As the tournament comes to a conclusion we look back at the impact of three new rules: Power Surge, Bash Boost and X-Factor

Alex Malcolm04-Feb-2021The Power SurgeIt was designed to maintain interest throughout the 20 overs by moving the last two overs of the normal six-over Powerplay to the second half of each innings, available for the batting side to take from the start of the 11th over, to create some intrigue in what can often be a period of slower-going between the 11th and the 16th overs. The results would suggest it has worked very well.Last season the scoring rate for the tournament in the last two overs of the Powerplay was 8.01 with teams losing 58 wickets in total. This season the Surge has yielded 10.23 runs per over and 96 wickets have fallen in total.Across the season the teams that have batted better in the Surge have done better overall on the table than the sides who have bowled better in that period. The Thunder, Scorchers, Stars, and Sixers were the best batting sides in the Surge, with the Sixers, Scorchers, and Thunder finishing top three on the table. The Scorchers, Stars, Strikers, and Renegades were the best bowling teams in the Surge with three of those teams finishing in the bottom four.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe most interesting element of the Surge is which players have benefitted from it. Whilst the big-hitting Ben Cutting is an unsurprising name as the leading Surge scorer, Jordan Silk, and Jimmy Peirson, better known as middle-order accumulators, have had outstanding seasons thanks to their performances in the Surge overs with the bat.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”My big beef with T20 cricket was that the top three [batsmen] would always win the MVP,” Woodhill told ESPNcricinfo. “They would come out and go nuts and then there’s this whole lull until the last few overs. I think there’s a couple of batters who bat in the top three who have said, we’ve missed that opportunity to go hard in the fifth and sixth overs but they actually weren’t going as hard as they thought.”Jordan Silk has had an unbelievable summer but it’s probably one that he wouldn’t have had without the Power Surge. And that’s no disrespect, but now it’s given him the confidence to be able to do that with five men out as well.”It gives boundary hitters an opportunity, not just your big powerful six hitters. At the back end of the tournament in the BBL, wickets get tired and sometimes batters need some support to get the ball through the field, let alone over the rope.”The Surge has created some accountability for batting groups as well. At times, teams have made a mess of when to take the Surge and there has been no particular blueprint for success. The Thunder often left the Surge late to maximise Cutting and Daniel Sams. Some teams took the Surge immediately in the 11th over after a huge opening partnership only for it to completely derail the innings, like the Scorchers did against the Sixers.”I reckon it’s almost a wickets lost category,” Woodhill said. “If you’ve lost three or four wickets you must take it in the 11th over. Others like the Thunder, they can afford to go a couple of overs out.”But I think if you’re not sure, you must take it. A few teams have thought we’ll leave it and take it the next over and they’ve lost a wicket and lost that momentum. But that’s the beauty of it. You don’t want to be that black and white that there’s a certain over where teams should take it. It varies for each team which is ideal, and it varies for each list which is even better.”Bowling in the Surge has been a different prospect. Of the 23 bowlers who bowled more than four Surge overs in the season, 12 were able to concede less than 10.23 per over. Only four of those were spinners: Adam Zampa, Imad Wasim, Peter Hatzoglou, and Chris Green. Peter Siddle was the standout bowler taking eight wickets with a stand-out economy rate of 7.36. Jhye Richardson also picked up eight wickets and conceded 8.83 per over. The challenge for the quicks has been bowling with only two men out with a softer ball that doesn’t swing or seam like it might inside the first six overs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”We saw around the wicket into the heels of the batters, which has worked against some batters and others who are really good at picking the ball up have been able to meet that challenge,” Woodhill said.”I like that it’s brought about some different tactics in the bowlers. I think you’ll see some adjustments from the bowlers, especially the quicks around how they move the ball in that period. We’ve seen with Jhye Richardson, he’s been able to move his body around on the crease, where he releases that ball to challenge the batter, which has been really good.”Ben Cutting often exploited the Power Surge•Getty ImagesThe Bash BoostAt the start of the tournament, the Bash Boost was considered somewhat of an afterthought with teams and fans looking at the big picture of winning the game rather than chasing the point for leading at the 10-over mark.In the end, the team with the most Bash Boost points, the Sixers, finished on top, and the team with the second most, the Heat, finished fourth when they had won the same number of games as both the Strikers and the Hurricanes and had an inferior net run-rate.The final game of the season had the added intrigue with the Stars needing to win both the Bash Boost and the game to qualify for finals and they failed to set an adequate 10-over target. The Strikers also cost themselves a home final after missing a Bash Boost point in a win over the Stars. The Strikers needed 10 runs from 12 balls and were just one down at the time but lost 2 for 7 and failed to get the Boost point. They were forced to rebuild to win the game.For the Hurricanes, meanwhile, there was one over in particular in which their lack of attention to detail cost them: the 10th over of their game against the Stars on January 4. They had started slowly in a chase of 184, reaching 1 for 56 after nine overs, but needed only eight runs off the 10th to secure the Bash Boost. Instead of taking the bonus-point target on, Dawid Malan and Ben McDermott took four singles off the over to miss out on the point, and ultimately lost the game. They would end up missing finals by one point.There was no clear statistical trend in terms of score increase or wickets lost in the eighth and ninth over across the season. But one clear pattern emerged this year, which ties in with the Power Surge. Scoring was down significantly in the first four overs of the innings. Teams scored at 7.18 per over in the first four overs this season compared to 7.65 last year. The three teams that went the hardest in the first Powerplay, the Sixers, Thunder, and Scorchers, all benefitted the most.Over-by-over scoring rates in BBL•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”I think at times, especially in the first half of the season, the top three batters put too much emphasis on their own wicket rather than on their own strike-rates,” Woodhill said. I reckon sometimes No. 3 and 4 got themselves in a little bit rather than chasing a better 10-over total. But these are new rules and that’s what happens. It’s who figures them out the quickest and the best.”Woodhill was surprised teams weren’t more adventurous with using a pinch-hitter in overs 6-10. Nathan Coulter-Nile was tried a couple of times for the Stars and Nathan Ellis for the Hurricanes without success. Woodhill believes the next development in the BBL, to maximise the Bash Boost point, could be the use of pinch-hitters and the development of power-hitting among bowlers.

