The board made the announcement on Tuesday with the man himself hoping to return to international cricket in March

Umar Farooq05-Feb-2019Sarfaraz Ahmed may have recently served out an ICC-imposed ban, but the PCB stated in emphatic terms that he will be captain when Pakistan play the World Cup in May 2019.The 31-year old was suspended for four matches over some of his on-field remarks against South Africa in January but the the PCB remained firmly on his side even as the episode unfolded. Its president Ehsan Mani even said, “Somewhere common sense was overruled by bureaucratic process.”Now, the board has made a fresh show of its support by naming him captain for the 2019 World Cup three months before the event.”Sarfaraz has been an integral part of the Pakistan’s World Cup preparations. He has proved to be a good strategist, leader and performer,” Mani said on Tuesday. “He led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy 2017 title as well as to top of the ICC T20I rankings.”Mani also confirmed that Sarfaraz’s position as captain will only be re-evaluated after the World Cup.”There were a lot of speculations around captaincy in media but I can confirm that he is our captain and he will remain for the upcoming series against Australia until World Cup,” Mani said. “I had no doubt about it but it’s unfortunate the uncertainty is making rounds over and over in media. We are not concerned at all about what is being discussed around.”So nobody should doubt him as captain. He is captain and will remain captain until next decision is taken. Yes, questions have been raised about the performances but in a bigger picture results have been good so far. I spoke to selectors, coaches, director operations and the entire board is behind him.”Mani, formerly the ICC chairman, recalled Sarfaraz’s captaincy during the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. “I first met Sarfaraz 13 years ago during ICC Under-19 World Cup in Colombo and his leadership quality was great,” Mani said. “Pakistan believed to have lost that game after scoring 109 against India but the way Sarfaraz led the side and got India out for 71 runs was outstanding. I couldn’t forgot that match and even wrote a letter to the then-chairman Shahryar Khan praising Sarfaraz’s leadership. There is no doubt at all in Sarafarz’s contribution to Pakistan. He has led at from Under-19 to Karachi, for PIA and then Pakistan.”Pakistan are scheduled to play 10 ODIs ahead of World Cup in May – five against Australia in UAE in March followed by five against England.Sarfaraz, who is currently preparing for the Pakistan Super League in February, said that Mani’s support has lifted his spirits. “I thank PCB for trusting me,” Sarfaraz said. “This support has always been there and I’m thankful for the reassurance. It is a big honour for me to lead Pakistan at World Cup and stand among those who did in past people like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq.””Pressure is always there during captaincy. But with the chairman and board’s support I feel motivated more than ever. I now would like to transfer the same to the team for the upcoming Australia series and World Cup.”

Madhya Pradesh wrapped up the chase in a single over – after they were gifted five wides

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2019Nine all out. And nine ducks. Mizoram had a day to forget in the Senior Women’s T20 league in India, but at least it was short. Only 14.5 overs of a possible 40 were needed to decide the result as Madhya Pradesh won the game with ease. In fact, more than half their target – much as the target itself – was gifted to them, in the form of five wides.Tarang Jha had a day to remember though. The new-ball bowler for Madhya Pradesh bowled 24 deliveries – 23 of them were dots – and picked up four wickets. On the back of her efforts, Mizoram were 2 for 5 in the fifth over. Apurwa Bhardwaj, batting at No. 5, made six runs off 25 deliveries, striking the only boundary of the innings. But then again, she was the bowler who gave away the five wides in the chase. In all, MP needed just six deliveries to wrap up the chase.Earlier this year, in a T20 international, China slumped to 14 all out against UAE, recording the lowest score in women’s T20Is.

