Queues of “1600-1700 people” caused some fans to miss the start of Pakistan-West Indies game

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2019The ICC has encouraged fans who have not yet received their tickets for World Cup games over the weekend to print them out in advance, as issues with its systems led to the offer of full refunds for those delayed getting into Trent Bridge for West Indies’ win over Pakistan on Friday.Steve Elworthy, the tournament’s managing director, said that a combination of late sales and people needing to collect tickets that had not been delivered led to “1600, 1700 people standing in a queue”, forcing the ICC to consult with Ticketmaster about offering the facility to print tickets at home.In the lead-up to the tournament, a number of fans had taken to Twitter to complain about not receiving tickets despite purchasing them up to a year ago. While the ICC has overseen the delivery of more than 700,000 tickets, Elworthy said there had been problems with some getting through.”What’s happened is that we’ve got these tickets that weren’t delivered and then we’ve also got people wanting to collect at venues from late sales,” he said. “So it’s 400 or 500 people to collect on a day – which is not unusual at some of the Test match grounds. But you bring four or five people with you that you’ve got tickets for, suddenly there’s like 1600, 1700 people standing in a queue trying to get tickets. So it looks like there’s a whole load of people there.”Obviously we need to fulfil that, so we’ve got to try and find a way. We had all these people wanting their tickets, reprinting them and handing over the collections and there was just a delay because of the volume of people there to get their tickets. That’s the nub of the matter and we’re working to resolve that now.”The problems at Trent Bridge were exacerbated by the fact that Pakistan collapsed to 105 all out in 21.4 overs, with the whole match over before the scheduled interval – meaning anyone that was delayed getting into the ground may have ended up missing a significant proportion of the action.”Anybody whose tickets were printed after half past 10 at the ticket box office, because the delay was there, we’re going to refund 100% of their ticket value,” Elworthy said.”The perfect storm was the fact that Pakistan got bowled out for 100. If the score was 200 for 3, these people would be seeing cricket until 6 o’clock. I probably still would have thought about a refund of some sort because they missed some of it, but it might not have been a 100% refund.”Elworthy said that Ticketmaster would allow ticket-holders to log into their accounts and print off tickets for games over the “next couple of days”, but he indicated it could be extended throughout the tournament if problems persisted.In a statement released after the conclusion of the match, the governing body said: “The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup would like to apologise to any fans caught up in queues here at Trent Bridge today. We be offering a full refund to anyone who was impacted by the delays because of the high volume of ticket collections. This will happen automatically based on data from our ticket scanners along with time of ticket issue from the box office.”We are currently working with Ticketmaster to resolve all outstanding issues and have put in place a number of measures to ensure fans don’t suffer this inconvenience at future games. This includes the introduction of a print at home ticket and improved distribution methods at the venues.”

Concerns over talent pathways may lead to rejig of England’s Performance Programme

George Dobell03-Jul-2019The ECB have announced that David Parsons is to leave his role as England Cricket’s Performance Director in July.Parsons joined the ECB in 2000 as National Coach, was promoted to National Spin Bowling Coach in 2005 and was appointed to role of ECB Performance Director in 2007. Since then, he has overseen the development of the England men’s pathways, including the running of the National Performance Centre at Loughborough University.His departure may well signal the start of a significant restructure of the ECB’s ‘pathway’ programme. There has, for some time, been disquiet about the lack of relative lack of performance of the pathway in comparison to the investment made and, when Ashley Giles was employed was director of the England men’s teams, part of his remit was to both cut costs and improve the output of Loughborough.The development of fast and spin bowling is likely to focus much of his attention. The fast bowling programme has already been discontinued on the basis that it cost lots and delivered little, with recent graduates seemingly more likely to suffer injury than improve in pace or potency.Much the same could be said about the development of spin, with Kent’s decision to release Adam Riley – not so long ago thought of an off-spinner with Test potential – last week adding credence to the theory that Loughborough sometimes does more harm than good. Certainly the inference of comments from Paul Downton, the Kent director of cricket, was not flattering.”Adam has been with Kent for a long time,” Downton told the BBC. “We remember back to 2014 when he had a great summer with Kent, was being talked about in the press as a future England spinner and won a place on the England Lions tour.”Unfortunately, while on that tour working with the Lions coaches he tried to bowl a bit quicker and, in doing so, he lost his action. He’s now spent nearly five years trying to find his way back to that kind of form. But I think we got to a point where we just realised it wasn’t going to work from his point of view, or our point of view.”As a result, the futures of Kevin Shine, the ECB’s lead fast bowling coach, and Peter Such, the ECB’s lead spin bowling coach, would appear to be particularly uncertain.There may be change to the Lions programme, too. While there is an understanding that playing in such a team narrows the gap between the international and domestic games, the reluctance of counties to schedule fixtures during the English season – they play just one first-class game this season – has diminished the need for any sort of permanent restructure around it.That could lead to a change of role for Andy Flower, the former England coach. He is clearly a man with knowledge and experience that is an asset to the ECB, but it could be he has outgrown most of the roles available to him at the organisation. He has recently applied for a county job or two – he narrowly missed out on the Warwickshire role that went to Paul Farbrace – but it may be a job with a county or even another country now beckons.It is likely the ECB will announce more overseas placements for young players in future. Not only would this prove cheaper, it is thought likely to encourage independence and maturity among developing players. Some at the ECB are concerned that some young players have become just a little soft and just a little entitled by their early exposure to England age-group teams. A period fending for themselves, it is reasoned, may do them no harm.Either way, change is coming to Loughborough. A cut in the number in staff is likely, with those who remain asked to be a great deal more accountable.

