ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Voges continued his good form, scoring a half-century that took Australia past 450•Getty ImagesSoon after he fell, however, Neil Wagner cleaned up Australia’s lower order to claim a career-best 6 for 106. Australia were bowled out for 505 and their lead kept to 135•Getty ImagesNew Zealand were hurt early in their second innings, after Martin Guptill fell to James Pattinson for a duck in the fourth over•Getty ImagesPattinson then struck in successive overs to send back Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls, leaving the hosts at 72 for 3•Getty ImagesIn his final Test innings, Brendon McCullum smacked 25 off 27…•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images… Before he was removed by Josh Hazlewood late in the day•AFPKane Williamson held the innings together for the hosts, as they ended the third day at 121 for 4, trailing Australia by 14 runs•AFP

As the IPL comes to Kanpur, the excitement boils over for the local fans – and the cricketers who are set to play their first IPL game in their home state, too

Nagraj Gollapudi 18-May-2016″One request. I want to meet that player.”The plea is uttered while pointing eagerly in the direction of South Africa and Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Morne Morkel. It comes from Shristi Bhatia, a college student in Kanpur who, late on Wednesday afternoon, has found her way into the stands at Green Park. On Thursday, the ground will host the first ever IPL match in Kanpur – and Uttar Pradesh. Bhatia does not know who Morkel is – not even his name – but for her it does not matter. “I don’t know [who he is]. He is so cute,” she says, with the expectant eyes of a fan more inclined towards entertainment than cricket.Bhatia had come to the ground with her younger brother and some friends to photograph and record players from both Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions. Lions had picked Kanpur as their second home venue, after Rajkot, for their last two group matches – against Knight Riders on May 19 and Mumbai Indians two days after that.Bhatia squealed as she asked Uttar Pradesh and Knight Riders fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot for a selfie. Asked if she knew who the player was, she responded plainly: “No.” Then why was she all giggly and excited to take the picture, which had left even Rajpoot blushing for a moment?”Because he is a celebrity, no? People are very much excited. Tomorrow you will see lines snaking from as far as Navi Market. Even during the last international match in Kanpur, people who had tickets could not come inside because the crowds had thronged outside in large numbers.”Bhatia was never confident that the IPL would one day arrive in Kanpur but Rajeev Shukla, the IPL chairman and Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association secretary, lobbied hard and eventually managed to get two Lions matches. There were doubts about whether Green Park had appropriate floodlights for the two evening matches but, by the looks of it, the four light towers are well equipped, maybe even slightly too bright. An official from one of the franchises did point out that the lights were too bright in some spots in the outfield, but it would not be a matter of grave concern.Kanpur now joins the growing list of second-tier cities that have been put on the IPL map, like Rajkot and Raipur. For most players it might just be another stop on the never-ending grind, but for about half a dozen players from Lions and Knight Riders, the IPL in Uttar Pradesh is a special occasion. It is like a homecoming for Lions players Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Umang Sharma, Eklavya Dwivedi and Akshdeep Nath, and Knight Riders’ Piyush Chawla, Rajpoot and Kuldeep Yadav.”IPL is one of the biggest platforms for youngsters and also for people like me who are trying to make a comeback. With the tournament coming here for the first time ever in nine years, it is a big thing for us,” Chawla said. According to him, the IPL provides opportunities for young net bowlers, too, as they can interact with international players, something Chawla said he found beneficial more than a decade ago. “A lot of kids who have come to bowl in the nets can see quality cricket and will get the motivation as well. They are bowling to big stars from around the world and they are putting in more than 100%.”Chawla was once that kid, bowling in the nets when Pakistan came to play an ODI in Kanpur, a game in which Shahid Afridi blasted a record century. “I was really happy to see all the big stars who I had seen on the TV,” Chawla said. “And suddenly I got a chance to bowl to Sachin , Viru [Sehwag] , Dada [Ganguly], bowling alongside Anil [Kumble] – obviously it was a big thing for me.”Another former net bowler who is now rubbing shoulders with some of the best is Rajpoot. The strapping Uttar Pradesh fast bowler was a ball boy for the third Test of the 2008 series against South Africa. It was MS Dhoni’s first Test win as India captain. “I remember sitting with Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel, and today I think look how far I have come that I am sharing the dressing room with Morkel now. It feels really good,” Rajpoot said.According to senior Uttar Pradesh and Lions fast bowler Praveen, the Kanpur fans will be both “” [mischievous] and fun-loving. For years they have waited for the IPL’s bandwagon to arrive in town. They had seen it on the TV, read and heard about it in the media, and heard friends and relatives go gaga over it. Now there is a chance for Bhatia and other fans in Uttar Pradesh to tell their own stories.”We have played in Kanpur from Under-16 days and now we are going to play the IPL here for the first time,” Praveen said. “The fans have been thirsting for it for a long time. So we are also very excited.”

