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Kevon Cooper and Arafat Sunny have been reported by the umpires for suspect bowling actions in the BPL

Mohammad Isam30-Nov-2016Kevon Cooper and Arafat Sunny have been reported by the umpires for suspect bowling actions in the BPL.In the case of Sunny, Rangpur Riders’ left-arm spinner, one delivery, the first ball of the 19th over in Rangpur’s match against Rajshahi Kings on November 28, raised suspicion.Video footage of Khulna Titan’s allrounder Cooper’s bowling has been sent to the WICB, the BPL technical committee chairman Jalal Yunus said.”Sunny was reported once, in their last game [on November 28],” Yunus said. “The next step would be for the BCB’s bowling action review committee to analyse video footage of the delivery, which we will do soon after the end of the tournament. We have sent Cooper’s footage to the WICB.”Sunny was suspended for an illegal action during this year’s World T20 in March but cleared to bowl by the ICC in international cricket on September 23.After Sunny and Taskin Ahmed were suspended by the ICC, the BCB formed a bowling action review committee which found five bowlers to have illegal bowling actions during last season’s Dhaka Premier League.Yunus, who is also the chairman of the bowling action review committee, said that they will be stricter on suspected bowling actions.West Indies’ Cooper, too, was reported for a suspected bowling action during this year’s Pakistan Super League. Yunus said the BPL wanted to cases such as Cooper’s in future.”In the next BPL, we hope to do the video analysis of suspected bowling action during the tournament itself,” Yunus said. “We will also have to be aware of foreign players who has been reported previously, so that we can inform our franchises beforehand. We don’t want to have such bowlers in future tournaments.”

Australia allrounder set to play T20 group stage as well as two rounds of Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2025Will Sutherland, the Australia allrounder, has agreed to join Yorkshire as one of their overseas players for the Vitality Blast. The 25-year-old will also be available for two rounds of the County Championship in June/July.Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire’s new head coach, had previously tried to bring in Sutherland when in charge at Essex, only for a back stress fracture to rule him out of a stint at Chelmsford during 2023. Sutherland signed to play for Somerset last season but was forced to withdraw with another back injury.Sutherland, who has been capped twice in ODIs, will join up with Yorkshire in May for the start of the Blast and play the entire group stage, as well as being involved for Championship fixtures against Nottinghamshire and Essex.Related

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“Yorkshire are a Club with big ambitions, and I want to do all I can to contribute to a successful year,” Sutherland said. “I know how hard the guys will have worked to get promoted last season and I’m looking forward to putting in the hard yards with the team.”I’ve worked closely with Mags [McGrath] and Mick [Lewis, Yorkshire bowling coach] previously over in Australia so the opportunity to join them both again was one I couldn’t turn down.”Headingley and its atmosphere is famous in Australia, and I can’t wait to experience a Roses game. I know it’s the first fixture so many look out for, and I was no different.”Captain of Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash, Sutherland has taken 36 wickets in 63 appearances with an economy of 8.80. He strikes at 134.32 with the bat, and made his highest T20 score earlier this month – 70 off 45 balls – to help his side beat Perth Scorchers.McGrath said: “Will is someone I have admired for a long time and feel he can add something extra to our bowling attack for that middle period of the season as well as offering us an added dimension with the bat.”I know the Australian selectors think highly of him, and they know a thing or two about allrounders, so I am confident Will can hit the ground running and deliver for us in both red and white ball games.”Gavin Hamilton, Yorkshire’s general manager of cricket, added: “Will is an immense talent. His record is impressive, and I’m delighted that we have got his signing over the line.”Having discussed this opportunity with Will over recent weeks, it quickly became clear that he was aligned to our philosophy for the year ahead and his ambitions matched ours. We look forward to welcoming Will to Yorkshire.”