Simon Harmer collected another five-wicket haul but Yorkshire mustered 208 before taking three Essex wickets

David Hopps at Chelmsford07-Jul-2019If any county had a right to come to Chelmsford this season with preconceptions about the frenzied cricket that was surely bound to ensue it was Yorkshire. They managed to collapse to 50 all out here last year, an experience so maddening for their coach, Andrew Gale, that he reflected this week that at one point he asked the coach driver if he could put his bag on the bus.The Yorkshire coach was parked up with its doors open during the morning session, presumably just in case Gale decided to make a run for it, but he stayed put on the balcony to watch Yorkshire dash to 208 at more than four an over.Don’t scoff – that’s the highest first-innings score in nine attempts at Chelmsford in a season where Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter have reigned supreme, although Essex’s response to be 122 for 3 at the close made them marginally the happier of the two sides. All this came, incidentally, after Yorkshire’s captain Steve Patterson won his 11th successive Championship toss (when tosses have been necessary), a sequence with odds of 2048-1.Last season’s match produced a staggering turnaround. Yorkshire restricted their first-innings deficit to 92, Jonny Bairstow was promoted to open the batting in gung-ho fashion, Harry Brook followed up with a maiden Championship hundred (still his only hundred) on the second day and Yorkshire wrapped up the game on the third morning.Yorkshire’s preconceptions that this match will follow a similar course were justifiable enough because a dry pitch seamed and turned all day, but Alastair Cook has helped fashion two of Essex’s four victories here – against Kent and Somerset – by providing method alongside the madness, so it is not the only way to go.Harmer has exposed the fallibility of county batsmen against top-level spin all season and he duly returned 5 for 76 in 18.3 overs – his sixth five-for of the season, his Championship tally now swollen to 54 wickets at 17.05 – but Brook played him as enterprisingly as anyone, showing decisive footwork in making 46 from 60 balls on the ground where he made his greatest impact.Brook, a former England Under-19 captain, was playing here in place of Jack Leaning, who made a pair earlier in the week at Scarborough. Brook began the season as an opener, where he played most of his age-group cricket, but he has a decent range of strokes and has a look of the middle order about him. As about 98% of batsmen in the country fit that description perhaps that should be no surprise.Not that coming it at No. 5 exactly saw the shine off the ball. He took guard with Yorkshire 43 for 3 in the ninth over. Porter had two, Adam Lyth driving a wide, overpitched ball to cover and Will Fraine caught at the wicket after a quickfire 29. Gary Ballance had been cunningly silenced by Peter Siddle, who bowled him behind his legs, leg stump, as he shuffled back and across the crease.Tom Kohler-Cadmore then succumbed to a big-turning long hop to give Harmer his first wicket, but Yorkshire countered with an enterprising stand of 59 in 12 by Brook and Jonny Tattersall. Harmer was briefly repulsed, but he bowled Brook on the outside edge to instigate lunch and struck again with his first ball after the resumption when Tattersall cut to the wicketkeeper.Harmer ended the next salvage operation, too – 49 for the seventh wicket between Matt Fisher, who was playing because David Willey pulled out for personal reasons, and Keshav Maharaj. Both survived chances, but two lbw decisions silenced them, with Maharaj so befuddled in the flight that he attempted a stand-up sweep to a yorker. His task as the match progresses will be to match his fellow South African, Harmer. It will not be easy.Harmer is now only three wickets short of his 57 victims last summer and with five matches remaining after this one needs only 21 wickets to surpass his tally when Essex won the Championship in 2017.Tom Westley’s second Championship fifty of the season stabilised Essex, but Yorkshire will be happy to have seen the back of Cook, caught at the wicket off Patterson. Patterson might never be ennobled in the Queen’s New Year Honours, but he knows how to bowl on a pitch like this. The odds on the wicket then? Considerably less than 2048-1.

