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Bumrah, Chahal and Jadeja have struggled to adapt to the challenges the surfaces have offered so far

Aakash Chopra04-Dec-2020Australia is a tough country to conquer, for batsmen and bowlers alike. On the face of it, the pitches there are more conducive to faster bowlers with the extra pace and bounce they provide, but in reality it’s not that simple. We saw how the Indian bowlers struggled in the first couple of ODIs, in Sydney, and the extra bounce that was supposedly their ally was actually adding to their problems. The new batch of white Kookaburra balls don’t swing at all in the air, and if there’s no sideways movement off the surface, which there wasn’t in Sydney, the bounce makes the ball sit up quite nicely to get hit.The same is true for the spinners – the grass on the surface makes it tougher for the older white ball to grip and turn. If the ball neither turns nor stops on the surface, there’s precious little a bowler can do to rein in the batsman. More so if you’re still figuring out the right pace to bowl at and searching for the appropriate length for that particular surface.Fast bowlers are always advised to bowl the length that ensures the ball hits the top of off stump. When you bowl that line and length, you create difficulties for the batsman. But the fact is, that length varies from one surface to the other. While in India you have to bowl a certain length to hit the top of the stumps, in Australia that length is a lot fuller because of the bounce. In theory, the difference of a couple of feet isn’t much; every bowler bowls shorter and fuller every now and then intentionally anyway. But in practice, the difference is a lot more difficult to conquer: changing the length for a couple of deliveries is not challenging, but changing the length of the stock ball requires extensive training – you’re developing new muscle memory.ALSO READ: Powerless in the powerplay – India have too many holes in their bowling unitJasprit Bumrah is India’s lead white-ball bowler, and his discomfort in getting used to the demands of a new pitch was visible in the first two games. He started by bowling the stock ball but found no venom in it, for the bounce was comfortably taking the ball over the stumps.Australian batsmen have grown up playing on these surfaces, so their response was very different from whatever the Indian batsmen were doing in the practice sessions leading up to the game. Of course, the pitches provided in the camp are vastly different from those for international cricket. Bumrah tried bowling a little fuller, but the lack of swing and seam allowed the Australian batsmen to play on the up and through the line, which is something you can do on pitches with true bounce and pace.

Chahal’s dilemma about the right speed and length to bowl at was evident, and the fact that the Australian batsmen were on top didn’t help his cause. It didn’t give him any time to settle into a rhythm

Also, the response mechanism of a bowler every time a batsman reacts to a ball is inbuilt by the time he reaches the international arena. Bumrah dug in short, it went over the batsman’s head; a little fuller than that allowed the batsmen to swivel and play the pull. Now, learning on the job is fine, but there’s the matter of controlling the spillage of runs, and finding that balance isn’t easy. It’s like fixing a mechanical error in a car’s engine while the vehicle is on the move.Things were equally challenging for Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. While Jadeja’s style of bowling doesn’t change much from surface to surface (which is why he struggled less), Chahal’s response varies quite a bit from one surface to the other. His craft is based on creating enough confusion in the batsman’s mind by varying the pace and using whatever little purchase is available off the surface.The thumb rule for spin bowling is to increase speed while bowling on spin-friendly pitches and to bowl slower on flatter surfaces. Chahal needed to find the right pace to bowl on the Sydney pitch. He went a few miles slower a lot of times but the lack of assistance offered by the surface made it easier for the batsman to manoeuvre. The problem with going too slow is that it allows the batsman to go deep inside the crease, even to the deliveries that aren’t very short. When that starts happening, you as a bowler try to push the ball fuller without quite realising that you are going to be landing the ball virtually at the batsman’s feet.ALSO READ: India’s one-dimensional batsmen hurting their five-bowler strategy Chahal’s dilemma about the right speed and length to bowl at was evident, and the fact that the Australian batsmen were on top didn’t help his cause. It didn’t give him any time to settle into a rhythm. The pitch in Sydney was so true that you could play even the spinner on the rise – something that you avoid attempting if there’s the slightest bit of help in the surface for spinners.Playing on Australian pitches can be extremely intimidating, especially for batsmen from the subcontinent, but still the consensus is that they can be the most batsman-friendly surfaces in the world too. Once the initial challenge of adjustment is taken care of, the true nature of the pitches makes for consistent strokeplay.Picture it from a bowler’s point of view: it’s only a small window of opportunity for them to make inroads and, if they fail to do so, their challenges increase manifold.

After a famous win in Chennai, we take a look at some of England’s best recent Test performances in Asia