Two impassioned screams for lbw, neither of them given, told the story of an Afghanistan side who are so close to winning, but just can’t get over the line

Jarrod Kimber23-Mar-20161:41

Match Day: Nabi showed cricket IQ

The ball hit Ben Stokes’ pad, and eight of them screamed, like this mattered to them more than anything else. All demanding, pleading, appealing, for an lbw where the ball wasn’t in the same post code as the stumps. None of them need much proof. They always appeal like it is the most out dismissal they have ever seen. No matter what their view of it, they know it is out.The umpire disagrees.Mohammad Nabi will not get his hat trick.The ball hit Moeen Ali’s pad, and this time only two of them screamed for the wicket. Screamed like everything they had worked for, everything they wanted, was on the line. Like this mattered more to them than anything else.Again, the umpire disagrees.Shapoor Zadran will not get his wicket. Afghanistan will not win the match.There are some who talk of the Afghan players like they are magical pixie fairy elves, sent from some far-off land to cheer up cricket and provide good-natured mirth. They mention that they are refugees, from a war-torn nation, outside the British Empire, who have somehow turned up in cricket tournaments.It is a disservice to them as cricketers. As professional cricketers. Afghanistan are not here because they have some magic cricket gene, they are here because they work hard, train hard, and they have been given a great deal of funding.USAID helped build Kabul Cricket Stadium. They brought in cricket gear for schools and cricket clubs. They constructed pitches throughout the country. They helped with training. They supported Salam Watander radio network’s attempts to broadcast Afhgan away games.From 2010 until 2014 two USAID programmes spent or programmed $2,287,934 on cricket. It wasn’t just the Americans either, the Indian and German governments also invested heavily in Afghan cricket.That also doesn’t count the tough club cricket in Pakistan, the support from the ICC, the fact that they have become the trendy associate to play, that they were one of the few countries outside the big three to see extra money after the ICC takeover and that as they keep qualifying for major events they keep receiving extra funding. All of this is making them stronger. Making them better.These are professional cricketers, doing a job, playing for a country that demands they win. The money might be smaller, but the stakes are often higher.For five overs, England did what you would expect to an associate qualifier, even a good one. They handled their good balls, dispatched the bad ones, executed their skillsets, as they say. Jason Roy got one that skidded through him. But James Vince drove the ball so fast the grass looked like ice. Joe Root started scoring by putting big Shapoor into the crowd. His next scoring shot was a reverse lap sweep. Vince twice gave himself room and crashed Amir Hamza through the covers and England were 41 for 1 after five.

Nabi is no longer Afghanistan captain. That seems bizarre, as everything about him, with bat, or ball, screams leader

One of the world’s best batsmen was at the crease, the ball was skidding onto the bat, the base had been set, and the run rate was at 8.2 an over. We know what happens from there. It didn’t.Nabi is no longer Afghanistan captain. That seems bizarre, as everything about him, with bat, or ball, screams leader. Even at bad times, he still takes over the team. But when his batting dipped after the World Cup last year, he stepped aside.This World T20 it his bowling that has been amazing. To watch him come in, you are watching what surely must be a part-timer. His action screams “I bowl a bit of offspin”. It’s part-time 101, he comes in slowly, he turns his front shoulder too early, he doesn’t have a powerful rotation through the crease and he’s known as a batsman. But the ball does come out of his hand well. He does spin it, it does get drop, it isn’t as friendly as he makes it look.But even then his accuracy is only ok. He can drop short, does bowl wide, and sometimes the ball gets away from him. He does have a good straight ball. But mostly, he’s super canny. He thinks like a batsman, and works them out at the crease. That coupled with a part-timer’s action means many a batsman slips up.When Vince backed away to give himself room, Nabi didn’t panic, fire down a quick ball, he didn’t go wide of off stump either, he just drifted up a slow turner straight at Vince. It bamboozled Vince so much that somehow Vince was beaten the way you are outside off stump by a ball outside leg stump. The next ball, still in a daze, Vince was out caught and bowled.The following ball, Eoin Morgan received one of Nabi’s straight ones, but he played for the one that turned.Then there was a Root run out chance. In his haste to get back to the stumps, he knocked off the bails. But he had still had the ability to take the ball cleanly, and pick up the stump with the ball touching it. In four balls, Nabi had broken the partnership, bowled the captain and run out the star player.Afghanistan had gone from out the game, to in front of it. Nabi was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. Both things were pretty unlikely, and pretty amazing.Ben Stokes falls in a heap after failing to pull a slow trundler•Associated PressWith England suddenly looking like it was all a bit much for them, Afghanistan had the opportunity with their four spinners to really go for them. They didn’t. As soon as Nabi’s over finished, the sixth of the match, Afghanistan instantly retreated into after-Powerplay mode. Sami Shenwari, one of their best bowlers this tournament, started against two new batsman, with his team well on top, with no attacking fielders and only the four fielders inside the circle. Nabi continued at the other end, with a slip for a few balls, before his field spread as well.But still England managed to find the few fielders around them. Jos Buttler hit Sami straight to cover. Then Stokes fell over – bowling himself off a short one.Still Afghanistan didn’t push. They took their six wickets as a victory, and let England just find singles. Had it not been for another mistake from England when Chris Jordan found the leading edge, they would have quite happily just let England drift.The problem came when England finished tripping over themselves.Eventually England just found the gaps, and forgot the wickets. Top teams, with all their experience, will, if given enough chances, get it right. It may have looked to Afghanistan that they were still on top, but England were in a position to take control. One more wicket could change that.You only need to see Shapoor bowl once to be hooked. Of all the Afghan bowlers, none is more Pakistan ’90s than Shapoor. There are times when he seems to run faster than he bowls, but he does it with such pomp and swagger, his mane flying around behind him, that he almost convinces batsmen he is as fast as he once was. Afghanistan have three fast bowlers, their first hero Hamid Hassan and the silky Dawlat Zadran.In Australia they formed a trio, but Shapoor has been the man to miss out here. But the others haven’t been firing. Hassan has been bowling as if his hamstrings are made of peanut brittle, and Dawlat has struggled for consistency. So Shapoor was back, the big prancing show horse just about past his best came galloping in like a 1980s rock god and bowled to Moeen Ali.The ball wasn’t seam up, it wobbled about everywhere, but landed on a length just outside off stump, and came back in to slap into Moeen’s pad as he tried to work it on the leg side. The ball flew out on the off side. Ramiz Raja, on TV, said it would miss the stumps. Our ball by ball said “missing leg-stump”. The umpire didn’t even really look at it seriously. The match continued as England took a run.Later the DRS would show the ball hitting the stumps. Had it been possible to refer it, it would have been out. England would have been 102 for 8. But there was no DRS, Afghanistan had to finish the innings out, the final 16 balls with Moeen still there.Shapoor finished his over well. Next up was left-arm spinner Amir Hamza. He had started well, even as England had gone after him in the powerplay. Hamza is not one of the Afghan players who grew up in a Pakistan refugee camp, he has learnt his cricket in Afghanistan, and is a product of their system. His left-arm spin does not turn massively, but he is clever, changes the pace well, and has a great temperament.He had six balls to get through. A good over and his team was still on top. A great over and England were all but gone.

