South Africa are set to play 14 Tests in nine months soon, so both fast bowlers, despite being sent home from New Zealand, should not lose hope

Firdose Moonda21-Mar-2017South Africa went into this New Zealand Test series with six seamers in their squad. Less than halfway through, they released one, when Chris Morris was sent home on the second day of the Wellington Test. Two-thirds of the way in and they’ve let another go – Duanne Olivier returned to South Africa instead of traveling on to Hamilton.And now there are four.Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell remain, but that does not mean South Africa have established an exact order of preference for their quicks. It means the infant Test careers of Morris and Olivier, who have three Test caps between them, are not in danger if the pair are willing to be patient despite being dispensed with.Olivier may consider himself the unluckier of the two. Aside from an impressive debut at the Wanderers against Sri Lanka in January, he topped the first-class wicket-takers list with 52 scalps. For that reason, Olivier was thought to be in direct competition with Morkel for the third seamer’s spot at Basin Reserve but it went to Morkel despite a year-long, injury-enforced absence from the game.At the time, it was a gamble but South Africa took it after closely monitoring Morkel’s recovery and because captain Faf du Plessis is a firm believer in Test cricket being the arena for the experienced. He can’t be blamed for feeling that way. Du Plessis was witness to South Africa’s sobering summer in 2015-16, when they were without Philander and Dale Steyn, lost five of eight Tests – three in India and two at home against England – and fell from No.1. Morris was among the players they tried without much success that summer.Rabada provided some joy and has since then established himself in the South African side to such an extent that it is difficult to imagine a Test XI without him, which also means there is one less place for the likes of Morris and Olivier.However, workload is a constant concern for Rabada, especially as he is only 21. There was some discussion about resting him, with talk centering on the New Year’s Test against Sri Lanka after he appeared down on pace in the opener on Boxing Day or the upcoming Hamilton match where a spin-friendly surface may negate the need for three quicks. But even if South Africa are considering that, they have not showed their hand early by sending Rabada home and with New Zealand scrambling for morale, they shouldn’t. The longer the hosts think they will have to front up to Rabada, the better for South Africa.Duanne Olivier was impressive on debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year•Gallo ImagesRealistically though – and looking beyond this series – Rabada may not be able to play all the time. South Africa will want to save him for the important stuff and therein lies opportunity for someone else.Philander and Morkel are at their peak but they are also in their 30s and may only have a few years left. While they are fit, they are first-choice but that doesn’t mean the door is closed to anyone else. Not even to Parnell, who has not played Tests since January. He was seen bowling on the practice pitch before the Wellington Test and the signs pointed to his inclusion ahead of JP Duminy – which may yet happen in Hamilton. Parnell, being a left-armer, offers a change of angle, which South Africa may feel they need at the moment, but that does not necessarily put him ahead of Morris or Olivier. Not yet, anyway. He still needs to prove his consistency has improved before he can be trusted as long-form player.So, all things considered, there is a strong chance South Africa may end up using only half of the seamers they brought on this trip. But that doesn’t mean it is an elite club that will never accept new members. It can’t be that. They play 14 Tests in nine months from July – four in England and ten at home against Bangladesh (2), India (4) and Australia (4) and the last eight could be squeezed into 12 weeks early next year. They will need more than three quicks to carry that load.Steyn is targeting a mid-year comeback with the England series firmly in his sights but he will need to prove his fitness, as Morkel did, over a sustained period of time. Although Morkel came into the New Zealand Tests with just two List A games under his belt this year, he played practice matches on South Africa’s tour of Australia in October and November, and spent many hours in the Newlands nets, bowling to national players. That’s how du Plessis knew Morkel was ready.Whether Steyn will do the same in England remains to be seen. He may seek out a brief county stint in a bid to be match-ready. He may not manage that as soon as he would like. Whatever the case, South Africa will need other options.Morris and Olivier should know that well enough and it seems they do. Though eligible by virtue of their scant Test caps, both players have provided separate assurances that they will not consider the Kolpak route. They need to remember, now that their Test careers seem to have stalled, particularly Olivier, who is not part of the limited-overs’ plans like Morris, that the queue they are in could move very quickly.

A team known for its reliance on spin now chooses to pick three fast bowlers more often than not. How did that come to be?

