All posts by csb10.top

Tim Paine has admitted he believed the texting scandal that has cost him the Australian Test captaincy was a ticking time bomb that was always going to become public at some point.The ramifications of Paine’s resignation from the captaincy are continuing to flow in Australian cricket in the Ashes lead up, with the search for a new captain to include background checks for possible integrity issues.Paine was cleared of any misconduct in a 2018 integrity unit investigation, after he sent lewd messages and a graphic image to a Cricket Tasmania colleague.Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein and CEO Nick Hockley on Saturday admitted they would have axed Paine as captain had they been in charge at the time. But they defended the inaction since, claiming they’d felt no need to delve deeper into the investigation after being made aware of it when they joined the organisation in 2019 and 2020 respectively.However, Paine has conceded he always felt the issue could come to the fore, after previously being aware of other attempts for the story to be revealed publicly.Related

• Paine involved in Tasmania coaching set-up

• Have we seen the last of Tim Paine on a cricket field?

• Sam Whiteman lifts Western Australia from trouble with superb century

• Paine scandal fallout: CA left with reputational and cricketing questions to answer

• Cummins faces rocky transition into Australia captaincy

“I thought the issue was dealt with, but it always popped up around a big series, or at the start of the cricket season,” Paine said in a interview beside his wife Bonnie. “Over the last three years, there have been numerous times where media agencies have put to us that they had evidence, yet they never chose to write it.”But I knew it was going to come out at some point, as much as I didn’t want it to.”Paine remains adamant that the 2017 messages between he and the colleague were fully consensual, and he only became aware there was an issue when a complaint was lodged six months later.By that point he had been appointed Test captain, with the integrity unit interviews taking place before the white-ball tour to England in mid-2018. He did not believe the existence of the messages were a reason not to accept the captaincy long-term.”Because it was a consensual exchange of messages months beforehand, I didn’t think it was anything to consider,” he said. “I never thought for a moment that it would become an issue. I was just excited and honoured to be asked.”He is also certain he can continue as a player in Australia’s Test team, having indicated the home Ashes summer had been his target for potential retirement.Tim Paine insists he will be able to play in the Ashes•Getty Images

“I see that as the ultimate high, to be able to finish your Test career after winning an Ashes series in Australia,” Paine said. “That’s the dream. That’s what I want to do.”Asked if he can play in an Ashes series, which would come with huge scrutiny even without a controversy hanging over him, Paine said: “Yep, I’m sure I can.”He revealed that head coach had initially tried to persuaded him to continue and that he does not believe any of his team-mates knew about the messages.”JL [Justin Langer] told me he’s devastated,” Paine said. “He was pretty firm that he wanted me to continue as captain, and again, once I explained to him the reasons that I thought resigning was the best thing to do, he was with me all the way.”Regardless, Paine’s admissions bring into question why new CA management did not look further into the 2018 investigation if there had always been fears the story would resurface.In stating his board would have acted differently, Freudenstein claimed on Saturday the Australian captain should be held to the highest account for his actions. However, he defended his organisation’s handover process, given the CEO, seven directors and several other key executives have changed since the 2018 investigation.”Once you have a private matter that has been subject to a full integrity unit investigation, it wouldn’t be normal for that to be part of the handover,” Freudenstein said.”All I can say is the whole current Australian cricket board, including those members that were on the board in 2018, are very clear that if the same circumstances arose today, we would make a different decision.”

South Africa captain Dean Elgar and team manager Khomotso Masubelele met the match officials during the lunch break on the second day of the Wanderers Test to discuss the controversial dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen.The batter had been given out caught behind off Shardul Thakur, off an inside-edge on to his pad and then behind the stumps to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, off what turned out to be the last ball before lunch. Marais Erasmus, the umpire, had no hesitation in giving the batter out and van der Dussen did not ask for a review – having edged the ball, he did not turn around to see whether the ball had carried. Instead he walked, though even as the Indians celebrated and lunch was called, replays began to cast doubts at least on the certainty of Erasmus’ decision as to whether the ball had carried to Pant or not.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Elgar and Masubelele wanted to discuss the dismissal with Erasmus and Allahudien Palekar, the on-field umpires, third umpire Adrian Holdstock, and match referee Andy Pycroft. It isn’t clear what the South Africans were seeking from the officials, other than perhaps a clarification on the dismissal.Multiple replays from a couple of angles were inconclusive. Given the protocol on such catches requires conclusive evidence for an on-field decision to be overturned, it suggests the on-field decision would have remained. Law 2.12, on any reversal of an umpiring decision states: “An umpire may alter any decision provided that such alteration is made promptly. This apart, an umpire’s decision, once made, is final.” The law does not provide clarification over the duration of time that is considered “prompt”.The wicket capped a remarkable half-hour of work from Thakur, who picked up three wickets to reduce South Africa from 88 for 1 to 102 for 4 before lunch. Thakur eventually finished with a seven-wicket haul as South Africa were bowled out for 229 but not before taking a 27-run first-innings lead.At the end-of-day press conference, batter Keegan Petersen would not be drawn into a conversation on the dismissal. “I don’t really want to comment on that. That’s the umpire’s decision. I think we’re in the game and we just have to take the decisions, no matter what we think,” he said. “Some are going to go your way, some aren’t.”

