All posts by csb10.top

Alex Hales’ strained relationship with Ben Stokes will not throw England off course in their bid to win the T20 World Cup in Australia, according to Matthew Mott.Hales and Stokes were involved in the infamous brawl outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that saw Stokes charged with affray – he denied the charge and was found not guilty – and both players handed backdated bans and fines by the Cricket Disciplinary Commission.In his recently-released documentary, , Stokes refers to “my friend at the time, Alex” when addressing the incident and did not answer questions about Hales during interviews about the film.Stokes, who has been rested for England’s seven-match T20 international tour of Pakistan after a busy summer captaining the Test side, was tight-lipped when asked about his relationship with Hales and whether they had spoken recently earlier this month, saying only: “We’ve both got the same goal: to win World Cups.”Mott, England’s white-ball head coach, had not worked with Hales before his recall as an injury replacement for Jonny Bairstow for trips to Pakistan and Australia, and said that he had no concerns about the potential for friction within the squad.”They might not be best mates and that’s OK,” Mott said. “I’m sure you work with colleagues all the time who aren’t your best mate but you can work with them if you’ve got a common goal.”Ben’s come out and stated that as well. He wants to win World Cups. I’m sure Alex does as well and we all do, so we try and pick the best players and if they end up becoming good mates again that’s great; if not, as long as they’re going towards that goal of winning the World Cup together then that’s how teams function.”Related

• 'Adaptable' Sam Curran embraces multi-purpose role at England with 'open mind'

• Why Alex Hales' England return could define Jos Buttler's captaincy

• Jos Buttler on Alex Hales' England comeback: 'No one had any issues'

• Alex Hales: 'I thought my chance would never come again'

Hales himself did not specifically address his relationship with Stokes when speaking in Karachi on Friday but was keen to insist that he was “only looking to the future” rather than dwelling on the chain of events that led to his three-year exile from international cricket.Mott also revealed that he considered “the key phone call” involved in Hales’ recall to be one he made to Trevor Bayliss. Jos Buttler made several calls to senior players after Bairstow’s injury came to light but Mott decided he should also speak to the man who was England’s coach at the time of Hales’ last-minute omission from the 2019 50-over World Cup squad after news emerged of a second failed recreational drugs test.”I rang Trevor Bayliss around the time we were considering it and asked if he had any views,” Mott said. “Obviously he was coach at the time and has worked with him at Sydney Thunder. He said he’s had absolutely no problem with him at all, he’s made mistakes but he’s trying to get better.”For me, that’s it. Nobody’s perfect – I’m certainly not – but if he’s trying to get better and he’s the best player, then we can work around it.”Like Jos said, we asked the senior players whether they had an issue. It was well before my time, so one of the things I said was ‘mate, you start with a blank canvas’. He’s been contrite and has shown he’s trying to learn from his experiences.”

The Yorkshire racism hearings are set to be held in public later this month, after the Cricket Discipline Commission agreed to Azeem Rafiq’s request for greater transparency in the process.The move comes in the wake of an initial two-day hearing in October, with Tim O’Gorman, the chair of the CDC, confirming on Wednesday that an exception to the body’s usual protocols would be permitted, given the significant public interest the case has generated.The ECB is understood to have argued against the move, given that much of its evidence was gathered on the understanding of anonymity and may now be inadmissible. However, their submissions were over-ruled, with the hearing now expected to get underway on November 28.Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, is among the seven ex-Yorkshire players who were charged by the CDC in June, following Rafiq’s claims that he had said there are “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” ahead of a T20 match in 2009.Vaughan had steadfastly denied the claims, with the Telegraph, the newspaper for which he is a columnist, reporting that he is “happy for the proceedings to be held in public and will appear in person to defend himself”.Responding to the news in a statement on Twitter, Rafiq wrote: “I’m pleased the CDC has agreed that this is too important an issue to be held behind closed doors. It is something I have made very clear from the offset [and] throughout to the ECB. Such openness is vital if the sport is to learn from previous mistakes and root out institutional racism. I believe this decision is in the best interests of cricket and I confirm that I will give evidence at the hearing.”One of the key witnesses is likely to be Adil Rashid, the England legspinner who was also playing in that 2009 match and has since corroborated Rafiq’s version of events. He is expected to be playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament from November 23-December 4, but as an ECB contracted player is likely to come under pressure to make an appearance.Other implicated players include the former England players Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan and Gary Ballance, as well as the former Yorkshire captain and coach, Andrew Gale, who has since declared the process to be a “witch-hunt” and has insisted he will take no part in the proceedings.A follow-up to the parliamentary hearings in which Rafiq made many of his claims is set to be held on December 13, with the DCMS select committee announcing it will hold a fresh evidence session to examine cricket’s response to the crisis.