Mohammad Isam13-Jun-20170:50

The numbers behind the rise

For a long time, you wouldn’t have associated Bangladesh with the phrase “strong pace attack”. A subcontinent team playing on slow, low surfaces, some of which turned, was never going to be big on fast bowling – and Bangladesh wasn’t. Kids growing up in the country in the 1980s and 1990s had few fast bowling heroes.The change was a long time coming. Mashrafe Mortaza and Chandika Hathurusingha, the captain and coach so vitally responsible for Bangladesh’s ODI success in the last two years, were firm believers that an aggressive approach would take them to the next level, and were instrumental in Bangladesh beginning to actively picking more pace bowlers in their attack.It began in 2015
Like all revolutions, this one too was met with resistance initially. Having mooted the idea of employing a four-pronged pace attacked after a careful study of their resources before the ODI series with India in 2015, Mashrafe and Hathurusingha didn’t find too many in the BCB’s hierarchy who agreed with them. “Risky” was one of the words floated around strategy meetings at the time.Mashrafe and Hathurusingha are, however, men of conviction.They had faith in Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain, who had done well in the World Cup. Mashrafe himself was fit. Most noticeable was the trust they had in Mustafizur Rahman, who had until then played a solitary T20 international.The Mirpur pitch too encouraged them; Gamini Silva, the curator, had left a hint of green on. But despite these arguments in favour of a pace-heavy attack, the decision to go with four fast bowlers in the XI came just a few hours before the first game, and was accompanied by much trepidation.The attack worked well enough for Bangladesh to clinch their maiden ODI series win over India. Mustafizur took 11 wickets out of the 16 that went to the fast bowlers in those first two games. Rubel, Taskin and Mashrafe served too, but a side strain ruled Taskin out of the third game, which forced the team management to take their foot off the pedal.Mashrafe Mortaza with trump card Mustafizur Rahman•AFPApart from one game against South Africa, Bangladesh used three fast bowlers in each of their other five ODIs in 2015. The next year, that trend continued in all but one of nine ODIs. This year, they finally used a four-pronged pace attack again against New Zealand in Cardiff – almost exactly two years since they last deployed a similar attack. During this time injuries to Taskin, Rubel and Mustafizur prevented Mashrafe and Hathurusingha picking four fast men, though considerations of pitches, conditions and oppositions also played a part.Now, however, it has finally been established that if the pitch and overhead conditions are right, and their bowlers fit, Bangladesh are quite eager to pick a four-man pace attack. And failing that, picking three is the new normal. This is a far cry from the days of their spin-heavy attacks. Just two times since the 2015 World Cup have Bangladesh not used a three-man pace attack.Four is an army
In the 2015 World Cup, Rubel took four wickets against England and looked the most impressive bowler in the quarter-final against India. He had had an up-and-down international career till then, and had been more successful in ODIs than in Tests or T20s. Even in ODIs, Rubel’s troubles in the slog overs and injuries meant that he wasn’t always an automatic choice. But his late movement with the slightly older ball always attracted attention.Taskin, who had made a barnstorming debut against India in 2014, wasn’t hitting his stride. But he had pace and was improving his fitness, and in Mashrafe he had a hero he didn’t want to let down.Seeing Mustafizur in the nets convinced Mashrafe and Hathurusingha that India needed to be tackled with pace. It wasn’t just that Mustafizur was dismissing Tamim Iqbal and company, but that he was doing it with something unique. He had developed an offcutter, all on his own, that kicked in front of the batsmen, and, when it took an edge, carried to the wicketkeeper.Shane Jurgensen (right) was instrumental in developing Bangladesh’s pace attack during his stint as bowling coach•BCBBangladesh have tried others, but generally the team management have gone with Mashrafe, Rubel, Mustafizur and Taskin when fit and when presented with the right conditions.The enablers
For years Mashrafe and other senior Bangladesh bowlers had argued it is best to use pace in the last ten or 15 overs of an innings. When Mashrafe became captain, this became a guiding principle. An important enabling factor in making Bangladesh evolve from picking eight batsmen in their ODI XI into one that picked four fast bowlers was the all-round skills of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. In those two, Bangladesh have two full batsmen, a front-line bowler and a wicketkeeper. Still, that hasn’t always been enough to justify picking four pace bowlers. They needed bowlers who could take wickets.Mashrafe himself had to work hard to remain fit, but his bowling has improved as he has grown older; he is subtle in his variations and most effective when he can swerve and cut the new ball. His captaincy has ensured that fast bowlers were given a fair run as a collective. When Mashrafe talks, people listen. Hathurusingha, likewise, is inclined to using pace.A little coaching help
There had been occasions in the past when the need for speed prompted the BCB to hire short- and long-term bowling coaches. Andy Roberts’ 2001 stint is usually credited with providing the final push in Mashrafe’s elevation into the Bangladesh team. Champaka Ramanayake, Bangladesh’s first full-time bowling coach after joining in 2008, is said to have encouraged the selectors to pick a raw Rubel, who reminded him of Lasith Malinga.Robiul Islam, who had a short stint as the leader of Bangladesh’s Test attack, learned to use his first-class experience in Test cricket thanks to Sarwar Imran and Shane Jurgensen. These two fine coaches were also important in Taskin’s growth. Jurgensen made sure Taskin played in the 2014 World T20 to get exposure; a couple of months later, he made his sensational ODI debut, with five against India.Taskin Ahmed (left) and Rubel Hossain: key cogs•BCBLast year the BCB hired Aaqib Javed for a short stint. The bowlers found him to be very well read, and approachable. There remains curiosity about whether Aaqib passed on vital tips on reverse swing, but the bowlers who worked with him were eager for more of what he offered.When Courtney Walsh joined last year, it was seen as the BCB acknowledging that the team needs a big name to guide them. Walsh agreeing to join was also validation from a legendary fast bowler that this was a pace attack that was challenging enough, with enough potential to work with, for his first international coaching job.The ones who fell by the wayside
There have been casualties on Bangladesh’s road to picking four fast bowlers. Some arrived with big reputations but crumbled in the face of international cricket’s relentless pressure, either physically or mentally. There were some whose bodies couldn’t handle the day-to-day stresses of bowling for a team that lacked teeth for a long time. A few couldn’t handle fame.Talha Jubair was one of the first whose frail body couldn’t take the toll of international cricket. He bowed out early, leaving Tapash Baisya to fend for the team in difficult circumstances. An unheralded pace bowler who had limited skills but a big heart, Baisya fell out of favour as soon as other attractive pace options became available. Syed Rasel didn’t last long; Nazmul Hossain succumbed to far too many injuries.Robiul too couldn’t quite replicate his superb Test series against Zimbabwe in 2013, eventually falling out of favour with country, club, and even his division in the first-class competition. Shahadat Hossain served for a while, but he was always seen as someone better suited to Tests (though the numbers don’t reflect such a notion).Mashrafe and Chandika Hathurusingha’s belief in the value of fast bowling has been crucial in Bangladesh adopting a pace-heavy bowling line-up•Getty ImagesBut in Taskin, Rubel and Musafizur, Bangladesh have an odd combination of bowlers that has clicked.Taskin is the city boy who became a YouTube sensation even before he played for Bangladesh. Rubel has seen it all, having been on the receiving end when Bangladesh lost the final in his first ODI series, in 2009. His difficulties in Tests, multiple injuries, and a constantly changing action held him back before he came out of his shell in the 2015 World Cup.Mustafizur too is now realising that the road isn’t smooth. Since fully recovering from his shoulder surgery in 2016, he has had good days and bad days. Against New Zealand in Cardiff, his last two spells showed that he was ready to sacrifice his natural ability in order to stop the batsmen from scoring too heavily.And then, of course, there’s Mashrafe, the leader who knows exactly when to praise his charges, and when to deliver a rocket. It is not that he meddles with his young pace attack, but he is close enough to know exactly when to speak to Rubel and Taskin, and when to leave Mustafizur alone to do what he does best.

