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How England showed immense mental and physical fortitude in Abu Dhabi, first in not losing, then in coming within a few minutes and boundaries of winning

Andy Zaltzman19-Oct-2015Fourteen sessions of turgid gloop, followed by two hours of certifiably bonkers mayhem, almost gave England one of their most extraordinary Test triumphs. They were denied, ultimately, by the cruel onset of Evening, that light-stealing literal spoilsport, which fell, as it so often does, bang on schedule. If only the sun had done the decent thing and held its cocky fire for a few minutes, then Alastair Cook and his team could have completed a victory that, when Pakistan were pootling along at 499 for 4 on day two, seemed about as likely as Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower recording a cover version of the classic ’80s duet “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” as a novelty Christmas single.Thereafter, England were excellent, led by Cook’s colossal, unyielding, unvarying megalith of high-resistance accumulative concentration, a physical and mental batting ultramarathon of staggering fortitude. Adil Rashid completed what, in the pre-Warne days, might have been considered the archetypal identikit legspinner’s Test, mutating from exploitable weak link to match-breaking wizard. Anderson Andersoned, Moeen tweaked hard, and England almost defied the pitch, the heat, precedent, probability and the harrowing memories of 2012.As well as the traditional passage of time bringing that inconvenient darkness, there were other factors in England’s narrow failure to pluck Victory from somewhere around the duodenum of A Draw.Most pertinently, the match was played on a morose failure of a pitch that could have sucked the optimism from a kids’ TV presenter – 22 yards of yawn that suited neither England nor Pakistan. Nor cricket. Nor humanity in general. Palaeontologists may wish to reconsider their claims that dinosaurs were wiped out by a dodgy asteroid giving the world the big kaboom, and investigate instead whether they, in fact, simply started playing a cricket match on the Abu Dhabi pitch, and collectively lost the will to live.It was a putridly dim surface that produced an awful 93% of a Test match, redeemed undeservedly by that zany outbreak of panic batting in the face of Rashid and Moeen’s tempting, skilful tweakery. When Younis and Misbah, no one’s idea of youthful inexperience, thrash their wickets away, it is clear that a team is choking, and choking hard. Perhaps Pakistan’s batting line-up is lacking in experience, and needs a smattering of 50-year-olds to keep the younger heads cool.England were also scuppered by the sluggish over rate. Not the sluggish over rate by Pakistan in the final session – cricket long since gave up its barely discernible battle against over-rate deflation, and no team would voluntarily hasten its own demise – but by England in the afternoon. They bowled 25 overs between lunch and tea (10 of them by spinners), which suggested a team that had accepted the inevitability of a draw in the desert heat, rather than one hustling in an effort to force a near-impossible victory. An easily rectifiable one-percenter.They might also regret a lack of initiative in their batting. They had battled magnificently to regain parity, then take control. Having manoeuvred and ground their way into a position from where they could almost certainly not lose – they overtook Pakistan’s score with five wickets in hand, Cook and Stokes at the crease, and little over three and a half sessions to play – England could have risked a little for a potentially massive gain.

Alastair Cook and his team could have completed a victory that, when Pakistan were pootling along at 499 for 4 on day two, seemed about as likely as Kevin Pietersen and Andy Flower recording a cover version of “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” as a novelty Christmas single

The draining heat and Mogadon surface worked against run-scoring rapidity, but after Cook took England into the lead with his 18th boundary, in the 182nd over, they scored only 72 more in 24 overs. The 9.3 overs batted at the start of day five, for the addition of 29 runs, did nothing to make England safer. They were already safe. But was that the best use of time in pursuit of victory? Was there a pursuit of victory?These are minor quibbles, especially in the context of the fact that, last time England played in the UAE, they finished a mere four Tests away from winning the three-match series. And the fact that everything pointed towards nothing happening. They were, essentially, magnificent from the start of their first innings, with collective and individual performances that bode well for their short-term and long-term future. They had almost no chance of winning, yet almost won. But for all their mental and physical fortitude, first in not losing, then in coming within a few minutes and boundaries of winning, once they had forced themselves into a position from which victory had unexpectedly become possible, they did not maximise that chance of victory.Nevertheless, there should be joy unconfined across the land that Rashid had his success, after the kind of debut innings that could crush a player. Since Tommy Greenhough’s 5 for 35 against India at Lord’s in 1959, not only have English leggies failed to register any five-fors, but their only two four-wicket innings were 4 for 132 by Bob Barber in an Edgbaston win over New Zealand in 1965, and 4 for 163 by Ian Salisbury in an innings defeat in Guyana in 1993-94.Salisbury himself took five wickets in his debut match, in 1992, but spent most of the rest of his England career getting the wrong bit of the scoreboard moving, and proving quite how difficult legspin is. Hopefully Rashid will fare better. He already has a reasonable case for being England’s greatest Test leggie for 50 years, which is admittedly not the most feverishly contested of titles (ranking somewhere alongside Most Loquacious Brick).The current legspin standard-bearer, Yasir Shah, should return for Pakistan after his badly timed / expertly judged back spasm. Even if Dubai provides a pitch to rival the Abu Dhabi abomination, the cricket should at least be more interesting. Probably not as interesting as the last session on Saturday. But if it managed to be less interesting than the cricketing dirge that preceded that, it will in its way be one of the most remarkable achievements of modern cricket history.

