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How the game played outThe 2018-19 Bangladesh Premier League has been replete with low-scoring matches. The high-scoring ones have usually been one-sided. In that regard, Sylhet Sixers v Chittagong Vikings was an anomaly.The Sixers made 168. Vikings responded with 163. Neither team looked like they’d get as many. Sixers suffered a top-order collapse, Vikings a middle-order collapse. But such is the power teams pack their batting line-ups with these days. The batting muscle runs deep. Their lower orders are filled with burly power-hitters who love to swing.David Warner, the Sixers captain, held up his end even as Robbie Frylinck ripped through his top order after he had elected to bat. It enabled Afif Hossain to counterattack after the early losses. It also gave enough security for Nicholas Pooran to blaze away to a half-century at the fag end. And it gave Warner enough time to notch up his own fifty.Vikings were on course in the chase, but dug themselves into a hole with a middle-overs meltdown. Taskin Ahmed chipped away with 4 for 28 as Vikings’ chase got progressively harder. Sikandar Raza first, and then Frylinck took them close, but it was too much left for too late.Turning points

• The Warner-Afif partnership. Sixers were reeling at 6 for 3 in the third over when the two came together. They put on 71 off 47 balls to seamlessly repair the damage.
• Vikings were 63 for 1 in the eighth over of the chase, well on course, when Cameron Delport was felled by a direct hit from Sandeep Lamichhane at point. Not only did it end a dominant innings from Delport, but it also triggered a collapse through the middle overs that ended up costing them the game.
• Though the required rate had jumped well over 13 at that point, Raza had left Vikings with a fighting chance when Taskin snuffed it out by inducing an inside edge that clattered into the stumps. With Nayeem Hasan cutting Taskin’s next ball straight to point, Taskin had four, and Vikings were left with 38 to get off the last two, which proved too many.

Star of the dayFrylinck had as good a day as anyone has this season. He made an early impact with the ball, snaring two wickets in his first two overs to cut through Sixers early. Later, he returned to nip out the dangerous Warner, who was set on 59 and looking to break free. Having done all that, he was also required to do a job with the bat, top-scoring for Vikings with 44 not out off 24 balls – that included four big sixes – to take them to the brink.The big missAs well as Frylinck did, he failed to capitalise on the last major opportunity that came his way. With Vikings needing seven off the last ball, Al-Amin Hossain offered a low full toss outside Frylinck’s off-stump. Frylinck couldn’t quite get underneath it, and only managed to drill it straight back towards the bowler, who stuck his hand out and kept it to a single.Where the teams standSixers’ first win of the competition took them one spot up to fourth. Vikings remained unchanged on third place with a superior net run rate.