Managing director of England men’s cricket believes added responsibility will help all-rounder’s rise

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2019Ashley Giles believes Ben Stokes’ reinstatement as England vice-captain ahead of the Ashes is the logical next step in his development as a Test allrounder.In announcing their 14-man squad for the first Test against Australia starting at Edgbaston August 1, the ECB also revealed chairman Colin Graves had approved Stokes’ re-appointment on the recommendation of Ashley Giles and chief executive Tom Harrison.Stokes had been stripped of the role during investigations into the fight outside a Bristol night club in 2017, over which he was ultimately found not guilty of affray. Stokes subsequently faced an ECB disciplinary hearing, which resulted in him being fined and banned for eight international matches in December 2018, a punishment that he had already served in missing five months of cricket, including the 2017-18 Ashes.Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, said Stokes was highly respected within the team environment.”He is a natural leader and has a great understanding of the game,” Giles said. “He will offer tremendous support to Joe Root as part of the senior playing group.”Over the past 18 months, he has come a long way and has shown a great degree of maturity on and off the field.”I have no doubts that the added responsibility will also help him to continue his rise as a world class all-rounder in the Test arena.”Stokes will take over the vice-captaincy from Jos Buttler.Stokes scored in the 70s and 80s four times in his last five innings at the World Cup and was Player of the Match in the final at Lord’s after guiding England’s run-chase with an unbeaten 84 from 98 balls, as well as adding a crucial 8 from 3 in the decisive Super Over.Jofra Archer, who is in line to make his Test debut after also being named in England’s Ashes squad, credited Stokes with offering some calming words when he was chosen to bowl to New Zealand in their Super Over, with Stokes having been through a similar experience – although with a different outcome – when charged with bowling the final over of the 2016 T20 World Cup final against West Indies in Kolkata.”If we had lost today, I don’t know what I would have done tomorrow,” Archer said at the time. “But Ben Stokes told me even before the over: ‘Win or lose, today does not define you. Everyone believes in you.’ He came to talk to me because of Kolkata. He probably went through the same emotions but was on the losing side.”

Allrounder bats through day for unbeaten 150 as Derbyshire wilt in face of Division Two leaders

ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2019
Since marking his Championship debut in 2018 with a half-century at The Oval against a rampant Surrey, Lancashire have struggled to know quite what to do with the prodigious talents of Bolton-born allrounder Josh Bohannon.Well wonder no more. Moved up and down the batting order throughout this season, 22-year-old Bohannon entered the stage late on the first day at the fall of the Red Rose’s first wicket and was still there around the same time 24 hours later, having compiled his debut first-class century and put his county in pole position to beat Derbyshire and claim promotion back to county cricket’s top flight. Three was indeed the magic number.Bohannon’s brilliant knock dominated a day during which Derbyshire’s lacklustre efforts with the ball yielded just a single wicket as they meekly conceded a first-innings lead with none of the fight their skipper Billy Godleman had shown in making a battling century on the first day at Emirates Old Trafford.Early morning rain gave the visitors a helping hand in taking time out of the game, but once play resumed at 1.40pm, Derbyshire needed their bowlers to step up too. That they comprehensively failed to do so was in no small part down to Bohannon, who alongside opener Keaton Jennings, made steady progress throughout the afternoon session.Jennings, who has enjoyed another stuttering season in his quest to return to the England fold, was the only wicket to fall before tea, when he misjudged a sharply spinning delivery from Hamidullah Qadri and watched in horror as his off stump was knocked back. Jennings had made 38 and played his part in a second-wicket partnership of 63 with Bohannon, who reached his fifty from 107 balls with seven fours and one six as the Derbyshire attack was slowly ground down during an increasingly chastening session.Progress had been slow previously, but the introduction of Liam Livingstone provoked a change in pace with both players on the attack as the fifty partnership was reached in 45 balls with Bohannon unbeaten on 69 at tea alongside Livingstone on 22 not out.While Livingstone was typically belligerent after the break, it was Bohannon who became the main aggressor as the pair reached their century partnership from 120 balls before the latter reached his own personal milestone from 173 balls with 15 fours, two sixes and one giant leap of celebration.If Derbyshire had any fight left it was soon distinguished as Bohannon and Livingstone sailed past the 150 partnership for the third wicket with Lancashire’s former captain bringing up his own half-century from 68 balls before the pair posted the county’s highest partnership this season when they reached 153.Barely a half-chance had presented itself all day and considering Derbyshire endured a scruffy afternoon in the field, summed up the unfortunate Ravi Rampaul performing a painful splits at mid-off at one point, it’s doubtful they would have even have taken it.At around 5.30pm, Lancashire moved into the lead, knowing that matching or bettering Glamorgan’s result would mean promotion. With Livingston unbeaten on 70, a lead of 25 with eight wickets in hand and the third-wicket partnership totalling 194, it feels like an inevitability. For Bohannon, who reached his 150 just before the close, it would be an achievement to savour.

Among all Indian fast bowlers who’ve taken at least 10 wickets in home Tests, Shami and Umesh have the best strike rates

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Ranchi22-Oct-20194:32

India’s consistent pressure made us weak in every Test – du Plessis

Among all Indian fast bowlers who’ve taken at least 10 wickets in home Tests, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have the best strike rates. It’s a fact Virat Kohli is well aware of – he brought it up himself in his post-match press conference after India wrapped up a 3-0 Test series victory over South Africa in Ranchi.What makes Shami and Umesh so dangerous in Indian conditions? According to Kohli, it stems from the attacking lines they bowl, and their fitness, which allows them to bowl relentlessly in those areas.”If you look at these two guys, their strike rate is probably the best in Indian conditions in history, which tells you that these guys hit the stumps and the pads more than anyone else before them.” Kohli said. “It’s again a great sign of the kind of intent that the bowlers are running in with now. The fitness levels obviously have gone up, so your brain is obviously supporting what you want to do, because your body also will support that workload.”You bowl three good overs and if you’re tired, then the other two [overs in the spell] are not as effective, and you lose the opportunity to take a wicket after creating pressure. But these guys are relentless, they’re running in to just take wickets, bowl in areas that make batsmen uncomfortable.Virat Kohli runs in to celebrate a wicket with Umesh Yadav•BCCI

“The focus was on spin [in the lead-up to the series], but the pacers have done the damage. We’ve become a multi-dimensional team now, and it’s not [just] one thing that you need to counter when you’re playing against us.”India’s fast bowlers ended the series with a collective bowling average of 17.50. South Africa’s quicks, in comparison, averaged 70.20.After the first Test in Visakhapatnam, where Shami had run through South Africa in the fourth innings, Kohli had said Shami was capable of getting more help out of Indian pitches than anyone else he had seen. Asked how he and Umesh were able to get that sort of help while their South African counterparts could not, Kohli said it was mindset that set India’s fast bowlers apart.”We speak of doing things differently,” Kohli said. “On a green pitch, say the openers walk into bat and feel like, ‘well, the opposition hasn’t gotten many runs, so we might not either’, then you’re not going to get runs. If you believe we can score runs on green wickets, you will get a hundred when the others don’t. So it’s about mindset.”As fast bowlers, if you feel like there’s nothing in the pitch but we can make something happen, you will make it happen, because that’s the kind of effort you want to bowl with. If you look at a pitch and you just give up, then you’re getting nothing out of it, so it’s the mindset. They want to make things happen, they don’t want easy cricket, they don’t want easy situations, they want to have things which are challenging, and then they try to come on top, because it’s going to do the team a lot of good if you do well in difficult scenarios.”It’s all about the mindset. They run in to bowl, they ask – even if the ball is doing a little bit – after the spinners have bowled, they immediately want the ball back, so they want to make an impact, they want to make breakthroughs, and I think it’s about the positive mindset they’ve created for themselves.”When India went to South Africa last year and played on green, seaming pitches, they lost the first two Tests despite putting the hosts under pressure at various points, but came back to win the third in Johannesburg. The return tour didn’t have anything like the same degree of competitiveness.”Yeah, look, when we went to South Africa, we know that we competed in every game, and eventually ended up winning the last Test as well,” Kohli said. “It was all about one session or maybe an hour of bad cricket that cost us games, so we understand that, to compete in conditions which are not yours, you need to be positive every single minute of every day on the field. If you let five minutes of negativity creep in, it’s a downward slide from there.”We understand that it can get difficult, but we have also applied a lot of pressure on the opposition, especially in our conditions, so it’s difficult to keep up when the [other] team is playing so well, but yeah, focusing on the positives of our team, I don’t think we allowed the opposition to get into any game, at any stage at all.”Shahbaz Nadeem celebrates a wicket•BCCI