Inzi rubbed his beard. The other players just looked like they had been beaten. Like all their hope was gone

His team-mates in the dugout all brimmed with nervous energy. Moeen had enough and was clearly coming after him. The first ball was saved from a boundary because of great fielding, fielding they are not known for. No one could save the next ball, it was slog swept into the crowd. Hamza was always going to bowl a quicker ball straight away, Moeen knew it, and bashed it down the ground to the fence. Hamza fought back and had a decent shout for lbw, but all that did was bring Willey on strike. Nabi came over, whatever he said didn’t work, two sixes followed.The Afghan dug out went dead quiet. Everyone stared straight ahead. There was no energy, nervous or otherwise. Inzi rubbed his beard. The other players just looked like they had been beaten. Like all their hope was gone.The little hope when they went out to bat was in the hands of Mohammad Shahzad, everyone’s new favourite cricketer. A rotund rebel with the bat who plays the game as if it is to be enjoyed. Shahzad edged his first ball for four, he was unsure about his next one, and for the third he was hobbling off the ground with a bruise on his right leg and a plumb lbw.Noor Ali was the only other batsman who looked like he could handle the English pace bowlers. When he was out, he stood at the crease for such a long time with a face as broken as the dugout had been at the end of Hamza’s over.At the end it was Shafiqullah. Twenty-four off the last over was always going to be too much, but he made sure they batted out, and finished with a slow slash through the covers.The Afghan team were crushed. Not for the first time, not even the second, but for the third time this week they had been in a position to beat a big team, but they have lost all of them. Against Sri Lanka it was sloppiness, against South Africa it was their bowling and here against England it was one over. Just one.They know they are close, they don’t want our sympathy, they don’t want to be our second favourite team, they don’t want patronising, they want to win. And they are so close.When that ball hit Moeen, Shapoor went down onto his knees. Both his arms were straight out at the umpire. His hair flopped all over his head. His eyes were wild with passion, desire, hope. Behind him Mohammad Shahzad jumped into the splits position and appealed with all he had as well. They both screamed, pleaded, like they both knew, that this ball was it. They are professional cricketers; they know how to read a game. If they got that one wicket, right then, maybe they could keep England down to a total they could get.That next over, that over, went for 25. Afghanistan lost by 15. The over that will haunt Hamza for a long time, his team-mates will replay it in their minds for years to come. That will make them train harder, that will inspire them to get better. That damn over. Those damn lbws.They knew how much that over cost them. They knew how much that wicket could have helped. They know how close they are. They know how much they want it.

