A fan watches Afghanistan play Pakistan in Chennai in the World Cup, and comes away buoyed by the non-partisan support for both teams

Arjun Namboothiri25-Oct-2023We all know what happened in 1999 in Chepauk in Chennai after the end of the India vs Pakistan Test, and the outpouring of love for the victorious Pakistan team. I didn’t watch it live or even on TV. I was just ten years old then. I’ve only read stories about it, and it has always reminded me of why we love sport.Heading into the Pakistan vs Afghanistan match in Chennai, I was just expecting a good game of bat and ball. I watched Pakistan play Australia in Bengaluru and there were, to my surprise, a few fans in green. It was good to see, though more of them would have been nice. Then, when a few police officers took away a Babar Azam poster in front of me, it ruined the somewhat positive experience of watching Pakistan play live in India. Positive because fans were cheering on Babar and Shaheen Shah Afridi and most of the players who played good cricket. The cricket was the story.Then came Chennai, and twice the love for Pakistan on show. Maybe three times as much. Lots of Babar jerseys, and not just in my stand. In the stand above. In the stand to my left. To my right. Lots of faces painted the Pakistan colours. Some had an India flag on one cheek, Pakistan on the other. A huge cheer went up when Pakistan came on to bat.And when Babar came on. When Babar hit his first ball for four. Cheers when Haris Rauf came to field at the boundary. Rauf waved back, thanked the crowd with his hand on his heart. Same cheer for Shaheen. Louder this time. During the end of the game, Babar fielded at the boundary. Even louder cheers. “Pakistan zindabad” slogans to spur the team on from a losing position.There was freedom in the Chepauk air. That was it. People weren’t afraid to show their love for Pakistan. It was cricket that they came to see. Nothing else mattered.There was plenty of Babar love at the ground•Arjun NamboothiriPakistan’s misfields were lamented. The runs they gave away cheaply were bemoaned. Those complaints didn’t come with malicious intent. Like your mother giving you an earful for being careless, there was love in the criticism.I went to the game with a cousin of one of my best friends. It was his first Pakistan game. He is in tenth grade, and so I told him about 1999.True to the spirit of Chepauk, the Afghanistan team did a lap of honour after their win, their first against Pakistan in ODI cricket. Afghanistan were shown no less love, which was not unexpected.After we left the stadium, we came across a fan wearing a Babar jersey who had the Pakistan flag painted on part of his face. He spoke about how Pakistan were missing Naseem Shah and how he enjoyed watching the game without any fear. We parted ways with a long hug after a TV channel picked him for an interview.There were Afghanistan fans all around, celebrating the win. We congratulated the ones who came our way. They were just so happy. When we kept seeing more and more Afghan fans, the 15-year-old in my company wanted a picture with some of them. And we took one.There is something about Chepauk. I was emotional when R Ashwin hit a Test century against England here in 2021. Not because I am particularly a fan of Ash. It just happened. I don’t know how. Happy tears come when you least expect them. The whole place was fervent that day.That magic happened again at this Afghanistan-Pakistan game.Cricket is what Chennai came to watch. Isn’t that what sport is all about?

First World Cup win over Test nation fired by calculated rescue act with bat and assured captaincy

Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Oct-20231:26

Where does this Netherlands win rank among upsets?

You don’t get to choose how you win a game of cricket, regardless of how seismic the result. Netherlands know that much.A first victory in any format over South Africa in last year’s T20 World Cup was confirmed when Anrich Nortje flayed the final ball of a botched chase to deep extra cover for four. It took nothing away from the achievement, but such moments deserve screentime for the victors, not shots of a lonely ball on a pointless journey into some forgettable advertising boards.Thankfully, their second over the same opponents – a first ODI World Cup win against a Test nation – made amends. A succession of air shots landing in no-man’s land suggested the Dutch might be due another un-highlightable highlight. Until Logan van Beek banged one in short to Keshav Maharaj, and Scott Edwards took the resulting catch. South Africa were bowled out, 39 shy of their target. And Netherlands were, rightly, the centre of attention.Related

