How much impact will the Impact Player rule have?

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The new rule is one of IPL 2023’s major innovations and the teams are waiting to see how it plays out

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Mar-20234:54

Boucher: ‘You pick your best XI; Impact Player is just a bonus’

Kolkata Knight Riders need 21 runs off the final over in their last league game of IPL 2022. Their opponents Lucknow Super Giants have been favourites throughout the contest, having ransacked 210 runs without losing a wicket. KKR have an outside chance of making the playoffs, and Rinku Singh threatens to pull off a heist. He hits the first three balls of the final over, bowled by Marcus Stoinis, for 4, 6, 6. Two balls later, however, Evin Lewis takes one of the best catches in IPL history to end Rinku’s fairy-tale innings. With three needed off the final ball, Stoinis uproots Umesh Yadav’s off stump.”We were almost there,” KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore says as he recounts the final moments of the contest. “Then Rinku got out due to a freak catch by Evin Lewis. Still, we had one ball and we needed two [three] runs. Umesh Yadav went in to bat. Had the Impact Player rule existed, perhaps KKR coaches could have replaced Umesh Yadav, immediately after he finished bowling [his four overs], with a specialist batter. And that could have changed the entire equation.”Related

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‘It’s going to be 12 playing 12’

With the aim of innovation, the IPL has introduced the Impact Player rule in the playing conditions for the 2023 season. The rule allows a team to bring in an Impact Player at any point in an innings to replace a player from the XI the toss.The caveat is that only four overseas players can play for a team in the match; so if there are four overseas players in the starting XI, the Impact Player can only be an Indian player. The motive of the new rule was to provide more opportunities to Indian players, especially the talented, uncapped ones who don’t find a place in the starting XI.The BCCI implemented the Impact Player rule in the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy initially, but the conditions were different. There, a team had to nominate an Impact Player the toss and he also needed to be brought in before the end of the 14th over in an innings.The IPL playing conditions state the Impact Player “will add a new tactical or strategic dimension to the game”. But several franchise coaches and talent scouts, who watched the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in person, said the Impact Player was utilised for “damage control” rather than as a tactical tool.

“I think it [naming the XI after the toss] has pretty much negated the impact rule. It’s pretty much now a substitute rule. If you bat first, you swap out a batter and bring on an extra bowler [in the second innings] and vice versa”RCB team director Mike Hesson

In fact, the tactical potential was further reduced when franchises were told, less than a month before the start of IPL 2023, that they could finalise their XIs after the toss. So for this season, the captains can take two separate team sheets to the toss – one for if they are batting first, and another for if they are bowling first.How does that affect the utilisation of the Impact Player? “It’s going to be 12 playing 12 because most teams will want their specialists to occupy their batting slots or their bowling slots,” Sanjay Bangar, the head coach at Royal Challengers Bangalore, said on the franchise’s website.Their team director Mike Hesson said he and his coaching staff were excited when they first heard about the Impact Player rule. “We heard about the Impact Player rule before the auction, so obviously we looked at it and thought how we can maximise it, the potential for an allrounder to play a big part,” Hesson said. “There was actually some strategy involved. It brought some intrigue. You could introduce the player at any time, whether a batsman is dismissed or not. So yeah I thought it was a nice development.”I think it [naming the XI after the toss] has pretty much negated the Impact rule. It’s pretty much now a substitute rule. If you bat first, you swap out a batter and bring on an extra bowler [in the second innings] and vice versa. So after the toss, you just give your batting XI or bowling XI, so there’s no Impact rule, it’s pretty much a straight-up substitute.”

“Is there any further rocket science …?”

The IPL’s decision to let teams announce their XIs after the toss is aimed at reducing the toss advantage, especially on grounds in India where dew sets in during the latter half of the game and hinders the team bowling second.Gujarat Titans could consider using an overseas batter like Matthew Wade as their Impact Player when chasing•BCCIThe SA20 was the first franchise league in which teams finalised their XIs after the toss. It was to help visiting teams minimise their opponent’s home advantage in their conditions, and help the team defending a target to cope better with dew. As it turned out, there wasn’t much dew at the SA20 venues.That’s unlikely to be the case during the IPL, where dew is likely to play a significant role at most of the 12 venues. The conditions, both players and coaches agree, will influence not just the starting XI but also the choice of the Impact Player. In case of an early collapse, a specialist batter could be brought in as the Impact Player to repair the innings. In case of a strong start, a power-hitter could walk in reinforce the advantage. In case the pitch turns out to be spin-friendly, even if three fast bowlers were named in the starting XI, a spinner could replace one of the quicks.”If you are playing at Chepauk [Chennai Super Kings’ home ground], a team can think of fielding three spinners,” an analyst with one of the franchises says. “Start with three overseas players. Based on whether you are batting or fielding first, you can trigger either option. If you are bowling first, you start with three spinners. When you bat, you replace one of the spinners with an overseas batter.”A head coach at another team agrees, saying his job will be easier when it comes to deciding the starting XI. “They have made our lives easier. You don’t have to even give the XI before the toss, you have to give 11 + 5 after the toss. If you are batting first, you use an extra batter. If you bowl first, then 100% one of your No. 9, 10 or 11 will be replaced by a batter. Is there any further rocket science in that?”This coach points out that while one team will have an extra bowler when defending a target, the chasing team is likely to have an extra batter. “Every team will field a minimum of five bowlers in XI. But now you can bring in a death-overs specialist or someone who is successful in the powerplay to bolster your bowling.”

Will more first XIs contain only three overseas players?

Historically, most IPL teams have always started with four overseas players in their XIs, but since 2019 a new trend has emerged. Since 2008, there have been only 52 instances of XIs containing three of fewer overseas players, and 37 of those have come in the last four seasons.

“Start with three overseas players. If you are bowling first, you start with three spinners. When you bat, you replace one of the spinners with an overseas batter”An analyst on a strategy that teams could use in Chennai

We could see more of that this year thanks to the Impact Player rule. A team with a strong overseas bench could start with three overseas players and use the fourth as per requirement. For example, when Mumbai Indians are bowling first, they can start with three overseas bowling options: Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff and Cameron Green. For the chase, they could replace Behrendorff with Tim David or another overseas batter as Impact Player.Gujarat Titans, who have few middle-order overseas batters, could also start with three overseas players and include more Indian allrounders, like Vijay Shankar and Rahul Tewatia, to provide batting and bowling depth. Then, in the second innings, they could bring in Matthew Wade (if chasing) or Josh Little (if defending) as their Impact Player.

Is Impact Player like the old Supersub rule?