Alan Gardner10-Feb-2021vs Pakistan, Karachi, 2000 – won by six wickets
England only won 12 Tests in Asia between 1933 (India’s first on home soil) and 2000 – and none at all in the preceding 15 years – but a memorable winter in Pakistan and Sri Lanka was to prove the turning point. Nasser Hussain’s side set off in good spirits and a clear game plan to take the Tests in Pakistan as deep as possible, securing high-scoring draws in Lahore (the last time before Chennai that England had batted into day three of a Test unaffected by rain) and Faisalabad. Then came the series-sealing victory in the dark in Karachi. First, England ground their way towards parity on the back of Mike Atherton’s ten-hour 125; then, when Pakistan slipped to 158 all out on the final afternoon, they stole off with the game thanks to Graham Thorpe’s cool head – plus a little help from Steve Bucknor. Cue “Who Let the Dogs Out” in the away dressing room.vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2001 – won by four wickets
Hussain’s England carried lessons of victory in Pakistan to Sri Lanka a few months later, though this was a very different series. Hammered in the first Test in Galle, they bounced back in Kandy, amid umpiring controversy and complaints about behaviour on both sides. For the decider at the SSC, England were again reliant on the understated genius of Thorpe as they prevailed in a low-scoring scrap. Hussain lost the toss, but England’s bowlers fought back on day one to limit Sri Lanka to 241 after they had been 205 for 3, and Thorpe marshalled the response with a masterful, unbeaten 113 (none of his team-mates scored more than 26). Sitting on a slim lead, England then blitzed the home side for 81, with Darren Gough and Ashley Giles coming to the fore. Chasing 74 on a Bunsen was never going to be straightforward, though, and it needed Thorpe to get them home again – his 32 not out “like getting a hundred in each innings”.Shaun Udal removed Sachin Tendulkar on the way to a match-winning 4 for 11 in Mumbai•Getty Imagesvs India, Mumbai, 2006 – won by 212 runs
One of the great one-off victories, as an England side shorn of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook (who was taken ill two games after his debut in Nagpur) and Steve Harmison, and being led by a stand-up captain in Andrew Flintoff, bounced back to level the series in dramatic fashion on the final afternoon at the Wankhede. They benefited from some generosity, after Rahul Dravid’s decision to insert them allowed England to stack up 400, underpinned by a century from Andrew Strauss; James Anderson (yes, the same one) then took four wickets as India posted 279 in reply. However, after Flintoff’s second fifty of the match saw the hosts set 313 in just over three sessions, the game seemed to be heading for a draw, India 75 for 3 at lunch. Then Flintoff stuck “Ring of Fire” on the CD player, and England ran through Sachin Tendulkar and Co in 15.2 overs – 37-year-old Shaun Udal the hero with 4 for 11.Related

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vs India, Mumbai, 2012 – won by ten wickets
England remain the last visiting team to win a Test series in India, and they did so in 2012-13 despite a drubbing in the opening encounter in Ahmedabad. Cook, however, had led the resistance in the first Test with 176, and he backed that up with another century in Mumbai, on a livelier surface that brought England’s spinners into the contest. But, undoubtedly, the difference between the teams on this occasion was some Kevin Pietersen magic, as he peppered the Wankhede boundaries on the way to a majestic 186 from 233 balls. Pietersen had been struggling against left-arm spin, in particular, but took on Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh to blistering effect as England gained an 86-run lead. Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar then rattled out all ten India wickets in the second innings – they shared 19 in the match – as England completed a comfortable win inside four days.Kevin Pietersen was at his scintillating best in 2012•BCCIvs India, Kolkata, 2012 – won by seven wickets
England had to chase the game at Eden Gardens, too, after MS Dhoni won the toss for the third time in a row. But India could only manage 316, as Anderson and Panesar continued to harry them, and then it was over to Cook once again, as the opener compiled his third hundred in succession – and fifth in five Tests at captain. Cook was eventually run-out for 190, as England sailed past India’s score three down, with their eventual total of 523 giving them an iron grip on the Test. Anderson picked up another three-for in the second innings and only an unbeaten 91 from Ashwin prevented England from winning by an innings. The tourists sealed the series by batting their way to a draw in Nagpur a few days later – a game largely memorable for the debut of a certain JE Root at No. 6.Joe Root made consecutive 150-plus scores in Galle•SLCvs Sri Lanka, Galle, 2021 – won by six wickets
Root’s England have won five Tests in a row in Sri Lanka, but arguably none was more satisfying than their most recent victory. Root lost the toss twice in Galle, but while Sri Lanka threw the game away early in the first Test by being bowled out for 135, they put in an improved showing the second time around, as Angelo Mathews’ century took them to 381 – England again reliant on Anderson to stay competitive in alien conditions, as he became the oldest seamer to claim a Test five-for in Asia on the way to immaculate figures of 6 for 40. With Root in fabulous touch, following up his first-Test 224 with an eight-hour 186 in sapping heat, England battled their way to 344 and a deficit of 37; the spin pair of Jack Leach and Dom Bess, wicketless in the first innings, then found their range to skittle Sri Lanka for 126, before Dom Sibley’s unbeaten half-century settled the nerves in a tricky chase.

Jasprit Bumrah suffers his most expensive spell in T20s

Sampath Bandarupalli01-May-2021138 – Runs scored by the Mumbai Indians in the last ten overs, the most by any team in a successful IPL chase. Mumbai broke their own record of 133, set against the Kings XI Punjab in 2019. The 138 runs by Mumbai are also the third-most in the final ten overs of a successful T20 chase.Trinbago Knight Riders scored 144 runs against St Lucia Stars in CPL 2018 when they needed 139 runs in the final ten, a week after being on the receiving end of a 139-run effort by Jamaica Tallawahs in Port of Spain.ESPNcricinfo Ltd219 – The target chased down by Mumbai, which is the second-highest successful chase in the history of the IPL. The highest chase is by the Rajasthan Royals against the Kings XI, when they chased down a 224-run target in Sharjah last year. Tonight’s chase against the Super Kings was the first successful chase of a 200-plus target by Mumbai in the IPL across eight attempts.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0 – Quicker IPL fifties for Mumbai than the 17-ball effort by Kieron Pollard today. Pollard himself in 2016, Ishan Kishan in 2018 and Hardik Pandya in 2019 also had fifties off 17 balls for Mumbai previously, all against the Kolkata Knight Riders.This was also the fastest fifty by any player in the IPL against the Super Kings. KL Rahul in 2019 in Mohali and Sanju Samson in 2020 in Sharjah had fifties in 19 balls against the Super Kings. The unbeaten 87 from Pollard is also his highest IPL score.ESPNcricinfo Ltd16 – Sixes hit by the Super Kings batters in this match, the most by any team in an IPL match against Mumbai. The previous most was 15, by the Knight Riders in 2019 in Kolkata. In reply tonight, Mumbai struck 14 maximums, the most by them in an IPL game against the Super Kings.0 – Instances of more than one century partnership in an IPL innings before the Super Kings’ innings tonight. Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali added 108 runs for the second wicket, before Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja shared an unbeaten 102-run stand for the fifth wicket.218 for 4 – The Super Kings’ total is their highest against Mumbai. Previously, 208 for 5 in Chepauk in 2008 was the only instance of the Super Kings posting 200+ against Mumbai in the IPL.62 – Runs conceded by Lungi Ngidi in this game, the most by any player in an IPL match for the Super Kings. The previous most conceded by a CSK bowler in an IPL game was 58 by Mohit Sharma vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2015, and Sam Curran earlier this season against KKR.56 – Runs conceded by Jasprit Bumrah, in four overs, in this match, which is the most by him in a T20. The previous most conceded by Bumrah was 55 against the Delhi Daredevils in Delhi in 2015.