Arthur Gurney is having the time of his young life. The toddler is crawling over one reporter’s foot and holding her leg, then he’s pulling the wind sock off a microphone as another reporter interviews his father, Harry, who’s in high demand. But Arthur is most excited sticking his head in the BBL trophy, almost as big as he is. He leans over it as if he’s Harry Potter, about to dive into the Pensieve, and then looks up and offers a cheeky smile.Harry Gurney, the Nottinghamshire left-armer, has clearly enjoyed having his family along for the first part of his three-country T20 tour. They are unlikely to be around for the next two legs; he is signed with the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL and will then join Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Such is the life of a T20 gun for hire, a career that Gurney is trying on for size. It couldn’t have had a better start, with his canny death bowling instrumental to Melbourne Renegades’ title-winning tilt. Not a bad reply from someone termed a “left-arm Mr Bean” by Mark Waugh on commentary.But he admitted to having a restless night before the final, going over the possible scenarios if he was bowling at the death.”I think when you’ve done it for a number of years it’s those situations that you live for really and [the night before the final] I was lying in bed thinking, ‘Oh god if I bowl the last two and they need 40 off the last four how do I defend it?’ said Gurney. “And it’s an amazing opportunity so that’s the way I look at it and some days when you get it slightly wrong and you disappear out of the ground and you’re a villain so you’ve just got to trust your practice and hope that more often than not you’ll get it right.” He got it right at Docklands Stadium. Gurney had conceded just eight runs in his first spell and returned to share the death bowling duties with Dan Christian who later endorse his team-mate as the best death bowler in the world. Gurney employed the slower ball brilliantly and his accurate yorkers and deceptive variations helped strangle Melbourne Stars as they collapsed in spectacular fashion. Bowling the 17th and 19th overs he conceded 12 runs and took the wicket of Nic Maddinson – the slower ball doing the trick. But it wasn’t until he had bowled the penultimate over that Gurney felt the Renegades had done enough, the Stars needing 28 runs from the final over.”I’ve had too many bad experiences over the years to rest on my laurels too much,” he said. “I think before I bowled my last over I was pretty confident but stranger things have happened so you have to maintain your focus. None of us celebrated until there were too many runs off not enough balls, it was impossible for them to reach the target.”I think we always felt that you know there’s been a lot of cricket on this pitch and so we always felt that if we got wickets then it might be difficult for batters coming in and starting. And thankfully that proved to be the case. They built a really solid platform but thankfully we started taking wickets the run rate soon starts climbing in T20.”Gurney was Nottinghamshire’s leading wicket-taker in the 2018 County Championship but when he was picked up in the IPL and then signed by the Renegades – joining up with his Notts T20 team-mate, Christian – a new and potentially far more lucrative career direction opened up and he has not ruled out becoming a white-ball specialist. Winning his first of three T20 tournaments is the ideal start.Arthur Gurney, son of pace bowler Harry, enjoyed playing with the BBL trophy•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I think I’ve been a pretty good T20 bowler for a few years now if I can say that without meaning to sound arrogant ,” he said. “But this is as big a stage as it gets without being international cricket so to manage to have a good day in the final in front of such a crowd and the people at home is special.”It remains to be seen how many matches Gurney will start for Quetta and KKR, but he’s hopeful the packed schedule will give him a strong lead-in to the English season when he returns for Nottinghamshire.”You’re playing matches aren’t you, you’re prepared, you’re putting yourself into pressure situations all the time, all winter, rather than running up and bowling in an indoor school somewhere in England,” he said. “When I land back in England I think I’ll be ready for a break for a few weeks but I’ll also be ready to hit the ground running when the T20 comes around.”

With the World Cup fast approaching, the question of whether Ravi Shastri and the rest of the Indian coaching staff will get an extension is becoming significant. The contracts of Shastri and his deputies, who were appointed in July 2017, will expire after the World Cup.ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCCI will advertise for the job soon, with the interview process likely to be conducted during the two-week window after the World Cup, which ends on July 14, and before India’s tour of West Indies which is scheduled to start late July.It is believed that based on the review of the pool of candidates, the BCCI will take a call on whether to appoint an interim coaching staff for the West Indies tour or whether to allow an extension to Shastri and his team comprising Sanjay Bangar (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach).It is also understood that the BCCI will once again approach the three-man Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to shortlist the candidates, carry out the interviews and make the final choice. It is likely that Shastri will be a direct entry into the final pool of candidates, assuming the BCCI follows the exact process put in place in 2017, when Anil Kumble’s one-year tenure as Indian coach came to an end.Back then, the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which has been overseeing the BCCI, stated that Kumble would be a “direct entry” into the final shortlist, but he still re-applied. The CAC said Kumble remained their preferred choice, but he resigned in controversial circumstances after being told by the BCCI that India’s captain Virat Kohli had “reservations” over his “style” and did not want him “to continue” as head coach.Shastri then entered into the fray and emerged as the winner from a five-man shortlist which also included former India batsman Virender Sehwag. Under his watch, Shastri has seen India climb to No. 1 in the Test rankings including winning an epic Test series in Australia recently, an achievement he considers to be greater than winning the 1983 World Cup. Kohli has credited Shastri for playing a significant role in his growth both as a batsman and as a captain.