Some are of the opinion that the IPL’s Impact Player rule is similar to the Supersub that the ICC had trialled in 2005, which also allowed teams to use a 12th player during the game. But the key difference is that teams had to name their XIs and their designated Supersub before the toss.The Supersub rule, which was recommended by the Sunil Gavaskar-led ICC Cricket Committee, was to encourage the use of allrounders but in practice teams were naming specialists as their Supersub. It made winning the toss even more advantageous , because the team that won the toss could choose to bat or bowl to maximise use of their Supersub, and often negate the impact of the opponent’s Supersub.The ICC ended up shelving the Supersub rule. “In practice, teams have elected to nominate a specialist player as the substitute and this is placing undue importance on winning the toss,” Dave Richardson, ICC’s general manager (cricket) at the time, said. “There is no desire to create a situation where 12 players are used to do the job of 11. So we did not support the alternate view of allowing substitutes to be nominated after the toss.”While an allrounder was best suited as a Supersub, experts are of the opinion that the Impact Player and XIs being decided after the toss will reduce the need for two-dimensional players. “Perhaps, in some ways, it takes the sheen away from allrounders and allows teams to manage their resources very differently,” Mysore says. “What used to be the traditional definition of an allrounder, i.e., be able to get into the side as a pure batsman or a pure bowler, may be viewed differently.”Will Mumbai Indians consider starting with just three overseas players in their XI?•Ron Gaunt/BCCIESPNcricinfo expert Tom Moody was the first to point out after the IPL auction that he feared the role of part-time allrounders would be diminished by the Impact Player rule. Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting also said recently that the Impact Player rule would push out the “bits-and-pieces” players and almost “negate” the role of the allrounder, unless he was “world-class” and could hold his spot as a specialist batter or bowler.According to Bangar, the IPL need not have allowed teams to name XIs after the toss. “It’s going to be slightly tougher for players who want to contribute in both departments, or who are capable of playing in both departments, especially lower down the order at No. 7. They may not be utilised that much, but their place may go to the specialist batter or specialist bowler. For me, it would have been more interesting had the toss thing not been introduced. Because it sort of takes away all the fun from how teams are going to use the impact substitute.”Several experts from different teams agree that the potential to use the Impact Player rule as a tactical ploy has been reduced. A member of a team’s coaching staff said that when the IPL announced the Impact Player rule, he had thought of different ways to use it. “If you are 90 for 1 after nine overs, you have a free license to use the Impact Player where he is asked to play a very, very positive role and provide the momentum. Get 18-20 runs in six balls and he gets us to 130 in the next three overs, and we still have good batters following him with eight overs.”Now, you can do that without bringing in an Impact Player as you already have seven batters if you are batting first, and then bring in the Impact Player [to bowl in the second innings].”For now, though, there is a lot of curiosity about how the Impact Player will be used. The straightforward prediction is that the teams will be able to have both deeper batting and bowling line-ups. But soon, as one franchise head says, there is not going to be any unpredictability about the Impact Player.It is possible the IPL will review the Impact Player rule after this season and perhaps even seek feedback from the teams. Mysore already has an idea: “One could consider extending this rule to overseas players as well and not restrict it only to Indian players.”

England accept Bangladesh battering in pursuit of long-term gain

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A lack of batting options on tour has cost England – but they will hope for a World Cup dividend later this year

Matt Roller12-Mar-2023Too many cooks spoil the broth – but too few batters leave a T20 team exposed. England only picked five for their three-match series in Bangladesh, and find themselves 2-0 down after posting totals of 156 and 117, both of which have been chased down with relative ease.England’s initial 15-man squad for this series featured seven batters. Then, Tom Abell strained his side while playing for England Lions in Sri Lanka, and Will Jacks hurt his thigh in the second ODI. No replacements were called up, and so England’s Nos. 8-10 from the side that won the T20 World Cup in Australia have batted at Nos. 6-8 in Bangladesh.Those three – Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan – are all competent players, but have hardly contributed in this series. England’s imbalance lurked uneasily throughout their defeat in Chattogram; as they slid from 91 for 4 to 117 all out in Mirpur, then didn’t use Jordan with the ball until the 19th over, it became impossible to ignore.”If we can’t put an extra batter or two on the ground in Bangladesh as an England cricket team… I don’t think it’s good enough just to say ‘we’re one batter short’,” said Nasser Hussain, visibly disgruntled on Sky Sports’ coverage. “You saw what it meant to them [Bangladesh] winning today. We have to treat that game with the same respect.”Related

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But selection for this tour has been a delicate juggling act, with the vast majority of the squad that travelled to New Zealand for the Test series given time off ahead of either the IPL or the English summer, and a number of white-ball specialists without central contracts opting to play in the Pakistan Super League instead.Take Jason Roy, for example. England could have asked Roy to stay put for another week when Jacks flew home, but doing so would have meant sacrificing a proportion of his PSL earnings in exchange for three England match fees. Any financial loss would have been relatively small, but the ECB ceded control of Roy’s schedule when they opted not to award him a central contract for 2022-23.In practice, the decision not to hold Roy back in Bangladesh paid off. He could have spent this week opening the batting against a strong Bangladesh attack in challenging conditions; instead, he flew back to Pakistan and thrashed 145 not out off 63 balls for Quetta Gladiators, an innings he described as his “favourite-ever” of a T20 career spanning over 300 games.Naturally, a handful of fringe players may feel hard done by: Sam Hain, who captained England Lions in Abell’s absence at the end of the Sri Lanka tour, is a much-improved T20 player and would have brought some solidity to this batting line-up; Jordan Cox, who has been running the drinks for Lahore Qalandars, was an unused squad member on England’s seven-match tour to Pakistan in September and might wonder how he has not been given a chance all winter.But England’s apparent rationale was that those players are low enough down their pecking order in white-ball cricket that the prospects of them being involved in the 50-over World Cup later this year – or the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US, which is only 14 months away – were minimal. As such, they took the chance to promote their allrounders and give them experience on spinning subcontinent pitches.”It’s a different balance and it’s a different feel to the team, wanting to give exposure to guys – especially in these conditions – who will also probably play a part in the 50-over World Cup,” Jos Buttler said. “It felt like it was a great chance to expose the allrounders, batting maybe one spot higher than they maybe would in our normal team.”And, look: the way cricket is at the moment, there’s a few players who have opted not to be here anyway for various reasons. It felt like instead of calling someone else up, [we would be better served] trying to use the guys who will be exposed to these conditions in the 50-over World Cup as well.”Rehan Ahmed made his debut in Dhaka, where England were short of batting options•AFP/Getty ImagesIn other words, the short-term pain of jeopardising their chances of winning a rearranged bilateral series that will soon be forgotten would be worth the long-term gain of giving Curran, for example, the chance to bat at No. 6 and face more balls than he usually does in T20 internationals.It is the same logic that has informed England’s white-ball strategy since Rob Key and Matthew Mott took over as managing director and white-ball coach last year, working back from major targets. England’s chance of winning this series would have been higher with an extra batter in their squad – but they believed their World Cup hopes would be enhanced without one.

