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Maddinson made his second successive century while Will Pucovski and Peter Handscomb posted unbeaten half-centuries to put Victoria in command

AAP17-Feb-2024Resurgent Victoria batter Nic Maddinson has scored a century for a second-straight Sheffield Shield match to continue his impressive return from a serious knee injury.The former Test player hit a superb 108 from 136 balls to put Victoria into a commanding position at stumps on day two against New South Wales at the SCG on Saturday.Victoria are 277 for 2, holding a first-innings lead of 25, with Will Pucovski and Peter Handscomb making unbeaten half-centuries to put the visitors on top at stumps.Maddinson’s 17th first-class century comes two weeks after he hit a dominant 104 against South Australia in his first Shield innings since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in a BBL game on New Year’s Day 2023. It was also his ninth for Victoria and his third against his former state. He averages 52.09 in his last 37 Shield innings since moving states in 2018.Despite struggling for form during his return to cricket in the BBL for the Melbourne Renegades, Maddinson has quickly returned to his best in the longer form of the game.Maddinson put on a 114-run opening stand with Marcus Harris in reply to NSW’s 252. Harris made 32 from 117 but fell to a wild shot off Nathan Lyon. The Test spinner claimed both Victorian wickets in his last Shield appearance before embarking on Australia’s tour of New Zealand.But it has been tough going in the field for the Blues, rotating through seven bowlers as they search for breakthroughs.Pucovski will be vying to score his seventh first-class century when play resumes on Sunday with he and Handscomb sharing an unbeaten century stand after Maddinson’s dismissal.The talented 26-year-old missed Victoria’s last-start Shield win against South Australia due to suffering delayed symptoms of concussion. But Pucovski, regarded as one of Australia’s brightest batting prospects, recently spoke about feeling more on top of his mental health battles and concussion issues than ever before.Pucovski’s last first-class century came back in November 2020, two months before he made his one and only Test appearance.

Dhaka needed 11 off the final over, and Shuvagata Hom struck successive sixes off Thisara Perera to seal the chase

Mohammad Isam09-Feb-2022How the match played out
Shuvagata Hom struck two sixes in the last over to drag Minister Group Dhaka over the line against Khulna Tigers. Dhaka needed 11 runs off the final over bowled by Thisara Perera after Khaled Ahmed conceded just four in the penultimate over.But Hom, who was dismissed at a crucial stage against Chattogram Challengers on Tuesday, slammed Perera for a straight six before pounding the ball over extra cover much to his team-mates’ delight, thus finishing with an unbeaten nine-ball 18 including the two sixes. Eventually, Khulna’s 129 would not prove to be enough.Big hit

Dhaka had removed half the Khulna side in the first seven overs. It started with Soumya Sarkar offering a catch to deep square leg off Rubel Hossain. And after a mix-up with Jaker Ali resulted in a run-out, Andre Fletcher holed out at cover off Arafat Sunny, who also removed Yasir Ali with a beautiful arm-ball off the very next delivery.But it was only when Sikandar Raza came to the crease that Khulna got back on track. Raza stopped the slide by putting together mini partnerships with all three of Mahedi Hasan, Perera and Ruyel Mia. He struck the ball well through the leg side, picking up all but a four and a six each though the off side out of a total of five fours and four sixes, as he struck 64 off 50 balls.But Dhaka too never looked settled in the 130-run chase, slipping to 12 for 2 in the fourth over. Captain Mahmudullah and Jahurul Islam added 57 for the third wicket, before Ruyel, the left-arm quick making his BPL debut, clean bowled Jahurul for 30.That followed both Mahmudullah and Shamsur Rahman finding long-off off consecutive Perera deliveries – the last ball of the 16th over and the first of the 18th – leaving Hom and Azmatullah Omarzai, the young Afghanistan allrounder, with 24 required from the last 17 balls.Big miss

Khulna’s top five departed cheaply – they were 32 for 5 in the seventh over – despite Mushfiqur Rahim deciding to bat first. Although Fletcher has looked in good form throughout the tournament and Soumya had begun to get some good form off late, they still fell for 6 and 1, respectively. Yasir and Mushfiqur, who have usually contributed when the top three has failed, also fell early. That left the remaining Khulna batters with too much to do.