Pakistan were provided a peek into their middle order future in the absence of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. Haider Ali showed why he’s the next big thing, overcoming a slow start before springing the innings to life with a robust 39-ball 68 to set the tone for a dominant batting display. Pakistan’s 200 for 6 was more than sufficient as West Indies unravelled easily against spin. The Karachi faithful went home perhaps wishing for a more even contest.An eventful start
Babar Azam was out second ball after West Indies elected to bowl. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein got one to spin sharply to take the edge to Shai Hope, the wicketkeeper. Then, Fakhar Zaman fell to Romario Shepherd’s change of pace as he toe-ended a slog to long-on. Inside the powerplay, Pakistan were two down and sputtering like a two-stroke engine running on kerosene.Rizwan and Haider’s recovery
Mohammad Rizwan kept the runs ticking along with timely boundaries, extremely quick on the pull. His picking of lengths against pace was immaculate as he raised a 34-ball half-century. However, he had to hold his end of the bargain against spin, especially off Hosein, who finished his four overs with 1 for 19 by the 11th over. At that stage, Haider was on 12 off 14, looking for the big hits without being able to hit them clean. Then, like a flick of a switch, it all turned around.Off the 12th over, he climbed into Odean Smith’s medium pace, hitting him for three fours and six to get his innings going. It proved to be the trigger for a run-surge from there. Under his bus were debutant Dominic Drakes, who also struggled for consistency, as Haider raised his half-century with an 83-metre six. It had come off just 28 balls, with Pakistan at 140 for 2 at the 15-over mark. Off the first ball of the 16th, Rizwan was out as Odean’s running catch around the ropes at deep midwicket sent him back for 78. A 105-run third-wicket stand had been broken.Nawaz’s finish
Rizwan’s exit gave six-hitter Asif Ali the platform to launch into an inexperienced attack, but he managed just 1. With Iftikhar Ahmed too failing, Pakistan needed someone to side with Haider. As it turned out, Mohammad Nawaz did more. His three fours and two sixes blindsided the visitors, who until then were hoping to restrict Pakistan to 180. That was to change, however, as the 19th over by Romario Shepherd went for 21, thereby allowing for a massive finish.Wasim’s rip-roaring spell
First ball: a glorious cover drive on the up. Third ball: a short-arm jab for six. Enough to demoralise a rookie 20-year old wanting to impress the team management? Not Mohammad Wasim. He responded with pin-point yorker to flatten Nicholas Pooran’s off-stump as he was late on the shot. Perhaps he underestimated Wasim’s pace. Then, off the second legitimate delivery off his next over, the sixth of the innings, he struck comeback man Devon Thomas flush on his boot. Gone, he didn’t even bother reviewing. West Indies were 46 for 3 inside the Powerplay.Nawaz, Shadab apply the choke
With the target already looking beyond reach and the asking rate spiralling by the minute, Nawaz and Shadab Khan spun a web around the batters, using the crease and variations in length superbly to tie the batters down. Hope was out lbw sweeping, Shamarh Brooks bowled trying to heave into the leg side and Rovman Powell caught brilliantly by a diving Nawaz at long-on. At 88 for 7, West Indies were in danger of being bowled out well inside 20 overs. However, Odean (24 off 16) and Shepherd (21 off 16) got together to swing their bats for some powerful blows. although they merely served to reduce the margin of defeat.