Arthur has been a major proponent of changes in the fitness standards of international cricketers in Pakistan since his appointment in 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2019Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur said suffering a clean sweep at home against Australia “hurts us incredibly”. Addressing a press conference after the team returned home from Dubai – having lost all five ODIs – Arthur pointed to the number of players Pakistan had decided to rest, but conceded the side’s fielding and fitness fell well below the standards required over the five games.”I think on this tour, our fitness standards and our fielding were not where they needed to be,” Arthur said. “That’s understandable when you see the likes of young Abid Ali, Hasnain, and guys like that hadn’t been in our setup before. Those that had been in our setup for a long period of time, who know what the standards are, are aware we will never ever compromise on fitness.”All our key players are fit enough going into the World Cup. It’s our strength players, those that sit just under our setup that is worrying. How we pull those guys up to the level required is going to rest on themselves and on the structure to give them that education to make sure when they step up into our side, they are ready to perform on the level we expect.”Pakistan’s ODI form has been a worry over the past 15 months, with the team having lost ODI series against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia in addition to a dismal Asia Cup outing in September 2018. Arthur, however, cautioned against panicking weeks out from the World Cup, pointing out Pakistan still had plenty of games to play before the tournament began.”This series was an opportunity to rest our key players ahead of what is a very demanding schedule leading up to the World Cup,” Arthur said. “We’ve got 11 fully fledged games of cricket from the beginning of May until our first World Cup game. That includes three games against counties, five ODIs against England and then two warm-up games for the World Cup.”So we viewed this tour of an opportunity to look at a final few places. Inzi and I had a look at the final places that we were looking to secure. We looked at the areas we wanted players. We wanted to give our next tear of players an opportunity to play at the highest level, to see what they can do. You’re only good as your bench strength, so for us, our bench strength is incredibly important.”Abid Ali scored 112 – his debut hundred – and Mohammad Rizwan made 104, but it wasn’t enough to chase down Australia’s total of 277•Getty Images

Arthur also pointed out that Pakistan could come away from the series with some positives, especially in the batting department. “Five hundreds across the series was the impressive thing. The fact that I think we’ve certainly found a batsman [Abid Ali], we’ve found a young quick bowler that’s going to serve Pakistan well for the years to come [Mohammad Hasnain] and probably sorted our fast bowling leading into the World Cup. From that point of view, we saw a lot of positive things. Quite a few negatives as well and those need to get sorted out and sorted out quickly.”Arthur was more reserved about what conclusions he had reached with respect to Pakistan’s World Cup squad, keeping his cards close to his chest, but did say he was on the same page with chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.”We’ll meet this afternoon. We’ve got individual plans for every one of our players,” Arthur said. “Those individual plans will evolve into the England tour, especially for the guys that we want to take [to the World Cup]. Inzi, myself and selectors will sit down in the next couple of days and start our final work towards that World Cup squad. We’ll have fitness testing around April 14 and 15, and we’ll work back on individual planning again today.”He also had time to single out Mohammad Rizwan for praise. Until January, Rizwan had not played an international for Pakistan for over two years, firmly a back-up to the ever-present Sarfaraz Ahmed. Now, he has played 10 internationals for the country on the bounce, and was one of the standout batsmen on tour, scoring two hundreds and finishing as the second-highest scorer for Pakistan this series. But Arthur also made it clear Pakistan were in no way vacillating over the wicketkeeping position.”We know Saify [Sarfaraz] is our captain and our first choice wicketkeeper. And he’s going to lead us into the World Cup.”

Focus on missing England star overshadows another crushing win in the North Group