India handed a debut to Shahbaz Nadeem in the third Test, after he came into the squad as a late replacement for Kuldeep Yadav. Close to 15 years after his first-class debut, the left-arm spinner enjoyed an excellent Test debut, picking up four wickets and finishing the match with two in two balls. Kohli said India had always been aware of Nadeem’s quality as a bowler.”I’ve played with Nadeem before as well, Under-19 as well, and we’ve always known he’s quite a skilful bowler, the kind of skill he has with his conventional left-arm spin,” Kohli said. “He puts revolutions on the ball, his seam position is really good, bowls at a good pace, and when you’ve taken 420 wickets in first-class cricket, you can come and bowl four maidens straight up in a Test match [like Nadeem did]. He’s capable of bowling in one area.”I think he’s made a very good start. He bowled with a lot of composure. It’s amazing how things can change dramatically in life. Two days before the Test, he was in Kolkata, and from there he came here and played. He was not out with the bat, he pulled off an excellent run-out, and in both innings he bowled well, so I’m quite happy for him. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s obviously a quality bowler, and for us to bring him in on this kind of track as a replacement, we already knew he has the quality. From here, he’ll only keep building.”

Australia’s Ben Cutting and Chris Lynn have also expressed their interest in being part of the fifth season of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2019With the Pakistan Super League (PSL) returning in full to Pakistan next season, 28 foreign players including Dale Steyn, Colin Munro, Alex Hales and Jason Roy registered themselves to be drafted in the fifth edition as platinum players. Australia’s Ben Cutting and Chris Lynn have also expressed their interest in being part of the fifth season.

Foreign players in platinum category

• Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan

• Australia: Dan Christian, Ben Cutting and Chris Lynn

• England: Moeen Ali, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Jason Roy

• Nepal: Sandeep Lamichhane

• New Zealand: Colin Munro

• South Africa: Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir

• Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera

• West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard

Each PSL franchise has an option of retaining up to eight players from their previous roster, but they can do so while adhering to limits in each category: up to three players in platinum, diamond and gold each; five in silver, and two emerging players. The PCB had also reduced the salary cap from USD 1.38 million to USD 1.1 million to assemble a full squad. The base price for the platinum category last year was $160,000 and the maximum for one player $250,000. This time, those caps have been reduced to $147,000 and $218,000 respectively.ALSO READ: AB de Villiers to skip PSL for ‘managing workload’The players who registered to be drafted are from eight cricket-playing nations; seven from England, six South African, five from the West Indies, and three each from Afghanistan and Australia. Sri Lanka will be represented by two players and and New Zealand (Munro) and Nepal will have one each. The registration of each player doesn’t ensure participation in the PSL; the decision to pick players from the list belong to the franchises. The availability of players also depends on whether international commitments clash with the PSL, which begins on February 20. The draft will be held on December 6.There has been intense focus on foreign players visiting Pakistan of late, with the decision of their touring the country left up to them by their respective national boards and the PSL franchises for the most part. In the last four PSL seasons, the overwhelming majority of matches in the PSL took place in the UAE, as did Pakistan’s “home” games on the international circuit. Pakistan has made significant strides in combating terrorism in the country over the past few years, paving the way for more international cricket in the country, with the plan to host the entirety of the PSL in Pakistan the most ambitious one yet.Over the last three years, PCB used PSL as a platform to restore international cricket in the country. The board got the ball rolling in 2017 when the Gadaffi Stadium hosted the PSL final. In the following season, four games were held across Karachi and Lahore. In the season held earlier this year, the last eight games were played in Karachi alone. This year, four venues – Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Rawalpindi – will host the entire tournament, comprising 34 games between them.

The left-arm spinner rarely fails to deliver and is shaping as a vital part of the plans for next year’s T20 World Cup

Deivarayan Muthu11-Nov-2019The ultra-short boundaries at Eden Park, known as the postage stamp, are mean to the bowlers. They can be even meaner when rain cuts a 20-over series decider into 11 overs. After England’s bowlers suffer at the hands of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, Eoin Morgan launches the visitors’ chase with a hat-trick of boundaries. Sam Curran then goes one better, clubbing Scott Kuggeleijn for four boundaries in a row. Jonny Bairstow, too, joins the carnage as England rack up 52 in just three overs. Bairstow has now nicked off for 47, but England are fairly well-placed at 100 for 4 in seven overs.Captain Tim Southee turns to Mitchell Santner in search of a wicket. The left-arm spinner delivers a double blow, but then the match goes into another Super Over and we all know how that unfolds. However, Santner’s strikes and composure under pressure showed why he’s New Zealand’s MVP heading into the T20 World Cup across the Tasman Sea next year. Once he saw Sam Curran advance down the track, he speared a back-of-a-length slider well past the tramline and had the batsman stumped off an off-side wide for 24 off 11 balls. Wicketkeeper Tim Seifert, who was mic’d up, suggested that Santner probably knew that the batsman was coming at him.Mitchell Santner celebrates a wicket•AFP

Santner then made a rare error, looping a non-turning half-volley, which Lewis Gregory muscled over long-on for six. But he wasn’t flustered and bravely floated the next one up at 85kph, and got it to turn away, daring Gregory to manufacture pace for himself. Gregory swung hard, but Santner’s clever change-up defeated him as he could only scoop it as far as extra-cover. He conceded only singles off the next four balls to finish an excellent 11-run over. Earlier, in his first over, the fourth of the chase, Santner had given away only nine runs. In daunting defence against a power-packed line-up on flat track, Santner came away with the two most economical overs. What might have been had Santner been handed another over?While Santner doesn’t quite demand the attention that Sunil Narine or wristspinners do these days, there’s no denying his class and control. It was on bright display during the 50-over World Cup in the UK earlier this year and also during this T20I series against England. Santner ended the series as the top wicket-taker with 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.83 and strike rate of 9.8. Ish Sodhi and Adil Rashid, the purveyors of the more glamorous variety of spin – wristspin – managed only three wickets each while proving more expensive. Sodhi went at 11.73 an over while Rashid fared somewhat better, conceding at 9.54.Meanwhile, left-arm seamer Sam Curran, who had the benefit of bowling as many overs as Santner did (18), picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 8.50. It’s no secret these days that Santner bowls one over in the powerplay and then works his way through the middle overs. Yet, batsmen haven’t been able to line him up as he hits the hard length in the early exchanges and then, when the batsman is desperately searching for the big hits, Santner slows up his pace. He also thrives by shifting his lines wide of off, challenging the batsmen to fetch the ball and then slog it. More than 80% of Santner’s success this series is down to hanging the ball up outside off or even wider. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, he has bowled 62 balls around that line, grabbing nine wickets and conceding 81 runs.Santner’s wiles, in particular, were key to New Zealand pinning England down at the Westpac Stadium in the second T20I. Chris Jordan had shellacked Sodhi for four successive sixes and then cracked Lockie Ferguson over mid-off for four, threatening a late jailbreak. England were needing 49 off 30 balls when Southee tossed the ball over to his main man Santner. After his first ball was sent over extra-cover for four, Santner responded strongly by having Jordan holing out with a nifty drop in pace. Game over for England.”Chris Jordan was hitting it pretty well there at the end,” Santner said at the post-match press conference. “When you bowl slow as a spinner, I guess you’ve quite a fine margin – you can be swept square or pulled square. You try to hit a couple in the [block]hole and mix it up. You try not to be too predictable and it was nice to get that wicket and go from there.”Speaking to Radio Sport, Santner said that the wickets of big-hitters like Morgan and Jordan gave him extra pleasure. “They’re one of the best T20 sides at the moment and the way they like to play T20 cricket is to come pretty hard and that’s what they do whether you’re taking wickets or not. It’s one of things that even if you get a wicket, you’ve got to be on top of your game because the English can come hard and put you under pressure. And the best way to stall momentum is to take wickets throughout.”All told, Santner has bagged 20 T20I wickets in 2019 – the most among bowlers from Full Member nations in the shortest format. This time last year, Santner was recovering from a knee surgery, wondering if he could prove his fitness in time for the World Cup. He, ultimately, made it to the UK and almost helped New Zealand win the tournament. Then, he almost helped New Zealand win the T20I series against England. If he keeps up his form, Santner could prove more effective on the larger grounds in Australia by this time next year and could (actually) help New Zealand win a World Cup.

The Scorchers have built a new squad after last season’s wooden spoon, and the Stars will hope to top last season’s show

Alex Malcolm15-Dec-2019

Melbourne Stars

Captain: Glenn MaxwellCoach: David HusseyOverseas players: Sandeep Lamichhane (Nepal), Dale Steyn (South Africa – first six matches), Pat Brown (England – expected from January 8)Full squad: Pat Brown (overseas replacement), Hilton Cartwright, Jackson Coleman, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Peter Handscomb, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jonathan Merlo, Lance Morris, Tom O’Connell, Dale Steyn, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall, Adam ZampaLast season: 2ndThey suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final, collapsing from an unlosable position against the Renegades. But they rode the wave of momentum to make the final after finishing fourth. There were a lot of positives to take out of their best season to date despite the bitter disappointment at the end.What’s changed for the season?They have a new coach after Stephen Fleming stepped down. Former captain David Hussey takes the reigns of a squad that has shaped nicely. They have added Dale Steyn and Pat Brown as their overseas fast bowlers who will play roughly half the tournament each as well as Nathan Coulter-Nile, who is primed to play a big part in what could be his first full BBL for many years. Hilton Cartwright also comes into the squad as an all-round option. He has a modest T20 record with the bat, but he and Coulter-Nile add exceptional athleticism in the field which the Stars view as vital on the wide expanses of the MCG.Australia impactMaxwell’s availability will be a big question. He has been away from cricket since October to manage his mental health, but is back playing club cricket in Melbourne and looks set for the BBL. Normally, he would be an automatic pick for the India ODI tour but the Stars will benefit if he doesn’t go. Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, and Coulter-Nile could be in the national frame but seem more unlikely than likely, which again helps the Stars. The only man they may miss is Adam Zampa, who will almost certainly travel to India.Player to watchNic Maddinson had also taken a mental health break this season but he is in the form of his life with the bat and seems most comfortable in the Melbourne environment. He could be primed for a big tournament with a settled role.Key stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)Among 32 bowlers who have bowled over 200 deliveries in the last four overs of a T20 match, Pat Brown has the best average – 12.42 – for any pace bowler. His death bowling and variations in the T20 Blast is the reason why the Stars have punted on Brown. It will be interesting to see how he bowls at the bigger grounds in Australia.Chris Jordan ripped through West Indies’ middle order•Getty Images

Perth Scorchers

Captain: Mitchell MarshCoach: Adam VogesOverseas players: Liam Livingstone (England), Chris Jordan (England)Full squad: Ashton Agar, Fawad Ahmed, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Chris Jordan, Matthew Kelly, Liam Livingstone, Mitchell Marsh, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam WhitemanLast season: 8thThe Scorchers had been – and still are – the most successful team in BBL history, having not missed the finals in seven seasons, which included three titles. But after finishing top of the table in BBL07 and losing the semi-final, they finished last in BBL08 winning just four games.What’s changed for the season?They have completely overhauled their list. Simon Katich has been working as a consultant with new high-performance manager Kade Harvey. Shaun Marsh (Renegades), Michael Klinger (retired), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Stars), Hilton Cartwright (Stars), Clint Hinchcliffe (Stars), Usman Qadir (not contracted) and David Willey (not contracted) have all departed. They have signed Liam Livingstone and Chris Jordan as new overseas players. Fawad Ahmed comes in from the Sydney Thunder to change the dynamic of the attack with AJ Tye and Jason Behrendorff out injured. Kurtis Patterson has been signed as part of a new-look top order alongside Livingstone.Australia impactThey won’t be as affected as other teams. Australia’s one-day tour of India could see Ashton Turner and Jhye Richardson leave for five games if selected, but it is highly unlikely they will lose any others. Injuries are a bigger issue.Player to watchMatthew Kelly only played seven games last season but he made an impression with his death bowling, taking 11 wickets at a strike rate of 14.7. Given the injuries to key bowling personnel, he will be a pivotal player this season.Key stat (Gaurav Sundararaman)In this day and age, where spin plays a big role in T20s, the Scorchers have predominantly been dependent on their pace bowling to win titles. It has worked for them until last season. In the last edition, the Scorchers took only 13 wickets with spin at an average of 33. No team took fewer wickets with spin. This edition they are looking to better that record with more variety in the attack.

Derbyshire, Durham will be first major English sides to tour Zimbabwe since 2004

Matt Roller14-Feb-2020Derbyshire and Durham will become the first major English teams to travel to Zimbabwe since 2004 next month, with both sides accepting invitations from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to go to the country for pre-season tours.England have not played an international fixture against Zimbabwe since 2007, and ZC’s director of cricket Hamilton Masakadza claimed that the importance of the counties’ pre-season visits “cannot be overemphasised”.ALSO READ: ‘Smaller teams want to play more but the cash isn’t there’ – Alistair CampbellDerbyshire, whose head coach Dave Houghton played 22 Tests and 63 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1997, will play two T20s, two one-day games and two three-day games against a Zimbabwe Select XI, while Durham will play two three-day fixtures against a ZC Chairman’s XI.”Hopefully this tour will open the door for further English county tours in future, which may help Zimbabwe cricket get back on its feet,” Houghton said. “We will be facing some strong opposition during the tour, which will provide ideal preparation for the 2020 season.”We also want to give the players some life experiences because as cricketers, we can become solely focused on the game sometimes and it’s important make the most of these opportunities.”No county team has visited Zimbabwe since Worcestershire in 1997, and Masakadza said that ZC were “thrilled to be hosting Derbyshire and Durham”.”The magnitude and importance of their visit cannot be overemphasised,” he said. “While our players will learn big lessons and gain invaluable experience from playing against such top opposition, we believe this marks the beginning of a new chapter that will hopefully see more English county teams touring Zimbabwe as that will go a long way in preparing our players for the rigours of high-level and international cricket.”Relations between the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe deteriorated significantly during Robert Mugabe’s presidency, primarily due to consistent human rights abuses, leading to several high-profile cricketing disputes.In 2003, England decided to pull out of their scheduled World Cup game in Harare following death threats, though decided to fulfil an ODI series in the country a year later despite opposition from the British government.Michael Vaughan led England’s last tour to Zimbabwe in 2004•AFP via Getty Images

The teams played one another at the World T20 in 2007 but a year later Andy Burnham, the minister for culture, media and sport wrote to the ECB to instruct them to cancel a tour by Zimbabwe to England scheduled for 2009, and Zimbabwe pulled out of the World T20 weeks later after being informed that their players may not be granted visas.Since Mugabe was removed from power following a successful coup in November 2017, relations between the UK and Zimbabwe have improved significantly. The UK’s Africa minister Rory Stewart visited the country soon after Mugabe’s fall from power, with a foreign ministry spokesperson describing relations as “cordial” last month.Whether the tours have any wider significance in paving the way for England to travel to Zimbabwe remains to be seen. The ECB declined to comment on the developments, and there are no fixtures scheduled between the two sides in the current cycle of the Future Tours Programme, which runs until the end of 2023.Zimbabwe will not compete in the T20 World Cup in October, having had their ICC membership suspended due to political inference soon before the qualifying tournament, and the teams were not drawn to play one another in the 2020-22 ODI Super League.Zimbabwe’s players were recently forced to take a pay cut, while several games in the Logan Cup, the domestic first-class competition, were postponed without notice.