head helped Australia overcome a mini-collapse of 4 for 36 and made India feel the heat – both literally and figuratively – on a 39-degree day at the new Perth Stadium. Despite the late dismissals of Shaun Marsh (45) and Head (58) on a pitch where one ball exploded and the next rolled at shin height, Australia progressed to 6 for 277 at stumps on day one.After India went into a Test without a frontline spinner for only the third time in their history, Harris and Finch, perhaps, made them rue the decision by putting on a 112-run opening stand. Although part-time offspinner Hanuma Vihari plucked out Harris and Marsh, India’s attack lacked the control a fit R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja could have provided. Their absence also ramped up the workload on Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, who had just sealed the Adelaide Test for India on Tuesday. Ishant even left the field in the post-tea session because of an abdominal strain before returning and stretching his body at the edge of the boundary.The scorecard will tell you Ishant conceded only 35 runs in 16 overs, but he had struggled for rhythm with the new ball. His lengths weren’t full enough and his lines didn’t quite threaten the stumps either. That umpire Kumar Dharmasena pulled him up for a front-foot no-ball, when he had a fair margin of his foot behind the crease, perhaps, rattled him.Finch, meanwhile, was rattled by a bevy of inswingers, including Shami’s first ball, which drew an lbw appeal. Despite Finch getting pinged above the knee-roll, India chanced a review and lost it, with ball-tracking confirming that it would have bounced over the stumps.Harris, though, at the other end was simply unflappable. He needed 16 balls to get off the mark, but once he bed in with a variety of strokes, he looked the part. He got cracking with a triptych of drives: back-to-back hits down the ground off Ishant and then one through the covers off Umesh Yadav. He was just as unflustered when Shami sent down a shooter that crept under his defensive bat and bounced twice before Rishabh Pant collected it in the 28th over. The next ball was scythed through cover-point and Harris continued to be severe on anything that was remotely full and wide outside off.1:53

Kartik: Finch needed this innings to resurrect his Test career

He raised his maiden Test fifty with a neat clip through midwicket and elicited warm applause from his coach Justin Langer, who has a stand named after him at this venue, and his father Kim Harris, who was in the grandstand. He could have been dismissed on 60 had KL Rahul latched onto a difficult catch at second slip off Shami.Finch scored a less fluent fifty before Bumrah pinned him with a perfectly pitched inswinger. Bumrah then got on a roll with the old ball and had bouncers snarling at Khawaja’s throat from around the wicket. Khawaja wore blows on his body, stabbed and fended his way to 1 off 25 balls against Bumrah. Something had to give, and that something was Khawaja throwing his hands at a short, wide ball from Umesh and nicking off for an utterly painstaking 5 off 38 balls. Three overs later, this place flew like the curator had promised. A back-of-a-length offbreak from Vihari took off like a NASA rocket and had Harris fending a catch behind to Pant for 70 off 141 balls.Three for 134 then became 4 for 148 when Peter Handscomb slashed Ishant to second slip, where Virat Kohli who had replaced Rahul pulled off a blinding one-handed catch.India’s seamers tested Head and Marsh with extra bounce after the pitch seemed to have quickened up in the final session. They somehow weathered the burst and settled down, adding 84 for the fifth wicket. However, three overs before the second new ball was due, Marsh chased a wide offbreak from Vihari and sent a thick outside edge flying to Ajinkya Rahane for a chest-high grab at first slip.Head pressed on to follow his first-innings 72 in Adelaide with an equally vital fifty here. However, he threw his wicket away when he went after a wide ball from Ishant and carved it to third man in the 83rd over. Tim Paine and Pat Cummins ushered Australia to stumps without any further damage and left India with a teasing thought: what might have been on a pitch where the ball is turning sharply for even a part-time spinner.

Squad named for one-off ODI against England, and tri-series against West Indies and Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2019Wicketkeeper Gary Wilson, who missed Ireland’s winter tours for the T20I Quadrangular series in Oman and the tour of India to play Afghanistan, has been declared fit for the start of the Ireland home season. He has been included in a 14-man ODI squad for the one-off ODI against England in Malahide on May 3 and the start of the ODI tri-series with West Indies and Bangladesh, which kicks off on May 5.Wilson, 33, had to stay at home in February and March to receive treatment for a condition that was affecting his vision, but has since sufficiently recovered.The uncapped Lorcan Tucker has been retained in the squad from the series against Afghanistan ahead of Durham-contracted Stuart Poynter, who made 15 runs in four innings against Afghanistan in a series that Ireland drew 2-2 in Dehradun. Tucker, a tall 22-year-old from Dublin, has started off the Irish domestic season in good form, making 81 last week for Leinster in a win over Northern Knights in La Manga. He also excelled on the Ireland Wolves tour of Sri Lanka, scoring a century in Hambantota.Left-arm spinner James Cameron-Dow and offspinning allrounder Simi Singh have also been dropped from the group that played Afghanistan in March, leaving George Dockrell and Andy McBrine as the only specialist slow-bowling options in the squad.Josh Little, who has played ten T20Is, has been called up as the Ireland selectors opted for more seam options in home conditions. The 19-year-old left-arm pacer has impressed with his variations at the death in particular, and joins an attack led by veterans Tim Murtagh, Boyd Rankin, Barry McCarthy and allrounder Stuart Thompson.”Of those emerging players, we have been delighted to watch the continued improvement of Josh Little and Lorcan Tucker – both of whom will now be in the running to make their debuts in one-day international cricket,” Cricket Ireland selection chairman Andrew White said. “Josh gives us that left-arm pace variation and he has continued to impress with some consistent performances – we believe he can transfer his T20 skills into the one-day arena.”As for Lorcan, fans of Irish cricket have seen some stellar performances by him over the first few months of the year, most notably in Sri Lanka and La Manga. While he has been on our radar and around the senior squad in recent times, we’ve started to see greater confidence and consistency in his approach, and he is definitely one of those putting his hand up at the moment.”Cricket Ireland has announced that the squad for the remainder of the tri-series will be announced at a later date to give members of the Ireland Wolves squad a chance to press for selection when they take on Bangladesh on May 5, the same date as Ireland’s first ODI of the tri-series against West Indies.Squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Gary Wilson (wk)