Joe Root has become the top run-scorer in international matches in a calendar year in England, going past Graham Gooch’s 1277 runs in 1990

S Rajesh24-Sep-2017Off the fourth ball of the tenth over of England’s innings, Joe Root worked a pretty uneventful single off Jason Holder, for the 20th run of his 79-ball 84. The run was mundane, but it had much significance: it was his 1278th international run of the home season, making him the most prolific run-getter in international matches in an English summer.Root, in having scored that single, went past Graham Gooch, who played only 15 innings in 10 matches in 1990, when he scored 1277, compared to Root’s 24 this season. Gooch’s body of work that season included the mammoth 333 against India at Lord’s, which remains the third-highest Test score in England.The top ten on the list of most runs in England during an international season consists entirely of England batsmen, with the only overseas player in the top 17 being Sir Viv Richards, who scored 1045 runs from only 10 innings in a sensational 1976 season.The top ten is also made up almost entirely of specialist batsmen; the only exception being Andrew Flintoff, in fifth place. Flintoff had a terrific year in 2004, scoring 1115 runs from only 20 innings, including 512 in nine ODIs.

Player Mat Inns Runs Ave 100s/ 50s Season JE Root 20 24 1342 61.00 3/ 9 2017GA Gooch 10 15 1277 91.21 5/ 4 1990AN Cook 17 20 1205 66.94 4/ 5 2011ME Trescothick 18 23 1196 59.8 4/ 4 2005A Flintoff 16 20 1115 65.58 4/ 7 2004KP Pietersen 19 25 1097 47.69 4/ 3 2007AJ Strauss 19 23 1086 49.36 2/ 8 2010JE Root 18 21 1069 59.38 4/ 3 2014JE Root 18 22 1050 52.5 1/ 8 2016IR Bell 17 19 1046 69.73 4/ 3 2011IVA Richards 7 10 1045 116.11 4/ 3 1976Root’s strength this home season has been his consistency in both Tests and ODIs. In 12 innings in Tests, he averages 60.75, with seven 50-plus scores, while in ODIs he has done even better, averaging 66.22 in 11 innings, with five 50-plus knocks. Root’s 12 fifty-plus scores is also a record in England, bettering Flintoff’s 11 in 2004.Joe Root averages more than 60 in both Tests and ODIs in 2017•ESPNcricinfo LtdRoot has also become only the second player, after Marcus Trescothick, to go past 1000 international runs three times in an English season. Root had previously scored 1069 runs in 2014, and 1050 runs in 2016. Trescothick went past 1000 in each of the three years from 2003 to 2005. Given Root’s age, form, consistency, and the packed cricket calendar these days, expect him to achieve this feat many more times through the remainder of his international career.

ESPNcricinfo rounds up the highlights from the latest matches in the NatWest T20 Blast

David Hopps14-Jul-2017BBC TMS commentator Charles Dagnall was derided as a “PC pansy” by a Twitter troll for suggesting, perfectly reasonably, that it was time to investigate the potential for protection for bowlers after the horrific injury suffered by Luke Fletcher at Edgbaston.Fletcher is out for the season and feeling lucky to be alive after headbutting a ferocious straight drive from the Warwickshire batsman Sam Hain, fortunate to come away with nothing more than concussion and the chance to exercise the dry wit that makes him one of the most popular characters on the county circuit.Dagnall, as a former county bowler – and one, dare it be suggested, of a method which occasionally invited a straight drive – need not lose sleep over the response of an armchair critic who has probably never bowled a burger at a beer glass and who, one wagers, is not about to volunteer for some throwdowns in a T20 net session.Fortunately, at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, efforts are already underway to assess expert advice and determine whether some sort of protection is possible which does not inhibit a bowler.Research, though, is far from conclusive. Rugby Union is one sport which has found that not everybody supports the use of protective headguards. Dr Mike Loosemore, a consultant at the English Institute of Sport, specialises in head injuries and concussion and he has previously warned that headguards might be counter-productive by giving an illusion of safety.Concussion results not from the blow itself, but the way the head – and the brain – swashes around after the blow. A strong neck offers some protection and Fletcher, a formidable figure looks as if he has one of the strongest necks in the business. No wonder he enquired after his blow about the health of the ball.