Short, whippy and quick, those close to him believe Richardson is ready now to “take the game by the scruff of the neck”

Tristan Lavalette14-Dec-2021Cameron Bancroft had no idea. Having spent the Australian winter months playing in the County Championship he was oblivious to the physical transformation of his team-mate Jhye Richardson.That was until his first day back at the WACA in September ahead of the domestic season.”I walked in and Jhye had just done a conditioning session and was wearing a singlet,” Bancroft told ESPNcricinfo. “He was noticeably a lot stronger, particularly in his upper body. He’s put on I think around six kilos.”Bulkier than when he weighed just 75kg on Test debut nearly three years ago, a resurgent Richardson is in a battle with uncapped Michael Neser to replace injured quick Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s line-up for the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.Related

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Richardson, 25, rocketed into Test calculations after being the standout bowler of the Sheffield Shield’s early rounds, where he claimed 23 wickets at an average of 13.43. Several withering spells made headlines, most notably when his sheer pace and menacing swing in both directions made life miserable for Test star Marnus Labuschagne at the Gabba.But it was Richardson’s sustained efforts late in the subsequent Shield match against Tasmania in Hobart, where he almost single-handedly willed a shorthanded Western Australia attack to victory, that confirmed he had “gone up a level”, according to Bancroft.”His final spell of the match was hitting 140kph on most deliveries,” he said. “The work he has done in the off-season has made him strong enough to be able to do that.”He has always been able to bowl an unbelievable ball but his ability to control and maintain his pressure for a long period has been the major thing that has stood out.”After a quick rise up the ranks saw him make his Shield debut at just 19, Richardson emerged as an exciting quick capable of breaking up Australia’s pace triumvirate of Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. His diminutive stature, where he stands 5ft 10 (178cm), was against the stereotype of an Australian quick but Richardson’s versatility and ability to hustle batters proved irresistible.His chance arrived in early 2019, coincidentally replacing an ailed Hazlewood, and Richardson performed well against Sri Lanka with six wickets at 20.50 in two Tests before several debilitating shoulder injuries consigned him to the sidelines. Illustrating the severity, Richardson is still unable to exert maximum power throwing overarm.He did make a stirring comeback last season, where Richardson starred for Perth Scorchers and finished as the leading wicket taker in the BBL. But his swing prowess, where he can prodigiously move the ball from over or around the wicket, was somewhat limited due to his shoulder issues.”His arm path was compromised because of the injury so he was tipping over to the left and he lost the ability to swing the ball consistently,” Western Australia bowling coach Matt Mason said. Mason’s fast bowling career had ended due to shoulder injuries in the late 2000s.Richardson celebrates his first Test wicket, in 2019 against Sri Lanka•Getty Images”As the shoulder improves he has gotten into better position which is why he is swinging it again and been so successful.”He is back to where he was with swing, but can now sustain his pace for long spells. He is not just a strike bowler but a bowler who can do a defensive spell. What he’s learned to do is to bowl within himself. He can bowl longer spells but can crank it up at the backend of a game.”Mason sometimes pays Richardson the ultimate compliment by likening his bowling to James Anderson, although Bancroft disagrees.”Jyhe reminds me of… Jhye,” he said. “There aren’t any bowlers I can think of like him: short, whippy, quick and he does things only he can do.”The innately quiet Richardson, who is a well-known “big gamer” due to his affection for playing video games, has started to emerge as a leader leaving team-mates impressed by his assertiveness.”This season, I see a guy who is growing into his skin more,” Bancroft said. “We had a player-led training session with no coaches around and he drove the bowlers. He had an ability to lead training and challenge bowlers to be relentless and ruthless. I walked away admiring how he had come out of his shell.”That’s not to say he’s suddenly transformed into a hard-bitten Australian cricketer of lore just yet.”I can start a conversation with him about bowling…he’ll look at me, won’t say anything but will reply something random about cars. He loves fast cars,” Mason laughed. “We ultimately go back to the end goal of talking about his bowling but we have fun with it.”Took me a while to get to know what makes him tick but he’s 100% professional and diligent.”While Richardson’s Test career was derailed the first time around, the prevailing feeling from those closest to him is that he’s “ready now”.”He knows how to work over batters and he has this wonderful, positive attacking mindset,” Mason said. “He’ll take the game by the scruff of the neck. He just needs a chance.”

