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Opportunity for Babar Azam to get back among the runs after a string of low scores; both sides likely to rest key bowlers

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Sep-2022

Big Picture

Both economies are on the verge of collapse – Sri Lanka’s, it might be argued, is collapsing already; both nations are straining under outsized external debt; and both are negotiating with the IMF for relief. It is the first of two Pakistan vs Sri Lanka matches to finish the Asia Cup off. Welcome to the first Debt Trap Derby.On their way here, both teams have done a lot of high-class chasing. Sri Lanka set a Sharjah ground record when they ran down 176 against Afghanistan.Pakistan chasing 182 against India with one ball to spare was perhaps even more impressive, before Sri Lanka also defeated India with one ball to spare soon after.Related

• Naseem Shah – wunderkind from Lower Dir who conquered Sharjah

• Sri Lanka are discovering new heroes, one match at a time

• Nawaz thrives on 'positive pressure' to give Pakistan all-round edge

Although Pakistan’s middle and lower orders collapsed against Afghanistan, leaving No. 10 Naseem Shah with the task of hitting big blows to get them across the line, this batting order has a decent body of work behind it, and will arrive at these last two matches with some confidence.Sri Lanka’s batting has only clicked more recently and, even then, almost exclusively while chasing. However, between Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, they have got destructive batters in form. Pakistan have relied a little more heavily on Mohammad Rizwan, who is one of only two batters with more than 200 runs in the tournament so far, with 212 at an average of 70.66.On the bowling front, Pakistan perhaps have a clear advantage. But then, both teams are likely to rest key bowlers for this dead rubber.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWLL
Babar Azam has been having a poor stretch this Asia Cup•Associated Press

In the spotlight

Four innings, 33 runs, a strike rate of 117: Babar Azam, arguably the best batter in the tournament, is having a poor stretch. There is no obvious reason for the low scores, so perhaps it is a mixture of confidence and luck. Either way, you don’t expect him to stay down for long. If Sri Lanka opt for a weaker bowling attack for this match, perhaps he will have the chance to bounce back.If you think Babar’s stretch is bad, Charith Asalanka has made 0, 1, 8, and 0 so far, eating up 21 balls for those nine runs. He had been Sri Lanka’s find of the T20 World Cup on these very pitches last year, but has seemingly hit a wall, having also failed to put up notable scores in a domestic T20 competition shortly before this tournament. Sri Lanka will likely give him one more game to get it right. But the likes of Ashen Bandara, who had done well in that same domestic competition, is breathing down his neck.If Sri Lanka rest Wanindu Hasaranga, they may bring Jeffrey Vandersay in•AFP

Team news

Sri Lanka might swap Asitha Fernando, who has been expensive, for one of the younger quick bowlers Matheesha Pathirana or Pramod Madushan; the latter, if he plays, would be making his debut. There is also a chance of Sri Lanka resting Wanindu Hasaranga so as to not give Pakistan a look at him ahead of the final, and bringing in Jeffrey Vandersay.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Dasun Shanaka (capt,), 6 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Jeffrey Vandersay, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Dilshan MadushankaPakistan may give Naseem a break for Hasan Ali. There is also a chance that Shadab Khan might be rested, with Usman Qadir coming in.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Pitch and conditions

As usual, the Dubai pitch is expected to favour the team batting second, with dew perhaps forming in the second innings to hamper the bowlers. It will be the same surface as the one used by India and Afghanistan on Thursday and so, as such, will be worn.

Stats and trivia

• Sixteen of the last 18 matches in Dubai – not counting the result between India and Afghanistan on Thursday night – have been won by the chasing side. The only teams who have lost batting second are Hong Kong and Scotland.
  
• Overall, Sri Lanka have lost 13 and won only eight T20Is against Pakistan. They won the last three in a row, but that was back in 2019.

South Africa allrounder guides chase with nerveless innings after Brave suffer another final collapse