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The Colonel has a new lease of lifeThe picture of Gloucestershire running out at Cheltenham College to play Twenty20, in front of a school pavilion modelled on a 19C Indian railway station, was a grand sight.Few State schools have a cricket pavilion modelled on a railway station – unless you count the stations that disappeared in Dr Beeching’s ill-advised rail network cuts in the 1960s.But another picture caught the eye – although we shall desist from terming it a grand sight unless suitable liquid bribes are offered – that of Phil Mustard at the crease, looking in the best physical shape he has been in for years after his release by Durham and move to a new county.An enterprising innings at the top of the order made a big contribution to Gloucestershire’s first win of the season against Kent.The life of a professional cricketer is not easy when your family is 250 miles away in the north east but The Colonel, now 34, who has also stood in as Championship captain for Gareth Roderick this season, wins nothing but praise from his director of cricket, Richard Dawson.”He has brought something different to our changing room,” Dawson said. “We have a lot of quiet players and he is a personality who adds a bit of spark. He has a straightforward approach to the game and that can be a really positive influence.”

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Phil Mustard, looking dapper•Getty ImagesWakely gets down with the fansNorthants haven’t got the biggest staff in county cricket (merely the biggest team), but it was quite eye-catching to see their captain, Alex Wakely, briefly fulfil the role of assistant marketing manager after the NatWest Blast tie against Yorkshire was washed out at Wantage Road.”Match abandoned. Anyone that has tickets, please send them to the club with your details. Refund or swap for another match is available,” came the message on Wakely’s Twitter feed, making excellent use of his modest 4,000 followers.County captains with such a connection to their fan base deserve to be followed by half-a-million. Wakely, clearly a modern-day People’s Champion, tweets from @AlexWakely1. He will be praying for no more rain so he does not have to delve ever more into the small print of Northants’ ticket arrangements.A good home atmosphere can make the difference over the season, as football clubs have known for ever and a day, and recognition is now dawning on county clubs as the NatWest Blast attendances continue to grow.

Match abandoned. Anyone that has tickets, please send them to the club with your details. Refund or swap for another match is available.

— Alex Wakely (@AlexWakely1) July 11, 2017

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Wanted: a man with a degree“The first I really knew about it, was when the penalty was given – I was pretty much in the dark,” said stand-in captain Jade Dernbach about the 12-run penalty for a slow overrate that almost cost Surrey victory against Somerset at Kia Oval.Dernbach made some valid points that consistency is needed if run penalties are to apply, and that includes controlling the pace of a batsman’s walk out to the middle and the end-of-over discussions. It is not too hard to imagine a batting side deliberately slowing things down in the hope of some bonus runs at the back end of a chase.Maintaining the pace of Twenty20, though, is imperative to keep the pace in a game that is much to the liking of the paying public.Even the most experienced county captain needs a trusted assistant advising on the niceties of run rates and fielders inside the circle. Keith Fletcher, who was one of the shrewdest captains around during his long leadership at Essex, recognised that only too well when rain tables first made their way into the game.Fletcher took one look at the sheets of rain tables and handed them over to a team-mate. “Here, you can do this,” he said, “because you’ve got a degree.”

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Ryan Higgins part 2The opening Twenty20 Vision column lauded the emergence of Ryan Higgins who claimed a tie for Middlesex against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham after they were looking down the barrel, with eight down and 64 needed off the last 26 deliveries.Zimbabwean-born Higgins certainly does not mess about. 6-4-W was the sum of his latest innings as Middlesex survived a calamitous collapse to steal a one-wicket win in the Thames derby before before 27,200 at Lord’s.Higgins came in with 28 needed from 27 balls with five wickets left. He departed with the target cut to 18 from 24 balls with four wickets remaining. It is debatable whether that position represented an improvement, but Middlesex, under the New Zealand management team of coach Dan Vettori and captain Brendon McCullum, insist that they are committed to attacking cricket.It will certainly bring excitement. It might even take them to Finals Day.

The India captain now slots in behind only Sachin Tendulkar for the most centuries in ODI cricket

Bharath Seervi22-Oct-2017Virat Kohli is reaching new highs with almost every match, with every ODI century. In the series opener against New Zealand at the Wankhede, the India captain brought up his 31st century playing in his 200th ODI. He became only the second batsman after AB de Villiers to get to a century in the 200th ODI. He’s now the second-highest hundreds scorer in ODI history behind only Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 tons. Kohli has got there playing just 200 games. No other batsman has had better career figures than Kohli after their 200th ODI.

With 8888 runs at average of 55.55 and 31 centuries, Kohli has the most runs, best average and highest number of centuries for any batsman when completing 200 ODIs. Previously de Villiers was the most prolific batsman in his first 200 ODIs, having 8621 runs at 54.56 with 24 centuries. Currently, Hashim Amla has 26 centuries in just 158 matches with 7381 runs at 51.25. Among India players Sourav Ganguly had the most runs (7747) and joint-most centuries with Tendulkar (18) at that stage of the career. The Indian duo averaged 43.03 and 41.74 respectively at that point of their careers.In getting to his 31st century, in humid conditions, Kohli batted almost the whole innings – he came in in the sixth over and was dismissed in the 50th. The second-highest scorer for India made 84 runs fewer than Kohli. Kohli’s contribution of 43.21% of the runs India scored in this innings was his second-highest contribution percentage-wise among his 12 century innings in the first innings. This was the fourth time India scored less than 300 in first innings of an ODI that included a century by Kohli, and three of these instances have come in last 24 months.

Kohli’s numbers have only got better and better as his career has progressed. He had averaged 45.67 in his first block of 50 ODIs, 51.81 in the second, 57.83 in the third and 68.10 in the fourth set of 50 ODIs. The past two years – 2016 and 2017 – have been particularly highly productive for him: he has amassed 2057 runs in 34 innings in this period, at an average of 82.28 and a strike rate at 99.03 including ten centuries.ESPNcricinfo LtdPreviously, Kohli had more of an influence while chasing targets. But in recent years, he has contributed in both innings. Till end of 2015, his second innings average (61.34) was 22.31 runs better than in the first (39.03). But the numbers have changed. Since 2016 he averages 74.58 when batting first and 89.38 when chasing, which is a difference of 14.80. He had taken 7.67 innings per century in first innings’ of games till 2015 but that rate has gone down to 4.67 since then. Last year he had made 50-plus in each of the four innings in which India batted first, this year he has done it five times in 10 innings.