Ashleigh Gardner put in another all-round display while Grace Harris continued with her big-hitting heroics as Australia thumped India by 54 runs to seal a 4-1 series win at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday.After Gardner and Harris propelled Australia to 196 for 4 – the highest total in this series – India’s batting line-up crumbled for 142, as Heather Graham claimed a hat-trick in just her third T20I for Australia.Deepti Sharma hit a half-century to take India to a respectable total at a time when a more embarrassing defeat looked to be on the cards.Gardner, Harris onslaught
India started well with the ball, getting both openers out in a powerplay that also saw Renuka Singh bowl a maiden over to Australia’s stand-in captain, Tahlia McGrath. McGrath, however, came back strong and helped Australia kick on, before being stumped off Shafali Verma in the eighth over. Australia were 67 for 4 when the in-form Ellyse Perry fell in the 10th over, holing out to long-on off Devika Vaidya’s legspin.However, like in every match in this series, a big partnership derailed the hosts’ hopes. It was Beth Mooney and McGrath in the first two games, Perry and Harris in the third and then Perry and Gardner in the fourth. On Tuesday, it was Harris and Gardner, who added 129 runs off 62 deliveries for the fifth wicket.They started their onslaught in the 13th over, when Gardner hit Anjali Sarvani for four consecutive boundaries. Australia hammered 112 runs in the last eight overs, including the 19 that came off Sarvani’s.Gardner toyed with the fielders, finding the gaps with regularity, hitting 11 fours and a six. Harris, on the other hand, was less interested in where the fielders were and more in clearing the rope. She hit four sixes and six fours en route to her first T20I half-century.India were not helped by the poor fielding, gifting Australia runs from overthrows on three different occasions. And a rare dot ball in the death overs from Renuka also slipped past Richa Ghosh for four byes.Heather Graham picked up a hat-trick•BCCI

Graham, Gardner rattle India
Chasing a mammoth 197, India hit their first roadblock in the first over, when Smriti Mandhana flicked an innocuous delivery from Darcie Brown straight to Harris at forward square leg.Struggling to accelerate, the hosts lost Shafali soon in the fifth over as Gardner teased her with a flighted delivery outside off that she hit straight to Annabel Sutherland in long-on.Harleen Deol, who didn’t get to bat in the last game, was promoted to No. 3 with India opting to rest Jemimah Rodrigues for the match. Deol upped the tempo with a few quick boundaries, including a square drive behind point off the first delivery she faced.However, a mix-up with Harmanpreet Kaur brought an end to her knock of 16-ball 24 and India lost wickets in regular intervals after that run-out. Harmanpreet was trapped lbw by Sutherland before Gardner returned to get rid of the big-hitting Ghosh to leave the hosts at 70 for 5 in the 10th over.Gardner finished with figures of 2 for 20, identical to the last game, to cap off another brilliant all-round display that saw her win both the Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Tournament awards.Meanwhile, Graham, introduced to the attack in the 13th over, ran through the lower middle order with a fine hat-trick. Vaidya was her first victim, deceived by a slower ball and stumped as she went forward to play at it. Her second wicket was a length ball outside off that nipped back in to crash into the stumps to send Radha Yadav back to the hut.While Australia’s innings took off in their 13th over, India’s chase all but ended there.Graham was taken off the attack after that, and she came back to bowl the final over, castling Renuka to complete her treble. She was not done yet, as she had Deepti hole out at long-off with the final ball of the match. She returned figures of 2-0-8-4.In between the two overs that Graham took her hat-trick, Deepti once again put her finishing skills on show, scoring 53 off 34 balls, including eight fours and one six.

