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The captain struck a 30-ball 58 while Jofra Archer claimed 2 for 19 to consign Melbourne Renegades to a 16-run loss

The Report by Tristan Lavalette07-Feb-2019
A well-rounded Hobart Hurricanes attack stymied Melbourne Renegades’ chase at the batting-friendly Blundstone Arena to secure a home semi-final.Sent in to bat, the Hurricanes looked set to post the first total of 200 this season after openers Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short smashed 87 runs before they both fell in the ninth over. The home side wobbled mid-innings but a late assault propelled them to a sizeable 6 for 183.In their chase, the Renegades were on track until wristspinners Short and debutant Qais Ahmad flipped the match with two wickets apiece. Quick Jofra Archer bowled well at the death as Hurricanes tuned up nicely for the finals with their eighth straight win in Hobart.The victory ensures the Hurricanes will finish on top of the ladder ahead of their final match against Sydney Thunder, while third-placed Renegades’ hopes for a home final are in tatters.The Wade and Short Show
Finch backed spearheads Kane Richardson and Chris Tremain from the get-go in the hope of his aces conjuring early swing. Instead, the veteran seamers copped a thrashing by Hurricanes’ irresistible opening duo during a pyrotechnics show.Wade’s intentions were made clear on the second ball of the innings when he made room and smashed a short ball from Richardson to the boundary. Two balls later, he outdid himself with a six over mid-wicket in perhaps a pointed message to the national selectors after missing out on Australia’s limited-overs tour of India.Wade was soon joined in the party by Short, who gloriously stroked a cover drive to the boundary on the first ball he faced. The normally miserly Renegades seamers were rocked by the whirlwind batting and Finch’s bowling changes were to no avail. Wade smashed a loopy Cameron Boyce delivery into the crowd in the eighth over to memorably bring up his half-century off just 27 balls.His belligerent batting somehow made Short look relatively sedate as the runs flowed at more than 10 an over until Wade holed out off Richardson in the ninth over. Short, who was recalled by national selectors as cover for Shaun Marsh, fell rashly two balls later to a full toss as the contest evened up mid-innings.Hurricanes unleash at the death
Hurricanes’ slump continued when Caleb Jewell fell to Mohammad Nabi, who slowed down the scoring with his accurate offspin. George Bailey and Ben McDermott were left to stabilise the innings, but were tied down and mainly scored through hard-run singles and twos.The frustration led to Bailey throwing his wicket away in the 15th over as Renegades’ seamers fought back into the contest through clever slower deliveries. Needing a tonic, Simon Milenko went for broke in the 17th over with audacious hitting to smash Richardson for 20 runs and reignite the Hurricanes.The BBL’s leading wicket-taker, however, gained revenge shortly after, when he caught his tormentor Milenko in the deep. Richardson, who endured his worst ever BBL bowling figures with 2-55 from 4 overs, then turned to the crowd and cheekily laughed.McDermott tried to improvise, but suffered a nasty blow when his miscued paddled scoop hit him on the jaw. After receiving medical attention, he clubbed the next ball for six to cap a Hurricanes comeback yielding 57 runs off the last five overs.Meredith struggles, Qais shines
Hurricanes speedster Riley Meredith cranked up the pace at 150kmh, but disaster struck when he bowled three no-balls and a leg-side wide that rolled away to the fine leg boundary in a nightmare first over costing 23 runs. Finch further applied the blowtorch with consecutive boundaries off left-arm spinner Clive Rose in the third over to ensure Renegades got off to a flying start.Marcus Harris couldn’t get going in his return from Test cricket and fell to a sharp catch from Short at backward point in the fourth over. Meredith came back on but his confidence was dented as Renegades posted 70 runs in their best Powerplay of the tournament.Hurricanes needed a boost and new import Ahmad delivered with his fifth ball, claiming the prized wicket of Finch, whose frustrating summer continued. The Renegades gifted wickets with Sam Harper miscuing a half-tracker off Short, who then picked up Nabi in a wicket-maiden to put Hurricanes in the box seat.Renegades fall short
Tom Cooper and Dan Christian were forced to play conservatively and knocked the ball around in a bid to get Renegades back into the contest. They could do little to counter Short’s accurate bowling but had better luck when Meredith continued to spray it around.Meredith was further dejected when Qais dropped a sitter in the deep to reprieve Cooper, but he had some belated cheer with the scalp of Christian next ball.Renegades never seriously threatened despite some late fireworks from Mackenzie Harvey.