Dean’s half-century salvaged an otherwise ordinary performance against New South Wales at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Travis Dean played out 182 balls for his 67•Getty Images

Travis Dean’s 67 was the most substantial innings for Victoria as New South Wales restricted the Bushrangers to a mediocre first innings on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG.Resuming the Shield season after the Big Bash League hiatus, Dean’s patient innings was his first appearance since last year other than a warm-up match against the touring Pakistan team, and he soaked up 182 balls after the Blues’ captain Moises Henriques won the toss and chose to send the hosts in to bat.The Dukes ball moved through the air for most of the day, challenging the techniques of the batsmen and encouraging the bowlers to try for conventional swing rather than reverting to shorter lengths or attempts to gain reverse bend. Harry Conway was a useful exponent of the method, claiming the wickets of Dean, Rob Quiney and Cameron White.Dean’s best support came from the pair of Bushrangers’ debutants, as the teenager Will Pucovski and the former Tasmania allrounder Evan Gulbis both ensured the innings lasted until close to stumps. Nick Larkin and Daniel Hughes saw out one over from Scott Boland before the close.

Sri Lanka went down by an innings and 222 runs, their worst-ever defeat at home

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Jul-2023Noman Ali claimed seven wickets with guileful, accurate left-arm spin, then Naseem Shah’s sublime reverse-swing spell in the Colombo heat closed out the match, as Pakistan completed about a domineering a victory on Sri Lankan soil as has been achieved in the last several years.Pakistan’s bowling was spellbinding, but the numbers of this victory themselves are epic. Pakistan won by an innings and 222 runs, which is Sri Lanka’s worst-ever defeat at home. They did it inside four days, despite more than a day’s play having effectively been lost to rain and bad light. Noman’s figures for the second innings were 7 for 70. And Naseem bowled an unbroken 7.4 over spell that was pure fire and reverse swing to shut the door on the opposition.It was Noman’s flight, dip, and changes of pace that made him an especial threat. Sri Lanka had started their second innings nicely, their openers making 69 together. But the moment Noman came into the attack he produced a spectacular delivery to dismiss Nishan Madushka for 33, and would then go on to scythe through the batting order. The ball to Madushka was bowled from around the wicket, drifted in, dipped, pitched on middle and leg, then leapt off the surface to beat the batter’s outside edge and clip off stump. That was in the last half hour before lunch.After the break, Noman was unstoppable. Dimuth Karunaratne was caught at short leg by Imam-ul-Haq – another sharp take at that position for Pakistan, who have been spectacular with their close catching all series. Kusal Mendis then attempted to hit Noman inside out and spooned a catch to cover instead, having failed to get to the pitch of the ball. Dinesh Chandimal was out cheaply gloving an attempted lap sweep, and even Dhananjaya de Silva – who had had a good series – fell cheaply, holing out to long on to complete Noman’s five-wicket haul.Angelo Mathews, who hit an unbeaten half century as the devastation unfolded at the other end, was himself struggling against Noman, particularly early in his innings. He struck some big boundaries, sure, but in between were nervy defensive strokes. He eventually gained confidence. But none of the Sri Lanka batters were comfortable against Noman, as he got plenty to bite off the surface, kept testing them on a length, and bowled few loose deliveries.When he took his sixth and seventh wickets – having Sadeera Samarawickrama caught at point after getting the ball to bounce more than expected, before having Ramesh Mendis stumped – there was still the chance he might take all ten wickets in an innings.But then Naseem was putting in a heroic spell at the other end. It is difficult to overstate just how much he was getting the old the ball to swing, particularly into the right-hander. He’d cover the ball as he ran in, to conceal the shiny side, and by extension, keep the batter unaware as to which direction it would move. And he was bowling serious pace – sometimes touching the mid 140kph range.In one over to Ramesh Mendis the 62nd of the innings – he struck the batter on the pads three times in successive balls. On the first occasion Pakistan reviewed a not-out decision which was upheld because the ball was swinging down leg. On the next two, Ramesh reviewed out decisions, and they both turned out to be missing leg as well. The ball was curving fast and late.Eventually, Naseem would get some reward. He bowled an especially long spell, partly, you suspect, because he did not want to give the ball up. He bowled Prabath Jayasuriya who left a ball that cannoned into his off stump (further proof of how far this ball was moving laterally), then made an eruption out of Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka’s stumps as well.Mathews’ half-century always looked like it was coming in a losing effort, so far behind were Sri Lanka. And although there has been rain around, Babar Azam’s decision to have Pakistan bat two further overs early in the day ostensibly to let Mohammad Rizwan complete an eighth Test half century, did not hinder them at all, so good were his bowlers, and so readily did Sri Lanka’s batting succumb.

