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George Bailey has not been part of Australia’s T20 side for close to two years, but he hopes his performances in the ODIs against India can push his case for World T20 selection

Daniel Brettig10-Jan-2016Michael Clarke’s retirement from international cricket was bittersweet for George Bailey. In the absence of Clarke’s tender back and the arrival of the more limber Steven Smith, Bailey lost what had been regular opportunities to captain his country. But in the vacation of Clarke’s place in the order, Bailey found the regular spot his record had long merited.Rather than wearing the orange bib of a drinks waiter that he accepted without rancour when Clarke was fit for last year’s World Cup, Bailey’s place in the Australian ODI middle order is now beyond question. He played neatly in the post-Ashes series in England that was the 50-over side’s most recent assignment.But there is also a challenge for him: to assert his value as a member of the Australian Twenty20 side, of which he is no longer captain or an incumbent member in the months before the format’s ICC event in India. While there is a distinct difference between the formats, Bailey has to believe he can sway the selectors over the next five matches.”There’s a World Cup looming around the corner, and I’d love to be a part of it,” Bailey said in Perth on Sunday. “I’ll try to drop as many subtle hints as I can in front of Finchy [captain Aaron Finch]. And I’m pretty sure the selectors know I’m not retired now, so that’s a step in the right direction. But runs are always the best currency.”It was in India, of course, that Bailey first surged as a leader. His 478 runs from 412 balls faced, at an average of 95.60, made his a stand-in captaincy by the very best of examples during the late 2013 ODI tour, even if Australia narrowly lost the series after an ominously rhythmic Mitchell Johnson was sent home early – and shrewdly – to prepare for the Ashes.Nevertheless, Bailey’s efforts turned heads both in India and back home, resulting in his call-up to the Test side for runs made in another format and on another continent. He is hopeful of doing the same again. “I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket in the subcontinent,” he said, “and had some experience in World Cups. So hopefully that holds me in good stead.”As he prepares for a first World T20 as captain, Finch expressed a sentiment that will be welcomed not only by Bailey, but also a cadre of other experienced players well versed in the shortest format: to him, age should not be a determining factor in selection, merely aptitude. This, Finch clarified, was not a promise, but a guide.”If we think they can help win a game for Australia, I don’t think there’s any reason not to consider them,” Finch said. “I’m not saying that any of them will be selected. But at the same time, you have to look at everyone.”We are trying to win a world tournament for the first time, and we would be silly not to have a look at the make-up and see if you can fit whoever it is. Whether it’s an 18-year-old kid or a 45-year-old Brad Hogg – I think you have to look at that option. But it doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen.”The popularity of this year’s Big Bash League has prompted a few unusual questions for Australian cricketers – namely whether they felt odd leaving their T20 teams as the competition ramps up towards a conclusion. But Finch spoke for most when he stated the opportunity to face India was anything but a chore.”Honestly not at all,” he said if he would be irked to miss Melbourne Renegades duty. “While I’d love to continue playing and finish out the season with the Renegades, I wouldn’t give up playing cricket for Australia for anything.”We [Australia and India] are both two very passionate teams. They play with their hearts on their sleeves, and they’re quite emotional people, as we are. We all want to win a game for our country. You do whatever it takes within the rules. That’s why there’e always some great battles with India, there’s some great confrontation which adds to the excitement of the game.”For Bailey and Finch, the series represents a return to national colours after plenty of time watching the Test men. But it is also the start of a journey towards another major trophy, one that Finch would dearly love to win and Bailey would dearly love to be vying for.

MS Dhoni and Ishant Sharma reversed India’s customary defensive strategies, on day five at Lord’s, to help them to a landmark Test win