David Hopps23-Apr-2019Nottinghamshire confidently expect Alex Hales to join up as planned for England’s three-day training camp in Cardiff this weekend, despite being given an indefinite break from cricket for undisclosed personal reasons. That is the most optimistic outlook for a player who has lost his footing as he approaches the biggest hurdle of his professional life.Hales’ state of mind dominated the agenda even as Nottinghamshire racked up a thumping 118-run victory over Warwickshire in the Royal London Cup, a campaign in which he is now certain to play no part, as he concentrates instead on getting body and soul together before England embark upon a huge summer which includes a home World Cup and an Ashes series.Nottinghamshire’s view of Hales’ absence appears to be one of philosophical acceptance that everything must be done to get him in the right physical and mental shape for England’s World Cup campaign. He is viewed as England’s stand-by World Cup batsman, but a back spasm for Jason Roy at The Kia Oval on Tuesday has emphasised how he could be required to step into the playing XI at any moment.Hales, who is on a white-ball only contract with Notts, had initially seen the start of their 50-over campaign as a chance to impress on England that he was in mint form ahead of the biggest tournament of his career, but such ambitions have had to be shelved to address pressing personal issues.Only three weeks ago, at a Chance to Shine promotion in Loughborough, he had cut a figure of maturity as he concluded: “Luckily I get four games in for Notts. That will be a good chance to get some runs on the board and feel in good form. We are so lucky to have Peter Moores in charge. For me he is one of the best coaches in the world. To be around his knowledge and enthusiasm is ideal.”Such plans have gone badly awry: he has yet to strike a ball in anger. “Don’t copy Hales” sounds like a Trent Bridge guide for life.Gifted and destructive, and capable of walking into many one-day batting sides in the world, he can hardly afford another mis-step in his career after being banned earlier this year for six white-ball games, four of them suspended, and fined £17,500 by the ECB for his part in the brawl in Bristol that left Ben Stokes facing criminal charges.Notts are certainly managing well enough without him; what remains to be seen as England embark upon their summer is how well he will manage without Notts. They steamrollered Warwickshire at Edgbaston, a third consecutive win which takes them top of North Group.Ben Slater, admittedly unfortunate to be overshadowed by his more illustrious opening partner even in his absence, made 100 from 115 balls on a dry, slightly awkward, surface. It was his fifth century in List A cricket, the format in which he made most impression at his previous county, Derbyshire.Slater also slips under the radar when compared to Notts’ other recent batting signings. Joe Clarke again oozed class in making 39 in an opening stand of 81 in 11.3 overs. Ben Duckett, who malfunctioned on the pull, is more quirky. Both were victims of George Panayi, a strongly-built seamer and former Shrewsbury School captain, But Slater played securely on a pitch where many struggled until Jeetan Patel found substantial turn to strike his off stump.Patel, so often Warwickshire’s saviour, finished with five wickets, but from 207 for 7, a robust eighth-wicket stand of 50 in six overs between Luke Fletcher and James Pattinson swung the match Nottinghamshire’s way.At halfway, with 301 for 9 racked up, Warwickshire already felt out of the match. The loss of four wickets in the first 6.1 overs ensured more soul-searching for a county that lost its previous match, against Northants at Wantage Road, by 194 runs, their heaviest List A defeat. Paul Farbrace, Warwickshire’s new sport director, said he wanted to take himself out of his comfort zone when he relinquished a World Cup as England’s assistant coach, and he appears to have his work cut out.Once Ed Pollock had succumbed to off-spin – Matthew Carter, who opened the bowling for that purpose, had him lbw for nought to a straight ball – some pointedly on-the-mark new-ball bowling from Pattinson and Fletcher caused a speedy decline. Dom Sibley, Sam Hain and Tim Ambrose all fell to balls of insistent length, Fletcher causing Sibley to play on, Pattinson having Hain caught at the wicket before bringing one back to bowl Ambrose first ball.From 69 for 6, two young professionals responded with spirit, Liam Banks and Alex Thomson both making half-centuries at roughly a run a ball. But Fletcher had the last word, fittingly so, had the last word by trapping Patel lbw, a straightforward and resolute professional completing a fine match.

Fans asking him to hit sixes still spurs him on, says the West Indies opening batsman