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This dismissal will sit alongside the replays of Ryan ten Doeschate and Edgar Schiferli scampering that second run after Stuart Broad’s missed run out. Just like those two, van Beek and Edwards have cemented their place in history.Their contributions make them all the more worthy of sharing that final money shot. Having missed the game against his native New Zealand with a hamstring injury, van Beek’s 3 for 60 was essentially a series of hugely significant moments. The destructive Heinrich Klaasen was caught around the corner at deep fine leg, before an offcutter struck David Miller’s off stump – the moment the Netherlands went from “believing” to “knowing”.It was Edwards, however, who took them to “believing” and facilitated “knowing” from a hopeless place. South Africa won the toss, opted to bowl first, and were coasting to victory as early as the 21st over when Netherlands’ captain arrived at the crease with the scoreboard reading 82 for 5. He finished unbeaten on 78, lifting his charges to a score of 245 for 8 with vital assistance from Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt. He then nailed every tactical call behind the stumps to cap off a remarkable night in Dharamsala.Edwards’ team-mates will tell you he leads from the front. “One of those guys you just want to follow,” is how van Beek put it earlier this month. Maybe it should not be a surprise someone who flirted with an electrical apprenticeship is a handy conductor.The stats show as much too: averaging 48.12 since becoming captain in 2022 after Pieter Seelaar’s retirement, and guiding the Dutch through the qualifiers for this tournament earlier this year with 314 runs at 62.80.Even so, you wondered how much leading could be done from No. 7, especially having called on the line-up to give a better account of themselves after successive failures to start the competition. A “free role” has seen Edwards assume every spot from opener to No. 8. With van Beek returning to the XI, he took the decision to move himself down to seven in his 38th ODI innings, which felt like a waste of his talents. And then all of a sudden, Netherlands were five down. Maybe he knew all along.Scott Edwards was required to do a rescue job for his team•ICC/Getty ImagesThe rescue act was as calculated as it was calm, and essentially all about pride at the start. His third sweep off Keshav Maharaj – one of seven boundaries slapped to the leg side – took him to 25 and, more importantly, beyond Extras (24) as the top-scorer at the time. That was both a summation of South Africa’s dominance with the ball, and a nod to their error-strewn finish to come.Born in Tonga and raised in Australia, Edwards’ grew up idolising Adam Gilchrist. Beyond keeping wicket, there is not that much in common between the two. Edwards loves sweeps and seems too polite to whisper a few somethings into a batter’s ear. But the acceleration when he sensed South Africa were losing their way, signposted by smashing a short-length delivery outside off stump from Kagiso Rabada over square leg with disdain, was a Gilchrist-like assertion of dominance.He has a long way to go if he wants to replicate the confidence of the Aussie great. Stands of 64 with van der Merwe and 41 with Dutt brought 105 from the final nine overs, though Edwards shied away of taking credit for any of it, even while holding the Player of the Match award. He praised van der Merwe’s striking to unusual areas, then mused that Dutt’s six-heavy 23 meant his part in the stand was minimal: “It was pretty easy on my behalf – I just got him on strike.”The strings pulled in the field were of equal importance against a batting line-up that had already shown itself to be one to fear. The reduction to 43-over innings because of the morning rain required recalibration, given only three bowlers could bowl nine overs (two a maximum of eight) along with the threat of dew in the second half. So recalibrate he did.Edwards opted for seven overs of spin in the rejigged nine-over powerplay with a view to restricting the scoring of openers Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma by taking pace off the ball. Not only did it limit South Africa to 39 with just two men in the outfield, but the bonus of de Kock’s wicket – pouched by Edwards – came with the last ball of Colin Ackermann’s three overs of bit-part offspin.Once the field went out, the seamers played a fuller part with a straighter line of attack, utilising the variable bounce evident in the first innings but not used all that much. Edwards had clearly made mental notes while batting, and along with those written down on a piece of paper stored in Max O’Dowd’s pocket, gave the Dutch a palpable sense of control they did not relinquish.They were altogether more disciplined – eight extras to South Africa’s final tally of 32 – more willing in the field and braver in their approach. All character traits embodied by Edwards, even if he would go on to shower others with praise in his remaining media engagements.As it happens, the three catches taken moved him to 50 ODI dismissals, beating the previous Dutch record of 48 held by Jeroen Smits. It was an extra, deserved feather in the cap of a skipper who had not just overseen Netherlands’ third – and best – victory at an ODI World Cup, but given them reasons to believe they can break further ground in the competition, knock off some other big-timers and add a few more clips to that highlight reel.

Injuries have held him back, but Stokes’ retirement could propel Surrey allrounder into the mix

Matt Roller02-Apr-2024England’s management have kept a close eye on Jamie Overton’s development as a T20 allrounder and his chances of inclusion in their World Cup squad have swelled with Ben Stokes’ withdrawal. Overton was already in contention for selection but is now certain to be discussed seriously when England pick a provisional squad for their title defence later this month.Stokes was pencilled in to balance the side from No. 4 in the Caribbean and while Overton is not a like-for-like replacement, he has become a destructive finisher and offers genuine pace with the ball. Simon Katich, his coach in the Hundred, has given him a ringing endorsement and said that he would “without a doubt” recommend Overton for inclusion.Rob Key, England’s managing director who chairs their selection meetings, said in a recent newspaper interview that he wants to inject some “new blood” into their white-ball set-up after a disastrous 50-over World Cup. He has had several conversations with Overton in the last six months, during a winter which saw him impress in the BBL and the ILT20.”At the end of last summer, he [Key] just said, ‘Go and play some franchise cricket and see where you get to,'” Overton told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve spoken to him a couple of times since, trying to gauge where things are, and I feel like I’m quite close to the World Cup squad. The white-ball squad has been quite settled but I feel like I’m close and if I get the nod, I’ll make sure I’m ready for it.”Unlike his twin brother Craig, who has played seven Tests and eight ODIs, Jamie Overton has made a single international appearance to date, winning a Test cap against New Zealand in June 2022. He was picked as a fast bowler but made 97 from No. 8 in his only innings and it was primarily his batting – 202 runs at 40.40 and a strike-rate of 181.98 – that led him to win the MVP award in the men’s Hundred last summer.Overton’s batting form with Manchester Originals was a stand-out feature of last year’s competition•ECB via Getty Images”Since the Hundred, he’s gone from strength to strength,” Katich, Overton’s coach at Manchester Originals, told ESPNcricinfo. “He did very well for the [Adelaide] Strikers and then did very well in the Emirates. I was really impressed with his professionalism and it hasn’t surprised me that he’s kicked on. I have no doubt that he’s an international cricketer, in my mind – it’s just whether the England selectors feel the same.”Overton’s plane ticket to Barbados is not yet secure but Stokes’ withdrawal confirms that his name will be up for discussion when England select their provisional squad, which must be submitted before the ICC’s May 1 deadline. “There’s not many guys in English cricket at the moment who can bowl 140kph [87mph] and smack them with the bat,” Katich said.Related