Sidharth Monga at Lord's21-Jul-20143:52

Ishant bowls short, England fall short

It is just before 1pm. The ghosts of Johannesburg and Wellington are warming up. There has not been a wicket the whole session. Joe Root and Moeen Ali have added 84. The pitch is not green anymore. It is not Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s pitch anymore. Mohammed Shami has wobbled the ball a bit, but the two young England batsmen have been resolute. Ravindra Jadeja has kept the batsmen honest – they dare not play an adventurous shot with the balls landing in the rough one after the other – but where is the wicket? When nothing else works, MS Dhoni goes to Ishant Sharma. They need someone who can hit that pitch hard now to exploit the uneven bounce. It is time for Ishant then, the man with the worst record for anyone who has played 50 Tests or more, the man who never shies away from the dirty work. Lucky Ishant. Unlucky Ishant. The only Ishant.England see an opportunity here. Root gets stuck into Ishant. The first ball is a loosener. A long half-volley. Four. Shane Warne doing commentary wonders why the fast bowlers do not bowl the bouncer as a loosener if they need a loosener. Dhoni has started wondering why not bowl bouncers here. Later in the over Root drives loosely, but through the gap. Four more. Then Ishant bowls short and wide, and Root guides him through gully for four. Root’s fifty has come up. The target is now under 150. Hello Wanderers. Hello Basin.Dhoni bowls Jadeja. Gets a quiet over in. Ishant is persisted with for the last over before lunch. He is asked to bowl bouncers. He does not really feel comfortable doing it. This is England, isn’t it, where you are supposed to bowl full. Dhoni tells him, don’t worry, even a top edge caught in the deep is a wicket. As good as caught in the slips. We need wickets…Just to make sure he gives Ishant a field where he cannot bowl full. Leg gully, short leg, short midwicket, two men deep on the hook. Dhoni has stepped in. This is the Dhoni we do not know well. This is the Dhoni who has possibly been passive twice. He does not want to be now.Ishant digs one in. Root ducks it. He has to bowl one more now. Will he? Will he ever? This is right at Root’s throat. Root fends at it. What a welcome sight for anyone willing to bowl short and fast on the final day. The next one is into the ribs. Root wears it. Gets off the strike with the leg-bye, which should not really be, because he has let it hit him as opposed to taking evasive action.Ishant has Moeen on strike now. The next two short deliveries are down the leg side. One so far down he has to pull out from the pull shot. The last ball of the session. If England survive this ball, no matter what how ungainly they look doing it, they go to lunch with a huge psychological boost. India can start questioning themselves. Can we really ever win a Test away from home? Ishant needs to get this one absolutely right. No easy leave here. He bowls one at the throat. With a plan telegraphed to him, it should be easy for Moeen to get under this. He does not. He cannot sway out of the way either. This is a poor way of playing at this. He gloves it. Moeen’s mind has switched off. India have turned the session around.Forty minutes later. India want to bounce England some more. Matt Prior has shown this summer that he does not like it up there. There’s only 146 to get, though. This can unravel fast if the bowlers get it wrong. How often have they got it wrong in the past? And if they get it wrong, how long before Dhoni feels the need to defend? The good thing is, there are only four overs to go to the new ball. Dhoni has a definite target in sight.Ishant Sharma is the one man for India who is built to bowl the bouncer•Getty ImagesShami, though, bowls soft bouncers. He is pulled away for 10 runs in the first over after lunch. Surely this is not working? Only 136 to get now. Dhoni hates to concede runs. Surely this cannot go on for too long? Think of the time when he sent back a deep point when an injured Jacques Kallis reverse-swept Harbhajan Singh in Cape Town in 2010-11. That game was headed only one way after that: away from India.Ishant is allowed to do it for another over, though. The first ball is short and wide. Easy four. Ishant still does not seem convinced about it, but he is the man who can actually bowl the short ball well. He is quick, he is tall. Dhoni leaves him no choice. Two men on the hook, just one slip for the new batsman, a short leg and a short midwicket. Ishant goes for another four as Prior drags a pull from wide outside off and hits the last ball of the over through deep midwicket. The target is now only 126. Only twenty-five per remaining wicket. They are knocking them off by the 10s.The old Dhoni would have spread the field all over by now. He is not doing it now. He is, as Warne says, prepared to lose in order to win. He knows only too well, thanks to his own batsmen, that you cannot continue hooking with total control of it. He has now put one more man in the deep. A deep fine leg, a deep square leg and a deep midwicket. He is not worried about the runs. He just wants Ishant to eliminate every other shot. And this is no mickey-mouse boundary where you can feel confident of hooking for a six in such a tense situation.Eightieth over then. Possibly the last before India attack with the new ball. First ball. Pulled down. Single. Second ball. No-ball. Pulled down. Single. Two more similar singles. The target is now 121. Ishant tries the bluff. Bowls full. Prior is equal to it. Two more balls, and India might go back to bowling length with the new ball. Root and Prior have gained some sort of momentum and confidence. If they attack the new ball and it flies away, this game could be over quickly.Down to two more balls from Ishant. Dhoni goes up to him. Asks him to go round the stumps. Ishant does not like it. Dhoni insists. Ishant goes for it. And he gets this one right. Over the shoulder and across Prior’s body. This is not easy to control. And M Vijay judges a catch nicely at deep midwicket. In a workhorsely manner, Ishant has kept India in it again. And look at Dhoni leap for joy while running towards his team-mates. His plan has come off. He hardly ever does this. Give away runs to buy wickets, or show such emotion. If Johannesburg and Wellington are giant blimps hanging over wherever India play, they have been pricked. It is only a matter of time now.And now that Dhoni is in control, he begins to do his funky thing. He refuses the new ball. Because Jadeja provides him control with the old ball. Ishant is hurting, but he can go on. He can smell the win, how can you take the ball out of his hand? It would be unfair too. Ben Stokes comes, Ben Stokes pulls, Ben Stokes goes out. Root pulls. Root finds deep backward square. There is no “c Dhoni b Ishant” on the scoreboard but these wickets are all conceived by Dhoni and taken by Ishant.In his last 18 legal deliveries, Ishant has taken four wickets for 17 runs. He is in pain. He is on his haunches. He is also on the honours board. And two wickets from a win at Lord’s. Dhoni tells him there are three more Tests to go. He does not want him injured. If there is the slightest bit of niggle anywhere, he need not bowl another over. Ishant is having none of it. He bowls another over. Then another. Finally the literal c Dhoni b Ishant makes its poetic appearance as Stuart Broad edges a short delivery down leg. At 23-6-74-7, Ishant’s job is over. Now, he walks off the field.Jadeja finishes the match with bête noir James Anderson’s run-out. Ishant is not on the field. Players have had their huddle. They have taken stumps as souvenirs. Jadeja has even shaken Anderson’s hand and tapped his shoulder. Only when the players make it to just outside the pavilion does Ishant step out. Shami holds the match ball in his palm as if in a cup. Smiling that toothy smile that he has never let go of, Ishant accepts it gleefully. Anyone who does not feel happy for this much-maligned cricketer has a rock for a heart.Dhoni has taken the back seat somewhere. He has been positive from the moment he has landed in England. Batting himself at six, persisting with attacking fields even when runs are flowing, getting into the bowlers’ ears, getting them to do things he wants as opposed to letting matches drift. Long may he remain.

