Category Uncategorized

A flash-flood emergency is likely to wash out the game, in which case USA will qualify for the Super Eight at Ireland and Pakistan’s expense

Shashank Kishore13-Jun-20241:48

O’Brien: USA favourites but Ireland can dream

Match details

USA vs Ireland
June 14, Lauderhill, 10.30am local time

Big picture – Weather likely to end Ireland and Pakistan’s hopes

Florida is in the midst of a tropical disturbance that has brought intense rainfall. And there’s no respite for the remainder of the week. A flash-flood emergency in the region threatens to wash out the entire leg of matches at Central Broward Park.Two days ago, Nepal vs Sri Lanka was washed out before there could be a toss. Friday’s morning fixture between USA and Ireland will likely meet the same fate. If that happens, USA can celebrate; a Super Eight berth will be theirs along with India from Group A. It will mean a dagger through Pakistani hearts; it will seem inevitable after they opened their campaign with back-to-back losses to USA and India.Related

• 'Iceman' Netravalkar creates the moment, and then lets it pop out

• Florida weatherwatch: Last three Group A games set to be affected

• From computers to cricket: how Netravalkar coded USA's greatest script

Saurabh Netravalkar may need to change the date of his ‘out of office’ email from June 17 until possibly the end of the month. It’s likely he won’t need to tell his employers why. The cricketing world watched his opening salvo with the new ball as he famously dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in successive overs on Wednesday morning.Ireland are entering this game with slim hopes of qualifying. Having begun the tournament with two morale-shattering losses themselves, including one to Canada, they need to win both their remaining games by considerable margins.But instead of plotting and planning, they will likely be scouring weather forecasts, and that may not change anything. It’s that bleak.1:33

Big match-up: Ireland top-order vs Netravalkar

Form guide

USA LWWLW
Ireland LLWWW

In the spotlight – Monank Patel and Paul Stirling

Monank Patel missed Thursday’s match against India due to a shoulder niggle. The USA captain has been in good form too; his half-century was pivotal in their taking the game against Pakistan into a Super Over. In the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, he struck two match-winning half-centuries against Canada, while a crucial 42 helped steer USA home against Bangladesh. While the team management is optimistic of him being ready for Friday, the rain may just come as a blessing in disguise to give him two extra days to recover in time for the Super Eight.Aaron Jones captained USA in Monank Patel’s absence against India•ICC/Getty Images

He can make heads turn with his robust approach in the powerplay, but Paul Stirling has endured a lean run lately, dismissed for 2 and 9 in Ireland’s first two games. His highest score in seven T20Is since the start of May is 36 against Netherlands. Ireland will need much more than that if they are to compete. Stirling has been a part of several giant-killing acts during the course of his career. Can he come up with another to keep the group alive, if rain allows play?

Team news

Monank is likely to come in for Shayan Jahangir for the hosts.USA possible XI: 1 Monank Patel (capt & wk), 2 Steven Taylor, 3 Andries Gous, 4 Aaron Jones, 5 Nitish Kumar, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Harmeet Singh, 8 Jasdeep Singh, 9 Saurabh Netravalkar, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Nosthush Kenjige/Shadley van Schalkwyk.Conditions will probably dictate who among Ben White, the legspinner, or Craig Young, the fast bowler, play.Ireland possible XI: 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andrew Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Josh Little, 11 Craig Young.

Pitch and conditions

Heavy rain is forecast for the next three days. The pitches have mostly been under covers and that’s unlikely to change. A state of emergency has been declared in five counties, including Broward where the stadium is located. It’ll need a miracle even for the curators to simply have a look at the surface underneath.

Stats and trivia

• Stirling has gone 18 innings without a fifty since July 2023, scoring 268 runs at an average of 15.76.
• Aaron Jones is the second-highest run-getter in this T20 World Cup with 141 runs, and his 94* in the opening game is still the highest individual score of the tournament.
• Ireland and USA have faced off twice in T20Is, both times in 2021 at Lauderhill, the venue for Friday’s game. They have won one game apiece.