Captaincy during low-key warm-up is another step in the development of England No.3

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Nov-2022Ollie Pope only knew the day before that he would be captaining England in their warm-up match against the Lions in Abu Dhabi. While sitting at breakfast with Zak Crawley and Jack Leach at the team’s plush Ritz Carlton hotel, head coach Brendon McCullum casually sidled over and informed him he would be leading in Ben Stokes’ absence.”Classic Baz style,” Pope says. “He was like, ‘you’re gonna skipper this week – all good?’ And I was like, ‘absolutely, I’m looking forward to it’.”There are two things at play here. The first is that McCullum and Stokes want to challenge players to take on more responsibility and grow as voices in the dressing room. The second is Pope, beyond being an immensely talented batter, is identified as someone who can be coaxed a little more out of his shell for the benefit of himself and those around him.That Pope called up Stokes after his appointment as Test captain, and more or less demanded to bat at No.3, rather changed the perception of a boyish scamp who can’t help but have a go at anything outside off stump. And the management clearly believe there is more of this type of character within him. Putting him out of his comfort zone – he had only captained once before in professional cricket back in September 2021, for Surrey in a County Championship match against Glamorgan – was clearly their way of bringing it to the fore.Pope’s first day as deputy was spent largely at the crease, flaying the Lions for 146 as England posted 501 for 7 declared. Day two was one of chasing leather as the Lions kept their senior counterparts in the dirt with 411 for 9. Alas, there was no third day in the gig as England opted for a two-hour training session instead. So, how did he find it?”I enjoyed it actually,” Pope says. “I was curious as to what it would be like captaining someone like Jimmy [James Anderson] but I actually really enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure whether he’d want to set the field his own way but it was good and we bounced off ideas.”It was a pretty flat wicket so, on a pitch like that, it makes it a bit more difficult rather than Jimmy just getting four slips and he’s just going to nick everyone off. You had to find different ways to get batters out and it was good trying to be creative like that, but I enjoyed it and all the boys were top draw and brought into it.”Pope cedes he’d never really considered captaincy. Beyond doing the job for Cranleigh School and Surrey Under-17s, it was not something he coveted. The FEC (Future England Captain) tag was loosely affixed to him early in his career, simply because of his undoubted ability that saw him win the first of 30 caps against India in the 2018 summer, aged just 20.Four years on, and heading into a historic tour of Pakistan, he is a little bolder when addressing leadership – both in the long-term future for England, but also when it comes to tactical collaboration within the current team, on and off the field.Ollie Pope, standing in as captain, made an assured century in Abu Dhabi•ECB Images

“I don’t go ‘oh I’d love to be England captain’, but at the same time I believe I’ve got a good cricket brain. I think about cricket a lot and I think I see the game in a way where I don’t just think about my batting. Whether that be for Surrey or whoever, if an opportunity arose, it’s something I’d definitely be keen to do.”I mean, obviously, we’ve got the best captain in the world at the minute. Everyone’s loving playing under Stokesy but if it was something that happened in the near future, amazing. Something that I’d love but at the same time I realise I’ve got to score my runs. I don’t want to be looking too far ahead about that stuff. I want to keep concentrating on the No.3 spot. It’s also something that takes your mind off batting, so I enjoy thinking about the game like that. With Stokesy, there’s a lot of boys who bounce ideas while he’s skippering as well.”Pope is quick to point out he is not the vice-captain, officially or otherwise. Stokes has been reticent on the subject of his second-in-command, though Stuart Broad – not on this tour following the birth of his first child – was understood to be primed for the role over the summer.”No, I’m sure there’ll be a time if they ever want to announce someone, then they will, but it’s nothing like that,” Pope says. “I think everyone at the minute has as much say and, if there’s a conversation to be had and you want to give your ideas, then great, but there’s no tag on it. The natural leaders and the guys in the team who have got something to say will usually say something but, at the minute, it’s pretty much a level playing field on that front.”Shedding the “wunderkind” tag is still a work in progress for Pope. Beyond adopting a “grown-up” position at first drop, the raw numbers still need to develop. His career average is 31, and there are just two centuries to his name, the second coming this summer as his first in home conditions. He does, however, feel that little bit more mature, and that little bit more self-assured, thanks to a close-knit England environment that encourages individual growth.Related