Why didn’t Buttler open?

Speaking after the game, Buttler was pressed on his decision to demote himself to No. 4. He has a stellar record as an opener for England – averaging 49.20 with a strike rate of 152.22 – but opted to shuffle down into the middle order for the first time in five years on Sunday. Dawid Malan moved up to open from No. 3, with Moeen Ali replacing Malan in that role.”We’ve obviously got a bank of left-handers in our middle order,” Buttler said. “[It was] just an opportunity to change that up a little bit. Dawid Malan is very comfortable opening or batting at No. 3 and I just felt like it would be a good change to pose some different questions to the opposition, and try and break up our left and right-handers.”Malan and Moeen’s promotions also meant Bangladesh did not target Phil Salt’s weakness against left-arm spin until the sixth over – though he was eventually dismissed by a left-arm spinner regardless, for the fourth time in five innings on this tour.”I’m very comfortable batting anywhere in the order,” Buttler added. “I’ve spent a hell of a lot of my career as a middle-order player. I felt like we’ve got some good options and it felt like it would be an opportunity to try something different. I don’t really read too much into it either way.” As the 2024 T20 World Cup comes into view, he will undoubtedly return to the top.

De Zorzi gets a chance to be the star he always wanted to be, a 'lot of dirty work' later

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

After falling short of expectations several times before, he knows he needs to step up and take the opportunity with both hands

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2023Eight years after he captained King Edwards VII, one of Johannesburg’s most prestigious schools, and seven years after he led South Africa’s Under-19 side at a World Cup they entered as defending champions and left in 11th place, Tony de Zorzi returned to the Wanderers and discovered mates he didn’t know he had.”There were a couple of my friends here – some people claimed to be my friends but I’ve never met them – and it’s always nice to have my mom watching,” de Zorzi said.Related

West Indies hit back after Markram, de Zorzi fifties

Raised by Natasha, a single parent, de Zorzi has always wanted to be the best he could be for his mother. These days, she doesn’t watch him play much because he has taken the scenic route to international cricket, from the alma mater of Neil Mckenzie and Graeme Smith, through Pretoria and eventually to Cape Town, 1400 kilometres away from where he grew up. In a way, it’s been cathartic for de Zorzi to make his Test debut on the Highveld, and to score his first Test half-century with Natasha watching on.”She usually sits in the same place, so I knew where she was,” he said. “I’m in Cape Town, so she hasn’t been able to watch a lot of the games. Hopefully, next time she comes, I can get three figures.”De Zorzi has set himself high standards. In the last two years, only one of his team-mates has scored a century at home and only two others (Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verreynne – neither of whom are playing in this series) have brought up three figures. But after falling short of expectations several times before, he knows this is his chance to step up.”From playing for SA under-19, a lot has changed in my life,” de Zorzi said. “Although I was captain, I wasn’t the star boy out of that side.”That’s because Wiaan Mulder was. De Zorzi returned from the age-group World Cup and had to go back to playing club cricket and “start again.” He played for the University of Pretoria’s team, where current fielding coach Kruger van Wyk was in charge. Then he was contracted by Northerns, where he made steady progress and averaged nearly 80 for the second-tier provincial side in the 2016-17 summer. He moved to Western Province in the summer of 2020, where Ashwell Prince was the head coach, and has since been elevated to captain.

“It’s been a long process, and I’m happy that it has eventually led to this. It’s also a reminder of where I come from and not to get ahead of myself because I’ve had to do a lot of dirty work to get there.”Tony de Zorzi

This summer, he averages over 100, thanks largely to his unbeaten 304 against the Knights, with an attack that included Gerald Coetzee (though admittedly not many other big names).”It’s been a long process, and I’m happy that it has eventually led to this,” de Zorzi said. “It’s also a reminder of where I come from and not to get ahead of myself because I’ve had to do a lot of dirty work to get there. For some guys, it happens a bit earlier. Mine’s starting to happen now.”After averaging above 48 in three of the last four seasons, de Zorzi was impossible to ignore in this Test squad but it took a changing of the guard for that to happen. He was picked by new red-ball coach Shukri Conrad, who also acts as a selector in the absence of a panel, to get his chance. “With the changes in coaching, we knew it would be a fresh start,” de Zorzi said. “If everyone gave themselves an opportunity and did well, you knew it would be a fresh set of eyes and maybe, more opportunities. That was exciting. There was always a message from senior guys – Dean (Elgar) said it while he was captain, that the weight of runs would get you in the side. Guys knew that if they wanted to make the step up they had to have a good season. There was no other way.”De Zorzi is particularly adept at the cut shot and scored almost a third of his runs with that stroke in this innings•Gallo ImagesBut now that that has happened, players like de Zorzi need to own their space. In the first Test, he showed West Indies’ attack what he was made of, and Kyle Mayers saw it. “This guy looks very organised,” he said. “He is strong, square of the wicket.”De Zorzi is particularly adept at the cut shot and scored almost a third of his runs with that stroke in this innings but knew West Indies worked him out from the first Test. They tried to offer him less width at the SuperSport Park. “They stick to the basics a little bit longer,” de Zorzi said. “You might get a few less bad balls but international cricketers that are going to do their homework. I could see from the way they bowled to me today compared to at SuperSport Park, they had different plans and they can limit your scoring options. And obviously, the intensity is a little bit higher, like I was really tired once I was out. It’s challenging.”But so was de Zorzi. He played with authority during South Africa’s free-flowing afternoon session. All the while, Natasha sat in the Memorial Stand, unmoved. De Zorzi gestured to her first when he drove off Alzarri Joseph through gully off the 82nd ball he faced. Undoubtedly, she would have been unbelievably proud. De Zorzi went on to face 73 more balls, and score 35 more runs, as the pitch quickened up and West Indies staged a comeback.They took five for 64 after tea and now see the game as being in the balance. Restrict South Africa to under 350, and West Indies are in with a chance of fighting back. Concede over that, on a pitch that is already showing signs of turn, and it may be that the game is gone. Either way, it’s set up to attract friends cricket didn’t know it had, especially in a mid-week Test match where the crowd only fills a fraction of the stadium. But it matters. And no one knows that more than de Zorzi.

Alice Capsey: 'English chocolate is better than any other country's'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The England allrounder picks her food MVPs, featuring pizzas, chocolate, and Weet Bix

Interview by S Sudarshanan13-Jul-2023If you could just eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
That would be Prue Pizza. It became a bit of a habit. That was my night-before-the-game dinner. But I have been embracing Indian culture [during the WPL] and going for some curries. But pizza would probably be my go-to.What’s the least healthy thing we’d find in your fridge right now?
An energy bar. I don’t have much food in my room. Keep the chocolate out of my room and I am all right!Related

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  • Kyle Jamieson: 'If Lord's have those prawns again, there'll be some full stomachs out on the field'

  • Yastika Bhatia: 'I'm willing to sacrifice biryani to get better results out of my cricket'

What’s one food you had to give up to get fit for cricket? And what has been the hardest food to give up?
I had to give up on biscuits. I am not a big biscuit-izza, so it was easy to give up. But I am a sucker for ice cream. So that was hardest.Which cricketer you know is the best cook?
My England team-mate Freya Davies is a pretty good cook. I’d probably go to her first.What is your favourite thing to cook, and what is the one thing you make best?
I like to cook a carbonara. It’s up there with my favourite meals. I have learnt how to cook that one.What would your go-to food item on a tour be?
I would go for something pasta-based. It is a safe bet.One food you miss when you’re on tour.
I miss home-cooked food, where you can cook it yourself. Something like a roast or with loads of veg. At home, my mum cooks it for me. She cooks a very good roast.Which cricketing venue serves the best food?
I can’t go too far away from Lord’s.

What’s your go-to post-workout snack?
Fruits or a protein bar.What is your comfort food?
If I really needed some comfort food, I would have some chocolate, which probably isn’t the healthiest. But it hits the spot, so yes, chocolate.What does a cheat-day meal look like?
Anything unhealthy (). Probably a burger, chips, a chocolate dessert maybe… Chocolate brownie! That would be nice.Are you a coffee enthusiast? What is your go-to coffee style?
I like my coffee on tours. I am not that enthusiastic. I am a social coffee drinker. I’ll go to a coffee shop for a social [meet]. But I do like a flat white.What’s one snack that always travels with you in your kit bag?
Weet-Bix. You never know what your breakfast is [going to be] like. It is a pretty safe snack throughout the day if you need something to keep going.What does a meal look like on match days?
Depends what time the game is. Breakfast will be like porridge or something quite small before the game. Small kind of lunch, like rice and chicken, not something too heavy.One food you despise and would absolutely not eat.
I am actually not too fussy. But I don’t prefer mushrooms and avoid them. The other food is like a black pudding – that’s a big no.What’s the one thing you’d recommend people visiting England try?

English chocolate is better than in any other country.

Labuschagne gets his act together after testing Ashes tour

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Australia’s No. 3 finds form at crucial juncture to move side a step closer to retaining the urn

Matt Roller22-Jul-20232:13

Labuschagne: For Australia it’s all about retaining the Ashes

Two balls into the 58th over of Australia’s third innings, Marnus Labuschagne made an unusual request. He was standing at the non-striker’s end and Stuart Broad had finally convinced umpire Nitin Menon that the old ball had gone out of shape. It no longer fit through the metal gauge, so Menon and Joel Wilson called for a box of alternatives and picked out a replacement.Before Menon threw the ball to Anderson, he granted Labuschagne’s request to study the ball himself in order to pick up clues as to how it would behave. “You could feel it straightaway… it was a harder ball, and the seam was a little bit bigger,” he later said. England’s fielders were bemused by what they saw as a characteristically eccentric demand, and Ben Stokes let him know as much.”They weren’t happy! They weren’t happy that I wanted to have a look at the ball,” Labuschagne said. “In this country, it’s pretty clear: if you look at the ball once you can tell straightaway what it’s going to do. I looked at the ball and was like, ‘Well, this is going to swing’ and I threw it back. They were obviously not very happy with that.Related

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“I said it to Ben out there. ‘Why do you want to look at the ball?’ he asked me. I said, ‘To see if it’s going to swing.’ Jimmy Anderson, first ball he bowled to me, big inswinger. It just helps you prepare. The ball before was reversing slightly. It’s just being meticulous. For me, it was pretty common sense: why would I not want to have a look at the ball?”It was a moment that highlighted Labuschagne’s painstaking attention to detail. He is notorious for his work ethic, and is the hardest trainer in an Australia side that also features Steven Smith; he has spent hours upon hours in the nets on this tour, using Andy Flower – who is working with the squad as a consultant – as a personal batting coach.This has not been a straightforward tour for Labuschagne. He made starts in both innings of the World Test Championship final, with 26 and 41, but then managed only 144 in his first six hits of this series. He reflected that his batting was “a bit of a rabble” at Edgbaston, but he has finally found his rhythm and form to deliver a fifty and a hundred when Australia needed him to step up.”In the first innings, I felt really confident in my decision-making, leaving the ball outside off, being able to make really good decisions when it comes straight,” he said. “I felt confident when they did go short that I could make really good decisions there. I felt it was all coming together and it was nice to get a bigger score today.”ESPNcricinfo LtdLabuschagne has been the only Australia batter to successfully negate Mark Wood across the last two Tests, a stark contrast to 18 months ago when he was dismissed by him three times in 61 balls. He was wrapped on the gloves on this abbreviated fourth day but has largely stayed in control despite Wood’s extra pace.”A lot of my stuff I [put down] to technique,” he said. “I feel like my game is in a really good space to be facing him, the technical changes I’ve made. It allows me to make really good decisions and get into positions to be able to either pull, duck, leave, sway. I think the key to batting is having as many options as you can for a delivery.”Shortly after the ball change, the umpires decided that it was too dark for England’s seamers to bowl, instead forcing them to bowl spin. Labuschagne seized on the opportunity, running down the pitch to launch Joe Root for back-to-back sixes over long-on.It was a calculated gamble, recognising the opportunity that Australia had to make a dent in the deficit and thereby force England to bat again if the rain holds off on Sunday. “Having two spinners coming on, it was an opportunity for us to put a little bit of pressure back on them,” he said.Marnus Labuschagne goes on the attack during his century•Getty ImagesLabuschagne eventually fell to Root, mistiming a cut shot having earlier outside-edged an arm ball past slip, but not before bringing up his second overseas century and his first in England. He was convinced he had not hit the ball and had to drag himself off after UltraEdge said otherwise, but his two innings have kept Australia in this game.”If we end up saving the match then it’ll be a pretty good moment but until then it’s sort of sitting on the edge,” he said. “It’s always a privilege to score a Test hundred and you have to recognise that, it is special. But currently, sitting here, it’s still a bit bittersweet with the circumstances of the game.”Labuschagne has not had the tour he wanted in England: he has been getting himself out to balls he should have put away, and shown little of his usual ruthlessness. But this week, he has made Australia’s highest and joint-second-highest scores of the match; if they escape with a draw, they will have him to thank for it.

India prove their golden age still has plenty of kick left

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

They came to Cape Town under fire and responded to it brilliantly

Sidharth Monga04-Jan-20242:27

Rohit, Kohli and a transition phase for India’s batting

The echoing cackle of your fielders in an empty or silenced stadium because you have all but ended the home team’s hope on a final morning of a Test has to be one of the sweetest sounds in sport. The difficulty, and thus the satisfaction, of winning an away Test match cannot be overstated.It is a sound India became accustomed to creating from 2018 to 2021, but have been yearning for it since the last tour of South Africa when they couldn’t defend decent totals two times in a row. Then they lost the series lead – earned the previous year – in England when they went to complete the Covid-19-affected series. They lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in England. Then the Centurion Test. By an innings and change.India is a team in transition but it was inexcusable for the bowlers to concede 145 and 136 in two of three consecutive sessions. People were beginning to worry about the bad-old days of the waning dominance at home and struggles away. It would have been disturbing to think the golden age in India’s Test cricket might be winding up with only two series wins in Australia to show to those who want nothing short of series wins in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.Coming to Cape Town, India needed the bowlers to respond to that threat. To give them confidence and reassurance that they are still good enough to be competing when they go to these countries. The chance of winning the series might have gone, but there was still a Test to be won and hopes to be raised for their next two away tours, to Australia and England.Related

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The leadership didn’t take a backward step. In fact they did away with a bowler who was playing more for his batting ability than his striking ability. They replaced him with a specialist seamer. It takes trust in your side to do so immediately after a 131 all out.They didn’t know it when the Test started but the pitch was going to do them a favour. It wasn’t going to test the depth of the attack as strongly as Centurion did. There was to be both lateral and vertical movement, not to mention so much pace that it gave batters less time to adjust.Most five-plus wicket hauls for India in Tests outside Asia•ESPNcricinfo LtdSometimes when a team’s back-up bowlers are not having a great Test and you have to come back for spell after spell, your eyes can kind of deceive you. Is Jasprit Bumrah the same bowler after injury? Were we too quick to put Mohammed Siraj in the same category as Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma?In their hearts the bowlers might know not much has changed, but they needed to back it up after a demoralising result. Even these kinds of pitches bring their own challenges. The action becomes crunched. There is no time for niceties. The batters want to do unto you before you do unto them. They are ready to pounce on every error. Every run is precious. It is an intensity of a different kind.5:28

Rohit’s special praise for Jaiswal and Bumrah

Bumrah and Siraj carried forward the hostility and accuracy of their first spells in Centurion to Cape Town. Of course they were getting wickets and wouldn’t have refused a longer spell, but Siraj maintained that intensity across a nine-over spell in the first innings. After 23 Tests, Siraj now averages 28.25, behind only by a point on the going average in those Tests, 27.24. The man can handle himself.Barely three hours later, these bowlers were once again asked to go back and arrest the slide of having lost six wickets for zero runs. Bumrah might not have got the wickets in the first innings, he might have bowled three indifferent overs to start the second innings, but pretty soon he was back to bowling bullets into the misbehaving good length area.One moment, we were doubting him; next moment, he was ending the series with an average of 12.91 and 12 wickets in two Tests. Just a reminder: he averages 21.21 while the overall average in Tests he has played is 26.2. From the time we have started semi-doubting him, Bumrah has averaged 17.7 in seven Tests where the overall average has been 26.19.That Bumrah spell on the second morning was another timely reminder of his quality as South Africa looked for quick runs. He bowled full only when he got to Keshhav Maharaj, and got him out immediately. The best Bumrah is the one who is not searching. Just kept bowling the hard lengths and cashed in his money in the bank accumulated from the last few innings.We don’t yet know who India’s coach or captain will be after the end of the T20 World Cup in June, but we know that whoever leads the team to Australia and England will need Bumrah, Siraj and Shami fit and bowling at or close to their best for these series. Possibly one last time on a big away tour as India’s next away tour will be at the end of 2026 to New Zealand.

Stats – Meg Lanning, the ton-making machine and the most successful World Cup captain

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Lanning called an end to a glittering international career where she broke several records, both with the bat and as captain

Sampath Bandarupalli09-Nov-20231 – Meg Lanning signs off as the leading run-getter for Australia in women’s internationals. Lanning’s career tally of 8352 runs is also the fifth-highest for any batter in women’s Internationals.17 – Hundreds by Lanning in international cricket are the most for a woman. Fifteen of those came in ODI cricket, which is also a record. Suzie Bates (12) is the only other batter with ten or more centuries in Women’s ODIs.

5 – Number of World Cup titles as captain for Lanning – four T20 World Cups (2014, 2018, 2020 and 2023) and one ODI World Cup (2022). No other captain (male or female) has won more than two World Cups.Related

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146 – Number of wins for Lanning as Australia’s captain across formats. These are the most matches won as a captain in women’s internationals. Seventy six of those wins came in T20Is, the highest for any captain in the format (men or women).53.51 – Lanning’s batting average in ODIs is the best for any woman with a minimum of 25 innings. Her strike rate of 92.20 is the fifth best in the women’s ODIs (where data is available).45 – Number of balls Lanning needed for her century against New Zealand in 2012 at the North Sydney Oval. It is the fastest-recorded century in women’s ODI cricket. Only two recorded centuries came faster than Lanning’s 45-ball ton until 2012 in men’s or women’s ODIs.10 – The number of ODI hundreds out of her 15 that came while chasing. It is a record in women’s ODIs and twice the next best Amy Satterthwaite (5). All those ten centuries by Lanning have come in successful run-chases.Lanning holds two of the top five highest individual scores in women’s T20Is•Getty Images13 – Centuries as captain for Lanning across the three formats, also a record in women’s internationals. She scored 6409 runs as a captain, bettered by only Charlotte Edwards (6728) and Mithali Raj (6546).1 – Lanning won 24 consecutive ODIs as a captain between 2018 and 2021, the longest winning streak for any captain in ODI cricket (across men or women). She also holds the record for most consecutive internationals won as a captain – 21 between March 2014 and July 2015.

3405 – Runs by Lanning in T20Is are the second-most by any woman in this format, behind Suzie Bates’ 4021 runs. Lanning is also the only Australian woman to score 3000-plus T20I runs.2 – Centuries for Lanning in T20Is. She is one of the nine women to score two or more T20Is tons. Lanning scored 126 against Ireland in 2014 and 133* against England in 2019. Both were the highest individual score in women’s T20Is at that point.18y 288d – Lanning’s age when she scored 104* against England in the 2011 Perth ODI. She is the youngest player to score a century for Australia in International cricket.

152* – Lanning’s highest score for Australia came against Sri Lanka in the 2017 World Cup game in Bristol. It is the highest individual score in a run-chase in women’s ODIs. Lanning has three out of the top five individual scores in the women’s ODI chases.35* Lanning did not lose in her last 35 matches as captain of Australia. The last defeat under her captaincy came against India in an ODI in September 2021. It is by far the longest unbeaten streak for any captain in International cricket, as the next best was 21 for Clive Lloyd (1980-1981) and Viv Richards (1983-1985).

Mandhana shuns the spotlight as 'Queens 2024' party at the Kotla

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

For a while, it looked like it would be Delhi Capitals’ night, but smart captaincy and exceptional spin bowling turned the game RCB’s way

S Sudarshanan and Vishal Dikshit18-Mar-20246:03

Mandhana lauds RCB’s fighting spirit and belief

Smriti Mandhana wasn’t there.After Richa Ghosh hit the winning runs, all the Royal Challengers Bangalore players rushed onto the field. They had finished fourth in the inaugural edition last year, and now they had won the WPL title by beating Delhi Capitals – who had an all-win record against them and had directly made the final. RCB had made it to the playoffs only after winning their last league game and finishing third. And add to it the running joke about RCB never quite winning anything.And so, the joy the players felt – and displayed – was completely warranted, with over 29,000 cheering them on at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Shreyanka Patil led the way. Among the first to reach Ghosh in the middle, hugging every member of the RCB contingent, giving a sassy interview – “They keep saying, [this year the cup is ours]’, look we got the cup so… that’s it, guys!” – and just dancing the moment away before and after the presentation and in front of the cutout that said “QUEENS 2024”.Related

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It was only fitting – Ghosh and Patil had broken down on the pitch exactly a week ago after a heart-wrenching one-run loss against Capitals.But Mandhana was almost subdued.She was the last to walk out even as the entire bunch jumped around in the middle after the eight-wicket win. The joy on her face was visible – but nowhere close to overflowing – as she slowly made her way to the middle. She first gave a warm hug to Capitals allrounder Arundhati Reddy, off whom the winning runs were hit. After a few handshakes, she hugged and lifted Ellyse Perry, who saw off the chase with an unbeaten 35, off the ground.But a few moments later, Mandhana was gone again. She was neither in the middle where a group of RCB players were dancing nor in another group that was laughing and chatting with the team owners. And not even among the players celebrating with members of the support staff.About ten minutes later, she emerged from the dressing room and joined her team-mates.”The first thing I did was I went to the dressing room and sat,” Mandhana explained in the press conference later. “It’s hard to celebrate the way others do. I don’t know, there’s some defect.”

****

The smiles did not seem probable for RCB about three hours earlier. Capitals opted to bat – like has been the norm in the Delhi leg of WPL 2024 – and were off to a flier, courtesy Shafali Verma. She gave the RCB bowlers a shellacking in the powerplay, hitting sixes off Sophie Molineux, Renuka Singh and Perry. Shafali had an answer to whatever came her way. The result? Capitals were 61 for no loss in six overs, their second-highest in the phase in the two seasons of the competition.Mandhana then brought back Molineux, who had given away ten runs in the second over of the match. The move paid dividends immediately. Molineux tossed one above Shafali’s eyeline and she slogged it straight to deep midwicket. She then struck twice in two balls, bowling both Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey for ducks, a jolt Capitals could never recover from.Sophie Molineux, back after an injury layoff, did the star turn for RCB with the ball in the final•BCCIWith the initial damage done, Mandhana brought Patil into the attack, and she responded by dismissing Meg Lanning for the second time in two games. Patil and Asha Sobhana continued what Molineux had started as Capitals lost nine of their ten wickets to spin. From 64 for none, they lost ten wickets for just 49 to be skittled for 113.Little would have pleased the RCB management more than Molineux’s returns in WPL 2024. The punt they took in picking her at the auction paid off as she returned 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.31, bowling a majority of her overs in the powerplay and at the death. She was RCB’s joint-second highest wicket-taker, that too after coming in on the back of an ACL injury that had kept her out of action for a large part of two years.”We’ve been following her for a very long time,” Mandhana said. “I remember her bowling against us in the one-day series [in 2021], which we nearly won when we went to Australia. I think she was the difference between the Australian team and the Indian team and, at that time, the way she bowled in the last four-five overs, it always stuck with me somehow – her performance.”The last two years have been really tough on her with a few injuries. She went through ACL and I can feel that ACL pain [having gone through it myself], so really, really happy for her. The way she came back – she was really clear. Not only today but even in the eliminator, to [bowl] that kind of a 19th over [four runs and a wicket against Mumbai Indians]. So, really, really happy for her and I think she is definitely a special player.”The party begins…•BCCIThe series in 2021 was also one where Molineux broke her jaw after being struck by a throw in the third ODI. She had continued playing. Time and again, her resilience and clutch performances have come to the fore, and with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh on the horizon, she is also back in Australia’s white-ball squads.”This one’s special – to be taken by RCB after not playing any cricket for a while was pretty special,” Molineux said after being named Player of the Match. “I felt like I was bowling really slow tonight. I got a bit quick throughout the tournament. I suppose that is tournament play – you have to keep learning from the innings and the mistakes that you make before that and look forward to the next game.”And it was Molineux’s triple-wicket over that denied an Australian captain and ensured an Indian captain lifts the trophy again.After she received the WPL trophy, Mandhana passed it to the young brigade led by Patil, and quietly slipped to the back of the group on the left. Quiet. Almost vanishing again.Smriti Mandhana’s bowling changes worked perfectly•AFP/Getty Images… ‘I didn’t hear anything’ of what Virat Kohli saidBut her glee was on full display at the press conference after the final, and everyone present got to see a side of Mandhana even she may not have known existed. She is not usually too expressive in public. She had said so herself after the league stage. And we believed her.Here, she barely finished the first answer when she was she told to pause. A formally dressed gentleman wearing white gloves appeared and placed the WPL trophy next to her.”Oooooh,” Mandhana went. “I have to leave my shyness now.””Okay, sorry,” she said as she pulled herself together, but the laughs and giggles didn’t go away. Nor did her awkwardness at being in the situation she was in. ” [why did you bring this]?” she asked the gentleman while pointing to the trophy.An answer or two later, the gentleman returned to take the trophy away.” (Done, taking it already)?” she chuckled. When she was told the trophy had to be adjusted a little for the video being recorded, she said, ” (I thought you’re taking it back).” Mandhana found her own joke funny enough to burst into another spell of laughter.3:00

RCB take home the trophy

On being asked about the conversation with Virat Kohli on a video call moments after the final ended, Mandhana said, “I didn’t hear anything what he was saying because it was too loud.”Cue laughter from all those gathered.”No, I’m not saying I didn’t [care to] hear what he said, I’m saying I couldn’t hear. What you’re laughing? Don’t take it the wrong way .” More laughter. “As I said, I couldn’t hear what he was saying because of the noise. Hans rahe hain yaar ye log, marwayenge [these people are laughing, they’ll get me in trouble].”There were also serious and insightful answers from Mandhana to explain her emotions, what a ride the two WPLs have been, what a find Shreyanka Patil is, and more. Almost all of it was sprinkled liberally with – you guessed it – her never-seen-before sense of humour.Right at the end, she was asked whether her 31 off 39 to steer the RCB chase would make her think of adopting a similar approach for India at times to close out more games, and she interrupted to ask, “Is she [the journalist in question] telling me or asking me?” to draw more laughs from her audience.Mandhana was high. She was high on her win, on holding the big golden trophy, and the sweet taste of success after a bitter baptism in the WPL last year. It was the night of her life. And the next time she says she doesn’t show her emotions, just remind her of this Sunday night.

Tanush Kotian raises his all-round game for Mumbai

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Going into the final, he is the second-highest run-scorer and third-highest wicket-taker for his team

Hemant Brar08-Mar-2024To a boy, as the saying goes, a father is often his first hero. It was no different for Tanush Kotian, the lanky allrounder from Mumbai.Kotian’s father, Karunakar, was a regular in the city’s tennis-ball circuit and would often take his son along to the tournaments.”Growing up, I watched only my dad,” Kotian, 25, tells ESPNcricinfo when asked about his heroes. “He was a fast bowler and a middle-order batsman, and was called the king of tennis-ball cricket. The name he made for himself inspired me to take up the sport.”And those five-over matches would be so exciting that I was pulled into it. Soon, I also started playing tennis-ball cricket.”Related

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Kotian’s journey in leather-ball cricket, though, began when he was picked for Giles Shield, and then Harris Shield. After doing well there, he progressed through various age-group tournaments and made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2018-19, at the age of 20.When starting out, Kotian was primarily a batter and an occasional offspinner. But soon he was focusing on both disciplines. “Now I don’t think whether I am a batter or a bowler,” he says. “Whatever I am doing, batting, bowling or fielding, I try to make an impact in that department.”The result is, despite batting in the lower order, Kotian goes into the Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha as Mumbai’s second-highest run-scorer and third-highest wicket-taker this season.A key to his success is his street-smartness, which probably comes from his tennis-ball cricket experience.In 2022-23, Mumbai were chasing 144 against Himachal Pradesh in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. They needed six off the last over with three wickets in hand. Kotian was on strike, facing the HP captain Rishi Dhawan.”On that wicket, the ball was skidding,” Kotian recalls. “So I knew he would try to take advantage of that and bowl a bouncer.”As Kotian had anticipated, Dhawan banged the first three balls into the pitch. He pulled the first to deep midwicket for two runs. The next was a dot. When Dhawan went short once again, Kotian dispatched him over fine leg to seal the win with a six.For his 9 off 5 balls and 3 for 15 in four overs, Kotian was named the Player of the Final.Tanush Kotian is also Mumbai’s third-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing Ranji Trophy•ESPNcricinfo LtdThat match was roughly 50 days before the 2023 IPL auction, ahead of which Kotian had been at trials for several franchises. A day before the auction, he took his
maiden five-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy. The stars seemed to be aligning for him.But on the auction day, Kotian was shocked to learn that he was on the BCCI’s Suspect Bowling Action list. He had no idea how and when that happened. Later, he remembered that during a Syed Mushtaq Ali game against Uttarakhand, the match referee had expressed concerns over his action. “But since there was no restriction imposed, and I was bowling regularly, I didn’t pay much attention to it,” he says.Only the franchises know how close they were to picking him, but the news meant no one risked a bid.Kotian was hurt but he decided to focus on the Ranji Trophy. Unfortunately, there was more disappointment to come.His participation in Mumbai’s last league game of the 2022-23 season, against Maharashtra, seemed to be over on the first day when he injured his right hand while attempting a return catch off Kedar Jadhav. “The webbing between my ring finger and little finger was split and I had six stitches,” he says.Maharashtra’s first innings ended on 384. In response, Mumbai, who needed a lead to qualify for the knockouts, were in a spot of bother at 238 for 6. In walked Kotian.”When I had stitches, I thought I would not be able to bat,” he says. “But slowly I got used to the pain. And since the team was in trouble, I had to go out. Once I started batting, I got into a flow and took the team close to Maharashtra’s first-innings total.”When Mumbai lost their ninth wicket, they were still 12 behind. Kotian helped them draw level in the company of No. 11 Siddharth Raut.Kotian was on strike for the last ball of left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal’s over. He called Raut and said: “Only one run remains now. Even if this ball is a dot, you can take a single in the next over.”But Raut suggested otherwise. “He said if it were a fast bowler, he would have managed. But Satyajeet Bachhav [another left-arm spinner] was operating from the other end. So he asked me, ‘Since you are well set, why don’t you finish it on this ball?'”It made sense to Kotian; after all, he was well set on 93. “Maharashtra had packed the off side, so I thought I would move across and just tap the ball on the leg side for an easy single,” he says. “I didn’t want to take a risky run.”He ended up moving too far outside off and swept the ball onto the stumps. With neither team managing a first-innings lead and the match ending in a draw, both Mumbai and Maharashtra were knocked out, and Andhra qualified for the quarter-final.Tushar Deshpande and Tanush Kotian scored centuries at No. 10 and 11 against Baroda•PTI Kotian thought about that shot for many days. What if he had not played the sweep? What if he had gone for another shot? What if Raut had managed a single in the next over?”Whenever I would meet my team-mates, this topic would invariably come up,” Kotian says. “But they would tell me not to overthink as I had only brought the side this close.During the off season, Kotian travelled to Chennai to get his bowling action tested but the assessment could not be completed because of a technical issue. And that means, though he can continue bowling, his name remains on the Suspect Bowling Action list.After the ongoing season, he plans to visit Chennai again to get his name cleared.Meanwhile, he continues to churn out impressive performances. “Last year I had scored 300 [303] runs; this year I wanted to take it to 450 to 500,” he says. “In bowling, my target was to take 30 wickets.”He is more or less there, with a match to go. He started the season with three half-centuries in three innings, and despite batting mostly at No. 8 or lower, he has 481 runs at an average of 48.10. With the ball, he has 22 wickets at an average of 17.72 and a strike rate of 34.2. Only Mohit Avasthi (35) and Shams Mulani (31) have more wickets for Mumbai.”My strength is the extra bounce I get because of my height,” Kotian, who is six-foot tall, says. “And I can turn the ball at pace. While in white-ball, the focus is on keeping the ball away from the batsman’s reach, I know here I have to vary my length and speed. I have to dangle the carrot and purchase wickets.”Another box he has ticked this season – and in some style – is scoring his first century. In the quarter-final against Baroda, Mumbai had taken a 36-run lead in the first innings. In the second dig, they had extended it to 349 when Kotian walked in at No. 10.At that point, Kotian had ten fifties to his name including two scores in the 90s, but batting in the lower order did not give him many opportunities to score a hundred. Here, too, he was on 15 when the ninth wicket fell. But Tushar Deshpande hung around and they added 232 for the last wicket. Kotian finished unbeaten on 120 off 129 and Deshpande scored 123, also off 129. It was only the time that a No. 10 and No. 11 had scored a century in the same innings in first-class cricket.Kotian’s next knock, in the semi-final against Tamil Nadu, was perhaps even better. The conditions were more bowler friendly: Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 146 after choosing to bat, and Mumbai were 106 for 7. Batting at No. 10, Kotian scored an unbeaten 89 and added 88 with Deshpande to stretch Mumbai’s lead to 232. That was enough to secure an innings win.The next game is the final against Vidarbha, and the prince of tennis-ball cricket will be hoping for a Ranji Trophy coronation.

Canterbury Tales speak of a world in retreat

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

With English cricket awaiting the outcome of the Hundred discussions, an ancient corner of the game endures for another day

Andrew Miller11-May-2024By stealth, but with increasing ubiquity, the old distinction between English cricket’s Test- and non-Test venues has been replaced this season by a more stark, faintly grasping pair of epithets: “Haves” and “have-nots”.The “haves” – as epitomised by the likes of Surrey and Lancashire – increasingly have it all. Test matches, Hundred teams. Corporate banqueting facilities and a clientele willing to splash out in them, and now, with a handful of deferred exceptions, even the prospect of Tier 1 Women’s outfits from 2025 onwards (and how quickly that untapped revenue stream has snowballed in value).The “have-nots”, by contrast, have only the power of their collective bargaining as they cling to the coat-tails of the counties that offer the promised Hundred riches, and to the fading glories of the ancien régime that they continue to represent. Not least, here at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, on the first true day of the English cricket summer.For after five desperately dank rounds in the wettest spring on record – exacerbated by the futility of the Kookaburra’s early migration – here at last was a chance to bask in county cricket as the sport’s forefathers might have intended it.Gareth Roderick’s emotionally charged century was to the fore, as Worcestershire versus Kent served up a day of 308 runs in 96 overs – which seems a brisk enough clip until you recall that, in the IPL on Wednesday, Sunrisers Hyderabad ransacked more than half that many runs (166) in barely a tenth of the deliveries (58 to 576).But this was not a day for such crassly pointed details. This was a day designed to wash over you as a background to your life choices; to exist – as might have been the case when time itself was first corralled at the height of the Industrial Revolution – only as confirmation that this is your moment of leisure, and it’s yours to tailor as you please.Watch the cricket, or don’t watch the cricket – it’ll still be there if you ever look up to check the score. Do the crossword, go for a stroll. Pat a dog, eat an ice cream. Loll on the grass banks while marvelling up at the pointlessness of the floodlights, which on a day like this seem as oblique and immutable as the Easter Island statues.Kent and Worcestershire observed a minute’s applause following the death of Josh Baker•Getty ImagesFor this is what the “Have-nots” have that the “Haves” have not. You simply cannot replicate a scene like this in the high-rise bleachers of Edgbaston or Headingley, which for all the glory that its history confers, remains a carbuncle of a ground whose once-new family stand at the Kirkstall Lane End was memorably said, at its unveiling in 2004, to possess all the charm of “a viewing gallery at a municipal swimming pool”.Nothing about that sentiment, as penned by the professionally dyspeptic former Times man Michael Henderson, has softened one iota in the intervening 20 years. Unlike the once-controversial but now gently massaged rough edges of the St Lawrence Ground, onto which modernity has intermittently dared to encroach, but where – at least when the sun shines – timelessness still manages to shine through.Take the Sainsbury’s supermarket on the ground’s northern corner which, when it first opened in March 2012, was perhaps the most symbolic sell-out in county cricket history. Twelve years later, it’s no longer an affront to the ground’s bucolic sensibilities, instead it’s mellowed to become a convenient – and borderline essential – stop-off for unprepared picnickers, as they make for the ground’s wrought-iron gates, barely five metres from the check-out.Likewise the flats overlooking the square boundary off the Old Dover Road, which were such an affront when the original plans went through a decade ago. They’ve bedded down and blended in since their completion six years ago, with their patios and matured gardens now reflecting the matured residents within, who take in the action with the same keenly ambivalent interest as the greybeards within the gates.And then there’s the replanted lime tree on the boundary’s edge at deep backward point, now 25 years old and an imposing ornament in its own right – albeit not quite as much a feature of the action as its predecessor, which blew down in a gale in January 2005 after 180 years of loitering on the outfield itself. It beggars belief that the Twenty20 Cup began a full two seasons before the death of this monument to amateurism – imagine attempting a relay catch these days, with a three-foot tree trunk waiting to brain you as you dive headlong for the rope. And yet, on this, a day of 26 boundaries in 96 overs, you’d have got reasonable odds that the failure to take on such a half-chance would not have been game-changing.The St Lawrence Ground is, by design as much as circumstance, a ground of ghosts. Everywhere you turn, from the Frank Woolley Pavilion to the Blythe Memorial to the Cowdrey and Underwood-Knott Stands, evokes an era that, once lost for good, will never come close to being recreated.Related

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Worcestershire exploring move away from New Road to "ensure long-term future"

Daniel Bell-Drummond on Kent captaincy: 'You have to be authentic, people can spot an imposter a mile away'

And so, despite the upbeat weather (the type, dare one mention it, that the visitors need even more desperately if their own home at New Road is not to be abandoned to the sport’s rising tides) this was an elegiac day. It began with an emotional tribute to Worcestershire’s young spinner Josh Baker before the start of play, and continued through Roderick’s under-stated pat of the club badge as he reached his century midway through the evening session.Around the boundary’s edge, that sense of transcience continued – from the undercurrent of intrigue about the ECB’s plans for the Hundred, a deal for which seemed to be edging closer with every over, to the chatter in the day’s final hour as word spread of James Anderson’s impending England retirement, a toppling to rival that of even the aforementioned lime tree.It all fuels the sense of a world in retreat, but perhaps that’s simply how county cricket has always framed itself – a sigh of contentment that can’t help but sound like regret to the untrained ear. So much of the talk among the game’s other have-nots centres around the selling-off of their ancient homes and the relocation to purpose-built stadia by motorway junctions in the interests of “future-proofing”. But would it really matter if major-match cricket, whatever that may come to entail, never again sets foot on grounds such as these, just so long as the spaces themselves and the bodies moving within them are saved for the nation, performative-art style, by a deus ex machina equity windfall?Yes, it probably would, as it happens – won’t somebody think of the talent pathways, apart from anything else. But it’s hard to escape the feeling that we are already deep into the throes of this sport’s last stand.Next to the Old Dover Road Entrance, there’s a metal plaque depicting each of the 15 Kent grounds that hosted County Championship cricket between 1890 and 2017, and acknowledging a further 19 that came and went even before then.It’s another parade of ghosts, from the Mote in Maidstone to the Crabble Athletic Ground in Dover, all the way to the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells, which had its most recent festival game cancelled by Covid in 2020 and seems vanishingly unlikely to make a return to the roster. The retreat has already been underway for years, but at least the sun shone. And while it did, this particular have-not seemed to have it all.