The wicketkeeper-batter explains his decision to play for Lahore Qalandars rather than for England in Bangladesh

Umar Farooq07-Mar-20235:25

Billings: ‘I just want to play cricket consistently and not sit on the bench’

Sam Billings insists he has no regrets about his decision to miss ongoing England’s white-ball tour to Bangladesh in order to play for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL.Several England players without central contracts – including Alex Hales, Liam Dawson and Tymal Mills – opted to fulfil their more lucrative PSL deals rather than travelling to Bangladesh, and Billings made the same decision after guarantees that he would play for Qalandars, rather than running the drinks.Related

• Aqib Javed: 'We wanted the best bowling unit, everyone else is after the best hitters'

• Billings, Shafique and Rashid put Qalandars in the PSL play-offs

• Key: 'Life-changing' franchise deals are hard for non-contracted players to turn down

• Final countdown: How might England line up for their World Cup defence?

Billings averages 47.88 with a strike rate of 91.12 in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup, but has not been a regular member of England’s white-ball squads in the last year. At 31, and with the World Cup in India approaching later this year, he believes he needs to ensure he is playing as much cricket as possible rather than warming the bench.”It wasn’t that I made myself unavailable,” Billings told ESPNcricinfo. “I had a long chat with Rob Key [England’s managing director] and Jos Buttler, and I felt the stage of my career I’m at, I need to be playing cricket.”That England team is very hard to get into. I went to the ODIs in Australia, did OK, and over the last few years, I’ve averaged nearly 50 in ODI cricket at a strike rate of 91. So in terms of stacking up numbers over a period of time in that format, I feel like I’ve done that.”At my age, I just need to be playing cricket and enjoying my cricket. It’s such a complex situation because guys who aren’t contracted are severely losing out when it comes to the kind of playing in these tournaments, or not playing in this tournament.”So that was the decision I made. With Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, and Jonny Bairstow [to potentially return] there’s no guarantee that I’d be in that World Cup team. I feel like I’ve done enough to be in and around the mix and my game is suited to subcontinent conditions. The message that I got was: if you’re scoring runs, wherever it is, that’s what they’re going to have to select from anyway.”Sam Billings has pulled out of the upcoming IPL to focus on the County Championship•Getty Images

England only have seven more ODIs scheduled before the 2023 World Cup, playing four against New Zealand and three against Ireland in September. They are likely to submit their provisional World Cup squad to the ICC before the start of the New Zealand series, and Billings believes he could still force his way into the squad with a strong home summer.”There’s a lot of cricket to be played,” he said. “If I go home, dominate county cricket, dominate the Hundred, it puts me in a really good place to be picked for the World Cup. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”I’m becoming a lot better at just dealing with what’s in front of me. Right now, I’m focusing purely on the PSL, on winning the PSL and doing everything I can to help the team to do that. Then I move on to Kent and [being] club captain at Kent; then I’m captain of the Oval Invincibles for the Hundred, so I’ve got a lot of cricket before.”The idea is, if I play well, if I’m playing in winning teams and contributing to winning teams, that gives me the best chance of being in the World Cup. I know my game suits the subcontinent in terms of playing spin, especially in 50-over cricket. A lot can change and it’s a long time until the World Cup.”When asked if he regretted missing the Bangladesh tour, Billings said: “No. Everyone wants to play for England, of course, they do. [But] I’m 31, I’ve run the drinks for eight years. I just want to play cricket, enjoy my cricket.”It’s a different mindset when you don’t feel like you’re playing for your position every single game. This franchise [Lahore Qalandars] has put a huge amount of trust in me and said, ‘you’re going to bat and you’re going to keep wicket. You’re an integral part of the team.'”That mindset, knowing that you will get a full competition or a full run of games, you see so many players benefit from it and I think it’s a lot healthier headspace for me to be in: I can actually just go out and enjoy my cricket as opposed to feeling like I have to go score every single time I bat.”Billings has enjoyed more success in white-ball cricket than red-ball cricket, but won three Test caps last year as an understudy to Ben Foakes. He pulled out of the upcoming IPL, having played for Kolkata Knight Riders on an INR 2 crore (£200,000 approx.) deal in 2022. The IPL clashes with the start of the County Championship, and he opted to spend April and May playing for Kent, to give himself a chance of selection for the Ashes this summer.”It’s the modern-day player: you have to kind of manage these different things,” Billings said. “I’ve got a huge ambition to still play Test cricket. I’ve played three Tests, and loved every minute of it. It’s the most rewarding format of the game. For me, I felt with the home Ashes – again, if I go home, score some runs in the early season and really dominate county cricket, then that gives me the best chance of getting back in that Test team.”As an English player right now, everyone wants to be a part of that team. You see the enjoyment they’re playing with. You see the environment that’s being created and the cricket that they’re playing. There’s no bigger series than the Ashes for an English player and an Australian player, so it was just a case of giving myself the best chance again.”Last year, in the IPL, I played a bit, I didn’t play a bit. Again, I just want to be playing cricket consistently and not sit on the bench. I just want to get the most out of my career, the rest of my career, and I felt like that’s the best option for me.”