He was singing from the stands seven years ago but, despite injury problems of his own, Tom Helm could be next in line for an England Ashes call

David Hopps09-Nov-2017Tom Helm can claim to have been involved in a winning Ashes series – but only in the middle of the Barmy Army fan club.Any experience is useful when you look around at England’s gathering injury crisis and realise to your surprise that you might be one injury away from an Ashes call up.Seven years ago, Helm was on a supporters’ tour, singing songs about Andrew Strauss to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B” as England took the series 3-1.Fortunately, considering the song was about the man who is now the most powerful figure in English cricket, the lyrics were tasteful.Helm, the 23-year-old Middlesex seamer, is a veteran of only 17 first-class matches, but if Jake Ball’s ankle trouble proves terminal or disaster strikes elsewhere, England’s Ashes pace-bowling shortage will rival the time that supermarkets couldn’t find a decent iceberg lettuce for love or money because of freak weather in Spain.The cover will soon be in place as England Lions fly out to Australia on Tuesday before two weeks of red-ball practice in Brisbane and another fortnight, this time with the white ball, in Perth.”I would be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Helm said as he took a break from Lions preparations at Loughborough. “But my hopes aren’t particularly high for that as there are a lot of guys in the queue.”I am not saying never. I don’t think I am miles off. There is Liam Plunkett, there is Mark Wood, and a handful of other guys there or thereabouts. But with the relatively inexperienced squad they have already got out there I would probably add to that inexperience.”Personally, I don’t think it’s too soon. I think if I did get the call I would be ready to go but I am not naively thinking I am next in line.”The problem with Helm’s diagnosis is that Plunkett is at the Bangladesh Premier League with Sylhet Sixers and, as far as is known, is not excitedly waiting for his phone to ring.And Wood, potentially destructive, is yet to bowl off his full run at Loughborough as he tries to fight back from his latest injury woes and England have no intention of risking him in a Test until they are absolutely convinced of his resilience. Nobody, not even Wood, can be confident that day will ever come.If Helm wins an Ashes call up he can rest assured that Australia will dub him as the latest “no-name”. But Kevin Shine, the ECB’s lead fast bowling coach, is just one good judge who is impressed by the insistent line he bowls and the bounce he gains from a slender 6ft 4in frame would suit Australian pitches.

“I didn’t have a bad red-ball season but to be brutally honest I was over the moon to get out the end without being in a cast of some sort”Tom Helm

Perhaps his mum, Jacqui, knows something. The Helm family follows his career avidly. Helm raised an eyebrow: “My mum has been pestering me all week. I have told her to calm down. Naturally she’s got very excited but she’s been like that since I was 14.”Two of his Middlesex colleagues have already had a demoralising Ashes experience before the Brisbane Test even arrives. Toby Roland-Jones was a certain pick until a back stress fracture ruled him out shortly before the squad was announced and Steve Finn – an emergency stand in after Ben Stokes’ dead-of-night pugilism – tore knee cartilage while batting in the nets in Perth.Even Helm has been taking it easy after a minor hamstring injury disrupted his Championship season. No wonder. His own career has also been plagued by injury, to the extent that he completed an England Lions one-day tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year by saying he was just grateful he had got through in one piece.”I played a four-day game against Warwickshire, then we went straight to Bristol to play a Twenty20 on the Friday and I just felt my hamstring running around the outfield. It didn’t ping or anything, it was probably over-use because I was pretty tired. I have had a number of injections and a good rehab plan going.”I ran in off the full run-up for the first time today since the back end of last season. I had a little hamstring issue. I’m fit.”England would want to see further proof of that.Helm’s 2017 county summer was one of gradual progress, nothing more exciting than that. He played only five of Middlesex’s 14 Championship games – selection issues, not injuries – taking 19 wickets at 31.68, and actually progressed faster in Twenty20 where his stats were excellent.”I didn’t have a bad red-ball season but it would have been nice to have done a bit better than I did,” he said. “But to be brutally honest it was my first full season and I was over the moon to get out the end without being in a cast of some sort.”Life must have felt simpler seven years ago as he joined in the Ashes sing-songs:He says that, at 15, he never once looked down at the outfield and imagined that he might one day play in the Ashes. But the Barmy Army still selected him for a game against The Fanatics – their Australian counterparts.Perhaps they knew something England are yet to discover.

South Africa’s plan of bowling short to bridge the gap between India’s experienced, confident batsmen and their own struggles went awry when their inexperienced bowlers erred in line