As captain, he is showing the ability to hit out as well as safely play out certain bowlers in the same innings

Sidharth Monga14-Apr-20224:30

Manjrekar: ‘Hardik stayed in the moment this innings and it paid off’

Hardik Pandya scored 50 off 42 in Gujarat Titans’ last match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Yash Jha tweeted an insightful stat after the innings. Pandya was the latest in the line of maverick India batters who had started to play “responsibly” the moment he was given captaincy. In their first season as an IPL captain, each of these batters’ strike rates took a big dip from their last two seasons. Pandya’s was the biggest: from 151.67 to 122.6.Of course, it is not just the captaincy. The structure of the Titans squad is such that Pandya is the main middle-order batter. In just four matches this season, Pandya had faced more balls in the first 10 overs than he has in any of the eight IPL seasons he has taken part in. There was a role to be performed, and Pandya was showing he could play that role. But in the process, were we losing what made Pandya special, especially the power-hitting that struck fear in the hearts of the bowlers?Related

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Three days on, though, Pandya showed batting responsibly doesn’t necessarily mean batting slowly. Walking in at 15 for 2 in the third over, Pandya scored an unbeaten 87 off 52 while others scored 86 off 52 when he was at the wicket. ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats valued Pandya’s innings at 100.42 smart runs.While Pandya’s earlier role in Mumbai Indians of maximising the 10-15 balls he used to get carried its own challenges, these longer innings ask a wider set of questions. Pandya’s responses were deliberate. He went after Kuldeep Sen but played out the first few exchanges against Yuzvendra Chahal – brought on to bowl the fourth over just for Pandya – and R Ashwin.Pandya came in with a strike rate of 104 and 100 against Chahal and Ashwin, and it didn’t take long to see why. Pandya enjoys a much better strike rate against pace than spin – 160 compared to 129 – but Chahal and Ashwin bowled just the right lines and lengths to Pandya. Neither of them gave him room nor did they pitch it in the slot. Pandya kept respecting them until it came down to the last six overs.”I am not used to batting this long,” Pandya told Star Sports when collecting his Player-of-the-Match award. “It is two games in a row that I have batted 15 and 17 overs. But I like it. It gives me time. I can calculate and take the right risks. I think in the last game it didn’t come off how I wanted but today I made sure that I had a sense of approach where I was ready to take on bowlers.”

“Batting at No. 4 gives me time to rightly calculate and take down certain bowlers and certain overs”Pandya on his new role

The intent, as Pandya said, was much better in this game, which could have to do with realising how difficult it can be for the death-overs specialists if those batting long don’t take the bowling on. Asked of the thought process behind taking on the No. 4 role, Pandya said: “It allows other players to play freely and not take too much pressure. I have been in the situation many times where I have taken on the bigger role which is to come in at the death and hit a 12-ball 30. I find it very difficult but because of that experience, batting at No. 4 gives me time to rightly calculate and take down certain bowlers and certain overs.”Thanks to this innings, Pandya’s numbers are looking much better for the season: an average of 76 at a strike rate of 137. He will still know that the strike rate needs to go further north even if it is at the expense of that lofty average. That balance is not easy to master especially in your first season in this role, but Pandya has made a start to getting back to the shape where he had made a case for himself just as a specialist batter in limited-overs internationals.In a press conference after a team selection, talking about Pandya’s mysterious fitness status, a journalist asked – rather told – the chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma that Pandya doesn’t play any domestic cricket and if he performs half-decently in the IPL, he will be right back in the World Cup side at the expense of other allrounders who are working hard. Chetan’s response was along these lines: do not speak on our behalf and conclude it is so easy for Pandya to get back in.However, if Pandya continues to bat the way he is, showing both the ability to hit out and play out certain bowlers in the same innings, forget Chetan, even the lovers of domestic cricket might have to concede. Plus his bowling fitness is a bonus. And, he confirmed the discomfort on the night was just cramps.

Third century of series takes batter to record-breaking territory despite series scoreline

Matt Roller24-Jun-2022Daryl Mitchell likened New Zealand’s series in England to a “heavyweight boxing fight” but finds himself on the ropes despite completing a hundred for the third successive Test on the second day at Headingley.Mitchell’s 109 followed scores of 13 and 108 at Lord’s, then 190 and 62 not out at Trent Bridge in the first two Tests of the tour, giving him the highest run-tally for a New Zealander against England in a single series, even with one innings to spare.He had two lives in the third Test, one on each of the first two days. On 8, he was trapped in front by Matthew Potts, but Marais Erasmus was unmoved and Ben Stokes opted against a review which would have overturned the decision. And after adding two runs to his overnight 78, he edged Potts towards Joe Root at slip, only for Ben Foakes to dive in front of him and spill the chance.”It’s an honour and a privilege to represent the Black Caps,” Mitchell said. “I know that it sounds pretty boring, but I love playing Test cricket for my country. Any chance to wear the silver fern is a pretty special moment and for me, it’s just a case of enjoying it.”It took me a few years to get into this position and to get into this Test team, so it’s about making the most of each opportunity, playing with a smile on my face and enjoying being in that changing room because it’s a great bunch of boys. When individual achievements come about it’s up to the work you do, but I’m just really honoured to be a part of this group.”Mitchell arrived in England a week before the first Test, leaving the IPL a few days ahead of schedule after dropping out of Rajasthan Royals’ playing XI, but had not played a red-ball match for four months and would not have played at Lord’s but for Henry Nicholls’ positive Covid-19 test delaying his rehabilitation from a calf injury.”That’s the nature of international cricket now,” he said. “You need to be able to adapt very quickly and be constantly working on different formats while you’re in other ones. It’s just part and parcel of playing all three formats in international cricket these days and it’s a challenge that you’ve got to keep trying to master.”Related