Matt Roller03-Sep-2022Oval Invincibles defended their Hundred title thanks to Marizanne Kapp’s nerveless, unbeaten innings of 37 off 33 to steer them past Southern Brave in a rematch of last year’s final.After choosing to bat first, Brave collapsed from 83 for 2 after 74 balls to post just 101 for 7, struggling to find any impetus on a tricky, two-paced pitch in front of a 20,840 crowd at Lord’s.Invincibles lost regular wickets in the chase but for the second final in a row, Kapp was the matchwinner – this time, with the bat. Coming in at 33 for 2 – which quickly became 33 for 3 – she marshalled their inexperienced middle order and dragged them over the line with six balls to spare.”The way Marizanne batted under pressure was just awesome,” Suzie Bates, Invincibles’ captain, said. “She’s one of the best allrounders in the world and today she showed why: under pressure, she’s even better.”Our bowling group did an outstanding job to keep them to that score. It was always going to be a nervy chase but it’s brilliant to have young players perform.”Slow and steady
Southern Brave’s success has been characterised by attacking batting, with the depth of their line-up allowing Danni Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana licence to go hard at the top of the order, particularly during the powerplay.They made a bright start on a slow pitch: Mandhana, who missed last year’s final, pierced the infield with a crisp cover drive to the second ball of the innings, and Sophia Smale’s second set – the last five balls of the powerplay – was clearly targeted as Wyatt crashed consecutive fours through the off side and Mandhana lofted over the leg side.Both openers were caught and bowled. Shabnim Ismail removed Wyatt, settling under a difficult chance after cranking the pace up to 78mph with a hard-length ball that skewed up into the leg side, and Mandhana miscued back to Smale to leave Brave 39 for 2 after 39 balls.Sophia Dunkley and Tahlia McGrath, the engine room of Brave’s batting, set about the rebuild and batted with plenty of attacking intent, but generally struggled to find gaps. At 74 for 2 with 30 balls remaining, they needed to launch at the back end.Invincibles fight back
Dunkley and McGrath exchanged boundaries when Invincibles brought Eva Gray, their sixth bowler, into the attack, but when McGrath fell to the final ball of her first set, it sparked a collapse that proved defining.They failed to score a boundary in the final 26 balls of the innings and added only 18 runs for the loss of five wickets in that phase. Maia Bouchier, their designated finisher, was starved of the strike and finished 9 not out off 11 balls.Invincibles were brilliant at the death, squeezing hard. Alice Capsey took 2 for 6 across a set of 10 consecutive balls, split across both ends: Dunkley edged through to Lauren Winfield-Hill, who took a smart catch, and Georgia Adams was caught at deep midwicket. Ismail rearranged Freya Kemp’s stumps, and Amanda-Jade Wellington miscued Kapp to mid-off.Eva Gray’s dismissal of Tahlia McGrath triggered a collapse•Getty Images

Wasteful Brave
Invincibles have relied heavily on their opening pair, Winfield-Hill and Bates, throughout this season but lost both for single-figure scores in the final: Winfield-Hill was stumped by Carla Rudd’s lightning-fast hands off Anya Shrubsole, and Bates inside-edged Wellington onto her own stumps via her pad.Brave needed regular wickets to stand a chance, but were profligate in the field: Capsey was dropped twice, by Shrubsole and Mandhana, during her cameo of 25 off 17, and several misfields allowed Invincibles to build partnerships without worrying about the required rate mounting.Kapp’s star turn
Kapp has turned big-game performances into a habit: she took 4 for 9 in the Hundred’s inaugural final and won the match award in the WBBL final at the end of last year for Perth Scorchers, and Invincibles were always favourites as long as she stayed in.Back-to-back boundaries off Wellington, the season’s leading wicket-taker, got her up and running before she punished Shrubsole for straying in line, and she survived a number of scares when beaten on the inside edge.Mady Villiers and Kira Chathli both fell cheaply but Emily Windsor, the 24-year-old batter in her first innings of the season, held her nerve at the end. She charged Wellington’s penultimate ball, pumping her back down the ground for four, and after Kapp had slashed McGrath through the off side, Windsor did the same to seal the game.”It’s been an amazing journey,” Kapp said. “You’re always nervous in finals and the wicket was really tough, but luckily we got across the line.”Brave have only lost three games across both seasons of the women’s Hundred, but two of them have been in finals. As Invincibles lifted the trophy, they were left to reflect on a second successive near-miss.

The 18-year-old is tipped as the next big run-scoring star in Australia cricket but likes to avoid the spotlight

Tristan Lavalette07-Oct-2022Late on day two of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and New South Wales, as the shadows deepened at the WACA Ground, 18-year-old Teague Wyllie flicked a frustrated Nathan Lyon to the boundary.As his team-mates and the sparse smattering of fans collectively rose in the terraces, Wyllie walked slowly towards batting partner Matt Kelly and finally, almost reluctantly, raised his bat.In just his third first-class match, Wyllie became the youngest Shield centurion since Ricky Ponting in 1992-93. It was a feat made more impressive considering only two other batters compiled half-centuries in the bowler-dominated match, which WA won by eight wickets in a powerful launch of their title defence.”He [Wyllie] said ‘tax accountants don’t celebrate when they do their tax return so I shouldn’t celebrate scoring a hundred’,” chuckled WA captain Sam Whiteman, who spoke to ESPNcricinfo after the match. “He loves batting and is an impressive young man. He feels like he’s 28.”Related

• Wyllie named in CA XI squad to face South Africa

• WA's new 'Wild Thing' Lance Morris hopes to get even faster

• Under-19 World Cup 2022: Wyllie, Dhull, Brevis and Wellalage headline ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament

• Wyllie's maiden hundred hands Western Australia control

• Nine for Morris as WA make winning start to Shield defence

While Wyllie’s reserved celebration caused mirth for his team-mates, it underlines his maturity beyond his age and should serve him well amid being bandied around as Australia’s next great batter. He topped Australia’s batting at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year and was named in the tournament’s most valuable team.”A lot of the lads take the mickey out of me for not taking the helmet off but I just don’t like the attention from it,” Wyllie told reporters in Perth on Friday.”My old boy drilled into me when you get a hundred that the job is not done. So I’ve never been a massive fan of carrying-on…because I’m just trying to get the team into a good position.”His 104 off 204 balls masterclass rescued WA from a precarious 100 for 6 as the No. 5 calmly batted with the tail to lift his team to 258 and an invaluable 78-run first innings lead in the low-scoring contest.Having come through the ranks as an opener, the tall Wyllie – who stands over six foot – is already an intimidating figure at the crease but his batting is built on compact defence and eyeing the long haul. He’s perhaps a throwback to a more sedate time although can shift gears when needed. While more senior batters were undone by the seam and bounce on a tricky WACA pitch, Wyllie played straight and produced several eye-catching drives down the ground.”Test cricket is the goal and I believe it is the pinnacle when it comes to cricket,” he said. “I’ve always loved batting for a long period of time.””I’ve never been a massive fan of carrying-on…because I’m just trying to get the team into a good position”•Getty Images

It is little surprise then to learn who he has modelled his game on.”I idolised Rahul Dravid growing up,” Wyllie said. “He values his wicket more than anyone. Growing up I modelled my game on him a bit when it comes to valuing his wicket and batting for long periods. Kane Williamson is another who I try to learn a lot from.”Wyllie, who grew up in the regional city of Mandurah less than an hour from Perth, has long been seriously devoted to cricket having eschewed playing other sports competitively. It led to “burnout” three years ago, but Wyllie’s found a better balance as he starts his professional career and enjoys playing golf and watching TV shows when he’s not carefully honing his game.But his life has already started changing and becoming busier, as he quickly realised when he received around 500 messages from friends and family after his Shield heroics.Surrounded by a wealth of experience, including mentor Shaun Marsh, Wyllie has received a particularly wise tip to deal with his growing stardom.”I’ve spoken to a few of the senior guys…they got rid of social media. I haven’t gotten to that stage,” he said.But you feel Wyllie will handle keyboard warriors similarly to how he blunts exasperated bowlers.”I don’t go looking into social media comments because it’s just white noise and it doesn’t matter that much,” he said. “I tend to stay out of the spotlight…I love batting.”

“For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing”

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2022Steve Waugh feels that the cricket-watching public, at least in Australia, “has almost overdosed” on the game, and it has reached a point where the interest levels are on the wane.”There’s a lot of cricket, it’s hard to follow as a spectator, it’s very hard to keep up with it,” Waugh said on SEN’s show. “The three one-dayers against England [earlier this month, which Australia won 3-0] seemed pretty insignificant, really. I mean, what were they playing for? There wasn’t big crowds, I think the public has almost overdosed on cricket.”Related

• ICC World Cup Super League scenarios – West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Ireland contest for one spot

• Hayden: 'Australian team has some thinking to do'

• Green gung-ho about IPL 2023 but hectic calendar will make it tough, warns Warner

Australia have a rough few months coming up. They are getting ready for the two-Test series at home against West Indies, which will be followed by three home Tests against South Africa in December-January. After a short gap, they travel to India to play four Tests and three ODIs in February-March before playing Afghanistan in three ODIs, also in March. There are a number of T20 leagues through this whole period, including Australia’s own BBL, and the IPL, where many Australian players are set to be involved, will start late March. They then have the Ashes series in England, and possibly the World Test Championship final before that, followed by limited-overs assignments in South Africa and India before the 50-over World Cup in India in October. The cricket doesn’t stop after that either, with fixtures against India and Pakistan before the end of the year.”You want the special series to be iconic, like the Ashes, and against India when they come out here,” Waugh said. “It’s hard to follow the Australian side because every time they play they have a different team on the field. For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing.”I don’t know if it’s anyone’s fault but you need that consistency in the Australian side. You want to know who’s in the squad every game, you want to be following it closely and it’s really hard to do that right now.”Prior to the series, Australia had a disappointing run at the men’s T20 World Cup, at home, failing to qualify for the semi-finals after a heavy loss to New Zealand and a washout against eventual champions England. Waugh called the performance by the defending champions “a massive shock”, where “no one really stepped up and took the bull by the horns”.When asked if that was at least in part due to the changed, and changing, landscape of cricket, where players take part in leagues around the world, and play in different styles under different captains and coaches, Waugh didn’t disagree.”It’s a bit unsettling, with different captains and different styles and, you obviously perform better under some and you think you’ve got better ideas than others and, yeah, it would be hard to be, I guess, the captain of the Australian side,” he said.”There was pretty much one captain [when he played], and you knew what the style was, and how you’re going to play, and you knew the personalities. Yeah, they are all over the place and [it] probably is a bit unsettling.”