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What does Overton himself think he would offer? “Just something different,” he says. “We’ve obviously got loads of hitters, but maybe not primarily a lower-order hitter. I’ve shown this winter that I can bowl with the new ball, at the death and in the middle. Maybe in the West Indies, you might need a bit more pace, and the six-hitting side of things might come into it a bit more.”If that holds true then Overton could prove a better fit for the conditions than his Surrey team-mate Sam Curran. Curran was the player of the tournament at the 2022 World Cup, using the vast dimensions of Australia’s grounds to his advantage, but endured some rough treatment on the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December; he is finding his way back to form at the IPL but could find his spot under some pressure.When Overton joined Surrey three-and-a-half years ago, he had only batted in 23 of his 48 T20 appearances and had grown frustrated when trying to convince Somerset to push him up the order from No. 9. “I wasn’t seen as the person to finish an innings,” he says. “Coming here just felt like it was a fresh start and a fresh challenge, and the batting sort of took over.”Jamie Overton bowls ahead of his Test debut in 2022, as brother Craig looks on•Getty ImagesBy his own admission, he briefly regretted the move at first while using a club-owned flat as a base in London and regularly travelling back and forth to Ditcheat, the village in Somerset where he lived. But since moving to Guildford, where he lives with his girlfriend: “I haven’t looked back… I still find London a bit hectic, but I actually don’t mind it now.”His bowling with a red ball progressed to the point of that Test debut in 2022 but injuries set him back, twice ruling him out of the Hundred. He pinpoints last summer’s Blast, when he played as a specialist batter during stress-fracture rehabilitation, as a key point in his development as a T20 cricketer: “I learned a lot from that.”Overton took his form into the Hundred, playing for the Originals under Jos Buttler, his old Somerset team-mate, and hitting 83 not out off 30 balls in a win at Headingley. It was vindication for Katich, who twice retained him despite him missing the first two seasons through injury and has since rewarded him with a top-bracket £125,000 contract for 2024.Katich describes Overton as his squad’s “best trainer, particularly with the bat.” He explains: “He consistently went into his net sessions with a clear plan to bat properly, rather than just trying to smack balls as far as he can. It’s a common theme in T20 cricket – the boys all want to hit them 20 rows back – but he focused on his technique… that gave him confidence to adapt to whatever the game situation required.”

Rohit Sharma has led inspiringly and with tactical skill. Stokes is aggressive but has a task on his hands

Ian Chappell24-Feb-2024Despite the absence from the India-England series of star players Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, very good cricketers KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja missing Tests through injury, and the resting of elite pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah, India are still a very good team.They’ve unearthed talented players in opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan. Shubman Gill is a skilful batter and more responsibility on his shoulders should eventually pay dividends.While the spin bowling has been in the capable hands of R Ashwin and Jadeja for a long time, the realisation that Kuldeep Yadav is a reliable wicket-taking option is a bonus for India.Related

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One area of concern is fast bowling and the future support for the crucial trio of Bumrah, Shami and the feisty Mohamed Siraj. However, debutant Akash Deep quickly answered some of those questions, producing some skiddy fast bowling with the new ball in the fourth Test.In the sudden shuffling of the Indian side after a prolonged period of selection stability, the leadership of Rohit Sharma is often overlooked. Rohit, in his quiet but efficient way, is a very different leader from the aggressive and highly visible Ben Stokes. His capable handling of the many changes to personnel and the tough loss of the first Test shows his resilience. He also produced a masterful century when the Indian team needed it, at the start of the third Test, to confirm he wasn’t a ceremonial captain.Rohit has a pedigree of leadership success and his reputation helped him guide a fluid Indian line-up in the right direction. Any failure in his leadership could easily have led this Indian team to faltering when the going got tough. Thanks to Rohit’s strength under fire, it is now England who look to Stokes to provide the leadership to ensure there isn’t a serious letdown after two consecutive Test losses, the second of which was a flogging. There is no doubt the elite skill of Bumrah and the talent of Jaiswal and the other inexperienced players India introduced to the team is helpful. However, it required the leadership guidance and the tactical nous of Rohit to ensure that a changing team retained belief in their cricket.His clever use of Kuldeep during the third Test in the absence of Ashwin was a masterstroke in turning a potential disaster to the team’s advantage. Rohit’s ability to remain unyielding and calculating after a depressing loss in the first Test has helped his side bounce back against a competitive English team.