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg18-Feb-2018In Twenty20 cricket, it is often the last few overs of each innings that change games, and are hence more analysed. It is less frequent that wickets in the Powerplay seal a game’s fate. Runs scored in a Powerplay that decide a match is even rarer. India scored 125 runs in their last 14 overs, South Africa 134 in theirs, and they did so despite losing wickets in desperate attempts to score quickly. And yet South Africa lost by a big margin.It was a match decided in the period of play when South Africa’s least experienced players went up against India’s most experienced ones. Debutant Junior Dala and Dane Paterson, playing only in his sixth T20I, wouldn’t even have been part of a full-strength South Africa side.Be that as it may, South Africa won the toss and asked for this contest upfront. Two newcomers against a top four that has individually led their batting units in the IPL. What you hope for at these times is well-set plans and spot-on execution. In ran Paterson to start the game with two men back on the leg side and no third man. Rohit Sharma saw one ball, and crunched the second – short and wide outside off – right where third man would have been. Later in the first over, Rohit showed those two men on the hook make no difference on a small ground, comfortably clearing them with a short-arm jab. The next ball he bunted over the infielders on the off side, knowing that’s all he had to do to get four.Dala, with the novelty of his wrong-footed action wearing off, bowled short and wide second ball, and Rohit accepted the same offer to third man. Dala did get a wicket with a straight short ball, primarily because Rohit tried to manufacture something out of the ordinary. In came Raina, and for one ball South Africa had a third man for him. Right after, South Africa went back to bowling short without a third man in place. Raina saw it coming, it was not express pace, and it was deposited over midwicket.Thirty-nine of the 78 runs in India’s Powerplay, with three sixes and four fours, came behind square on the off side. As a plan, you could understand why South Africa did. They were the weakened side, they needed to do something exceptional to take early wickets. “The plan was to try and take wickets,” JP Duminy said. “I felt if we were in that position, we were in a strong position, especially at a venue like this. I wasn’t too unhappy, the mindset and plan was an aggressive one which was to try and take wickets and with that, there are going to be times when you leak a few boundaries.”Associated PressIn the end, India scored 78, and had lost a wicket lesser than the minimum South Africa wanted. It is easy to think South Africa didn’t get the memo that India are currently playing the short ball well. It is not the case. A well-executed bouncer can be difficult for any batsman in the world. It is slightly higher risk but South Africa felt they needed to take the risk to bridge the gap between the two sides. Just that Paterson and Dala kept providing them the width required to exploit the absence of a third man.”To be honest I don’t think they have played it very well,” Duminy said. “It is going to come down to the execution of our skill. If we execute a plan well, it’s potentially going to work, but unfortunately with our plans in place, we didn’t execute as well as we’d have liked. I still believe and feel the plans are good, but especially when it’s a shorter format you have to execute well. Unfortunately there were few missed opportunities throughout the innings. But we’ll definitely come back stronger. I firmly believe that.”Were they asking too much of their young bowlers to bowl short and give no room to the batsmen? “They are inexperienced in terms of international cricket, but they are very experienced in terms of domestic cricket and what they have done at domestic level,” Duminy said. “They have a high standard in terms of their execution, but I’m not blaming that.”At the end of the day the batting has been our main Achilles heel throughout the series and that’s something we have to take on board. You will leak runs in this format, so even though we went for 200, from the way we started to the way we came back there are lots of positives to take.”South Africa could have asked Chris Morris to open the bowling for this plan, and used Paterson towards the end, a role he is more accustomed to. T20 is a format which bridges the gap between sides: South Africa were not behind in the last 14 overs of either innings. It will be interesting to see, in this light, if South Africa persist with the plan or tamper it.

Mumbai Indians kept bowling short and often varied the pace to strangle Kolkata Knight Riders’ chase

Dustin Silgardo06-May-2018How did KKR’s chase fall apart?
After 12 overs, they were going at 9.25 runs an over and needed 8.87 an over to win. With eight wickets in hand, that should have been straightforward. But after losing Robin Uthappa, KKR scored 33 from the next 33 balls and left too much to do in the last two overs. A lot of that was down to intelligent bowling from Mumbai Indians. Hardik Pandya mixed short balls with slower ones and wide yorkers while legspinner Mayank Markande gave the batsmen no room. Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah also bowled short balls to make life difficult for KKR. But from KKR’s point of view, there are a couple of worrying trends emerging.ESPNcricinfo LtdFirst is Nitish Rana’s habit of slowing down as his innings progresses. He strikes at 142.68 in the first 10 balls of his innings, but that drops to 112 from balls 11-20 and 127.59 from balls 21-30. On Sunday, Rana raced to 22 off 11 balls, but then didn’t hit a boundary for the rest of his 27-ball innings. In his last 16 balls, he faced seven dots, and his strike rate by the end was only 114.81.Second: Andre Russell has been dominant in the death while batting first, but he has not yet fired in a chase. He has been striking at 130.67 in chases, compared to 246.67 in the first innings. In the death overs of chases, his strike rate drops to 78.50. Once Rana was out, Dinesh Karthik looked to rotate the strike and stay till the end while Russell went for the big shots, but he did not find his timing against the slower balls from the seamers and Markande’s legspin. Russell managed only nine off 10 balls before holing out. He has only batted in four chases, so KKR will hope he can buck the trend.ESPNcricinfo LtdShort stuff works for Mumbai
If you were listening to the radio commentary of the first few overs of KKR’s chase, without context, you would be forgiven for assuming this was a Test match at the WACA in the 1990s rather than a T20 game at the Wankhede. Bumrah, McClenaghan and Hardik Pandya hit the deck and targeted the batsmen’s body. The ploy got Chris Lynn to top edge a pull to short fine leg.As the innings progressed, Mumbai’s seamers kept bowling short of a length, often taking the pace off as they dragged the ball in to the pitch. Of the 84 balls they bowled, 69% were short or short of a length. They conceded at 7.75 an over off that length and took three wickets with it. If you take Ben Cutting, whose short balls Uthappa put away, out of the equation, the other three seamers went at just seven an over off short balls.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy didn’t Mumbai send in Cutting?
The sight of Ben Cutting padded up, helmet on, awaiting his turn in the dug out is becoming an emblem of Mumbai Indians’ problems this season. They have all these dangerous weapons, but can’t seem to find the right moment to use them. Against KKR, Cutting had been ready since Krunal Pandya walked in to bat. But by the time Krunal was dismissed, it was clear Sunil Narine would bowl two of the last four overs. While Cutting strikes at 172.5 against pace, he manages just 118.33 against spin in T20s. And he would be facing one of the best T20 spinners, so Mumbai sent in JP Duminy instead.Why Narine was held for the death?
For the first time this IPL, Sunil Narine was given two overs at the death. KKR have had their problems in that period – coming in to this game, they were the third most expensive team in the last five overs.They also had a debutant fast bowler, Prasidh Krishna, and there was always the chance he would have to be protected from the slog overs. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik knew he could have two overs from Mitchell Johnson at the death, but he did not want to bowl Andre Russell then, because he has gone at 12.50 an over in that period. KKR have been getting one over from Piyush Chawla in the death, but against Mumbai there was the chance he would bowl to Krunal, who smashes legspinners at a strike rate of 200-plus. So, if Karthik wanted to give Krishna not more than one in the death, he had to get two from Narine, who ended up conceding 20 and taking a wicket in the last five.Narine also dismissed Rohit Sharma in his first over to the batsman. Narine had dismissed Rohit six times in 15 innings before this match, so that was clearly a match-up KKR wanted. Had Rohit survived the 12th over, Karthik may have given Narine another over at him, which would have meant changing his death-over plans.