Experienced wicketkeeper was axed as captain in mid-summer

Matt Roller16-Dec-2021Ben Brown has been released from his contract with Sussex two years early at his own request after losing the captaincy in mid-summer, making him the latest high-profile departure from the club after Chris Jordan and Phil Salt.Brown has been a Sussex player since Under-11 level and has been a first-team player since 2007. He was awarded the club captaincy on a full-time basis in 2018 after taking on the role midway through the 2017 season and signed a contract extension in 2020, but Sussex announced midway through last summer that they had decided “the time is right for new leadership”.He was briefly dropped from their Royal London Cup squad and when he returned to the squad he was selected as a specialist batter rather than a wicketkeeper. Despite the upheaval – and being asked to bat out of position at No. 3 in the final month of the season – Brown had the most prolific Championship season of his career, with 976 runs at 51.36 and four hundreds.Related

• Rashid Khan returns to Sussex for 2022 Blast

• Sussex rock-bottom as Derbyshire seal first win of season

• Rock-bottom Sussex wholehearted but callow as recruitment falls under scrutiny

• Wright: 'We can't be losing our best players all the time'

• Jordan, Salt to leave Sussex for Surrey, Lancs at end of season

“Ben had two seasons remaining on his contract and, as you’d expect with a player of his quality, was very much a part of our plans for the future,” Rob Andrew, Sussex’s chief executive, said in a statement.”We’ve tried hard to find a way forward that keeps him at the club and until very recently thought that would be something we could achieve. However, it’s now clear that Ben is set on a change, and it would be in nobody’s interests to keep him at Sussex against his will.”Despite hoping it wouldn’t be necessary, once Ben first mentioned that he was feeling unsettled it was only prudent that we began exploring potential replacements for next summer. Ben has been part of Sussex for over two decades and has a record he can be extremely proud of. He has always given everything with the bat, the gloves or with his captaincy.”Under tapping-up regulations, Brown has not been permitted to speak to other counties but is likely to prove an attractive signing. He has 22 first-class hundreds and a career average above 40, is widely recognised as one of the best wicketkeepers in the country and has leadership experience. He has little T20 experience but as a result is not involved in the Hundred and made his first List A hundred against Middlesex in August.Chris Jordan and Phil Salt have also left Sussex this year•Getty Images

“As this chapter of my career draws to a close, I would like to say an enormous thank you to Sussex for the opportunities I have been afforded over a twenty-two-year association with the club,” Brown said in a statement. “Since I was first selected as an eleven-year-old I have made life-long friends, travelled the world, and made memories for life playing cricket for Sussex.”To have had the opportunity to play as much as I have for my home club makes me immensely proud and I am hugely grateful to everyone at Sussex over the years who have helped turn my dreams into a reality. I am also thankful for the opportunity to become club captain, a job that gave me immense pride and pleasure to do, and I look forward to returning to Hove in the future to reflect on seeing my name on the captain’s board, alongside so many great names of Sussex Cricket.”I would like to wish the current squad and support staff all the best in the coming years, and I look forward to seeing the young squad flourish over seasons to come at Hove. For me personally it is time to return to being a Sussex supporter as I look forward to a new chapter of my cricket career.”Sussex have been in a state of transition in four-day cricket since their relegation from Division One of the Championship in 2015. They were expected to compete for promotion under Jason Gillespie but never managed to finish in the top two and they won the wooden spoon in Ian Salisbury’s first season in charge in 2021 while fielding the youngest team in the country and using as many as 26 different players.Luke Wright, the club’s T20 captain, said Sussex “can’t be losing our best players all the time,” ahead of Jordan and Salt’s final appearances for the club, following the departures of Laurie Evans, Danny Briggs, Luke Wells, Chris Nash, Reece Topley and Michael Burgess in recent seasons. Stiaan van Zyl and Aaron Thomason also left the club at the end of the 2021 season, while Stuart Meaker and Mitchell Claydon have both retired and Will Beer has signed a T20-only contract despite admitting his desire to play across formats.They have recruited Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Steven Finn this winter, but were beaten to the signing of Ross Whiteley by Hampshire and Brown’s departure represents another blow.However, several of their best young players – including 50-over captain and leading Championship run-scorer Tom Haines, George Garton, Jack Carson and Delray Rawlins – have signed contract extensions, as have senior T20 players like Wright, Tymal Mills and Ravi Bopara. Travis Head, who struggled with the bat in his first season at the club but scored an 85-ball hundred in the first Ashes Test last week, will return as Championship captain in 2022, while the club are due to announce a major overseas signing on Thursday afternoon.