Ben Duckett says that he is committed to taking every available opportunity to represent England across all three formats, after crediting the laissez-faire attitude of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in the Test team for his successful return to international cricket this winter.By his own admission, Duckett, now 28, “probably wasn’t ready for international cricket” back in 2016-17, when he made his Test and ODI debuts on England’s tours of Bangladesh and India. Seven years later, however, he’s so relaxed about the experience, he was even able to prepare for last week’s return to the white-ball set-up by spending a couple of days “on a sun lounger” in Dubai.That brief stint of R&R came as the Test squad disbanded after their thrilling one-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington, which was also Duckett’s first defeat in five appearances since his recall for the Pakistan tour in December. In that time he has averaged an impressive 56.44 at the top of the order, and was enthusiastic about carrying that same mindset into this week’s first T20I against Bangladesh in Chattogram.”It’s ridiculously different,” Duckett said of his experience in the Test set-up. “The way that they make everyone feel is something that I never thought would be the case in Test cricket. It’s almost like you’re playing a friendly, you’re actually going out and playing a Test match and it’s that relaxed, and that’s how you’re going to get players to perform at their best.”The first thing Baz said to me in Pakistan was: ‘Just enjoy it, you’re going to get a good run’. To hear that as an opening batsman before your first Test back makes you not nervous and you can go out there and play your way rather than looking for a score.”And I think the big thing in that dressing-room is – whatever the noise is outside that dressing room, no one cares. It’s everything in that dressing room and almost you’ve got that backing, it feels like there’s a squad of players now that seems like they’re going to keep for a little while, especially while things are going well. Previously, you’re fearing for every single game, if you get no runs, you might get dropped the next game.”Duckett took a similarly phlegmatic attitude to his innings of 20 from 13 balls in England’s six-wicket loss in the first T20I. “I tried to stick to my strengths. It went all right and then I missed one,” he said.”The one thing I’ve been lucky with is, because of how I play, it doesn’t really change throughout the formats. You see these guys who are whacking the ball out of the ground and then they’ve got to go and play Test cricket and it’s a massive difference, where my mentality in all three formats is to see ball, hit ball. And now against spin, sweeping it both ways in all formats – and I’ve got the full backing from all of the squads.”I’ve matured as a cricketer,” he added. “It’s realising what works for me, understanding what my strengths are. Seven years ago I might have tried to hit Shakib [Al Hasan] for six over long-on, now I know all I have to do is hit the ball in front of square leg and it’s four runs. The small taste I had back then, I was very young and probably wasn’t ready. I think that comes with age and most batters are at their best when they get to the age of 28, 29.”Related

• Bangladesh determined to develop big-hitting skills with an eye on 2024 T20 World Cup

• Najmul Hossain Shanto's 27-ball fifty lights path for Bangladesh to down world champions

• Phil Salt 'frustrated' after failing to seize his chance for leading role

• BPL blueprint serves Shanto proud as Bangladesh achieve statement win

Duckett is one of only four England players to have featured in all three formats this winter, and it’s been quite the round-the-world trip – encompassing campaigns in Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and now Bangladesh – which is all the more reason why he had no qualms about dropping everything for a week and lying low with his girlfriend in the UAE between red- and white-ball campaigns, rather than fretting about the challenge of switching formats.His long wait for a second chance with England was also a key factor in his decision to opt out of the big-money opportunities on the franchise circuit this winter – including the on-going Pakistan Super League, which caused a number of England’s players, including Alex Hales, to withdraw their availability for the Bangladesh series.”I spoke to someone a month ago about people resting and pulling out of stuff,” he said. “For me, the focus is on the chance to play all three formats for England. And that’s going to be my focus for as long as I’m in the squad.”Don’t get me wrong, if I’ve got a month next winter and I get offered a lot of money, I’m probably going to go and play in it, as most of us would. But you can play all these leagues around the world in a few years’ time, right now I’m solely focused on playing as much for England as I can. That break I had was potentially a good thing for me, and it’s made me so hungry now to take every single chance I get.”