There was a collective failure from England’s batsmen on the second day at Trent Bridge, but issues start at the top

George Dobell19-Aug-20185:37

#PoliteEnquiries: Why can’t England convert 10s into 20s?

We need to talk about Alastair Cook.We know he is England’s most prolific batsman. We know his place in England’s Test history is assured. We even know he was the top-scorer in England’s top six at Trent Bridge on Sunday and that, aged 33, there should be some miles left in the tank.But Cook is starting to look like the gym subscription you forget to cancel; the mobile phone contract that ties you in long after the screen is broken; the much-loved family pet whose next trip to the vet may not involve a return journey. It’s starting to become hard to deny that he is in an inexorable decline. That he is being retained long after England should have moved on.Wait there, you might say. It’s only a few Tests since he scored a double-century in Australia. And, not long before that, he scored another double against West Indies. And, even in this game, he has taken an outstanding slip catch.All that’s true. But between those double-centuries – a five-Test span which saw the Ashes decided – he averaged just 14.40. And, since the double in Melbourne – seven-and-a-half Tests that saw England defeated by New Zealand and held to a draw by Pakistan – he is averaging just 19.38. And, while it’s true he held a fine catch in the first innings, he missed a pretty straightforward one in the second and has taken around 70 percent of chances since the start of 2016. That’s about 10 percent below the rate of South Africa and Australia in the slips over the same period.What we see now is an opening batsman uncertain where his off stump is. An opening batsman uncertain whether to play or leave. Who, in going straight back rather than back and across, seems to be stretching to play deliveries only slightly outside off stump. An opening batsmen who is stuck in the crease and often looks hurried. And bowling attacks who are on to him and know exactly where to bowl.Those double-centuries have something in common. They were made on slow surfaces providing the bowlers little assistance. The first one, against West Indies in August 2017, was also made against a pink ball that refused to swing while the second one, at Melbourne, was on a pitch so absent of assistance for bowlers that it was subsequently rated “poor” by the ICC.That’s a pattern that extends a long way further back. If we reflect on Cook’s most recent Test centuries, we find evidence that suggests he has become something approaching the ultimate flat-track bully. Before those two doubles, we have to go back to November 2016 for a Cook century. That one, in Rajkot, was made on a surface so slow and flat that England passed 500 in their first innings – he was one of four England players to make a century in the drawn match – while the previous one (in July 2016) came at Old Trafford on a surface upon which Joe Root made a career-best 235 and England declared just short of 600. Before that, he made another double against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi (in October 2015) on a surface on which England again declared just short of 600.You have to go back a long, long way to find a century made in demanding batting conditions or even on a quick pitch.Those vast scores distort Cook’s record. For example, he finished the Ashes with a series average of 47, which sounds pretty good. But he passed 50 only once in the series – in the unbeaten 244 – and the rest of the time contributed just 132 in eight innings at an average of 16.50. He has long since stopped offering any sense of assurance at the top of the order. Instead, he is doing just enough to preserve his place but nowhere near enough to shape the course of a game except on the very flattest surfaces. Besides, if you give any good county batsman enough opportunities, they will register the occasional high score. It’s consistency that marks out the really good players.Getty ImagesEngland can’t afford Cook’s failures, either. Their middle order, for all its entertainment value, needs protecting from the ball at its newest and the bowlers at their freshest. They have already pushed Joe Root up to No. 3 and Ollie Pope – who had never come to the crease in a first-class innings before the 20th over – up to No. 4. On Test debut he was in before the ball was 10 overs old.Then you have Jonny Bairstow, whose reaction to every situation appears to be to try to hit the ball harder, in at No. 5, the aggressive Ben Stokes at No. 6, and a man at No. 7 who is 23 Tests into his career but has yet to make a century. All the recipes for collapse are there. Which is why they have now lost all ten wickets in a single session three times in the last two years. Between 1936 and 2016 that never happened. England need Cook to provide the old-fashioned grit to complement the rest of the team’s new-world flair.There are a couple of factors strongly in Cook’s favour. The first is that Ed Smith, the national selector, is clearly a believer in his strengths. Smith was, after all, still advocating the retention of Cook in England’s ODI team when he was sacked just ahead of the 2015 World Cup.But Cook’s greatest asset at present is not so much his record as the record of those vying to replace him. For all his current problems, with Keaton Jennings averaging 23.76 after nine-and-a-half Tests and 22 in three-and-a-half since his recall, Cook is not even the most worrying opener in the side.In a perfect world – a world where the domestic structure is designed to develop Test players – there should be a queue of candidates knocking at the door to replace both Cook and Jennings. In reality, however, we know England have tried a dozen options to partner Cook without success. There aren’t too many options left.Haseeb Hameed, who left the India tour at the end of 2016 looking every inch a Test batsman, has not made a century since. Indeed, he’s averaged just 20.07 in first-class cricket since with three half-centuries in 44 innings.Ben Duckett, who was good enough to score more than 1,300 runs in the 2016 season, is averaging 26.78 in Division Two this year.And while Nick Gubbins is averaging almost 60 in the Championship season, he is playing only his fourth game having suffered injury and has a modest record against spin bowling. Bearing in mind England’s winter plans – tours to Sri Lanka and the Caribbean – that does him few favours.Rory Burns acknowledges his third hundred of the season•Getty ImagesThen there’s Rory Burns. He has almost 881 Division One runs this season – that’s 181 more than anyone else in the division – at an average of 67.76 (almost 30 more than Cook for Essex) and recently won praise from Dale Steyn for his temperament and technique. He is not an especially pretty batsman – he has an odd habit of peering to midwicket just ahead of delivery as if the fielder has just whispered something appalling about him – but he is effective, hungry, bright and determined. England’s batting collapses are none too pretty, either.It might not help his opening partners that Cook is at the other end. With his own struggles to worry about, he is in no position to take the pressure off them by either hitting a bowler off their length or even giving the sense of permanence that might dispirit them. Instead, the novice openers see the scoreboard going nowhere and bowlers allowed to settle into spells. There’s no slipstream to benefit from.Cook has had a great career. And he is going to have every opportunity to bat for a day or two in the second innings of this game. But all the evidence suggests the old lion is limping and the hyenas are circling.