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2019Chris Gayle believes opponents are still scared of him, but the 39-year-old West Indian opening batsman admits that it’s no longer as easy playing against youngsters as it used to be.Gayle, who is set to play his fifth – and last – World Cup, has been a part of the tournament each time it has been held since his ODI debut in September 1999.”Youngsters coming at my head – it’s not as easy as it was like one time before,” Gayle told on the eve of West Indies’ unofficial warm-up match against Australia. “I was quicker then. But they’ll be wary. They know what the Universe Boss is capable of. I’m sure they will have it in the back of their mind, ‘Hey, this is the most dangerous batsman they’ve ever seen in cricket’.”Go ask them on camera. They’re going to say, no, they’re not scared. But you ask them off the camera, they going to say, ‘Yeah, he’s the man. He’s the man’. They’re going to say, ‘he’s the man’.”But I’m enjoying it. I’m always enjoying the battle against fast bowlers, it’s good. Sometimes those things actually give you extra drive as a batter. When you have a battle, I like those challenges.”Gayle hinted at ‘unretirement’ just ten days after he had announced his retirement following his strong form in the home series against England earlier this year. He had blasted 424 runs at an average of 106, including 39 sixes, in four matches and also brought up his second-highest ODI score, on the way to leading West Indies to their highest total in the format.Prior to that, he had not played an ODI for 30 months after West Indies’ quarter-final exit from the 2015 World Cup, and while it seemed like his ODI career was heading towards an end, he returned to the West Indies squad in September 2017 ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. With qualification sealed, he featured regularly in the format and has been in great form since then, making 930 runs in 19 innings. He is also by far the most experienced player in West Indies’ World Cup squad, and has 10,151 runs from 289 ODIs.He believes that it’s his passion and that of his fans that has been driving him to deliver.”It’s the love for the game,” he said at a press interaction. “But sometimes sportsmen don’t know when to walk away. You might think you’re still at your peak but eventually, you have to leave the game at some point. But enjoying is important. I’m enjoying it and having fun. Especially with a great group of guys.”All this is going to play a key part for me as an individual. These guys spur you on and the fans are always asking you for sixes and those sort of things give you the extra drive. There’s nothing to go and prove.”Coming off a decent form in the IPL, where he made 490 runs in 13 matches for Kings XI Punjab, Gayle stressed on the importance of game-time and a positive mindset ahead of the big tournament.”I am still in good nick,” he said. “I had a not-so-bad IPL, coming after the home series against England. The good thing about it is I’ve been playing cricket. It’s important for me to keep playing and get some games under my belt and come here to the UK and start with a few warm-up games to see where you are at.”It’s a long tournament. For me, personally, I just have to monitor it as much as possible and just get the mindset right.”

A second shoulder injury has not responded to treatment and has ruled him out of bowling for the foreseeable future

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Southampton04-Jun-2019South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the World Cup with a shoulder injury, less than 24 hours before the team’s clash against India on Wednesday. Left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks has been approved as his replacement by the ICC’s Event Technical Committee of the World Cup.Steyn had missed South Africa’s first two games, against England and Bangladesh, after suffering a second shoulder injury which “has not responded to treatment and has ruled him out of bowling for the foreseeable future,” according to a CSA release. The injury had also cut short his IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore.Although South Africa were hopeful Steyn could be fit for Wednesday’s game against India – even having him bowl briefly at training on Monday – a decision was made on Tuesday that his recovery was not going quickly enough. Steyn had warmed up and played football with the squad on Tuesday, but did not bowl at training.”Dale has tried really hard – really hard – to try and get back into the team,” South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said of Steyn’s long streak of injuries. “It’s been a tough two years, and we’ve got to be strong for him. He’s going to need a bit of love. He tried unbelievably hard to get fit for this campaign, which would have been his last World Cup. We’ve got to be there for him now.”Unfortunately, it happened there in the IPL in those two games that he played there. If he didn’t get picked up to go to the IPL, who knows where Dale would have been right now.”Steyn had played two games in the IPL in April and bowled eight overs in all before he was ruled out of the T20 league with a right shoulder injury that has troubled him for long now.The news is a serious blow to South Africa, whose campaign has also been hit by injuries to two other fast bowlers. Anrich Nortje, who had originally been part of the World Cup squad, was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured thumb in the week before South Africa departed to the UK. Lungi Ngidi has also since picked up a hamstring strain, which is likely to keep him out of the next few South Africa matches. Vernon Philander is unavailable due to injury as well.The injury to Steyn has left the squad with only four functioning fast bowlers for the India match: Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius and Chris Morris. Batsman Hashim Amla had also missed the previous game after being struck in the helmet in the tournament opener, but is now cleared to play on Wednesday.The ICC generally does not allow teams to replace players who came into the tournament with injuries, as Steyn had. However, South Africa’s doctor Mohammed Moosajee explained that the injury that has now ruled Steyn out is different from the shoulder injury he had had when he arrived in England.Steyn will now return to South Africa and work with a rehab team before any decision is made on the future of his career. He had said in February that he had no plans to retire from Test cricket, despite the injuries to his right shoulder – in addition to other serious ailments – having frustrated Steyn’s career all the way back since 2015. He had first broken his shoulder at home, ahead of a New Year Test in Cape Town, before suffering a much more serious break in the same shoulder towards the end of 2016. A serious heel injury followed, before hamstring strains ailed him as well.Hendricks has played only two ODIs, the most recent of which came in January. He has only taken one wicket across those two games, but has had more success in 10 T20 internationals, in which he has claimed 18 wickets.