Kent make 530 for 1 thanks to unbroken 423 stand before Darren Stevens five-for seals innings in

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2020Veteran Darren Stevens bagged five wickets to help clinch his side’s three-day, innings-and-25-run win over Sussex after a record-breaking display of Kent batting that featured double-hundreds by Jordan Cox and Jack Leaning.In near ideal batting conditions at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Stevens, now 44, revealed all his bowling wiles to bag 5 for 50 as the visitors succumbed in their second innings for 173 inside 46.1 overs to lose with six overs and a day to spare on another glorious Canterbury day.Needing almost 200 to make Kent bat again, the visitors lost four wickets in 22.1 overs through to tea after Kent had declared their mammoth first innings on 530 for one. A pugnacious half-century off 68-balls by Harry Finch stemmed the flow of wickets from one end at the start of the evening session, but ageless allrounder Stevens continued his canny spell to bag the 27th five-wicket haul of his first-class career.The Sussex reply had started badly when Salt fell to Harry Podmore’s fourth ball of the innings without scoring. A floating away-swinger that Salt could not resist, it flew off an outside edge to second slip where Leaming held a spectacular diving overhead catch.Having been dropped in the cordon off Stevens when on 17, Tom Haines departed lbw without addition in Stevens’ next over when pushing outside the line of an inswinger. Stevens struck again in his next over having Tom Clark caught behind without scoring after edging a wild slash wide outside off stump. Sussex skipper Ben Brown fell in the tea over, leg before when attempting to work through the leg side to leave Stevens with 3 for 22 at the interval.Soon after resumption, Delray Rawlins clipped a six over backward square leg against Stevens, but the bowler soon had his revenge by running one through the left-hander’s gate to clip the top of off stump. Stevens produced another beauty that pitched on middle and moved away off the seam to pluck out left-handed George Garton’s off stump allowing Stevens to rest with figures of 5 for 50 from 15 overs.Two overs later, Jack Carson pushed at a Podmore legcutter to be caught low in the gully and Finch fell for a gritty 66 when he failed to get on top of an off-drive and picked out Sam Billings diving low at extra cover.Tim Groenewald had Henry Crocombe caught behind on the drive and last man Mitch Claydon skied to the keeper as Kent banked 24 points for their first Bob Willis Trophy win. Sussex travelled south with only three points for their troubles.Earlier, Kent’s Leaning and Cox smashed unbeaten career-best double-centuries in an unbroken club record first-class stand worth 423 spread over 95 overs. Teenager Cox broke numerous records during his 345-ball stay with 27 fours and three sixes for 238 not out, while Leaning joined him with 220 not out from 308 balls and 29 boundaries in a shade under 6.5 hours.The declaration after 120 overs, a regulation in the new competition, came shortly after 2pm with Kent on 530 for 1 for a first-innings lead of 198. Yet it was hardly soon enough for a shattered Sussex attack who had toiled for eight hours for one wicket, that of Daniel Bell-Drummond for 43.Jack Leaning and Jordan Cox pose in front of the scoreboard•Getty Images