“I think the Power Surge has been an overwhelming success. I know other leagues are already looking at it. The X-Factor is the one that obviously needs greater discussion and teams need longer to work out how best to utilise it.”Trent Woodhill

“If you’re 2 for 57 in the eighth over, you’re better off sending someone in to chase the point, whether it’s a Jhye Richardson, a Rashid Khan, or even an Andrew Tye,” he said.”Obviously you want to hold someone back for the Power Surge. Where the Thunder were really good, they’ve got Daniel Sams and Ben Cutting, they’ve got two Power Surge specialists, both strong boys in getting the ball over the 30-yard circle. So there are tactics that are going to develop over the course of the next few years to cope with the changes.”Someone like an AJ Tye to me all of a sudden becomes a floater. Because he hits the ball that hard and he gets the ball over that infield. Having only two out would be an advantage for him in a Power Surge but more importantly, leading up to a Bash Boost point he’s got the power to get it over the five on the rope as well.”One concern with the Bash Boost point is the value of it for a team that loses heavily. The Renegades pinched a point in a 96-run defeat to the Scorchers. The Bash Boost also played a part in making some games extraordinarily one-sided when teams recklessly chased one point after conceding a big first innings score. This season saw the two largest run-margins in BBL history and three of the top four and it also produced two of the three lowest team totals in BBL history.The X-FactorIt was arguably the least popular of the three new rules with some teams declaring pre-tournament they would hardly use it. In all, every team used it at least once, although the Scorchers only used when Mitchell Marsh was injured. The Heat were by far the most adventurous with it using it seven times while the Hurricanes used it four times.The Heat have used it in a couple of different ways. The first was naming Chris Lynn as an X-Factor when he was coming back from a hamstring injury, so he only had to field 10 overs and he made a valuable 30 off 16 to set up a win against the Thunder.They have also used Morne Morkel consistently to replace Xavier Bartlett after he bowls the first over of the match, giving the Heat five overs of bowling from the one position in the side with one over from a new-ball bowler who can swing it, in Bartlett, and four from a veteran, Morkel, who can hit hard lengths and bowl in the Surge and death overs.Morne Morkel has been used regularly as an X-Factor•Getty ImagesThe Hurricanes used a similar tactic of selecting a new-ball bowler, Nick Winter, to bowl the first over of the match before bringing in power-hitter Tim David at the 10-over mark. The Hurricanes were forced to adjust in one game when they batted first and were 0 for 91 against the Sixers, with Peter Handscomb volunteering to be subbed out for David.”I really loved the way Hobart used it with Nick Winter bowling with the new ball,” Woodhill said. “Or Jackson Bird bowling with the new ball. If it’s not working, bring in a spinner or utilise your allrounders, the way Hobart have brought in Tim David or Brisbane with James Bazley.”I think it will grow and there’s room to adjust the way it’s done as well. There’s no guarantee that it will stay in its current state. With three overseas players, we’ve seen the depth of the competition grow and with the X-factor as well it gives teams a chance to adjust after a toss which I think is important.”Teams were frustrated by the limiting nature of the X-Factor, with a decision only allowed to be made at the 10-over mark of the first innings. It clearly favoured the team that bowled first more so than the team that batted first and both Woodhill and BBL head Alistair Dobson have noted that the rule will likely evolve. But there is a keenness to ensure it doesn’t just become something that is used at the innings break so that both teams can play 12 and use their best 11 batsmen when batting and simply add an extra bowler when bowling and vice versa.The VerdictThe Power Surge was a clear success with positive reviews from coaches, players, broadcasters, and fans. It could fundamentally change the way T20s are played if it is adopted more widely. The Bash Boost and X-Factor in their current forms will certainly be reviewed by the League ahead of future tournaments.”I think the Power Surge has been an overwhelming success,” Woodhill said. “I know other leagues are already looking at it. The X-Factor is the one that obviously needs greater discussion and teams need longer to work out how best to utilise it, and then the Bash Boost point, that little peak there where teams have got in that ninth or tenth over where that strike-rate has dipped. That’s the challenge to increase that and if it means sacrificing some players around their batting, I reckon that’s what is needed.”

It’s the most acclaimed shot in the game, a marker for batting aesthetics – but who currently plays it best? Four members of our staff weigh in

19-May-2021Dhananjaya de Silva

It was day five of the 2019-20 Rawalpindi Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and I was hanging about pointlessly in the press box with our Sri Lanka correspondent, Andrew Fidel Fernando. Inclement weather meant there was no hope of an actual result. de Silva, who had come out to bat on the first day, was still out there, approaching a hundred. Andrew made an absurd suggestion. He said we should conduct a poll on ESPNcricinfo’s live report asking readers if they preferred Babar Azam’s cover drive or de Silva’s. I had never really believed Azam to have many serious rivals when it came to the elegance of cricket’s most celebrated shot – the full face of the bat, the connection with the middle, and the peacocking pose right after. I smiled politely, until I saw de Silva put Shaheen Afridi through cover.de Silva barely moved. The step forward was so short you could have missed it, with his whole body – arms aside – statuesque. There was no preening, no elaborate show of arrogance. It was as if he had played a beautiful shot simply because it was the efficient thing to do. I realised why I had never noticed it before, but now I was unlikely to forget it again.That was also one of the last times we were at a cricket venue with no apprehensions, people mixing in the press box, a full Rawalpindi crowd enjoying a day out. Weeks later, the world would change, international correspondents travelling to overseas games becoming all but impossible, and appreciative crowds locked out. But it wasn’t before I learned about a player who could execute the most venerated shot in the most unassuming way. Azam won that poll handsomely, but de Silva had earned an unlikely vote from me.James Vince: will turn you into an incoherent mess•Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesJames Vince