Moeen Ali remains a man on trial but a wonderful caressed hundred repaid the faith of England’s selectors during a summer when at times he has found his form embarrassing

George Dobell11-Aug-2016Moeen Ali thanked the England selectors and team management after leading the fightback on the first day at The Oval.Moeen, who caressed his second century of the summer to help England rebuild from a perilous position of 110 for 5, admitted there have been times he would have dropped himself in recent months and described some recent performances – not least his second innings dismissal in the first Test of the series at Lord’s when he skipped down the wicket to Yasir Shah and missed a leg-break – as “embarrassing.”But he credited the faith and consistency of the selectors for the increased confidence of the side in all formats and for his own improved performances.”I probably wouldn’t have picked myself at one stage,” Moeen said. “I was embarrassed after Lord’s. But they stuck with me. That’s the good thing about this side: they stick with players and you see the results. I’ve got to thank the selectors and Alastair Cook. I probably wouldn’t have picked myself at one stage. It was 50:50.

Sohail roars defiance

Sohail Khan brushed off criticism of his wicket celebrations at The Oval, insisting the players of both sides “are friends after the game.”
Sohail claimed his second five-wicket haul in successive Tests but courted controversy by roaring in the face of Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad having taken their wickets.
“It was fun,” Sohail said. “After the game we are friends. The most important thing is that if I had told myself not to say anything, they’re going to say it anyway. If they’re going to punch me why not punch back?”

“Sometimes guys just need a bit of experience. Each game, you get a bit better. It’s a bit like my first-class career: when I first came in, I only averaged 20-something. I got the odd 100 but struggled a bit. But after a while, you get used to it and you get better.”It has been noticeable that Moeen’s form with the bat has improved since injury to Ben Stokes precipitated his promotion back to No. 7 in the order. While he averages 14 as an opener (from six innings), 28.06 (from 19 innings) at No. 8 and 21 (from 11 innings) at No. 6 (he has not batted at No. 3, 4 or 5 at Test level), he now averages 97.16 (from nine innings) when batting at No. 7. All three of his Test centuries have come in the position.While he concedes he has to find a way to cope with the mental shift in coming in as low as No. 8, he also makes no secret of the fact that he finds the No. 7 position more comfortable. To a man who grew-up as a batsman, who used to take pride in selling his wicket dearly and learned to build an innings, coming in with the tail and often feeling the need to slog a quick 20 or 30 never sat easily.”Being pushed up that one spot up gave me a boost,” Moeen said. “I feel like I can go out and play like a batsman. If I go down to No. 8, I’ve got to do that as well. After Lord’s I told myself that, even if I was batting at 8, I would go out like I was batting No. 3 for Worcestershire.”I was really embarrassed with my shot at Lord’s. I decided I had to bat properly again now. I was sick and tired of not scoring runs for England.”You could argue that we saw both sides of the continuity of selection debate here. While Moeen vindicated the selectors’ faith with a century, James Vince failed again. It is increasingly hard to avoid the conclusion that the faith shown in him will not, for now at least, be rewarded.Neither selection was necessarily right or wrong. Had Moeen been caught in the slips on 9, as he should have been, England would have been in deep trouble and the decision to persist with him over Adil Rashid might have been questioned once more. Vince, meanwhile, was unfortunate enough to receive a fine delivery that demanded a stroke, lifted and left him. He was the only man in the top four with no reason to rebuke himself for his dismissal.Vince may reflect, however, on the harsh nature of international cricket. Deliveries like this will come along from time to time, so it is essential that, once he has established himself at the crease – and he has reached 35 on four occasions in Tests this summer – he takes advantage. In years to come, he may well regret not capitalising on those starts more than the three single figure scores he has suffered.He was unfortunate here, for sure, but this was his sixth dismissal to an edge to the cordon and his tenth dismissal in Test cricket without registering a half-century. You can’t keep putting these things down to chance.It all means that England may well end the summer (they are likely to have one more innings) with no better idea of their best middle-order than they had at the start. With perhaps only the No. 4 spot up for grabs in Asia – it looks at present as if Jonny Bairstow will bat at No. 5, with Ben Stokes at No. 6, Moeen at No. 7, Chris Woakes at No. 8, Adil Rashid at No. 9 and Stuart Broad and James Anderson at No. 10 and 11 respectively, Gary Ballance, who has not made an irrefutable case for his own retention, may find himself competing with an all-rounder who can act as the third spinner – perhaps Zafar Ansari or Samit Patel – for the final spot in the side.Moeen Ali cuts loose during an enthralling counter-attacking hundred•Getty ImagesAustralia’s seamers may have noted, too, that Moeen took a ferocious blow to the head from a Wahab Riaz bouncer first ball. While his phlegmatic response to the incident was impressive – little seems to ruffle Moeen – the likes of Mitchell Starc will have noted that the technical issues that have, in the past, rendered Moeen vulnerable to the short ball remain. With an Ashes tour little more than a year away, such moments will have been stored in Australia for future reference.With Moeen stroking his way to a century he rated as the best of his career to date – the standing ovation he received on bringing up his century with a six suggested spectators at The Oval agreed – and England finishing with a total only 50 or so under par, the England management could fool themselves into concluding that all is well with this team.They will know, though, that had Wahab not over-stepped and had the Pakistan slip cordon been better, England could well have been dismissed for a total of around 180. Whether they reach the No 1 ranking or not in the coming weeks, they know that holes need to be filled. The depth of the batting keeps masking flaws but, against the best sides – and we may not look back on this as one of the stronger ages of Test cricket – the chances will be taken and England will not be allowed to escape.Moeen remains a man on trial. His role as England’s first choice spin bowler – a position that he held by a thread ahead of the Old Trafford Test – remains debatable and he may well have an important part to play in this match. While his bowling performances this series may have been underwhelming (he averages 67.57 with this bat this summer and 71 this series), his bowling returns since Lord’s have actually been noticeable better than Yasir Shah’s.Yasir has claimed four wickets for 562 runs since his 10-wicket haul at Lord’s – that’s a bowling average of 140.50 in the last two-and-a-half Tests – while Moeen has taken seven wickets at a cost of 37 apiece. These pitches have offered little to either man.Still, whatever happens with the ball, the depth of England’s batting line-up continues to save them. Moeen, Bairstow – who may well finish the year having broken Andy Flower’s record aggregate of Test runs in a year (he made 1,045 in 2000; Bairstow now has 911 with seven-and-a-half Test left to play) from a wicketkeeper – Stokes, Woakes et al. continue to exhaust bowlers and punish the mistakes of fielders. Not for the first time, Pakistan’s four-man attack was exposed by the England lower-order at The Oval. That depth may well prove to have been the difference between the sides.