Resuming on their healthy overnight score of 338 for 1 and a first-innings lead of six, Kent’s second-wicket pair continued to churn out the runs.Leaming, who was dropped by Tom Haines at long leg when on 19 after a top-edged hook against Stuart Meaker, made Sussex pay by reaching his 150 from 232 balls with 22 fours. He had already comfortably eclipsed his previous best first-class score of 123 set for Yorkshire against Somerset at Taunton in 2014.Cox then posted his maiden double-hundred in first-class cricket. By scampering a single to point off George Garton he reached the landmark off 311 balls with 25 fours and three sixes. The 19-year-old went on to notch Kent’s highest individual innings against Sussex, beating Neil Taylor’s 203 not out set at Hove in 1991 and then became the county’s highest maiden century-maker beating the 57-year-old record of 211 made by David Nicholls against Derbyshire at Folkestone in 1963.The records continued to tumble when Leaning moved to his maiden double-century with a five. Sprinting a single to midwicket, Leaning saw Jack Carson’s throw deflect off the non-striker’s end stumps and away to the boundary. Leaning’s 200 came in 351 minutes off 289 balls and with 29 fours.By lunch the pair had sailed past Kent’s highest first-class partnership record against any county of 382 set by Sean Dickson and Joe Denly for the second wicket against Northamptonshire at Beckenham in 2017. They had also beaten the 131-year-old Kent record for any wicket in matches against Sussex of 249 by fourth-wicket partners George Hearne and Francis Marchant at Gravesend in 1889.Indeed, Kent’s total of 530 for 1 became the fourth highest single-wicket score in global first-class cricket history behind the world record of 561 for one held by Karachi Whites batting in the Patrons Trophy against Quetta at the Karachi Stadium in 1977.The greatest pity was of course that, because of Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, no supporters were here to witness any of it.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad batting pair put on 131 in just 12.2 overs, which reduced the 160-run chase to a cakewalk in the end

The Report by Mohammad Isam21-Apr-20194:41

Plan was to save my overs for Russell – Rashid

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow crushed Kolkata Knight Riders, who slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat. The Sunrisers Hyderabad batting pair put on 131 in just 12.2 overs, which reduced the 160-run chase to a cakewalk in the end.Bairstow finished unbeaten on 80 off 43 balls with four sixes and seven fours while Warner, who was the only batsman to be dismissed in the second innings, made 67 off 38 balls with three fours and five sixes.When they bowled, it was Rashid Khan who held back the Knight Riders middle order after Khaleel Ahmed had given them a strong start with a three-wicket haulESPNcricinfo Ltd

Khaleel thwarts a fast KKR startChris Lynn and Sunil Narine struck five fours and three sixes in the first 2.3 overs, and just as they reached a crescendo, Khaleel’s slower ball stung Narine’s leg-stump. The left-arm quick had been struck for a six and two fours off two previous deliveries, so his celebration was understandably one of rage.Khaleel made it a double breakthrough when he removed Shubman Gill, who guided the ball to point where Vijay Shankar took a simple catch. The Knight Riders were already losing much of their early impetus when Bhuvneshwar had Nitish Rana caught behind and Dinesh Karthik self-destructed with a run out in the ninth over.Lynn held back, or holds back?The usually big hitting Chris Lynn ended up making his slowest IPL fifty – 51 off 47 balls – having been at the crease for an hour and a half. He would have gone after almost every ball but the Knight Riders also needed him to bat through after they lost four wickets in less than six overs, for only 31 runs.Lynn, who added 51 runs for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh, got out with three overs left in the innings and even Andre Russell couldn’t salvage a decent enough score this time.Knight Riders finished with 159 for 8 in 20 overs, due in large part to Russell coming in late and Lynn holding himself back.Another Warner-Bairstow specialIn four out of nine innings so far, Warner and Bairstow have put together a 100-plus stand, now just behind Dhawan and Warner for most century partnerships for the first wicket in the IPL.Warner began the onslaught with a straight six off newcomer Prithvi Raj. But only a few balls later, KC Cariappa put down a sitter at deep point off Bairstow’s slash. Sixteen came off that over, before Cariappa’ nightmare outing continued, leaking 20 runs off his first over, which included two sixes.They brought up the 100-run stand in the ninth over, before Warner pasted Narine for his fifth six. Bairstow, who was the more conservative of the two openers, got two more lives, on 55 and 58, before Raj bowled Warner in the 13th over. Bairstow, then, cut loose in the 15th over when his third and fourth sixes completed the chase.