During a Rolling Stones tour of Australia, legendary drummer and noted cricket enthusiast Charlie Watts followed the well-worn trail of many tourists in Perth. He had his photo taken in front of the WACA ground.”He was on the corner outside of the ground taking a photo because he didn’t think he would be allowed in,” chuckled WA Cricket chief executive Christina Matthews in an interview with ESPNcricinfo.The rather amusing anecdote underlines the global reverence of the WACA, the old warhorse entrenched in cricket lore due to its fast and bouncy pitch which has conjured some of the sport’s most visceral images.”The name is our unique selling point of the ground and the thing that makes it world famous,” Matthews said. “The name and what’s happened out in the middle is something that you can’t buy. They’re the things we’ve got to protect.”Related

• Rocchiccioli relishes the graft of bowling offspin at the WACA

• Inglis ton, Agar five-for power Western Australia to Marsh Cup title

• Rahul 74 in vain as India lose to WA XI on fast WACA pitch

• Australia's Test return to Perth likely to prove a tough sell

During the recent Men’s T20 World Cup, many visitors and international media members trekked the Matagarup Bridge linking the shiny 60,000-seat Optus Stadium to East Perth, where the WACA is located.What they saw was an ageing ground undergoing a major redevelopment with the renowned Prindiville Stand demolished and the grass banks under the iconic scoreboard now resembling a construction site.The WACA is set to transform into a multi-sport community facility, marked by a public swimming pool, playground and café, while boasting 10,000-15,000 seats for events.The project was initially pegged at AU$115 million, but has blown out due to increased construction costs since the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing war in Ukraine.About $32 million is still needed, Matthews says, with the funds hoping to be derived from the Western Australian government’s budget, which will be handed down in May.If all goes to plan, the redevelopment will be completed by the backend of 2025 – one year after the initial timeframe.On the field, Western Australia is having remarkable success•Getty Images

“I’m pretty confident we’ll get there. If we don’t, we just have to review it,” Matthews said. “It would be a genuine community destination that happens to have as its foundation first-class cricket.”Even though parts of the ground are an eyesore, the WACA has continued to host men’s and women’s domestic cricket while several matches of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup were played there.But men’s international cricket and the Big Bash League have not been held at the WACA since 2017-18 and there has been uncertainty over whether Test cricket will return to the venue.Matthews confirmed that higher-profile Tests involving England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and possibly Pakistan would likely be permanently fixtured at Optus Stadium with others set for the redeveloped WACA.But carving out a perennial date in the calendar has proven difficult for Perth with Tests since 1997 having been played in every month from October-February.It’s in contrast to the other major cities which have built a tradition around their Tests to create consistency and become a drawcard for fans.”There are three Tests that have significant stakes in the ground; Sydney has New Year and the Jane McGrath day, Melbourne has Boxing Day and Adelaide is the first-choice day-night match,” Matthews said. “Brisbane and us kind of just float…although Brisbane often starts the Test summer.”We want a bit more security around our Test. Is there something we can do so the people of Perth know they are going to something more than just a cricket match? What does our Test stand for?”Matthews believed mid-December was the optimal time for a Perth Test match with WA Cricket pushing to host Pakistan next summer during that slot.”We strongly believe that having the Test match before Christmas is ideal for us,” she said. “Given the route [to Perth] from England and other places…and then off to the east coast for Boxing Day and New Year [Tests], it’s practical.”Then people will have an understanding that ‘okay, this is when your Test is on…somewhere in December before Boxing Day’.”Just a tick over 40,000 fans attended the first Test at Optus Stadium between Australia and West Indies played in late November-early December.Attendances were disappointing for last November’s West Indies Test•AFP