England name squad to face Ashes foes on Australian turf with Georgia Elwiss adding to all-round arsenal

Valkerie Baynes17-Jan-2020Contesting a global tournament is motivation in itself, but for England’s Women’s World T20 squad, their campaign on Australian soil will also carry an inevitable desire to make things right.It is a fact not lost on Natalie Sciver as she prepares for her fourth T20 World Cup with an England squad comprising vast experience and raw youth, a new coaching set-up and more than an notion of something to prove after a disappointing home Ashes defeat during the English summer.”A lot has changed since then for us really,” Sciver told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “As a group we’re in a good space to put that series behind us and hopefully get a few wins.”Sciver and Katherine Brunt form not only part of England’s experienced core but two thirds of a triple all-round threat identified by new coach Lisa Keightley along with Georgia Elwiss, who joins the squad in place of spinner Kirstie Gordon as the only change to the England touring party which defeated Pakistan in three ODIs and two completed T20Is in Malaysia last month.During that series, Sciver struck an 85-ball century in the second ODI shortly after a successful WBBL season with Keightley’s Perth Scorchers where she made 342 runs in 13 appearances at an average of 38.00 and with a strike rate of 123.02.Sciver has enjoyed some personally satisfying moments in the shortest format, becoming the first English cricketer to take a T20I hat-trick, against New Zealand in 2013, and the first woman to hit a six at the inaugural WBBL in 2015, but to win the World Cup final on March 8 would be something else.”After the summer we had, I think it would be really special,” Sciver said. “To be able to keep putting ourselves out there as a team and compete and put ourselves out there to succeed or to fail, as a squad that’s all we can ask of ourselves, to be able to turn up and do the best that we can with the conditions that we’ve got, so looking forward to hopefully putting a few things to right.”Natalie Sciver talks with Lisa Keightley during a Perth Scorchers game•Getty Images

Sciver said going straight from their 12-4 defeat in the multi-format Ashes series into the Kia Super League, meant many players didn’t have time to deal with the disappointment until much later.”We probably put a few things on hold until after the KSL and really waited for that time off to kind of re-set and make sure that we’re fresh again to go in the winter,” she said. “It’s motivation in itself to be in a world tournament and on the world stage and hopefully show everyone what we can do again and just make sure that we’re kind of in our own bubble.”Elwiss returned to action during the drawn Ashes Test after a stress fracture in her back had put her out of the game for five months. She last featured at a T20 World Cup with a solitary match in 2016, scoring a duck and claiming 2 for 9 in England’s emphatic win over Pakistan in Chennai. But Keightley said it was her two years’ experience playing for Melbourne Stars in the WBBL that helped seal her place this year, with England to open their tournament against South Africa in Perth on February 23.”We looked at what we had and I thought we had probably too many spinners for what we need out in Australia so we’ve opted for a couple of seamers,” Keightley said.”For Georgia, she covers two skill sets with the ball and with the bat. Georgia has played in Australia in the WBBL and done really well out there so for me she was an important inclusion into our team to give us options and a player who’s got experience out on Australian pitches and her variations will come in handy out there.”England Women’s T20 World Cup squad•Getty Images

The England squad has four players aged 24 or under with Freya Davies, Sarah Glenn and Mady Villiers all set to make their T20 World Cup debuts and spinner Sophie Ecclestone somewhat of a veteran at the age of just 20, having been part of the side which finished runners-up to Australia in 2018.For 24-year-old Davies – who has played just five T20Is – it could be a baptism of fire if called upon as part of England’s pace attack at the WACA, but Keightley has every faith in her.”I think she’ll be fine because a lot of people don’t know what Freya Davies does,” Keightley said. “It’s quite nice to have a few players that are unknown and teams aren’t sure what they do. You have to take your time and have a look and in T20 you can’t do that for too long.”I’d be telling her to play how she’s played, that works, that’s got her here, and not to go too far away from that. If she can do that, I think she’ll go pretty well.”The squad leaves for Australia on January 22 for a warm-up T20 tri-series against Australia and India.Meanwhile, the ECB have announced that England Women will host India for two T20Is starting at Taunton on June 25 and four ODIs from July 1 in Worcester, followed by two T20s and four one-dayers against South Africa starting in Hove at the beginning of September.

England set a target of 398 in 97 after a day of leather-chasing at Edgbaston as bowling attack runs out of steam