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2016But it was England who resumed with intent•Getty Images… Alastair Cook quickly bringing up his second fifty of the match•Getty ImagesCook and Joe Root extended their second-wicket stand to 105•Getty Images… with Root cutting loose after his first-innings 254•Getty ImagesHe brought up his fifty from 38 balls, England’s fastest against Pakistan•Getty ImagesBunny: James Anderson removed Shan Masood for the sixth consecutive innings•Getty ImagesAnd Azhar Ali became Anderson’s second as his lean series continued•AFPMohammad Hafeez dug in for Pakistan before lunch•Getty ImagesYounis Khan settled into his role after a skittish start to his innings•Getty ImagesEngland’s challenge got harder when Ben Stokes pulled up in his follow through•Getty ImagesStokes cut a dejected figure as he left the field with a calf injury•Getty ImagesHafeez’s innings ended on 42, via a bat-pad catch off Moeen Ali•Getty ImagesYounis Khan had again spent his innings jumping around the crease to the quicks, but he fell when he picked out long-on against Moeen•Getty ImagesMoeen played his part in the afternoon session after Stokes’ injury•AFPShortly before tea, Misbah-ul-Haq dragged on a full delivery as Chris Woakes again struck in the first over of a spell•AFPAnderson trapped Asad Shafiq lbw in the first over after tea•AFP… then, five balls later, Woakes snared Sarfraz Ahmed•AFPYasir Shah fell lbw to Moeen for 10•AFP… before Root struck with his second ball to remove Wahab Riaz, Pakistan nine down•AFPStuart Broad took the catch to dismiss Mohammad Amir seal victory by 330 runs•Getty ImagesCook led his players off having levelled the series•AFPRoot was named Man of the Match for his 325 runs, not to mention a wicket•Getty Images

A few facts about and thoughts from fast bowler Joe Mennie, who is in with a chance of a debut in the Perth Test at the WACA against South Africa beginning on Thursday