The elite skill of Bumrah and the talent of Jaiswal and the other inexperienced players India have introduced is helpful. However, it required the leadership guidance and the tactical nous of Rohit Sharma to ensure that a changing team retained belief in their cricket.

The outstanding success of Jaiswal at the top of the order has been crucial to India’s new-look team finding success. Jaiswal will no doubt have down periods but he has the shots and all-round skill to be an overall success in any format. His tremendous success has been symptomatic of the evolution of the Indian team under Rohit.By meekly capitulating against spin in the second innings of their devastating loss in the third Test, England left themselves vulnerable to another trial by slow bowling in the fourth match. This became pretty obvious once talk of Bumrah being rested reached a crescendo.Part of the task for Stokes was convincing the batters – mainly Joe Root – to be more judicious if they must employ any “fancy” shots. Root was a mammoth and quick scorer batting traditionally and I’m not sure why he wanted to employ any premeditated and therefore risky shots. Whether he personally decided it or Stokes prompted some introspection, the talented batter returned to his roots to produce a telling century on an engaging first day, dragging England out of a perilous situation to ensure the visitors provided a challenging first-day total in Ranchi.Captaincy didn’t suit Root but sensible batting does.Whatever the result, England have displayed their resilience under Stokes and the ability to not fold like a tent after a debilitating loss. Ranchi is shaping as yet another highly competitive Test featuring two very good Test captains.

Even in the T20 age, Test cricket rewards the patience that underpins success

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Jul-2024Kavem Hodge sunk to his knees in shock. Both his gloved hands were clasped on the top of the bat handle as he looked at Alzarri Joseph, his batting partner, in disbelief.Ollie Pope, standing well in front of the normal point position, had just caught a stunning catch to intercept a fiercely-cut square drive from Hodge off Chris Woakes, who shook his head, too, in disbelief. After staying at the crease for nearly 20 seconds in the aftermath of his dismissal, Hodge would finally start to head back slowly to the dressing room, while continuing to shake his head at what had just happened.Pope had no business to pluck a catch like that and make it look ridiculously simple. He was standing on the outer edge of the third pitch from the Pavilion End when he instinctively put out both hands to his left as soon as Hodge cut a short Woakes delivery which was far outside his off stump for what he thought was a certain four. On reflection, did Hodge think he could have left that innocuous delivery? Or did he feel justified in going after a short delivery?Related

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That kind of scrutiny is necessary because of the state of play at the time: West Indies, having been put into bat, were 88 for 6. The previous over, Gus Atkinson had erased West Indies middle order picking the trio of Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder and Joshua da Silva in four deliveries. Hodge was the last specialist batter. The match was still young: Woakes’ was the 36th over of the match and eighth post-lunch.Test cricket, even in this raging T20 age, rewards good basics. Basics underwrite success in the longest format. Atkinson, making his debut, prospered only because he was disciplined in his line, pitched most on a good length while delivering high speeds closer to 90mph/145kph. The slope when bowling from the Pavilion End, which fast bowlers struggle with at times, didn’t distract Atkinson who used the scrambled seam, which he termed as his stock delivery and the “most dangerous” to trouble the batter.Kavem Hodge was in disbelief upon being dismissed•Getty ImagesAthanaze chased a delivery that was leaving him with hard hands straight to first slip. Holder, who has scored three centuries, including a double ton, in his previous 64 Tests, awkwardly defended a ball that was seaming away from the leg stump, with the edge again heading to the slips. Da Silva was all at sea against the ball that landed on the side of the seam and nipped in, taking an edge into the hands of his counterpart Jamie Smith.In the three-day warm-up West Indies played last week, against a County Select XI, Hodge had scored a century with Athanaze and Mikyle Louis, who made his Test debut, scoring patient 50s. Despite the vast difference in bowling attacks, the three batters had shown composure to convert their starts. On Wednesday, though, impatience crept into the visitors’ mindsets quickly.Take Kraigg Brathwaite, the most experienced West Indies player and their lead batter. Brathwaite had been stranded for two overs at the other end as Louis, the first player from St Kitts to play Test cricket for West Indies, occupied strike. Brathwaite would have been impressed that Louis, who will turn 24 in August, had been obedient about playing the ball late in overcast conditions against the Dukes ball.England’s players celebrate the wicket of Kirk McKenzie•Getty ImagesOn Tuesday, speaking at the pre-match briefing, Brathwaite talked about how he would tell his batters to “trust your defence, whether you’re going to attack or defend the ball, fully believe in yourself, and stay as still as possible.” The captain, though, forgot his own counsel. Struggling on six runs off 31 balls, Brathwaite went chasing the second ball of Atkinson’s first over and played on.Louis, though, looked the most settled of all West Indies batters. Not only did he stay still, he allowed the ball to come him and then played it under his eyes or close to his body. A good defence invariably leads to a positive mindset as Louis picked a fuller delivery on his legs from Woakes to flick over the square leg for the only six on the first day.But, this being his first tour, the tough examination followed soon. Ben Stokes used the crease and mixed the lines to bolt Louis in his crease, starving him of runs. This came in the period just before lunch. You could sense Stokes was setting up the young opener who eventually fell to a good ball, well caught at second slip by Harry Brook.As former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams, who is their assistant coach, said it was a testing first day, the type that most of his young batters need as part of their education. Rest assured Adams and the West Indies coaching staff will remind their players: stick to the basics.