New Zealand should get into the final four even with a loss to England, but that would make them the only team without a win against the other semi-finalists

Sambit Bal at Chester-le-Street02-Jul-2019Only one team win the match tomorrow, and that’s not New Zealand. But losing to England would mean that the World Cup’s perennial bridesmaids go to the semi-finals – and they will, barring a freakish turn of results – as the only team without a win against any of their co-passengers. The draw and the weather – rain washed out their match against India – ensured a smoother early ride for them but, having nearly booked their final-four berth, they have hit the kind of bumps which can be, even at the best of times, confidence jarring.The phrase ‘being in charge of your own fate’ has been used often in the back end of this tournament, which opened with one unanticipated result. And New Zealand can, by beating England, finish in the top three and take fate out of the equation. In their minds, then, they need this win as much as England do.Momentum – it’s a word Ross Taylor used several times on the eve of the match – is what New Zealand need to regain ahead of the semi-final, having lost a fair bit of it the last two weeks through back-to-back losses against Pakistan and Australia. Both losses exposed frailties that had been apparent though the early weeks but were papered over by their big strengths: the bowling, and Kane Williamson. And Taylor, to an extent.Only Williamson features among the top ten run-scorers in the tournament, but even he has slipped down the order with two successive failures. And Taylor, who started promisingly, now stands at No. 24. No New Zealand batsman apart from Williamson has scored a hundred, and Williamson and Taylor have been involved in a rescue act almost every time, with the openers having gone in the first ten overs.Martin Guptill, expected at least to be the third best batsman in the team, has scored fewer runs in the whole tournament than he scored in one innings in the last World Cup, and half of those runs came in one match; and the gamble on Colin Munro didn’t ever take off, requiring them to bring in Henry Nicholls. Consequently, the combined batting average of their openers is better than only Afghanistan and, at 24.25, a fair distance from the leading teams, Australia (68), India (67.76) and England (51.80).Taylor acknowledged Guptill’s challenge. “He was the leading run-scorer in the last World Cup and he had gone into that last World Cup not scoring any runs. His confidence is down. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and he certainly needs that. It is a very important position at the top of the order and getting Guppy firing is a key part to our team… if he can do that tomorrow, it certainly sets the tone for our batting unit and our power down the order with (Jimmy) Neesham and (Colin) de Grandhomme and, hopefully, not having them to do as much work as they have probably had to do in that last couple of matches.”Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor congratulate each other as they both notch up fifties•Getty Images

With four starts and only two half-centuries, Taylor himself knows that he needs a bit of luck too. “I have felt good throughout the whole tournament,” he said, “A couple of strangles down the leg-side and a couple of good balls, that is the nature of the beast.”But he would have happy memories of his last encounter with England, when he helped New Zealand to 339 with 181 off 147 balls, an innings made even more extraordinary for the fact that half of it was played on one leg after he injured himself diving to make a second run. “That was a long time ago,” Taylor said when reminded of that innings.Questions were also asked about New Zealand’s brand of cricket and Williamson’s captaincy. Brendon McCullum, who led New Zealand’s last World Cup campaign with the spirit of a matador, has himself raised those questions in his current role as a television pundit.”Obviously, Brendon was the extreme, and Kane has his own unique style as well,” Taylor said. “At the end of the day, you have to be true to yourself and be authentic and, more often than not, you get the right result.”I think Kane is a fantastic world-class batsman and a world-class captain. You don’t have to look far, till the last of couple of games there were some pundits out there saying he was a great captain. We lose a couple of games and he is a bad captain. He is still a great captain, leads from the front and the team respects him and I love playing under him. I’d love as a team to take a little bit of pressure off him and score some runs and not let him do everything.”This isn’t a virtual quarter-final for New Zealand as it is for England. But there is a lot more at stake than might appear. This is their final opportunity to find their ‘A’ game in a tournament that has brought them more wins than any other team bar Australia and India, but not the ones that really count. And, once through, they will match Australia with eight semi-final appearances.To go beyond that – and they know this – they will have to play better than they have done so far.”Hopefully we are not too far away to playing the brand of cricket we know we can play,” Taylor said, “because we definitely haven’t played to our potential so far and hopefully that is not too far away.”He meant tomorrow.

Australian great avoids usual whitewash prediction, but remains confident the strength of their seamers gives them an edge

Andrew Miller29-Jul-2019It is a measure of what a close Ashes series we have in prospect that even Glenn McGrath has chosen to “sit on the fence” instead of offering up his traditional “5-0 to Australia” prediction.However, McGrath believes that the key to the series is held by James Anderson, the man who recently overhauled his all-time record for Test wickets by a fast bowler, as Australia bid to win the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001.Anderson, like McGrath, continues to operate at the peak of his powers long after his contemporaries have begun to succumb to the ravages of time. Though he turns 37 on Tuesday, he is still the ICC’s No.2-ranked fast bowler in Test cricket with 575 wickets to his name, and he is much the same age as McGrath himself was when he spearheaded Australia’s 5-0 Ashes win in his farewell series in 2006-07.”To be 37-plus, and to have played 148 Test matches, it’s absolutely incredible,” McGrath told ESPNcricinfo. “To think that he’s put his body through that much pain and stress, and everything that goes into being a fast bowler, and he’s still going out there and going the business.”When that ball’s swinging, in English conditions with the Dukes ball, there’s no-one better. So yeah, if Australia can get on top of Jimmy, that’s going to be a big decider in this Test series. But if Jimmy comes out, bowls well and knocks the Australians over, it’s going to be another tough series for them.”Adapting to the Dukes ball will be a major factor in Australia’s campaign, not only for the batsman facing Anderson and Co, but their own coterie of fast bowlers who look, on paper, as strong an outfit as has toured England in many a series. England know full well about Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, but James Pattinson’s form is particularly noteworthy in the lead-up to Edgbaston, as shown by his success on a lively practice wicket at the Ageas Bowl last week.”It’s going to be an amazing series,” said McGrath. “I think this Australian bowling attack is looking as good as it’s been for a long time. To have James Pattinson back and what he offers … he’s been bowling incredibly well, but it’s just that attitude and ‘white-line fever’, I guess you’d call it. As soon as he crosses the line, he’s very dangerous.”To have that wealth of fast bowlers, that’s tough for the selectors, and it’s going to be interesting to see which way they go for that first Test match. But it’s a good thing to have.”It’s an especially tantalising proposition given the insecurities in England’s batting order at present. In an extraordinary Test against Ireland at Lord’s last week, England were bowled out for 85 in the first innings and lost 7 for 77 in the second, and McGrath admitted that the Australians would be itching to reopen a few wounds.James Anderson and Joe Root inspect the ball•Getty Images

“They’ll be keen to get a look at that top order as soon as possible,” he said, “but they’ll still have to bowl in the right areas. I think that’s very important. If they bowl badly, and let those guys get settled and get a little bit of confidence, the series is over. But if they can bowl well at those guys, get on top of them, and get Joe Root in at 3 for 30 rather than 3 for 300, it makes a massive difference, and it’s a massive match-up for the series.”When it comes to bowling the right length in England, no-one exemplifies it better than McGrath, who hoovered up 87 wickets at 19.34 in his three tours from 1997 to 2005, including a remarkable 33 at 11.50 at Lord’s, the venue for the second Test. But even he had to learn the hard way, after a chastening first outing in England at Edgbaston in 1997.”I remember that ’97 series very well,” he said. “It was my first tour of England, and in that first Test match, we probably bowled more of an Australian length. England dominated – they won that Test by nine wickets – and the day after, Geoff Marsh, the coach of the time, got us out for like two hours straight, off a long run in the middle of Edgbaston.”It was all about bowling the right length, getting it up there a little bit fuller. And that had a massive impact. And when we came to Lord’s, we adapted and adjusted our length, and the rest is history. So yeah, you need that time to adjust. The great players adjust and adapt a lot quicker, and that’s the difference between a good and a great player.”With that in mind, Australia ought to be as well acquainted with the conditions as possible. Not only have the majority of the squad been over in England competing at the World Cup, several others have been involved in the Australia A tour that has been running concurrently. Plus, several players with points to prove, including Pattinson and the returning Cameron Bancroft, have been honing their skills in county cricket.However, McGrath isn’t quite as bullish about his fellow countrymen’s prospects as he might once have been.”I’m always confident that the Aussies are going to do well, but I’ve probably made a rod for my own back with my predictions in the past,” he said. “I’m going to sit on the fence for this one, and just see what happens in this first Test. If Australia can come in and dominate – or not so much dominate, but if they can win that first Test – then you’ll be hearing 5-0 again. But I’m going to reserve my prediction until after the first game.”In the meantime, McGrath has got a trip back to a familiar ground to look forward to, where a familiar incident is bound to be replayed ad nauseum in the build-up to the Ashes opener – that moment, on the morning of the 2005 Edgbaston Test, when he trod on a stray cricket ball to turn the tide of the series.”It’s not my fondest memory,” he said. “But every time I go back to Edgbaston, the groundsman and the locals remind me exactly which patch of grass it happened on, and they’ve always told me they going to put a little plaque there just to commemorate it.”But that 2005 series was an incredible series, even that match at Edgbaston went right down to the wire. Hopefully we’ll see another series that matches that one.”Glenn McGrath is working with online trading broker ThinkMarkets to encourage more young people to get into sport through the Think2020initiative. For more information please visit www.thinkmarkets.com.

Australia fast bowler returns to the Sixers where he played three seasons after helping Melbourne Stars to the final in 2018

Alex Malcolm31-Aug-2019Sydney Sixers have signed fast bowler Jackson Bird for a second stint at the BBL club after helping the Melbourne Stars to the final last season.Bird, 32, who has played nine Tests for Australia and was part of Australia A’s tour of England this winter, has alternated between the Stars and Sixers across all nine seasons of the BBL.He was with the Stars in the first four seasons of the BBL before joining the Sixers in BBL 05. He is originally from Sydney but plays his first-class cricket in Tasmania. He played three seasons with the Sixers but was starved of opportunities in BBL 07 playing just one game and was coaxed back to the Stars last year. He had an excellent season in Melbourne despite only playing nine games. He took seven wickets at economy rate of just 6.70 including two key wickets in the thrilling final.But with the Stars signing Australia ODI and T20 fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile, the Sixers saw the opportunity to bolster their fast bowling stocks ahead of a season where the schedule will be far more compacted and the fast bowlers may need to be rested and rotated.”With this season’s tightened schedule, quick turnarounds and multiple flights across the country, the depth and durability of your attack will surely be tested,” Sixers coach Greg Shipperd said. “So the addition of a player like Jackson is timely and welcomed.””Jackson continues to be one of Australia’s very best and respected all form bowlers and we know he will play an integral role in our chase for a title.”Jackson’s skill with the new ball and experience will complement our emerging young pace attack in a format that demands flexible and multiple role playing.”Bird said he was keen to head back to Sydney and contribute more meaningfully than he did in his previous three seasons there.”I am really excited about coming back to the Sixers,” Bird said. “I’ve had three years at the Sixers in the past and didn’t play well so I want to come back and really contribute. Getting back with the guys I have played with before and returning to the SCG is awesome and I am grateful for the opportunity.”The Sixers made it to the semi-final last season only to be beaten in a nail-biter by the eventual champions Melbourne Renegades.