Daniel Brettig01-Nov-20161:48

‘As ready as I’m going to be’ – Mennie

Raised in Newcastle on the New South Wales north coast, Joe Mennie played junior cricket with and against Phillip Hughes of Macksville”I spent a bit of time between Coffs Harbour and Newcastle so I played a bit with him and a bit against him. Playing against him wasn’t fun, he always managed to rattle off a ton, then he came across to South Australia and I spent a couple of years there with him.”He was a batsman before he evolved into a bowler, and still takes pride in his skill with the bat”When I was younger I was more of a batsman and probably developed a bit later than most blokes. About 18 or 19 I got a bit taller, a bit bigger and the ball started coming out a bit quicker and I thought of myself as more of a bowler as my batting skills started to fall away a bit. I do work hard on it, we all have to bat, that’s the way it is, not everyone gets to bowl but we all get to bat. I want to help out as much as possible, lower-order runs are always handy whether for South Australia or Australia, it is always going to help the team.”He was a member of the NSW state squad before being cut and moving to South Australia”I was lucky I had offers from Tasmania and South Australia at that stage so it wasn’t really too bad, blunted the blow a bit, I made the move to SA and happy I did, haven’t looked back. It was tough for me to pack up my stuff and move to a state where I didn’t know anyone as well, but looking back it has helped me. They [NSW] were happy with how I am going but they saw people ahead of me. Heading to SA I wanted to put my best foot forward, so I probably did work a bit harder and did things a bit differently, I didn’t have the support base or comfort zone so it was up to me.”‘About 18 or 19 I got a bit taller, a bit bigger and the ball started coming out a bit quicker and I thought of myself as more of a bowler’ – Joe Mennie•Getty ImagesHis early hero was Brett Lee before he realised he was not cut out to bowl that fast”Brett Lee was always one [of the guys I looked up to], unfortunately I never hit that pace but I could always dream and as a youngster when a Test summer came around running in and watching him bowl quick was great. Recognising I am not going to bowl express pace and rattle a batsman at my pace I need to be accurate and hit an area consistently or I wouldn’t get far. I generally haven’t been a [swing] bowler per se, it is more just hit the seam and get a bit of movement off the deck, older ball reverse swing has probably been my thing, but with the new ball hit the seam.”Alongside Chadd Sayers, Daniel Worrall and Kane Richardson, Mennie has been part of a strong SA attack”We had a good season last year, we get around each other and are great mates on and off the field, that helps. Some days you have a bad day and you have the lads there who can get you back up. We talk about bowling partnerships, if the other bloke is doing well, you just want to dry it up at the other end and help him out as much as you can.”He learned about the step up from first-class to international cricket on the recent ODI tour to South Africa”I always knew it was going to be tough, it was a tough induction. I take out of it that your good balls are still going to go, you can bowl what you bowl but your good balls are going to go for four or six. They are good quality batsman on good pitches, I knew it was going to be tough but not as tough as my induction was.”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2016…and built on it even as Peter Nevill pulled off a cheeky stumping to get rid of Dimuth Karunaratne for 22•Associated PressNevill was in action again when he caught a top edge off Kusal Perera’s reverse sweep. Sri Lanka were reduced to 69 for 3•Associated PressKusal Mendis slapped two sixes off Nathan Lyon…•AFP…. before falling lbw to Mitchell Starc for 18. Sri Lanka had added 87 to their overnight score of 22 and stretched their lead to 85 by lunch•Associated PressSilva soon brought up a solid half-century, batting with a split webbing•AFPAngelo Mathews contributed 26 before falling to the sweep for the second time in the match•Associated PressSilva and Dinesh Chandimal then combined to stretch the lead past 200•Associated PressIn the process, Silva got to his third Test century and second at home•AFPSilva, Chandimal and Rangana Herath all fell to spin in the last session, but Dhananjaya de Silva stroked seven fours in his unbeaten 44 off 56 to swell Sri Lanka’s lead to 288 by stumps•Associated Press

Sami Aslam has been prolific at Under-19 and first-class level, but in his Test career so far has shown a puzzling tendency to make solid starts and fail to convert them to hundreds

Umar Farooq in Sharjah30-Oct-201682, 70, 90, 44, 50, 74 – these are the high points of Sami Aslam’s seven-match Test career so far. He is averaging 43.45, offering Pakistan what seems like a long-term solution to the opening conundrum they have faced over the years. He possesses everything an opener needs: composure, temperament, and the ability to hold one end up, and has got to double-figures nine times in 12 innings.He always seems to bat with a great degree of sense, but his dismissals often don’t make any sense: he was run out in his first innings in England, and in this series he has been bowled playing a premeditated sweep, bowled again trying to drive a legspinner against the turn, and, on Sunday, caught off the glove playing a reverse-sweep in the first over after tea.In Pakistan, it is considered a crime if you don’t convert your fifties into hundreds, and batsmen quickly earn reputations if they keep doing it. Club cricketers grow up with this thought drilled into them, and unconverted starts are often a cause for batsmen to get dropped at grassroots level.Aslam was prolific at the Under-19 level, and is currently the second highest run scorer in U-19 ODI history with 1695 runs at 45.81. He has the most hundreds at that level: six. He is also the third-fastest batsman anywhere to 2000 List A runs. He was captain of the Pakistan U-19 side when they toured England in 2013, and made two centuries in the tri-series then, including 110 in the final against England, before catching the eye with another hundred in a victory over India in the 2013-14 Under-19 Asia Cup.Outside Test cricket, Aslam has seven hundreds and only four fifties, suggesting the issue of not converting starts is a new one.On day one in Sharjah, Aslam showed exactly why the selectors have rated him highly and shown patience with him even while he has struggled to convert his starts. His temperament was key – he wasn’t expansive, but showed plenty of resilience to get through a tough situation, hanging on through a difficult first hour in which Shannon Gabriel removed Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq for ducks. It left Pakistan 2 for 1, and Aslam, only 20, carried on to make 74. It was an innings of many good qualities, but at the end of the day, particularly after a late collapse had Pakistan go from 230 for 4 to 248 for 8, the entire media contingent was talking only about his failed reverse-sweep and raising questions about his conversion rate.Aslam didn’t try to offer any rationale behind the enigma surrounding his unconverted starts. He said it was a combination of bad luck and, on occasion, his own shot selection letting him down.”The way I started as an opener, the kind of start I got, I think I should have converted my good start into a big score,” he said at the end of the first day’s play, with Pakistan 255 for 8. “If you look at my record back home in domestic cricket, I have more hundreds and have a good conversion rate, so I am disappointed that I am not able make it here.”There is no concentration lapse. If you see, I am scoring good runs, but I think bad shots are stopping me from getting a triple-figure score. Also this is my seventh Test, and if you recall, in England once I got run out, once I was unlucky, so I don’t think there is any nervousness surrounding my batting. It’s about me playing an ugly shot. I obviously think about scoring 100 after 50 but there is no pressure as such. I just think about scoring big runs but I think batsmen make mistakes and improve with very passing day, so I am trying to minimise my mistakes.”Since the outfield is heavy, you have to play shots, and in the process batsmen do make mistakes in the rush. But at the same time you have to get runs and you can only do it by taking chances, otherwise it’s difficult to score runs.”During the course of his innings, Aslam had his first major partnership with Younis Khan – 106 for the third wicket in 36.3 overs – and was involved in a mix-up early on while running between the wickets. Younis has the reputation of being a father-figure in the dressing room and a calming influence on youngsters.”It was great batting with him,” Aslam said. “It was my first major partnership with him and during the mix up he didn’t scold me but gave me some advice about running between the wickets.”