• Ollie Pope to captain England in warm-up as Ben Stokes sits out

• Jofra Archer makes encouraging return to England colours after long injury lay-off

• Mark Wood in doubt for first Test after World Cup hip injury

• Ben Stokes puts prep over precedent as England ease towards Pakistan challenge

“I felt it a little bit in the summer,” he says of being regarded as a senior member of the group. “Playing at three for England in Test cricket is a big role to have and it’s an important role for the team. As soon as I was given that role, I saw myself as a bit more of a leader than when I was batting at six, which I really enjoyed.”It’s nothing that’s necessarily changed. I think it’s the way everyone’s feeling in the team at the moment. We’re feeling like it’s our team in a way, rather than boys feeling like they’re playing for their places. It’s more like ‘this is us, this our team, we can own it, we can dictate how we want to play’ and I think everyone’s probably feeling an aspect of that as well, which is great for the whole squad and the management as well.”Pope’s record last summer was solid: 456 runs at 38, with four fifty-plus scores. Perhaps most encouraging was the manner in which he overcame a poor start – 7 and 10 in the first Test against New Zealand – to make 145 in the next innings against the same opponents at Trent Bridge. His credentials at No.3 were questioned but he approached the issue with far more positivity than he usually would, seemingly deciding on a whim to worry less about a couple of low scores and more expressive. With distance, now, he reflects on the season with more clarity.”I was very happy with how the summer went, [but] it wasn’t necessarily the numbers,’ he says. “I averaged 38. That’s not amazing but at the same time I was happy with my contributions and on tougher wickets, finding different ways to negotiate bowler friendly conditions, which is what I was happy with.”Rather than scoring runs when everyone else is scoring runs, score runs when you can stand up and lead the innings,” he adds. “It might not be a 100, but even if it’s a 70 or an 80 or an 60, that’s probably what I was most pleased with from the summer. Hopefully the hundreds will come on better wickets, where I can maybe play a bit more conventionally, but I’m happy with how I went about this summer and I learnt some good lessons as well.”I learnt that you don’t need to hit a million balls a day in practice, and you don’t need to overtrain to find success. It’s about being full of energy and being confident on the day and almost trying to enjoy the week a bit more, rather than thinking ‘oh I need a score’. But there’s always room for improvement. If you turn those 5s into 30s and those 70s into 100s, then that’s the way you’re having an amazing summer, rather than a good summer.”Maturity will come in handy over the next month. Not just because of the challenges that Pakistan offer on the field, but with a return to constricted living day-to-day because of the level of security in place. Pope was open about the challenges of similar restrictions during the 2020 summer, with bio-secure bubbles during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and how the lack of escape meant “you think about your failures a little more than normal”.”I was pretty new to international cricket at that point and my mood pretty much was dependant on how many runs I scored that day, rather than being at peace,” he says. “Not just watching a screen and playing Call of Duty but finding other ways to take your mind away from cricket and just enjoying each other’s company more.”More time together as a group, looking out for each other and focussing on three back-to-back Tests will ease that strain, somewhat. Pope, by all accounts, is wiser and more at ease about what is to come.”The boys are buzzing for it and I can’t wait to see the crowds out there,” he says. “Even with the levels of security, it’s going to be fingers crossed, a smooth operation. It’ll be great to be a part of and great to experience as a player, being the first English Test team to tour there in a long time. So we’re buzzing for that but it’s going to provide its challenges and we probably won’t be allowed out of our hotel much. We’ll find ways, whether that’s card games … I think Keats has got his coffee machine, so just doing small things like that.”The fact that we’ve had a bit of time in Abu Dhabi, we’ve been able to get out on the golf course and do a lot of training and have our warm-up game has been good, and once we’re out there, we’re pretty much straight into it. There’s not going to be too much downtime anyway.”

The Pakistan board has urged the ICC to take action against the BCCI for India’s use of army camouflage caps during their third ODI against Australia

Umar Farooq in Karachi10-Mar-20192:39

India’s credibility in the cricketing world has gone down badly – Ehsan Mani

The PCB has taken “strong notice” of India’s use of army camouflage caps during their third ODI against Australia in Ranchi, urging the ICC to take action against the BCCI.MS Dhoni, who is an honorary lieutenant colonel in the Indian territorial army, distributed the caps to the team before the toss. The move was initiated as a way to pay tribute to those killed in the terror attack in Pulwama last month. The BCCI had approached the ICC before going ahead with the plan, and the ICC confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that permission had been granted as it was part of a charity fundraising effort.”We have strongly taken up the matter with the ICC,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani told reporters in Karachi. “There is absolutely no misunderstanding in the ICC about our position. We believe that cricket and sports should not be used for politics and we have said this very clearly. Their [India] credibility in the cricketing world has gone down very badly.”India’s captain Virat Kohli had explained at the toss in Ranchi that donning the caps were meant to encourage countrymen to donate to the National Defence Fund to help with the education of the martyrs’ dependents.”This is to pay respect to the martyrs of the Pulwama attack and their families,” Kohli said. “All the players have decided to donate their match fees from this particular game to the National Defence Fund. I, as the captain of the team, would urge everyone in the country to do the same, donate how much ever they can to the National Defence Fund and help in the education and well-being of the families and the children of those who lost their lives in the attack. So this is a very special cap and a very special game indeed.”Mani, however, insisted that ICC should take “strong action” against India, especially as there was already precedent for the same.The Indian players walk out for the Ranchi ODI in their army camouflage caps•Getty Images

Moeen Ali, the England allrounder, was banned in 2014 for wearing wristbands bearing the slogans ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’ on the first two days of the third Test against India at The Ageas Bowl. While the ECB had defended Moeen’s stance, describing his actions as humanitarian rather than political, match referee David Boon had reminded Moeen of the ICC’s clothing and equipment regulations.Similarly, South African legspinner Imran Tahir was reprimanded by the ICC for his celebrations during a T20I against Sri Lanka in early 2017. After dismissing Asela Gunaratne, Tahir went off on one of his usual celebratory runs before taking off his playing kit and revealing a t-shirt with an image of the late Junaid Jamshed, a Pakistani pop icon and latterly religious preacher who had died in a plane crash.”You have two examples from the past already, where both Imran Tahir and Moeen Ali were sanctioned for something similar,” Mani said. “The ICC had taken strong action against them and we have sought similar action against India. The permission they took was for a different purpose but they acted differently.”We have been in touch with ICC from day one, sent one letter already and another is being followed up in next 12 hours. There should not be any ambiguity as we are taking this very strongly. We don’t do politics, neither we do we use cricket for politics.”Ties between the two boards have deteriorated sharply in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack. The BCCI initially wanted to have Pakistan banned from the World Cup this summer, before deciding to tone that down by asking the ICC to “sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates”.BCCI officials did not bring up the request at a recent ICC board meeting but it was brought up – and turned down – by the ICC head Shashank Manohar.

Many county bowling attacks have suffered at the hands of Wayne Madsen over the years, but none more so than Leicestershire’s since the likeable South African made his first appearance in the County Championship back in 2009

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2016
ScorecardWayne Madsen’s half-century led Derbyshire’s reply•Getty Images