Up-and-coming seamer is in the running to replace Anderson in England’s Test team

Vithushan Ehantharajah23-May-2024They say moving is one of the most stressful things you can do in life. One imagines replacing James Anderson might rival that.Dillon Pennington has taken the former in his stride. A switch from Worcestershire to Nottinghamshire has been seamless with 21 wickets across five Division One matches so far. It is a start that puts him on course for his most productive County Championship season.The latter opportunity, however, has not presented itself just yet. But the manner of Pennington’s performances as a six-foot-four quick operating in the mid-eighties has had gums flapping.Men’s managing director Rob Key, having put the word out that England are looking for pace over dismissals from would-be Test quicks, mentioned Pennington when discussing possible debutants this summer in a recent interview with the BBC. Anderson’s impending retirement after the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s puts a little bit more on Key’s namecheck, particularly given that Pennington does not have a central contract.”My main aim was to get into the Notts team and perform well there,” Pennington tells ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve started okay, but I’ve got a long way to go. I mean, I’m only five games in.”It’s an exciting time in English cricket. There are opportunities, but there are some fantastic bowlers out there, and I think I’ve got a long way to go before anything like that happens, and that’s completely fair.”One of those “fantastic bowlers” is Josh Tongue, who, along with batter Jack Haynes, joined Pennington in swapping New Road for Trent Bridge. Tongue’s setback in his recovery from a pectoral injury has opened the door further for Pennington. As has a recurrence of a lower back stress fracture for Surrey’s Jamie Overton.Pennington’s emergence has been steady. His talents have always been earmarked for higher honours, reflected in U19 caps for England, notably at the 2018 World Cup. His cohort contained the likes of Harry Brook, Will Jacks and fellow opening bowler Ethan Bamber, who he calls a mate. “We have a bit of a sounding board after games,” he says of their friendship. “If ever either of us are struggling, we pick up the phone and have a chat about it.”Dillon Pennington was Worcestershire’s spearhead prior to his move to Trent Bridge•Getty ImagesProfessional debuts across all three formats arrived that summer, as did glowing early reviews from the likes of Morne Morkel and Kane Williamson, who were playing for Surrey and Yorkshire, respectively. But it speaks to where Pennington is at the age of 25 that such flattery does not mean all that much now.”Those sorts of comments were a long time ago, in 2018,” he says. “A lot has gone past. One of the reasons for the move was I almost needed a jump-start. I needed something a little bit different to play higher honours at some point in my career.”I think I was progressing nicely at Worcestershire. But since those comments and since the Under-19s, I just hadn’t kicked on enough for what I wanted and what maybe was projected on me.”That being said, 2022 was a breakthrough season, with Pennington taking 44 of his eventual 140 dismissals at Worcestershire. Work, primarily on lengths, with former head coach Alex Gidman and Alan Richardson (bowling coach at the time before replacing Gidman in 2022) paid dividends. It was the result of their guidance, Pennington’s hard work and the opportunities to learn while doing.”I had so many playing opportunities at Worcestershire, which was amazing, and it makes you learn very quick about how you need to perform. I’ve gradually got better just by playing and learning against different batters and different counties.”Over the years, that’s got better and better. I think I’ve just got more acclimatised to first-class cricket, really. There are some great people there. Playing under Leachy (Joe Leach) and Dolly (Brett D’Oliveira) was really good – they gave me a lot of confidence.”

One of the reasons for the move was I almost needed a jump-start. I needed something a little bit different to play higher honours at some point in my career.

The switch to Peter Moores’ Nottinghamshire was by no means a straightforward decision. “Of course, it’s daunting,” Pennington says. “There are loads of things in your mind that are pros and cons about doing it.”But I think when your ambitions are to play international cricket, you are going to face difficult times and decisions anyway.”The sweetener was Kevin Shine’s presence on the Nottinghamshire staff. Pennington had some dealings previously with him through the pathway during Shine’s time as the ECB’s lead bowling coach, a role that involved Shine travelling the counties to keep tabs on the next crop of quicks.As such, Pennington decided to spend the winter at home, as much to get to know his new teammates as begin working with Shine. The pair sat down in October and devised a plan to build on Pennington’s work at Worcestershire and evolve him as a bowler to make the step up to international cricket. “Any changes he (Shine) wanted to make, I just opened up to him and allowed him to crack on.”Related

