It’s 30 for 2 on the first day at the SCG. Steven Smith comes out to bat. Who do you give the ball to? And what’s the field?

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2020 Hot SeatScenario
You are captaining the Test side assigned to you at the SCG on a traditional pitch with typical weather. On the first day, Steven Smith has walked out at 30 for 2 with the ball ten overs old. The opening bowlers have bowled five overs each and taken a wicket apiece. Pick the bowler to go first up at him and set the field.Karthik Krishnaswamy: India:
It’s 30 for 2 in ten overs, so I’m assuming there’s a bit in it for my fast bowlers on this pitch. Bumrah has never bowled to Smith in a Test match so far, so I’d keep him on for a couple more overs. I’d ask him to bowl a fourth/fifth-stump line with a regulation field (three slips, gully, backward point, mid-off, mid-on, midwicket, fine leg) and not get drawn into attacking those shuffling pads. Smith plays with a closed face, so the edges are likely to go wider, and I would adjust my cordon accordingly. From the other end, I’d bowl one more over of Ishant Sharma, and then bring on Ravindra Jadeja. Smith hasn’t been genuinely troubled by any kind of bowler in the recent past, but his average against left-arm spin (39.20) and his scoring rate (2.69 per over) are his second worst against any type of bowling since the start of 2017 – he struggles most against left-arm quicks, but my India attack, sadly, does not have one. Jadeja has also done well against Smith overall: 474 balls, 151 runs, four dismissals, average of 37.75.England: Andrew Miller:
Tempting though it might be to fling the ball to Jofra Archer and tell him to slip the handbrake, I would trust James Anderson to dislodge a man he has already claimed on six previous occasions in Tests. With the ball still new, I’d trust him to target the stumps and find swing from a full length, allied to that metronomic line that has been such a feature of his game since the 2010-11 Ashes. Three slips and a gully, in case Smith’s hands get wafty early in his stay, and a leg gully for that sashay across the crease to flick the inswinger off his hips. And by sticking to Anderson at this stage, Archer will be all the more rested for when he does get the call.Let Archer loose at Smith and he might also give you the added bonus of seeing the batsman on all fours•Getty ImagesSidharth Monga: New Zealand: I will have Neil Wagner replace Tim Southee from one end and have Trent Boult continue for two more overs. He is quite used to bowling long spells, and Smith doesn’t like the ball coming back in – which Boult is good at. Wagner will mix seam-up and short balls. For him, I have two slips, a gully, a leg gully, a fine leg, and square leg just to the left of the umpire. If the ball is not moving for Wagner, I might even have a deep-square midwicket. For Boult, we move the leg gully to third slip. After the drinks break, if Smith is still there, I go to Colin de Grandhomme, who, by the way, has bowled 100 balls to Smith in Test cricket for just 19 runs and got him out once. Also, he will keep Southee and Boult fresh for a burst before lunch.Firdose Moonda: South Africa:
Rabada has bowled five overs already but there’s reason enough to give him a sixth because these two have history. The cover region will be left vacant, with three slips and a gully in place and protection on the leg side. Though fired up, Rabada will be asked to bowl full and outside off, and not resort to a short-ball barrage. It worked in Perth in 2016. Will it work again here?Alan Gardner: England:
This strikes me as déjà vu from the England perspective. James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the new-ball warhorses, have nipped out one apiece, but Smith is the wicket I really want. Who else to turn to at this point than Jofra Chioke Archer? True, he is still to dismiss Smith in their encounters so far, though you’d be hard pushed to say Archer didn’t come out on top during that unforgettable, sense-scrambling spell on debut at Lord’s. And while the SCG track might sap some of his juice, a fresh Archer with a still-shiny ball should keep his three slips and gully interested (don’t make the mistake of not trying to find Smith’s outside edge early on). But there’s a short leg in, too, for the throat ball that everyone knows is coming at some point; plus deep backward square lurking.Rabada v Smith: a match made in heaven – or hell, depending on where your loyalties lie•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesAndrew Fidel Fernando: Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka’s Test attack is not currently well placed to do well in Australia, where there is typically little movement or turn off the surface on a first day (even at the SCG), so I’m going for a high-risk, hyper-attacking strategy with two young bowlers. As soon as Smith arrives, I’d bring on Kumara, a right-arm quick who can touch 150kph on a good day, and have him bowl short at Smith with the leg-side stacked – a short leg (maybe slightly in front of square), fine leg, and perhaps even a leg slip or a backward square leg are in place. At the very least, this would prevent Smith from getting those productive drives going early. From the other end, provided neither of the opening bowlers is bowling an especially hot spell, I’d have Embuldeniya and set a tight field, with a slip and short leg as the only catchers to start with. If Smith has a weakness (he doesn’t!), it’s against left-arm spin. And Embuldeniya is one of those spinners who has so far seemed capable of being effective even on surfaces that haven’t started to turn yet.Sharda Ugra: India:
The choice comes down to either keeping the opening bowlers on or going first change. The ball is new, the wicket is as fresh as it’s going to be, so you ignore the left-arm leggie trying to get your attention. First change Yadav it will be, new and improved in the five years since he last bowled at Smith in Australia. It is the perfect time for him to use his considerable shoulder, bowl a heavy ball, and zip it through. The field is 7-2 with catchers on the off side behind and in front of the wicket: three slips, gully, point, cover, and mid-off. The idea is to not be wheeling in the inswingers and giving Smith anything on his pads. Stay in the channel outside off, bowl full, and invite the big drive on the up.Nagraj Gollapudi: West Indies:
In the middle of the night, Smith shadow-bats and visualises key contests. So we know Kemar Roach, West Indies’ best modern-day fast bowler, will be on his mind. Smith will be expecting Roach to test his patience with an off-stump line and will have decided to leave the ball if it is even marginally outside off. Luckily, Roach knows the plan. Two slips, a wide short gully, point, third man, leg slip, and a short midwicket are in place. The new Kookaburra is swinging, so Roach will keep Smith hungry by pitching short of a length and moving the ball away wide of off stump. Then, he will surprise Smith with a skiddy delivery that attacks the top of his bat and doesn’t let him leave the ball. Hot Seat.To read more in the series, click here.

There are four possible choices and another one that might surprise you

Mohammad Isam05-Mar-2020Shakib Al HasanShakib is BCB’s preferred long-term captain across formats, despite being suspended till the end of October this year. In his absence, they have already appointed Mominul Haque in Tests and Mahmudullah in T20Is, but unless results improve drastically over the next seven months, it is likely that Shakib will take over when he returns. The BCB president Nazmul Hassan has already revealed in one of his free-wheeling press conferences that Shakib’s name is under consideration when he becomes eligible to return, suggesting that whoever is picked as Mashrafe’s immediate replacement could take over in a stop-gap role. In fact, Shakib was expected to take over after his superb 2019 World Cup campaign itself, but Mashrafe did not resign immediately.Mushfiqur RahimMushfiqur led Bangladesh in all formats from October 2011, before being replaced by Mashrafe in the shorter formats in 2014, and later by Shakib in Tests in 2017. Bangladesh won 11 out of 37 ODIs under him, including series wins over West Indies and New Zealand at home.
He is in superb form, and commands the respect of the dressing room through his hard work and big runs. But his decision to not tour Pakistan irked the BCB president, who publicly criticised the move. The BCB president has previously criticised Mushfiqur’s captaincy when he fell out with the management during the 2017 South Africa tour.MahmudullahMahmudullah is the current T20I captain, and he has coach Russell Domingo’s full support to lead Bangladesh in this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.Mahmudullah is a big part of Bangladesh’s limited overs plans, and is regarded as one of the most improved batsmen in the middle-order over the last five years. He definitely has the respect of the dressing room too, but he is not in the best batting form, having recently been dropped from the Test side. It might boil down to what the BCB president thinks of him.Tamim IqbalIt is unlikely that Tamim desires ODI captaincy at this stage of his career, particularly after going through a tumultuous time with the bat in the 2019 World Cup. Following that, he took a break from international cricket for a few months, returning only earlier this year. He recently became the first Bangladesh batsman to reach 7,000 ODI runs, and to remain the team’s most important top-order batsman is likely to be a higher priority for Tamim.Another popular personality in the dressing room, Tamim is regarded by many as the players’ captain because of his involvement in many team matters. But some also believe that he could be an ideal sounding board for the new captain.Mashrafe MortazaNothing is impossible in the world of the current BCB administration. Mashrafe hasn’t retired from ODIs and has said that he remains available as a player. That gives the board the option to reappoint Mashrafe should it fail to pick a successor.In fact, before Mashrafe announced his resignation on Thursday afternoon, some within the administration were reportedly leaning towards this unlikely possibility. Even if his name is thrown up on March 8, it might be hard to convince Mashrafe, as was the case when he had relinquished T20I captaincy, but just from the point of view of the BCB, if Shakib remains in their good books despite his suspension, who is to say that Mashrafe has completely lost favour?