Great art is essentially pointless. That most puritanical of English run-makers, Graham Gooch, used to declare, “It’s not how, it’s how many”, and it was a mantra that his acolyte Alastair Cook took to heart throughout his pomp. If ever you caught Cook unfurling his clunky levers in a Test match, you could be sure he already had 150 on the board. Likewise, when Sachin Tendulkar was struggling with an elbow injury in Sydney in 2003-04, he shelved the cover drive entirely and cashed in on his reticence with a then-Test-best 241 not out.But great art also makes the soul sing. If life was meant to be a diet of clips and nudges off the pads, then James Vince’s Test average of 24.90 in 13 matches would be a signed-and-sealed statement of inadequacy. Instead, he possesses an off-side repertoire as creamy as a Persian cat’s whiskers in a vat of Belgian chocolate, and therefore remains the sultry bit on the side that the selectors can never dare to look fully in the eye, for fear that they will be seduced by his wiles all over again.Vince plays his cover drive like a cheat code in an old-school platform game – nail the shot once, and in an instant, time slows down and his lives stack up, and suddenly he is putting the Vince into invincible. Never was this better exemplified than on the opening day of the 2017-18 Ashes in Brisbane, when Vince – in at No. 3 in the third over of the series – strode to the pitch of his fourth ball, from Mitchell Starc, and crushed him imperiously to the rope. From that moment on, he was in… he was gone. Nothing could catch him, Aussies and team-mates alike, until a direct-hit run-out on 83 transformed the innings, the match… the series.It was a dream, of course. Vince, like David Gower before him, is rarely more than a dreamy waft of willow away from another snick into the cordon, and another “what if” to add to the annals. But few players dare to presume such mastery of such a capricious stroke. His career to date has been a thing of malfunctioning wonder.Babar Azam: attraction guaranteed•Getty ImagesBabar Azam

I’ll pick a favourite cover drive in a bit, but first I’m going to be jerk who complains about the parameters of the exercise. Because, man, is there a more basic cricketing exercise than slavering over cover drives? Whenever a batter plays even a half-decent shot through the covers, press boxes break out in soft moans, living rooms across the world ring with cries of “shot”, commentators swoon, and angels drop out of the sky. I don’t get it. I mean, it’s a pretty enough shot. But if you like languid minimalism you’d prefer a straight- or on-drive, right? If it’s impetuosity you’re after, the pull and the hook are there. Wrists? Try the flick. The late cut is more delicate, the scoop is more audacious, and the reverse sweep has a better name. And yet, so many players are judged on their cover drives, to the point where otherwise ordinary-looking batters are elevated to stylist status based solely on this shot. Why, though? We deserve better than a cover drive.If I absolutely have to pick a cover driver from among today’s purveyors, there is no looking beyond Babar Azam. Here’s a man who plays the shot like he was born into it; like it was preordained that he would shame this poor bowler through the covers with that utter disdain and remorselessness that flavours so much of his batting. And like many great players, Azam can hit the same ball through cover point one over, then wide of mid-on the next. He can blast it past extra cover on the up, or send an almost yorker whistling past the same fielder. In his best form, the details of the shot seem more dependent on his own mood than the physics of the ball delivered to him.Pretty much all his other shots are still more fun to watch, though.The foot doesn’t go to the pitch, the bat face opens: Meg Lanning’s cover drive is unique because it is non-cover-drive-y•Getty ImagesMeg Lanning

There are the beautiful cover drives and there are the utilitarian ones. Sometimes beauty and functionality coexist. In the world of Lanning, however, there’s only a passing nod to beauty; the focus is almost entirely on getting the ball where she needs it to be. And that holds a strange appeal.Most great cover drivers will move the front foot towards the ball and bring the bat down in the arc they want to follow to the end. The contrast between the controlled, minimal movement of the body and the legs, with the extravagance of bat flowing through a parabola and the ball racing along the turf is where the shot’s allure lies. But Lanning does not bother with all that.Oh no, she doesn’t do it ugly, but there is no real beauty about it, the sort that might make one go, “Shot, ma’am.” Her front leg goes kind of down the pitch, leaving her with a lot of space outside off to bring the bat down and manufacture her arc. The bat face often opens up at the last moment to give the ball direction, which means she can usually play that ball anywhere between mid-off and cover. Even if it is pitching outside off, she can as easily close the face of the bat and drive it down the ground. The contact is sweet most of the time, but the follow-through, again, is not on her list of priorities. It’s more like the crack of a whip.In the women’s game, I have heard a couple of women cricketers say, a lot more balls are pitched up near driving length than in men’s cricket. Whether that’s correct or not, the drive, down the ground or through the off side, has to be one of the go-to shots for all top batters, and it is. Mithali Raj plays a particularly gorgeous cover drive, and 10,000-plus runs suggests she finds the gap pretty often too. But it’s just another cover drive. With Lanning, it’s a little bit more. More Australian. More get-the-job-done. More… non-cover-drive-y, maybe? And, therefore, that much more remarkable.

The unlikely hero of the Kolkata Knight Riders first IPL title victory looks back on a magical night

As told to Shashank Kishore29-May-2021The 2012 final was everything an Indian domestic player who might not make it to the national team could want – a big stage, a capacity crowd, the thirst to win a title and prove a point, to yourself if not to everyone.My position in the XI wasn’t a given. I’d played on and off until that point, so my only aim was to soak in every aspect of our training, fitness drills, meetings, and team activities for one last time. It was my wife’s birthday, and if we won, it would’ve been the perfect birthday gift for her.Related