Marnus Labuschagne and Billy Root, two newcomers to Glamorgan’s ranks this season, together with Kiran Carlson, held centre stage against Northants in the Welsh county’s opening championship game of the season at Sophia Gardens.The home team were 433 for 4 at the close with Labuschagne scoring 121, while Root and Carlson were undefeated on 126 and 101 respectively.Labuschagne, who appeared in five Tests for Australia against Pakistan last winter, played a chanceless innings, scoring his runs from 177 balls with 19 fours, and became the fifth Australian player to score a hundred on debut for the club. He followed Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja, who achieved the feat last season, with Matthew Elliott and Mark Cosgrove previous centurions in their first games.When Root reached three figures, it was the first time in Glamorgan’s history for two players on debut to score a century in the same game, with Root becoming the 13th batsman to do so.Root and brother Joe have also started the season in encouraging form, and while the England captain was scoring 94 at the Ageas Bowl, his younger brother completed a splendid century from 150 balls. He requires a further six runs to equal his previous championship best 132, scored against Sussex two years ago.Both teams were eager to bat first on an easy paced pitch, and after Glamorgan had called correctly, Charlie Hemphrey and Nick Selman put on 27 before Selman nicked Nathan Buck to first slip. Hemphrey soon followed, edging Blessing Muzarabari to the wicketkeeper.David Lloyd (31) was the next to go, when he chipped Buzarabani to square leg, before Root joined Labuschagne to add 154 in the afternoon session. During that time, Labuschagne scored 90 as the pair raced along at nearly five runs an over.The Australian eventually departed, caught at long leg from a short delivery, but Carlson started with a flurry of boundaries, and outscored Root as he galloped to 50 from only 55 balls.Northants used seven bowlers, but none could make an impression on the fifth-wicket pair, especially Carlson who dominated the final session.Glamorgan scored at such a rapid pace they gained the fifth and maximum batting point in only the 92nd over, with Carlson reaching his hundred from only 101 balls.

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

It was easy to give one’s attention solely to the fluxions of this fine match today. Many Yorkshire spectators at Headingley did so and were rewarded for their quiet devotion by their favourites’ determined attempt to win a game hitherto cursed by rain. After challenging Hampshire to score 279 runs in 48 overs, Steve Patterson’s bowlers took three early wickets before tea and came in to a warm ovation at the Kirkstall Lane End.The Yorkshire bowlers’ efforts were then frustrated by a fine fourth-wicket stand between Joe Weatherley and Rilee Rossouw which was worth 102 runs and used up 23 overs. Weatherley was eventually dismissed for 66 by Dom Bess, who also bowled Ian Holland for 14 and those late successes justified Steve Patterson’s decision to keep Hampshire’s batsmen under his yoke until only two overs remained. But a little of the zip had gone out of Yorkshire’s effort by then and a draw was a fair result after a game to which Hampshire had contributed a great deal.But it was also permissible, as we watched the day unfold, to have another stage in one’s mind and the roads two cricketers had not travelled.For example at 1.53 there was the rather poignant sight of David Willey going out to bat. Around 198 miles away at The Oval England were 283 for 6 and one pondered the thoughts going through the mind of an all-rounder who had hoped to be playing World Cup cricket on this day. His thoughts were probably very professional; sportsmen must apply themselves to the task at hand. All the same, while some paths are less travelled by choice, others are suddenly barred. In the event Willey was soon crashing Fidel Edwards through the covers and his brisk 26 not out helped Yorkshire post 322 for 5 declared, thereby asking Hampshire to score at 5.8 runs per over, a gauntlet they scorned.And Duanne Olivier also played a part in this game’s final narratives. As his South African countrymen were going out to bat at The Oval, Olivier was accepting a return catch from Oli Soames whose top-edged pull gave Yorkshire’s cricketers their first hint that they might accomplish something remarkable. Late in February Olivier decided to throw in his lot with English cricket and signed a contract at Headingley. Had he not done so, he, too, might have been at The Oval.Instead he was in Leeds and a few moments later was celebrating with his colleagues after Ajinkya Rahane attempted a rather flowery drive to a delivery slanting in to him from Ben Coad and merely inside-edged the ball onto his middle stump. Like Soames, he departed for nought and the visitors were 7 for 2. As if to reward Patterson’s cricketers, the sun came out at Headingley and there was a further prize for them just before tea when Sam Northeast clipped Coad low to Willey at short midwicket.The cricket after tea became a gentle adagio as Rossouw and Weatherley exhibited technical skill and sound temperaments to blunt Yorkshire’s attack. Eventually, even the true believers at the Kirkstall Lane End became reconciled to the draw. Then Bess had Weatherley caught at short midwicket by Willey and they believed again, though only for a few overs. Thoughts drifted back to the cricket they had seen and the possibility that had not rain intervened on all four days of this game, the match would have been decided by Wednesday evening. And perhaps they also thought about Gary Ballance.Neither gentle shower nor savage tempest is sufficient to curb Ballance at the moment. The former Yorkshire skipper’s hunger for runs appears almost unlimited and yesterday he brought up his fourth century in six innings this season when he eased Mason Crane through the covers for a couple of runs. Ballance had already levied leg-side boundaries off Crane and Holland but was dismissed for exactly 100 six balls after reaching three figures when a full length ball from Crane hit him low on the pad and Rob Bailey sent him on his wayNevertheless, Ballance has now scored 538 runs in the 2019 Championship at an average of 89.66. Moreover, it is believed he is the first Yorkshire cricketer to score centuries in five successive matches. This, in a county that has produced Louis Hall, Percy Holmes, Herbert Sutcliffe, Len Hutton, Geoffrey Boycott. The England selectors are currently preoccupied with other matters, but having knocked politely on their door, Ballance is now thumping very loudly upon it. A couple more centuries over the next fortnight would lift the thing off its hinges and what the selectors do then is up to them.What they did to David Willey, no doubt with appropriate compassion, was clear this evening. Cricket is a beautiful but very tough game and Willey would have it no other way. Just after half-past five England completed their victory at The Oval. They did so amid the cheers of thousands and the salutes of sharp-suited pundits. Just over half an hour later, Willey walked off the field at Headingley after another day as a professional cricketer.

Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore have been cleared to continue playing for Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively, after both players were sanctioned for their roles in the infamous WhatsApp messaging group that came to light during the trial of their jailed former Worcestershire team-mate Alex Hepburn.The players appeared before the independent Cricket Discipline Commission to answer charges that they brought cricket into disrepute by being part of the group, in which the members discussed sexual conquests.Hepburn was found guilty of rape in April and jailed for five years.Both players were served with a four-match ban, which they were deemed already to have served following their exclusions from the England Lions squad in January, and fined £2,000.Neither Clarke nor Kohler-Cadmore has been charged with any criminal offence and there was no suggestion of any criminal wrongdoing by the pair.Both players also received an official reprimand, and will be required to attend a suitable course of educational training, under the supervision of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) and ECB.””The Panel took into account the fact that both players cooperated with the ECB from the outset, as well as the evident remorse they have both shown,” said an ECB statement.Both players accepted their sanctions and later issued statements through the PCA.”With the CDC proceedings completed I would like to apologise to everyone concerned for my involvement in the WhatsApp group,” said Clarke.”I acknowledge that what I did fell well below the standards expected of a professional sportsman. I am relieved I can now put this chapter behind me. I am extremely grateful for the guidance and support I have received from the PCA, Phoenix Management and Nottinghamshire CCC during this difficult time.”I have learned a great deal over the past two years and I am thankful that I can now move forward and focus wholly on the rest of the season. I hope I can end the year on a positive note with Notts.”Kohler-Cadmore added: “I deeply regret my involvement in the WhatsApp group in 2017 that led to me being charged by the ECB. I fully accept the subsequent punishment and I now want to move forward with the rest of my career and life in a positive manner.”It has been a difficult period and I appreciate the support I have received from Yorkshire County Cricket Club and especially the PCA who I will be working with to deliver social media education workshops.”