Many county bowling attacks have suffered at the hands of Wayne Madsen over the years, but none more so than Leicestershire’s since the likeable South African made his first appearance in the County Championship back in 2009.Madsen was at it again on the second day of this Division Two match. His innings of 76 not only held the Derbyshire first innings together, just about, it saw him pass both 9,000 career first-class runs and 1,000 against Leicestershire. The only surprise, as far as Leicestershire supporters were concerned, was seeing Madsen attempt to pull a Charlie Shreck bouncer and top edge a catch into the leg side.Leicestershire’s first innings 380 was built on a first century of the season for Ned Eckersley. Resuming on 300 for 7, Eckersley and Ben Raine extended their eighth wicket partnership to 58 before the left-handed Raine was tempted into driving at a wide delivery from Alex Hughes, and was well caught off the outside edge by wicket-keeper Alex Mellor, standing up to Hughes’ medium-pace.Richard Jones played over a straight ball from very occasional offspinner Neil Broom, at which point Eckersley was in danger of being stranded on 99 – the more so because Leicestershire No. 11 Charlie Shreck came to the wicket having scored no runs at all in any of his previous seven innings.Shreck kept out what remained of Broom’s over, however, and in the following over Eckersley steered left-armer Callum Parkinson into the off side for the runs he need to go to his century, which came off 223 balls and included nine fours.Shreck was left not out, again without scoring, when Eckersley, on 117, went down the wicket and tried to loft Callum Parkinson to long-on, but could not clear Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman. The 19-year-old Parkinson, making his first-class debut, finished with 4 for 90 from 33.4 overs.Derbyshire lost their first three batsmen with just 40 on the board, with all three having their off-stump knocked out of the ground. Godleman had only himself to blame, shouldering arms to a Clint McKay inswinger, but Ben Slater and Chesney Hughes both received superb deliveries that straightened off the seam from Ben Raine.Madsen has been consistency personified this season however, coming into the match having scored 860 championship runs at an average of over 60, and the right-hander hit eight fours in going to his 50 off 71 balls.Broom looked less secure, and had already played across the line on a couple of occasions when clipping Shreck’s outswingers through the leg side when he got a leading edge attempting the shot again, and was well caught by Raine running back from mid-on for 33.Madsen may have been fortunate to survive a leg before shout to the following ball, but McKay returned to pick up the wicket of Shiv Thakor, pinning the former Leicestershire allrounder leg before to his third delivery.The evening session was a different story. Madsen and Alex Hughes battled away, at least until Madsen’s rush of blood, and Hughes and Mellor, making his first class debut, saw the visitors to the close without further loss.

T20I selection criteria: “Who is hot at the moment, who is consistent, who has got the runs and where he has got the runs”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-202310:18

Runorder: What should India’s top six at the 2024 T20 World Cup look like?

Ravi Shastri wants India to move on from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for T20Is, and bring in high-performing, younger players the next time they play in the format.”First T20 series that comes up, play these guys [the youngsters], expose these guys. They [the selectors] should start blooding them right now,” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s Runorder show, when asked about how soon players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jitesh Sharma and Tilak Varma should get a promotion.”Players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, they are proven, you know what they are all about. I would go in that [good performers in the IPL] direction so that they get the opportunities, they get the exposure, whilst you keep the Virats and the Rohits fresh for one-day cricket and Test cricket.Related

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• Shastri on Rohit: 'You can go flat no matter who you are'

• 'Inevitable' – Moody, Shastri expect IPL teams to spread wings

“Your focus there with that kind of experience should move to Test cricket, red-ball cricket for the future World Test Championship, and they stay fresh [so that] there is not too much of cricket where there is an overkill.”But what if Rohit and Kohli, KL Rahul too, want to play T20 cricket?With the 2024 T20 World Cup still more than a year away, the criteria for selection should solely be “current form”, Shastri argued.”One year is a long time. Players can be in form, the form can disappear,” he said. “You will pick the best guys at the time, and then, of course, the experience will count, fitness will count. Who is hot at the moment, who is consistent, who has got the runs and where he has got the runs.”Shastri was also of the opinion that there should be a specialist for each position in the batting line-up and players shouldn’t be force-fitted in unfamiliar roles, and there should be a good mix of left-hand-right-hand batters in the mix.”It should be the right man for the right job,” Shastri said. “It shouldn’t be a guy who bats at three or four for his franchise, and suddenly you make him bat at six or open the innings when it comes to picking a team for India.”I would like the mix of left-hand-right-hand batting combination. Just like you look for a left-armer with the ball, I would like to see left-handers there. You see this IPL, teams that have done well, look at the mix that they have.”Shastri had earlier advocated for Hardik Pandya to become the full-time India T20I captain and believes that Hardik, based on the evidence with Gujarat Titans in the IPL, will get the right people in the right positions.”Oh, you will get that right with Hardik. He’ll get that right where he will want his six bowlers including himself and players for the right numbers,” Shastri said. “Just seeing the way he has captained Gujarat Titans, you can see there is a player for a number and there is a role which he will take forward to the Indian team.”With an impressive IPL 2023 so far (265 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 158.68), Jitesh has thrown his hat in the ring as a wicketkeeper-batter who can finish the innings strongly. But India already have Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, who have been in and around the T20I side, and are possibly ahead of Jitesh in the pecking order. Not to forget Rishabh Pant, but he is expected to be out of action at least till the end of the year. The difference, though, is that Jitesh is a finisher.”If there are other good openers, you might want a wicketkeeper who bats at six or seven. Yet, if your opening is a bit weak, you might want to look for a keeper who might open the batting,” Shastri said. “That number becomes very important and what are your reserves, what are your strengths… Therein you fit in the bloke. It applies everywhere in that team.”