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I didn’t have much hope of playing in the final. I’d been batting well but was left out mid-season after being unable to convert starts. Brendon McCullum and Gautam Gambhir formed a formidable combination at the top, so I knew I had to wait for my chances. When I got left out, I remember Brendon putting his arm around me and telling me to believe in myself. He said, “You’re a match-winner. The big knock isn’t far away. No matter what others say, until you believe, you can’t feel better. You’re batting beautifully, we all can see that, and when you get a chance, you’ll smash it.” Those words gave me a massive lift.The afternoon of the final, after lunch we were all called for a team meeting. L Balaji had injured himself during the playoffs and was ruled out, so there had to be a forced change. Gautam announced I’d be part of the XI, in place of Balaji. It meant Brendon had to miss out. But no sooner was my name announced than he came up to me and gave me a big hug and wished me well. I’ll always remember that gesture.Bisla hit five sixes in the final, three of them off R Ashwin•Associated PressThat team meeting was extra special, because the Kolkata Knight Riders management played video messages from all our families. You could see a lot of the players in tears – it meant a great deal to them that the franchise cared for human emotions. It felt amazing seeing my parents wish me on a giant screen, and then everyone around me applauding because I was going to be getting another opportunity.As a captain, Gautam was fiercely protective of his players. He was like an older brother. Win or lose, he needed to just see focus and intensity. Even when I wasn’t converting starts, he was never short of encouraging words if he saw the effort. So chats with him at different times during the competition gave me the reinforcement that I was very much valued. Vijay Dahiya, our assistant coach, was also a great motivator. These two made it easy for me to deal with both success and failure.I opened the batting. We were chasing 190 and Gautam was out in the first over. For a change, I didn’t feel the pressure. Sunil Narine, who was our bowling trump card, had been picked quite easily by the Chennai Super Kings batters. There wasn’t much turn, and I knew this wasn’t a typical Chepauk surface. So I just told myself: “Here’s your platform, everyone’s watching. Make it a night to remember.” Jacques Kallis was batting at the other end, and he emphasised the importance of playing for short targets.As I started getting into my innings, I entered a zone I find hard to recall even today. Even if there was some friendly banter around me, I can’t remember what was said because I was completely focused on the job at hand. It was so hot; I was sweating buckets and was trying to conserve as much energy as I could in between.Bisla on KKR’s homecoming: “There were 80,000 people waiting to get a glimpse of us at Eden Gardens. I didn’t think a franchise team would get that kind of love”•Aijaz Rahi/Associated PressThe one shot I remember clearly is a lofted inside-out hit for six off R Ashwin. It’s a shot I can still replay in my mind. Ash was at the peak of his white-ball powers and clever in the way he varied his lengths. So to outfox him by playing that shot was mighty special.I wanted to see the team home but got out with us needing 50-odd. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and the disappointment of not seeing the team over the line pricked me. I didn’t even take off my pads until the winning runs were hit. The next 30 minutes after I got out seemed rather long, but when Manoj Tiwary hit the winning runs, I can’t remember the next few seconds. We’d won, it was mayhem in the dressing room. Shah Rukh Khan, the team owner, was dancing in the stands.We stayed in the dressing room for a good two or three hours after the game, dancing with SRK, singing and celebrating the win. We cherished a hard-fought campaign. I was on a call with my parents when SRK asked if he could talk to them, and he spoke so glowingly about me. That was another special memory. It was also a perfect gift for my wife.The next day we were on a flight to Kolkata. I had seen how people had danced on Marine Drive after India won the 2011 World Cup final. This felt similarly incredible. The roads were filled with people, Eden Gardens was decked up, and there were nearly 80,000 people wanting to get a glimpse of us. I didn’t think a city-based franchise team would get that kind of love. It was magical.

After long wait for a go, batter follows up Test success with match-winning hand at Taunton

Valkerie Baynes01-Jul-2021Having waited a long time for a chance to cement a place in England’s batting line-up, Sophia Dunkley’s successful rescue mission against India on Wednesday in her maiden ODI innings bodes well for the future.With England stumbling to 92 for 4 in pursuit of what had appeared a comfortable target of 222 in Taunton to win the second ODI and take a 6-2 lead in the multi-format series, Dunkley’s 73 not out hauled England out of trouble and her unbroken stand of 92 with Katherine Brunt for the sixth wicket saw them to victory.Dunkley put on a semi-steadying partnership of 41 for the fifth-wicket with Amy Jones and, once Jones departed, Dunkley and Brunt guided England to safety.Let off on 23 with England 144 for 5 when her slash through point off Jhulan Goswami sailed through the hands of a leaping substitute fielder, Radha Yadav, Dunkley kept a cool head, rotating the strike and exuding confidence.She reached her fifty off 62 balls, including four fours and a commanding six off Shikha Pandey over long-on. She picked another four off Goswami, smacked through midwicket, and watched as Brunt struck the winning runs, a four off Deepti Sharma midway through the 48th over.Related

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Kate Cross, whose five-wicket haul had contained India to what looked like a below-par total of 221 from exactly 50 overs, said their partnership was a joy to watch.”I was a bit nervous when we still needed 120-odd to win, however I thought it was amazing to see the likes of Sophia Dunkley and Brunty – a girl who’s not batted in ODI cricket, and a girl who’s batted a lot in ODI cricket – put us over the line,” Cross said.”I thought it was an incredible partnership and it just looked so calm. When they’re calm, I’m not nervous anymore so it was good.”There were a few nerves around, I think the girls that were padded up were a bit nervous to go in, but I think it was just good to show the depth that we’ve got in the batting line-up and that we’re not just reliant on our top four to be scoring the runs all the time.”It is four months since Dunkley spoke during the tour of New Zealand of her desire to make an England team place her own. Having played 10 T20Is during 2018-19, including five T20 World Cup matches, she spent the next 18 months on the sidelines of selection.Recalled for last summer’s five-match T20I series against West Indies, she was unable to make an impression in her two innings. Overlooked for the ODI leg of the New Zealand tour in February and March, she played all three T20Is, but was only required at the crease twice for scores of 0 not out and 26.A century and a 92 across the first three rounds of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy saw her called into England’s squads for the Test and ODI legs against India, complete with an England central contract for this year.She scored an unbeaten 74 when she became the first black woman to play Test cricket for England in the drawn Test which kicked off the series. Then, after not being required to bat in the first ODI in Bristol, she produced a stellar performance when her side needed it most in Taunton after Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver all fell cheaply.Opener Lauren Winfield-Hill, the last debutant to pass 100 career runs in either ODI or T20I cricket for England, scored 42 but it was the record stand between Dunkley and Brunt that secured victory for the home side.Dunkley had worked hard in the field too, her wonderful athleticism called upon time and again, the ball seeming to find her in the deep with uncanny regularity during the India innings.She took a catch at deep midwicket to give Cross her fourth scalp, that of Sharma for 5, and ran out Mithali Raj, the India captain, for 59 with a throw from deep square-leg. It might be a job to shift her from the side if she can keep those performances up.