The two captains outline how their approaches differ, but both agree that conversation on the field of play is fine so long as it does not veer into hurtful territory

Daniel Brettig in Port Elizabeth08-Mar-2018Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis have been reminded of their responsibilities, as captains of Australia and South Africa, to work with the umpires to stop their players from getting out of control – thereby ensuring no repeat of the ugly scenes that marred the Durban Test.In a meeting at St George’s Park on the eve of the second Test, the match referee Jeff Crowe and the umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Gaffaney stated that they would be keeping ears peeled for any potential flash points, following criticism by both du Plessis and the former Australian opener Simon Katich that the umpires needed to be more proactive.”It was nice to just have a chat and just ensure that we’re playing within the spirit of the game, and that cricket is what’s written about and talked about after this game,” Smith said after the meeting. “[After the first Test] it has all been about the indiscretions of the last fixture and it’s not what we want for the game. It’s about staying in line; there’s nothing wrong with a bit of banter out on the field, just making sure that we’re not getting personal.”That [umpires monitoring behaviour] was also talked about. More with the fact that if they hear something going on, it’s about going to either myself or Faf and ensuring that we have our troops in line and playing within the guidelines. That was basically the conversation.”The two captains outlined how their approaches differ, though both agreed that conversation on the field of play was fine so long as it did not veer into hurtful territory. Du Plessis said that his team was not as vocal as Australia, concentrating more on strong body language.”I have a lot of respect for every team that we play against. The style of play that that team comes with is probably the style of play that they feel they need,” du Plessis said. “If you play New Zealand, they are the nice guys. They’re really friendly.”Us as a team, and me as a captain, we are very similar in that I don’t see much value in what you say on the field having an impact on the performance you have as a team. For me it’s about focusing on what sort of presence you have, what sort of body language.”Smith said that he left it up to each individual player to decide how best to get themselves “in the battle”, whether it was by keeping their own counsel or engaging with the opposition.”I think for us, as an Australian team, we play our best when we play good, hard, aggressive cricket and find a way to get in the battle on the field.” he said. “Whatever way you have to get the best out of yourself… If that’s by having a bit of banter with someone then so be it, if that gets you motivated and up for the challenge then go for it. It’s pretty simple, it’s just about not crossing that line to go into that personal sort of space.”By the same token, du Plessis said he was not looking for Australia to change their style of play, but only for the umpires to regulate it a little more firmly than was the case in Durban. “I’m not expecting Australia to change their style of play. They are a team that have always done it and they will always do it. They are not going to change overnight,” he said. “They’ve always had characters in their team. It’s not even the whole team. There are just two or three guys that you can see it’s almost their job in the team, to go that route.”For me it will just be a case where if you have guys in your team who are pushing that line, as a captain, you make sure you keep them calm, and that things don’t get to a stage where it did in the previous game. If the captain is not close by, that role will fall to the umpires. I don’t have a problem with chirping, I think chirping is good for the game. It’s just… about that line.”It remains to be seen how much pressure the St George’s Park peace pact can withstand.

However, Australia have dropped the experienced duo of George Bailey and Aaron Finch for the five-match series against Pakistan