The Report by Andrew McGlashan04-Aug-2019For the second time in four days Steven Smith wrote himself a place in Ashes folklore, while Matthew Wade completed a comeback story of his own as Australia enjoyed utter dominance with the bat to leave them as the only team with a chance of victory at Edgbaston.Smith became just the fifth Australian to hit twin centuries in an Ashes Test as his match took on even greater proportions of greatness. Wade then cantered to a career-best 110, his third Test hundred and first for six-and-a-half-years, to set up Australia’s declaration late in the evening session, after some fun from James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, leaving England needing a notional 398 in 97 overs.Rory Burns and Jason Roy made it through seven demanding overs under gloomy skies with Nathan Lyon given the new ball on a responsive surface. There was more than enough to put a smile on his face at the potential of what’s on offer. Meanwhile, by surviving to resume in the morning, Burns put himself on the list of players who will have batted on all five days of a Test barring a washout. England would probably take that, but the forecast was largely fine.Well before the openers emerged a draw was England’s best hope before heading to Lord’s, which was a quite remarkable change of fortune from midway through the opening day when Australia were 122 for 8 and starring at another Edgbaston horror show. It was Smith, with help from the tail, who turned the tables then and on Sunday it was Smith who pulled Australia into a strong position before Wade made it impregnable.Smith did the groundwork alongside Travis Head, who made a compact half-century, in a stand of 130 for the fourth wicket which took Australia from 15 behind to 115 in front. However, when Head edged Ben Stokes, England having waited 23 overs for a breakthrough on the fourth morning, there was still plenty of work to do. The stand of 126 between Smith and Wade deflated England’s depleted attack. Stuart Broad had started promisingly, but Moeen Ali had a day to forget, which gave Joe Root a massive problem as he lacked control and wicket-taking threat on a surface aiding spin.Moeen had been handed the first over of the day and it included the opening delivery grubbing at Smith as well as a full toss that flew over his head that he tried to swat away and seemed annoyed that he hadn’t. There was the occasional promising sign, such as when one spun sharply to beat Head, but Moeen couldn’t string together consistent overs.Root and Joe Denly bowled 26 overs between them, with Denly’s legspin at times looking the most threatening of England’s options and he should have had Head stumped on 46 but Jonny Bairstow couldn’t stay low in his stance to gather the ball. That was not overly costly in terms of runs, but with the ball not swinging and the pitch slow England lacked inspiration.Chris Woakes only bowled seven overs in the day but was the man to finally dislodge Smith for 142, driving at the second new ball to leave his match tally 286 runs – just the fourth time a batsman has made two scores over 140 in a Test. Having started the day on 46 the half-century arrived early and any thought England would have found a magical formula overnight went out the window. He went to lunch on 98 and in the second over after the break drove Broad imperiously through the covers. This time the celebrations were a touch more subdued: he was just back doing what he loves.When Smith fell Australia’s lead was 241 and England might have had one final hope if the new ball had scuttled the lower order, but there was not enough left in the tank of the seamers. Root was back on with the ball six overs old, which allowed Wade and Tim Paine to pretty much do as they pleased.Where Smith had been methodical in everything he did, Wade was more attacking from the outset – the method which has served him so well during prolific domestic and Australia A form. He took advantage of some friendly half-volleys from Denly to get his innings going and did not have to contend with the swing that troubled him on the first day. Early in his innings he was bringing out the reverse sweep although Root did beat him on occasion, which rather went to highlight Moeen’s problems.On 69, Wade was saved by the DRS when given lbw to Broad, another poor decision from Joel Wilson given it was the hard new ball and had struck Wade above the pad. It was fitting that such an enterprising century was reached with a reverse sweep and Wade embraced his captain, and Tasmania team-mate, Paine in a moment of significance for both men who find themselves in positions they could scarcely have imagined.The pair added 76 in 13 overs as England largely abandoned hope of bowling Australia out. Stokes hurled himself into a big-hearted seven-over spell and eventually had Wade caught at deep backward square leg, then Paine fell in the next over to a ripping offbreak from Moeen that spun through the gate. While that was a boost for Moeen, it probably did more good for the Australian dressing room.The leather-chasing wasn’t over either as Pattinson avoided a pair and enjoyed the freedom to play his shots. One, in particular, will have given him great satisfaction when he launched Nottinghamshire team-mate Broad high over long-on and he also clobbered the last ball of the innings into the stands. It was a chastening day for England, but what happens on Monday could have an even greater bearing on the series.

Justice DK Jain met all three members of the CoA, along with the BCCI top brass in Delhi on Thursday

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2019The controversy surrounding Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul over their remarks on an Indian television chat show earlier this year will be the first case the BCCI’s newly-appointed ombudsman, Justice DK Jain, will adjudicate on. The decision was taken after Justice Jain met all three members of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), along with the BCCI top brass including its chief executive Rahul Johri, in Delhi on Thursday.It is understood that there is no timeframe for Justice Jain to take a final decision, which he would arrive at after a thorough inquiry, including calling both players to record their views. Both Pandya and Rahul have already apologised to the BCCI and the CoA twice in writing before returning to play. Pandya is currently recuperating from a back injury while Rahul is part of the ODI squad playing against Australia.ALSO READ: ‘Humbled’ KL Rahul uses suspension time to work on techniquePandya and Rahul were suspended by the CoA on January 11 for their offensive comments on the chat show , which was aired in the first week of 2019. Both players were subsequently called back home from the limited-overs tour of Australia.At the time, the two members of the CoA, Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji, were split on the next step. While Rai was in favour of banning the players for two matches, Edulji wanted the matter to be addressed properly through an inquiry process. The BCCI legal team’s opinion was sought, and the CoA was told that as per the BCCI’s constitution, only the ombudsman had the authority to carry out the inquiry.Consequent to the intervention of amicus curiae PS Narsimha on January 24, the CoA provisionally lifted the suspension allowing Pandya and Rahul to play, but pointed out that allegations of misconduct against them would be dealt with once the ombudsman took charge.The ombudsman’s position had been vacant since 2016 until the Supreme Court appointed Justice Jain in February, while also adding Ravindra Thodge as the third member of the CoA.