In our first batch of report cards for 2021: New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, and women’s cricket

29-Dec-2021

New Zealand

by Deivarayan Muthu
It was a banner year for New Zealand. After becoming the No. 1 ODI team, they won the inaugural World Test Championship final and then reached their first T20 World Cup final.They won each of the three ODIs they played in 2021 despite the injury-enforced absence of regular captain Kane Williamson. In some major changes, BJ Watling retired from Test cricket and Ross Taylor was dropped from the T20I set-up. A number players, though, emerged from the fringes and played vital roles for the side across formats, including Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Will Young, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra.Like Williamson, Lockie Ferguson, their premier fast bowler in white-ball cricket, was unavailable at various points because of injury, but New Zealand still found a way to succeed thanks to their enviable depth. Their second-string T20I side even tested a full-strength Bangladesh away.Once New Zealand returned to full strength, they adapted smartly to conditions in the UAE and progressed to the T20 World Cup final from a group that included Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. The final, however, didn’t go according to plan, nor did the India tour that followed immediately.High point
New Zealand emerged winners of the inaugural WTC, two years after losing the ODI World Cup . It was quite fitting that the old firm of Williamson and Taylor sealed victory in fiendishly difficult conditions for batting in Southampton after Kyle Jamieson, the newbie in the attack, set it up beautifully with his swing, seam, and bounce.Low point
While left-arm fingerspinner Ajaz Patel made history by becoming only the third bowler to bag all ten wickets in a Test innings, in Mumbai, the rest of the line-up fell away so badly that New Zealand’s ten-match unbeaten streak was snapped. They began the year as the top-ranked Test side and slipped to No. 2 by the end of it after losing 1-0 in India.Results
Tests: P6 W3 L1 D2
ODIs: P3 W3 L0
T20Is: P23 W13 L10Pakistan had an unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup till Australia stopped them short in the semis•Michael Steele/ICC/Getty Images

Pakistan

by Danyal Rasool
Pakistan cricket truly put its followers through the wringer of stratospheric highs and sub-zero depths in 2021. The bottom line will tell you this side, led by Babar Azam, won a lot more than they lost, and look like a team reinvigorated.T20I success headlined the narrative, with home and away wins over South Africa, a delightfully dominant T20 World Cup campaign, and a clean sweep of West Indies to finish the year. A home Test series win over South Africa was perhaps the red-ball highlight, a heartening point being Hasan Ali’s return to form in Tests. After Shaheen Afridi, Hasan has the most Test wickets for Pakistan this year. Pakistan are currently sitting pretty in the top two of the World Test Championship table.All wasn’t rosy, though. A third-string England side clean-swept Pakistan in an ODI series in July, and Zimbabwe embarrassingly skittled them for 99 in a chase of 119.In an administrative shake-up, Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan were replaced as chairman and CEO by Ramiz Raja and Faisal Hasnain, in what still feels like a makeshift, experimental set-up. Head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis, too, departed in somewhat contentious circumstances, and are yet to be replaced full-time.Most devastatingly of all, the year showed the “;Western bloc”, as Ramiz put it, remains far from convinced Pakistan is a safe place to visit. First, New Zealand withdrew from a series minutes before the start of the first game, citing unspecified security concerns, before England plunged the knife in further by refusing to repay Pakistan’s favour of a tour in uncertain Covid times in 2020, pulling out of their men’s and women’s tours.High point
A ten-wicket thumping of India in the sides’ opening match at the T20 World Cup. Pakistan marched to the semi-finals unbeaten, where…Low point
… they ran into another of their old foes, Australia, who kept intact their hold over Pakistan in ICC knockout events, sealing a sensational heist with six balls to spare.Results
Tests: P9 W7 L2
ODIs: P6 W2 L4
T20Is: P29 W20 L6 NR3Dimuth Karunaratne’s 244 against Bangladesh was the highest individual Test score of the year•AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka

By Andrew Fidel Fernando
If you’re an optimist, 2021was a year of regeneration for Sri Lanka’s top men’s team. In T20Is, the year saw the full blossoming of Wanindu Hasaranga – currently the top T20I bowler in the world – the re-emergence of fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera, and the arrival of top-order batter Charith Asalanka. In Tests, Pathum Nissanka made a relatively smooth transition to batting at the top level; left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama, and offspinning allrounder Ramesh Mendis began with promise; and the senior batters moved up a gear too. Dimuth Karunaratne can perhaps now be regarded one of the best openers of his era (however thin that field may be), and Lahiru Thirimanne and Dhananjaya de Silva also averaged more than 50 for the year.But here’s the pessimists’ view: many of these gains are fragile. Although the rise of fresh talent was heartening, Sri Lanka’s win-loss record in the limited-overs formats, particularly ODIs, remains woeful. This though they have increasingly become a side against whom top sides rest their front-line players. They turned heads in the T20 World Cup, sure, but didn’t make a serious semi-finals charge. And for all the experience in that Test top order, it produced some of the most tragicomic collapses of the year.Sri Lanka head into 2022 without coaching staff, with SLC’s technical advisory committee, headed by Aravinda de Silva, seemingly intent on installing new coaches. Will the new set-up be able to build on 2021’s gains?High point
The victories over Bangladesh and West Indies in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup, plus competitive outings against South Africa and England.Low point
The unfathomably meek collapses against England, in the Test series in January.Results
Tests: P9 W3 L3 D3
ODIs: P15 W4 L10 NR1
T20Is: P20 W8 L12None of West Indies’ T20 heavyweights stepped up at the T20 World Cup and the team crashed out early•ICC via Getty

West Indies

by Nagraj Gollapudi
Hope and despair. The West Indies fan knows these two contrasting emotions better than anybody.The year started full of hope, when the debutant pair of Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner stitched together a record partnership to mow down a large target set by Bangladesh and help West Indies to a 2-0 win – their first overseas series win since late 2017. By June the excitement had evaporated as West Indies were blanked out 2-0 by South Africa in a home Test series. The Test team would finish the year with another 2-0 defeat, this time in Sri Lanka.Their fortunes were similar in white-ball cricket. In April, Kieron Pollard’s team shook Australia with a 4-1 T20I series win at home. On September 9, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum warned in a tweet that West Indies, the defending champions, had a “seriously strong squad” for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. But the team came a cropper, crashing out of the tournament in the group phase. All the big names, including Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran failed spectacularly. Pollard conceded it was the “end of a generation”.High point
In February in Chattogram, Mayers and Bonner’s fourth-wicket stand of 210 runs helped a second-string West Indies side surpass a record 395-run target against Bangladesh. It was the fifth-highest chase in Test cricket history. Their 4-1 defeat of Australia in T20Is in July was their first limited-overs series win against Australia at home since 1995.Low point
Fifty five. The third-lowest total in men’s T20 World Cups, and the score Pollard’s team was skittled for against England in the 2021 edition in Dubai.Results
Tests: P10 W3 L5 D2
ODIs: P9 W4 L5
T20Is: P25 W9 L13 NR3Oval Invincibles, led by South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, were the inaugural champions of the Women’s Hundred•Getty Images