Life as an understudy wicketkeeper on an Ashes tour can be humdrum, but Ben Foakes made good use of his opportunity for England Lions in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2017Keaton Jennings and Ben Foakes made an impression for England Lions in Brisbane as England’s head coach Trevor Bayliss and batting coach Mark Ramprakash looked on before heading to Adelaide to prepare for the second TestJennings, who has switched from Durham to Lancashire to try to restate his England credentials, scored 89 from 148 balls and shared a second-wicket stand of 144 with Foakes, who like his Surrey team-mate Tom Curran was drafted into the Lions team from England’s Ashes squad in search of match practice.Foakes, understudy to Jonny Bairstow, whose strange headbutt greeting to Cameron Bancroft has given the Ashes one of its stranger headline stories, shared wicketkeeping duties with Lancashire’s Alex Davies at Allan Border Field as the Queenslanders made 396 for 9 on the first day.He then stroked 67 from 94 balls, batting at No 3, to continue the excellent batting form that had been a feature of his 2017 county season.

Westley heads home

Tom Westley was due to return home from the England Lions’ tour of Australia on Wednesday in expectation that he will need an operation on finger injury on his left hand.
Westley, who was omitted from England’s Ashes tour party after a five-Test run last summer, had been due to bat first wicket down for the Lions in their clash with Queensland Select.
Instead, he is heading for Leeds where he will have a second scan and any surgery that proves to be necessary.

“Obviously I’ve been netting a lot out here so it was nice to get out in the middle, share a stand with Keats and get a few runs,” said Foakes.”When you come out as back-up keeper you know your game time is going to be limited, but it’s still been special to be out here,” he added.”We had three days of hard work in Brisbane when I thought we played pretty well, and although it slipped away in the end, hopefully Adelaide will be a good place for us to come back.”Jennings declared the Lions innings on 250 for five, in the hope of setting up a last-day run chase and there seemed every chance of further batting opportunities as Queensland powered to a lead of 344 at the close with eight wickets remaining.

Mignon du Preez’s 80 took South Africa to their first ever win against New Zealand, and levelled the series at 1-1

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Mignon du Preez’s 80 helped South Africa level the series•ICC/Getty Images

Mignon du Preez’s 80 led South Africa Women to their first-ever win against New Zealand Women, in the second ODI in Kimberley. She struck ten boundaries in her 112-ball knock to help South Africa level the seven-match series at 1-1.This after Lizelle Lee, who was promoted to open, made a run-a-ball 42. Morna Nielsen, the left-arm spinner, pegged South Africa back with her third ODI five-wicket haul, and was New Zealand’s only wicket-taker till Holly Huddleston, the fast bowler, removed du Preez with five to get. But there were no more hiccups as South Africa completed their four-wicket victory with five balls to spare.Earlier, New Zealand’s top order showed more resolve than in the first ODI after being put in, led by captain Suzie Bates who top-scored with 66. She put on 68 for the opening wicket with Rachel Priest, and 72 for the second wicket with Amy Satterthwaite, who scored 47. However, the middle order failed once again as they slipped from 140 for 1 to 168 for 5 in a span of 7.3 overs. The collapse strangled New Zealand, and the last 12 overs fetched only 54.Medium-pacer Marizanne Kapp was at the centre of this collapse, as she removed Sattherwaite and Katie Perkins in consecutive overs. She finished with 3 for 41 in nine overs before contributing 27 in a 49-run fifth-wicket stand with du Preez.The win brought South Africa within one point of fourth-placed New Zealand in the ICC Women’s Championship table. A win on Thursday -only the first three ODIs count towards the championships – will help the hosts jump into the top four.