When Andy Zaltzman realised Sachin was destined for greatness (though he will never surpass a certain Zimbabwe offspinner)

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013All cricket fans cherish moments when they first see a player, and think to themselves: “This lad is something extraordinary.” They cherish them even more when they turn out to be correct. Few would boast that when they saw Paras Mhambrey bowl for the first time, they just knew deep down that he would go on to take 400 Test wickets; or that they happened to catch a glimpse of Blair Hartland’s debut Test innings whilst on holiday in New Zealand in 1992, and instantly wrote a series of postcards home telling their parents that Wally Hammond himself had been reborn as a Kiwi opener.Many will have thought it during Cheteshwar Pujara’s mesmeric, match-sealing fourth-innings 72 on debut in Bangalore, for his timing, his decisiveness and precision of shot, and his ethereal stillness at the crease. Time will tell. Time is often a bit of miserable sod in these matters. When Phil Hughes added to his debut 75 with two stunning centuries in his second Test, against Steyn, Morkel, Ntini and Kallis (and Paul Harris), who would have thought that he would be dropped just three Tests later? Not me, and probably not Phil Hughes. And almost certainly not the then bits-and-pieces allrounder Shane Watson, who replaced him and has since reached 50 in 12 of his 26 innings, the highest ratio of fifties-per-innings of any baggy green opener with 10 or more half-centuries.Debuts, the deceitful little minxes that they are, have made many false promises. Particularly with legspinners. Narendra Hirwani took 16 for 136, Warne took 1 for 150. Kumble returned an inauspicious 3 for 170. Ian Salisbury twirled his web around Pakistan to take 5 for 122. Where did his 600 other Test wickets go? And maybe England should have stuck with Chris Schofield a little longer. Warne’s debut gave perhaps the falsest and cruellest promise of all to England fans – that Australia had unearthed yet another cannon-fodder legspinner to be marmaladed by England’s batsmen. That little reverie took one ball to shatter. It was sweet while it lasted.I remember when I first realised that Sachin Tendulkar could turn out to be the truly special player that he had been rumoured to be by the world’s cricketing press. It was when he reached 10,000 Test runs. It was clear at that point – in his 122nd Test, with an average of 57 − that the young man was destined for greatness. (Others had suspected it before then, but I like to reserve judgement on players until I am absolutely 100% sure about them, and the 10,000-Test-run barrier seems as fair a benchmark as any. Bradman, Sobers, Richards and Ken Rutherford I remain to be convinced about. The logic is simple: you can easily score fewer than 10,000 Test runs without being a particularly good batsman. But only good players reach 10,000. I therefore acknowledge that Tendulkar is a useful bat. Very useful, in fact – 95 international centuries constitutes a solid effort.)Bangalore was one of the great highlights of his statistics-boggling career, a display of complete technical and tactical mastery that first transformed the game and then completed it, played with a vigour that suggests he may have several more good years left in him. Once he has ticked off 50 Test centuries and 15,000 runs, perhaps Wilfred Rhodes’ 31-year Test span will be the next major record in his sights.Tendulkar’s continuing resurgence has been the highlight of a compelling microseries that again highlighted the desirability of macroseries. India finished looking like the world’s top side, playing three days of majestic cricket to seal the series, and Australia ended as a team with more question marks than a transcript of an unusually urgent police interrogation of a hard-of-hearing and inquisitive suspect.Ponting’s captaincy on Wednesday attracted widespread criticism. To my layman’s eyes it seemed intended to distract the Indian batsmen through sheer bafflement. As they tried to figure out Ponting’s extremely well-concealed masterplan, they could easily have becoming distracted and perturbed, and smashed their own stumps down in confusion. Not really trying to take