Women

by Annesha Ghosh
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.Women’s cricket oscillated between extremes in 2021. The inaugural Hundred was the headline act. Breaking new ground in the UK, the success of the women’s competition surpassed that of its men’s counterpart, reaching new audiences and belatedly forcing a review of the female competitors’ pay.In Australia, the WBBL got a record crowd for its final, and a record overall broadcast audience, which vindicated Cricket Australia’s decision to make every game available on television for the first time in the competition’s seven-year history. The tournament featured its largest Indian contingent, although it was the South Africans who played starring roles in the knockouts, like they did in the Hundred.Australia’s world-record unbeaten streak in ODIs was finally snapped at 26 in September by India in a record chase, two days after they went down in the thriller of the year.India’s wild swings in fortune weren’t all on the field. Runners-up at the 2020 T20 World Cup, they suffered a full year of inactivity and waited over 14 months to lay their hands on the prize money from the tournament. Then, having not played Tests for seven years, they suddenly had two scheduled for 2021, including their first pink-ball Test, which inspired hopes that more teams beyond England and Australia would embrace the multi-format structure in bilaterals.The ICC, for its part, granted Test and ODI status to women’s teams of all Full Member countries and pledged to place the women’s game at the centre of its global growth strategy.Standout individual feats included Sophia Dunkley becoming the first black woman to play Test cricket for England, West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor becoming the youngest to make 8000 international runs, India captain Mithali Raj reaching the top of the run charts in the women’s international game, Ireland’s Amy Hunter breaking the record for the youngest player to make a senior international century, and Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry becoming the first woman to the double of 5000 runs and 300 wickets.Towards the close of the year, the game lost one of its pioneers, former England allrounder Eileen Ash, who died at 110.High point
The ICC replaced the word “batsman” with the gender-neutral “batter” in all its playing conditions, during the men’s T20 World Cup in October-November. The move, described by the governing body as a “natural and overdue evolution” in the sport, followed the MCC’s amendments regarding the term in the Laws of Cricket, aimed at recognising cricket as “a game for all”.Low point
The cancellation of the ODI World Cup Qualifier in November-December. Sri Lanka had played no cricket between March 2020 and the qualifying event, and it cost them dearly after team standings came into play to determine the final three entrants to the 2022 World Cup. Thailand, meanwhile, got a raw deal despite being a frontrunner for a top-five finish in the qualifier, which would have ensured their inclusion in the next Women’s ODI Championship cycle.Ireland made an early exit from the T20 World Cup after losing two of three games, against Namibia and Sri Lanka•Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

Ireland

by Peter Della Penna
After a mostly charmed decade in the 2010s, the start of the 2020s has not been too kind to Ireland. Though they gained Test status in 2017, they have not played a match in the format since 2019, leaving many people within the Irish set-up wondering when another will happen.They did not exactly cover themselves in glory in the limited-overs formats in 2021. The year started off with Ireland losing an ODI to the UAE, and later in January, losing 3-0 in ODIs against Afghanistan. That result was not entirely surprising considering Ireland’s historic woes against Afghanistan ever since Rashid Khan made his debut. However, losing two out of three Super League ODIs to Netherlands in Utrecht in July was a jarring result. They bounced back somewhat to claim 15 out of a possible 30 points (ten from a win and five for a no result) in each of their home ODI series later in the summer against South Africa and Zimbabwe.Ireland’s T20I form was arguably worse. In a case of near déjà vu, they lost two of three T20Is to the UAE in the weeks prior to the start of the T20 World Cup. So losing two out of three in the opening round – to Sri Lanka and Namibia – should not have been altogether shocking. Despite the gradual expansion of the second-round format from Super Eights, to Super 10s and currently Super 12s, Ireland have not advanced to the second round of the T20 World Cup since 2009. In the recriminations that followed, head coach Graham Ford resigned, bringing an end to a tenure that started in 2017.High point
Beating South Africa for the first time ever in ODIs: a century by captain Andy Balbirnie propelled Ireland to a 43-run win in Malahide on July 13.Low point
Stumbling badly against Namibia in a win-or-go home encounter on the final day of Group A play in Sharjah to bow out of the T20 World Cup before the second phase had begun.Results
ODIs: P14 W4 L8 NR2
T20Is: P14 W5 L9Stats current as of December 18, 2021More in our look back at 2021

After England captain’s dismissal to the final ball of the fourth day’s play, the visitors brace for the end of any realistic Ashes challenge