Steven Finn gave his chances of playing in the first Test a significant boost as he took four early wickets before England’s bowlers capped off an encouraging day by reducing Pakistan A to 192 for 12

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2015
ScorecardSteven Finn gave his chances of playing in the first Test a significant boost as he took four early wickets before England’s bowlers capped off an encouraging day by reducing Pakistan A to 192 for 12. With the teams having agreed to spend a day each in the field, several of the Pakistan A side batted twice as a much-changed England attack got a good workout.Finn appeared to be behind Mark Wood in the running to support James Anderson and Stuart Broad – he said so himself afterwards – but impressed during two penetrative spells that yielded figures of 11-7-5-4. Wood had been given the first opportunity in the two-day game earlier in the week but was rested this time, along with Anderson and Broad.Although Finn and Wood played two Tests together at the end of the Ashes, one will have to make way due to Anderson’s return from injury. Given the sapping conditions, having both in form will not be to England’s disadvantage.This was a more responsive surface than the one on which Pakistan A made 216 for 5 on Tuesday and Finn’s pace helped reduce them to 73 for 6 before a 93-run stand between Umar Amin and Adnan Akmal brought some respectability to what was soon to become a rather confusing scorecard.England selected Alex Hales and James Taylor in their XI, in place of Alastair Cook and Joe Root, while the inclusion of Samit Patel and Liam Plunkett meant everyone in the squad got a workout. Cook and Root were still involved in the field, sharing the captaincy along with Ian Bell for a session each, while Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler took turns behind the stumps.Finn had Khurram Manzoor caught behind in his fifth over – although the opener appeared to dispute the decision – and then Ali Asad slashed a drive to second slip. He returned after lunch to have Iftikhar Ahmed lbw and Usman Salahuddin taken at third slip two balls later, providing a reminder of his ODI performances in the UAE three years ago when he was the leading wicket-taker on either side.Focus has been on England’s spin resources and Moeen Ali had Fawad Alam taken at slip after extracting some turn before Adil Rashid picked up his first wicket on tour by inducing an edge from opener Sami Aslam on 43.Akmal and Amin rebuilt the innings during the afternoon, taking their seventh-wicket stand beyond tea. Shortly after Akmal had reached his fifty, Patel had Amin caught behind and Manzoor was then dismissed for the second time in the day trying to hit Patel over long-off.Asad walked out again only to be dismissed for another duck, his stumps rattled by Plunkett, and Rashid picked up the 10th wicket of the innings after a brief stand between Akmal and Zafar Gohar. With 12 overs left, Pakistan A continued to bat and there were further wickets for Rashid – Salahuddin the third batsman to fall twice – and Plunkett before the teams walked off with Akmal unbeaten on 74 and the scorers comparing notes.England will conclude their preparations for the first Test, which starts in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, by giving chances to Hales and Taylor with the bat. Hales will open alongside Moeen, with both looking to make their case to become Cook’s latest partner at the top of the order.

Despite beating Australia for the first time, and qualifying for their maiden World Cup final, West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira said her team hadn’t produced its best

Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai13-Feb-2013Despite beating five-time world champions Australia for the first time in an ODI, and qualifying for their maiden World Cup final, West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira said her team hadn’t produced its best performance yet. And West Indies had just defended 164 to win their last Super Six match in Mumbai, knocking out England and New Zealand.”Since we have come to this World Cup, we haven’t brought forth our A game,” Aguilleira said. “The final is definitely the place to bring our A game. Yes, we had a few misfields and there is lot of room for improvement, not just on the field, but batting wise as well.”After choosing to bat, West Indies were dismissed in 47 overs by a disciplined Australian attack. They were 59 for 5 at one stage and could have been out for a lower score had Deandra Dottin not scored 60 at No. 7. Aguilleira said the difference between Dottin and the others was her natural ability to hit the ball hard. “That’s a god-given talent and I think she is using it well. She is not using it enough, but she is using it.”Australia lost wickets regularly too, but they also had steady partnerships that kept swinging the match in their favour. However, when three important middle-order batsmen fell in quick succession, Aguilleira said she could sense panic in Australia’s players.”I felt some panic happening in their camp and that’s the time we started to attack even more. We realised that as long as we bowl in the right areas, we can get wickets and that’s exactly what happened. You really need bowlers to bowl as tight as possible. The bowlers made it easier for me by doing exactly what they are supposed to do.”West Indies had to win this match to qualify for the final, because the gap between their net run rate and that of the other contenders was marginal. “The atmosphere in the dressing room was high because we knew how important this match was, not just for us but for the people of the Carribbean and our fans as well,” Aguilleira said. “We have a lot of people supporting us. We knew that we could make it to the final and that’s exactly what we did.”Amid all the questions after the match, she admitted with a beaming smile that she was overjoyed. “I’m overwhelmed right now. Words can’t express the way I’m feeling right now. We got to thank god for it, we had been through a lot as a team and hope his blessings continue to shine on us.”Aguilleira said West Indies now had a better idea of Australia’s game, which would help them prepare for the final. “We understand them much better having seen them and I think they understand us as well. We made mistakes in some areas and those are the things we need to work on. Since we have a few days, we will work on areas such as not giving their batsmen much width because they are strong whenever they get a chance to free their arms.”Australia’s captain Jodie Fields gave the credit to the West Indies players. “Their bowling was very disciplined and they put the ball in good areas,” she said. “Their spinners took it to our batsmen and that helped them win the game today. They bowled with disciplined, tight lines and fielded very well today. The pitch was a bit slow and also turning a lot, so it was hard to score.”West Indies complemented their bowling with sharp fielding, which resulted in three catches and three run-outs. The run-outs occurred not just because of good fielding, but also because of poor running. “We had to score runs and sometimes you have to take those risks and to West Indies’ credit they got a few run-outs. They are great fielders, Deandra Dottin was really good at point today and Daley and others backed each other up.”Australia had been undefeated in the World Cup until now and that’s how they wanted the record to be. After losing to West Indies, who they will meet again in the finals, Fields said they have time to prepare and work on their shortcomings.”I don’t think it’s ever good to have a loss. We definitely came out today to win the match and wanted to go through the tournament undefeated. We have to go and focus on our training. Since we are going to play them in the final, at least we got a chance to look at their game and hopefully we can bring it back on Sunday.”

A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on January 17

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2012Windward Islands surged to their third win in as many games and cemented their spot at the head of Group A with a 22-run win against Leeward Islands at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Batting first, Windward were on their way quickly, through an electric 42-run opening stand in three overs between Johnson Charles and Miles Bascombe. Gavin Tonge then helped Leeward recover ground with three quick strikes. Justin Athanaze shackled Windward in the middle overs with a spell of 3 for 12 in four overs, while Devon Smith anchored proceedings with 31 off 29 balls. Darren Sammy and Shane Shillingford provided the closing fireworks, slugging four sixes and three fours in all, off the 25 balls they faced between the two of them. Windward were bowled out for 157 with a ball to spare.Leeward’s chase was propelled in ideal fashion by their openers Kieran Powell and Austin Richards, their 45-run stand coming off 6.1 overs. Chesney Hughes maintained the momentum with 25 off 13 balls, but the innings slumped once Shillingford’s offspin came into the picture. He had Hughes stumped and proceeded to slice through the middle order to finish with 4 for 22. Three run-outs did not help Leeward’s cause, and they were bowled out in the 20th over. They have now lost three of their four games.The only solace for Leeward came from Canada who remained winless after three games, thanks to an eight-wicket loss against Guyana at the Kensington Oval. Canada gave a creditable account of themselves with the bat, with Ruvindu Gunasekara (38 off 28) and Jimmy Hansra (40 off 36) providing the platform for a score of 143 for 7. But the total proved insufficient for their bowlers to defend, and Guyana sped to the target in 17 overs. Narsingh Deonarine was the top scorer, with 52 off 32 balls including four fours and two sixes.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but one Finch made Australia’s day at the MCG, where the hosts ended England’s eight-match winning streak in Twenty20 games

Andrew McGlashan at the MCG14-Jan-2011Melbourne loves a hometown hero. When Dean Jones and Bill Lawry were paraded around the ground during the fourth Test they were cheered to the rafters and all Shane Warne has to do is step foot on the turf to be hailed by the locals. Aaron Finch has a long way to go to match any of them, and may never play Test cricket, but for one night he gave the suffering Australia supporters something to cheer in front of his fellow Victorians.Finch’s 53 off 33 balls, which guided Australia to a competitive 7 for 147 after they’d stalled against England’s spinners, will be his last international innings of the summer. He isn’t part of the one-day plans, or even in the World Cup 30 which will be trimmed next week, so he’ll have to content himself with a return to state cricket where he can slot straight back into the Big Bash. “One thing Melbourne is great at is supporting cricket and they came out after the ordinary weather,” he said. “It was a real buzz in front of the home crowd.”In a sense it’s not surprising Finch isn’t around the 50-over set up yet with a career one-day average of 33.95 and no hundreds in 27 matches. His domestic Twenty20 record is superior with a strike-rate in excess of 130. He is a modern cricketer in many ways. His Twenty20 skills had been recognised by others before his country. He was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad at the 2010 IPL and this year has been bought for US$300,000 by Delhi Daredevils.Like many young sportsmen he’s also on Twitter, but an hour after the match finished he hadn’t got round to reflecting on his effort. His most recent message read: “New shoes must be complimented with new socks! Haha.” But there is a serious, mature, side to his cricket and he showed it by the way he rebuilt Australia’s innings. When Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy reduced them 5 for 80 a sixth consecutive Twenty20 defeat was on the cards.Then Finch and Steve Smith, another of Australia’s hopes for a better future, produced a sensible stand of 61 in seven overs. Finch dominated with his partner contributing just 13 from his 18 deliveries. “We just tried to take the innings as deep as we could and leave our run late,” he said. “We were losing wickets consistently up the top so we couldn’t afford to be seven or eight down with four or five overs to go. We thought we’d knock it around and aimed for 155, we came up a bit short but it was enough.”A key factor in the final outcome was Australia’s sixes tally which stood at five compared to England’s one and that came in the final over when Chris Woakes, another fearless youngster, launched Brett Lee into the Great Southern Stand. Finch used his local knowledge and didn’t try to clear the large square boundaries, instead aiming straight or towards midwicket.”This ground is suited to orthodox cricket shots, you’ve got short straight boundaries and wider square so it encourages you to play with good technique and hit through the line with good cricket shots,” he said. “You get value for shots here when you play that way.”Paul Collingwood said he still backed his team to chase down the total after their eight-match unbeaten run, but admitted Finch’s innings had given Australia a vital lift. “He struck it very well tonight. He hits a long ball and he hits it in good areas, he’s a dangerous player. It was a good innings. It kind of shifted the momentum a little bit.””We were quite happy at half-time with chasing down a score like that but we were 10 percent or 20 per cent off our batting,” he added. “There were quite a lot of dot balls from over six to 16 and then obviously we couldn’t get the boundaries and started holing out after that.”Given the way Australia – both the team and the country – has clung to every morsel of success this season, such as Usman Khawaja’s ‘double’ of 37 and 21 on Test debut, it was slightly surprising this wasn’t hailed a glorious rebirth, but Cameron White knew it was just a small, albeit welcome, step in the right direction ahead of the one-day series.”It’s important, it beats losing for sure,” he said. “It’s a different format to the Tests and it’s different to the one-dayers. You might be able to take something forward, but it’s a new competition starting Sunday.”Collingwood, though, was confident the result wouldn’t mean much come the opening ODI at the same ground on Monday when he hands back the captaincy to Andrew Strauss. “I don’t think it’s hurt our momentum too much,” he said. “It’s obviously disappointing to lose a game but we still did some good stuff tonight.”

Mohammad Yousuf has insisted he will stay on as captain despite Pakistan’s 3-0 drubbing in Tests and 5-0 humiliation in ODIs on the tour of Australia

Cricinfo staff04-Feb-2010Mohammad Yousuf has insisted he will stay on as captain despite Pakistan’s staggeringly unsuccessful tour of Australia. The PCB chairman had earlier called for a change in captaincy following the conclusion of the tour, but Yousuf maintained the results in Australia didn’t warrant him stepping down from his post. Pakistan’s chief of selectors, Iqbal Qasim, offered his resignation in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s 5-0 loss in the ODIs, but Yousuf wasn’t willing to follow suit.”If the chief selector has resigned it’s his thinking,” Yousuf told reporters on his return from Australia. “I didn’t do badly as captain, not as badly that I should resign or quit. I accepted captaincy when no one was willing to take captaincy for the tours. I took it [captaincy] only because of the country and will continue for the country in future.”Yousuf took over the reins when Younis Khan quit citing dissent within the team and took a temporary break from international cricket. Since then, Pakistan drew a Test series in New Zealand 1-1, before the capitulation against Australia. They had fought hard in Melbourne and especially in Sydney, where they failed to chase 176, but ended up losing all three Tests.”Under the circumstances we went there, I think we did well to draw the series in New Zealand. Our players were inexperienced but I think we did well in the Australia Tests,” Yousuf said.

Ben Stokes took five to restrict India to 358 before India’s bowlers fluffed their lines

Alagappan Muthu24-Jul-20250:49

What makes Crawley and Duckett click as a pair?

0:52

Manjrekar: India batted in different bowling conditions from England

Pant’s willingness to put his body on the line – he is set to miss the fifth Test – ushered India to an above-par total. He finished with 54 off 75 balls and hit the 90th six of his Test career, equalling Virender Sehwag who holds the national record. He also went past 465 runs on this tour, which meant he eclipsed Alec Stewart and now has the highest tally for a wicketkeeper in a Test series in England. Not bad for a man who came to the office wearing a moonboot.Stokes continued his stellar series with the ball, picking up 16 wickets – a new career-best going past his efforts on debut in the 2013-14 Ashes. It is often said when he has the ball in hand that he makes things happen. That’s possibly because he is never afraid of having a punt. Sometimes, he bowls too full and that works because he gets movement both ways – Thakur found that out the hard way. Sometimes, he bowls way too short for way too long and that works because he has the strength to hurry batters up – Washington Sundar found that out the hard way. A peach brought him his fifth wicket – angled in, nipping away, taking Kamboj’s outside edge for a duck.3:28

Thakur: Pant’s pain-bearing capacity is really high

England built on their captain’s hard work with Duckett especially showing how little the margin of error is to him now. He turned a pretty good ball, on the base of off stump, maybe even outside, into a boundary through midwicket that kept two fielders interested all the way through and the crowd absolutely loved it. They went “oooooooohhhhh…yaaaaaaaayyyyyy” as Siraj and Washington were beaten. Given he was able to do that, it was barely a surprise that any time India went too straight, Duckett was able to access the square-leg region to great profit. He went to fifty without a single boundary on the off side and celebrated the landmark with a back-foot punch for four through cover.Crawley, at the other end, had to be a lot more circumspect. He took 14 balls to get off the mark and those runs came with a reminder of the danger the pitch still posed as a Jasprit Bumrah delivery rose up sharply to rap him on the bottom hand. That is why India would feel like they have let themselves down. There was help to the fast bowlers right through the day. Those late wickets they picked up resulted in a mini-session where it was revealed how hard it was to bat out there when the ball was in the right areas. Just that it was difficult to find for a bowling unit that isn’t used to this kind of bounce. Their stock length coupled with the movement on offer kept beating the edge. So they went fuller, only to stray a little too close to the pads or the half-volley mark.Crawley, in particular, played some sumptuous drives through cover and down the ground, and it looked like the opening partnership itself might see England through to stumps. India did raise their game towards the close and they need to raise it again on the third day to keep themselves in the fight. Otherwise the revellers in the party stand – repurposing the Mitchell Johnson song for Siraj – would be proven right. India bowled to the left. They bowled to the right. Their bowling was, well…

England expect pitch for first Test to spin but are not fazed by the challenge ahead

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Jan-2024It was as recently as November that the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium was renovated with a new roof covering its stands. That explains why Brendon McCullum is gazing up at it like he’s been reacquainted with an old friend who has done something a bit different with their hair.It might have also been the look of a man wondering if he could have put a dent in it in his heyday. Has he cleared the stands here before? “Not for a long time,” he said with a smirk before adding a more honest: “absolutely not”.He gave it a good go back in 2010. A slap-happy Hyderabad special saw him blaze four sixes in a mammoth innings of 225. The striking was crisp, 26 boundaries all in, and the innings itself seemed a breezy affair despite taking the best part of six hours. It remains the highest Test score on this ground.Related

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Over 13 years on, McCullum was back out in the middle as red balls flew around him during England’s first training session in India. The hosts’ lack of numbers for their optional session meant greater freedom for the opposition to roam. Most made a beeline for the pitch.”It looked good,” McCullum said. “It looks like it’s going to spin.”It may not turn right from the word go, but you’d think at some stage it will turn and I’m sure spin will be a huge factor throughout the series.”Crucially, none of this was framed as a problem. Indeed there is a clear sense England have come into this tour with an edict not to let themselves be rattled by a home board curating their own pitches. McCullum even went as far as vouching for the groundsman, calling him “a good fella” who does “a really good job”. Years of embracing cricket in these parts – “a home away from home” – and the uncontrollables that come with it have left him with the view that the uncertainty should be relished. It provides the scope for something memorable.”When we started out on this journey a fair while ago we wanted to provide as much entertainment as we possibly can,” McCullum said. “We felt that gave us the best chance as well. What better stage to do it on – against India, in India?”There’ll be many eyeballs watching around the world and it’s a huge opportunity for us. India is the land of opportunity, and that’s what sits in front of us now. That’s the exciting thing. how long the games go, I’ve no idea but I’m sure both teams will stick to their respective styles. Throughout the Ashes, it was two heavyweights going at it with different styles, and I expect it to be the same in this series.”There was more caution when discussing Ben Stokes, who McCullum likened to a “greyhound”, suggesting the captain’s recovery from an overdue knee clear-up is going as well as can be expected.Brendon McCullum will oversee England’s fortunes in India•PA Photos/Getty Images

He was similarly non-committal on the keeping situation, which took on a new dynamic once Harry Brook pulled out of the tour for family reasons. Ben Foakes’ protracted training session with the gloves on Monday seemed to give the game away, though Jonny Bairstow may also start to cover for Brook’s loss. Meanwhile, Tom Hartley continues to impress and could be in line for a Test debut as one of the spin trio alongside Jack Leach and Joe Root.There are still important decisions to ratify, combinations to sort, gut calls to make. And for all the good work under McCullum, bonhomie and a few rounds of golf do not make you immune to the sorts of errors that have blighted previous England tours.But there is a prevailing sense of calm entering into battle with a team who have won their last 16 home series. A simplicity borne out of the fact there is more to gain than lose for a group of players seemingly blessed by perspective. And it was hard not to wonder if a tour of India, where McCullum’s legacy as a cricketer was cemented, is exactly the kind of series to underline his unique qualities as a coach.”Obviously it’s no secret that we’re trying to enjoy ourselves as a team as well,” McCullum said. “And those things away from cricket are obviously super important to this side. A lot of our mesaging is consistent, not just around the cricket field but around daily life and that includes ennoying yourself.”We’ve got to take 20 wickets with the ball in each Test match and we’ve got to get one more run than them with the bat. It’s not rocket science but it will be the nuances of the game, and when to stick and when to twist, which will be the fascinating part. That’s what I love about this series – we are going to be tested, and our methods are going to be challenged and we’ll see where we are at. But it’s a pretty exciting opportunity.”