Tammy Beaumont has backed England to compete with Australia when the sides reconvene for back-to-back matches at the Adelaide Oval over the weekend to complete the T20I leg of their Ashes series. But despite a heavy defeat in the first T20I to start off the tour, she was keen to highlight the positives for England after the match – not least after the visitors’ senior side had lost both of their T20 warm-up matches to England A in the lead-up to Thursday’s series opener.”We’ve come a long way in the space of less than a week,” Beaumont said. “There’s still a long way to go. We’ve got a lot more cricket to play, and I’m sure [we] will improve. We wanted to come out here and play the way we want to play T20 cricket, and to put 170 on the board was certainly the way we go about it. The way Danni Wyatt came out and really attacked – particularly the spinners down the ground – I thought was exceptional.”We wanted to say that we’re going to come toe-to-toe with Australia, and I think they were surprised in the field. You saw some mistakes from them, so I think we started well but we’ve just got to try and get over the line.”Related

• McGrath's all-round T20I heroics prove Perry is no longer peerless

• Players to watch: an emerging allrounder and Eng's new batting star

Beaumont admitted that there was little England’s batters could do in the face of Tahlia McGrath’s excellent bowling, which not only removed two set batters – Wyatt and Sciver in a double-wicket over – at a crucial time but also accounted for No. 5 Amy Jones, caught for four at long-on by Grace Harris, who returned to the Australian line-up with Beth Mooney’s fractured jaw pushing captain Meg Lanning up the order to open and Ellyse Perry dropped primarily owing to a dwindling strike rate.Australia’s depth wasn’t tested even after Sophie Ecclestone dismissed Alyssa Healy for just seven in the fourth over of their response thanks to McGrath and Lanning, the latter finishing on an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls. Ecclestone, the left-arm spinner who took a stunning 7 for 14 for England in a losing cause in one of the T20 warm-ups against England A, remains a huge weapon for the visitors, but the Australian line-up looked impenetrable in Adelaide on Thursday. As McGrath and Lanning turned up the pressure, cracks formed in England’s fielding and that was one area Beaumont said needed work.Danni Wyatt’s 70 off 54 balls set England up•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“I’ve been part of heavier defeats in some ways,” Beaumont said. “Obviously they have got a nine-wicket win at the end of the day but to post 170 on a ground where the par in women’s cricket here is a lot lower is a massive positive. We started really well in the powerplay as well with the ball. We’ve got to tighten up some areas: we probably didn’t field well enough on our ground fielding, and maybe tighten up our lines a little bit and come back with some plans to try and get those two out.”The hosts took the first two points of the seven-match multi-format contest with an emphatic victory in the opening game – thanks to McGrath’s three wickets and 91 not out, despite England setting themselves up well through an 82-run opening partnership between Beaumont and Wyatt, and another 59-run stand for the second wicket between Wyatt and Sciver. Wyatt had breathed new life into her international career with 89* in the third T20I against India in July and unbeaten 50-over scores of 63 and 43 during New Zealand’s visit to England in September. Her latest innings of 70 came off just 54 balls and included three glorious sixes, while Beaumont contributed 30 off 24.But the margin of defeat and the fact that England’s bowlers had no answers as McGrath and Lanning put on an unbroken second-wicket union of 144 to see their side home with three overs to spare, is cause for concern. So too is the fact that – surviving McGrath’s pin-point yorker in a devastating double-wicket over aside – England couldn’t have done much more with the bat.”We just need to build a bit of pressure, get a couple of dots an over, stop the boundary balls and then if they’ve got to get nine an over – which they did at one stage – they’re going to have to take more risks,” Beaumont said. “They played really well, took the right risks at the right time, but I’m not too worried about our bowling attack – it’s been brilliant for the last two, three years.””At the beginning of the day we would definitely have taken 170,” Beaumont said. “We just really wanted to get off to a good start and set the tone really well for our team. Credit to Tahlia McGrath, she bowled two brilliant yorkers there to get our two set batters out and that’s probably the difference between kicking onto like 180-190.”Meanwhile, England face one injury concern going into the second match on Saturday after Maia Bouchier appeared to jar her right knee heavily as she attempted to stop a McGrath boundary and spent the rest of the match off the field with it strapped and packed in ice.