The rising levels of pollution in Delhi have affected the cricket too, claiming the whole day’s play between Bengal and Gujarat at Feroz Shah Kotla and between Hyderabad and Tripura at Karnail Singh Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2016The rising levels of pollution in Delhi have affected the cricket too, claiming the whole day’s play between Bengal and Gujarat at Feroz Shah Kotla and between Hyderabad and Tripura at Karnail Singh Stadium. The sun came out but failed to break through the dense smog hanging in India’s capital.The light improved for an hour or so during the day but players complained their eyes burnt when they went into the middle. Bengal players were seen leaving the ground wearing masks. With the air quality not expected to improve dramatically, these two matches are unlikely to produce a result.”This is the first time something like this happened in my career,” Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary said. “You can’t blame anyone. There is so much burning sensation in the eyes. After the toss, umpires asked both me and Parthiv and we both decided that we can’t play. During warm-up we felt that it’s not happening. We have to take care of our health also. This is something unheard of. But we are all responsible because when we burst crackers we really think about environmental pollution.”Residents in the capital region have been likening being in Delhi to being in a gas chamber. The trigger for the smog has been the after-effects of the fireworks on Diwali, and the burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. The farmers burn the stubble to prepare the ground for the next crop, in the process damaging both the soil and the air quality. Harvesting with mechanised combines, they say, leaves them with no option but to burn the remaining stubble. When they harvested with hands, they could use the remaining stubble as fodder or to make cardboards.

On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked but they hauled themselves to a dominant position