The underwhelming turnout for Perth’s first Test match since 2019 was due to a myriad of reasons, including what appeared a lack of marketing ahead of the summer’s opening Test.”Other than our membership base, we have nothing to do with the Test other than when they [Cricket Australia] ask us for assistance in rolling something out,” Matthews said.”We believe that if we can be given more freedom to run the Test, we could probably get a better result for Cricket Australia. That’s not to mean we go rogue, but it becomes embedded in our planning process.”Every year there’s a national marketing campaign, and it’s very generic. We think there needs to be something specific for Perth to talk about why people should come to international cricket.”Matthews missed the Test match amid a month’s leave after a taxing period, which included a spate of board resignations and unrest emanating from several WA legends.The findings from an external inquiry into the resignations, which included former Test players Graeme Wood and Mike Veletta, will be handed to the board soon.Tensions also erupted last year over a proposal to erect statues of legendary quick Dennis Lillee, women’s trailblazer Zoe Goss and a 19th century team of Aboriginal cricketers.”There’s no doubt that, if you want to call it an old guard, [they] probably want things done differently. The question is – what do they want differently and how do they want it done?” Matthews said. “I can’t think of any area that we’re not excelling in. We still had a 90% retention rate in members this year. So that tells you people are on board, not against what we’re doing.”There’s no doubt that the ruckus of the past six months has come from the older demographic. But it’s not the majority view.”Matthews, who played 20 Tests and 47 ODIs from 1984-95, wanted to attract more females to WA Cricket’s membership base.”We have a low percentage of female members because of the model of buying a membership and a guest card,” she said. “Historically, men bought memberships and the guest pass was for ladies.”I think that’s a challenge for us as to how we get more women to commit to being a member, not a guest of a member. We want everybody to come to the cricket, not just traditionalists.”Matthews hoped to continue defying her critics in a role she has held for more than a decade.”It would be negligent of me to move on while we’re still trying to embed the development,” she said. “We’re trying to maintain this ground as a really important part of the WACA’s history and have it seen across the world as a modern facility.”

Leicestershire 65 for 1 trail Glamorgan 229 (Cooke 55, Holland 3-40, Mike 3-54) by 164 runs Leicestershire took control on the opening day of the 2025 Rothesay County Championship against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, bowling the hosts out for 229. Ian Holland and Ben Mike took three wickets apiece for the visitors after putting Glamorgan into bat while Chris Cooke’s half-century was in vain after a series of starts in the top order.Three-match loanee and debutant, Shoaib Bashir participated in a 53-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Cooke as the pitch became easier to bat on, although the England international went wicketless from his solitary over bowled.Despite the success with the ball, concerns were for Rishi Patel who left the field and didn’t return after just 16 balls with a dislocated finger fielding a ball in the slips. As a result, Holland came and went at opener as the Foxes ended the day strongly, returning for day two on 64 for 1 with Sol Budinger and makeshift No. 3 Mike at the crease.After winning the toss and putting Glamorgan into bat on a green-topped Sophia Gardens wicket, the bowlers soon reaped the rewards, led by Leicestershire’s new-ball pair of Holland and Chris Wright with a combined age of 73.Zain Ul Hassan was the first to fall, with full credit deserved for the 34-year-old Holland who troubled the Glamorgan left-handers throughout the day.Eddie Byrom and captain Sam Northeast worked hard to see off Holland’s opening spell combining for a 57-run partnership. Just when the gruelling first hour in bowling-friendly conditions appeared done, the pair fell. Northeast, lbw squared up by Tom Scriven in a mode of dismissal that had been threatened by earlier appeals, and Byrom prodding outside his eyeline for a well-made 41, a familiar story from 2024.Another rebuild for Glamorgan, and more signs of promise. Both Kiran Carlson and last year’s County Championship top run-scorer, Colin Ingram, battled past Ben Green and Scriven bowling consistently, taking advantage of loose Mike deliveries to keep the scoreboard going along into lunch at 90 for 3.Ingram came out after lunch firing, cover-driving his way past 9000 career first-class runs, making light of his early signs of discomfort. In similar fashion to earlier dismissals, however, wickets came in a group: Carlson and Ingram both falling to the second spell from Holland and an uncomfortable 18-ball knock from Ben Kellaway, bowled by Scriven, leaving Glamorgan at 132 for 6.Leicestershire continued to dominate the second session as the hosts bided their time, scoring at two-an-over heading into tea with the wickets of Timm van der Gugten and Andy Gorvin falling to Mike, bowling a better spell the second time around.As the ball began to wear and the sun shone down on Sophia Gardens, the pitch appeared to flatten and life became easier for Cooke and Bashir who added 53 for the ninth wicket, 48 of those in less than 10 overs after tea – before falling to Mike, claiming his third, and Rehan Ahmed picking up a first wicket, respectively.As expected, Patel couldn’t bat for Leicestershire with his return unknown, and Holland faced up before falling to van der Gugten for a third time in as many innings. Mike continued to have his day as he and Budinger negotiated Glamorgan’s bowlers until the end of play with an unbeaten partnership of 47 despite a dropped catch from Ingram and a couple tight lbw appeals denied.