wickets when he needed to really try to take wickets was an obtuse approach. I have heard rumours that every night Ponting goes back to his hotel room, makes little papier-maché dolls of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, says to them: “Right, Glenn, you bowl from the bathroom end, and Shane, you take the bed end. I’m going for a snooze, and when I wake up I expect you to have bowled the opposition out. Night night.” Admittedly those rumours are ones that I have made up and said to myself, but still, no smoke without fire. There has to be some truth in them.Back to Tendulkar, officially the world’s best batsman again for the first time in eight years. Tendulkar’s Test career is about to celebrate its 21st birthday, and is now the 11th longest of all time, and the fourth-longest not to have been interrupted by a world war. The three players ahead of him on that little list are Syd Gregory (58 Tests from 1890 to 1912; his longevity can be ascribed to an undroppably assertive moustache), Brian Close (England’s youngest and oldest post-War Test player, his 22 Tests splattered over almost 27 years, dropped six times in his first seven matches spanning three different decades, and proud owner of the most sporadic career in Test history), and dual-nation legend John Traicos, more of whom below.The Mumbai Methuselah has missed just 14 of India’s 185 Tests in the almost 21 years since he first plonked his 16-year-old feet onto the Test arena, giving him a 92.4% attendance-at-work rate. This currently puts him fourth on the list of highest-percentage-of-possible-Tests-played of the 16 players with Test careers lasting longer than 20 years.If he stays fit, continues to set his alarm clock, remembers to turn up, and is not lured away by the promise of a stint as lead cricket bat player in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s forthcoming season of cricket-themed adaptations of the works of Mozart, then he could pinch the bronze medal from Sir Garfield Sobers (93% of Tests from 1954 to 1974). That is as far as he can hope to go. Two men remain unattainably in front: one-and-a-half South Africans and half a Zimbabwean. Dave Nourse did not miss a single Test of the 45 South Africa played from 1902 to 1924, and Traicos was never dropped in his 23-year Test career, from 1970 to 1993.Traicos, who stands alone alongside Richard Hadlee in the Official ICC Catalogue Of Bowlers Who Have Dismissed Both Sachin Tendulkar and Keith Stackpole In Test Cricket, also remained undefeated until the final few months of his career. These facts in isolation might hint at one of the all-time great cricketing careers. Sadly for Traicos, his 23 years as an international cricketer were adorned by just seven Tests, sandwiching a 22-year sabbatical as a humble civilian – three games for South Africa before their ban in 1970, and four for Zimbabwe after their admission in 1992.Recently unearthed relics from an archaeological dig at Kingsmead in Durban, where Traicos made his debut for South Africa, suggest that this Egypt-born son of Greek parents personally built a special altar with his cricket bag and sacrificed 100 head of oxen to almighty Zeus in return for (a) never being dropped, (b) having at least a 23-year-long Test career, and (c) not losing for the first 22 of those 23 years.Zeus, always a deity with a wry sense of humour, granted Traicos’ wish with a flamboyant crack of his trademark thunderbolt, and the Egyptigrecozimbabweacsouthafrican tweaker skipped away in delight, visualising the forthcoming decades of batsman-shattering devastation that his tidy offbreaks would soon wreak. Zeus, meanwhile, giggled quietly to himself and muttered under his breath: “Sucker – you can have your 23 years undropped. And you can also have your seven Tests, your 18 wickets, and your bowling average of 42. Got you, Traicos, got you. Thanks for the barbecue. Yum, yum, yum.”The King of Olympus then high-fived himself, and chirped: “I’ve still got it. Over 2000 years out of the media spotlight, and the Big Z has still got it.” It’s all in , if you read it backwards.

Despite losing Chris Tremlett to injury a dominant England surged to a 2-0 lead and must now consider the fantastic opportunity that lies in front of them

Andrew McGlashan at Trent Bridge01-Aug-2011Lord’s was a “near perfect” display in the words of Andrew Strauss, but England’s crushing victory at Trent Bridge to go 2-0 against the No. 1 team in the world was, ironically of its faults, an even better performance. There is an aura developing around this England team. They are finding ways to win from difficult positions, not just edge their way to victory but change 50-50 scenarios into overwhelming successes. It’s the type of cricket Australia used to play.At various junctures throughout the first two-and-a-half days this match was on a knife-edge and it was England who won the major moments. The final session on the first day when the last two wickets added 97; the same time on the second when Stuart Broad took his hat-trick; the first session on Saturday when England still trailed, then when India took the second new ball.Had any of those gone India’s way so, too, would crucial momentum in the match. It’s how Australia stayed on top for so long. Often they would dominate from the start, as England did at Lord’s, but sometimes their opponents would provide a stern contest only for Australia’s greater belief and depth to shine through. That’s why England have the makings of a No. 1 team. One more victory in this series will put them there.Strauss was keen to stress after Lord’s that there was room for improvement and did so again here. He had more of a point about this match, where England were 124 for 8 and dropped three catches, yet the win was by an even greater margin. India had problems – an injured Harbhajan and a reshuffled batting line-up the biggest of them – but they were brushed aside by a team gaining some fearsome, ruthless momentum.To emphasise the current health of the England team you need to look no further than the star of the fourth day at Trent Bridge. Tim Bresnan wouldn’t have played if Chris Tremlett hadn’t suffered a hamstring injury; he ended the game with 90 and a career-best 5 for 48. All-round performances don’t come much better and he produced it on “Yorkshire Day” for good measure. He did more than a passing impression of Tremlett, too, as he roughed up Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh with short balls to make them seem like novices.Then there was the skill to switch immediately to the inswinger to remove MS Dhoni. Bresnan is now a quality Test bowler, far removed from the youngster who was plucked out of county cricket by Duncan Fletcher in 2006. The confidence he gained from his performances at Melbourne and Sydney during the Ashes has not diminished despite an injury-hit first half to the season.We’ll never know what would have happened at the start of this summer against Sri Lanka if all England’s bowlers had been fit because Bresnan was the man in possession, not Stuart Broad after his own injury problems. Now both have been matchwinners in the same Test. Bresnan may not play at Edgbaston so he must be the best reserve in the world game.It would be cruel to leave him out, but if Tremlett is fit then the only way Bresnan plays is if England finally bite the bullet over a five-man attack. Now, though, is as good a time as ever to try. Jonathan Trott’s injury could give them the perfect window. Bresnan and Broad are scoring runs, while Matt Prior is in the form of his life.Clearly, England’s current balance is serving them well and in English conditions there is no pressing need for a fifth bowler but in the coming months and years they will come across some flat pitches. It feels as though the next level for this team is to at least know they can play with a different balance even if it is only used on occasions rather than as the norm. Still, if Trott is fit they are unlikely to make that call in this series.Given how key he has been to England’s rise it is remarkable to see the scale of their victory with such a quiet display from Graeme Swann, who struggled after a blow to his left hand in the first innings. He had one of his worst matches with the ball, going at more than six-an-over in the first innings, and the closest he came to a wicket was when Sachin Tendulkar nearly failed to clear Kevin Pietersen at mid-on. Still, he played his part, because his 28 in the stand with Broad changed the complexion of match.There are some batsmen also having a quiet series. Alastair Cook’s record-breaking form has been snapped by swing, Strauss is making starts but not converting them and Eoin Morgan, despite his 70 in the second innings, is vulnerable against the movement. Throw in a rare lean match for Trott and it adds further weight to the performances of those who won the match.England will expect India to come back strongly having regrouped themselves, but nothing will worry this team. In the last two weeks they have set themselves a new level yet will still be striving to get even better. A couple of hours after the match finished those players who use Twitter were busy planning their evening in Nottingham. The short break before Edgbaston will allow them to celebrate properly what they have achieved in the first half of this series. It may also be a chance to consider the fantastic opportunity that lies in front of them.

The England selectors named two 16-man squads for the forthcoming ODI and Test series in New Zealand and a 13-man England Lions squad to tour India

Andrew Miller at Lord's04-Jan-2008

When England’s last Test squad was announced back in October, Andrew Strauss was the man with the very justifiable grievance. Back then he was dropped without ceremony just 12 months after being overlooked as England’s captain, but today, he was back in the set-up, and absorbed into the starting line-up as if he had never been away. The big talking point was the player headed in the opposite direction, Matt Prior, whose fall from grace has been as swift and dramatic as any England player in living memory.In the summer Prior was a debut centurion against West Indies, but now he has drifted so far off the radar the selectors weren’t even able to locate him ahead of the squad announcement. Instead it was left to David Graveney – in what might be his final act as chairman of England’s selectors – to apologise live on television for the breakdown in communication. It later transpired that Prior has changed his mobile number and has been lying low in America since the end of the Sri Lanka tour, but as a commentary on his fortunes it was strangely apt.After all, Prior entered the England set-up as the golden boy – the protégé of the new coach, Peter Moores, and a beacon of the new post-Fletcher era. Now he’s out on his ear, officially labelled as suspect after missing at least nine regulation catches and two stumpings in his ten-Test career. To add insult to injury, the man who has leapfrogged him is the same man with whom he vied for opportunities under Moores’ supervision at Sussex. Maybe a squad featuring both of Moores’ men, Prior and Tim Ambrose, would have smacked too much of favouritism. Instead the overriding flavour is fudge.Not since the rookie James Foster and Warren Hegg (two Tests) travelled to India in 2001-02 has an England squad featured two such untested keepers, but to have two uncapped players in competition rather takes the biscuit. “Since Alec Stewart finished his career, wicketkeeping has been under the microscope, more so than any other position,” said Graveney. “The player involved does feel the pressure, but with Prior, there are areas of his wicketkeeping he needs to work at, and that’s the reason why we’ve made that decision.”Prior will now retreat to Loughborough for further one-on-one work with Moores, and though Graveney insisted he would have his chance to come again, it’s hard to see when and where it will come. If England’s dramatic rotation policy is taken to its logical extreme, then the older, more mature Foster must surely come into the reckoning sooner rather than later, and then there’s Phil Mustard, who has been given a free rein as a one-day opener and keeper, but – rather perversely – will not be considered for the Test role unless he produces an extraordinary run of form in February’s five-match ODI series.

The situation is all the more bizarre when you consider the weight of wicketkeeping experience in the England coaching set-up. There’s Moores himself of course, Sussex’s stalwart of the 1990s, plus Andy Flower, who would give Adam Gilchrist a run for his money as the greatest batsman-keeper of all time. Even the analyst, Mark Garaway, kept in four first-class matches for Hampshire in the late 1990s. Perhaps Prior has been the victim of too much conflicting advice – that might explain why not even his agent, none other than Alec Stewart, was able to rustle up his mobile number.Either way, one can only wish Ambrose good luck as he takes his first sup from the poisoned chalice. For all that he made a career-best 251 not out in a tough season for Warwickshire last summer, he has managed just four first-class centuries in his seven-year career, which is 11 fewer than Prior, and seven fewer even than the maligned Chris Read. Although Ryan Sidebottom applied some unforeseen rigidity to the tail in Sri Lanka, such tenacity cannot be guaranteed on New Zealand’s zippier wickets. The onus is on England’s No. 7 to provide big runs, and regardless of his errors behind the stumps, Prior’s ten-Test average of 40.14 suggests he was increasingly proficient in front of them.In fact, Prior was third in England’s batting averages in Sri Lanka, behind Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, but that said as much about the failings of the top-order as his relative successes. “The message to all the players, is this is the time to deliver,” said Graveney. “We didn’t score enough hundreds, we didn’t bowl too many people out, and we also dropped too many chances in comparison with the opposition. We go into the New Zealand series having lost two in a row. They are not going to collapse in front of us, so the challenge is there and we have to raise our performance to get back to winning ways.”Back into the side, therefore, comes Strauss, who memorably made a century on debut against New Zealand when the teams last competed in 2004. He is already in Hamilton, preparing for his domestic stint with the state team, Northern Knights, and no doubt refreshed from a rare extended break from international cricket. His recall will bolster England’s slip cordon as well as their batting line-up, although in both cases it’s not yet clear quite where he will slot into the side. Cook and Michael Vaughan were qualified successes as an opening partnership, while in the catching stakes, his safe hands would probably be best employed at first slip rather than third – if nothing else, to act as a reassuring sidekick for a nervous new keeper.In other news, Monty Panesar has been quietly dropped from the one-day squad – rightly so, for the formulae and flatter lines required in that form of the game seemed to dull his impact and impair his attacking instincts in the Tests in Sri Lanka – while Ravi Bopara slips quietly out of the Test squad after four dismissals and no runs in his last ten balls of the series. But no change has been as seismic as the shift away from Prior. There’s not been a lot of sympathy doing the rounds since his form began to fall away in the India series last summer, but no-one predicted his demise would be quite so swift or ruthless. Maybe Moores has more of an edge than he’s been given credit for this year. If this is how he treats his friends, then woe betide his enemies.England Test squad Michael Vaughan (capt), Tim Ambrose (wk), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Phil Mustard, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann.England ODI squad Paul Collingwood (capt), Tim Ambrose (wk), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Phil Mustard, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Luke Wright.England Lions squad Michael Yardy (capt), Kabir Ali, Michael Carberry, Steven Davies, Joe Denly, James Hildreth, Ed Joyce, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Alan Richardson, Jonathan Trott.

Australia are able to get the best of both worlds when it comes to Bazball – they can praise it, and they know the scoreline is in their favour

Andrew McGlashan26-Jun-2023After one match of the men’s Ashes 2023, Australia are able to get the best of both worlds when it comes to Bazball. They can praise its ambitions, while England do much of the combative talking, knowing the scoreline reads 1-0 in Australia’s favour heading to Lord’s and promising there is much better to come from them than was shown at Edgbaston.Such were the fine margins in the opening Test that any number of little moments could be looked back on as proving the difference, the last of them Ben Stokes’ very tough missed chance with 37 runs still needed. In the end, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon carried them to a famous victory, but the batting in particular has room for improvement with the outstanding exception of Usman Khawaja and an honourable mention to Alex Carey – the only two Australians to pass fifty in the Test.Related