Former Glamorgan captain Malcolm Nash, best known for being slammed for six sixes in an over by Garry Sobers, has died at the age of 74.Reports said that Nash had collapsed while attending a dinner at Lord’s in London on Tuesday night, and died in a city hospital overnight.Nash played 17 seasons of first-class cricket, from 1966 to 1983, turning out in 336 matches in which he picked up 993 wickets – 991 of them for Glamorgan – at an average of 25.87 with his left-arm medium-pace bowling. He scored 7129 runs in 469 innings with two centuries and 25 half-centuries. He also played 271 List A matches between 1967 and 1985, picking up 324 wickets at 21.27.ALSO READ: The other side of 36In a note in the following Nash’s retirement from first-class cricket, John Arlott wrote: “Malcolm Nash was pre-eminently a highly skilful manipulator of medium-pace seam bowling. A thoughtful and sensitive cricketer, he, too, helped out as captain for a couple of difficult seasons, though from a sense of duty rather than real enthusiasm for the post. It appealed to his astute cricket brain but not to his essentially amiable personality. He was never a bowler to settle for the slavishly defensive; but sought to attack and to outwit opposing batsmen. He is, as he ruefully accepts, best known for being hit for six sixes in a six-ball over by Garfield Sobers in 1968; and secondly for five sixes and a four, by Frank Hayes of Lancashire. It is less often remembered that he himself once hit four consecutive balls from Dennis Breakwell of Somerset for six. He also set what was then a club record of nine sixes in a championship innings, against Gloucestershire at Swansea in 1973. Those memories were some balm for him. In 17 seasons he scored 7129 runs and held 148 catches but, most important, he took 993 wickets without, however, taking a hundred in any season.”Nash was the first bowler to concede six sixes in an over in representative cricket. In 1968, Nottighamshire were in St Helen’s in Swansea to face Glamorgan and Nash, then 23 and primarily a seam bowler, tried his hand at left-arm spin to Sobers but it didn’t turn out the way he would have liked at all.Composite of Garry Sobers’ six sixes in an over off Malcolm Nash•BBC

Interestingly, as with most other things in Nash’s impressive career, it has been largely forgotten that he had picked up four of the five wickets to fall in that Nottinghamshire innings before the Sobers carnage.Glamorgan County Cricket Club, in their tribute to Nash, remembered the cricketer as “one of the finest new ball bowlers from the late 1960s until the early 1980s”. “A man skillful enough with the new ball who was rated by Barry Richards, the legendary Springbok batsman, as one of the most difficult bowlers he faced whilst playing county cricket with Hampshire,” the tribute added.Born in May 1945 in Abergavenny, Nash made his 2nd XI debut for Glamorgan in 1964 before joining the county’s staff two days later. He made his first-class debut against Cambridge University in 1966 and his Championship debut against Yorkshire the following year.One of the highlights of his career came in August 1968, when Nash played a key role in Glamorgan beating the touring Australians. Then later, in 1969, when he picked up 71 wickets to finish as the county’s leading wicket-taker in their Championship title run under Tony Lewis’ captaincy. He never played for England, but did get a call-up for a trial in 1976.”Malcolm was a true Glamorgan legend whose exploits have gone down in club folklore,” club chief executive Hugh Morris, said on the Glamorgan website. “”His name is connected with that of Garry Sobers and St. Helen’s but he was a fantastic cricketer who was an integral part of the club’s history and the side that lifted the County Championship in 1969.”He was also a larger than life character who always had the best interests of the club at heart and continued to be involved closely with the Club after his retirement. Malcolm will be sorely missed by everyone at Glamorgan and throughout the cricketing world and we extend our deepest sympathies to his friends and family.”