Brydon Coverdale07-Jan-2017Uncapped fast bowler Billy Stanlake and batsman Chris Lynn have been included in Australia’s squad for five ODIs against Pakistan, while experienced batsmen George Bailey and Aaron Finch have been axed. Usman Khawaja has been included, having not been part of the squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Series last month.The demoting of Finch and Bailey marks a significant selection shift for Australia: both men are currently in the top 20 on the ICC’s ODI batting rankings, an indication of their performances over a long period of time. In fact, in the past four years, Bailey has been Australia’s leading ODI run-scorer with 2603 at 40.67, and Finch third on the list with 2520 at 35.00.”Big call,” Australia’s coach, Darren Lehmann said of the decision to drop Finch. “Obviously he’s been an integral part since the World Cup but performances for Aaron have not been what we would’ve liked and what he would’ve liked to be perfectly honest. He hasn’t made a hundred since Canberra last year. The challenge for him is to make big runs in the BBL and get back into the side.”Tough call on George as well. He’s a ripper bloke, he’s fantastic around the group and he’s been fantastic as a leader as well. Again, it’s down to performances from George. He’s got to go back and make big runs. The door is not shut on any of those players by the way when you’re looking at this form of the game with Champions Trophy coming up. George has got to perform well and really put his case forward.”In announcing the squad, the interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, noted that Bailey had scored only one half-century in his last ten ODIs. While Khawaja appears the most likely candidate to replace Finch as David Warner’s opening partner, the position of Bailey in the middle order could be filled by Lynn, who has played Twenty20s for Australia but is yet to make his ODI debut.Lynn has lit up the BBL this summer and is the tournament’s leading run-scorer, but remarkably has not played a domestic one-day game since 2013, as in each of the past three years he has suffered pre-season shoulder injuries that have ruled him out of the Matador Cups. He has, however, played List A games for Australia A during that time.”Everyone loves what he’s brought to the T20 format, now the challenge for him is to do that in the one-day format, which we know he can,” Lehmann said. “He’s had some injury concerns in the past but he seems to be batting well and deserves his spot.”The other new member of the ODI squad is Stanlake who, like Lynn, is from Queensland. A very tall fast bowler with limited state and BBL experience – he has played only two first-class matches and four List A games – the 22-year-old Stanlake is the most speculative pick in the 14-man squad. He too missed last year’s Matador Cup through injury, in his case, a back complaint.”He’s tall, he’s fast, he’s got some bounce. So that’s a pleasing thing for us,” Lehmann said. “He will more than likely only play a couple of games depending on the make-up of the side and where we play. It’s a good challenge for a young kid coming through.”Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have both been included in the squad, but are expected to be rested at some stage during the series after their heavy workloads over the Test summer. The first of the five ODIs takes place at the Gabba on Friday next week.Squad Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Chris Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa

In a series of videos, AB de Villiers demonstrates various aspects of his technique that have made him the powerful batsman that he is today

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2015The power-full drive
AB de Villiers shows us what goes into hitting a “power-full drive”, a shot, he admits, that he does not use too often.0:55

‘I use this shot when I go for a big six’

The box theory
AB de Villiers explains his box theory of batting and stresses on the importance of a compact game1:36

‘Everything I play has to be within the box’ – De Villiers

High backlift for greater power
How does de Villiers pack a punch in his shots? In this video, he demonstrates how a high backlift works for him.2:14

‘I start my backlift pointing towards first slip’

A grip for 360-degree control
De Villiers shows how he grips the bat in a manner which allows him to play shots all across the field.2:34

‘My grip is to play 360 degrees’

Surrey claimed three bowling points but Notts fought back well in the final session, or at least Steven Mullaney did