Sarfraz Ahmed says team must forget their wins at Malahide and Lord’s and start again from scratch at Headingley

Osman Samiuddin at Headingley31-May-2018For artists of all shades, it is an eternal question: how do you follow up a masterpiece? Do you give up resigned in the knowledge that most of humanity has the capacity to produce one truly great piece of work in a life? Do you strive to replicate it, knowing that merely reproducing it might be enough to get by? Or do you struggle on, weighed down by the probability that you can’t better it but floating on the possibility that you might?Professional sport is so relentless and unforgiving that the question itself is a sign of weakness, let alone for there to exist the possibility of answers. The whole point is to be better than your last game, to win a 17th Test in a row, to follow a hundred with a double, to accept that nothing is perfect but to still reach for it.Can Pakistan be better than they were at Lord’s? Putting aside that they don’t need to be if England are even worse than they were, Lord’s was as comprehensive an away performance as Pakistan have had in a generation. They were dominant at The Oval in 2016 too, but batting conditions especially weren’t as tough as Lord’s. And the Lord’s win was built on more collective contributions.Almost all their batsmen and all the bowlers played a part. The fielding was strong throughout and there was just one flat – not poor – session.The complicated thing about asking whether and how Pakistan can be better is that not only is this a new side – there were four changes in the XI from their last Test in Dubai – it is a new of side. And because it is a new type, able to field a five-man attack with little compromise to batting depth, the question becomes one of potential. Are there areas where they can improve on Lord’s in Leeds? And the longer-term one – how much better can this side get?Go big

Conditions at Lord’s, even on the second day, were tough for batsmen. The ball continued to swing in the air and find something in the surface. Yet Pakistan’s batsmen mixed just the right amount of discipline with intent. Four of them got fifties, two of them got into the high 30s and even Mohammad Amir chipped in with an unbeaten 24.It was an excellent display, the only complaint to which can be that one of them didn’t go on (Babar Azam, potentially, could’ve). “As well as we played at Lord’s, we can still play better than that,” said their captain, Sarfraz Ahmed. “If you look at our batting, we made four fifties at Lord’s and if one of them had gone on to the big hundred that would’ve been even better.”Don’t revert to type

Pakistan’s fielding at Lord’s has rightly been lauded. And it has been, more or less, on an upward curve (though more in the shorter formats). Cricviz figures show Pakistan to have caught 80% of their Test catches since Mickey Arthur took over, behind only South Africa and New Zealand.The ground fielding too, with Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf and even Imam-ul-Haq, is quicker, more athletic. But nobody should be getting carried away just yet that this is the new permanent. Malahide, where they dropped catches and were outfielded by Ireland, was only two Tests ago. They wilted in the final session on the third day at Lord’s as well.To become a truly top fielding side, they will have to replicate Lord’s day in, day out, and will have to ensure that whoever comes into the team – Usman Salahuddin on Friday for instance – is as intense.Shadab to choke

Shadab has had two good Tests back-to-back. There’s good news about his batting and even though he has six wickets in those two games, he is still clearly a developing prospect.Despite two important wickets at Lord’s, he wasn’t able to apply the kind of pressure on England that Pakistan would have wanted. It’s not fair to expect him to just yet, but imagine if his Test bowling develops to the standards that people around him think it can. Yasir Shah and Shadab together offer Pakistan unimaginable options.The surface at Headingley looks dry and it does help spin towards the back-end of games, but more than the wickets, if Shadab can keep runs in check – he went at nearly four an over at Lord’s – that would be a start.Forget Lord’s

It’s been four days since Lord’s and, given the context, it would be easy to still be swirling around in the jubilation. They cannot, as Sarfraz was at pains to insist.”We’re trying to take it match by match with this team,” he said in Leeds. “We won the first match against Ireland, then we forgot it and moved on. If we want to move ahead as a team we have to forget our wins. We did well, we enjoyed it for two days but now we’re here. And if we are to move up in the rankings we need to forget our wins and keep moving on.”