Last week was momentous for Somerset’s cricketers. Needing a victory to put the pressure on Essex in what is a two-team arm-wrestle race for the title, they hammered Yorkshire by 298 runs, helped in large measure by two outstanding fifties from their skipper, Tom Abell, who batted ten minutes short of seven hours on a surface which some Test players found too taxing.But that victory over Yorkshire may be viewed as little more than a staging post on a flight to glory should Somerset win the Championship in ten days’ time. The prospect is the talk of Taunton – and also a subject which many of the county’s supporters are barely able to discuss. Somerset, you see, have been here before.In 2010 they needed Lancashire to avoid losing three first-innings wickets to Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford. Karl Brown, Mark Chilton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were duly knocked over in 4.4 overs and the title went to Trent Bridge. “The eternal second” was the headline above Richard Latham’s Somerset copy in the 2011 Wisden. Then in 2016 around a thousand supporters gathered at the County Ground, hoping against all cricketing logic that the game between Yorkshire and Middlesex at Lord’s might end in a draw or a tie. Middlesex won the match – and the title. Perhaps we can now understand why some folk in Glastonbury or Frome will be torn between wanting to find out what is going on in this week’s match at the Rose Bowl and wondering whether a week’s retreat with Trappist monks might be a saner option. No one doubts Essex would be worthy champions; they are not the bad guys in this drama. All the same…One of the most memorable photographs from that Friday afternoon at the County Ground three years ago shows Somerset’s skipper, Chris Rogers, “Buck” to almost everybody in the game, looking up at the television as the drama unfolds at Lord’s. Rogers had retired from the game the previous evening after making two centuries in the annihilation of Nottinghamshire. Now all he could do was wait. Hardly anyone knew it at the time but Somerset’s then-director of cricket, Matthew Maynard, had chosen Rogers’ successor. He had settled on Abell, a 23-year-old Taunton boy.It has proved a wise choice. Abell has the respect of his players and the unconditional love of the county’s supporters. His captaincy against Yorkshire last week was assured and suddenly one realised he is now a senior cricketer with perhaps a decade in the professional game ahead of him. But as Abell prepares himself and his team for their vital matches against Hampshire and Essex, it is probably important to recall that two years ago, in his first season at the helm, he was in such poor batting form that he dropped himself from Somerset’s team for another match against Yorkshire, at Scarborough. And even more intriguing to discover that Jason Kerr, Somerset’s current head coach, told Abell he “enjoyed” the skipper’s slump even as he sympathised with his gloom.”We’re very keen at Somerset to develop people as human beings and I’m a fan of people going through adversity,” said Kerr. “That year was awful to watch for Somerset supporters and for friends and family of Tom but if you go through something like that you are definitely stronger. It’s a determining factor in how you are going to be moving forward.”I can remember having conversations with Tom at the time when I said: ‘Look, you won’t appreciate this but I’m actually quite enjoying this happening to you.’ You can imagine how he looked at me but I told him he would be a better person and we are all reaping the rewards now. I think we’ll see a consistency of performance which will get him higher recognition.”During 2017 Abell viewed any type of higher recognition as a distant second to justifying his place in Somerset’s team and he is now capable of viewing things a little more dispassionately than perhaps he could at the time.”I guess luck does come into it,” he said. “I dropped myself and that’s something that had to happen. But circumstances dictated I got back in the side because Adam Hose left and vacated a spot at five. But things could have been very different and I look back with a bit of relief that I managed to come back. It was a pretty tough time and as a captain it was difficult to lead from the front when you weren’t worth your place in the side. But I have a great team around me and great team-mates who will always have my back.”We know there are going to be times when things don’t go as smoothly as you would like. I spoke to Andy Hurry during that period and he said it was possibly the best thing that will ever happen to you in your career. It wasn’t nice but I’ve come out the other side.”Abell’s emergence from what is becoming a distant gloom has been confirmed in several ways this summer. He has led Somerset to the Royal London One-Day Cup triumph and made a century in the Vitality Blast which revealed a far greater range of shot than he previously possessed. Above all, though, he is a shrewd captain and front-line batsman, who may, just may, lead them to the title So these are heady times as well as momentous ones and you might think it would be useful if Abell had the advice of someone like Rogers to call on. Funny you should ask…”Buck was fantastic for us,” said Abell. “I had a really good relationship with him and certainly learned a lot from him in the year he was here. He helped me as a batter and I still have the few pages that he wrote and gave to me to help me out as a captain. And that was great because I don’t think you can fully prepare yourself for what to expect and you can’t ask for anything more than to have people like that in your corner. The notes are all about tactics, playing on spinning wickets, making sure you take care of your own game and getting the best out of the team. There were other things – in cricket and outside of cricket.”Getting outside cricket may well be important in the next fortnight even if Somerset and Essex’s players have little opportunity to take in a film or play a little golf. It scarcely needs too much imagination to visualise what the County Ground will be like if the title comes to Somerset. Already officials are thinking of hiring Portakabins to accommodate the influx of written media keen to report on the shootout beloved of the tabloids. The usual press box is being used by Sky and the Thatcher’s Terrace will be the preserve of TMS. And all this for a game nobody watches…”We’re trying to avoid thinking too far ahead,” Abell counselled, “We love it and we’re desperate to do something special. You do get a sense of the pride the people of Somerset take in their cricket and we felt that when we won the one-day cup earlier in the year. Taunton is a very special place and we have a special group of supporters. We’re also a tight group and we are desperate to win it for each other.”It will also be fair to say that Somerset’s players are keen to win the title for Marcus Trescothick, who retires at the end of this season, and for Kerr, a quietly-spoken Boltonian who has made his life in the West Country and has spent most of his career at the County Ground. The coach, himself, of course, having enjoyed Abell’s agony, will share in his ecstasy if the title comes to the West Country for the first time.”I’m a huge fan of Tom and he has my unconditional support,” he said. “I think he’s an outstanding cricketer and an outstanding leader. I think what we’ve seen emerge more this year is his deep-rooted belief in himself. The guys follow him and I think we’re going to see him go from strength to strength. He took responsibility on a really challenging surface in this game against Yorkshire and batted as if he’d been playing a lot longer than his years suggested. The signs are really good for him.”

Big Picture

India’s home season was supposed to begin in Dharamsala, but rain ensured it did not. Our preview for the first T20I, therefore, could serve just as well as a preview to the second one in Mohali.If you’re looking for the TL;DR version, here goes.

WATCH on ESPN+

India v South Africa is available in the US on Hotstar and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune into the three T20s and three Tests.
Wednesday, Sep 18, 9.20 am ET on ESPN+: India v SA, 2nd T20, Mohali
Sunday, Sep 22, 9.20 am ET on ESPN+: India v SA, 3rd T20, Bengaluru

South Africa, looking to rebuild after a terrible ODI World Cup, have an entirely new-look squad – four of their players are uncapped in T20Is and two are yet to play any international cricket – led by a new captain, Quinton de Kock.India, meanwhile, seem to be stepping away from their old, ODI-influenced T20I template, with their selections pointing towards a desire for increased batting depth. The wristspin twins, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, have as a result given way – temporarily at least – to a plethora of spin-bowling allrounders.For both teams, the series gains extra significance with a T20 World Cup coming up in just over a year’s time.That World Cup will be played in Australia, and if any Indian ground can simulate Australian T20 conditions, it is Mohali. The resemblance isn’t as much to do with the pitch, which is usually true and flat rather than fast and bouncy, as with the vast outfield, which gives bowlers a little more leeway and adds a bit more of a tactical dimension to matches, with sixes a slightly scarcer commodity than usual.

In the spotlight

Hardik Pandya has batted 61 times in 66 matches for Mumbai Indians, but only 24 times in 38 T20Is. How have India underutilised his hitting skills to this extent? The answer, perhaps, is that they have for far too long batted too conservatively at the start of their innings, and as a result not allowed him enough time in the middle. Will their new emphasis on batting depth also free up the top order to take more risks?He didn’t have the greatest of World Cups, and he’s slipped away from the spotlight in the months since while the world has raved about Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer. It might surprise you to learn that Kagiso Rabada is younger than both of them. He’ll want to begin this new international season, and this new era in South African cricket, with a bang, and remind the world that this other incredibly gifted young fast bowler is still around.Associated Press

Team news

Who will partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order for India – Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul? From their practice session on Tuesday, it appeared that Dhawan might win that race.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Manish Pandey/Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Washington Sundar/Rahul Chahar, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Navdeep SainiTemba Bavuma, Anrich Nortje, and the two spin-bowling allrounders, Bjorn Fortuin and George Linde, are yet to make their T20I debuts. At least two of them might do so on Wednesday.South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (capt & wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Temba Bavuma, 5 David Miller, 6 Andile Phehlukwayo, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Bjorn Fortuin/George Linde, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Junior Dala/Anrich Nortje, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

Mohali is expected to be warm and dry on Wednesday, with no rain forecast. The pitch usually produces evenly balanced T20 contests, with seven matches in the 2019 IPL season giving us an average first-innings total of 171, and the chasing team winning five times.

Stats and trivia

• Virat Kohli’s average of 28.83 against South Africa is his second-poorest against any T20I opponent. He’s done worse only against Ireland, against whom he’s scored nine runs in two innings at 4.50.
• David Miller has scored 730 runs in 29 T20 matches in Mohali, at an average of 45.62 and a strike rate of 150.51. Only Shaun Marsh has scored more T20 runs at the venue.

Quotes

“They’re both good players in their own right. It’s always going to be a good competition. They like being very positive in the way they play their cricket, and it could a great thing to watch.”