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Top of the list were increasing pace and improving stamina to maintain that pace throughout a day’s play and over the course of the match. To achieve that, Pennington worked on getting more flow into his action by changing his gather, ensuring he held onto the ball for longer. That, in turn, buys him more time to assume a stronger position and ensure better alignment at the crease, at the point of delivery.It was a tweak Stuart Broad made, under Shine’s guidance, that allowed him to sign off a glittering career in style. Having workshopped a new gather over the 2022-23 winter and start of the 2023 County summer – even boasting about a new outswinger – Broad finished the Ashes as England’s leading wicket-taker with 22.”It’s more with my action – just try and create a bit more flow. I’ve changed my load-up a tiny bit, but it’s actually going back to when I was 18 – I had a similar thing. So we’ve basically gone back in time, but with the strength work I’ve done and the bits I’ve done at Worcester, all that has combined.”It’s helped with my engine – I’m able to go for a bit longer and the consistency of pace has got better.”The results, so far, are clear for all to see. Batters have been undone by combinations of pace and bounce, all while Pennington continues to seek improvements on the whole.He returns to where it all began this week as New Road hosts its first match of the summer. The awkwardness of coming up against former teammates was taken care of in the second round of the season in Nottingham. Pennington took 3 for 76 with the Kookaburra ball in a rain-affected affair.He’ll no doubt be given a warm reception and have more attention on his performance in this final round of Championship cricket before the Vitality Blast takes over. By the time it returns at the end of June, Pennington may have a better gauge of whether he is in the mix for that first Test on July 10. He has had no contact with the ECB about it just yet – which is fine by him.”There’s no point for me putting pressure on myself. I need to cement myself in a team that’s really good, I’ve got a new coaching staff to impress. The hope is that all of that will result in a better me.”

Batter finishes grim tour with 55 runs in five innings, and no sense that he’s answered doubts about role

Matt Roller25-Oct-2024There were only 22 minutes between Ollie Pope walking out to bat and bad light bringing the second day in Rawalpindi to a premature close, yet it was hardly a surprise that he was already back in the England dressing-room. Pope has become an all-or-nothing player, and will return home next week with only 55 runs to show for his tour to Pakistan.This has been a chastening trip for Pope, who has been heavily backed by England’s management over the last two-and-a-half years but is not delivering the returns that such investment demands. Since falling second-ball to a superb catch at midwicket in the first Test (a match in which his team-mates racked up 823 runs between them), he has managed 29, 22, 3 and 1 and has looked out of his depth on two turning pitches.Pope played one of the great England innings in January, a hyperactive 196 which set up an improbable comeback win over India in Hyderabad, but it increasingly looks like an outlier. He has played 23 Test innings since, averaging 26.21 with more ducks (3) than hundreds (2); in Asia, he has batted 13 times and averaged 13.30, without reaching 40.He stared back at the pitch after this latest dismissal, edging Noman Ali to slip as the sun set behind the Sohail Tanvir Enclosure. The ball did turn and bounce to take the shoulder of his bat, but what else was Pope expecting on a dry pitch that Pakistan have openly tailored to suit their spinners? He jabbed at it with hard hands, away from his body: the outcome was predictable.This was Pope’s first dismissal to Noman after three in a row to Sajid Khan, the ebullient offspinner who has changed the complexion of this series. In Multan, Pope was beaten on the inside-edge by a ball that spun sharply, and then chipped back to the bowler via the inside-edge while looking to drive through mid-off; in the first innings here, he was pinned lbw on the sweep.It has taken England a long time to find a settled top seven and with series against India (home) and Australia (away) looming next year, they will rightly be reluctant to make a change unless they are confident that the alternative is better. The problem for Pope is that the route to that change has never been as clear as it is now.England are set to name their squad to tour New Zealand at the end of this Test and it is highly unlikely that Pope will be dropped. But Jamie Smith’s impending paternity leave means Jordan Cox will play at least one match on that tour, and potentially all three: if he succeeds with the bat and Pope fails, there will be a decision to make.Noman Ali removed Pope in the penultimate over of a terrible day for England•Getty ImagesPope was presented his 50th cap by Zak Crawley ahead of the first Test in Multan, who said his ability to “really seize the moment” had helped him become “one of the best players in the world”. It felt like a platitude rather than a genuine belief: Pope has played some exceptional innings, but the world’s best find a way to contribute in between those big scores.Crawley reached the same landmark in Rawalpindi and has also endured a quiet series, falling to Noman four times in a row since his 78 in the first Test. The biggest difference between the two is that Crawley has already proven himself against Australia and India. Pope averages 22.05 in 35 innings against them, including 11.16 on his previous Ashes tour.Six of Pope’s seven Test hundreds have come since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as England’s coach, as he has clearly valued their backing. But more than half of his dismissals in that time (28 out of 51) have been for scores below 20: that is the record of a lower-middle-order strokemaker, not a reliable No. 3.There has been one England batter who looked the part in that role on this tour, but it was not Pope. Joe Root was forced up the order in the first Test after Ben Duckett’s dislocated thumb prompted a reshuffle and had to walk out in the second over after Pope’s duck, but exuded calm on the second evening and eventually piled on a career-best 262..Root has expressed a clear preference to bat at No. 4, dating back to his time as captain. Back then, England’s openers would rarely bat long enough to give him a breather after he had exhausted his mental energy in the field, and often left him exposed to the new ball. The situation is very different now he is back in the ranks, with Crawley and Duckett’s established partnership one of England’s biggest strengths.In any case, Pope’s regular failures at No. 3 mean that Root already comes in soon after the first wicket more often than not. Root and Harry Brook moving up one spot each would either allow Pope a stay of execution in a more suitable No. 5 role, or Cox to be eased in: promoting Root is an option that England must at least consider revisiting.Unless England can manufacture an implausible comeback in Rawalpindi, they will suffer only their second series defeat under McCullum and Stokes. The first, in India, prompted ruthless and decisive change, with Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson not seen since. If he survives until New Zealand as expected, then Pope can count himself lucky.

He had a career that achieved more than most and still left you wanting more, which is sometimes just fine

Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Sep-2024Loosely, Sunday’s retirement was Moeen Ali’s third in as many years. But this one, at the age of 37, a week after he, as white ball vice-captain, was left out of both ODI and T20I squads, carries a weight of finality.Test retirement at the end of the 2021 summer was seemingly on a whim before he was parachuted into the 2023 Ashes to cover for Jack Leach as the spinner, then Ollie Pope as No. 3, after which he said he was done for good. All while a staple in the limited overs set-up.It is a weight that has been lifted off the story. Because though Moeen will still be traipsing about the franchise circuit, his England career, outright, is done. Now, a decade after this whole ride began, it is time to get off and remember what was.The glorious cover drive, the pull shot, the flight, the drift, the turn. The way he made the game look effortlessly easy, which lent itself to almost widespread infuriation during the periods of underperformance. He was a role model, and not just for the British Muslim community but the wider working classes.Related

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He won the Ashes in 2015 – the last time England held the urn – and has two World Cup winners medals as a vital cog in Eoin Morgan’s machine that achieved ODI and T20 successes in 2019 and 2022, respectively. And it speaks of Moeen’s character that Sunday’s announcement came with a clear message that the time was right for the team to move on from him, not the other way around.Alastair Cook, Moeen’s captain for 37 of his 68 Tests, regards him as the most selfless player he lined up alongside. Stuart Broad, who played with Moeen for all but nine of those caps, simply referred to him as his favourite team-mate.There is another thing about Moeen that does not matter but still counts: he was cool. And not “cool because he has a great beard” or “cool because he laces inside out over point”. But cool in the way cool is meant to be. A disposition rather than an act.It is little things like somehow being a cult hero and yet adored by everyone you have ever played with, despite the fact cricket is the kind of sport where the two do not go hand in hand. Even last summer, when the England team went crazy for bucket hats, they were all in agreement that Moeen – who flipped the brim to fashion it into a trilby – wore it best. Wisely, none of them tried to copy him, appreciating the fact they simply did not have the capacity to pull off the look.Moeen was a role model, not just for the British Muslim community, but the wider working classes•Philip Brown/Getty ImagesIt’s also the big things, like dropping into an Ashes, batting No. 3, and being the primary spinner despite a slit in your finger that you fix by – checks notes – bathing it in honey. Being a soothing comfort to watch when on full flow out in the middle, or having a knack for skewering tension in a dressing room, which is no mean feat.We might as well stick with that 2023 series against Australia, because it really is the perfect microcosm of his career. Ben Stokes dropped him an SOS “Ashes?” text, and he replied initially with “LOL”, before confirming his attendance officially during a meeting with Stokes and managing director Rob Key, which he arrived at armed with a bag of Sam’s Chicken. Duty called and Moeen answered, though not before getting a chicken burger.He averaged 25.71 with the bat, 51.44 with the ball, yet had a strangely profound influence on matters. There were only nine wickets, but that included Travis Head three times, Marnus Labuschagne twice, as well as Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith. And arguably his biggest contribution with the bat – probably pipping the 54 struck in a 121-run stand with Zak Crawley in the first innings of the fourth Test in Manchester – came while waiting for his turn to bat in the third Test at Headingley.”Harry Brook played a drive and got out for 3 batting at No. 3,” Broad recalled while speaking to Moeen on Sky Sports at lunch on day three at the Kia Oval. “I was sat next to you, and you’re a bit like ‘I’m not sure I like Brooky at three’ and you went straight to Baz [Brendon McCullum] and went, ‘Baz, let me go three – I’ll go three, get Brooky back to where he scores his runs. I don’t care if I snick off, I’ll go and try and blaze the new ball but get me up at three. Let me take the responsibility.'”Brook, who was at first drop in that innings after Pope injured his shoulder at Lord’s, went on to score 75 from No. 5 on the final day as England chased down 251 to save the series and get on the board on their way to a 2-2 series draw. “And you had such a natural selflessness to you,” mused Broad.