Andrew Miller19-Dec-2021How do you like your metaphors? As literal as they come, please.Very well then. The dismissal of England’s captain, Joe Root, to the final ball of the fourth day’s play at Adelaide was the ultimate kick in the balls for a team that was already hurting and humiliated, but is now increasingly resigned to being a laughing stock as it braces for the end of any realistic Ashes challenge.Blows to the “abdomen”, as the ECB euphemistically described Root’s discomfort in the nets before play, are invariably amusing to everyone except the recipient – just ask Alastair Cook, as did during their dinner-break studio discussion, recalling the incident at Cardiff in 2015, in which Root himself had been the giggling onlooker as Cook succumbed to an awkward bounce in the slip cordon. Karma is clearly a dish best served cold.Double such blows, however, in the manner of Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake in , are invariably side-splittingly hilarious – not least because, in this case, the ultimate punchline was still to come, courtesy of Mitchell Starc, Australia’s plum-squelcher-in-chief, who hounded Root from around the wicket to the bitter end of a bitter day.Even England’s bowling coach, Jon Lewis, found himself suppressing a smirk as he fielded enquiries about the captain’s lower reaches – “I’ve not inspected it myself,” he stated. And yet, there’s no question that the transience of Root’s physical pain will be nothing compared to the mental anguish he will be feeling at the close of another shattering day.Ouch!•Getty ImagesThis Ashes campaign will define his legacy as captain, Root had admitted before the series got underway. Unfortunately, Daniel Kalisz’s perfectly timed photo of Starc’s late-evening nutcracker may end up framing that definition – much like Mike Gatting’s mashed nose epitomises England’s 5-0 blackwash in 1985-86, or David “Biggles” Gower in his Tiger Moth is an enduring shorthand for the chaos of the 1990-91 Ashes tour. At least Tim Paine might breathe a sigh of relief. There’s a brand-new captain’s d***pic dominating the series narrative.”There was a lot of sympathy,” Travis Head insisted at the close, although the stump mic revealed there had been an understandable amount of mirth too, including a suggestion about using “the whole frozen veg section on it, maybe?””We got told to give him some space so we kept well away,” Head added. “Obviously he went through some trouble this morning, and Starc-y on that line is never pretty. Unfortunately with the day that he’s had, it wasn’t a great time to get hit.”It wasn’t just Australia in on the act though. Ben Stokes was seen wincing in faux-solidarity as he joked with Nathan Lyon at the non-striker’s end, perhaps reminiscing about his own moment of misfortune at Lord’s in the 2019 Ashes, when he memorably announced live on air that he had been hit “right in the d***” by Josh Hazlewood. You see, it’s never not funny.But Root must be wondering what on earth he’s done to displease “Mother Cricket” (whom Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s former coach, was often fond of claiming would “bite you on the backside” – a target area that might actually have been preferable). For this isn’t the first time that his best efforts have been overwhelmed by off-field circumstances on an Ashes campaign.Root giggles as Cook lies on the ground after being hit in the groin at Cardiff in 2015•Getty ImagesFour years ago, a bout of gastroenteritis floored Root mid-rearguard at Sydney, and left him incapacitated at the end-of-series presentations, after he had managed to emerge from his sick-bed to produce one final, futile half-century. Now this incident is similarly muscling Root’s most valiant endeavours to one side, because the extent of his discomfort was plain as day even before Starc’s agonising final flourishes.Root returned to the field midway through the afternoon session, having been sent for a scan – which in itself was an indication of quite how awful that initial, box-less, hit must have been. Cue endless WhatsApp gags about checking to see if “English cricket has any balls”, but it took plenty for him to front up at any stage, let alone to play a full role with both ball and bat.Despite waddling around the outfield like a saddle-sore cowboy, Root was soon fronting back up as England’s senior spinner, bumping Ollie Robinson’s optimistic offbreaks back down the pecking order to help pick off Australia’s tail, and even ended the day with more Test wickets in 2021 than Stuart Broad (14 to 12 is the current tally). Then, as England’s innings began to take a familiar turn, he emerged after tea into the full glare of Adelaide’s floodlights for precisely the sort of examination that is becoming the stuff of pink-ball cliché, and which a lesser player might have preferred to duck in the circumstances.”Joe’s a strong leader in this group, and he showed a hell of a lot of character to get out there and fight, because I know he was pretty sore,” Lewis said. “Once he got hit again, he could have easily walked off and a nightwatchman could have come in. But that’s the character of the man, and what it means to him to be England captain. He showed how hard he wants to fight for the team, and how hard we’re prepared to fight to get back in this game.”Not only Root is the leading run scorer this year, he now also has more Test wickets than Stuart Broad in 2021•Getty ImagesAnd yet, the subtext of Root’s re-emergence and endurance to the close, is that that none of England’s remaining batters – beyond his not-out partner Stokes – could be trusted to guide the team’s fortunes through such an inescapably critical passage of play.It’s not a difficult conclusion to draw, given how the stats stack up with a maximum of two innings remaining in 2021 for England’s incumbent top four. With 1630 runs, Root tops the charts by a preposterous 1100, with an average (62.69) more than 20 points clear of the next-best in show, Malan (42.00). Of those who’ve featured in even half of Root’s 14 Tests, the put-upon Rory Burns remains the best of the rest, having improved his own average to 27.89 with today’s doughty but ultimately insubstantial 34.The injustice must sting like … well, you can fill the blanks as you please. For, even in light of this desperate disappointment, Root still managed to pick up 86 more runs at Adelaide, to go with his 89 at the Gabba – a Test that was launched with his first and only duck of the year (his team-mates, incidentally, have contributed 49 between them).Given a fair wind, and a few days of recuperation, it’s still not inconceivable that Root could find 159 runs in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne and go past Mohammad Yousuf’s record tally of runs in a calendar year (although knowing his current luck, he’d doubtless achieve it while still failing to reach that missing hundred).But is there any hope of him finding a team that can rise to the standards that he’s strained to achieve all year? It seems virtually inconceivable. England have already lost seven of their last 10 Tests, in spite of his world-beating purple patch, and without him on deck to guide their final-day fortunes at Adelaide, it’s surely asking too much even of their remaining miracle-worker Stokes to marshal such a bereft middle order.Related

Australia in total control with last-ball Root wicket

Marcus Harris' unconvincing start unlikely to affect his place in the XI

The opening act: Rory Burns is off, way off

“What you’ve got to believe is that the rest of the guys are going to fight as hard as he was, and try their best to survive the day tomorrow, to get ourselves out of this game and draw,” Lewis said.”We know it’s a big ask for us. However, we’re definitely going to put in the effort to fight for what we believe. You’ve seen it before. Ben’s done some really special things in an England shirt, and he will be fighting as hard as he possibly can. Tomorrow, we’ve got a chance to go and show what we can do.”Today, however, England as a collective finished well short of any sort of serviceable position, for the seventh day out of eight in the series. And Root, as an individual, finished with crown jewels on ice and his most treasured ambition all but unmentionable. Australia has always been a tough place to tour, but rarely has it seemed so cruel.