Allrounder gears up for Australia debut after playing nearly a decade for Ireland

S Sudarshanan05-Dec-2022A 3am phone call is seldom a gleeful one.Seam-bowling allrounder Kim Garth, who made her international debut for Ireland in 2010 at the age of 14, received a maiden call-up to Australia’s T20I squad for the tour of India – where they play five T20Is starting December 9 in Mumbai. She wanted to convey the happy news to her parents in Ireland immediately.”I rang mom and dad straightaway. They were pretty worried something had happened obviously when you get a call at 3am,” Garth, 26, said in a virtual press conference on Monday.Related

• Garth makes a case to be Australia's permanent spearhead

• Garth gets Australia call-up; Healy named captain for India T20I tour

• Kim Garth leaves Irish cricket for future in Australia

“[National selector] Shawn Flegler gave me a call two weeks ago. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I think it was the day after we played Hobart Hurricanes and I had an absolute shocker that day. It was a quick call telling me I was included. I was surprised and very excited.”It’s been a few big years moving across the world through your career. Things like this make it all worthwhile.”Garth quit Irish cricket in June 2020 to move to Victoria with an aim to play cricket for a living. But it was not an easy decision. Having played 34 ODIs and 51 T20Is for Ireland, she perhaps could never have played international cricket again.”[Possibly not playing for Ireland again] was a big factor in how difficult the decision was to make,” Garth said. “I knew what I was giving up but at the same time I knew the strength of the domestic system here, how strong the local players were. The WBBL was a big pull for me to become a local as they attracted top international players.”Having played a few years in grade cricket [in Australia], I have seen some of the lifestyle the girls live and play cricket every day for a living and not have to work other jobs at the side. It’s something I really wanted to do and it was a now-or-never type of thing. I knew it would – I think I was 23 [24] when I made the decision – take me a couple of years to become a local. And if I left it any longer, it wouldn’t be worthwhile.”It was a difficult decision to leave family behind but [I have] no regrets now.”Opportunities to play top draw cricket were few back then in Ireland. During the course of Garth’s nine-year international career as an Irish, Ireland played 64 T20Is and 44 ODIs. Since January 2021, they have played 27 T20Is – joint third-most among all sides – to go with 14 ODIs.”It’s not necessarily a step up but about consistency of the games we are playing,” Garth said about her possible T20I debut for Australia. “When I was playing for Ireland, we played sides like Australia, India, South Africa but didn’t do it regularly enough. Which is now exciting for the Irish now that they are getting more consistent fixtures against those sides, which is cool. It is not about the step up but the consistency.””I feel like I have put in some good consistent performances in the domestic cricket over recent years and I am really excited to take the next step up and get back to international cricket, albeit for a different team.”After moving over to Australia, Garth played the Women’s National Cricket League, the domestic 50-over competition, for Victoria from 2020 and then the Women’s Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers in 2020-21 followed by two years with Melbourne Stars. In the process, she got her permanent residency in Australia and became a local player in the WBBL.Garth is also no stranger to Indian conditions. She was part of the Ireland squad that played the T20 World Cup in 2016. “With the humidity and heat it does swing around a bit,” she said hoping to use it to her advantage if given an opportunity. Garth is used to bowling with the new ball for Victoria as well as Stars.Among her team-mates on the current tour, Garth has dismissed Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen in internationals. While playing in the WNCL and WBBL has meant she rubs shoulders with the Australian national cricketers more often, it could still make for interesting banter at breakfast.”I have Annabel Sutherland on my team [Stars] in the WBBL and Ellyse Perry with the WNCL [Victoria],” she said. “Just from playing against the girls, you get to know them early. Being part of Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers, I have known the girls which is nice.”Ellyse Perry has been very supportive over the last year. [I] got a very nice message from her and she rang me up after Sydney Sixers’ last group game, which was cool. She’s been a big support of mine and a very good friend.”I have played against them more playing domestic cricket than internationals.”It is not easy to break into the Australian XI given the depth and experience around. But if Garth does make her Australia bow on the India tour, the next call back home to her parents will not be at odd hours.

Connolly, Hobson add 41 off just 15 balls to seal unlikely chase for Scorchers’ fifth title

Tristan Lavalette04-Feb-2023Teenager Cooper Connolly and Nick Hobson kept their cool in a nerve-jangling chase as Perth Scorchers ended Brisbane Heat’s remarkable revival with an epic five-wicket victory to win their fifth BBL title.Chasing 176, in a fitting end to a madcap BBL season, Scorchers endured a see-saw filled with two horrendous run-outs but also composed batting from skipper Ashton Turner then Cooper and Hobson at the end.It came down to Scorchers needing 10 off the final over with Hobson turning from villain to hero with a six then a boundary to trigger bedlam at a near-capacity Optus Stadium. The crowd of 53,886 was the largest for a cricket game at the Burswood venue and the fourth biggest BBL crowd in history.

Connolly and Hobson, the unlikely heroes

For such a veteran team, Scorchers endured a somewhat tardy performance with bat and ball marked by Stephen Eskinazi’s run-out from a direct throw after casually attempting an easy single. He failed to have game awareness and barely made an attempt to stretch out to make his ground in an embarrassing dismissal.After losing in-form Cameron Bancroft and Aaron Hardie in quick succession, Scorchers were in trouble at 3 for 54 with the crowd muted.But in strode Turner, who has performed a slew of rescue acts this season in a bounce back season for him. Scorchers needed him to put on his cape again with run rate spiralling over 11 and he put the foot down with a six off Xavier Bartlett kick-starting him and sparking the home faithful.Turner dominated the strike from Josh Inglis, a power hitter in his own right, but who was content playing the support act. They put the foot down during the power surge overs in the 15th and 16th over as Turner notched his half-century with a six.But the match turned during a dramatic 17th over with Inglis holing out off Bartlett before Turner was run out in an awful mix-up with Hobson.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Scorchers needed 39 off 19 runs but Connolly stepped up and smashed 18 runs off James Bazley in the 18th over to swing the match.Connolly, a former Australia Under-19 captain, rode his luck when he was dropped on 19 by Josh Brown in the deep before Hobson, an accountant in his day job, added to Scorchers’ lore with the winning blow.

Johnson steps up but in vain

Heat’s remarkable late season revival had been largely attributed to the returns of Test stars Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne. But tearaway Spencer Johnson also gave Heat a jolt after debuting mid-season and he increasingly gained confidence through close mentoring from Khawaja.Dubbed the ‘Italian stallion’ due to his heritage, Johnson promised to be a handful on the traditionally pace-friendly Perth Stadium surface having claimed his first three-wicket BBL haul last start against Sydney Sixers. He didn’t disappoint. bowling at speeds near 150 kmph, and claimed the key wicket of Hardie, who had twice bludgeoned Heat this season.Johnson roared with delight as Heat increasingly believed, but they ultimately fell short in heart-breaking fashion. They will rue Brown’s dropped catch but will be mighty proud of almost claiming an unlikely second title against all the odds.

Behrendorff musters his wealth of experience

It felt like it was going to be a tough outing for veteran left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff after his superb opening over unluckily went for 13 after three inside edges to the boundary from Brown.But Behrendorff, the only player in the match who was part of the final between the teams a decade ago, was unruffled and continued to bowl a nagging line.Taking his lead, Scorchers did well to tie down Heat after an initial onslaught from Brown, including spinner Connolly who bowled shortly after the powerplay having only bowled one over in his short BBL career. He handled the pressure well to concede just four runs but Scorchers struggled to break a blossoming partnership between Nathan McSweeney and Sam Heazlett.Cooper Connolly came out all guns blazing with a 11-ball cameo•Getty Images

At 1 for 104, Heat took the power surge in the 13th over at a pivotal juncture with Behrendorff returning to bowl his final over.He struck immediately to dismiss Heazlett with a menacing short delivery that was caught at short fine leg then dismissed skipper Jimmy Peirson in almost identical fashion. Behrendorff finished with 2 for 26 to be the standout as his fellow seamers all proved expensive.

Bryant rediscovers big-hitting best

Peirson bravely decided to bat even though Scorchers had almost mastered chasing this season with a 9-2 record when batting second, including twice cruising over the line against Heat.Perhaps he was swayed by the stifling temperatures, which hovered at 38 degrees when the game started forcing some fans to seek relief in the watering holes dotting the stadium.Peirson would have felt vindicated when Brown carved 25 off his first 10 balls before McSweeney and Heazlett steadied Heat with a 79-run partnership. But Heat were mostly tied down in the middle overs marked by a dire power surge yielding 2 for 8. They needed a lift in the backend and big-hitting Max Bryant responded with 31 off 14 balls, including a trio of sixes.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, Bryant had failed to carve out a regular spot before being recalled against Sydney Sixers last start. He wound back the clock and his momentum spilled over to a final ball six by Bartlett to lift Heat to a highly competitive total that ultimately proved not enough.

England allrounder cites mental wellbeing after difficult run with injuries

Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Feb-2023Surrey and England allrounder Tom Curran has taken the decision to step away from red-ball cricket, citing his physical and mental health along with a desire to focus on limited-overs cricket.Curran, 27, has played 61 first-class matches, including two Test caps picked up during the 2017-18 Ashes series. However his appearances in the longer format since have been infrequent of late, in part because of injuries. He was ruled out of the first four months of 2022 with a stress fracture of his lower back.Curran has played just two first-class matches since the end of the 2019 season, both of which came in Surrey’s successful 2022 County Championship campaign. The first of those, against Northamptonshire, saw him register his maiden first-class century. The move to focus solely on limited-overs cricket is in keeping with Curran’s general direction of travel. Though he made the last of his 58 ODI and T20I appearances in July 2021, he is regarded globally as an accomplished franchise cricketer. As well as representing Oval Invincibles in the Hundred, he has played for Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League and is currently with Desert Vipers in the ILT20. He is also due to experience the Pakistan Super League for the first time with Islamabad United.With opportunities opening up around the world in the winter, cutting out red-ball cricket altogether is a move he hopes will have a positive effect on mind and body.”The last couple of years have not been easy for me,” Curran said. “I have had a lot of time and this isn’t a decision that I’ve taken lightly.”Some choices in life I don’t think you will ever be 100% sure and this is definitely one of those. But where I find myself at this exact moment, I feel like it is the right decision for my body and for my mental health.”I’m definitely not ruling out playing red-ball cricket again in the future, and I feel like I have unfinished business in this format for both Surrey and England. But until I can feel 100% committed and confident in my body to be performing day in and day out for Surrey in the County Championship, I feel that putting all my time and focus into on our Vitality Blast campaign this year is the right thing to do.”I know it is not ideal news for everyone at Surrey and our fans. But I wanted to say a truly heartfelt thank you to Alec Stewart for the support and understanding of my decision. Surrey has given me everything and is my home. I love it very much and my hope is everyone else will see and understand my decision as he has done.”Surrey’s director of cricket, Alec Stewart, said: “Obviously when you lose a player of Tom’s quality from your County Championship squad it is a blow, but I have spoken to him at length about his decision and understand why he has made it.”He has suffered with injuries in recent years and if this can help strengthen his body and keep him on a cricket field more regularly over the coming years, I fully support the decision.”I look forward to seeing him back in May for our own T20 season.”

With five wins on the trot, Mumbai are the only unbeaten side left in the competition

Srinidhi Ramanujam17-Mar-2023

Warriorz vs Mumbai

We are heading into the business end of the WPL, with four teams, including UP Warriorz, fighting for two spots in the playoffs. Their opponents on Saturday, Mumbai Indians, come into the match having secured their playoff berth with five wins on the trot and they are also the only unbeaten side in the competition.Warriorz will be under the microscope for their remaining three matches. They are currently placed third on the table with four points from five games and sit behind Delhi Capitals, who are on eight points from six matches. Alyssa Healy’s side has blown hot and cold so far, with the team heavily relying on the captain, and allrounders Tahlia McGrath and Grace Harris – all of them striking over 150 – in the batting. In the bowling department, Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma have done the bulk of the damage, taking a total of 16 wickets between them. However, they would be hoping that their third spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad finds her feet soon in the tournament. In the last two games that they lost, Warriorz couldn’t defend scores of 135 and 159. Against a Mumbai side brimming with confidence, they need to be at their best.Mumbai, on the other hand, could use this match to rotate the players and test their bench strength as the game is inconsequential in terms of the result. One possible change is the South African allrounder Chole Tryon coming in place of Amelia Kerr.Related

• All-round Gardner shows Gujarat Giants how to 'be brave' in turnaround victory

• Pressure is no problem for RCB's 20-year-old matchwinner Kanika Ahuja

Players to watch

Saika Ishaque has been phenomenal with her bowling for Mumbai, leading the wicket-taking charts with 12 scalps from five matches at an economy rate of 5.66.Grace Harris hit 46 and an unbeaten 59 in the two innings that she played, at a stunning strike rate of 181.03. Warriorz would expect a similar knock from her come Saturday at DY Patil Stadium.

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians (possible): 1 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr/Chole Tryon, 6 Issy Wong, 7 Dhara Gujjar, 8 Humaria Kazi, 9 Amanjot Kaur, 10 Jintimani Kalita, 11 Saika Ishaque UP Warriorz (possible): 1 Alyssa Healy (Capt, wk), 2 Devika Vaidya, 3 Kiran Navgire, 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Grace Harris, 6 Simrah Shaikh, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Shweta Sehrawat, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Anjali Sarvani, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad

Stats and trivia

• Harmanpreet Kaur has hit three fifties in the WPL, the most for any player.
• Issy Wong has the best economy rate of 5.18 in the tournament.
• Only Ecclestone has conceded less than seven runs an over in Warriorz’s bowling attack.

Quotes

“We’re just trying to be consistent. We’ve got players taking wickets and scoring runs well. We just don’t want to be complacent. We’re doing well, playing from the heart and enjoying ourselves.”

England opener may bat at No.3 for Notts, but unfazed about being ready for maiden home Test

Matt Roller30-Mar-2023Ben Duckett says that the prospect of being involved in his first Ashes gives him “shivers”, 18 years after being glued to the sofa as England reclaimed the urn from Australia in an epic series.Duckett was 10 years old and already hooked on the game by the summer of 2005, but believes that many players in his generation were drawn to cricket after watching England’s gripping 2-1 win during the school holidays.”[I was] watching that series along with half the country,” Duckett said. “If I’d been sat on the sofa with my dad with a chance of playing an Ashes however many years later… it gives me shivers. It doesn’t feel real at the minute.”The more exciting thing is, whoever that team is, I do believe that we’ve got a very good chance of beating Australia over here, and I think a lot of people around the country also believe that. It’s certainly going to be watched by a lot of people and it’s going to be really exciting if I get the nod.”I was playing from the age of four. But that’s a series that I look back on and think ‘wow, that was incredible’. Maybe some other cricketers – Joe Clarke was someone who didn’t really play [before 2005].”I was fortunate enough to go to Millfield Prep [a fee-paying, private school] and play cricket there from a young age but for people who weren’t as fortunate, that was the series for people around my age which was a real turning point for them and really got them into the game.”Duckett won a place in the Test side back over the winter, six years after his first taste of international cricket in Bangladesh and India, and made 508 runs in five Tests, including a hundred and four half-centuries during England’s tours to Pakistan and New Zealand.Related

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Barring injury or a collapse in form, he seems locked in to open the batting for England throughout this summer – starting on June 1 against Ireland at Lord’s, in what will be his first Test match on home soil.He looks set to start the season batting at No. 3 in the County Championship, the position he has filled for Nottinghamshire over the last few seasons, with Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater likely to resume their opening partnership.Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday that he was waiting for the end of pre-season before making a final decision. But Duckett is not overly fussed either way.”I have left it open with Pete [Moores] and Mull [captain Steven Mullaney] here,” he said. “I don’t want to change the dynamics too much for people; I don’t want to be that guy.”But they’ve said they want me to be ready to play for England. So it kind of works both ways. If I was batting No. 5 for Notts, the conversation would be different. But No. 3 and opening is pretty similar.I actually think No. 3 is harder, because in my opinion the bowlers are loose when you get there. You get a few freebies when you’re opening at times. If I had the choice? I’d probably open.”Duckett was among England’s busiest players over the 2022-23 winter. Only Harry Brook (41) was involved in more days of international cricket than Duckett (35) during that period – yet neither man has a central contract.Duckett joked that the situation is worse for him than for Brook – “I think he’s happy with his £1.2m he’s getting in the IPL”, he said, laughing – but remained phlegmatic about the prospect of forcing his way into the central contract list for the next 12-month cycle.”Twelve months ago, if you’d said to me that I was going to play all three formats for England, I would not have cared about central contracts. It was just about playing.”I guess I’ve got an opportunity now to keep myself playing for England and if I’m still there at October 1, I’ll get the benefits of having that. For me, it’s about taking it one day at a time.”I’ve really loved playing in that England dressing room, especially in the Test team, and I definitely want to be a part of it in the coming years. Those kinds of things are down to me and no-one else.”If I don’t get a central contract, it’s clearly because I’ve not done very well. It’s about just sticking to my game, enjoying it, and fingers crossed I stay in the squads.”

Ireland’s plight in such gilded surroundings is a sign of the sport’s inequality

Andrew Miller02-Jun-2023By 10am, the queue for entry at Lord’s North Gate was quite frankly eye-popping. It stretched past the Wellington Hospital, past the BP garage, down towards the road that provides a shortcut to the Beatles’ zebra crossing. But for the buses tiptoeing past those punters who had spilled off the pavements, it would have wormed all the way across the road to the aisles of Panzer’s delicatessen, from whence more than a few of today’s Nursery Ground picnics are sure to have been picked up.And to view the splendid scene that lay beyond those gates – with near-packed stands on all four sides of the ground, and the sun burning through in the early afternoon to complement that uniquely contented hum that passes for atmosphere at Lord’s – you’d be forgiven for assuming that you were watching a sport in the rudest of health. Until, that is, you drilled down into the actual details of the contest.But no! Don’t go peering behind the curtain … that’ll only spoil the illusion. And yet, everything that was right about the Lord’s experience today – the steady flow at the bars and the happy chat of reunited friends, and out in the middle, that languid sense of life gently meandering before you, like an afternoon’s fishing on a quiet corner of the Thames – was everything that’s wrong with the contemporary Test experience. And startlingly, that fact remained true even though England laid on a(nother) batting display of historic, genre-bending, dominance.Related