Winless on the tour, it took a century from the New Zealand captain to help turn around their fortunes in Delhi

Arun Venugopal21-Oct-20161:46

Agarkar: Once Williamson gets a start, he gets big runs

It’s easy to picture Kane Williamson as a school head boy. Like the best of them, he is extremely talented, has a fine work ethic and seen to be an ‘all-round good bloke.’As with all good head boys, Williamson finds himself at the nervecentre of every activity. Team meeting? Call Williamson. Press conference? Williamson will tackle it.Williamson on…

Winning and getting a hundred
“It’s great that we showed some signs of improvement from the previous game which is always our focus. Although there were a lot of dots which is sort of the nature of the surface there was also boundaries which allowed us to score at a reasonably good rate. So it was nice to get that partnerships saying if we were able to perhaps get a few more in the later overs, we could have gotten an even better score.”
Boult
“Boult was extremely clever the way he tried to swing the ball early and then made the adjustment to come round the wicket just so with the low bounce not to give width. He was extremely accurate and I think a huge part or a huge reason why we got over the line today is his 10 overs.”

There is also the inevitable comparison with his predecessor – Brendon McCullum – to contend with. While McCullum had the class of 2015 rapping to the tune of fearless, attacking cricket, Williamson’s imprint is still work in progress.The class of 2016 does not comprise slackers – most of McCullum’s merry men continue with the good work – but the India tour has proved to be overwhelming for many of them. Martin Guptill has resembled an agonised drifter, while Ross Taylor seems to have gone uncomfortably numb. After the Test series whitewash, the free fall continued in the first ODI in Dharamsala. Who do they call on to arrest it? You hear a chorus, “Captain Kane!”It is not like Williamson has had it all worked out himself. While he has looked good on different occasions during the tour – never mind the bullying by R Ashwin – he had not managed a century. “That is a good place to start,” Mike Hesson, the headmaster, may possibly have told Williamson on the eve of the game. “And, for heaven’s sake, win the toss.” No pressure, Kane.Hours later, Williamson loses another toss. Minutes later, he watches Guptill’s bat stay away from the ball’s path. Seconds later, Williamson walks out. India’s new-ball pair of Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya has a skinny leg-side field, and they keep the off side interested by bowling well outside off. Further, the slip goes out to short cover, and a gully is in place to shut down the dab to third man, one of Williamson’s strong scoring zones.Williamson, standing on middle and leg stump, moves closer to the off stump. The counter-strategy is to enable him to connect deliveries outside off better, and also create an angle favourable for leg-side play. And so, Williamson flicks and tucks balls that remotely veer towards middle and leg, while flaunting his cover drive when the bowler overcorrects and goes too wide outside off.MS Dhoni is doing everything to seal the off side, especially in front of square on a dull track, but there is the left-hand solidity of Tom Latham to contend with as well. Like many head boys, Williamson has a geeky, loyal sidekick in Latham, who refused to abandon the crease in Dharamsala even as the rest of his mates loped off.1:46