Andrew Miller at Lord's16-Jul-2016A month ago, on this very ground, Alastair Cook faced up to the press on the final day of the Sri Lanka series and bemoaned the fact that – after two facile victories in the opening two Tests of the summer – rain had robbed his developing team of a timely test of their mettle. “It would have been good to put us under pressure,” he had said. Well, he’s going to get his wish on Sunday, and no mistake.On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked and, with Chris Woakes producing yet another display of outstanding attacking swing bowling, they came close to capsizing on more than one occasion.And yet, by the close, Pakistan had ridden out the jitters and found sufficient resistance from their lower-middle order to put themselves in a position of undeniable dominance. With a lead of 281 already banked, and on a surface that is beginning to offer both turn and variable bounce, Pakistan know as well as England that – in the legspinner Yasir Shah, not to mention a potent trio of left-arm seamers – they have an attack that can wrap up a first victory at Lord’s since 1996.”I’d like to say we are just in front,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach. “It’s very close, almost too close to call. I think we are in for a cracking day’s cricket tomorrow, if we can sneak another 19-20 and get just over 300, it’s going to be a very, very good Test match.”Moeen Ali, England’s offspinning allrounder, didn’t try to disagree with that sentiment. Having been bundled out for 272 on the second afternoon – with Yasir claiming figures of 6 for 72 in his first Test outside of Asia – he admitted that England’s batsmen would need to formulate a better plan second-time around if they want to avoid being shown up for the second innings in a row.”In the first innings, we didn’t bat very well, so we want to put that right,” Moeen said. “There’s a lot of us who want to score some runs, but it’s going to be tough. They are a very good bowling side and you saw in the first innings, they have a very good legspinner who’s going to cause us trouble.”England’s problems in the first innings stemmed largely from Yasir’s control. With little in the way of big spin on offer, line and length – allied to natural variation and the odd ripper – were sufficient to destabilise an England middle order for whom the legend of Shane Warne is but a distant noise in the commentary box. In the ten years since his retirement, practical experience of such artistry has been thin on the ground, and it showed in the manner of all too many dismissals.”The guys will come out with definite plans,” said Moeen. “We’ve been preparing very well against legspinners but, in the first innings, we didn’t play very well against him, and he got a lot of wickets, so he’s going to be the biggest threat tomorrow.”In the first innings we were caught in the crease a lot and didn’t use our feet against him. But sometimes, when it’s not spinning, it’s a little bit harder because he bowls very accurately. In the next innings, we’ll have to be good on our feet, whether back or forward, but the lack of bounce did us a little bit in the first innings. We are just going to have to play well. We’ve all got runs in the past so we are going to have to use that experience and play well against him.”On the evidence of Moeen’s own bowling performance, a lack of bounce won’t be the issue on a gently deteriorating Lord’s surface. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s suicidal mo(w) to deep midwicket was a clear case of batsman error, then the ball that did for an extraordinarily skittish Younis Khan clearly gripped before cannoning into his stumps off an inside edge.Still, Moeen was happy to accept the offerings, particularly after a fallow first innings in which a far more focused Misbah had beaten him out of the attack with a volley of dead-eyed sweeps and reverse-sweeps.”I actually felt like I bowled all right in the first innings, but Misbah … I just can’t bowl at him at times,” he said. “I try to do a holding job but it’s very difficult, so I was very pleased to get him out today. But I’m happy with how I’m bowling at the moment. I felt like it came out just as well [in the first innings] but I just got smashed. That can happen.”The assistance for Moeen, second-time around, may have had as much to do with the rough outside off that Pakistan’s trio of left-arm quicks had created, but the doubts, where Yasir is concerned, are already embedded in England’s minds. Arthur didn’t need much invitation to begin the probing on behalf of his team.”I think we saw there was a little bit on offer,” he said. “The one that got Younis gripped quite big. And it’s a little bit up-and-down as well, there’s variable bounce which is great, so hopefully it will assist Yasir in a big way.”The wider concern for England is that Pakistan’s team are far from a one-trick outfit. In fact, as Yasir himself admitted after the first innings, his own success had only arisen because he had set himself to do a holding roll for his seamers. But on that occasion, amid the emotion of Mohammad Amir’s return to the fray, their lines and their disciplines went fractionally awry, and Arthur was adamant they’d be better for having got all that out of their systems.Amir, he claimed, had been so nervous before his opening spell that he could barely grip the ball. But, he added, “he hit his areas more often than not and did a job at good pace. Hopefully he can take that into tomorrow. Everything that’s gone has gone now, he’s back out on the field, raring to go tomorrow, and hopefully he can bowl us to victory.”However, England’s task could and perhaps should be significantly less daunting than it already is. On a day when Woakes’ penetration kept them in the contest, Steven Finn produced his best spell of a difficult match, only to see two catches in three overs go down. The second, by Jonny Bairstow off Sarfraz Ahmed, was especially culpable, and Moeen admitted that England’s standards had not been high enough of late.”We spoke about it,” he said. “We haven’t been catching very well this summer, and we are going to have to get better. Going back to the Ashes [in 2015], the reason we won it was some brilliant catches. We held on to everything so we know we can field better. Hopefully we can go bang, bang tomorrow and keep them less than 300-310. It’s still going to be tough, but we’ve got players hopefully who can knock them off.”Pakistan, however, have a legspinner who can knock England off in return, and Moeen knows that he stands squarely in their way.”Pakistan spinners are always very attacking and tactically very good,” said Moeen. “Yasir is always attacking the stumps so, as a batter, you feel like you’ve got to play, but he does bowl bad balls as well. He’s a human being at the end of the day. He can have a bad day as well.”