Big picture

India outclassed West Indies in each of the three ODIs, but the T20I series is expected to be more competitive, given that the shortest format is arguably the one West Indies are at their strongest in. However, while West Indies did have a stirring 3-2 win against England in their most recent T20I outing, it bears remembering that India are right now on a six-match winning streak in the format. It began in the T20 World Cup, with wins against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, and if those can be discounted as coming against relatively weaker teams, India also blanked New Zealand 3-0 at home after the World Cup.The age-old maxim of India being tough to beat at home still holds true, and West Indies will need to be a much more consistently firing unit to leave India with something to show. India have some regulars missing, but there is enough depth in the squad to make them a daunting proposition. The most pressing question for India is: who will Rohit Sharma’s opening partner be? KL Rahul is absent, after all.Just about a year ago, when Virat Kohli was still leading the side, he had indicated that Rohit and he could form a long-term opening partnership. Ishan Kishan has had a fair bit of success in the role in the IPL, as have Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer. In the ODIs, India threw a curve-ball with Rishabh Pant walking out in one game. So, there are options aplenty. Kohli and Pant are certainties in the XI, and very comfortable in the middle-order, so by that logic, Kishan could be the front-runner for the position.West Indies, meanwhile, have a curious mix of new-age T20 big-hitters alongside the accumulators in Shai Hope, Darren Bravo and the like, and they will have to deploy that mix judiciously to maximise the full impact of their power-hitters.

Form guide

India WWWWW
West Indies WLWLW

In the spotlight

Rishabh Pant has curiously underwhelming T20I numbers, with a strike rate of only 122.87. That is more to do perhaps with a lack of role clarity in the set-up. Now, he’s been installed as the vice-captain to Rohit for this series, and will be part of the leadership group. That should give him the freedom to define his own role, and play in the manner that he is most comfortable with. Elevation to the vice-captaincy also comes with the intangible greater security of a spot in the XI, which could free him up mentally.Jason Holder‘s stocks have risen dramatically of late. He was always one of West Indies’ lynchpins in Test cricket and ODIs, but from not being part of the main squad at the T20 World Cup to having IPL franchises compete fiercely for him four months later, it’s been a steep rise. Holder’s versatility with bat and ball is remarkable. He can bowl across phases in T20 cricket, he can also bat at different spots. He can bowl a heavy ball, using his height to good effect, and he has the power to clear the ropes.Kieron Pollard didn’t play the last two ODIs with a niggle•Associated Press

Team news

If Kishan is locked in as Rohit’s opening partner, it still leaves the question of numbers five and six for India. Suryakumar Yadav should get one of those spots. The other depends on whether the team wants the insurance of a sixth bowling option, in which case there’s Venkatesh and Deepak Hooda to choose from. Or they might want someone like Shreyas Iyer, who could offer more with the bat.Among the bowlers, an injured Washington Sundar has been replaced by Kuldeep Yadav, and the left-arm wristspinner could get a game because the other two spinners in the squad are both leggies – albeit of different types: Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi. There’s six pacers to choose from, of whom only three are likely to play. If, as Rohit has said, India want to make plans keeping the T20 World Cup in Australia in mind, they could lean more towards a hit-the-deck Avesh Khan than someone like Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Deepak Chahar. Given his ability to bowl at the death, Harshal Patel could win out ahead of Shardul Thakur.India (possible) 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Shreyas Iyer, 7 Harshal Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Avesh KhanThe big question for West Indies was to do with captain Kieron Pollard’s fitness. He missed the last two ODIs with a niggle, and West Indies missed his presence with the bat and in the field. He is now fit, he confirmed on the eve of the match, and that lends the batting a lot of heft. If they still want to add more stolid batters, West Indies might have to turn to Bravo or Roston Chase. The plethora of allrounders they have ensures that the bowling will have options and the batting will have depth.West Indies (possible) 1 Kyle Mayers, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Kieron Pollard (capt), 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Odean Smith, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

Pitch and conditions

It’s expected to be a pitch with good pace, bounce and carry. However, the dew factor could be significant. There was heavy dew on the outfield two days out from the game, and the eve of the match had a very foggy morning. That makes the toss crucial.

Stats and trivia

• India and West Indies have played 17 T20Is so far, of which India have won ten and West Indies six.
• Only 30 runs separate Kohli (3227) and Rohit (3197) on the overall runs tally in T20Is, with Kohli in second place right now and Rohit third. They could both overtake Martin Guptill, who has the most T20I runs in the world with 3299, in this series.

This preview was updated at 3.00pm GMT with Kieron Pollard’s fitness status.