Test captain wants to keep playing all formats but acknowledges challenge from next generation

George Dobell22-Oct-2019Joe Root has admitted he will have to be at the top of his game if he is to win a place in England’s side at next year’s T20 World Cup.Root, England’s Test captain, accepts he could be “swept away and eaten up” by the emergence of younger players such as Tom Banton, but insisted he remains as keen as ever to play in all three formats of the international game.With Root and other senior members of the England sides rested for the T20I series in New Zealand, Banton is among a number of young players who will have a chance to stake a claim for a prolonged run in the side. The T20 World Cup takes place in Australia next October and November.ALSO READ: Bairstow targets T20Is as first step to Test comeback“For me to get in to the T20I side, it will mean that I have to keep getting better,” Root said. “If someone like Tom Banton comes in and sets the world alight, I’ve got to try force him out in the limited opportunities I get to play.”If that happens, it raises the standard of English cricket in that format. That’s the food chain that cricket is sometimes. You have to be at the top of it otherwise you get swept away and eaten up.”Root’s T20I record is respectable. He made an unbeaten 90 in his first T20I innings, against Australia in 2013 – it remains his highest score in the format – and an impressive 54, top-scoring for England in the 2016 World T20 final. But he has reached 10 only twice in his most recent six T20I innings and, despite a healthy-looking average of 35.72 in the format (of England players to have enjoyed 20 innings in the format, only Kevin Pietersen’s average is higher), a strike rate of 126.30 places him only 14th on the list of England players to have featured in 20 matches.He has also struggled for opportunities to work on his game in the format. While he did have an unremarkable spell at the last edition of the Big Bash, scoring 99 runs in seven innings with a best of 26 and an average of 14.14, he has generally either not been picked up by T20 franchise leagues or not been available to appear in them due to his schedule. He remains confident, however, that should he win a sustained opportunity to play T20 cricket, he can adapt to its demands.”I obviously scored runs in the 2016 final and I’ve always felt that when I have had a block of that format, to really get stuck into it, I’ve generally done pretty well,” he said. “I felt that was the case with the last T20 World Cup. It took me a couple of warm-up games over a two-week period beforehand to really get back into it.”But then once the tournament started, I found my way in, and felt like it was very similar to the one-day team where I knew how everyone else was going to play. Then you dovetail around them.”I’ve got good experiences to call upon. I know what it’s like to have to perform in those scenarios.”Pat Cummins bowled Joe Root for 57•Getty Images

There will be those who suggest Root should accept he is not cut out for the T20 format and decide instead to concentrate on the other formats of the game. His Test average has fallen to 47.91, after all, and as captain to 40.81. A case could be made to suggest he had plenty on his plate without worrying about improving his T20 batting – not to mention grappling with a new format in the form of the Hundred.But, while he acknowledged the importance of his Test form, Root was adamant that playing all formats will improve him as a batsman.”I know how important it is that Test cricket is my main focus,” he said. “But as long as the other formats aren’t a distraction or taking away from what I can give to the Test team then I’ll always look to improve my game and put myself in as many situations and scenarios which I think will long-term help me as a player.”To that end, he has already started to prepare for the Test team’s tour of New Zealand admitting he felt there were some technical issues to address by the time the Ashes series ended.”I want to start the winter off with a bang,” he said. “I want to set a marker early in terms of going out to New Zealand and making big scores. I really want to try to lead from the front.”I felt sometimes [in the summer] I was getting a little bit too off side of the ball and then as though I was trying to fight that. So if I can find something which feels very rhythmical, that’s a big part of how I bat well. Also if I am better aligned, I can access everywhere a lot easier.”Four years ago is the last time I had a break as long as this and that was because I broke my thumb. So to have a block and a chance to spend some time working at certain technical things without the pressure of a game around the corner is invaluable really.”