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Have we been spoilt by the exploits of Ben Stokes’ rebooted Test team? I’m not convinced it’s that simple, for you’d be hard-pressed to find any genuine criticism of the manner in which England have overwhelmed their opponents.In his notes for the souvenir match programme, Stokes restated his team’s battleplan in the same stark, uncompromising tones that they have so far served up for the scorecard. “We’re out here to score runs, take wickets and win games – and we like to do all three as quickly as we can,” he wrote. And on the evidence to date, there’s little reason to believe England will be detained much beyond lunch on Saturday afternoon. Job done, a round of golf and the FA Cup final awaits.Instead, the worry is that today’s exploits in particular reflect the same levels of privilege that were on display within the walls of Lord’s. It’s easy to ignore the signs that all is not well with the Test world when everything looks quite as serene as it was made to feel this afternoon. And in three weeks’ time, when Australia rock up here for the second Test of the most anticipated Ashes summer since 2005, it would be self-loathingly righteous not to get swept up by the excitement.But if Ireland’s toils on this extraordinary stage don’t give you pause for thought, and reason to reflect on the lot of the less fortunate members of Test cricket’s brotherhood, then not only are you probably dead inside, then your beloved format is likely to follow suit in pretty short order. Never mind being in possession of the most storied ground in the world, with the right to turn a vast profit from two Tests per summer. England’s opponents right now are a team that burned €1 million on hosting their first Test match in temporary facilities back in 2018, and have been so scarred by the experience, they’ve barely dared to carry any hosting costs since.And so there’s no point in complaining, either, that Ireland are not worthy of their Test status. The reasons are writ large in the back-story to this contest, and so are the wealth of mitigations. And, as one or two of the jazz-hatters in the crowd today ought to know if they’ve ever donned the black, red and gold colours of another famously nomadic team, I Zingari, if you plan to get out of the darkness and reach the light, you generally have to walk through the fire. There’s only one way for Ireland to get the experience they need to compete in the future, and that’s the hard way.”What is cricket without its fans?” Ben Stokes said in his first pre-match comments as captain•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

The cracks in the façade were clearly visible last year, even at Lord’s. Prior to England’s five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first Test of the summer – the contest that kicked off the Bazmania that followed – there was more than a little disquiet about the price of entry for that match. Most tickets then ranged between £100 and £160, and there were still some 16,000 seats unsold in the week before the game. “What is cricket without its fans?” Stokes said in his first pre-match comments as captain. “What is sport without its fans?”It is clearly to MCC’s credit that they reduced their prices for this Ireland Test – between £70 and £90 in the main, with Under-16s at £20 – although you’d have to assume that England’s style of play was the decisive factor in today being so packed out. But amid the ongoing tussle over the ICC’s future revenue distribution, there’s an onus on England in particular to provide more than just a glorious stage on which their less-well-off opponents can get beaten – because if Stokes’ fantastic team is to succeed in its mission to make Test cricket great again, they will need more than just India and Australia to give them a run for their money.This fact was brought home to the ECB in no uncertain terms during the pandemic, when many of the same England players produced mental miracles to “keep the lights on”. But they were only able to do so thanks to the goodwill of their opponents that summer – most particularly West Indies and Pakistan who endured lengthy bio-bubbles for the Test series, although Ireland were also an important factor as they, along with Australia, agreed to fulfil their white-ball obligations.The extent of England’s subsequent gratitude, however, has been mixed. Both West Indies and Pakistan benefitted from being able to host extended T20 series last year, but not before Pakistan had been outrageously fobbed off by the unilateral cancellation of England’s goodwill stop-over in 2021-22 – a shameful episode that led to the departure of the previous ECB chairman, Ian Watmore.Happily, the new chair and CEO combo, the former Surrey pairing of Richard Thompson and Richard Gould, seem to be more attuned to the true needs of the sport – with Gould acknowledging on a recent Final Word podcast that the time is nigh to pay visiting teams a fee for fulfilling their side of a bilateral agreement, to “encourage people not just to play Tests but make sure they can pay their players, and pay them well, so that they want to play Test cricket again.”It’s surely a critical step in shoring up a creaking format. But if an unprecedented run-rate of 6.34 across 82.4 overs in a home England Test is insufficient to set pulses racing, it may be that the sport has already been bled too dry to save those sides on the extremity.