“The glorious cover drive, the pull shot, the flight, the drift, the turn. The way he made the game look effortlessly easy, which lent itself to almost widespread infuriation during the periods of underperformance”

Moeen almost shrugged off the thanks. “A lot of the time, whatever the team needs, I’m prepared to do that.”That brief period of Moeen in the time of Bazball carried a hint of sadness as he walked off at The Oval. You wonder how he would have fared had he played the guts of his Test career under McCullum’s stewardship.At the same time, he was very much of his era. And though this is usually the point in a tribute piece where you sneak in the flaws, Moeen’s entire career was punctuated by frustration. He certainly wasn’t clutch enough and there was no legitimate reason why he did not make more of his batting talent. That he only has five Test centuries is ludicrous and, ultimately, a blight on him rather than anyone else – as is the Test average of 28.12.Yet, his 204 wickets put him behind only Derek Underwood and Graeme Swann as England’s most productive spinner. Only 17 other players in the history of Test cricket have scored 3000 runs and taken 200 wickets. And even in an era when England’s white-ball batting stocks are through the roof, he still possesses the team’s fastest T20I half-century at 16 balls.Moeen’s was a career that achieved more than most and still left you wanting more. Sometimes, even in a sport wedded to numbers, leaving people wanting more is just fine.

England’s multi-talented stand-in is about to be handed a chance to seize the spotlight

Cameron Ponsonby29-Oct-2024He’s a confident lad is Jordan Cox. During training he wears his cap backwards in the way only the cool kids can. And then you remember he isn’t just the kid who’s best at school anymore but he’s playing cricket for England. And then you remember that, when he’s not playing cricket for England, he’s on the golf course playing off his better-than-scratch handicap. If anything, it makes you sick.Cox is on the cusp of becoming England’s master-of-all-trades. Although he only has two T20I appearances to his name, he will be a lock for the upcoming ODI series as a specialist batter and he is in line to keep wicket in all three Tests against New Zealand.England like Cox. He’s multi-skilled, brash, hits bombs, hits fairways and probably sinks pints too. The business world would call his elevation to the national set-up a successful culture hire.”It can come across so rude or arrogant,” Cox said of his attitude towards cricket. “Or that I don’t really care. But I do care. I really do. I care about doing well. I care about winning.”Cricket is such an up-and-down sport…I’m just trying to stay as level-headed as I can.”When I was younger, I didn’t care. I was having fun with friends. I did well then, so why would I change? Now I’m having fun with new friends.”Those new friends are the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum, for whom he has been carrying drinks for for the best part of three months.Cox was first called up to the Test squad as batting cover for the Sri Lanka series, before playing in both the completed T20Is against Australia, being unused across the ODIs and then unused in the Tests against Pakistan.Cox made his T20I debut against Australia in September•Getty ImagesCox, along with Rehan Ahmed, will be one of only two players to be on all three tours of Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand.”I was speaking to my old man on the golf course the other day,” Cox said. “And he asked me how I was feeling. ‘Pretty fresh,’ I said. The thing is you have to bide your time.”I think being 24 I can juggle that. I think if selected to play all three [formats] I’ll never say no.”In his own words, just being around the international set-up breeds rapid learning. Two years ago he was part of the squad that travelled to Pakistan for a seven-match T20I series, a month which, despite not playing, he says taught him “more than my five years at Kent”.”I’m learning really quickly,” he added.Related

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Part of what he’ll have to learn again is keeping. A gruesome finger injury in the 2023 Hundred has meant it is 15 months since Cox last kept wicket and, with Phil Salt set to have the gloves during this ODI series, Cox will be going in cold at Christchurch in four weeks’ time.”Keeping is something that I absolutely loved,” Cox said. “I’ve kept since the age of 11 and then obviously had that nasty injury so now it’s about building up.”I’ve probably been three, four months of keeping again, so not long. But you know, as people say it’s like riding a bike.”Cox spent much of his time in Pakistan practicing keeping with McCullum, but he also credits the absence of the gloves for contributing to his finest year with the bat as a professional. Across the 2024 season with Essex, he made four centuries and averaged 65.57.”It’s made me cherish my wicket a lot more because you’ve only got one skill to change a game,” he said.”Because of my finger, I can’t stand at slip so I can’t take good catches and change a game like that so I’m standing at mid-off falling asleep!”Cox enjoyed his best summer in first-class cricket with Essex•Getty ImagesThe conundrum with Cox is whether he’s about to take over English cricket or if this is a gap-year fling.Currently, he is not in any of the three formats’ first-choice XIs, but he is in all three formats’ first-choice squads. His opportunity in New Zealand is in effect a three-match loan deal. Look after the gloves for Jamie, who’s absent on paternity leave, and then wait your turn.But with Ollie Pope under pressure, that equation is no longer so simple. Cox is naturally a top-order batter and an avalanche of runs could force England into a change.”It’s professional sport, you never know what will happen,” Cox said. “Let’s say Popey goes and scores three hundreds, let’s say I score a hundred and win the Test match, what happens there? The media are always going to say different things but everyone’s trying to make a living and have fun.”Obviously, I don’t want someone to get injured, for me to get in their spot. But I’ve got an opportunity in New Zealand to put a stamp on potentially keeping in all three Test matches and scoring some runs.”And if anyone’s to bet on Cox to do exactly that, it will be the man himself.