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge15-May-2013
ScorecardJames Taylor made 47 before playing on as Notts struggled with the bat•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire would be attracting as much attention as Surrey for reasons they had not anticipated but for their points tally having been inflated by a win over Derbyshire.Neither side has shown much so far to justify pre-season optimism yet they produced an opening day of compelling intensity that suggested better to come from both. Surrey claimed three bowling points but Notts fought back well in the final session, or at least Steven Mullaney did.Mullaney stepped in neatly where Notts usually look to Chris Read as the man to pull them out of a tricky spot. They could not on this occasion as, rarely, their wicketkeeper and captain is injured, which might be mentioned merely in passing but for the fact that Read had not previously missed a Championship match since he was trying to forge a Test career in 2006. He had made 98 consecutive appearances since the start of the 2007 season and there was talk of a presentation being made had he completed a century. Sadly, a nagging neck injury has put paid to that.In his absence, therefore, someone else had to step up after Notts, asked to bat first, had struggled to 181 for 7 as a Surrey attack, in which there was no place for Chris Tremlett, made them work hard for runs, even on a pitch that looks essentially sound.Mullaney, who has shown before that he has something of Read’s doggedness in his mindset, provided what was required in an eighth-wicket stand of 66, although there was much merit too in the support offered by Ajmal Shahzad, whose restraint and discipline reflected well on him. He faced 84 balls for his eight runs, barely striking a blow in anger, and was cross with himself in the end for failing to resist a Jade Dernbach bouncer that had him caught behind off a top edge.It was a second wicket for Dernbach, who had looked as though he might be the bowler of the day when he wrecked Alex Hales’ stumps in his second over. Hales, who earned compliments for the new discipline in his batting after an unusually patient half-century in the win over Derbyshire, has since returned scores of 4, 2, 0 and 4, much to his own frustration.In the event it was not Dernbach but Stuart Meaker and Tim Linley who did most to justify Gareth Batty’s decision to field. Meaker, whose high ambitions for this season have not been helped by a thigh injury, ended Ed Cowan’s hopes of building on a morning of hard graft when he bowled him off an inside edge shortly before lunch, and struck again soon afterwards when Michael Lumb, beaten three times by Dernbach in the preceding over, tried to work him through midwicket only to be caught off a leading edge at mid-off.The pressure on the home side had grown through a string of maidens — seven in his first 10 overs — from Tim Linley, who was unlucky to go wicketless before lunch but was rewarded in the afternoon when Samit Patel, forced to defend on the back foot, edged to first slip, where Gary Wilson took a good catch.Of the front line batsmen, only James Taylor had looked in any way at ease. Captain for this match, Taylor’s innings had for the most part been a mix of well-judged leaves and sweetly timed boundaries until, three short of a half-century, he misjudged a ball from Linley that he chopped on to his leg stump.Meaker by then had beaten Riki Wessels for pace and claimed a fourth wicket when Paul Franks was drawn into nibbling at one outside off stump, at which moment Notts were not well fancied even to scrape a solitary batting point.In the end they picked up two thanks to Mullaney, who drew confidence from six fours and a second half-century in as many games to take on even Dernbach ultimately, taking 12 in one over, including six pulled over midwicket, although those were the last of his runs before he was leg before to Linley for 68 in the next over.Wessels will keep wicket in place of Read, while Franks’s first appearance of the season will be curtailed should England decide to go without Stuart Broad or Graeme Swann at Lord’s.

Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians captain, has criticised the Wankhede Stadium pitch for the game against Deccan Chargers on Sunday, saying it was not ideal for Twenty20 cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2012Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians captain, has criticised the Wankhede Stadium pitch for the game against Deccan Chargers on Sunday, saying it was not ideal for Twenty20 cricket. The grassy pitch offered plenty of seam movement and the batsmen from both sides struggled. Chargers set a paltry target of 101, which Mumbai chased down in 18.1 overs with five wickets in hand.”This was a different wicket from what we have played at the Wankhede,” Harbhajan said. “Not good for Twenty20 cricket. I came today and saw the pitch and said ‘wow what to expect here’, we never know what to expect from this track ever. From next time, I think we have to ensure we know what kind of wicket we are going to play.”Chargers captain Cameron White too agreed with Harbhajan, saying it was “probably not an ideal T20 wicket”, but admitted that Mumbai played better.White had captained the team in place of Kumar Sangakkara, who sat out. White said the decision was taken by Sangakkara and the coach Darren Lehmann, in the best interests of the team combination. Sangakkara has been struggling for form this season, scoring 83 runs in five innings. White, though, praised Sangakkara for his selflessness.”Darren Lehmann and Kumar were discussing it (the combination) and decided to pick the best combination for this wicket,” White said. “Very selfless thing for Kumar to do. It’s unusual to change the captain when you get to the ground. It backfired now but on other occasions it might work.”White said he and the rest of the batsmen should take the blame for the defeat. “We failed to bat out our overs, we still had eight balls to face. At the end of the day you’re not going to win too many T20 games when you score 101.”The way our team make-up is, we probably need three overseas batsmen. I don’t think we have the luxury of doing that because our local batters aren’t strong at the moment.”Dale Steyn bowled a hostile spell for the Chargers, bowling Richard Levi first ball and beat the bat on several occasions. He finished with figures of 4-0-10-2 but the support bowlers weren’t good enough to sustain the Chargers. Rohit Sharma had several close calls against Steyn but the batsman carried the chase with 42, before falling 26 short of the target. White was full of praise for Rohit.”Rohit Sharma I believe is one of the best players in the world. I find it very hard to believe he’s not playing for India in all three formats,” White said. “He’s just class and Dale was able to get it past the outside edge and it was a great contest.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran