Burgeoning domestic scene provides South Africa allrounder the recognition she deserves

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Sep-2022The Hundred’s boast of “the best vs the best” only really holds weight in the women’s competition. On Saturday, in a final played on a pitch not conducive to entertaining cricket, it needed the best more than ever.Thankfully, there was Marizanne Kapp. A cricketer with an insatiable desire to take charge of games, regardless of the surface. A person who does what she can to avoid awkward situations – such as dealing with deliveries not quite coming onto the bat and the lingering embarrassment about potentially falling short of a very gettable target of 102 – and remedies all those anxieties by dominating them anyway.For the second year in a row, Kapp bent the Hundred final to her whim with both bat and ball. Oval Invincibles are champions once more, a fine Southern Brave outfit bested for consecutive seasons by a team who have the most exciting blend of kids, upstarts, established sorts and all-stars.That’s now two Hundred medals to go with Kapp’s three Big Bash Leagues, if you’re keeping count. Kapp certainly is. At 32, it is not a great leap to suggest the allrounder is entering a phase of her career where she has to look out for number one. We are in a new age of women’s cricket where the international scene is skewed once again to the usual three. And in many ways, that can exacerbate the sadness that some players will never quite get the stages they deserve. Finals, Test matches, prime-time television slots.No-one is entitled to them outright, but at a time when Kapp’s South Africa career feels at its most perilous, there’s something to be said for the last nine months. She was player of the match in the WBBL final with an unbeaten 31 and one for 25, then picked up her maiden Test century against England before this success at Lord’s in front of a new domestic record crowd of 20,840.This was only Kapp’s fourth game of in this year’s Hundred after illness and ailments interrupted her participation. But she finishes as Invincibles’ third-highest run-scorer with 126 – her average enhanced by just the one dismissal, while boasting a strike rate of 138, along with four useful wickets.Oval Invincibles celebrate the retention of their Women’s Hundred title•Getty ImagesHer bowling in this final (one for 19) was not as devastating as last year’s four for nine, but the unbeaten 37 – which followed scores of 34 not out and 36 not out in the previous two games to top the group – was perhaps the embodiment of what someone like Kapp brings. Their total upon her arrival after Suzie Bates’ dismissal – 33 – was the same when Alice Capsey’s engaging innings came to an end on 25. With the ball a little older and up against an attack with a bit of everything, marshalled by Anya Shrubsole, a tight finish was coming into view. And when Mady Villiers and then Kira Chathli were unable to offer adequate support, an equation of 24 from 33 had a whiff of jeopardy to it.The interesting thing here is Kapp would only hit one more four: manoeuvring outside leg stump to carve Tahlia McGrath through backward point to leave Invincibles needing just two from the last eight. Her four other boundaries up to that point ensured the runs required were lower than balls left, which is how it remained through some calculated punches and dabs into pockets.”I was just telling myself and my batting partner to stay there for as long as possible and keep on looking straight,” said Kapp after the match. “It was a tricky wicket, not easy to bat on, and I just felt if we take it as deep as possible, they would have to bring fielders up and we’d get the shots through.”The message was heeded by Emily Windsor, who was greeted about two-thirds of the way to the pitch by an animated Kapp, who had taken off her gloves to ensure her wild gesticulating as to where they should look for their runs would not be lost. Windsor logged it all, immediately cutting to the boundary rider out at cover to get her senior partner on strike. Her diligence was rewarded with the honour of striking the winning runs through point.Windsor celebrated as anyone in her position would: beaming with elation during the best moment of her career to date. Having notionally touched down at the other end, she span and rushed towards Kapp, whose smile spoke more of joy for what Windsor was feeling rather than what she herself had helped accomplished. Following their hug, Kapp bent down on one knee as she does after her highest points.Related

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One can only imagine what she was thinking. Even amid the glory, this has been a tumultuous summer, from missing the Commonwealth Games after her brother-in-law suffered an accident that left him in intensive care, to the general grind of being in England for more or less the entire summer while her South Africa side were beaten and dragged all over the country. Quite how she was able to summon this all speaks of her spirit.She was with her own thoughts for all of five seconds before her Invincibles team-mates rushed to embrace her, including her wife, Dane van Niekerk, who has had to make do with the bench for the latter part of this competition. An hour later, she strode into her press conference speaking of relief at getting to experience “an absolutely amazing feeling” once more.”It was a bit more nerve-wracking this year around,” she ceded. “But I’m happy to be sitting here.” Who’d back against her and Invincibles being back here again for a third time next year? The complete allrounder for the complete team.

The Zimbabwe head coach talks about the side’s recent turnaround, their World Cup ambitions, and new talent coming through the ranks

Interview by Danyal Rasool17-Aug-2022A few months ago, Zimbabwe cricket was at its nadir, their most recent ignominy a crushing home series clean sweep at Afghanistan’s hands. In a bid to try and stall the side’s downward spiral, Zimbabwe Cricket appointed former captain Dave Houghton as head coach. Since then, the team has enjoyed an astonishing revival, going unbeaten in the T20 World Cup Qualifier to book their berth in the tournament proper in Australia, following it up with T20I and ODI series wins against Bangladesh.Here, Houghton speaks about the method behind the side’s reversal of fortunes and his plans for Zimbabwe cricket.Let’s talk about the T20I series win against Bangladesh. What did that tell you about this Zimbabwe side?
Obviously we’re delighted to take that T20 series, and in the way we won it, which showed great spirit. What was key for me was that we attacked from bad positions in both the second and third matches, something we wouldn’t have done in the past. We’ve also used a number of different players through the series and that’s part of my effort to broaden our base. So that is hugely encouraging.Related

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While the standard of opposition wasn’t as good [as Bangladesh] in the [T20 World Cup] Qualifier, the amount of pressure upon us to qualify almost made up for it. The biggest thing for me, though, is that we played [against Bangladesh] with the same intensity and fearlessness as we played those qualifiers. And if we can bring that to the table during these games, I think we will be a very good challenge for most sides.You’ve had an instant impact after coming in at a low ebb for Zimbabwe cricket. Why do you think that happened?
I knew the guys pretty well. I was involved last year with local franchise cricket coaching, so I knew the players and what I’d seen last year is that there’s some very, very talented and highly skilled players. But when they play for Zimbabwe, they don’t seem to want to get their skills out.All I’ve done up until now is basically said to them that I want them to play fearless cricket. There will be no recriminations if they make mistakes. Making mistakes is a good way of learning, but I want them to go out and play with their skills, because we’ll never know how good we are until we actually put our skills on the table. I think that has been the turning point. We’ve gone out and we’ve played a good, aggressive brand of T20 cricket in particular. And some of the people that watched this were quite amazed at some of the skills our players had. It purely and simply was about them having too much fear of failure. They just weren’t able to actually play to their potential.

“I think that the team had become accustomed to losing. And unfortunately, as much as winning is a habit, so is losing, and it can be quite hard and frustrating as a coach to try and get that to change”

Sounds like there are some parallels with what Brendon McCullum seems to be doing with the England Test side.
I think he’s a slightly bigger name doing it with a slightly bigger team. It’s nice to have that comparison, but I think I have a way to go first. Let’s see how we go in six months’ time, when we’ve got through Bangladesh, India and Australia, which are some tough, tough teams, and then the World Cup, and then we’ll see if changes are made and progress has been made.What did you think you needed to change from Lalchand Rajput’s time and in what areas did you think Zimbabwe were going down the wrong direction?
It [would be] wrong of me to criticise any previous coach. But I think that the team had become accustomed to losing. And unfortunately, as much as winning is a habit, so is losing, and it can be quite hard and frustrating as a coach to try and get that to change. The board realised that as well, and made the change for Lal and myself to try and get a new voice into the change room to see if we can get an about-turn to that losing habit. But as I said, it’s been purely mental. There’s no time between now and when we get back from Australia to actually do any technical work.Did you also have different views on selection? Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams were being moved on and then they went on to play an integral role in the qualifiers?
I think in every side you need a semblance of seniority as well as your young up-and-coming players. We have a nice blend. Sean was injured for a long time and that was a shame. But it’s great to have him back. He really is a big player in our team. And so is Sikandar, and both of them are very senior, very experienced. Their cricket may have dropped in the last few months prior to me arriving, but since I’ve come back in, they’ve been mainstays of our side and have played brilliant cricket. Once these games are out of the way, I’ll go and look at the franchise systems and see what [talent] is coming up in four or five years’ time that’s going to replace our senior players.Sikandar Raza was a key figure in Zimbabwe’s series win over Bangladesh, scoring hundreds in both ODIs and fifties in two of three T20Is against them•Jekesai Njikizana /AFP/Getty ImagesSome of your key players are ageing. Are you confident you have quality coming through the ranks to replace them?
We’ve got five franchises right now and they’ve got about 20 people on the staff in each franchise. The standard is very much at the same level. You could probably take ten of the squad of 15 I’ve got now and change them with another ten and have no difference.The difference is the lack of match-winners. When I go back to our past and you look at when the team was playing with Andy Flower, Heath Streak, Grant Flower, they were a head above the rest of the group and could win you matches on their own. There were always a number of players who were match-winners. At the moment we don’t have those match-winners, but we have a very big number of good players all across the same level. And I’m hoping that some of the youngsters coming through now, with the experience they’re getting, will in four or five years become those match winners.Is it frustrating to lose a lot of Zimbabwe’s best players because they go abroad?
That’s nothing new. We’ve been losing those guys since 1980. When we first became independent, we lost Brian Davis, who went off to Tasmania and then in the nineties we lost Graeme Hick and Kevin Curran. It’s been going on for ages and you can’t stop people going off and playing elsewhere. But I think there’s more than enough guys to give us a serious, decent side over a number of years.There have been reports that you could play a role in bringing some of the players who’ve gone to England, like Ben Curran and Gary Ballance, back to Zimbabwe. Is that an opportunity you’re exploring?
I don’t think that we’ve ever said anybody who goes and plays elsewhere can’t play for Zimbabwe. The biggest thing is letting them know they can come back. So you drop them a line and say, this is an option for you. But they must want to come back to play for Zimbabwe. This is not a case of us going out there and throwing contracts at people who haven’t broken the world where they are anyway. They can get involved in the franchise system and if selected, play for Zimbabwe. There’s nothing action-wise with specific players going on at the moment, but I have told the guys the door is open.

“In the past, the team was playing with Andy Flower, Heath Streak, Grant Flower, who could win you matches on their own. At the moment we don’t have those match-winners, but we have a very big number of good players all across the same level”

Do you think Zimbabwe’s player pool is too shallow right now?
I would agree with you but for the fact that when I played Test cricket, we had a player pool of about 15 people, and we managed to hold our own against India and a few others. What I see now, with five franchises playing good professional cricket all year round, is that it’s quite substantially better than it used to be. There’s always room for more, and I’m sure that’s part of Zimbabwe Cricket’s logistical plans going forward – to get more schools playing, resurrect some of the old school grounds which are still there but need to be redone. And get more facilities, because there’s such an interest in the game it’s amazing.How well placed is Zimbabwe cricket from a financial point of view to cope with the bigger sides over the years? How can they remain competitive at the very top level with a much smaller budget?
I don’t really know a lot about the Zimbabwe budget. I know that we were in debt certainly five years ago. The new chairman Doc Mukuhlani [Tavenga Mukuhlani] came in and, with the help of the ICC, put in a lot of austerity measures over the last five years, trimmed the number of people working in the company [ZC] but still managed to maintain a fairly high level of domestic first class cricket.The end result of that is, I believe, that we are now out of debt completely. And at the most recent ICC meeting they have now decided that we can actually control our own funds again. For a long time, the ICC were distributing the funds for us. We’re in a good position to not only maintain and improve as a cricket team, but also to maintain and improve as a cricket nation.For a period in the last decade or so, Zimbabwe Cricket was viewed as a place with a somewhat dysfunctional, even toxic, workplace culture. Do you detect any of that now, and how do you find this work environment?
I can’t really comment about six or seven years ago, but I’ll tell you that when I look back over my 40-year career with Zimbabwe, probably 18 to 20 years as a player, this is probably the best I’ve ever been treated. And [I’m working] with some of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with. If there was some toxicity some years ago and rumours creeped out about that, it certainly hasn’t affected me. The people that I work with now are open all the time to suggestions on how we can improve. They’re absolutely fantastic.Zimbabwe fans turned up in numbers to cheer the side on in the T20 World Cup Qualifier final against Netherlands in Bulawayo•Zinyange Auntony /AFP/Getty ImagesFor the T20 World Cup you’re in a group with Ireland, Scotland and West Indies. Some people thought the other group, with Namibia, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, UAE, would have been easier. But are you now in a position where you’d be disappointed not to qualify out of that group, or is that setting expectations too high?
I’ve said all along I want to make the World Cup proper. It didn’t worry me which section we were in. I genuinely feel that as well as we can [currently] play, we’ll certainly be a handful for those three sides in our section. A couple of guys sort of mentioned it to me before the final: “Do you really want to win this game? Don’t you want to be in the other section?” And I said, “Who knocked us out the last time we were in one of these qualifiers? Wasn’t it UAE?” And that got the point across.I think either section will be just as tough. It’s funny that so many years later in my playing and coaching time, I end up in these situations. When we first became an international side after independence in 1980, we had to go to the Associate Members’ World Cup – there was no second, third and fourth prizes. You had to win it to go to the World Cup. For us, the money that we gained from going to the World Cup kept us going every four years because we weren’t heavily sponsored by the ICC at that time. So there was so much pressure on us, but we managed to do it three times. So I’ve sort of been through those phases and I know how much pressure that can be.You were coach of the Zimbabwe side when they finished fifth at the 1999 World Cup, Zimbabwe’s best ever result at a global tournament. Is there anything that gives you encouragement that this side could be a similar surprise package?
It’s tricky, because although that was the best we’ve ever performed, there is a little bit of history to that tour for us. And in a way we got to where we got to not by luck but without even really trying. There had been a dispute over payments before we left and when we left Zimbabwean shores we had not practised for a month.When we played India we were sort of almost out of it completely. Alistair [Campbell] lobbed the ball to Henry Olonga and he got three wickets in an over and bang, we’d beaten India. When we got to the last game, against South Africa, I literally said to the guys, “Please make sure your bags are down in the foyer so that after the game we know we can get off to the airport.”We didn’t think we could beat South Africa and then we did, and you look up and we’re top of our section, and going through with points because the other two sides coming through were South Africa and India and we’d beaten them both. So we got to where we got to by playing a free and fearless brand of cricket, which is what I’m trying to get our guys to do now. In that sense, we can absolutely draw encouragement from that.

“It didn’t worry me which section we were in in the T20 World Cup. I genuinely feel as well as we currently play, we’ll certainly be a handful for the three sides in our section”

How can you set goals for Zimbabwe that are both realistic and exciting for Zimbabwe fans?
Setting long-term goals is not in my domain at the moment. If you want a goal now, it’s to fill the stadiums. That’s the goal. In Bulawayo, we had somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 [people] for that final [Qualifier], which isn’t far off full. And they sing and dance and scream and cheer for us and it’s a fantastic atmosphere. And if we can continue to fill the stadiums by the brand of cricket that we play, cricket will grow exactly how we want it to.How exciting is it to host India after such a long time?
I think the excitement around the Indian tour, even though it’s only three ODIs, is immense. In town, when you talk to people, that’s all they talk about. It reminds me of my youth when we went to play in the World Cup and we played against Dennis Lillee and [Jeff] Thomson, who most of our guys had only ever seen on TV before. It’s now got to that stage with the Indian players because they are so well known worldwide for their exploits in the IPL and playing for India. So it’s a matter of saying to these guys that yes, you’re playing against this team and yes, you must respect them, but don’t be in such awe of them that you can’t go out and play. It’s a formidable unit and we’ve got our work cut out, but it’ll be fun.What coaxed you back into the Zimbabwe fold?
I was doing some work for Zimbabwe anyway. I have always wanted to put back into Zimbabwe Cricket. I want to get it back to as close as it was when I was playing – No. 8 or 9 in the world rather than the 12-15 we’ve slipped to. I wanted to get us back and do everything I can to help out. So when the offer came to take over the national side, I couldn’t say no, although I wasn’t really looking to do a head coach’s role because it can get quite pressurised at times. I just said, “Yes, I’ll get on a plane.” I jumped on a plane three days later and I was here.

Sunil Narine and Mohammad Amir on life in bio-secure bubbles

Barny Read28-Jan-2021’New normals’ are being established in every corner of society as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and cricket is no different.The international game returned to unusually bare backdrops of English stadiums last summer, when the notion of social distancing in bio-bubbles was first put forward and carried out.Nearly seven months on, these sanitary havens popping up all over the world are not only considerably less bizarre than they once sounded, but are also essential to getting any kind of play underway.It’s no different at the T10 League in Abu Dhabi and everyone entering the bubble – players, coaches and support staff alike – had to quarantine for three days upon arrival, while undergoing PCR tests every 24 hours during that period. Each member of the T10 bubble then undergoes PCR testing every 48 hours, meaning there are going to be some sore noses by the end of the ten-day tournament.Afghanistan and Ireland cricketers such as Mohammad Nabi and Paul Stirling were carefully transitioned from one bubble to another following their ODI series at the same Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, a manoeuvre involving a kind of Megabus musical chairs.Despite the oddity of it all, it has the kind of unfamiliar familiarity experienced the world over through adjusting to lockdowns, face masks and seemingly endless Zoom meetings.”It’s hard, but it’s something that you generally have to get accustomed to. You have to set your mind that you’re going to have to quarantine, it’s going to be tougher than normal and you’re going to have to come to tournaments a week earlier, sometimes two weeks earlier,” Deccan Gladiators allrounder Sunil Narine told ESPNcricinfo, fittingly on a Zoom call between games of FIFA and binging Netflix like the rest of us.”It’s getting normal, more or less, because we’ve been living in this for a while now and any cricket you’re playing – this is going to happen now. There’s things you have to do as a professional cricketer and that’s the mindset; you have to adapt.”One player glad to be off the sofa and away from his TV is Mohammad Amir, playing in his first franchise tournament since retiring from Pakistan duties at the end of last year.”After Covid [happened], if you’re getting any opportunity to play cricket, it’s a blessing from God,” Amir said on another Zoom meeting with ESPNcricinfo. “Everybody is struggling in the world with Covid and I think we are blessed to be playing cricket, rather than sitting on the sofa and watching TV.”It’s sometimes strange and you get frustrated but it will only help because you have to manage [the situation]. As a player you have to follow the SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] and if you’re not meeting with your other team-mates, it’s not a big deal because we’re here to play cricket, not to meet other mates. Rather than getting frustrated or getting negative thoughts in your mind, just stick with the fact that we’re here to play cricket.”Narine shares the same sentiment and believes that if players want to play cricket, then the sacrifices – as irritating and draining as they may be – are worth it.”Leaving home is probably the most difficult, leaving family, loved ones home and then you’re going to have to stay in a room where you’re here to play cricket but for seven days or five days, you’re just in a room doing absolutely nothing,” he said. “There’s things you have to do and there’s things you’re going to have to accept and move forward and just live with it because it’s going to be here for a while. No-one knows when it’s going to stop so you’re just going to have to live with it and move on.”With just two days of carefully orchestrated practice sessions possible prior to Thursday’s opening night, there was ring rust on show as defending champions Maratha Arabians shelled the first of three catches in the very first over, but they were soon back in their groove thanks to UAE international Abdul Shakoor.Unlike Narine and Amir, life in the bubble is a new phenomenon for Shakoor and although he described the experience as a “difficult one”, the 32-year-old looked entirely unperturbed in smashing the first half-century in T10 cricket by a UAE player as his team clinched a last-ball win.”It was very tough,” said a beaming Shakoor post-match. “On the last day we got to practice for just one hour and it’s very difficult when you are for four days in a room to come out and do a performance like this.”For the Arabians’ Bangladesh captain Mosaddek Hossain, the result was secondary to the relief to be on the field rather than in the hotel.”It’s boring for us but it’s the new normal life and we’re adjusting to this,” he said. “When we’re staying in the room every time we’re thinking of when we’re going out to the field or for practice. When we’re coming to play, it will be very exciting for us.”

Another nervy chase brought back memories of that fateful defeat, but Raza’s intrepid decision-making ensured there would be no repeat

Danyal Rasool21-Oct-2022Sikandar Raza chastised himself all the way on the long walk back to the dugout. His face was a picture of devastation, a trauma you couldn’t quite feel the full ferocity of even as he made no attempt to hide it. Once sat down, he buried his head in his hands, inconsolable. When he looked up, the glazed eyes gave the impression of a thousand-yard stare. Haunting images seemed to fill his mind’s eye, even as his team-mates knocked off the remaining runs with little drama.Raza’s dismissal had done little to dampen the spirits of a febrile group of Zimbabwe supporters who have turned out for every game, turning this little corner of Hobart into the closest thing in Tasmania to Castle Corner at the Harare Sports Club. The asking rate was down to under a run a ball, and Craig Ervine was still around to shepherd his side home.Related

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If you wondered why Raza was so cut up about getting dismissed after he’d all but got Zimbabwe home in their chase of 133 against Scotland, you don’t think about a cricket match played four-and-a-half years ago on the other side of the world as often as he does.In March 2018, rain and the DLS method left Zimbabwe negotiating a tricky chase against UAE, but they seemed to be on course to achieve it, and with it seal a berth at the 2019 ODI World Cup; the win was as vital for the cricket board’s financial security as its cricketing prestige. Raza was the man taking them home, putting on a rapid half-century stand with Sean Williams. But an airborne pull brought about his dismissal when Zimbabwe needed 45 off 34 balls, and they stumbled thereafter, losing in the end by a heartbreaking three-run margin. Their World Cup dreams went up in smoke, and just over a year later, the ICC slapped a suspension on them that effectively excluded them from the following T20 World Cup.Zimbabwe cricket is now in a rosier place, but Raza and his teammates can never forget those desperate times. On Friday in Hobart, just as in Harare day, Zimbabwe, playing an opponent they were favoured to beat, began their chase poorly. There was rain in the offing in Hobart, much as there had been in Harare. And the consequences for missing out would have been severe, just as they were then.The dismissal of Raza was a key turning point on that fateful day in Harare in March 2018•IDI via Getty ImagesSince the appointment of Dave Houghton as head coach, however, this side has made the effort to look forward rather than believe Zimbabwe cricket exists in an endless, self-fulfilling loop of disaster and heartache. Houghton has drilled into this Zimbabwe side that there will be no adverse consequences for getting out playing aggressively. But it’s one thing to say it, and quite another to stick to it in a virtual knockout game two days after an overly pugnacious approach was arguably responsible for a heavy defeat against West Indies.But not least because of that UAE game, Raza understands pressure, and the consequences of falling short. With the required rate inching towards eight and belief coursing through Scottish veins, the sound of bagpipes had begun to take over from the melody of gentle Zimbabwean songs as Hobart’s soundtrack for the game when Raza took his first risk. Safyaan Sharif was lobbed over mid-off, a shot Raza really didn’t catch out of the middle. It only just evaded George Munsey and dribbled away for four. Houghton might have told him there were no adverse consequences, but Raza needs no coach to tell him that getting out then wouldn’t have been consequence-free for Zimbabwe.”We’ve been part of too many tournaments where it’s pretty cut-throat, so credit to Scotland,” Raza said post-match, his voice quivering. “Once we bowled well, I felt one of us would get the job done. [thank Allah], It was my turn, but Craig [Ervine] played really well and the two youngsters finished it off. It’s quite satisfying and humbling. It’s quite emotional as well, and pretty pleasing.”I said to Craig your job is to bat through now. Give me eight to ten balls and I’ll try and get it as quickly as possible. But you’re the one who’s going to win us this game and you’re the one who’s going to take the team through. Some of the risks I took came off and we ended up having a pretty good partnership as well and that was instrumental in winning the game today.”Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza 64 runs for the fourth wicket•AFP/Getty ImagesRaza and Houghton seem to understand perfectly the fatal flaw behind the idea that not taking risks is a safe way to play. The rising asking rate will inevitably compel the team to write cheques they might not have the ability to cash at the back end, and therefore, even when his next slog flew precariously close to backward point, Raza refused to be deterred. A couple of sixes – one an exquisite drive over cover – suggested that tiny window of opportunity for Scotland had been sealed shut.Defeat here would have added another bitter chapter to the litany of near-misses that have left visible scars on Zimbabwe cricket, but while the power to change things lay in his hands, Raza had no interest dwelling on the iniquities of the past. Eighteen months ago, he had been diagnosed with a bone-marrow infection that he feared might be cancerous, putting into perspective any pressure he may have felt to find the middle of a bat rather than the edge. It wasn’t until he top-edged a loose ball to the keeper that some of the darker thoughts returned, but by then there was little to worry about. Zimbabwe were almost out of danger, and his intrepid decision-making had got them there.”I don’t believe you can grow as I cricketer if you’re in fear of your own shadow and in fear of playing a bad shot or bowling a bad ball or something,” Houghton would say at the press conference later. “You just can’t grow.”That message will resonate deeply with Raza, who will likely be the only sober person in the Zimbabwe camp tonight. But as he looks upon his teammates enjoying a drink they owe in large part to him, he can perhaps reflect on all the growing that he’s done with Zimbabwe, and that Zimbabwe have done with him.

Onus on learning new tricks for foreign climes leaves unbeaten record in jeopardy

George Dobell11-Jun-2021It’s been seven years since England lost a Test series at home but, over the next few days in Birmingham, they face a real fight to retain their record.England have been pushed a few times in recent years. But whether it’s been India or Australia or West Indies or Pakistan who have threatened that record, England have tended, when push came to shove, to revert to home advantage.What does that mean? It’s tended to mean producing surfaces which encourage their strength in seam bowling and their experience in both using and facing the Dukes ball. Think, for examples, of the Lord’s Test against India in 2018 or the Trent Bridge and Edgbaston Tests against Australia in 2015.There’s nothing wrong with that. Pretty much every team uses home advantage. You could argue it wouldn’t be particularly sensible to do anything else.Joe Root has his hands on his head as New Zealand pile on the runs•Getty ImagesBut, in an effort to develop from a side that is good at home to a side that can claim to be the best in the world, England are testing themselves in more benign conditions. They have requested good batting tracks for this series – for the entire summer, actually – in the hope their batters can gain the skills required to bat long and their bowlers can demonstrate the adaptability required to thrive when the going gets tough.There’s nothing wrong with that, either. England have had some excellent wins both home and away in recent years. But, against the best three sides – India, Australia and New Zealand – they have won just one of the 26 away Tests they have played since the start of 2013. Chris Silverwood, the head coach, has admirable ambitions to improve that record.On the evidence of this series to date they have some way to go. New Zealand had the best of the first Test at Lord’s and, going into the third day at Edgbaston, are again in the stronger position. Bearing in mind that they made six changes to their team for this game – most of those changes designed to keep first-choice players fresh for the World Test Championship final – then most of the evidence suggests they are the stronger side. It’s not hard to see how New Zealand have qualified for the World Test Championship final, especially now that Devon Conway has filled one of the few holes they had.After a day (well, 76.3 overs) on which England’s bowlers claimed only three wickets, it’s probably natural that the focus will be on the attack. And it’s true, they struggled (at least until the ball was changed after 42 overs) to find the swing enjoyed by New Zealand. But the second day has been the best time to bat at Edgbaston for a long time and, in truth, you suspect England’s first innings was anything up to 100 runs short of par.The bowlers were a bit unlucky, too. For a start, Joe Root put down a relatively straightforward chance at slip off Olly Stone to reprieve Will Young on 7. They were probably a little unfortunate with an umpiring decision which went Conway’s way when he had scored 22; the umpires uncertain whether an edge had carried to Zak Crawley in the slips. And maybe a more confident keeper than James Bracey would have been a yard closer to the bat and been able to take the edge offered by Young on 40. Stuart Broad was the unfortunate bowler on both the latter occasions.Olly Stone was unlucky with a dropped catch by Root, but conceded his runs at 3.86 an over•Getty ImagesIt’s true that Jack Leach’s spin would have been useful. Even if he hadn’t gained much assistance, he would probably have provided more control than Stone (who has gone for 3.86 an over so far) and he would have helped ensure they avoided more over-rate fines. England, you may recall, lost 40 percent of their match fee because of their slow over-rate at Lord’s. Dan Lawrence’s maiden Test wicket right at the end of the day suggested spin could yet play a part of the final three days, too.But the man England really missed was Ben Stokes. With Stokes in the side, England can play the spinner without compromising their seam depth. He strengthens their batting, too, and provides a sense of belief in the field which can drag his side through tough sessions. He’s been masking holes elsewhere in the side for some time.”Yes, we want to play on good pitches; we want to challenge our fast bowlers to take wickets on good pitches,” Jon Lewis, the England bowling coach, agreed afterwards. “We have to find a way to be effective on these pitches, whether that’s using short balls to upset the batsmen or bowling tight lines and making it hard to score.”We’ve got to find a way to get wickets on good pitches because that’s what we’re going to have to do throughout the summer and in the winter as well.”It’s a brave policy. And an unusual one. Could Lewis think of another country which doesn’t utilise home advantage?”Australia,” he replied. “They produce really good pitches. They have pace and bounce and they back their fast bowlers to get wickets on them.”That’s the challenge that lies ahead of us. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”Related

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In retrospect, you wonder how wise it was to play Mark Wood in this match. It’s not that he didn’t deserve selection – he bowled really well at Lord’s – but, with just three empty days between games, you wonder if it was worth risking him. He still bowled quickly – though every bit of 10 percent slower than Lord’s – and his batting helped England recover from 175 for 6 to exceed 300. But he wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been at Lord’s. For all his qualities, you suspect he will rarely be at his best in the second of back-to-back Tests.The pitch is, Lewis admitted, a little slower than England would have liked, too. But, after a cold early summer, there’s not a huge amount that could have been done about that and part of England’s development as a Test side has to be their ability to make inroads in conditions where they have little assistance.Broad, at least, was excellent. We have become familiar with his full, probing length over the last couple of years. But what we do not always see is the lateral movement he generated here. He beat the bat often, took two edges that (apparently) didn’t carry and might, with just a little bit of luck, have had several wickets. He did, at least, have the satisfaction of surpassing Courtney Walsh’s Test wickets tally during the day; he did it in fewer overs, too. (We’ll gloss over the fact he’s closing in on his Test ducks record too.)But while Stone bowled some fine deliveries, he wasn’t quite able to sustain the pressure of his senior colleagues. And, with Wood unable to offer the pace variation he had at Lord’s, England had four right-arm seamers separated by about six mph. On flat wickets, against batters who are prepared to put a high price on their wicket, they will have to be even more disciplined and tight if they are to build pressure.And that’s the lesson here. England have come up against a really good side who have shown the standards required to go the extra step and become one of the best couple of teams in the world. This match isn’t over, but that home record looks in more jeopardy than it has for several years.

A look at some of the head-to-head contests that could decide who wins the Border-Gavaskar Trophy

S Rajesh06-Feb-2023Lyon vs Pujara and KohliThere has been much talk about how Australia’s batters will handle India’s multi-pronged spin threat on surfaces that are likely to provide plenty of assistance for them. But India will need to be equally wary of Nathan Lyon.Lyon’s record in India is impressive without being outstanding – 34 wickets in seven Tests at 30.58 – but he has improved over time: in 2012-13, he averaged 37.33 from three Tests, but in 2016-17 it dropped to 25.26. Moreover, the economy rate also improved from 4.4 in 2012-13 to 2.88 when he toured next, suggesting that he can also offer control from one end while the fast bowlers attack from the other.

Past coaches have had revolutionary plans, but they’ve not been easily accepted. Will Dravid be able to stamp his signature with this crop?

Sidharth Monga04-Nov-20214:23

Moody: Dravid’s challenge will be to manage the schedule

Early in his captaincy career – well, he was just a stand-in at that point of time – Rahul Dravid experienced the dark side of superstar power in Indian cricket. He declared an innings closed with Sachin Tendulkar on 194. The furore that followed shocked him. His full-time captaincy, lauded for his tactical nous and forward thinking, was littered with troubles with superstars, one who refused to move on, another who resented a change in his batting position. It eventually ended in the captain’s resignation and a sense of unfulfillment even though he had led India to their first Test win in South Africa and a rare series win in England.This was perhaps why Dravid has long been reluctant to take up the head coach role. Now that he has agreed to it, he is arguably India’s most high-profile coach ever. And he walks into a similarly challenging prospect of transitioning the team from the current superstars to the next ones. Make no mistake about it, Dravid inherits an extremely successful team. They have won two successive Test series in Australia, are a single draw away from winning one in England. India are nigh unbeatable at home, and have made at least the semi-finals of the last seven ICC events.Yet it a delicate turn for Indian cricket because the core of this team is in the last quarter of their careers. Their leader on the field, Virat Kohli, is showing signs of wear and tear, and wants to cut down on responsibilities. Every other automatic captaincy choice is older if not the same age. Not that Kohli is in a tearing hurry to give it all up either.Along with the selectors, Dravid will have to manage this transition as smoothly as he can with all the personality clashes that crop up during such times. The role of selectors can be easily overlooked, but they play a potentially bigger role than the coach.The previous team management led India on some really tough tours, two each to Australia and England and one to South Africa, but they had one advantage. Their stint was the most straightforward one in Indian cricket. In the team, there was no other power head. Unlike MS Dhoni and Dravid before him, Kohli didn’t have to manage any senior or difficult character. He got rid of the only possible dissenting voice, coach Anil Kumble, fairly early in his captaincy.They didn’t need any of the diplomacy a team management needs to deal with the BCCI. In the name of a board was a Committee of Administrators, which never denied anything they wanted. One of the things that has probably worn Kohli down, of late, is the board making sure that player power is kept in check. This is the reality of leading an Indian cricket team, a reality Kohli and Ravi Shastri were immune to, but Dravid – and whoever the next captain – is won’t be. While transitioning, they will still have to get the best out of these senior superstars.Dravid’s success as coach at the junior level has been unparalleled, but the biggest job in world cricket is a different ball game•Getty ImagesOn the field, challenges for Dravid are more direct. He has to make India’s white-ball sides more modern while maintaining the Test intensity. To run down India’s limited-overs sides based on ICC tournament knockout matches will be unfair, but there is a sense that despite running the biggest league in T20 cricket, India are always playing catch-up. Their default position in these formats is conservative. Only when they are pushed up against a wall do they unshackle themselves. The results are often spectacular, which frustrates the observers even more. Dravid will need to get rid of that handbrake.With the largest talent pool available to them, Dravid and the new captain will have to realise the vast potential India have in limited-overs cricket. Those who observe India’s limited-overs talent pool at grassroot levels, especially in the batting, are underwhelmed at what India achieve on the international scene. The test will be immediate: there are two World Cups coming up in the next two years, the T20 one in Australia in 2022 and the ODI World Cup at home in 2023.Related

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More than Shastri’s, like it or not, popular perception will judge Dravid’s tenure on these two events. Dravid is well equipped, though. He brings great experience in both team formation and strategising both as captain and coach in the toughest league of them all, the IPL. That is his big advantage over a man-manager kind of a coach. He also brings experience of overseeing players through their formative years at NCA and in Under-19 cricket.Dravid will find out not much has changed in India’s limited-overs setup since he was captain. The immediate problem is that everybody wants to bat inside the top three when the ball is hard and new. Back in 2006 and 2007, Dravid and coach Greg Chappell were ahead of their time in recognising the issue, but their solution, to ask the most versatile batter they knew to take up the responsibility in the middle order, backfired spectacularly because of lack of buy-in. What solutions will he bring about now? How will he manage a buy-in if he has similar revolutionary ideas?

“Along with the selectors, Dravid will have to manage this transition as smoothly as he can with all the personality clashes that crop up during such times. The role of selectors can be easily overlooked, but they play a potentially bigger role than the coach.”

Dravid will have to use all his diplomacy to manage the mental and physical health of his players. Kohli has cried himself hoarse in press conferences about the unsustainable schedules of the Indian team. This might just be the time to take the England route and invest in a completely different limited-overs outfit to better manage players’ bodies and minds. With some help from the BCCI, he will have to harbour a sense of security within the team, if he aims at such a shift.Test cricket has relatively easier assignments and challenges apart from the tour of South Africa and the last Test of the unfinished series in England. Leading that England series already, India will be favourites to make the final once again. However, during Dravid’s tenure, the futures of a few Test stalwarts will come up for review. Delicate decisions will have to be made.While the wild dream of being Test, ODI and T20I champions at the same time can’t be ruled out in the next two years, we will do well to not judge the team on those three or four knockout matches alone.That is one thing that will change from his current job where he himself makes a conscious effort to not focus on the results on the ground. To him, winning an Under-19 World Cup is less important than seeing his players holding their own against older, battle-hardened men in first-class cricket within one year of playing Under-19. His A-team tours are more about judging who can go on to serve India and then providing him enough chances to develop his game. Now Dravid will have to rely on someone else to do that for him.A recent TV commercial plays on the popular image of Dravid. They show him in road rage a moment after the narrator says their offer is as ridiculous as Dravid having anger issues. Because, well, if Dravid can have road rage, their offer is not so ridiculous after all. It works because it is an extremely clever advertisement, based of real-life perception of Dravid: a good boy with a neat side-parting who represents those qualities of people that they want projected.Yet the advertisers needn’t have created a fictional scene of road rage. They could have just shown him fling his cap into dirt as Rajasthan Royals coach when his players didn’t execute well. Welcome back to that life, Rahul. It’s quite a rush. Hope you don’t have to bring out that side too often.

The former captain is likely to return to the XI to replace Bairstow, but has he come to terms with just being a player?

Hemant Brar17-Sep-2021″Facing something new can mean fear or excitement. This time I’m going for excitement.”David Warner was promoting his bat sponsor but these could very well have been his inner thoughts as he resumes the IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad. This time, only as a player.Warner has a special relationship with the IPL. It’s the only T20 league in the world he regularly features in. When he returned to the tournament in 2019, after missing the 2018 season because of his ball-tampering ban, Sunrisers’ coach at the time, Tom Moody, said Warner was “jumping out of his skin” to start the campaign.Related

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In 2020, Warner was reinstated as Sunrisers captain and helped them reach the playoffs for the fifth straight season.But the IPL is a cruel beast. It has got little space for emotions, and players are often evaluated on cold numbers. In 2021, when Warner registered an underwhelming strike rate of 110.28 across six games, Sunrisers didn’t hesitate to drop him, which meant he also lost the captaincy.There are times when a batter is short of runs but not out of form. For Warner, it was the opposite. He was still managing some runs but was not able to score them freely on Chennai’s sluggish pitches. Sunrisers played their first five games in Chennai; Warner’s scores in the last three of them were 36 off 34, 37 off 37 and 6 off 8.Even when Sunrisers moved to Delhi, Warner’s struggles didn’t end. Against Chennai Super Kings, he consumed 55 balls for his 57 and then watched the opposition chase down 172 in 18.3 overs. Warner knew his innings had done more harm than good to his team. After the game, he put his hand up and took “full responsibility” for the defeat.With Sunrisers having only one win from six games, something had to give. The team management decided two batters, one allrounder, and Rashid Khan was the best combination for their four overseas slots. Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson were faring much better, so it was Warner who had to make way for an allrounder.Warner is Hyderabad’s adopted son. While most franchises in the IPL have an Indian superstar in their ranks, Warner has been the face, heart and soul of Sunrisers for more than half a decade. Plus, he has been their most successful captain and by far the most prolific batter. In his six seasons for Sunrisers, Warner has crossed the 500-run mark every single time. No other batter in the tournament has been as consistent.

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