‘Fantastic effort from our seam bowlers’ – Williamson

The pitch has by now begun misbehaving, and the balls keep low as promised. But Latham is driving and pulling smoothly, as is Williamson, who does so by going down on his knee. At the start of the 13th over, he stays low and bashes Axar Patel through midwicket, and two balls later steps out to loft him over mid-on for six. The next delivery is flat and fast. Williamson lets the ball go past him and taps it on its head past gully. When Wiliamson is not playing these strokes, he is sweeping firmly and wristily. He has scored a half-century, but there is no theatre. The celebrations can wait. New Zealand, though, are breathing more easily at 115 for 1 in 20 overs.That soon changes as Kedar Jadhav dismisses Latham with his Virender Sehwag-esque offbreaks. Jadhav’s larger contribution, however, is drawing Taylor out of the dressing room. For the next 10 overs, Taylor is swiping at everything, but mostly air. Attempted cuts are inside-edged and slower ones are missed. The bowlers are now bowling further away from off stump. When one of Taylor’s desperate swishes lands into the fielder’s hands, New Zealand have scored only 38 runs in the 10.3 overs since Latham’s dismissal.Williamson knows the momentum has been snatched away. The bowling side is on top. He merely looks downwards with one hand on his waist. There is no discernible emotion otherwise. There is Corey Anderson on the comeback trail, and together they attempt to rebuild, brick by brick. As Williamson nears his hundred, the exertions are showing. On a day of unusual injuries – Rohit Sharma later seems to have a bicep cramp – Williamson’s forearms are cramping. Massages are given and fluids are administered, literally, as he is not able to hold the bottle.But, Williamson gets back to work, drives crisply to gather the two runs needed for his century. The bat is held up momentarily and the helmet is off, more as a polite ‘thank you’ than in any sense of accomplishment. Soon, he watches Anderson depart. Not long after, he departs, too, after battling three flanks – India’s tactics, his team-mates’ inadequacies and his own body.New Zealand’s last ten overs are a laborious blur and they only just manage a par score. But, as the night comes to a close, the head boy is making his victory speech. Unlike whatever he has done on the field, it is vanilla and free of passion. The good head boy is glad to keep it this way.

Parthiv Patel returned to India’s Test team with a useful 42 off 85 balls, seeing off the new-ball threat right after he had kept wicket for 94 overs

Alagappan Muthu in Mohali27-Nov-20161:38

Ganguly: Parthiv must use this opportunity

There was the pitter patter of panic-stricken feet as India’s innings began.It was understandable that Parthiv Patel would be a bit eager. But his shot went straight to the fielder at cover. Expecting a run from there betrayed that he was playing Test cricket for the first time in eight years. And so for a few seconds he looked like a wind-up toy; wandering forward and wobbling back.For the rest of the morning, he looked like a man with his captain and coach’s backing along with the confidence of five 50-plus scores in his last six first-class matches.Parthiv’s contribution to India’s total may at first glance seem small – 42 runs off 85 balls, collected in typical fashion through drives both pretty and flash, and cuts and flicks often delicate and precise. There was nothing new to talk about – Gautam Gambhir had provided a talking point with his open stance – and nothing spectacular about Parthiv’s innings to warrant making space in the memory banks. He came, did his job, and might well disappear into the fabric of Indian cricket history. But he would be damned if he went without showing his value as a cricketer.Prior to the start of the Test, KL Rahul, the specialist opener, had injured his left forearm in the nets and the team did not have any back-ups. That may have meant shoving Cheteshwar Pujara up the order – as had happened on a seaming track in Colombo 2015 – but he has been in outstanding form at No. 3. The new man in the XI – Karun Nair – was a debutant and he has played in the middle order all his domestic career. Virat Kohli has never batted at the top before and Ajinkya Rahane might have preferred the comfort of his usual No. 5 position given his lack of runs in this series.That left Parthiv – the second-oldest player in the side – to keep wicket and then promptly come back to face James Anderson and company. He would have practiced for the position of No. 6 or 7 leading up to the match, but with one day’s notice he was asked to do something vastly different. It is because of this willingness to do a tough job that so many teams – six IPL franchises included – like him. Sure, that also indicates how often he hasn’t been retained in the same set up, but there’s always someone willing to make a bid for him.Parthiv Patel did his job of seeing off the new ball•AFPIndia went into Mohali with their sixth set of openers since the tour of Sri Lanka last year. Their bowlers had performed admirably, having lost the toss, to restrict England to 283 on a decent pitch. That was still runs on the board though, with the experts predicting batting to get more difficult with the passing of time. Parthiv, by lasting 26 overs, and playing as he usually does, proved to the rest of his team-mates – all of whom made their debuts after his last Test in August 2008 – that all was well. A man with his technique – impulsive on the drive and iffy on the pull – couldn’t have prospered without making any adjustments if the surface had demons.He got off the mark with a neat clip to the square-leg boundary and extended his innings with a review. Chris Woakes thought he had Parthiv caught down the leg side. Marais Erasmus agreed and raised the finger. Parthiv called for DRS immediately and gestured to his hip as he strode down the pitch. Replays confirmed neither bat nor glove was involved and Kumar Dharmasena, in a simple slip of the tongue, instructed his partner to “stay with your on-field decision.”It appears jokes just follow Parthiv, and if they can’t land him, they go after the next sucker. He couldn’t avoid them forever though. In the 21st over, he lost grip of his bat as he fended at a short ball. Before he could reorient himself, his partner M Vijay had called for a single, and like any number of cartoon characters with their backsides on fire he ran his legs off. Anil Kumble was seen indulging in good-natured laughter. Last November, Parthiv was quite happy to troll himself, tweeting a picture of his food and tagging it “even the dosa is taller than me.” At the PCA stadium, India were taller because of him.