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He added that New Zealand had “probably fully expected” England to play in the ultra-positive, all-guns-blazing manner they have adopted in this series following Brendon McCullum’s appointment as coach, and said that they still felt as though the game was in the balance with three days to go despite Jonny Bairstow’s extraordinary partnership with Jamie Overton.”It’s been a hell of a Test series,” he said. “For us, there were obviously a couple of small moments in those other Tests that we lost which eventually ended up with us losing those matches. Both teams are evenly poised and it will come down to small moments over the next three days as to who is going to win this one.”It’s been the same themes throughout this whole series. As an onlooker on the sides, I reckon it would have been a hell of a game of cricket to be watching today, obviously the ebbs and flows. We linked it [sic] to a heavyweight boxing fight, the way both teams are throwing punches.”That’s the gameplan that they’ve come about with and we probably fully expected it with Baz taking over. I thought our bowlers did a great job there [and] it took a great knock by Jonny to put the pressure back on us.”It was a great partnership but at the same time we’ve still got a lead and we know there’s a lot of cricket still to be played over the next three days. If we can chip out a couple early tomorrow morning, it’s game on again. We’re really looking forward to it.”

The Australia leggie made her international debut relatively late, but she came on to the scene with a bang

Annesha Ghosh14-Jul-2022Alana King didn’t have female cricketers who looked like her as role models when she was growing up.”Women’s cricket wasn’t really televised when I was a kid,” the 26-year-old Australia legspinner, who has been on a roll since her international debut earlier this year, says. “So I watched a lot of men’s cricket … [and] the man who I saw was Andrew Symonds, who was a person of colour.”A first-generation Australian of Anglo-Indian descent, King has been on a tear since her first T20I, in January, taking the most wickets for her country in the three formats combined. Success with Australia in the Ashes and the ODI World Cup led to a maiden central contract, a Hundred deal with Trent Rockets, a trophy-winning campaign in the Women’s T20 Challenge in India, and a place in the squad for this month’s tri-series in Ireland and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.Related

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Beyond this tangible progress, the phenomenal start to her international career has also given King a platform to serve a greater purpose, she says: be a role model.”I know in the men’s team they’ve got Usman Khawaja. I’m trying to do the same thing: encourage the subcontinent boys and girls to pick up a bat and ball, and say that there’s always going to be a place for you. If you’re good enough, you’ll represent Australia, if that’s your intention.”King’s parents, who come from the southern Indian city of Chennai, moved to Australia in the 1980s, but race and representation, she says, hardly registered as matters of importance when she was a girl. “My junior-group club really enforced that in the whole club: that we’re here to play cricket, no matter what colour, what age, what gender you are.”Born in the Melbourne suburb of Clarinda, King grew up playing cricket mostly with boys. Though she remembers thinking, ‘”Wow, this is cool” on seeing Mel Jones and Lisa Sthalekar on TV for the first time as a kid, it didn’t really strike her that they were female athletes of colour representing a country where cricket was predominantly a white sport. “I saw them just as cricketers. I was just so naïve that I didn’t really care what colour people were,” she says. “But obviously, as you grow older and learn about what’s happening around the world, you can be like, ‘Oh, okay, maybe people don’t like you because you’re a different colour or a different gender…'”1:52

‘I’m hoping I can be a role model for the subcontinent girls and boys’

Though King says she has never seen herself as different because of her origins, both she and her family have been at the receiving end of racism in the past. One of the most harrowing instances was when her father, Leroy, in his early days as an immigrant in Melbourne, was pulled up by the police at gun point because of his dark hair and beard.”It eventually turned out to be a case of mistaken identity,” King says. “My elder brother, Marc, and I weren’t even born then but now that incident is part of family lore. We share a laugh over it, but yeah, my parents have copped a fair bit of racism and discrimination, had to battle through those things.”I’m grateful to them for making such a brave and big decision in moving from India to Australia to better their lives and to hopefully give a great life to their children – which they have. It would have been very daunting for them, but they did it.”The most successful phase of King’s career yet has coincided with renewed global awareness of racism and discrimination, and increased support for the Black Lives Matter movement. King, who has taken a knee before every game of the WBBL in the last two seasons, often as the sole player doing so, acknowledges the overlap.With her parents, Sharon and Leroy, after her triumphant return from this year’s World Cup•AFP/Getty Images”The past 12-18 months, I’ve become really comfortable in who I am as a player and as a person,” she says of her two stellar WBBL seasons and her ongoing breakout stretch in international cricket. “If I look back [on the decision to take a knee], I wanted to do it because it was important to me because of who I am, what my family have been through, and what I believe in.”