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Heading the list of where there is an expectation of much greater returns is from Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith who made just 35 runs between them at Edgbaston. There is also a strong possibility that Mitchell Starc will replace Scott Boland, who went at nearly six-an-over.”I really enjoy the way they [England] play, I’m not going to lie,” Labuschagne said. “As a cricket watcher watching the series prior, I’ve loved it. I think it’s exciting, it’s entertaining, it’s good to watch, but at the end of the day, we played pretty under par to what I think the standard of our team is at.”The thought was how are they going to do it against our bowlers and they showed they can do it, but with a wicket that might have a little bit more in it [at Lord’s], what’s it going to look like? We walked away from the first Test 1-0 up and that’s a positive sign for us because I don’t think we played at our best.”Marnus Labuschagne praised Joe Root, but also said he kept Australia in the game•Getty Images

England, unsurprisingly, have promised to attack even more, with Stuart Broad the latest to proclaim the “go harder” approach to follow Ollie Robinson’s claims that Australia were “unwilling to go toe-to-toe” and Zak Crawley’s view that England will win at Lord’s by 150 runs.The home side certainly set the tone at Edgbaston, scoring at more than five-an-over on the opening day before Stokes’ surprise declaration, but it was the extraordinary start to the fourth day, with Joe Root failing to connect to a first-ball reverse scoop and then sending Boland for a six a short while later, that was the most outlandish period of play.However, Labuschagne viewed Root’s approach as keeping Australia in the game and he duly ran past one from Lyon for 46, to follow an unbeaten 118 on the opening day, as none of England’s batters reach fifty in the second innings.”The way he’s batting I think is exquisite…I’m just talking about when he’s batting normally, I think he’s playing really well,” Labuschagne said. “I think from my perspective, him playing that method and those [reverse] shots are keeping us in the game.”I use that second innings as an example. He probably had an opportunity to shut us out and take the game away from us completely. But the method and the way he was playing kept us in the game. He played an unbelievable innings, but he ended up getting 40 [46] and if turns that into 80-plus we’re chasing 300 and that’s going to be a pretty big effort.”So I think that’s the benefit for us the way they’re playing. They’re playing aggressive cricket and he’s doing it with a different method, which is great, but it brings in other opportunities for us. Hopefully, at some point in the series, that will keep paying off.”

The Detroit Tigers have been the best team in baseball for most of the season but reverted back to the pack over the past few weeks thanks to a brutal slump. Entering last Sunday's game they had dropped 12 of 13 games and fallen out of position for one of the byes in the American League playoff picture. So Riley Greene took the drastic step of turning his beard into a mustache, hoping the change in facial hair could be the thing that finally turned things around.

And it has.

The Tigers drubbed the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night for their third consecutive victory in the 'stache era. Greene himself homered and had two doubles for his first three extra-base hit game in his already impressive career. Gleyber Torres, who was seen rubbing the lip fuzz for luck, blasted an opposite-field home run. Wencel Perez was a homer shy of the cycle and stole two bases.

"It's not a good look," Greene said after the game. "It's not a good look. But if it means winning, then I’ll keep it."

"We've all touched it," Tigers A.J. Hinch said. "I'm not sure how that's going to go over with quotes around it. Then in the handshake line, he said, 'We're 3-0 with it.'"

Detroit goes for the sweep against Arizona on Wednesday afternoon. Greene is now forced to keep the look until they lose. He knows it doesn't look good but it's a small sacrifice to pull everyone out of a dreadful quagmire.

If the Tigers keep playing well you can rest assured the crowd is going to have more mustaches in solidarity. Something to look forward to.

MatériaMais Notícias

O atacante Paixão foi um dos jovens da base que aproveitou a oportunidade no time profissional do Vasco. Titular nas duas primeiras rodadas do Carioca, o jogador mostrou personalidade e foi coroado com uma assistência para o gol de Galarza, no empate em 1 a 1 com o Audax Rio, na útlima quinta-feira.

+ Confira as movimentações do Vasco no Mercado da Bola

– A gente trabalha a vida inteira para ter oportunidades como essas. Temos que aproveitar. Fazer o máximo pelo Vasco e ajudar a conquistar coisas grandes, como o clube é. Fique feliz sim pela assistência, mas queria os três pontos. Agora é trabalhar mais forte e esperar as oportunidades – afirmou Paixão.

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O atacante de 18 anos usou a camisa 7, que pertence a Alex Teixeira, que assim como Paixão, é cria de São Januário. O jogador foi só elogios ao ídolo, mas evitou comparações.

– Sei da história do Teixeira, é um grande ídolo do Vasco e joga demais. Craque de bola. Minha responsabilidade só aumentou usando este número, mas me preparei para isso. Ainda tenho muito que aprender, tenho meus pés no chão, mas vamos evoluindo para ajudar o Vasco a conquistar os objetivos na temporada.

+ANÁLISE: Encostados do Vasco não aproveitam oportunidade em time alternativo

Com o retorno do grupo principal dos Estados Unidos na segunda-feira, o Vasco terá força máxima no jogo do Carioca, contra a Portuguesa, na quarta-feira, no Luso-Brasileiro. A tendência é de que Paixão perca espaço para Orellano e Gabriel Pec. No entanto, o atacante deixa claro que quer receber mais oportunidades.