The most-read articles on ESPNcricinfo and the Cricket Monthly in 2021

31-Dec-2021Cricket MonthlyNews1. IPL retention rules: old teams can keep four players ahead of 2022 auction, three early picks for new teams2. R Ashwin: ‘I didn’t know the ball hit Rishabh, but I’d run even if I did’3. Virat Kohli: India were not ‘brave enough with bat or ball’ against New Zealand4. ‘I am not a racist’ – Quinton de Kock apologises, will take the knee5. Boult: ‘Hopefully I can mirror what Shaheen did to India the other night’6. Kohli backs Shami after social media abuse: ‘Attacking someone over religion is the most pathetic thing’7. IPL 2021 postponed as Covid-19 count increases8. Crowd trouble mars Pakistan-Afghanistan clash as ‘thousands’ of ticketless fans attempt to force entry9. IPL 2021 auction: The list of sold and unsold players10. FAQ: All you wanted to know about the T20 World Cup 2021Shaheen Shah Afridi produced some of the best spells of the year – and inspired some of the best writing•Getty ImagesFeatures1. Avesh Khan wants to be a bowler who can produce what his captain wants
By Nagraj Gollapudi2. The only T20 World Cup preview you need to read
By Andrew Fidel Fernando3. Which team has won the most matches in men’s T20 World Cups?
By Gaurav Sundararaman and Sreshth Shah4. ‘I was wasted, but in a good way’ – Why Moeen Ali felt it was time to retire from Test cricket
By George Dobell5. Are you a T20 opener facing Shaheen Afridi? Be afraid, be very afraid
By Osman Samiuddin6. Lessons from the IPL – how will the UAE pitches play out at the T20 World Cup?
By Gaurav Sundararaman7. ECB’s hypocrisy and double-standards could fast lose them friends
By George Dobell8. Chris Jordan: ‘I try to judge myself on execution, whether I go for a boundary or take a wicket’
By Matt Roller9. Who is Venkatesh Iyer, KKR’s latest debutant?
By Shashank Kishore10. Calling it like Kohli: When India needed their captain to stand up, he stood tall
By Sidharth MongaR Ashwin took no prisoners in his interview with the Cricket Monthly•AFP via Getty ImagesThe Cricket Monthly1. R Ashwin: ‘I’ve always been good at assessing batsmen, but now I think I’ve taken it to another level’
By Sidharth Monga2. India’s 2011 World Cup win: ‘I wanted to hug him and hit him at the same time till he confirmed we’d won the World Cup’
By Hemant Brar3. How did India build their world-beating bench strength? They have a system
By Sidharth Monga4. Ten ways T20 has changed since the last World Cup
By Sidharth Monga, Shiva Jayaraman and Girish TS5. Pat Cummins: ‘Once we knew Virat was going to miss the last three Tests, Pujara was the big wicket for me’
By Daniel Brettig6. Hardik Pandya: ‘When I am on the ground, I believe nothing’s impossible. I don’t feel fear’
By Nagraj Gollapudi7. India. Australia. Chennai. 2001
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan8. Remember the game: the last six balls of the 2016 T20 World Cup relived
By Siddhartha Vaidyanathan9. This is us: New Zealand’s climb to the top
By Andrew Fidel Fernando10. Rashid Khan: ‘You can get form back, but once you lose respect, it’s hard to get that back’
By Nagraj GollapudiMore in our look back at 2021

They may not force their way in this season against England but opportunity could come next year

Andrew McGlashan19-Nov-2021

Henry Hunt

The South Australia opener has made a big impression over the last two seasons to vault himself into national consideration at the age of 24. He scored his maiden century in his fourth first-class match in 2019 and this season he has made two hundreds, including a superb 134 against Tasmania in bowler-dominated conditions out of a total of 220. It matches the two he made last summer when he was the standout performer in another poor season for South Australia and the four centuries have come in his last 13 first-class innings.”I think Henry’s form over the last couple of weeks has been fantastic, but in many respects it’s backed up what we’ve been seeing from him,” national selector George Bailey said. “He’s well organised, his game’s in really good order, he’s got a lot of fight in the way he goes about it, he’s determined and he’s a gun fielder.Related

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Bryce Street

The left hander has made a name for himself at the top of Queensland’s order with his stickability at the crease but this season he has also worked on expanding his stroke range as witness during his century against Tasmania which included the first sixes of his first-class career. Three of his four hundreds have come from more than 300 deliveries while the other took 281. He also stood up to New South Wales’ Test-strength attack in last season’s Sheffield Shield final with 46 off 203 deliveries which allowed Marnus Labuschagne to take charge. In recent weeks his form has tailed a little – a top score of 23 in his last five innings – but Street’s qualities remain sought-after in this era.”For a young guy, Streety is bloody difficult to dismiss and that’s a great trait as an opening batsman,” Bailey said. “And the flow-on benefits of how hard it is to get him out is that his teammates are often the beneficiaries of his hard work, so we love the determination, we love the grit he brings.”Which of Nic Maddinson, Bryce Street, Matt Renshaw and Henry Hunt could break into the Test side?•Getty Images

Matt Renshaw

Renshaw made a terrific start to his Test career including a big century against Pakistan at the SCG in 2017, but has not played since being hastily called into the Johannesburg Test in early 2018 following the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal. He was in line to play against Pakistan in the UAE but suffered a concussion. A difficult couple of seasons followed and he was dropped from the Queensland side then took a break from the game. He has returned and reinvented himself into a middle-order batter with considerable success averaging 55.92 since the start of last season. The selectors have an eye on his skill against spin with the subcontinent tours scheduled for next year.”I think he’s worked his way really nicely into the start of this season, he looks really at home in that number five role and he’s an excellent player of spin,” Bailey said.However, speaking this week, former captain Steve Waugh said he thought Renshaw should return as an opening batter. “I don’t know why he is batting in the lower order because he did a great job for Australia opening He’s got a good technique but for some reason he is not the flavour of the day. But I thought he made an amazing Test debut under lights in Adelaide in difficult conditions. He scored slowly but survived. He hasn’t got the credits he deserves while playing. I wouldn’t rule him out.”

Nic Maddinson

Maddinson’s career has been rejuvenated by his move to Victoria where he has averaged 63.41 to put himself firmly in the frame for a Test recall having struggled during his first opportunity in 2016 (he made his debut in the same match as Renshaw). He was the closest of the Australia A group of batters to earning a place in the main squad. Chris Rogers, the Victoria coach, has spoken of the maturity Maddinson has brought to his game on and off the field, something further emphasised by his recent promotion to captain of Melbourne Renegades in the BBL. His innings of 87 against New South Wales earlier this season came in for significant acclaim in a match where few other batters could score as freely and he followed that with a century at the MCG. He has been troubled by the short ball during his career but has worked on that aspect of his game.”It’s one of those things, you get to the second half of your career and you start to probably look at things differently,” Rogers said this week. “You think more about your game, how you’re structuring your innings, all those kind of things. You probably balance your personal life out a bit as well. He just seems really calm, that’s the thing that stands out for me. From the innings I’ve seen this year he’s been completely calm from ball one, and he’s looked like a senior player, an old pro, and that doesn’t come easily.”