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King’s luminous smile lights her face up on the Zoom call. She describes herself as “a bit energetic, fun-loving, bubbly… maybe sometimes a bit loud.””With me, what you see is what you get. And that’s what’s helped me, I guess, not ‘fit in’ smoothly or ‘fit in’ nicely into the [Australian] team – but when you’re comfortable in your own skin, it just makes things a lot easier.”Her awareness of where she is and where she wants to be speaks of a wisdom born of years of hard grind in a highly competitive domestic set-up. It has also informed some of her career-shaping decisions in the recent past.Two seasons ago, after struggling getting opportunities with her home state, Victoria, King moved to Western Australia to play Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL). In the WBBL, after playing a pivotal role in Melbourne Stars’ run to the 2020-21 final, she signed with Perth Scorchers for the next season, which they won – their first WBBL title.King takes a knee at a WBBL game in November last year. Often, she has been the only member of her side to do so•Mark Brake/Getty ImagesThe national selectors came calling soon after and she was named in the squad for the 2022 multi-format Ashes at home, albeit as a replacement for injured first-choice legspinner Georgia Wareham. In that series, she ended up earning her first caps in T20Is, Tests and ODIs – in that order – in the space of a fortnight, and was soon on the flight across the Tasman for the ODI World Cup.Australia have a reputation for being a conveyor belt for prodigies, which makes King, who debuted at 26, something of an aberration. There are advantages to that, she says. “Although everyone wants to get that opportunity young, having a few more years under my belt has actually done me a world of good. I’m a bit more experienced and I know my game much, much better.”I was just shocked to be included in such a powerhouse team. But when I debuted, the message that I kept getting, whether it was from the support staff, the coaching staff or the leadership, was, ‘Just be yourself. It’s got you here, your skills have got you here, so don’t change just because you’re in a new environment.'”All of 15 appearances old in international cricket, King has made a splash across formats with her attacking bowling. Of her 18 wickets so far for Australia, many have provided breakthroughs in games, none more memorably perhaps than the ripping legbreak that spun sharply from leg past off and had England opener Tammy Beaumont stumped in Australia’s first game in this year’s ODI World Cup.”When that ball came out of my hand, it just was the most beautiful legspin delivery that could come out,” King says. She celebrated the dismissal by emphatically slapping the black armbands she was wearing to pay respect to her role model, Shane Warne, who had died the previous evening, and whom she watched as an 11-year-old take a record 700th Test wicket at the MCG in December 2006.King in her baggy green. She played her first game in each of the three international formats inside of a fortnight•Getty Images”The way it drifted to leg stump and whizzed to off… Warnie was big on that. He made balls drift to outside the leg stump and then hit the top of off,” she says. “And they keep talking about how Ian Healy was behind the stumps [for some of Warne’s most iconic dismissals]. Reflecting on it now, it’s just so fitting that Alyssa [Ian’s niece] was behind the stumps [for the Beaumont stumping].”And it was against England, it was the breakthrough we needed. Everything about it just, hopefully, made him dance upstairs. And hopefully, he’s proud of what me, and plenty of other legspinners, are doing out on the international stage.”

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King followed her brother, who played representative cricket, in bowling legspin, just as she had in taking up tennis, which was her first sport of choice. She briefly also played softball in her school team, and later baseball at the Monash University Baseball Club. Having first picked up a tennis racquet at age five, she went on to compete in the Tennis Victoria Pennant, the largest inter-club representative competition in the country, and was even a ball kid in the 2011 Australian Open women’s final, which Kim Clijsters won.But the dream of playing on centre court faded as her growth in cricket proceeded at pace. At 16 she was handed her first rookie contract, with VicSpirit, the Victoria team in the WNCL. Three years later she earned a surprise call-up to Melbourne Stars for the inaugural WBBL, where she made her debut under Australia captain Meg Lanning. King broke into the senior Victoria squad in 2016, and it helped her take strides in upping her legspin game.”Back in Victoria, when I was surrounded by some great Australian players like Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry, I tinkered with my trajectory with them and would tap into their knowledge and feedback from a batting perspective,” she says. “Once they were like, ‘If it gets too loopy, it’s easy to come down [the track, as a batter]. If it’s too flat, it’s easy to pick up, so you’re just trying to find that happy medium.’ That’s what I’ve tried to work on.”Adam Zampa, second from right, is among those King has taken advice from in her attempts to get better at her skill•Scott Barbour/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesKing has found success avoiding the overly floated deliveries that mark the bowling of some of her counterparts on the international circuit. Relying largely on her wicket-taking instinct, no matter the phase of the innings, has stood her in good stead.”I knew I couldn’t be too loopy because in the domestic set-up in Australia we’re blessed with some of the best batters in the world,” she says. “So when you’re finding it hard to bowl to them, that’s a really good challenge. Similarly, I try not to leave the stumps as much as possible, because it gives me the best chance to bring in all modes of dismissal. I just vary my pace, but my length and line pretty much stay as consistent as I can be.”She attributes part of her understanding of her strengths to Michael Beer, the former Australia left-arm fingerspinner, who was spin coach at Victoria and Melbourne Stars. Beer helped with her alignment too. While in the Victoria set-up, she also benefited from picking the brains of Australia legspinner and T20 journeyman Fawad Ahmed, and honed her skills under Trent Woodhill, Stars’ head coach in the only season when they made the WBBL final. “Trent worked a lot with Adam Zampa [at Stars men’s team] and he gave me a few tips on what Zamps used to do and what made him so successful in white-ball cricket,” King says.Since she moved to Western Australia, she has worked closely with Beau Casson, the former the Australia left-arm wristspinner, who “tinkered just a couple of things to help me get more consistent, which I have”.Among those who have influenced her career, King reserves a special mention for Kirsten Beams. “As a young Victoria legspinner, she was the biggest mentor I had, and someone I looked up to. She was playing for Australia at the time and was my team-mate at Victoria.With new interim coach Shelley Nitschke. “Shell is well and truly fit for the job,” King says•Mark Brake/Getty Images”We were quite different as legspinners. She was very much into the pads, skid on, maybe not as big a turner as I like to be, but I learned so much from Beamsy, so it was special she presented me my baggy green when I made my Australia debut this year.”When Australia take the field next, King, like many of her team-mates, will be without the guidance of someone most of them have played all their careers under: former head coach Matthew Mott. After an era-defining stint that culminated in the 2022 ODI World Cup win, Mott quit in May to take up the England men’s white-ball coach role.”For a head coach to have your back no matter what happens on the field was quite reassuring,” King says of her former “golf buddy” on tour. “When I first came in, Motty knew I was a bit nervous and tentative to be myself. Just being in a new squad when everyone is so established, he made me really be myself.”The relationship he has with his players is just phenomenal. And I applaud him for that. He’s real with everyone. There’s nothing fake about any relationship. He just wants the best for you and you to perform at your best, so I am going to miss him.”Mott’s interim successor for Australia’s Ireland tour and the Commonwealth Games is Shelley Nitschke, whom King first worked with when she was part of the National Performance Squad in 2019, and later at Perth Scorchers.”Shell is well and truly fit enough for the job,” says King. “She’s got so much experience behind her. Not much will change because she and Motty, they work quite similarly when they’re coaching.”King shows her stuff against Bangladesh in the World Cup•Hagen Hopkins/ICC/Getty ImagesIn the days ahead, King is relishing the prospect of adding to her trophy cabinet. The first-ever Commonwealth Games women’s cricket tournament beckons.”We have a big 12 months coming up, and the Commonwealth Games – you grow up watching them as a kid, like you do the Olympics. So I am looking forward to be involved in it, maybe play a match or two and help Australia grab gold, be in the [athletes’] village, and hopefully meet the Australian swim team, who were quite dominant in the pool in the recent Olympic Games.”King’s last few months – “a summer that just kept on giving” – is the kind of thing that kids dream of, she says. And while she lives the dream, she knows that in doing so, she might be empowering others to dream.”My biggest message,” she says, “and it will always be my message as my career goes on, is: no matter what your colour is or your background, if you want something you’ll go out and do it and you’ll work hard for it.””Hopefully, kids can get to see that a bit more, and they can have some someone to relate to, because you can’t be what you can’t see. And the more people see us, the more they can aspire to be the next Usman Khawaja, the next Mel Jones, or Lisa Sthalekar.”