– Caso o professor Emílio ou Barbieri precisarem, vou dar a minha vida pelo Vasco, como sempre fiz. Fomos muito bem recebidos, a adaptação foi fácil com a comissão técnica. Estarei sempre à disposição do Vasco. Seja no sub-20 ou na equipe principal – finalizou Paixão.

Punjab Kings only had 9% chance of victory and 18 balls to beat the odds with the guy they seemed to have bought by mistake at the auction. Guess what happened next?Shashank Singh hit 10 of the 29 balls he faced to the boundary. He survived a very close lbw shout off Noor Ahmad when he was 1 off 2, but was soon carting around a bunch of former IPL champions. Rashid Khan, launched over midwicket, Umesh Yadav, helped over fine leg, Noor Ahmad, skewered over long-off, Mohit Sharma, even when he tried to go pace off and into the wicket, ramped over the keeper. These were unbelievable shots because they came from a place where victory was only fantasy.It was less than four months ago that the Kings’ management was huddled around the auction table trying to offload this guy, then sending out a clarification tweet, which Shashank replied to, hoping to shut down the stories that were swirling around. Tonight, in a twist that the IPL should consider trademarking, both the unfancied team and their unfancied purchase came good facing impossible odds in a chase of 200.

More magic at the IPL

Kings only had two batters among their five substitutes in a bowling first XI. It looked a lopsided selection. But the man they chose as the Impact Sub played a massive role in their victory. Ashutosh Sharma, playing his very first IPL game, and only the 15th T20 of his career, looked at an equation that read 41 off 18 balls square in the eye and took it down with brutal precision. He hit three fours in Azmatullah Omarzai’s 18th over. Another six to start the 19th from Mohit. In those 12 balls, the Kings got 34 runs. In those 12 balls, the Kings’ chances of victory rose from 9.23% to 94.56%.This is what happens when two players look for the best boundary option they have with every single ball. But the fact that they were both uncapped, that they had very little experience at this level of the game – Shashank had played 13 matches in the IPL, but batted in just eight of those and had a high score of 25 prior to this – and were coming up with the goods even against bowlers of the calibre of the Titans was incredible.They waited for Mohit and Azmatullah’s variations – whether they were slower balls or short balls – and it wasn’t just that they were looking to slog ’em across the line. Shashank (previously) and Ashutosh (in the death) ramped fours over the keeper. It was nerveless. It was glorious. And by the end of it, Kings had conquered their sixth target of 200 or more, a men’s T20 record.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rashid’s problems

It is still early – only four matches – but Rashid Khan has an economy rate of 9.06, his worst in an IPL season. In this game, he was lined up twice by Jitesh Sharma, leaking back-to-back sixes in the 16th over. He has already been hit out of the park nine times in IPL 2024. That’s as many sixes as he’d given up across 14 matches in 2021 and 16 matches in 2020. Titans are turning to him a little more often now because they don’t have Mohammed Shami in the powerplay and the death and it seems like he is yet to cope with that extra responsibility. The Kings were in a squeeze at 70 for 4 in the ninth over and then 111 for 5 in the 13th over. Liam Livingstone was injured. Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran were out. Only Jitesh and some unknowns were left. This match should’ve been done but it wasn’t.

Top-heavy Titans

Six. The total number of boundary attempts made by Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson from a combined 35 balls faced. Titans were a top-heavy line-up with David Miller out injured. That automatically puts pressure on their best batter and Shubman Gill could have cracked if not for the man coming out at No. 4 and flaying at everything that came his way. Sai Sudharsan looked for a boundary off 12 of the 19 balls he faced. He outscored Gill – 33 off 19 vs 20 off 13 – in a 53-run partnership that reset the game.Shubman Gill made his highest individual score of IPL 2024•BCCI

Peak Shubman Gill

Gill faced only 10 balls in the powerplay. Even after 10 overs, he had only been on strike for 19 deliveries. He looked in glorious form but wasn’t getting opportunities to influence the game. External pressure could have made him take a risk too soon and end up back in the hut, but Sudharsan’s innings gave him chance to bat at his tempo, and that was only ever going to spell trouble for the opposition.Gill made 89 off 48 batting well within himself. Even the most jaw-dropping shot of his innings was a simple consequence of seeing a length ball and knowing he can get under it. Kagiso Rabada, who is IPL royalty thanks to his strike rate of 14.8, the best out of everyone who has at least 100 wickets in this tournament, was launched straight down the ground for an effortless six. Gill thrived just by responding to what was coming down because nine times out of 10, he had the perfect one. He was in the zone, striking at 185.42 and combining it with a control percentage of 91.67. That is rare. Typically when you’re looking to go big, you end up with a few more mis-hits. It must feel like pretty small consolation, though, on a night where he watched his team lose from a winning position.