James Hildreth’s guard of honour is only highlight for Taunton gathering

ECB Reporters Network19-Aug-2022Ali Orr smashed the first ever List A double century by a Sussex player as the Sharks maintained their impressive Royal London Cup form with a 201-run demolition of Somerset at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.The 21-year-old left-hander hit a brutal 206, off 161 balls, with 11 sixes and 18 fours, to help his side post 397 for five after losing the loss. Cheteshwar Pujara contributed 66 and Delray Rawlings 54 not out off just 23 deliveries.Orr eclipsed the previous highest individual innings by a Sharks player, the 174 made by Pujara against Surrey at Hove just five days earlier, and earned a share of fifth place among the top scorers ever in List A cricket.”It was a very special day for me and one I certainly didn’t expect when I woke up this morning,” Orr said. “I took a blow in the face from a Kasey Aldridge delivery early on, but I felt fine. The physio came on and asked me a few questions, including where we were. I told him ‘lovely sunny Taunton’, so we had a smile and all was well.”In reply, shellshocked Somerset were bowled out for 196 in 38.2 overs as they fell to a seventh defeat in as many group matches and their heaviest ever in List A cricket by a margin of runs. Only Andrew Umeed, with 56, offered much resistance. Their captain, Matt Renshaw, said the lack of senior players because of Hundred absences was “demoralising for all of us”.Apart from a three-over opening burst from Jack Brooks, Somerset’s seamers lacked any semblance of control on a true pitch and Orr was in just the mood to capitalise.Related

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His first fifty occupied 45 balls, the second 61, the third 24 and the fourth 29 as he mercilessly punished anything off line, launching the vast majority of his sixes over mid-wicket and long-on with impressive bat speed.It was murderous display that required just one moment of luck. On 66, he edged Alfie Ogbourne through to wicketkeeper James Rew, who took a diving catch, only to see that a no-ball had been signalled.Other than that, Orr, whose previous best List A score in only 11 games was 108, produced a display of clean hitting rarely matched at ground renowned for fast scoring.From 61 for two, Danial Ibrahim having edged Brooks to Matt Renshaw at slip and Tom Clark been run out in a mix-up with Orr over a quick single, Sussex assumed total dominance.Pujara characteristically picked up ones and twos in a stand of 140 for the third wicket. The Indian maestro also hit 5 fours and a six before being caught and bowled by Kasey Aldridge off a leading edge.Fynn Hudson-Prentice supported Orr with a solid 36 in a partnership of 98. When he was caught at long to give slow left-armer Josh Thomas a maiden List A wicket, Rawlings strode out to inflict more heavy punishment.James Hildreth takes accolades at Taunton after confirming he had played his last Somerset match before retirement•Getty Images

Three sixes and 6 fours helped him to a 22-ball half-century, while at the other end Orr continued to plunder runs. When the opener was finally caught at long-off in the final over of the innings, spectators all around the ground stood to applaud.It took just eight deliveries of the Somerset reply for the Sharks bowlers to show what was possible with line and length, Bradley Currie swinging a ball away from Rew and having him caught at second slip.Lewis Goldsworthy, who had been given only seven overs despite being the pick of Somerset’s bowlers, dragged a ball from Currie onto his stumps and skipper Matt Renshaw edged a catch behind off Aristides Karvelas to leave the hosts 26 for three.Having been forced by injuries and Hundred call-ups to sign Gloucestershire all-rounder George Scott on a two-match loan, Somerset were facing humiliation.So it proved, as George Bartlett was caught at mid-off advancing down the pitch to Henry Crocombe, who then had Thomas caught at cover off a total mishit.Umeed moved steadily to a maiden List A fifty off 47 balls. But he was caught at slip off the first over from slow left-armer James Coles and when Rawlins had Aldridge caught behind it was 114 for seven.Scott, Brooks and Ogborne, who smacked Rawlins for a straight six, produced some belligerent tail-end blows to boost the meagre total. But for Somerset it was another disastrous day in a calamitous 50-over campaign.

Made 29 in her first outing since August ahead of series against Pakistan

AAP05-Jan-2023Cricket legend Belinda Clark has tipped Meg Lanning to return to her brilliant best now that her five-month hiatus is over.Victoria’s 50-over clash with New South Wales at Junction Oval on Thursday marked national captain Lanning’s first match since she took a break to focus on herself after Australia’s Commonwealth Games gold medal success in August.She made a solid 29 runs from 33 deliveries, belting five fours, before being caught at midwicket off Lauren Smith in the 12th over.Related

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Her knock helped Victoria to a vital 88-run win over NSW, with Ellyse Perry scoring 147 off 125 balls against her former state.Lanning will face NSW again on Saturday for her final hit-out before Australia’s white-ball series against Pakistan begins on January 16.”It was brave from Meg to step away when she realised that she needed to step away,” Clark told reporters. “You can come back refreshed, and I’m hoping Meg’s got some great cricket in front of her.”Cricket’s a game that requires you to be switched on the whole time, so I think you’ll see some great Meg Lanning highlights in the next couple of years. She’ll be great. I’m really pleased she’s back.”Lanning’s return coincided with a bronze statue of Clark being unveiled at the SCG on Thursday.Considered one of Australia’s greatest ever, Clark is the first female player in the world to be immortalised with a statue at a professional cricket ground.”It has been quite a journey seeing it come to life over the months,” Clark said. “It’s an amazing day to be able to unveil it.”Hopefully young girls and young boys will enjoy their sport, and this is a way for them to see that sport is for everyone, and hopefully they’ll see that, as they walk past this statue and then the others, anything is possible.”