If runs haven’t returned by then, the ODIs against England after T20 World Cup would be the natural point for a new captain to start bedding in

Andrew McGlashan04-Sep-2022It is a decent sign that a player is struggling for form when a single shot is analysed as a potential turning point: will that be the stroke that changes things for them?When Aaron Finch drove Richard Ngarava wide of mid-off in the third over of the third ODI between Australia and Zimbabwe in Townsville, it was, indeed, a very nice stroke. There was a decent stride, his weight came forward into the ball, it found the middle of the bat, and it was timed nicely.But it wasn’t – at least on Saturday – a turning point for the Australia limited-overs captain. Facing Ngarava’s next over, he fenced at a delivery outside off stump and was caught at second slip. It was the third time in the series he had fallen to Ngarava’s left-arm pace after dragging a ball on to his stumps in the opening match, and edging a lifting delivery to slip in the second.Related

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It left Finch with a tally of 21 runs in three innings for the series, and it extended what is increasingly looking like a trend. In 2022, Finch has now made 164 runs in 11 ODI innings – 62 of them in one knock against Sri Lanka – with six single-figure scores in that stretch – a big enough sample size for it to be a legitimate talking point, and a looming problem for Australia.”When I get a bit heavy there, it starts to affect the rest of my game,” Finch had said ahead of the final ODI against Zimbabwe. “I feel as though that’s coming along really well. The rewards will be there very soon; just hasn’t happened just yet.”I know that I’ve got the full support of the players and the coaching and selection staff, so I’m working hard on my game. It just hasn’t quite flowed yet. It just comes down to giving yourself a bit of time, and hopefully getting a big one shortly.”There is no chance of anything dramatic happening in the short term. Australia have named their T20 World Cup squad, which Finch will captain. But it is worthwhile separating the two white-ball formats. While Finch’s ODI returns are in a rut, he has managed to maintain his T20I output at a better level with 247 runs at 30.87 this year, albeit his strike rate of 121.67 is his lowest of any 12-month period.It means there is a crucial week for Finch coming up against New Zealand in Cairns in terms of what might happen after the T20 World Cup. Unsurprisingly, he has had support from across the board – team-mates, national selector and head coach – over his position, but another difficult series will keep the issue bubbling away.It has the makings a tough examination as well, with New Zealand being able to pick a pace attack from Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry.”Across his career, it’s ebbed and flowed. His movement patterns sometimes early in his innings are compromised, whether that’s through perceived pressure that he puts on himself or what the bowler does,” head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters after the Zimbabwe series.”We are working through it. He’s working hard on his game… he’s continuing to work on the same things he always works on. It’s about getting a start and maximising that start. At the moment he hasn’t quite got to that stage but we feel he can, hence he’s still around the group and still a valued member as our captain.”It will be about clearing his mind, clearing his thoughts, going out there and looking to be positive. When he’s positive, his feet move a lot better than potentially when he’s doubting. That’s every batsman’s case when they feel they haven’t got the runs they want.”They search for a little bit more, and sometimes that can take away from just responding to what is coming down… so if we can get a clear mind, I think there’s an opportunity for him to have an impact in that New Zealand series.”Alex Carey could be a contender for the ODI captaincy should Aaron Finch need to be replaced•Associated PressIf runs haven’t returned by then, the ODI series against England after the T20 World Cup – which has nothing much riding on it due to not being part of the Super League – would be the natural point to make a change that would leave time for a new captain to bed in.In that scenario, Finch holding the T20 World Cup aloft on home soil on November 13 would be the ideal way to sign off, although sport offers no promises of a perfect ending.There may be parallels with how Eoin Morgan’s career came to an abrupt end earlier this year after consecutive ducks against Netherlands. Like Finch, Morgan’s captaincy continued to be held in huge regard, and it is unlikely he would have been pushed, but Morgan woke a couple of days before England’s final game in that series and knew his race was run.Whether it plays out that way for Finch remains to be seen.Australia are not short of potential top-order replacements who have made strong cases of late, which may yet be a factor. Travis Head, absent from the Zimbabwe and New Zealand series on paternity leave, has averaged 62 in ODIs this year; Ben McDermott made 55 and 104 against Pakistan; and Marnus Labuschagne looks a better fit as a top-three player than in a middle-order role.However, replacing Finch as captain would be the tougher decision, although Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh would likely be contenders. But if someone with experience was wanted to get through the World Cup, Steven Smith’s name could be considered too.Finch has turned things around before, not least ahead of the 2019 ODI World Cup, when a run of low scores against India became one of his best years. For now, the final stages of Finch’s outstanding international career remain in his hands, and a big score or two in Cairns will shift the conversation.Another lean series, however, and his path will become a trickier to plot.