Allrounder Aaron Hardie has been named Perth Scorchers’ stand-in captain for the remainder of the season after two-time title-winning skipper Ashton Turner was ruled out of the rest of the Big Bash League with a knee injury.Hardie, 25, has been appointed despite not being the official vice-captain, with the Scorchers hierarchy opting for the allrounder instead of the vice-captain Josh Inglis.Scorchers’ coach Adam Voges confirmed that Hardie had been preferred over the wicketkeeper due to a preference for the skipper to be closer to the bowler in the field for ease and efficiency of communication.”Josh is excellent from a strategy point of view,” Voges said. “But I guess there are limitations in what your keeper can do, particularly when the heat comes on. And if you’re a bit time-poor within your innings, which generally we are, then it’s really difficult to have those conversations and that connection with the bowling group and I think we saw that the other night a little bit when Ash did go off the field and so that was part of the decision-making process. But, if it had gone the other way we’d gone with Josh we would have been confident in him as well.”Hardie has been part an unofficial part of the leadership group this season and has sat in all of the Scorchers’ strategy meetings with the captain and coach throughout the start of the tournament.It caps a huge 2023 for Hardie after he made his T20I and ODI debuts in South Africa, and also toured India with Australia’s white-ball teams either side of the ODI World Cup. He also captained Australia A in the second unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Lincoln earlier this year.”First and foremost, we’re all wishing AT a speedy recovery,” Hardie said. “He’s been a fantastic captain and player for a long time, and is certainly somebody the squad looks up to.”Personally, it’s a privilege to lead this team in his absence, and a challenge I’m keen to embrace.”We have plenty of experience and leadership within the side. One of our great strengths is we’re comfortable using that experience and knowledge to make the team better as a collective.”I’m sure the whole squad will remain focused and united to give us the best chance of winning another title.”The BBL also confirmed on Sunday that the abandoned match between Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades in Geelong would not be replayed with the points being shared.Voges said his club had accepted the decision but thinks there should be some accountability for water getting on the covered pitch.”It is what it is,” Voges said. “We’ve moved on. That decision has been official now for a little while. And it’s not unlike a washout, had we not gone on at all. So we take the point and we’ll keep moving.”In terms of what the playing conditions say, from a points perspective, I don’t think there’s too much that can be done in that sense. But absolutely, I think that accountability and responsibility needs to lay somewhere.”

Surrey 365 (Foakes 92*, Burns 73, Harmer 4-83) and 219 for 6 (Sibley 66, Foakes 60) drew with Essex 582 for 6 dec (Critchley 145*, Cox 117, Pepper 109, Walter 95)Dom Sibley remained immovable for 77 overs to underpin Surrey’s successful fight to salvage a draw in their opening match in the defence of the Rothesay County Championship title.Surrey had started the final day with a target of 217 to avoid an innings defeat and Sibley appeared determined to make sure the reigning champions batted throughout to save both the game and their faces after a chastening four days at Chelmsford.The former England opener put on 101 in 41 overs in a decisive fourth-wicket stand with Ben Foakes before he departed for 66 after a four-and-a-half hour, 221-ball vigil. Foakes reprised his first-innings stubbornness with a second half-century of the match before Ryan Patel and Jordan Clark saw them sneak over the line at 219 for 6 and handshakes on the draw at 5.36pm.Two wickets in seven balls early on day four gave Essex a brief scent of a victory that had looked highly probable when they asked Surrey to follow-on, but apart from three late wickets the match meandered towards the inevitable draw. They used eight bowlers in the innings in an effort to change the narrative, but to no avail.Surrey might have lost Sibley to the first ball of the day but his edge to Jamie Porter fell short of slip. Sibley was in stereotypical obdurate mode and took 26 balls to get off the mark, an angled shot down to third man off Porter.The openers set the tone for the day in the first 49 minutes, trundling along at a rate of around two an over. By then Harmer had arrived in the attack. He required just 13 balls of niggling and probing before Rory Burns went back to a fuller ball and was trapped lbw on his stumps.Then in the next over, Ollie Pope slashed wildly at a widish delivery from Shane Snater and, for once on a slow pitch, the ball carried through to the wicketkeeper. The England man’s cameo lasted four balls for a solitary run.The strike-rate increased significantly for a spell when Paul Walter was introduced. Jamie Smith went after him, taking 23 runs off eight balls faced, including a pulled six and four fours. Not surprisingly the left-arm seamer was immediately retired with figures of 2-0-25-0.However, Smith’s stay proved brief as he was involved in a run-out of ridiculous proportions with Sibley. Sibley decided there was a second run, Smith didn’t, both men finding themselves at the same end. Despite an initial miss-take by Michael Pepper from Snater’s throw to the wicketkeeper, the ball was eventually transferred to the non-striker’s end where Critchley was able to effect the dismissal.With spin at both ends, Essex wheeled through the overs at a rate of knots – indeed the official over-rate was showing at plus 13 – with Sibley and Foakes content to thrust their legs down the wicket to negate any turn.So it was something of a jolt to the system when Sibley punished a wayward delivery from Critchley through midwicket for only his fourth four and then immediately drove straight for his fifth. He also executed a well-timed cover drive off Harmer for another boundary.Despite those occasional flurries it still took Sibley 181 balls to reach his fifty, achieved midway through the afternoon session having started his innings the previous evening. To emphasise the pace of his innings, he added 21 runs in 94 balls pre-lunch and 38 from 103 between lunch and tea.However, the seemingly immovable force lasted just nine balls into the final session when he had a rush of blood produced a wild top-edge swing at Noah Thain and he was walking before the square-leg boundary fielder took the catch.Foakes had hung around for 134 balls and 50 runs before he was cleaned out by Jamie Porter’s third delivery with the new-ball, his middle-stump left at 45 degrees.With overs running out and two runs shy of their target, Dan Lawrence fell to a slip catch by Jordan Cox for the second time in the match.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Mayank Yadav feels that the drop in his speeds after returning from a long injury layoff “is normal”, asserting that he needs to give his body time to return to the same match intensity and fitness standards.Mayank, who returned to professional cricket only late last month after a gap of close to six months due to multiple injuries, is far from the tearaway speedster that he was in his breakthrough IPL 2024 season. He consistently clocked speeds in excess of 150kph last year, touching a high of 156.7kph. This season, though, his pace has mostly been in the 130kph range, occasionally breaching the 140kph barrier. Mayank, however, is not bothered.”This is normal,” he said ahead of LSG’s crucial league game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Lucknow on Friday. “I had a major injury because of which I was out of cricket for five to six months. The body will adapt and take its own time. I will have to give some time to my body and my bowling to get those speeds back. There have been no changes in my bowling technique.”Related

• Mayank Yadav returns from injury a slower bowler

• Zaheer: 'Mayank's speeds are going to get better as he plays more'

Mayank was one of the three players retained by LSG ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. He even made his India debut against Bangladesh in October last year, but has missed a chunk of IPL after missing the entire domestic season in 2024-25 with a back injury. His return was later pushed back by a toe injury.”There is no drastic change in my strategy,” Mayank, 22, said. “I will continue to do what I used to. My body is taking a little time. I have not seen the intensity, [and] the match pressure for a while now. So it is very normal that the body is responding a little differently after a major injury. I don’t have a different mindset or intent. That remains the same. But I need to read the wickets and the batsmen quicker.”Mayank has had a lukewarm time in the two games so far this season, picking 2 for 40 against Mumbai Indians, followed by 0 for 60 against Punjab Kings. He has also relied a lot on change of pace and slower balls, which he says is a part of the plan. Despite the slow start, Mayank also wants to be seen as LSG’s “strike bowler” and a “wicket-taking bowler”.”I have been doing this right from the start, the variations, the slower ones,” Mayank said. “I didn’t need it last season. The few matches that I played in the main demand was to bowl quick and hard length deliveries. This time the wickets, wherever I have played using variations have been important.1:30

Mayank Yadav’s variations impress Anil Kumble

“My mindset is to contribute as much as possible for the team. In the last match, my spell was a bit expensive. Whenever I bowl, the team should feel that I am a strike bowler and a wicket-taking bowler. I just try to be positive for my team.”Mayank accepted that LSG have made mistakes in the tournament so far, and find themselves in a must-win situation against RCB. It has not helped that their captain Rishabh Pant has had a poor tournament, where he has managed only 128 runs in 11 innings, and is averaging a mere 12.80. Mayank, however, is backing his captain to bounce back, and is also positive about his team’s playoffs chances.”I have known Rishabh for a while now because we play for the same club in Delhi,” he said. “Whenever I have spoken to him, I have not felt that he is under pressure. He is confidently talking to me about the game, about the situation, [and] about the opposition batsmen.””We have been a little late in assessing the grounds and the wickets. We have made mistakes there; I’ll accept that. But we have three matches, and if we win that, there might be a chance we can make the playoffs.”

So what if it’s overcast in Dubai? And so what if there’s dew, or a little spice in the deck, or some movement in the air? Whatever this venue throws at India, they have the bowling options to deal with it.So said captain Rohit Sharma, ahead of India’s first match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh. This is a venue to which India are well-accustomed, having played nine T20Is here since October 2021. They haven’t played an ODI in Dubai since 2018, but the versatility in their likely XI will put them in a good position to adjust on the fly, according to Rohit.”If it’s going to be overcast, we have the bowling arsenal to combat that,” he said. “If there are overhead conditions helping the bowlers, we have the bowlers to exploit that. And if we bat in those overhead conditions, the batters know exactly what to do.”Among the strengths in this India squad, are the presence of “multi-skilled” cricketers, Rohit said. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja could potentially all play in the same XI. Without spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out through injury, these are bowlers Rohit may lean on through the course of the tournament.Related

• Shami on long rehab: 'Felt like a toddler learning how to walk'

• Rapid Rana is at the bleeding edge of Bangladesh's proud seam-bowling tradition

• Bangladesh set for India's spin-test in Dubai

“Those three guys – Jadeja, Axar, and Washy – give us a different dimension to the game, our combination, and our squad, and add a lot of depth. That is why we tried to get players who have two skills rather than one.”One of India’s pure bowling options, however, is wristspinner Varun Chakravarthy. He’s played only one ODI so far, but has an impressive List A record, having claimed 60 wickets from 24 matches at a spectacular average of 14.80. He is a player who deals in subterfuge, Rohit said.”He doesn’t bowl too many variations to us in the nets. He bowls just one type of delivery. Maybe, he doesn’t want to show his variations even to us. But that is a good thing. He has got certain weapons which he wants to just put it out there, when it actually matters. I am more than happy if he wants to do that.”But, he has got something different which is why he is here with us. He has been impressive in the last eight to nine months. That is why we wanted to bring him here and see what he has and what he can do for India on the big stage.”Another player who Rohit will look to, is Mohammad Shami, who only returned to international cricket late last month, after undergoing ankle surgery in early 2024. He only bowled 15.5 overs across the two ODIs he played against England, claiming a wicket in each outing. With Bumrah out, Shami’s form may be especially important to India’s chances.”All we wanted with Shami was to get back to wearing India colours more than anything else. Whether he gets wickets or not was completely immaterial to us [in the England series].”When you talk about a bowler like Shami, who has done the job over the years so many times for us – for them it’s just about getting back into rhythm. Hopefully he can find some rhythm early on in this tournament.”