“Still a long way to go to be performing how I’d like to,” says seamer after Ageas Bowl three-for

Vithushan Ehantharajah11-Sep-2023Reece Topley admits he will be overcoming “a bit of PTSD” when he boards the plane later this month for the 50-over World Cup in India after leaving last year’s T20 edition on the eve of the tournament due to an ankle injury.The left-arm seamer was dealt a sickening blow when he damaged ligaments in his left ankle after stepping on a boundary sponge at the Gabba during a fielding drill ahead of England’s final warm-up match against Pakistan. He was soon on a flight back from Australia and watched from afar as England became the first men’s white-ball team to hold both 50-over and 20-over World Cups simultaneously.”You could say I have a bit of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] about getting on the plane again because it was pretty emotional coming back from the last one injured,” said Topley. “But injuries happen in sport. You can only do so much to prevent them. I don’t really think about it too much, but hopefully, they stay away.”Related

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There was further heartbreak at the start of the year for Topley. Having returned fully fit, a maiden stint in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore was cut short after bowling just two overs against Mumbai Indians on debut when a heavy fall in the outfield resulted in a dislocated right shoulder.Topley’s return to action after surgery came at the start of August in the Hundred for Northern Superchargers, finishing as the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker with 13, resulting in selection for England’s provisional World Cup squad. That faith from Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott was rewarded on Sunday with 3 for 37 in the second ODI against New Zealand to help square the series.”Obviously, for anyone to come back from seven months out of 12 injured is tricky. When I came back from my ankle injury, I was getting back into it and then it was like having the rug pulled from underneath me when I came home from India. It’s all part of that process again, and hopefully it’s another box ticked, but it’s still a long way to go to be performing how I’d like to.”As you get older, the injuries do get a bit harder to come back from – just the nature of just being years older. It’s not like you won’t ever come back from it, it’s just always a bit trickier.””Hopefully, the bad days just sort of become less and less. I definitely wouldn’t say I’m out of the jungle in terms of my ankle and my shoulder, but it’s a case of doing the right things, and hopefully, there’s more performances like Sunday.”The outing at the Ageas Bowl was encouraging after an indifferent none for 47 from seven overs in the first ODI, which New Zealand won by eight wickets. After England set a total 227 in a rain-reduced 34-over affair, Topley was tight for the first five overs with the new ball (conceding just 19) before returning from the 21st over to take three in eight deliveries. His gutting of the middle order with the dismissals of Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra triggered a terminal collapse, with the last seven Kiwi batters falling for the addition of just 36 as the hosts triumphed by 78.While these were his first ODI dismissals in over a year after going wicketless at Cardiff and in two matches in South Africa before the IPL, Topley was as much encouraged by underlining his capabilities beyond the new ball as the return to form.”I like to think I take wickets in all stages, but with the new ball the other day [first ODI], I wasn’t great. It’s tricky. Obviously for seven months of this year I’ve been out injured, so it’s nice to be finding my feet again, hopefully just at the right time for India.”My record in the format is pretty good [36 wickets at 26.83 across 24 caps]. I like to think that I can contribute whenever needed. It was nice to get that performance. Last game, I was pretty nervous about getting back in the ODI squad and it was my first ODI since South Africa as well.”It’s tricky playing and getting yourself back into it mentally and physically after some injuries. The game moves on and people move on, and you obviously don’t get the chance to because you’re sidelined and can’t play cricket. It’s nice to sort of get yourself back up to speed and it’s all part of the process. It’s not the end of it now: it’s just another good day.”That being said, Topley is allowing himself to look further ahead. At 29, this will be his third global tournament for England, after featuring in the 2016 World T20 and again in 2021, when he was an injury replacement for Tymal Mills. Having overcome a spate of back issues which saw him suffer five stress fractures in six years, the last of which came in 2018, he has sights set on two more tournaments for his country, starting with 2024’s T20 assignment in the Caribbean and USA.”It would be the third World Cup I’ve been involved in,” he said of the upcoming trip to India. “I’d like to be involved in next summer’s as well. I’ve set myself a goal to be involved in five World Cups and that’d be something pretty special as a player.”

Australia will hope to attack down the Headingley hill and keep things tight going up it as they continue their attempts to ‘win boring’

Daniel Brettig in Leeds21-Aug-2019″Take back control” has been a pretty loaded phrase in this part of the world ever since its co-option by Dominic Cummings and the Vote Leave campaign that successfully won Britain’s EU referendum in 2016.It is also a highly relevant one to Australia’s Ashes campaign, which began so brilliantly at Edgbaston but was stifled somewhat at Lord’s, not only by Jofra Archer and the concussion inflicted on Steven Smith, but also the inroads England made on the touring team’s clear plan to cut down the flow of runs, build pressure and reap wickets from a home batting lineup always eager to impose themselves.Pat Cummins will continue as the “ironman” in an attack that has otherwise required careful workload management•Getty Images

The Australian blueprint to maintain control over the scoring rates of the hosts, block off the boundaries and prosper through patience has been adhered to so rigorously as to rule out Mitchell Starc from selection so far. The coach Justin Langer’s words two days out from the Headingley Test, about not getting caught up into a bouncer war begun by Archer, seemed to strongly indicate that this pattern of selection would continue. “What we’re not going to do is get caught up in an emotional battle of who’s going to bowl the quickest bouncers,” Langer had said. “We’re here to win the Test match, not to see how many helmets we can hit.”ALSO READ: Here to win Ashes, not engage in bouncer war – LangerBut this plan, of course, has two sides to it. England were not only better able to find scoring avenues off the likes of Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon at Lord’s (both were taken for more than 3.5 runs per over), they also succeeded in keeping things exceedingly tight when Archer and Jack Leach had the ball. Where Australia’s batting at Edgbaston had taken on an air of freedom, at Lord’s it was always a slog, even without accounting for the short-pitched stuff from Archer that claimed most of the headlines.”You look back at that period before the second new ball, Jack Leach bowled 10 overs for 12 runs at the other end to Jofra,” England’s captain Joe Root said. “It’s important that you dovetail well as a bowling group and that you continue to keep applying pressure from one end if you’re attacking at the other. I thought we got the balance of that exceptionally well and right last week.”Lyon’s inability to put the clamp on England’s scoring made for quite a contrast. In fact, in all the 20 Ashes matches he has played, Lyon has never been more expensive than the 3.76 an over he conceded at Lord’s when bowling more than 25 overs in a Test. Root, certainly, was happy to see Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow find their ways into the series.”The most pleasing thing from my part was seeing Ben, Jos and Jonny sending good time at the crease,” Root said. “I feel like they really got themselves into the series in that Test match, and it’s a big engine room for us that middle order, they’re some high quality players who can go up and down the gears and really change the momentum of a game. To see them starting to hit some form at what seems like a really poignant time in the series is a really impressive thing for us and a huge confidence boost for the whole batting group.”Australia’s captain Tim Paine, too, acknowledged the shift. “I think Ben Stokes played a pretty good innings as well, I think you’ve got to give him credit there,” he said. “But Lord’s can be a fast scoring ground and so can this one and it just happened to be that the rain pushed the game forward really quickly and almost turned day five into a one-day game, and we know that England are the best in the world at that game, so we thought that really suited them.”We thought we could have handled things a little bit better, but at the same time we had them 6 for 130 in the first innings and 4 for 60 in the second so we still thought we had some opportunities there to break the game open. But as the game played out, we know when they’re in that sort of mood particularly Stokes, Buttler and Bairstow, they’re hard for anyone to stop. If we get in that situation again we’ll do some things slightly differently.”So what must Australia do to improve on their control of proceedings at Headingley? Precise lines and lengths are a given, but so too is awareness that the ground an allow for quick scoring if bowlers are too attack-minded. Darren Lehmann’s wildly successful stint as Yorkshire’s overseas professional in the late 1990s and early 2000s was epitomised by how he often turned favourable bowling conditions on their head by going after the opposition, taking advantage of the quick, short square boundaries not a million miles removed from his Adelaide Oval home.Nathan Lyon leaked more runs than usual at Lord’s•Getty Images

Additionally, the slope across the ground at Lord’s has now been replaced by a gradient from the Kirkstall Lane End down to the Rugby Stand End. Plenty of rapid-fire spells have been delivered down that hill, from Bob Willis in 1981 to Jason Gillespie in 1997. A serviceable, accurate and uncomplaining seam and swing merchant pushing up the hill can also enjoy success: Peter Siddle claimed 5 for 21 here on the first day in 2009 when the Australians set the game up by rolling England for just 102.”We’ve had a couple of days here now for the bowlers to come in and have a bit of a bowl,” Paine said. “Granted it’s not on the centre wicket, but out on the wicket block. You get guys playing in different conditions with different run ups and different surfaces all the time, that’s part and parcel of being a professional cricketer and whatever lineup we pick, we expect that guys will be able to handle it or adapt to it really quickly.”Most capable and flexible for the Australians is Pat Cummins, who can be expected to turn out for the second of back-to-back Tests as the “ironman” of a bowling attack that is otherwise rested and rotated carefully. There will be times during this Test where Cummins may be asked to do either job, attacking down the hill or pushing tightly up it, and it will be critical that the Austrlaians are able to prevent England’s middle order from getting as comfortable as they did at Lord’s.”He’s pretty good. No complaints from him so far,” Paine said. “I think in the last 12-18 months his body’s really matured and he can handle a really big workload and not only do you see a high level of skill from Pat all the time but he’s highly competitive as well. So he’s a great weapon for us, and someone we certainly need to look after, but at this stage he’s handling the workload really well, he’s a super professional in the way he prepares himself, the way he looks after his body. So at the moment he’s going really well.”As a county, by the way, Yorkshire voted to leave in 2016, though the city of Leeds was a remain hold-out, both by narrow margins. Taking back control has proven more complicated than the slogan suggested: Australia will hope their task at Headingley is a little more straightforward.

After a pink-ball bruising last week, the hosts will hope their Basin Reserve familiarity will help them level the series

Andrew Miller22-Feb-2023

Big picture: Back to the Basin

If ever there was a venue for this rebooted England team to come full circle, it would have to be the Basin Reserve in Wellington. It was here, back on their 2007-08 tour, that James Anderson – the newly reinstated No.1 Test bowler in the world – began his now-1009-wicket partnership with Stuart Broad, claiming a first-innings five-for no less, to establish England’s foothold in a memorable 2-1 series turnaround.It was at the Basin Reserve too, six years after that feat, that Brendon McCullum – England’s Test coach and former New Zealand great – laid down the most imposing monument of his Test career: his national-record 302 against India in 2014 that, over and above everything else he achieved on the field, was probably the innings that confirmed he was truly qualified to oversee this startling rebirth of England’s Test fortunes.And Wellington, the city, has been an important staging post in England’s wider journey too. Ben Stokes, the captain, called it home for two years from 2001 to 2003, before his father Ged’s rugby league career brought the family to Cumbria, and the rest to history. And though it’s hardly likely to be worthy of any pilgrimages during the team’s stay, it could be argued that the city’s other cricket venue, the infamous Cake Tin in the Docklands, deserves its own footnote. Had it not been for the gruesomely total crushing that McCullum (and New Zealand’s current skipper Tim Southee) inflicted on Eoin Morgan’s men at the 2015 World Cup, it’s debatable whether any of England’s recent story – white or red – could possibly have come to pass.So it’s hello again to those white picket-fences, and the William Wakefield Monument, and the buffeting winds that get funnelled directly up through the Cook Strait to wreak havoc with the bowlers’ run-ups. Thanks to Covid, it’s been a long old while since New Zealand last played a Test here – two-and-a-bit years in fact, the longest hiatus at the venue since 1981 – and as Southee intimated after his team’s rather bruising defeat under Mount Maunganui’s floodlights last week, their familiarity with both the venue and the traditional red ball may yet help the regrouping process.Related

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New Zealand do, after all, boast an impressive recent record at the Basin Reserve – in five visits since December 2017, they’ve emerged with three innings wins, a further ten-wicket trouncing of India, and one draw that got away – thanks to a combination of rain and a rather epic Sri Lanka rearguard, all of which formed part of that inexorable rise to the World Test Championship title, sealed at the Ageas Bowl in June 2021.Two years on, however, New Zealand are a team on the other side of the slope. Southee, at the age of 34, soldiers on with much the same magnificence as his new-ball counterparts Broad and Anderson, but he’s lost his fellow spearhead Trent Boult to the contractual complications of the T20 franchise era, not to mention other stalwarts of a generational team, such as Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme and – in the short term at least – Kyle Jamieson. And, with England in a mood to wreck the record-books in Mount Maunganui, the flaying of New Zealand’s most indomitable competitor, Neil Wagner, told a story of its own. With a brazen disregard for precedent, England eviscerated Wagner’s short-ball methods to the tune of 13-2-110-2 in the second innings. On the eve of his 37th birthday, it’s hard to see how even he can come back from such disparaging treatment.Nevertheless, England’s win last week was only their first in the country for seven Tests, spanning three tours and 15 years since the Broad-Anderson origin story of 2008 – and though New Zealand have failed to win any of their six series since the new WTC cycle began, they still haven’t lost a home rubber since South Africa’s visit in 2017, 12 campaigns ago. Even if England’s current form implies that that is about to change, it’s not been in the Black Caps’ recent nature to go down without a fight.

Form guide: England on a roll

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In the spotlight: James Anderson and Kane Williamson

Every new day seems to provide another reason to marvel at James Anderson’s freakish defiance of the laws of nature, but this week of all weeks, it seems only right to place him on the pedestal. Not only is he back where his career truly began, 15 long years ago, but he does so as the ICC’s newly-restored No.1 Test bowler, a ranking he last attained back in 2018. His seven wickets at Mount Maunganui perfectly encapsulated the performer he has long since become – phenomenally skilled, unswervingly accurate, and possessing the wisdom to adapt his method to suit the subtleties of each new scenario – but it was a very different brand of bowler who seized that 2008 comeback Test to the tune of 5 for 73 in the first innings. He’d started life as a tearaway outswinger, capable of 90mph speeds but liable to lose his radar in the process; now he’d found the means to channel those attributes into a more rounded, permanent threat, even if other key tools of his trade – not least the wobble-seam delivery – would be a few more years in the making. Nevertheless, it’s instructive to recall his comments at the end of that performance … an early sign, it seems, of a player whose ambition was more burning than his diffident demeanour had previously let on. “I want to be the bowler that the captain can throw the ball to when we need a wicket,” he said. “I want to stake a claim and be here for a long time.” And so it has proven.Kane Williamson’s first Test back in the ranks on home soil was a chastening affair. Anderson pinned him with a nipbacker under the lights on the first evening; Broad repeated the dose in the same circumstances on the third, this time bowling him through a half-closed gate precisely because of his reluctance to commit to the front foot in such conditions. Even in light of his ongoing elbow issues, it’s hardly enough reason to panic about Williamson’s returns – he only went and made the fifth double-century of his Test career in Karachi two months ago – but such are the frailties elsewhere in New Zealand’s line-up, the onus is on one of their most decorated campaigners to find some traction against the Bazball juggernaut. In his last home Test campaign, in 2020-21, Williamson stepped forward with consecutive scores of 251, 129 and 238. What his team would give for something similar this week.Matt Henry could be back with his new-ball partner Tim Southee•Getty Images

Team news: Henry returns, England name unchanged XI

In Boult’s absence at Mount Maunganui, England missed the new-ball knowhow of Matt Henry more than they might have imagined. He’s back in the set-up after missing that Test for the birth of his child, and will shore up a callow bowling unit in which Southee was too easily exposed by the frailties around him. Nevertheless, the debutants Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn showed spirit in adversity, not least with the bat, and might conceivably have done enough to retain their places – albeit it would be a huge call not to give an aggrieved Wagner one last chance to prove his methods can still match up to England’s aggression. Southee confirmed that decision would be made after assessing the pitch.New Zealand: 1 Tom Latham, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Scott Kuggeleijn, 9 Tim Southee (capt), 10 Matt Henry, 11 Blair Tickner / Neil WagnerEngland have named an unchanged XI, despite a few doubts about England’s senior seamers. Ollie Robinson reported a slight knee niggle two days out from the Test, while Anderson and Broad both reported soreness after their Mount Maunganui exertions. None of them turned up for training on match eve, but as Stokes put it: “I just texted all three of them, asking if they were good for the game, and they said yeah”. The decision means more time on the sidelines for Matthew Potts, the bustling seamer whom Robinson replaced during last summer’s South Africa series, and Olly Stone, whose fiery displays in the ODIs in South Africa were a decent indication of his new-found robustness after recent back issues.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Ollie Robinson, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Pitch and conditions

The Wellington pitch had a thick covering of grass two days out from the Test, but is sure to undergo a haircut before the contest gets underway. “It’s usually a pretty good surface,” Southee said on the eve of the match. “I know it looks green… but there have been a number of hundreds scored here. So it’s a good cricket wicket.” The one factor that may prove less surmountable is the weather. Showers are forecast throughout the week, with delays a probability.

Stats and trivia

• England have an impressive overall record at the Basin Reserve, with four wins and one defeat in 11 previous Tests at the venue, dating back to 1930. That one setback, courtesy of Richard Hadlee in 1978, was also New Zealand’s first victory over England, at the 48th attempt.
• Harry Brook comes into the Test off the back of three consecutive Player-of-the-Match awards. The last time he didn’t win the accolade, at Rawalpindi in December, he still contributed scores of 153 and 87.
• Stokes has now overseen ten Test wins in the space of 12 matches in charge (including a one-off role as stand-in in 2020), the equal joint-fastest to double figures, alongside Australia’s Lindsay Hassett. One more win will draw him level with Len Hutton’s haul of 11 wins in 23 Tests.
• Another England win would make it seven in a row for Stokes’ men, one shy of the record run of success that Michael Vaughan oversaw in 2004, spanning three wins against New Zealand, four against West Indies and one in South Africa.
• After scores of 6 and 0 in the first Test, Williamson – in his 92st Test – still needs another 33 runs to overhaul Ross Taylor’s mark of 7683 runs to become New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket.
• Stokes is six wickets away from reaching 200 in Test cricket. At Mount Maunganui he overhauled his coach McCullum to become the leading six-hitter in the format.

Quotes

“I think they’ve shown they want to play result cricket. I think it’s a great way to look at things. It’s our job to get things right and hopefully we’re in for a good Test match.”
“It’s good for everyone seeing that effect we could be having. We’ll take that as another win and I’ll say we get sold-out crowds because of the way we play.”