And what is the highest innings score in a Test without extras?

Steven Lynch07-Mar-2023A different bowler took a five-wicket haul in each innings of the first Test between South Africa and West Indies – how unusual is this? asked James Morrison from Spain

In last week’s first Test in Centurion, Alzarri Joesph took 5 for 81 in South Africa’s first innings and Kemar Roach 5 for 47 in the second, while when West Indies batted Anrich Nortje took 5 for 36 in the first innings and Kagiso Rabida 6 for 50 in the second. This was only the 11th time that four different bowlers had taken a five-for in each innings of a Test; the previous instance was in Bengaluru in 2016-17, when Ravindra Jadeja took 6 for 63 and R Ashwin 6 for 41 for India, and Nathan Lyon 8 for 50 and Josh Hazlewood 6 for 67 for Australia.A notable instance came at The Oval in 1997, when three different bowlers collected seven-fors: Glenn McGrath took 7 for 76 and Michael Kasprowicz 7 for 36 for Australia, either side of Phil Tufnell’s 7 for 66. Andy Caddick took 5 for 42 in the second innings as England completed a narrow victory.Harry Brook reached 184 not out by the end of the first day of the second Test against New Zealand. What’s the highest score by a No. 5 on the opening day of a Test? asked Alastair84 from England

That’s a good spot: there are only two higher scores from No. 5 or lower on the first day of a Test than Harry Brook’s 184 not out in Wellington last week. Brook entered in the seventh over, at 21 for 3, and had reached 184 by the end of a day shortened to 65 overs by bad weather.Top of the list is Australia’s Michael Clarke, who made 224 not out from No. 5 on the first day against South Africa in Adelaide in 2012-13 (he was out early next day for 230). Then comes Brook’s England coach, Brendon McCullum, with 195 for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Christchurch in 2014-15. McCullum came in at 88 for 3 in the 24th over, and was out in the 66th.After Brook’s innings come two cases of 169, by the New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith against India in Auckland in 1989-90 (he was out early next day for 173), and India’s Yuvraj Singh against Pakistan in Bengaluru in 2007-08 (he was out just before the first-day close). Smith actually came it at No. 9, and Yuvraj at 6.There were no extras India’s first innings of 109 in the third Test against Australia – was this a record? asked Elamaran Perumal from the United States

India’s 109 in the recent match in Indore last week was quite a long way short of this record: there have been 32 higher innings totals in Tests without any extras. Highest of all is India’s 329 against England in Chennai in 2020-21, which just shaded Pakistan’s 328 against India in Lahore in 1954-55.Only three bowlers have taken two eight-fors in India and Nathan Lyon is the only visiting bowler to achieve the feat•BCCINathan Lyon now has two eight-fors in Tests in India. Has any other visiting bowler done this? asked McKenzie Regan from Australia

The Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon took 8 for 64 in Indore last week, to go with his 8 for 50 in Bengaluru in 2016-17.Lyon is the first visiting bowler to take two eight-fors in Tests in India. Only two Indians have managed it: legspinner Narendra Hirwani in the same game on his Test debut against West Indies in Madras in 1987-88, and slow left-armer Vinoo Mankad, who took 8 for 55 against England in Madras in 1951-52, and 8 for 52 against Pakistan in Delhi in 1952-53.Which player has finished on the winning side most often in Test matches against Australia? And how about captains? asked Shah Jimish from the UK

Only one man has been on the winning side in 18 Test matches against Australia: it’s Desmond Haynes, the long-serving West Indian opener. One behind with 17 wins are Haynes’ frequent team-mate Viv Richards, and the 19th-century England allrounder Johnny Briggs.Next, with 16 victories over Australia, come the distinguished trio of Ian Botham of England, India’s Sachin Tendulkar, and another member of that all-conquering West Indian side of the 1980s, Gordon Greenidge.Not surprisingly, perhaps, Clive Lloyd leads the way for captains, with 12 Test wins over Australia; Mike Brearley masterminded 11. Next, with eight, come MS Dhoni and – around 120 years earlier – WG Grace.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Kaustubh Kumar, Vishal Dikshit and Raunak Kapoor make sense of India’s squad and the first round of the Asia Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2023Chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced India’s 15-man squad for the World Cup starting next month, which saw no real surprises but threw up a lot of questions. Did Suryakumar Yadav do enough to cement his spot? Did Tilak Varma deserve a place instead? Will India miss an offspinner like R Ashwin or a legspinner like Yuzvendra Chahal? Is an in-form Ishan Kishan the first-choice wicketkeeper now, ahead of KL Rahul?At the same time India also made it to the Super Fours of the Asia Cup and have at least three more games left in the tournament. How do they make the most of these games? Kaustubh Kumar, Vishal Dikshit and Raunak Kapoor got together after India’s squad announcement to make sense of it all. Listen in…