Not “stuck” with what happened in the past, he is eyeing the IPL to return to the national team

Sruthi Ravindranath17-Sep-2020Bowling as fast as possible and plotting an India comeback – Varun Aaron has never wavered from two of his primary goals all these years. This despite having last played for India in 2015 and having to deal with injuries and fitness issues through most of his career. Somewhere between his debut as a 21-year old who relentlessly bowled in the range of 150kph to a 30-year old unwilling to compromise on his pace despite injury setbacks, Aaron feels he has learnt how to be “mentally strong” and “keep things simple” on the field.”Being in and out [of the Indian team] helps you,” Aaron told ESPNcricinfo. “More than the game it helps you value so many different things in life. The game’s always there but when you’re in and out, you see so many different sides of people, you see so many situations. When you’re getting injured when you’re young, you are always going to come from behind which helps you get mentally strong. I’ve had injuries in the past and have learnt a lot from it and I don’t find myself stuck with what’s happened previously.”My biggest learning is to keep things simple. Because when you are younger [there is] a whole different gamut of things – you want to do this and that – but I think knowing your strengths and keeping things simple is the most important thing.”With India making a big leap in the fast bowling department in the last few years, including boasting an impressive bench strength in all three formats, Aaron still believes a comeback – by making his IPL performances speak – is possible. He made his Test debut nine years ago but never broke into India’s T20I side, despite regularly featuring in the IPL and for Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the last couple of years. Aaron had quite an impressive 2019-20 season, when he picked ten wickets in eight matches. He was part of three different sides in the IPL before the Royals pouched him last season, when he played five out of their 14 matches and picked four wickets.”Having a good IPL and winning matches for Rajasthan Royals and helping us win the trophy is the simplest way to make a India comeback,” Aaron said. “I’ve said and I always say that the only reason I play the game is to play for the country, and there’s nothing else that keeps me as motivated.”Aaron has managed to stay injury-free in the last couple of years and he attributes a large part of maintaining his fitness levels to Steffan Jones, the Royals’ fast bowling development coach. Jones, who has trained the likes of Stuart Broad, Shaun Tait and Dan Christian during the 2017 Big Bash League, has been part of the Royals set up since 2018. Aaron was also part of a preparatory camp hosted by the Royals under Jones earlier this year, and he explained what makes Jones stand out.Varun Aaron in his delivery stride•PTI “I really enjoyed working with Steffan last year and then consequently after the IPL I went and spent some more time with him in England. He’s a fast bowling coach who really bridges the gap between fast bowling and strength and conditioning, which is rare. But Steffan brings those aspects together really well. It’s really important for a fast bowling coach to have a really good knowledge of strength and conditioning. He’s like a catalyst which joins both. I had a decent knowledge of my body and what I needed to do. But meeting Steffan has given me a different sight to it and how I can always be powerful throughout a long season. It’s just more of a different side of training rather than conventional training or gym work.”I train myself actually. I consult Steffan and Rajnikanth (his fitness trainer at the MRF Pace Foundation) whenever I have doubts and stuff but just training over the years and training a lot, I have a decent grasp of what I need to do myself. During the lockdown I was focusing on getting into a good routine instead of just pushing myself too much and burning out and not being regular. I think lot of guys struggled to be regular during lockdown and my goal was to be regular. First of all, I worked through stuff which I felt I need to work on which was things like stability. Towards the end, I got in touch with Steffan and Rajnikanth to help me out with more specific stuff I needed.”I used to be injury prone and most of it used to be related to my back which wasn’t in my control. I’ve reached a space where I’ve got a grip on my body and what my body needs to last through a tournament. I don’t see any issues or me having to do anything to stay fit because I’ve been fit for almost two to three years without injury.”Conditions in the UAE are expected to help the slower bowlers, especially as the tournament progresses, but Aaron sees this as an opportunity for fast bowlers to bring out their variations. While saying that the biggest misconception about him during his younger days was that he lacked variations, Aaron believes that in the end it all comes down to the execution of those variations.

“The biggest plus is that they really want to bowl fast all the time which I enjoy, because I understand where they are in their head – because I was there when I was 19 and I’m still there.”Varun Aaron on Rajasthan Royals’ young quicks

“Bowling fast is definitely what I love doing but at the same time being adaptable is really important,” he said. “I don’t mind the wickets being slow at all because that bring in an opportunity to bowl so many variations which I’ve been working on. I have been bowling the knuckle ball for a while now and it has been coming out really well. If you’re playing at this level you more or less know how to bowl every single variation but the point is how well you can bowl it, how consistently you can bowl it and how deceptive it can be.”I don’t think the wickets are going to be that slow to start with; they might be a bit quick to start off with. It’s going to be a long tournament if the wickets are slow from day one, then at the end we’re just going to have dust bowls. So I think the curators will make sure there are good wickets to start off with and just because of the nature of how many games you’re going to play in a certain venue, the wickets are going to deteriorate.”The Royals have a well-stocked pace department, and watching some of the younger quicks reminds Aaron of his younger days.”They [the young quicks] are just full of energy and the biggest plus is that they really want to bowl fast all the time which I enjoy, because I understand where they are in their head – because I was there when I was 19 and I’m still there. Even today I want to bowl faster and increase my pace and I try to do everything I can. Ankit [Rajpoot] and Akash [Singh] are really keen to learn and they’re hungry to play and that’s what you want from youngsters.”You really don’t want to keep teaching them stuff. I’ve spoken to them and I’ve told them if they ever want anything, call me up I’m always open. But I believe giving space to youngsters to experience and learn things themselves is equally important because sometimes we can go overboard with bombarding them with information.”

From Test match double centuries to a one-day game ahead of its time, Dean Jones was one of the dominant players of his era

Daniel Brettig24-Sep-202010:23

Tom Moody recalls the multiple roles of Dean Jones

In both his cricket and his life, Dean Jones’ departures left a sense of shock and loss for their arrival before so many could say goodbye.At the end of his international career as a wonderfully livewire batsman and limited-overs pioneer, this was because Jones found himself out of Test calculations and on the edge of the one-day team in South Africa in 1994, compelling him to call a summary retirement press conference on what had to that point been the nominal farewell tour of Allan Border.Twenty-six years later, Jones left this world almost in mid-stride, suffering a cardiac arrest while working as an analyst on the latest edition of the IPL for Star in Mumbai. In both cases his departure left a deep, tangible sense of conversations and moments lost, of thank yous unable to be given. Similarly, his induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame had been done via video link when Jones was occupied by a T20 coaching assignment, and now his death left so many around the world feeling bereft, or perhaps even less articulate than that.ALSO READ: ‘One of a kind you were, Deano’What we are left with is a rich trove of moments and memories, many more than those typically provided by cricketers of longer subsequent careers, and to ponder the jumble of contradictions, frustrations and triumphs of the man known universally as Deano.Two qualities in particular stand out. The first was his sheer energy, a characteristic that helped push him to some of the most extraordinary cricketing heights. If Jones was flagging towards the end of his unforgettable 210 against India in Chennai in 1986, his captain Border knew how to bring on a second wind, suggesting that it was time to get a Queenslander, Greg Ritchie, in to do what a Victorian could not. His civic pride suitably threatened, Jones went on, past 200 and into legend.Jones’ many other brilliant performances, and a few not quite so brilliant, were infused with a similar mix of bravado and courage. Whether it was smiting the West Indies all around Adelaide Oval for his second double century in Tests in early 1989, cuffing a young Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis for twin hundreds at the same venue a year later, or obliterating Sir Richard Hadlee in an Auckland ODI later the same season, Jones could be utterly irresistible. On the 1989 Ashes tour, Mark Taylor led the aggregates and Steve Waugh the headlines, but none batted better or more predatorially than Jones.In one-day matches, Jones’ knack for finding gaps and running with what seemed Olympian speed between the wickets made him the most feared batsman in the world in the realm of limited overs. A technicolour innings of 145 against England at the Gabba in 1990-91, wearing the gold cap then the white floppy hat and cheered on by a packed house, alerted a generation of aspiring schoolchildren that batting need not be all about getting through to stumps: the T20 age was probably born in the imaginative aftermath of a Jones innings.ESPNcricinfo LtdHis precise knowledge of things like how much quicker he could run two if he turned blind than not, was also well ahead of its time. A pair of flicks to the fine leg boundary of Hansie Cronje at the SCG in his final international summer, the second followed by a pointed punch of the fist as the crowd went wild, underlined how infuriating Jones could be to bowl to, or captain against.Of course, the manic enthusiasm for the game and the national team that Jones wore so proudly also led to plenty of occasions where brio outstripped sense.Who but Jones would find himself run out after being bowled by a Courtney Walsh no-ball in the West Indies in 1991? Who but Jones would find the ball trapped between his glove and pads after advancing to Venkatapathy Raju at the MCG later that year, flicking it away and forever denying he could have been out handled the ball? Who but Jones would ever conceive of, let alone act upon, a plot to ask Curtly Ambrose to remove his wrist band under the pretence of losing sight of the white ball in the 1993 World Series finals? And who but Jones would actually write, innocently and truthfully in a column ghosted by Mark Ray, that the absence of the famously litigious coach Bob Simpson from the dressing room during a Gabba one-day game in early 1994 had helped the team to relax? Simpson threatened to sue his own player.None of these moments helped Jones or his career, but they all added richly to cricket’s lore.The second quality, for which Jones was equally famous, is the sense of something incomplete or unjust about his career and its aftermath. There is no more highly ranked Victorian than the state’s Premier, and in Dan Andrews’ social media tribute there came the words “should have been picked for many more than his 52 Tests”. It is a view that has been able to enhance the Melbourne pub trade for most of the past 28 years by generating extra conversation and by extension extra rounds, and it was never discouraged by Jones.ALSO READ: ‘I can’t remember a thing after 120 in that innings’ In his 1997 book, Matters of Choice, the former selector John Benaud gave a very good, reasoned and frank depiction of all the cross currents running through the selection panel’s call to make Jones 12th man for the Gabba Test against the West Indies in 1992. These ranged from Jones’ increasing levels of inconsistency, the need for a fresh approach to tackling the Caribbean side, and his poor record against the West Indies outside the aforementioned Adelaide 200, to the fact that the Sheffield Shield draw for that season had given him precious few hits relative to those afforded to Damien Martyn, who was ultimately to debut instead.

RIP you magnificent cricketer

Finally got the elusive 100 at his home ground, just happened to be against Australia pic.twitter.com/Sjv8CFp0cJ

— Rob Moody (@robelinda2) September 24, 2020

Martyn’s own tale is one of rejection and recrimination before his own summary decision to retire, and it was a burden that Jones carried through the next two years and, arguably, for the rest of his time around the game. Steve Waugh’s diary reflection on Jones’ international retirement, in South Africa in 1994, bears repeating: “I know how he desperately wanted to wear the baggy green cap again and when he thought that was an impossibility, he didn’t want to keep torturing himself.” Waugh was not alone in being far more calculating in later years when it came to the rules of engagement with selectors in particular, and the Jones precedent doubtless helped.The selectors came close to recalling Jones one final time, for the 1996 World Cup, but stopped short at the very last moment. Jones’ riposte was to make a hundred for a World XI against the Australians in an MCG match to mark the centenary of the Victorian Cricket Association on their return from the cup. Though a vaudevillian Dean Jones tribute match had been played at the ground the season before, this was as close as he got to a true farewell: for parochial Victorians, Jones versus Australia was almost better than Australia with Jones.It should not be forgotten, either, that both Jones and Border were the primary losers in the graduation of Australian cricketers from solid contracts to eye-popping ones. When they retired, neither commanded ACB deals of more than five figures, yet within a couple of years the likes of Waugh, Shane Warne and Mark Taylor were raking in earnings before endorsements much closer to half a million apiece. If there was ever a perception of selfishness or opportunism about Jones, his unfortunate place in cricket’s money trail is worth remembering.As it was, Jones spent the rest of his days jumping between coaching, commentary and other assignments, including a brief and hotly debated stint on the Australia senior PGA golf tour in 2012-13. He was rightly castigated for a couple of heedless commentary moments, one a reference to not caring about the state of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe while there to cover a series, and the other a reference to Hashim Amla as “the terrorist” picking up a wicket. He was never likely to fit the cloth of a Cricket Australia coaching job, although he did consult briefly in 2012.

I normally wouldn’t share screenshots of any convos but I think ppl should know the kind of man #DeanJones was off the field. One of the most compassionate ppl. This he sent to me when Asif was going through a tough time, he believed in Asif & Asif delivered that season. pic.twitter.com/xbhjsNVosc

— Rehan Ulhaq (@Rehan_ulhaq) September 24, 2020

A third attribute, undersold by many, must be Jones’ generosity. Not always defined in the ways that cricketers or administrators might have wanted it to be, it was largely in the sharing and developing of ideas about the game of cricket and sport more broadly. Apart from One Day Magic in 1991 and My Call in 1994, which both carried strong instructional or counselling elements, Jones’ final book was a collection of cricket tips gleaned from his many and varied travels as a commentator and coach.Its launch at the MCG in 2016 saw Jones in his very best form, holding court and discussing concepts he had picked up to share from the likes of VVS Laxman, Waqar Younis and Ricky Ponting, offering up photo opportunities and autographs as though he was still Australia’s No. 4 batsman instead of Steven Smith.More recently, and in a more personal tale, Jones thought nothing of responding to a brief request of his memory with a long, jovial phone call and a bevy of advice about how best my partner and I might move out of a Covid-19 Melbourne into country Victoria should we so choose to. There was a warmth in this Jones that contrasted with the coolness others had experienced, just as his batting days could so swiftly veer between the sublime and the ridiculous. Either way, they were always memorable. So goodbye Deano, and thank you. You are gone much too soon.

CSK’s win over the Knight Riders has opened the playoff qualification scenarios wide open

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2020ESPNcricinfo LtdKolkata Knight Riders: Played 13, Points 12, NRR -0.467
Losing to the Super Kings means the Knight Riders can only reach 14 points. They can still make the top four without net run rates coming into play, but for that to happen, many other results will have to work in their favour. Kings XI Punjab should lose both their matches, while Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad should win no more than one. In that case, Knight Riders can make it as the fourth team with 14 points.If it does come down to NRR, the only team they can compete with are the Royals, who are currently on -0.505 compared to Knight Riders’ -0.467. However, Royals are currently on 10 points – their NRR will improve if they win two matches.Kings XI Punjab: Played 12, Points 12, NRR -0.049
The Knight Riders’ loss has given some wriggle room to several teams, and Kings XI are among them. While two wins will definitely take them into the playoffs – they could even finish among the top two – even with 14 points they now have a better chance of making the cut because their NRR of -0.049 is much better than that of the Knight Riders and the Royals – two of the other teams which can finish on 14.Even if they lose to the Royals on Friday, Kings XI can still qualify if they win their last game and if other results go their way. Currently, Sunrisers have a much better NRR, so Kings XI wouldn’t want them to win their last two games and get to 14.Rajasthan Royals: Played 12, Points 10, NRR -0.505
The Royals have a poor NRR of -0.505, so their best bet for qualification will be if they don’t get into a run-rate tussle with the other teams. For that to happen, they will have to win both their remaining matches, and hope that Super Kings continue their late-season form and beat the Kings XI. If the Sunrisers win no more than one more game, then the Royals will be through without NRR coming into play.Mumbai Indians: Played 12, Points 16, NRR 1.186
The Knight Riders’ defeat means that Mumbai Indians have qualified, as a maximum of four teams can now get to 16. Also, thanks to their excellent NRR, it is almost certain that they will also finish in the top two. That is because only one of the Capitals or the Royal Challengers can finish on 18, and in a battle among teams tied on 16, Mumbai are too far ahead on NRR.Royal Challengers Bangalore: Played 12, Points 14, NRR 0.048
Royal Challengers will qualify if they win one of their two remaining matches. Even if they lose both matches and stay on 14 they can still qualify without NRR coming into play, but for that to happen several other results will have to go their way.However, losing both games will affect their NRR, which could result in their elimination if other teams on 14 have higher run rates.Delhi Capitals: Played 12, Points 14, NRR 0.030
Like the Royal Challengers, the Capitals too need a win to seal their playoff place, but their last two games are against the top two teams on the table, and the Capitals will go into Saturday’s game against Mumbai Indians on a three-match losing streak.Capitals can ill-afford another meltdown like the one they had against Sunrisers: if they lose their last two, it is entirely possible that Kings XI will go past them on NRR even if they finish on 14 points. In that scenario, Capitals could find themselves eliminated if other teams on 14 finish on a higher NRR.Sunrisers Hyderabad: Played 12, Points 10, NRR 0.396
For the Sunrisers, the equation is simple: win their two remaining games, and hope that at least one out of Royal Challengers, Delhi Capitals and Kings XI don’t reach 16. In that case, the Sunrisers will surely progress to the playoffs because their NRR is superior to all the teams which can finish on 14 points.

Morgan’s team are full of brilliance, belief, and free spirit

Mark Nicholas05-Dec-2020Empty again, that was Newlands, but this time even the cricketers were missing. The famous ground, 131 years into cricket business now, was bathed in sunshine – the clean pale blue of the African sky framing Table Mountain with spectacular clarity – but the Covid bell had tolled on the scheduled one-day match between South Africa and England. Sport lifts the spirit like little else, but it was denied the chance to make its magic yesterday.In waiting, conversation turned to England’s impressive T20 play over the previous week, year and more. How have they become so good?There is the IPL theory, a tournament once spurned by English arrogance but now embraced like an old friend, so valuable is it to England’s representatives. Kevin Pietersen was first on the plane to India in 2008, finding it too appealing for the liking of most of his colleagues. And not just his colleagues. The headline “Dumbslog Millionaire” appeared in the of London when Pietersen, on 97 after a flurry of boundaries, played an ugly mow across the line to the West Indian left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn in a Test match in Jamaica. It cost him his wicket and, moreover, a great deal of embarrassment given he had just been bought at auction for US$1.55 million to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Truth is, KP had read the tea leaves. The IPL was where it was at, and still is.ALSO READ: Chris Jordan: Pressure for places is driving England’s players to keep improvingNow, a raft of England’s best head to India – or the UAE – each spring (or autumn) to pit themselves against the best in the world. Most come up smiling because the money compensates nicely for mixed results: think Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Tom Curran at the Rajasthan Royals; Eoin Morgan and Tom Banton at the Kolkata Knight Riders; Jonny Bairstow with the Sunrisers Hyderabad; Chris Jordan at the Kings XI Punjab; Moeen Ali at RCB; and Sam Curran, with MS Dhoni at the Chennai Super Kings. Curran’s debut season was a qualified success. It’s a chunky cheque for a chap not long out of the classroom but the real benefit came in the experience and exposure. Rarely does Curran fall short of expectation and never of ambition or courage. Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, sees the youngest of the three brothers as an integral part of the team’s makeover and as a long-term investment.Then there is money, lots of it from the television-rights deals that pay for central contracts and support staff, which, in turn, allow the ECB to direct the course of a player’s career. The board caught on with the appointment of Andrew Strauss as director of cricket. He prioritised one-day and T20 cricket and the result has been a glittering success.There is the captain, Morgan, whose calculating leadership has ensured a team with core values, unwavering belief, and above all, a free spirit. This is not to say discipline is compromised – far from it. These guys don’t mess with Morgan – in fact, those that do pay a price – but they trust him right down to the last ball of the last Super Over. He is smart tactically, open to original thinking, and fiercely loyal. Perhaps best of all, there is a ruthlessness in him that appeals to the key lieutenants, and so it is that they follow him to the wire.Morgan would say he is blessed with a group of brilliant players. He might also point out that he has shaped them. The professional game in England has become attractive to outsiders – witness Archer, Jordan and Morgan himself. Many of England’s best short-form players began their lives elsewhere but the old country has always opened her arms. It is remarkable to think that the debate about Archer’s place in the World Cup party was taking place only 20 months ago. It says something for both Morgan and Archer that the Bajan-born was entrusted with Super Over.Finally, there is the free spirit mentioned above. Sport is littered with the fear of failure; the fact that its audience feels this too hugely increases the likelihood of players falling foul of it. (And that may explain why the cricket in the recent IPL and the Premier League football has been played with such expression: no live crowd to put the fear of god into the players.)English cricket has, inherently, put defence before attack. Those that have not are outliers and, unsurprisingly, mostly brilliant. A negative mindset that was long prevalent in county cricket where the better players looked after No. 1 and the fringe players hung on for dear life. Morgan blew all that nonsense out to sea. He encouraged expression, demanded invention and applauded risk. In no time, he moved a team from the ignominy of defeat by Bangladesh, and failure to qualify for the quarter-finals at the 2015 World Cup, to the final of the T20 World Cup in Kolkata a year later. The rest, as they say, is history. Deep down, the England cricketers might well fear failure but in their performance the guns blaze away with a previously unimagined sense of adventure. It’s great way to play – like it doesn’t matter, because in the end it doesn’t really matter.ALSO READ: Why Dawid Malan remains on England fringe despite absurd T20I recordTalking to Gary Kirsten, he asked about Dawid Malan. Kirsten was surprised to see Malan at the top of the ICC T20 rankings. So was Malan. Did we know he was that good, asked Kirsten? No, but he did make an excellent hundred against Australia in an Ashes Test at the WACA. That impresses anybody. It is quite a thing that his ranking points are higher than those of any batsman ever in the format. That impresses everybody.He has been around the England set-up for a while without ever nailing it. The advantage of this is that he is unlikely to let the days of his life slip away. He has improved his technique, principally by keeping his hands higher and creating a greater arc for the swing of his bat. He is the most delicious timer of the ball, tending to caress rather than muscle. One shot at Newlands the other night, a drive over extra cover that seemed almost in slow-motion at the point of contact was so perfect as to draw the breath of those who bore witness. He loves to play off the back foot, pulling the ball while balanced and with power. In short, he has a lot of game.That he keeps Joe Root out of the team is all we need know. Malan is a serious cricketer, whose journey has been anything but easy. He is off to the Big Bash in Australia, where, again, he will surprise people. Actually, he should still be here, in England’s one-day outfit, putting South Africa to the sword. It is inconceivable that he is not good enough. But such are Morgan’s riches.

And does R Ashwin rank higher than Imran Khan? A comprehensive analysis of the numbers reveals all

Anantha Narayanan11-Apr-2021Recently one of my regular readers, Ganesh Mani, made a good suggestion on the tricky topic of evaluating allrounders. The traditional methods of either subtracting the bowling average from the batting average (in my analysis, the Weighted Batting Average) or dividing the WBA by bowling average have a number of holes in them. Values of 50 and 40, and 30 and 20 will produce the same difference. Similarly, values of 30 and 20, and 45 and 30 will produce the same quotient. Chalk-and-cheese situations providing the same indices means that even as back-of-a-napkin calculations, these methods lack credibility.Ganesh suggested I take a value “1200/(bowling average)” as the bowling component, which could then be compared against the batting average. A bowling average of 20 results in a quotient of 60, somewhat equivalent to a top-five batsman. A bowling average of 24 results in a quotient of 50, somewhat equivalent to a top-25 batsman. And so on. He also made the interesting point that the crossover bowling average value of 34.6 (nearly the square root of 1200) is comparable to the mean of top-order batsmen’s batting averages. This idea made a lot of sense and I decided to explore it further.First, a pertinent question: who is an allrounder?A high-bar definition of an allrounder is someone who could be selected as a batsman, batting at six or higher, or a bowler – one of the top three choices. I would say, a rough quantitative definition of this, give or take 5-10% either way, would be a WBA of 35-plus and a bowling average below 30. Let me go through the list of allrounders to see which players qualify based on these criteria.Keith Miller’s Weighted Batting Average (WBA) is 35 and bowling average 23.Shakib Al Hasan could be considered as well, since he plays for a weaker team (37.1 and 31.1).For all others, some sort of compromise has to be made.Imran Khan and Ian Botham can only play as Nos. 7-8 batsmen (WBA 31.6 and 32.5). Garry Sobers could play only as a fourth pace bowler or a second spinner (bowling average 34). Jacques Kallis could be selected only as a fourth pace bowler (bowling average 32.7); same with Tony Greig and Ben Stokes (bowling average around 32).There we end. Not really a satisfactory list. It is clear that this is too lofty a definition.A more general definition will do: an allrounder is a player who has performed consistently well in both disciplines across his career. Now to convert this subjective statement to measurable steps.Let’s lower the bar to 100 wickets and 2500 runs. This too is too high; only 20 players make the cut. Many are excluded because their careers were during a period when the number of Tests played was not very high. We need to be pragmatic and, for example, ensure that Wally Hammond, who scored a lot of runs but only took 83 wickets, is included, as is Chris Woakes, who has taken over 100 wickets but not scored many runs.So for my first level of selection, I included players who have scored over 1500 runs and taken 50-plus wickets, or scored over 1000 runs and taken 75 or more wickets.In only his third Test, against West Indies in Mumbai in 2011, R Ashwin took nine wickets and scored a hundred•Santosh Harhare/Hindustan Times/Getty ImagesThis got me a substantial number of players. To avoid including bowlers who have played enough Tests to have accumulated a fair number of runs, like Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Chaminda Vaas and Stuart Broad, I have set a limit of 22.5 as the lower cut-off for WBA (which roughly amounts a batting average of 25). And to avoid classifying Chris Gayle, Mark Waugh, Asif Iqbal, et al as allrounders, I have excluded those who took fewer than a wicket per Test – which is a poor return, indeed.There was a temptation to set the upper limit for bowling average at 40. I have resisted that since it would mean the exclusion of a few players who are normally perceived as allrounders, prominent among them being Ravi Shastri and Carl Hooper.A total of 51 players qualified. All countries, barring Sri Lanka, are represented. This is understandable, considering that among Sri Lanka’s players, only Vaas comes closest to being an allrounder.How do we rank these allrounders? We have to be fair to the batting and bowling functions. We have to recognise performance. We have to recognise the all-round impact of the players.After a few days of work, I confirmed the folly of adding or subtracting actual batting and bowling average values. Let’s face it: 50 minus 40 and 35 minus 25 both lead to values of 10. The latter averages are far more valuable to the team as an allrounder. I realised that my tried and trusted formula of assigning weights and determining the parameter values based on actual metrics was the solution. I was also determined that almost all the metrics used should be performance measures and not longevity measures. No one becomes an allrounder because he takes more wickets overall or scores more runs overall than another player. I also wanted equal weight assigned to batting and bowling on the one hand and a career span and individual Tests on the other. Finally, I wanted to recognise impactful performances.I have worked out the following formula.Allrounder Index =
Batting Index (25 points) +
Bowling Index (25 points) +
All-round Contribution per Test Index (20 points) +
All-round Impact Index (20 points) +
All-round High Impact Index (10 points)Batting Index
Since I am a strong proponent of the Weighted Batting Average, I will use that value to determine the Batting Index. Overall I want the top score on any of the above parameters to be around 90% of the maximum points available. Hence, a maximum of 25 points will be allotted for a WBA of 57.5. The WBA for Sobers is 51.47, the highest in this group of 51 players. His Batting Index is 22.4, which is quite close to 90%.Bowling Index
Since the bowling average is, arguably, the strongest of player measures, I will use that value to determine the Bowling Index. Here I will use Ganesh’s suggestion, suitably tweaked. Since I have used the WBA, which produces lower numbers than the batting average, and I am normalising to a lower value, I will use 500 as the numerator. This will provide the maximum of 25 points for a bowling average of 20.0. The bowling average for Richard Hadlee is 22.30 – the lowest in this group. This leads to a Bowling Index of 22.4, matching the batting maximum.Contribution per Test Index
This recognises the contribution the player made in each Test he played, in terms of runs and wickets. I have used a simple method of deriving the base value: “Runs scored + 25 * Wickets taken”. The maximum of 20 points will be allotted to a Contribution per Test (CpT) value of 180. A big surprise here: R Ashwin has the highest CpT value of 165, which results in an Index value of 18.3. This method ensures that the value realised is a fair indicator of the player’s contribution whether he is a bowling or batting allrounder. He could make up for one with the other.All-round Impact Index
The All-round Impact Index is based on the player’s performance in individual Tests. The player might have delivered a true all-round performance in a game (scored 75-plus runs and taken three or more wickets). Alternatively, he might have provided a batting-centric performance (scored 100-plus runs and taken two or more wickets), or he might have provided a bowling-centric performance (scored 50-plus runs and taken four or more wickets). If he scored fewer than 50 runs or took fewer than two wickets, it is fair that he is not deemed to have made an all-round impact. The number of such instances of all-round performance is divided by the total number of matches played to derive an AR Impact percentage. This is a better method of working than looking at the frequency value, which could go quite high for low numbers of matches played. An AR Impact per cent of 45.0 realises the highest value of 20 points. Shakib has achieved the feat in 23 of the 57 Tests he has played in, which gives him an Impact percent of 40.4 and an All-round Impact Index of 17.9, the highest.High Impact Index
Some of the All-round Impact performances are virtually once-in-a-lifetime performances. Hence these are recognised separately. A very high bar is set for this. To qualify, the player should have scored 100-plus runs and taken four or more wickets in a Test. There is only one batsman who has crossed 100 runs per Test over his career, Don Bradman. (Steven Smith is almost there.) Only five batsmen have even crossed 90 runs per Test. Only 64 bowlers have taken four wickets per Test. A High-Impact per cent of 17.5 leads to the highest value of ten points. Shakib has achieved this in nine out of the 57 Tests he has played in. Hence the High-Impact Index value is 9.0 for him.I can hear murmurs of “double counting”. Of course, yes. However, these are performances at such high levels that double counting (or even “triple counting”) seems perfectly justified. You might see a similarity with tennis here: Roger Federer has won 103 titles. Out of these, 20 are Grand Slams. When one does any serious analysis, the 103 and the 20 have to be independent parameters. For Rafael Nadal, the numbers would be 86 and 20, while, for Novak Djokovic, 82 and 18.Thus, it can be seen that the highest values in all five categories are around 90% of the maximum points.To start with, my objective was to have the Bowling Index and Batting Index within 10% of each other. Let us see whether I have achieved this. The average Batting Index value for the 51 qualifying players is 13.85. The average Bowling Index is 16.0. The total batting component average is 24.4 and the bowling component average is 28.2. (The batting component includes the Batting Index, the Runs per Test (RpT) part of the CpT Index, and 50% of the Impact Indices. The bowling component includes the Bowling Index, the WpT part of the CpT Index, and 50% of the Impact Indices.) It can be seen that all these are reasonably close to each other, with a slight edge to the bowling discipline. Hence the basic objective has been achieved.A few other overall numbers. The average WBA for the 51 selected players is 31.8 and the bowling average 32.33. The average allrounder in this group scored 3135 runs and took 161 wickets. The average WpT is 2.62 and the average RpT, 51.1.In the graph below, the batting and bowling totals are graphically highlighted to let the reader get a clear idea as to whether the player is batting-centric (Sobers, Kallis, Bob Simpson) or bowling-centric (Imran, Ashwin, Hadlee) or balanced (Shakib, Greig, Stokes).Anantha NarayananYou could say there’s a huge surprise at the top, although maybe not to a clinical follower of the game. To have followed Bangladeshi cricket is to have followed Shakib. He is truly a giant. In both disciplines, in almost equal measure. Despite the fact that he has played only 57 Tests, his run tally and wickets tally are excellent. A very good WBA of 37.1, a competitive bowling average of 31.2 and an outstanding CpT value of 161 form a strong foundation. However, what really tips the scale for Shakib are the very high AR Impact % (over 40% of Tests) and a superlative 15.8% of High-Impact performances – that means that he scored over 100 runs and took four wickets once every six Tests.Sobers has excellent batting numbers, acceptable bowling numbers, and very good impact numbers. His WBA of 57.5 is the highest among these 51 players and his bowling average is a passable 34.0. His AR Impact per cent is 36.6 and he has produced a High-Impact performance once every six Tests. Sobers is a truly great allrounder and fully deserves his high placing.Aubrey Faulkner of South Africa, who played mainly before the First World War, comes in in third place. Let us examine his credentials closely. A WBA of 38.7, bowling average of 26.6, and a substantial CpT of 151 are, overall, better than Shakib’s numbers. It is only in the Impact figures that Faulkner lags marginally. The net impact is a well-deserved third place. We are now seeing the wisdom of assigning zero weightage to longevity-related numbers.Miller is some distance behind Faulkner. He has a sub-23 bowling average, which is among the best ever. His WBA is that of a top batsman – around 35. And the impact values are reasonable. Jack Gregory is another example of an old-timer making it to the top ten because we are able to treat a 25-Test career at par with a longer one. His numbers are quite good, especially his delivering impactful performances once every three Tests. Then there is another surprise: Chris Cairns has leapfrogged other, more fancied, contestants to sixth place. A near-33 WBA and a sub-30 bowling average and very good Impact performances have earned him his high rank.Botham, one of the most charismatic players, is next. His figures almost match Cairns’. The fact that he played a lot more Tests than most others in the top 20 pushed his Impact values down slightly. Imran Khan, whose figures resemble Botham’s on the batting front but are way better on bowling, comes in next – mainly because of the lack of high-impact performances. Maybe the presence of explosive bowlers in many teams in his era caused this.Ashwin’s batting credentials are just above par – a WBA of 24.7. However, his bowling average is very good – it stands at an impressive 24.7. But the real clincher is the CpT value of 165 – the best among any player here. His five high-impact contributions help him a lot, especially as he has played only 78 Tests.Kallis completes the top ten, due mainly to his batting numbers. His WBA is a very high 48.6.Greig, Hadlee, Ravindra Jadeja, Vinoo Mankad Trevor Goddard form the next group of five players. All are very good allrounders, having done enough in either discipline. The presence of Jadeja on the list, in addition to Ashwin, is an indicator of India’s Test strength currently, especially at home.Now we come to the second part of the article. Here I will look in depth at ten selected allrounders. This list is the top 12 above minus Gregory and Greig. Gregory’s 24 Tests work against his selection, and Hadlee gets the nod ahead of Greig because of his pre-eminent position as the best bowler in this collection.The graphs below are complicated and some explanations are in order. You will get the hang of the presentation after perusing a graph or two. (Please right-click the images and open them in a new tab to be able to see them better.)1. The strip in the middle is used to show the Test number and year.
2. The wickets, represented by stumps, are shown in the top half of the graphs and the runs, grouped in rounded ten-run segments (33 displays as three segments and 47 as 5), at the bottom.
3. The AR Impact Tests – 75r/3w or 100r/2w or 50r/4w are shown as black squares.
4. The High-Impact Tests – 100r/4w are shown as blue squares.
5. The best performance of the player, in terms of the contribution he made, is highlighted by a double line connecting the batting and bowling sides of the graph.
6. The career of each player is split into three equal parts and the Mean Wickets and Mean Runs for each career segment are represented by the line that runs across batting and bowling parts horizontally. This will let the reader understand how the career progressed. The career segments have widely varying number of Tests. But that cannot be helped.Let us now move on to the individual player graphs. The career-best performance is based on a normalisation of wickets taken to runs scored, with each wicket being equated to 25 runs.Anantha NarayananShakib’s excellent career progression is depicted in the graph. Look at how close the three career segments are – the middle segment is just a little above the other two. His best performance of 143 runs and ten wickets came in this segment. Despite a poor start, Shakib has delivered consistently. Look at the splashes of blue, the Impact performances. In the past 15 Tests, Shakib has delivered impact performances in ten Tests. His ban for not reporting a bookie approach derailed his career somewhat, but he still ought to have at least five fruitful years ahead of him. Truly, Shakib is the greatest allrounder ever.Anantha NarayananSobers in the second spot is like Lewis Hamilton moving to second – it does not happen often. Sobers’ first career segment was poor on the bowling front. He averaged just above one wicket per Test. But the 365 ensured that his batting numbers were good. The second segment was quite different. An average of over four wickets and nearly 100 runs per Test – the hallmark of a great allrounder. He dropped a little on both fronts in the third segment, although his career-best performance (247 runs and six wickets) came in this phase. In more than a third of the Tests Sobers played, he made an impact as an allrounder, and over 10% were high-impact performances. In summary, a truly great batsman and a good bowler, metamorphosing into a very good allrounder.Anantha NarayananFaulkner was a legspinning allrounder who had a magnificent career on both batting and bowling fronts. All his Tests bar one were played before the First World War. He fought for the Allies in the war and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In the first career segment, Faulkner was primarily a bowling allrounder, averaging over four wickets per Test. In the second, his batting took off and he averaged well over 100 runs per Test while still taking four wickets per Test. This segment is among the best of all allrounders in history. His batting fell off as he came towards the end of his career. He made an impact in nearly a third of his Tests – almost all in the golden middle segment. He is one of three allrounders who have delivered career-best performances of 400-plus runs: in 1910, he took 8 for 160 and scored 201 against England.Anantha NarayananMiller was a truly magnificent allrounder and was key to Australia’s dominance during the post-World War II years. He delivered impactful all-round performances in over a quarter of his Tests. His first career segment was bettered in the second and third segments on the bowling front. As for other players, Miller’s middle segment was his most effective one. However, his best Test performance came towards the end of his career.Anantha NarayananCairns is the real surprise in this collection. After an indifferent start, he quickly moved on to deliver stunning all-round performances. In his second segment he was more of a bowling allrounder and his batting dipped. However, his best career segment was his third one, unlike the other allrounders featured here. Nine wickets in his last Test makes one wonder if he retired too soon; but it is also true that he was plagued by injuries throughout his career.Anantha NarayananBotham is the quintessential high-performing aggressive allrounder. The first half of his graph is astounding. In his first segment he averaged over five wickets per Test – more than many great bowlers; and he was a competent late-order batsman. In the second segment, his bowling fell off slightly, to be made up by a corresponding batting increase. The third segment was weak – an average of three wickets and well under 50 runs per Test. His struggles were all too visible (and similar to Kapil Dev’s). Maybe he played a dozen Tests too many. But he was a king in his earlier years, which housed the greatest all-round performance ever – 114 runs and 13 wickets against India in 1980.Anantha NarayananKhan follows Botham closely. A bowling-dominated first segment, true all-round performances in the middle, and a drop-off, especially on the bowling front – though accompanied by a rise in his batting numbers – in the last segment. Look at his bowling in the middle segment: over five wickets per Test. Let us not forget that he also was a successful captain from early in his career. His best performance of 11 wickets and a hundred came right in the middle of his career.Anantha NarayananAshwin’s presence is also a surprise. However, he qualifies and fully deserves to be featured here. When we look at the graph, it is clear that Ashwin is a bowling allrounder. He has taken well over five wickets per Test in his career – either side of five all through his career. These are numbers close to Muttiah Muralitharan’s. However, Ashwin’s overall tally of runs per Test is only around 40 and even that has dropped off in the third segment. But it must be said that many of his runs have been invaluable late-order contributions. His best performance of nine wickets and over 100 runs was in his third Test, against West Indies.Anantha NarayananKallis was a batting allrounder – in sharp contrast to Ashwin. His first segment produced under two wickets per Test and not-so-great batting numbers. He improved as a batsman in the second segment and almost reached 100 runs per Test. A la Botham, he dropped off in the third segment, but he was able to produce quite a few batting-centric all-round performances in this phase. His Impact per cent was just over 20 and there were only three High-impact performances. A true batting allrounder, as evidenced by his wickets per Test value of 1.75.Anantha NarayananHadlee is, almost inarguably, the best bowler in this august group. A career accumulation rate of just over five wickets per Test, strike rate of 51 balls per wicket, and a bowling average of 22.3 are testaments. He was a colossus in bowling as Sobers was in batting. Like Ashwin, his three-segment wickets-per-Test figure is in excess of 4.5. His batting was competent for someone playing at No. 7 or 8. The overall impact figures are sub-par mainly because of the lack of batting contributions. Hadlee’s best-ever performance was something for the ages – from a bowling point of view. He took 15 wickets and just about crossed the batting bar of 50 runs. This included 9 for 52, the greatest bowling performance in Test cricket.Unfortunately Kapil Dev is in 24th place, making it difficult for me to feature him. His WpT of 3.31 does not compensate enough for the RpT value of 40. Nor does the fact that the bowling average is higher than the WBA. He also has only 23 AR-Impact performances (17.5%) and only one high-impact one. He joins Richie Benaud, Shaun Pollock, Stokes and Mankad among allrounders unlucky not to be individually featured.Conclusion
I will say with conviction that the parameters for this analysis have worked very well. The top three allrounders – Shakib Al Hasan, Garry Sobers and Aubrey Faulkner – stand over 10% clear of Keith Miller. They surely deserve their places. And let us not hesitate to give Shakib the respect he deserves, especially considering he plays for a relatively weak team.Finally, I have made available for the readers the Excel sheet containing the data for all the players, which you can download here.

Former Lancashire and Derbyshire wicketkeeper has written a book on his life as a sports agent

Paul Edwards12-Apr-2021In the days after Ben Stokes’ astonishing century in the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley radio phone-ins invited listeners to tell them where they were and what they were doing when cricket’s famously flimsy logic was being trashed once again. There was no shortage of callers but Luke Sutton, the former Somerset, Derbyshire and Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman, was not amongst them. Although Sutton was in Leeds that Sunday afternoon, he was doing something much more important than witnessing one of the best innings in the history of cricket. He was helping a young man make sense of his suddenly troubled life.While the rest of England watched the Test Sutton was sitting on the balcony of Nile Wilson’s flat, talking to the 23-year-old gymnast and quietly suggesting ways in which he might go about things. It was a tricky undertaking. On the positive side Wilson was a successful athlete who had already won an Olympic bronze medal. Having vlogged since he was 15 he was also exceptionally skilled in the use of social media and was listed by at No. 37 in the table of the UK’s biggest online influencers. Set against these factors and the prosperity that went with them was the fact that Wilson’s mental health was deteriorating. He had grown increasingly unhappy with the demands of celebrity and what he saw as the responsibility of producing content for over a million subscribers on YouTube.Wilson derived joy from little except going out and getting drunk with his mates, and on the Saturday of the Leeds Test he had got into a fight with his father, Neil. Hung-over and fragile, he needed an honest friend with whom he could talk about his problems and so Sutton turned up at his apartment on the Sunday afternoon. Except that Luke Sutton is not only Wilson’s friend; he is his agent.The story of how he kept Wilson company as he found a way through his problems makes up two chapters in , which was published last autumn and was Sutton’s second book in little over a year. The first, , was a raw account of his own struggle to achieve good mental health and overcome long-term problems that had manifested themselves in alcohol-dependence. To a degree, therefore, he was well-placed to help Wilson, albeit he is careful never to lay down the law. “I had felt everything Nile was feeling and had made all the same mistakes,” he writes. “I had once been as confused and lonely in my own head as he now was in his.” The pair eventually spent a week in Sutton’s house in Ibiza, pottering around “like a little married couple”, living quietly and talking.It worked. Gradually Wilson came to see that his life encompassed far more than sporting achievement and an online presence. Sutton ends the chapters musing on what Wilson might achieve in gymnastics yet also reassured that any success will have far firmer foundations than previously. But such thoughts are probably not the stuff people expect to come across from someone in Sutton’s profession. Where are the deals? Where is the cut-throat promotion? Where is Mr 10%?

You’re managing young, very talented sportspeople and helping them to cope with highly pressurised situations. And I have to be the person in their lives who tells them the truth

The answer to such questions is that there are deals and promotions in but they are subordinated to the themes of compassion, love and support. The stereotypical image of an agent fades and is replaced by Sutton’s much broader duties of care to a group of clients that includes the former hockey player, Sam Quek, and the gymnast, Louis Smith. Naturally, there are a host of cricketers. James Anderson and Haseeb Hameed have been on the books of Sutton’s company, Activate, and he now looks after the affairs of Dom Bess, Peter and Tom Moores, Sam Northeast, Saqib Mahmood and a group of younger players. To each he brings a thoughtful awareness of the perils of fame and an understanding that while things may seem to be going well as far as coaches and colleagues can see, the player may be struggling and saying nothing.”As an agent of course you get involved in discussions about sponsorship deals and playing contracts,” he says. “There’s a very financial, transactional side to it but ultimately you’re also managing young, very talented sportspeople and helping them to cope with highly pressurised situations. And I have to be the person in their lives who tells them the truth. I always tell them I’m going to say it with love and I’m not the sort of person who goes around banging down doors and screaming and shouting but I’ll tell it to them straight. If they don’t want to hear it, I still have to be the one to tell them.”Most people who have read understand that Sutton is well-placed to advise his predominantly young clients as they try to cope with the emotional polarities and absurd reality of professional sport. There was a time when he had to cope with some difficult truths, all the more difficult, perhaps, because he was informed of them when a patient at the Priory in 2011. Sutton writes of his time in the acute psychiatric hospital in stark prose, its style blessedly free of any intervention from a professional journalist. Readers should be grateful for this. A book already haunted by demons does not need another ghost. is also all his own work, although the second book is a more considered effort, one that offers a justification of Sutton’s current profession.”They were very different experiences,” he says. “There was a therapeutic aspect to the first book but this one explores different areas of sports management and I took care in organising the material. The first was baring my soul and the second was more opinionated because I do feel strongly about the roles of the sports agent. I wanted to give an insight into that world.”James Taylor, left, was forced to retire in 2016 after the discovery of a heart condition•Getty ImagesAnd yet nothing could have prepared Sutton for the text James Taylor sent him at two o’clock in the morning on April 7, 2016: “Hey bud, I need to talk to you.” Behind the bland words was a crisis that will touch Taylor’s life for ever. Less than 24 hours before sending the text he had been sitting in the dressing room at Fenner’s, suffering acute pain and watching his heart seemingly trying to beat itself out of his body. Within a week arrhythymogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) had been diagnosed. It is a disease of the heart that is often first identified by pathologists. Had Taylor not been a super-fit sportsman he may well have died but further exercise was ruled out. He had just established himself in England’s Test team and now those days were over.Sutton does not dispute the observation that the biggest crisis in Taylor’s life also allowed his agent to develop his own career. Yet perhaps it is that such brutal reflections are best considered over four years after the events being recounted. In the spring of 2016 Sutton was preoccupied in organising the announcement of Taylor’s retirement, making arrangements for his financial security and setting up his tentative return to cricket in the media. There was really no playbook that the agent could follow but none of his professional duties was more important than being there for his mate, talking to him for hours beyond counting and sharing his tears.”I wasn’t prepared in the slightest for what happened, so I guess in hindsight it did move me forward a great deal,” he says. “And if anyone asked me to name the biggest accomplishment of my management career I would talk about my experience with James when his career ended.”There was no warning. This atomic bomb arrived in this young man’s life and everyone was wondering what to do. There were many times when I worried whether I would be able to guide him to a place of stability, happiness or closure. When we did get there I realised how great the weight had been. James and I still talk about it a great deal and he read the chapters about him before the book was published. It’s still a huge thing for him to deal with.”But his experience across a range of sports has taught Sutton that he cannot carry the burden of personal responsibility on anyone’s behalf. He frequently talks about players “owning” their decisions whether they are moving from one club to another or going out on the razzle. Agents like Sutton can make the picture clearer but they cannot make a client see what is revealed.”I’m dealing with exceptionally talented people and it’s not my job to tell them what to do,” he says. “I can offer advice and a steer but giving them that level of personal responsibility creates a healthy dynamic. They’ve got to own their decisions as I have to own mine and that’s part of their development. I’m not commander-in-chief.”

Wary of India’s ability to attack in the fourth innings, England opted for tactics that some will view as timid

George Dobell08-Feb-20212:51

Ian Bell: England will be kicking themselves if they don’t go on to win

It probably tells you something about the thankless task of captaincy that, to look at social media on the fourth afternoon of this match, you would have thought Joe Root was insane.Root had, to this point, enjoyed an almost perfect game. As if winning the toss – a disproportionate advantage on this pitch – wasn’t enough, he has contributed a double-century and juggled an imperfect attack sufficiently well that he could have asked India to follow-on for the first time since 2011*. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?But so frustrated had some become by England’s tactics on the fourth afternoon – not least, delaying the declaration longer than most thought likely – that you could have been forgiven for thinking Root had endured a shocking match.Related

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In the end, the decision was taken out of his hands. England, unsure whether to attack or defend and ultimately doing little of either, were bowled out in the final hour of the fourth day. It left India requiring a world record Test chase if they are to win. More realistically, it left them 103 overs to survive.It wasn’t just that England weren’t declaring, but the pace of their fourth-innings batting wasn’t deemed to be urgent enough. And it is true that, once Ollie Pope was out in the 29th over, England added just 14 from the next nine complete overs. From a position where it seemed they were trying to set-up a declaration – Pope had been dismissed switch-hitting to cover, after all – it felt like a sudden and perplexing change of approach.To some extent, that Root’s fault. For so easy had he made batting look on this pitch, that it was easy to wonder why nobody else could match him. But while Root, with his range of shot and freakish ability to manoeuvre the ball into gaps, was able to score at a strike rate of 125 in the second innings, even a batsman as destructive as Jos Buttler was unable to reach a rate half as fast. It wasn’t that England weren’t trying to score quickly, as much as it was that scoring quickly on this surface and against this attack was fiendishly tough.This was a point made by Jon Lewis, the seam bowling consultant on this tour, after play. “It wasn’t straightforward on a turning wicket with R Ashwin bowling well,” he said. “You can’t just smack the ball around, all over the place. Joe’s in the form of his life and he scored at a really good rate. He makes the game look a lot easier than other players.”England’s batsmen struggled to find the right tempo in the second innings•BCCILewis did concede, however, that England had been mindful of the strength of India’s batting when deciding on their tactics.”There was a little caution there,” he said. “We felt that, with the strength of their batting and the pace of the game, they could take the game away from us. It’s obviously the first game of the series. And while you want to get off to a strong start, you don’t really want to give India a chance to win.”While some will interpret such tactics as timid, it seems equally reasonable to interpret them as sensibly respectful. This India team contains arguably the greatest chaser – albeit in white-ball cricket – in the history of the game in Virat Kohli and several other highly destructive players. It would be reckless not to factor such things into the equation.Yes, India would have to achieve something unprecedented to win here. And yes, Root may yet rue passing up another half-hour of bowling to them on day five. But you don’t have to cast your mind back far to appreciate how much the game has changed.Only a day ago, West Indies pulled off something of a miracle by scoring 395 to win on the last day Chittagong, with the 2019 results in Leeds and Durban also fresh in the mind; not to mention India’s raid on the Gabba last month. James Anderson was part of the England side who saw India chase down 387 to win on this very ground in 2008, too. That they did it for the loss of just four wickets underlines what might be achieved.And then there are Root’s bowlers. He doesn’t have a left-arm spinner who can gain the bite of Monty Panesar or an offspinner with the control of Graeme Swann here. And, even if he did, look how they fared here in 2008. So, having seen how Rishabh Pant, in particular, reacted to Jack Leach bowling into the rough in the first innings and how Dom Bess struggled with his length, Root could be forgiven for adopting a slightly more cautious approach.

England have been in control for the best part of four days. You can understand why Root doesn’t want to throw that away with an hour’s extra generosity

It might also be relevant that he wanted to give his bowlers, who had looked a bit weary earlier in the day, another chance with a relatively new ball at the start of the final day. If it doesn’t work, they should still have 20 or so overs with another one after tea.Lewis also argued that extending the required target beyond 400 would give Root more options in the field. In particular, he said, it would allow him to attack more with close fielders.”You also want to have attacking fields all day, especially for our spin bowlers to have fielders around the bat,” Lewis said. “That will allow us to create those chances for those close fielders. So to get as many runs [as possible] and keep the rate high for them, feels like our best chance to win the game.”It will be fascinating to see how India adapt, too. We know that Pant, for example, can attack to win a game. But can he, if required, defend to save one? Maybe this ‘target’ provides just enough of a carrot to encourage some strokes? Or might it require the batsmen to play a more defensive game than comes naturally?With Root falling to one which kept low and Rohit Sharma bowled by a beauty that drew him forward and spun past his edge to clip the top of off stump, there remains every reason for England to look at the final day with optimism. As Lewis pointed out: “There is a patch on a length just outside off where there is some variable bounce and there will also be reverse swing. It’s nine balls. I am sure we have more than enough to potentially do that job.”Jack Leach struck the first blow for England in the fourth innings•BCCIStill, you can understand some of the frustration with Root’s caution. It is almost 10 years since England, in Kolkata, enjoyed a genuinely match-winning position in India. With such opportunities occurring so rarely, they really have to be taken.Equally, though, England have been in control of this game for the best part of four days. You can understand why Root doesn’t want to throw that away with an hour’s extra generosity. It would not only be a chastening result, but surely put the series beyond reach.Either way, Root’s decision making seemed reasonable. Yes, we can quibble with 40 minutes here or there. Yes, one or two batsmen at one or two moments could perhaps have a shown a little more intent. But he is the captain that has won five games in a row overseas. He is the man who could equal the record for the most wins of England captains on Tuesday. It’s probably worth suspending judgement on the wisdom of his decision until we see how things play out. Certainty of opinion isn’t always a sign of intelligence.Besides, are you cautious if you slow your car down before corners? Are you cautious if you wash your hands, wear a mask and wait your turn for a vaccine? Or are you sensible? Casinos love brave people. And graveyards are full of them.*

Ollie Robinson controversy shows past prevalence of racism, but the game can prove it has changed

George Dobell08-Jun-2021It’s not a case that would especially tax Sherlock Holmes, is it? Despite the ECB’s suggestion that Ollie Robinson has been suspended “pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation” the verdict really isn’t an issue. We know he’s guilty of sending the tweets, irrespective of the circumstances. It’s the sentencing that is the tricky bit.The ECB were thrown into an almost impossible position when these tweets emerged on the first day of the Test at Lord’s. Fail to act and they faced accusations about being soft on discrimination – a claim that has been made often in recent times around the issue of race, in particular – but punish Robinson too hard and they face accusations of scapegoating a young man who, at the time of the offences, was a poorly educated teenager. The tectonic plates of a changing society are grinding against one another and the ECB are trying to retain their balance as the ground moves beneath their feet. They face criticism whatever they do.Their current method – a suspension while deciding on next steps – appears pretty reasonable. It’s standard procedure in such cases, too. It gives them the time to talk to Robinson and look into the context of the tweets without the distraction of a Test in which he is involved. It also allows some time for reflection and planning both Robinson’s punishment – for want of a better word – and road to rehabilitation.  It’s the opposite of a kneejerk reaction.So it seems slightly odd that the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Secretary of State for Sport (among other things), Oliver Dowden have already criticised them for going “over the top” in their reaction. Really, given Johnson’s own record of comments about ethnic minorities, it is somewhat surprising he feels in a position to offer advice. It was a point that Mark Ramprakash, England’s former batting coach, made neatly on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday.But it is worth reflecting on whether ‘punishment’ is necessarily the most constructive solution here. As Nasser Hussain put it eloquently on Sky on Sunday afternoon, if we accept society can (and needs to) change, don’t we need to accept that the individuals who make up that society can also change?  You suspect real change comes from engagement and enlightenment. Punishment may just create more animosity.The emergence of further tweets from further players – some of them made while they were still minors – has only complicated matters further. Should the media even be reporting this stuff? Or would it make them complicit if they looked the other way? Does it really benefit anyone to punish someone for something they did as a child? Eventually, won’t something of regret be found in every person’s background? Just as we are learning to make allowances for mental health and anxiety, don’t we have to make allowances for youth and foolishness?Robinson claimed seven wickets on debut but his performance was over-shadowed by his off-field actions•Getty ImagesThat’s a lot of questions. So, here’s a potential solution: an amnesty. This would see the game accept that it has failed to be as inclusive as it should have been and resolve to be better. It would end the current obsession with historic tweets (for example) and instigate a moratorium on further disciplinary action. But it would also clearly outline the modern-day expectations and penalties. It would, in short, provide a fresh start.This is not a perfect solution. It was suggested as regards the Azeem Rafiq case recently – by me, as it happens – and met with some support. But then it was pointed out that, as a white, middle-class male, I had hardly suffered from the racism (or sexism, or homophobia) that has been experienced by others within the game. As such, I wasn’t best placed to comment on when the time to forgive and forget might be.This is a key point. Whatever the ECB decided to do here, they have to have the buy-in of related parties (such as the African-Caribbean Cricket Association and the National Asian Cricket Council, among others) to ensure they feel justice is done. It is vital the ECB demonstrate that this behaviour is not acceptable. It is vital both as a deterrent and to show those from communities who have felt excluded from cricket in recent years that the sport welcomes them and will not tolerate those who exclude them.  For that reason, giving Robinson a hug and telling him not to be such a buffoon in future will not quite do.But it may be part of the answer. The fact is, Robinson was 18 or 19 and these tweets were sent a long time ago. We know he left school without meaningful qualifications and had a period where he struggled for maturity and equilibrium. We know that cost him his contract at Yorkshire. He has, to some extent, already turned his life around. There aren’t perfect solutions here, but there has to be a path to redemption through the disciplinary process.There will be those who also suggest there is a bit of irony in the identity of Robinson’s possible replacement at Edgbaston. Craig Overton, you may recall, was suspended from a couple of games after an incident towards the end of the 2015 season in which he was alleged to have told Ashar Zaidi (a Pakistan-born all-rounder) to “f*** off back to your own country”.Craig Overton is a possible replacement for Robinson but has also faced disciplinary action in the past•Getty ImagesAnd it’s true, the evidence of that incident is troubling. In particular, the testimony of Michael Yardy, who was playing for the opposition, and Alex Wharf, who was one of the umpires, is damning.But it is worth revisiting the ruling of the disciplinary panel at the time. For while it’s often repeated that Overton was suspended for making racially abusive comments towards Zaidi, it’s not strictly true. Or at least it certainly isn’t the entire story.Overton was actually found guilty of using abusive language; a Level One charge in the ECB’s regulations. He was not found guilty of using abusive, racist language; which is a Level Three offence. But, having incurred two previous penalties in the season, he was suspended on the basis of the totting-up procedure. There was no hearing and he had no right of reply. Zaidi confirmed that he did not hear the alleged comments.It’s more than a semantic difference.Might the ECB have erred? Could they have taken an overly lenient approach as Overton was young (he was a teenager at the time) and talented? It’s possible. Though they did have a top QC, Gerard Elias, leading the disciplinary process. There were several who said Overton was misheard.Related

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But without having been there it’s impossible to know for sure. Overton, while admitting his temper used to get the better of him, continues to deny that he made the comments. And if we abandon the principle of ‘innocent until guilty’ and presume he was racist rather than abusive, well, aren’t we almost as illiberal and unfair as the racists? Surely nobody wants to descend to a -style witch hunt where every alleged slight or moment of clumsiness is stored away for decades with the aim of ensuring there can never be a chance of progress or a moment of peace?All of which brings us back to Robinson.There might be an opportunity in all this. Rather than simply punishing him, the ECB could use him as an example of the change that is possible in all of us – our sport and our society – with experience and education. He can become the former smoker warning of the dangers of lung disease.So he could volunteer with the ACE programme; he could volunteer with Child Bereavement UK; he could volunteer for Women’s Aid; he could volunteer for Islamic Relief and the  National  Suicide Prevention  Alliance. And this does mean volunteer. It means tens of hours with each of them. Not a photo shoot. If he has to pay a fine it should go to those charities.You suspect, at the end of that period, when he’s looked in the eyes of victims and heard the stories of the bereaved, that he won’t find jokes about Gary Speed, Madeleine McCann, racism or sexism very funny.  And if he does? Well, then you throw away the key.  At least the key to the England team.But with a bit of luck, he will be able to use  his new-found profile – and wisdom – to advise young players and act as a role model for the change our game needs to make. Robinson can still be a cricketer and a man of whom the whole of England and Wales can be proud. There’s just some work ahead to achieve that goal.In the grandest scheme of things, we might even see this incident as an inevitable stumble on the road of progress. It reminds us both that what was once accepted within the game is now anything but, and of the need for further education and change. It may not feel like it right now, but maybe the fact we’re having these conversations is encouraging.