Brian Close was courageous, of course, but also outspoken, indestructible, and bloody-minded

David Hopps14-Sep-2015Yorkshire’s cricketing greats are routinely referred to by a single name. But it can run much deeper than that. Over the years, each name has often become shorthand for a dominant emotion. So Fred equals pride. Boycs: opinion. Illy: knowledge. Dickie, an umpiring great allowed to play a guest role: comedy.The greatest unspoken accolade, though, rests with Closey. To equate Closey with courage would be accurate enough, because surely there has been no braver cricketer to take to the field, but there is something greater at work. Alastair Campbell, the former Labour spin doctor, got it right in his tribute: “Yorkshire in human form.”Not just immensely brave but forthright, genuine to a fault (not that fault would ever be admitted) and revered even more because of a foible or two, Closey came nearest to representing the traditional essence of Yorkshire manliness.It is often suggested that in Yorkshire fallibilities are not forgiven easily, but they were forgiven more than most with Closey. The enormity of his assertive yet affable personality insisted that must be so. He took admirable human characteristics to the point of absurdity, so much so that laughter and rueful head-shaking were never far away.It was the mid-1980s, when I joined the , a callow observer of the cricketing scene, before I came across him regularly. If Closey was in the bar, there would be trenchant opinions worth hearing. He would draw on his cigarette, lay it precariously on the bar and then pour forth. You had not lived until you had been benignly jabbed in the chest by DB Close’s index finger as he emphasised a point.When he lost his thread – names were not a specialty – he would add a few “bloodys” and intensify the jabbing. The fact he was so opinionated was part of the fun and could send you chuckling into the night. They were bruises to wear with a similar pride to how he wore his from Michael Holding at Old Trafford in 1976. How we feared for him that day as we cringed at his demented, bloody-minded heroism.

Not just immensely brave but forthright, genuine to a fault and revered, Closey came nearest to representing the traditional essence of Yorkshire manliness

Apparently, he could be a reckless driver, too. To ring his car phone in search of a Yorkshire team was to take part in a white-knuckle ride as he forgot names, suggested you filled in the rest, threw in a random opinion or two, and complained about the driver who had just cut him up at 100mph when you knew that DB Close would be doing 110, probably circling some dodgy racing tips in the as he did so.To Closey’s mind, opponents did not just have weaknesses that might be exploited, they had no answer to his insights. Don Mosey told in , his affectionate history of Yorkshire cricket, that Close once got Ted Dexter out with a full toss and would have sworn blind that he had exploited a weakness even if the next 1000 full tosses had flown to the boundary. His intuition was often more reliable than that.He never fulfilled his teenage promise – even his own autobiography, memorably called , called him “the most spectacular failure of the age” – although to listen to him you would have imagined that all records would have fallen his way but for the misalignment of the planets. Over-ambitious dismissals were plentiful. But his significance went way beyond his statistical performances, or so we told ourselves, overshadowed by his glorious, all-consuming desire to compete and win. His team ethic was so strong it spoke not of teamwork but of community. He bollocked and moved on, his criticism washed down by generosity.Along with the courage came the lapses of concentration. Along with the overpowering search for victory came an impatience to make things happen. Along with the insights came the daftness. But you could not successfully captain that Yorkshire team of strong personalities to four Championships without engendering great respect. As for England, he led them seven times, won six and drew one.First glimpse of a hero: Close fields at short leg to the Nawab of Pataudi at Headingley, 1967•PA PhotosClose loved the duel not the discipline, and if his mind wandered, the analytical approach and concentration was often left to Raymond Illingworth, his vice-captain. The cry of Jimmy Binks, Yorkshire’s wicketkeeper that “t’rudders’s gone” became an alert that a game had gone awry and, as long as I played club cricket, years after his retirement, it was still occasionally heard on grounds around the county, as if in tribute.”As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.” The words of Ernest Hemingway. And so it is for me with Close. The heroes of childhood have begun to return in later life, just as important now as they were then. Then they were infallible. Now the fallibilities no longer matter. He believed in Yorkshire cricket with unimaginable passion and his pursuit of that belief to the nth degree was what mattered.One of my first memories of Test cricket is of Close stood at short leg to the Nawab of Pataudi at Headingley on India’s 1967 tour. The Indian’s name intrigued me, but it was Close, legs braced, hands outstretched, and breeze-block forehead jutting towards the batsman, which held my attention. He was oblivious to danger.

He believed in Yorkshire cricket with unimaginable passion and his pursuit of that belief to the nth degree was what mattered

You know the cricket season has begun, the comedian Eric Morecambe observed, when you hear the sound of leather on Brian Close.He told of something indestructible; there was something in his immense, unyielding, occasionally hare-brained stubbornness that I was coming to understand was the essence of where I was born.Around that time, I was playing on a disused railway embankment, a victim of the Beeching cuts, and for reasons long forgotten, perhaps never understood, someone threw a stone and struck me on the forehead. The blood was stemmed and I sported a big plaster. “You look like Closey,” Dad said. It was as near as I ever got. What most of us would give for just half of his courage.Close, to my young mind, became a Yorkshire dissident, wronged by the powers-that-be down in the South, who often seemed to prefer some soft-fleshed, privileged chap, name of Cowdrey rather than our rough-hewn hero with the rebellious, self-reliant expression, the unrelenting defensive block and the ungainly lofted blows. I was proud that, like Close, I played golf right and left-handed, the only difference being about 40 shots a round. He was our rebel and we had utter certainty – as did he – that he was right.That he was stubborn came with the territory. As Bernard Ingham, in , wrote: “Yorkshire greats are invariably born with the awkward gene that is characteristic of the Yorkshire species. Their DNA is richly endowed with gritty determination, a wilful refusal to give up and a sheer-bloody-mindedness that eventually prevails.”Conflict was inevitable, not just with those down at Lord’s but with the county he fought tooth and nail for. In the 1970s, deeply wronged by a Yorkshire committee that had a dangerous belief in its own hegemony, he was invited to resign and upped sticks to Somerset. We used to holiday there and Dad had once suggested on a long overnight drive in an old Ford Popular that England would be a better place if the Yorkshire border connected directly with Somerset, so it seemed a good choice.He worked wonders, and was a vital influence on the fast-emerging Ian Botham. The only time Somerset saw him in pain, the old story goes, was when, given to wandering around the dressing room naked as he made a trenchant point or two, he came into unfortunate contact with a freshly boiled kettle.Present him with any sporting contest and he would want to win. He was an unlikely captain therefore in a jolly between the Yorkshire committee and the Yorkshire media in the late-1980s, a match designed to build relations between the two. Close, just back from a club trip to Ireland, made a quick half-century, and later in the day, with the press requiring 37 off the final over, and after checking the match was won, he agreed to allow the county’s president Viscount Mountgarret to have a perambulation.The first ball, a triple-bouncer, was called wide, as was the next. The first legitimate delivery sailed over midwicket for six. The game looked on. Closey’s competitive hackles rose. Striding stiff-legged towards Mountgarret, who was trembling with unease at what was to follow, he unleashed: “Bloody pull yourself together… my Lord.” He was first at the bar later, talking of a victory that had never been in doubt.

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the week in the Women’s Big Bash League

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins13-Jan-2016How a team from Sydney Harbour is copying a yacht
Is it on? A couple of weeks ago, the pink team from Sydney were a rabble, needing a comeback of impossible proportions. But Week Six of the WBBL was fittingly all about the Sixers, and with one weekend to play, they are over halfway there.Captain Ellyse Perry compared their plight to the America’s Cup yacht race when the Oracle team famously beat New Zealand from 8-1 down. After six losses to start their season, the equation for Sydney was just as simple. Win all eight of their remaining matches and make the finals. So far they’ve ticked off five, four of them on the weekend just gone.Marizanne Kapp continues to asphyxiate batting line-ups with the new ball, Sarah Aley has settled as her support after a difficult start, and a few runs were finally chipped in from Sarah McGlashan, Ashleigh Gardner and Alyssa Healy.But to truly be an Oracle comeback, it needs to be led by the skipper, leaving Perry to take the role of the charmingly named Jimmy Spithill. More than anyone, she has been the barometer of her team’s turnaround.After their first half dozen dismal outings, the star allrounder had taken one wicket at the pointless end of a lost chase, and had been targeted so successfully that she got through her full four overs only once.She had three single-digits scores, and the contributions she did make were in terrible contexts: a 24 that was far too slow in chasing 190; a 28 as her side splatted for 80; then 45 as nine teammates made single figures around her.Noticeably more aggressive in Week Six, Perry’s fluency returned with a rush: 236 runs as an opener across Sydney’s four wins, with three half-centuries and a 47. That was key in downing Strikers and Renegades twice each, with four wickets from some tidy spells for good measure.Perry has bombed in from nowhere to third on the tournament runs list within a weekend. The Sixers have gone from finished to finals contention. Like Jimmy Spithill, the answer might have been as simple as changing tack. Like Jimmy, they have to keep winning.New Zealand international Sophie Devine smashed an unbeaten 47 off 15 balls against Stars•WICB Media/Ashley AllenBoom, boom, boom, boom, Sophie wants you in the grandstand
Square leg. Midwicket. Long-on. Over the sightscreen.In the space of 15 balls on Sunday, New Zealand international Sophie Devine put on a display of picket-clearing power hitting at the Junction Oval to rival Grace Harris back in Week Two.Her unbeaten 47, including 26 from the final over, propelled Strikers to the second-highest score in the WBBL so far, their 4 for 169 comfortably accounting for Stars. It was payback after Sarah Taylor’s 78 not out wasn’t enough to chase Melbourne’s 158 in the reverse fixture two days earlier.Sarah Coyte’s elevation in the second match was timely as she clobbered 72 from 55 balls after the usual run machine Taylor had a rare failure. A regular in the national side as a bowler, Coyte then took three top-order wickets in even balls to finish with 3 for 12.Hence, of course, the frustration that Strikers create. Match-winners with ball and bat scattered through their list, destructive players in the best and varied traditions of cricket, yet only four wins to show for it with three to play.It’s the same story for Renegades, who put in a sterling performance on television for the second consecutive Saturday, beating the ladder-leader Sydney Thunder with apparent ease, only to go AWOL again as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.New Zealand international Rachel Priest (57) led the charge to 139-8 against Thunder, then a spin department led by cagey offie Molly Strano (3-20) bowled out the top side for 103. But in losing twice to the Sixers, the Renegades only illustrated the narrowness of the gap between top and bottom, rather than bridging it.Lauren Cheatle’s 17 wickets across 11 games is equal second in the tournament•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesSydney Thunder unlock the secret of youth
The WBBL’s worth as a shop window for national selectors was proved this week when two Thunder teammates – the 17-year-old seamer Lauren Cheatle and big-hitting 21-year old Naomi Stalenberg – were picked in the Southern Stars squad to play India in three T20 internationals.Cheatle has been rewarded for consistency: the left-armer’s 17 wickets across 11 games is equal second in the tournament, having combined new-ball duties with current national bowler Rene Farrell. Stalenberg, meanwhile, has produced some blistering hitting in the vein of Harris and Devine.Cheatle is one of several teenagers who have impressed over the last six weeks at the very start of their domestic careers. Indeed, Thunder’s success has been based on their youthful XI.Belinda Vakarewa, would you believe, is 15 years old. That didn’t stop Alex Blackwell throwing her the ball at the death against the Renegades, 2-13 her reward. Earlier that innings, 19-year-old Maisy Gibson backed up three wickets on debut the previous weekend to give her legbreaks plenty of air, taking the off-stump of England star Danni Wyatt.On young legspinners, our guest from last week was at it again on Sunday, Strikers’ Amanda Wellington flummoxing the best player in the world. Wellington’s first ball should have had Meg Lanning stumped but for sloppy glovework. Not to be deterred, the spinner bowled Lanning around her legs the same over. A consensus has formed: Wellington another to hit the national squad sooner rather than later.One final surge for four finals places
Fourteen. That is the number. Fourteen points is the mark you need to beat to be sure of finals, in the final flurry of games that will mark the end of the home-and-away WBBL rounds.But even ending up on fourteen might be enough. If you’re lucky. Six of the eight teams could end up on that number, with three finals places decided on net run rate.All this will be decided across 11 games over three days, with the Sydney derby to be screened live on Ten.Let’s walk through what we would need to reach that magical confluence. Thunder are top on 16, so they would need to keep winning. Renegades are last on six, so they would need to keep losing.Hurricanes in second place are on 14, so they would need to lose their coming games, once to Stars and twice to Sixers.Those wins would take the latter two teams to 14 as well, where they would stay if Thunder did a job for us by beating them both in their remaining games.Heat have one left, a tough trip to South Australia. If Strikers win that, and twice against the Renegades, they will cosy up to Heat on 14 points apiece.Finally it’s down to Scorchers to beat Renegades twice to add four points from their last two games to the ten they have in the bag.Alternatively, if Renegades reverse their troubles and win their last four, they will hit 14 points themselves, but would keep Strikers and Scorchers from the mark in doing so.Currently Renegades, Strikers and Sixers will struggle most with net run rate if points are tied, but given those teams would need to keep winning, and others need to lose, those numbers will keep shifting.Or, in a world that is less numerically perfect, we could have five teams on 16 points if Thunder lose everything to Sixers and Stars, Hurricanes beat Stars but lose twice to Sixers, and Heat beat Strikers.Still with us?Whatever the case, it’s a free-for-all on the last weekend, with every team still in the hunt when the round starts on Friday, and the strong chance of finals places being decided deep into Sunday afternoon.

Time away from the game due to a stress fracture helped Jaydev Unadkat gain physical strength and perspective and has driven his success this season

Arun Venugopal17-Feb-2016When Jaydev Unadkat tells you that ‘switching off’ is integral to his game it is easy to mistake it for the kind of jargon that spontaneously seems to roll off a modern cricketer’s tongue. He has, after all, been as ‘switched on’ as only somebody who has prised out 20 wickets in two matches can be – his destruction of Vidarbha and Assam in the knockouts saw Saurashtra make the final of the Ranji Trophy for the first time since 2012-13.But you only need to go back to August 2014 to see where Unadkat is coming from. During India A’s tour of Australia, Unadkat developed trouble in the lower back region which was eventually diagnosed as stress fracture. For four months thereon, Unadkat was forced to push the ‘pause’ button. He didn’t go anywhere close to the ground during the first two months, following which he kept bowling off short strides for four weeks before eventually bowling off a short run-up. Unadkat played only one Ranji Trophy game in the 2014-15 season, four in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament and made one appearance for Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2015.The downtime helped him indulge in luxuries he had missed – spending time at home, catching up with friends and cousins, and a family holiday. More important, however, was the perspective that kicked in. “Sometimes it happens that you take things for granted and in times like these you start counting your blessings,” Unadkat tells ESPNcricinfo. “When you are going through a season you don’t really pause to reflect where you are standing at present in life. Sometimes we just look at the negatives, don’t look at the positives of how our career is going. All of us are really blessed to pursue something which we really love.”Switching off only helped me. I was thinking a lot about my game during that period. I guess I would have become that [a cricket nut]. [Now] I don’t keep on talking about the game. Probably that has helped me overcome this. I was refreshed and eagerly waiting to start playing again so that motivated me again when I came back.”Combating negativity was the biggest challenge for Jaydev Unadkat as he made his way back to cricket after the injury•Associated PressBy his own admission he emerged a better person at the end of a phase where combating negativity was the biggest challenge. “[It was] probably the time after the injury that did that [made me a better person],” he says. “Rather than those four months the next three months were more difficult when I started bowling. I wasn’t feeling as if I was the same bowler. It was in the back of my mind, ‘What if I try to give my full effort and it occurs again?’ That can be the limit of self-belief going down. I have felt that in those two months. I wasn’t really feeling that I could really bowl at the highest level.”[I] probably [developed] a bit of control over my thoughts. I was talking to a couple of coaches – I don’t want to name them – who said the technical faults in my action – a semi-open action is probably a mixed action – won’t allow me to bowl fast and will keep giving me injuries. That has kept haunting me… if I can I manage with those technical flaws? I wanted to be clear with my thoughts [and] that’s one thing I was working on.”A welcome consequence of Unadkat’s injury and his non-selection for India or India A matches was the time he found to work on his strength and stamina and the mental aspects of bowling. He has also looked visibly quicker than he was a year or two ago. “These two-three months in between, the off season that I got, were really crucial. Because of the work I put in the period I can see the difference in my bowling [speed] and I have been able to persist with it throughout the season. Someone told me I clocked 138-139 [kmph in the Assam game]. I have increased my pace by at least 4-5 kmph.He also attributes his improved performance to a better balance between his bowling sessions and gym work. “I have bowled a lot in the off season. I wasn’t bowling this much in the past. I mean I was focusing on gym and all, but I wasn’t bowling much,” he says. “You need to have a work log for yourself where you can see it’s not going above the limit. But it’s important to keep bowling, keep pushing yourself in the nets as well.”I would say during the season [bowling in the nets] is not much. But in the off season I have really pushed it a lot. My workload has increased 20 or 30% more than in the past. I bowl probably eight to ten overs in a session and I do at least five sessions of bowling a week apart from the running and agility sessions.”Unadkat has sought to upgrade his skill quotient and in the process has acquired some valuable pointers from Wasim Akram and Zaheer Khan. “I have met a lot of good people on the way. Bharath Arun sir was in the NCA when I used to go to NCA a lot in the last couple of seasons. He has been guiding me.”Zaheer bhai used to use the angles a lot. He would always tell us that it is about going one step above the batsman. You should be knowing as a batsman what would you think if you were in his place. I have seen him do that [go round the stumps and move the ball away from the right hander]. I have practised that a lot in the nets. That angle is really difficult for a batsman.”I was also making sure [during the Ranji semi-final] that I don’t fall over at the time of delivery. I don’t want to bowl faster and in the process end up losing my bowling shape. I wanted to hold my non-bowling arm till the end. Those are a couple of things I am working on.”

“When you are going through a season you don’t really pause to reflect where you are standing at present in life.”

Unadkat also gets his adrenalin rush from movies and songs. He listened to from on the way to the ground before unleashing a fiery spell against Assam in the second innings in Vadodara. “I have my specific playlist when it comes to listening songs on match days – a couple of songs from or , and English songs like and . My favourite movies have been Lagaan, Iqbal and I like those movies related to the army as well.”All the movies which have positive vibes like conquering something and proving something to your country or yourself… I just get that sense of inspiration. When you are going through your routines this helps you to get that adrenaline high.”His biggest influences off the field are his older sister, Dheera, and team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara. “The only girl that I adore at present is my sister. I am very close to her. There was one time when I was playing for RCB and she felt that season would be the turning point for me. She would send me something in red to wish me luck before every game as it matched the colour of our team kit. She doesn’t talk cricket at home and motivates me at the right time.”Cheteshwar has been my best friend since the last five-six years now. I have gained a lot of maturity from him. I have tried to learn from him is his approach for the game and the discipline he has in all his schedules. We share rooms. Even if we get single rooms we try to stay together. That bond is something we cherish. Whatever cricket I talk about is with him.”

England batsman Jason Roy talks about his favourite meat, the England players’ football and dancing skills, and more

Interview by Jack Wilson08-May-2016The England team have a competition to see who is the best dancer. Who wins?
That’s impossible to answer. There’s not one iota of dance talent in that dressing room.You wear the number 67 for England. Why?
Because I can’t wear 20! That has always been my number but Bressie has got that, so 67 was the number I was assigned.Who do you least want to be stuck next to on the team bus?
Sam Billings. He’s got terrible chat. It’s relentless.Who is the best footballer in the England team warm-ups?
To be fair to him, Jos Buttler can play a bit.And who is the worst?
Alex Hales. Hands down.Which of your team-mates is the most fun on a night out?
Ben Stokes – he goes for it every time. He’s hilarious. Reece Topley is funny too as he thinks he’s a ladies’ man.Who is the last at the bar to buy a round of drinks?
Sam Billings. Easy.Who is the biggest stats geek in the dressing room?
[Laughs] I desperately want to pick someone but we’re not the cleverest bunch. If anyone, it’d have to be Rooty.Reece Topley: ladies’ man?•Getty ImagesWho is the most superstitious?
Stokes again. He always does that stupid thing at the crease when he comes out to bat. At Surrey, Arun Harinath has to go to the toilet just before he bats. Every time, without fail. So, if he’s late to bat, which has happened loads of times, you now know why.If you could go back in time and face any bowler from history in their prime, who would it be?
I want to say Shoaib Akhtar but I’d be lying. A spinner, definitely. [Shane] Warne or Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan].Which of your team-mates is most likely to play a practical joke?
That has got to be Rooty or Hales.And who is it most likely to be on?
David Willey. He’s an easy target.What is your favourite shot?
The straight drive – or any of them that goes for runs.If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you bring?
A lighter, a fishing rod and a satellite phone.Where do you keep tomato ketchup: in the fridge or in the cupboard?
Fridge. Who keeps it in a cupboard? That’s nuts.What meat do you like most on your roast dinner?
Tough one, but nothing beats lamb and mint sauce. Nothing whatsoever.

Trigger movement, stance, backlift and technique outside off in focus as India opener goes through an extended workout on the third day of India’s training camp

Akshay Gopalakrishnan in Bangalore01-Jul-2016The third day of India’s training camp in Bangalore ahead of their West Indies sojourn was another intense affair, with an emphasis firmly on skill-sets. Offspinner R Ashwin, returning from personal leave, and opener Shikhar Dhawan were primarily in focus, even as the rest of the squad along with a few members of the India A and Karnataka team were also in attendance at the National Cricket Academy.Ashwin, among the first few to come out for training, had a brief conversation with Anil Kumble, his role model, before rolling his arm over to a catching man to loosen his stiff shoulders. He then sent down a string of deliveries at an empty net. Once all systems were go, he began bowling at the batsmen. His variations particularly stoked the interest of everyone present early on, before the attention shifted to Dhawan.The opening batsman started off with a solid session against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur, the Mumbai pacer, on the centre pitch. Once he was satisfied with his brief stint in the middle, Dhawan came over for throwdowns from batting coach Sanjay Bangar and Raghavendra, the team’s throwdown specialist.Shortly into the session, Bangar placed a fourth stump, a few feet outside off, next to where Dhawan was standing. The positioning was such that the stump was within Dhawan’s eyeline. It seemed as if there was a conscious plan to work on his feet movement and judgement outside off stump to away-going deliveries hurled at a fair clip.The video analyst set up a camera around where Dhawan was batting to record his trigger movements and his stance. After a few deliveries, Dhawan approached Bangar for an opinion on his wrist position while pressing forward. While returning to his mark, he looked at a group of journalists trying to decipher what he was trying to do. “Learning the basics,” he laughed.It seemed as though the plan was to eliminate his off-side weakness against the away-going delivery. “As a batsman, sometimes, your head position generally gives you a clear indication of where your off stump is,” Amol Muzumdar, the former Mumbai batsman and highest-capped Ranji Trophy cricketer, explained to ESPNcricinfo. “Generally, with a good stance, me being a right-hander, your right eye generally serves as an indication that that’s your off stump.”The method could act as two things. One is to know where your off stump is, and two, probably the bat, in your backlift, is going a little bit away. Then you get an immediate feedback that your bat is going away, or know where your off stump is.”Dhawan’s method was particularly intriguing, given his travails outside the off stump in Test matches. His general tendency to attack the ball has caused problems, which were exacerbated when India toured England in 2014. Dhawan was either caught behind or in the slips in three out of six innings, before being dropped for the final two Tests. The problem resurfaced in Australia later that year, where Dhawan also struggled against the white ball, which he generally is more comfortable facing.Dhawan’s technique outside the off stump has been in focus since his travails in England in 2014•AFPAakash Chopra, Dhawan’s former Delhi team-mate, felt it was a case of a lack of footwork creating doubts in his mind. “It’s a combination of, I think, two-three things,” he explained. “Obviously, his feet don’t move, and if your feet don’t move, you end up playing away from the body anyway. It gets rewarded in the shorter formats, so you don’t even think there is any need to change. And even though he likes to drive, when the ball is really full, he is on to his front foot and drives it well. But he gets stuck on the crease to anything that is in the in-between length. And even while his intention is to play from the crease, he doesn’t really go onto the back foot, and instead just stays there and flashes outside off.”Could it be an issue with his stance, perhaps? Chopra didn’t think so. “It’s not that it’s crouched or it’s too wide. It’s not too wide, neither too narrow in terms of his feet positioning, so it’s not that he’s falling over,” he observed. “But he definitely has to get into the habit of leaving balls outside off. T20 cricket and limited-overs cricket tell you to play away from the body; playing away from the body rewards you because if you get too close, you get cramped (for room).”Questions of whether Dhawan is temperamentally suited for Test cricket have been asked frequently, given the left-hander’s innate desire to attack. Muzumdar, however, felt that such batsmen were needed in a Test team. “Not everyone is cut out like M Vijay, who takes his time and leaves the ball outside off stump very well, which in the last 24 months he has been doing superbly for India,” he said. “KL Rahul, again, is solid in defence, so is someone like Pujara. So there is place for an attacking player who would take on the opposition. I think he is cut out for international cricket. We’ve seen his success and I think he is temperamentally built for international cricket.”Dhawan’s supreme confidence in his ability has been known right from his domestic days and is one of the distinct aspects of his game. Has that confidence, perhaps, translated to excessive flamboyance in Test cricket?”It could happen, there is no denying that,” Muzumdar said. “Again, it’s upto the high-performance athlete who would use that confidence to his own benefit. I think it depends, sometimes you may feel it’s overconfidence, but that’s the way he has played cricket ever since he announced himself against Australia at Mohali with that swashbuckling hundred in his debut match. Confidence is a double-edged sword.”But when that confidence works in his favour and he is at ease with himself and his surroundings, Dhawan’s batting makes for one of the most visceral joys in cricket. At the nets, he nailed a lovely straight drive that elicited a hurried leap from Bangar. Dhawan walked over to the coach and the two shared a laugh and patted each other on the back. Pleased with himself, a sprightly Dhawan strutted back to his crease humming a tune or two before gearing up to face the next ball. All seemed well with his world.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2016Dhananjaya de Silva got three boundaries away, but he could not kick on; he was out for 25, caught off Graeme Cremer•Associated PressAsela Gunaratne, batting on Test debut, hung around longer•AFPHe managed to mark his maiden Test innings with a fifty•Associated PressTharanga, holding firm at the other end, got to a second Test hundred just after tea•AFPCarl Mumba dismissed Rangana Herath with a short ball for his maiden Test wicket•AFPEventually, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 537 in the final session. The Captain Cremer topped the bowling figures for Zimbabwe, taking 4 for 142•Associated PressIn reply, Zimbabwe lost opener Brian Chari early but Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza went to stumps unscathed as the hosts ended at 88 for 1•AFP

The portents were bad when he went down after a fielding mishap, clutching his knee. A few minutes later he was bowling a spell for the ages

Jarrod Kimber in Brisbane15-Dec-2016The ball was slowly trickling to the boundary, but no one went to pick it up. The crowd began jeering the terrible bit of fielding – Mohammad Amir committed worse mistakes on Thursday – but as he dropped to the field, the jeers turned into a concerned collection of whispers.Amir buried his face in the turf as he clutched his knee. He couldn’t keep still through the pain.His knee didn’t slide on the ground, it dug in. His weight went towards the ball, but his knee did not. His first instinct was to go after the ball, but as he moved, grabbing for it in mid-air, he just collapsed.Mark Taylor suggested he had a kneecap problem, those in the pool swam across for a closer look and medics from both teams converged on Amir. Some non-experts noticed swelling, others a cruciate ligament injury, the sort that ended players’ careers every footy season in Australia. It was the kind of pointless speculation you do when there was a star crumpled before you. Simon Jones was mentioned a lot, and no one was talking about magical reverse swing from the 2005 Ashes.A stretcher was called for, but none came. So Amir was helped over the boundary by support staff. People start to talk about why it had to be him. We hadn’t seen him unleashed in the series, or at all since he got back to Tests, and now it looked like he could be out of order.His last 39 balls were dots, which seemed to be part of the Misbah-ul-Haq plan to get to dusk and then hope something happened. But it wasn’t dusk yet, we hadn’t seen what the pink ball could do under dark Gabba skies. We hadn’t seen anything. It got darker in the incredibly long time it seemed to take the ambulance cart to make it out to him.Amir has overcome stupidity, criminal acts, jail time and five years out of professional sport, and now stopping a ball at fine leg had brought him down.On the outfield, there was an enormous divot and, despite the break in play, no one covered it up. Pakistan had a similar-sized hole in their team.The message from the PCB was not to worry; the early signs were good, they said. But how could you not? An entire army of people were down on the boundary helping Amir out. He couldn’t even hobble the 80 metres to the change room.At drinks in the final session, 18 minutes after Amir had fallen, a groundsman went out and filled in his divot. Twelve minutes after that, Amir jogged back onto the field. His recovery had seemingly taken less time than it took for the ambulance cart to reach him. As he ran across the outfield you could almost sense the different sections of the crowd realising it was him. There was a sound wave of people saying, “What’s all this about?”Was he brave, stupid, or soft? Did it even matter? The new ball was due soon and he was obviously going to take it. Maybe, if you squinted with your head on the side, he was limping. But he still took that brand new fluorescent pink ball.

It was the kind of magical spell Test cricket has been waiting to see from Amir for years, and he’d been waiting for it the most.

Amir didn’t trample the turf like Wahab Riaz. He wasn’t a killer semi-trailer like Ryan Harris. He floated across the grass, barely making an impact, and even at the crease there was no violent crash. It was more a little skip and the ball zipped out of his fingers. This man whose kneecap was dislocated, whose anterior cruciate was torn, whose day, Test and series were over, was delivering a ball to Peter Handscomb like nothing was wrong.Until the third step of his follow through. And there was a limp, a worry, but he went back to the top of his mark and floated in a couple more times. Handscomb took a single off the the third ball; it was the first run off him in the last 42, delivered either side of a trip on the ambulance cart.The fourth ball was the Amir that made lovers of fast bowling cry when they first heard the news of his fixing all those years ago. It shaped to drift in, just short of a length, and then decided to go away, at pace. To get near it, you would have to be one of the best batsmen in the world, and Steven Smith was. The ball went through to Sarfraz Ahmed, who threw it to slip as Amir walked back to his mark.Later, after a few replays, it was clear Smith had edged the ball and, instead of enjoying his wicket, Amir finished the over hopping and grabbing at his knee, his trousers still stained from his fall.For the next little bit, he bowled more trademark Amir balls, the kind that made you gasp and despair at their beauty as they beat the bat. One was so good Smith seemed angry at its existence as he tried to recreate the kind of alien movement it got with his hand. There were more than went past Handscomb too; one of them took the edge but fell short of slip.It was the kind of magical spell Test cricket has been waiting to see from Amir for years, and he’d been waiting for it the most. The only problem was, though he might have overcome serious injury, he couldn’t take a wicket. As good as he was, as dangerous as he looked, and as much drama as he had created – none of it mattered when the edges did not carry, or when they weren’t spotted. His Lazarus rise was ultimately pointless.They say you can’t tell much from just seeing the stats, but you could from Amir’s on day one at the Gabba: Three limps, 18 overs, one knee injury, six maidens, one ambulance cart, one wicket, one injury, 33 runs and one miraculous recovery.

The young crop of Bangladesh quick bowlers has been very eager to learn from their legendary bowling coach, Courtney Walsh

Interview by Mohammad Isam24-Jan-2017How has your first time as an international bowling coach been so far?
As anyone would expect it to be, there is a little bit of learning in it. I have been enjoying it so far. I am happy that I took it on. I see a lot of talent in Bangladesh cricket in terms of fast bowlers. It is a nice challenge to have. I am hoping that at the end of it we will be able to produce some top-quality fast bowlers. We have some good youngsters in the making and I am very confident that these kids can go all the way.You’ve toured the subcontinent a number of times, but as a coach, has there been a culture shock for you here?
I was in shock seeing how the fans in Bangladesh support cricket. I didn’t expect it. I never played in Bangladesh during my career but I played couple of times against them away from home. It was a shock to see how they embrace and love their team. There are some very good, knowledgeable supporters who know and understand what’s going on with the team. It is a good shock to have and makes you want to do your best.”Mash [Mortaza] has been the most experienced fast bowler we have in Bangladesh. He is not around for the Test matches. For the one-day games, they can speak to him for experience, but these kids are going to be the ones that the next generation of Bangladeshi fast bowlers will look up to”•Raton GomesBecause of the conditions in Bangladesh, fast bowlers are not really used much. Is that the first challenge you had, to train and look after these guys so that they can bowl long spells in places like New Zealand?
The head coach [Chandika Hathurusingha] had mentioned to me that at home the fast bowlers probably don’t get used a lot. We have to build them up for away tours. I saw this as my first challenge. So that’s one of the things that we have been working on. The communication from him was very, very good. I took it on board. The coaching staff has been helpful, but for me, the challenge was to try to get them as ready as they could be for this Test tour. The other major challenge was the amount of Tests that the guys might have played. So those were two challenges we looked at, and I saw it personally as something that we have to take on board. At the end of it, I could say that the guys have come out of it well. We were at a disadvantage with their experience. I think they have handled it well.You said that you had idols when you first played for West Indies. But these guys don’t have many idols in Bangladesh. Are they picking your brain properly and asking you the right questions?
They have started to, which is good. It’s what I want. What I will do going forward is to get them to interact with other fast bowlers. I certainly don’t know it all. We have Mario [Villavarayan], the strength and conditioning coach, who is willing to pass on whatever he knows. I was hoping that someone like Javagal Srinath [could help]… unfortunately, he is a match referee. From a cricketing standpoint, he would have been able to speak with them. It is difficult to ask him because of the job he is doing.The plan is, when we get on the tours, we get them to speak to different fast bowlers so that they get that exposure. It is beneficial. They haven’t got an idol to look up to. Mash [Mortaza] has been the most experienced fast bowler we have in Bangladesh. He is not around for the Test matches. For the one-day games, they can speak to him for experience, but these kids are going to be ones that the next generation of Bangladeshi fast bowlers will look up to. That’s what we are trying to create.What is the major challenge for a Bangladeshi fast bowler?
They showed they have pace in this Test series. Most of the guys were consistent with their pace. I think they have done work physically to get stronger. What we need to do now is work on the technical part of it, the thinking part of it – how they think batsmen and conditions out.I am here to make sure the thought process is there. It might be one of the challenges, to get that message across as quickly as possible so we can adapt to it. I think the experience they would have gained here would have been very beneficial. It is about how we tweak it when we get to India and Sri Lanka. Then we have England. We have three different sorts of tours to work on, with different conditions in all. The good thing is that we have Tests in India and Sri Lanka, so they will get back on track.”Some of the questions that Rabbi asked me over the last couple of days were just tremendous to hear. It shows that they have started to think”•Getty ImagesYou must have been heartened to see the pace bowlers take blows on the body themselves and then giving it back.
All the guys who played here, as far as I am concerned, have done extremely well. They gave us an idea what they can and cannot do. We know what they need to be working on, but the fight and courage they showed in batting, bowling and in the outfield was tremendous, especially after getting some body blows. They went back out and gave it their all. It shows character, good fighting spirit. They are proud to be playing for Bangladesh.What is the next step for bowlers like Kamrul Islam Rabbi?
Some of the questions that Rabbi asked me over the last couple of days were just tremendous to hear. It shows that they have started to think. Subashis Roy has also shown such a keen interest to improve his game. They are now learning some of the rudiments of fast bowling. They are asking me good questions, so it is easier and better for me to communicate with them.They become stars very quickly but many get lost in the system in Bangladesh. Have you seen any signs of that?
I haven’t spotted anything like that as yet. I have spotted that they want to play for Bangladesh. I am hoping that with experience and performance they will set a trend of wanting to play 30-40 Tests and be good at it – get their names in that arena. It will be great for Bangladesh cricket if we can have a couple of fast bowlers to put their name on the map in Test cricket.What is the most fun part of being a bowling coach?
Being able to pass on information to the guys and see that it is accepted and applied and tried as well. Being accepted by them as someone they look up to and willing to learn from. Those two will keep me going.Do you realise that you are a strength to this team, that they haven’t really had such a legendary cricketer in their dressing room?
I think from what I have picked up, they listen to me and look up to the information that I provide them. I am happy to help them to keep the team moving forward, and for them to understand Test cricket. And to be proud of representing the country. The character will be growing with time. I am sure with the help of everyone else around, they will adapt to it. I am particularly pleased with the response I have had from all the captains, in terms of my input and recommendations and whatever I can do to encourage the team. At the end of the day, what I want is to be part of a successful unit that is improving and playing good cricket.

Plays of the day from the second ODI between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG

Daniel Brettig15-Jan-2017The shuffleAustralia’s top order did not function particularly well at the Gabba and a neck injury to Chris Lynn meant further instability for the hosts. David Warner walked out accompanied by Usman Khawaja, his third partner in as many ODIs after Aaron Finch was dropped and Travis Head then demoted back to the middle order. For Khawaja, this was a first chance in canary yellow since an ODI against Ireland that served as prelude to the South Africa limited-overs series in October, and his cramped edge from the bowling of Junaid Khan meant that the Australians ended the day none the wiser as to the identity of their best opening combination.The straight ballA slowish MCG surface rewarded spin bowlers who maintained a disciplined line while mixing up their pace. Fortunately for Pakistan’s stand-in captain Mohammad Hafeez, he had three such operators, including himself, and all were able to capitalise on Australian imprecision when trying to force the pace. Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and Matthew Wade were all bowled by deliveries that did not deviate off the pitch. The last of those was uncannily similar to the way so many Australian batsmen have been dismissed in Asia in recent times, as Wade played for turn from Shoaib Malik and lost middle stump.The phantom edgeJunaid’s first ball to Pat Cummins was swift and well directed, cramping Australia’s No. 10 for room as he tried to force through the off side. The ball went through to Mohammad Rizwan and the Pakistanis went up in unison to appeal, but umpire Chris Gaffaney did not deduce an edge. Pakistan’s one referral had already gone earlier in the innings, and Wade had also evaded a caught-behind decision at the other end by reviewing to find the ball had brushed thigh rather than bat. This time the HotSpot and Snicko showed a clear edge, its evidence lost in the din of a noisy crowd and a breezy afternoon.The spin thriftWhere Pakistan used 24 overs of spin, the hosts offered up only one, delivered by Travis Head in the 14th of the chase, before the match was effectively decided. Australia had indicated their views of the pitch by leaving out the one specialist spin bowler in their squad, Adam Zampa, but while the visitors were able to utilise slow bowlers, the way Head’s first over was treated dissuaded Smith from delving any further. Hafeez hammered a pair of boundaries through backward square leg and down the ground, effectively neutering a bowler who had cost just 28 from 10 overs in Brisbane.