The Mirpur pitch, topped with a layer of grass, has tested batsmen but India have displayed impressive temperament and skill to build for the World T20

Alagappan Muthu in Mirpur02-Mar-2016Stupid Asia Cup. Stupid green pitches. Stupid low-scoring matches. Didn’t you get the memo? The World T20 is coming, and its in the subcontinent. Your job was to prime the batsmen to rack up or run down big totals and smother the bowlers with the toughest of love. So what’s the big idea?Only three out of 14 totals in the tournament have tiptoed over the 140-mark. A chase of 84 ended up not being one-sided. That’s not normal, is it? Only, why did Virat Kohli say that batsmen to play games like those? To weather spells like Mohammad Amir’s where the ball was hooping around and zipping about like it was remote-controlled? To endure a nerve-wracking examination of one’s technique and temperament first before coming out the victor? Must’ve been a misunderstanding.After all, Kohli’s idea of a good contest also meant a limited-overs legend like Yuvraj Singh ended up like a sitting duck at a carnival shooting gallery. It’s one thing that seven-foot tall Mohammad Irfan made the ball trampoline past Yuvraj’s nose at 145 kph, but Thisara Perera, another comeback man, who would sooner bowl 145 kph than run at 145 kph, was making things difficult for Yuvraj on Tuesday.He made only 14 not out off 32 against Pakistan and 35 off 18 against Sri Lanka. He set up two victories, but how much more fun would it have been to see him on a featherbed treating fast bowlers like slow bowlers and slow bowlers like net bowlers?Instead, the Asia Cup offered conditions that were prickly for the batsmen. As if Yuvraj didn’t have enough working against him.”When you return to international cricket, there is a lot of pressure from yourself. There are people’s expectations as well,” MS Dhoni said “So the first few matches go out in just figuring out what to do. Whether you want to go out and play the big shot. The minus being that, if you don’t do well in the first couple of innings, then there is more pressure on yourself.”Now consider the sordid past Yuvraj has with Mirpur. It was here, against Sri Lanka, under the overwhelming glare of a World T20 final, that he withered away.”I felt that his approach has always been very good,” Dhoni has said for three straight matches. “He gives himself two or three balls before playing the big shot. And you saw today, he’s someone who can hit sixes at will. So if the same thing continues gradually, he will be in a very good position before the World Cup.”Why did India’s captain – a limited-overs legend himself – offer such glowing testimony to a man who has only 64 runs in three matches at a strike-rate of 96?Because the conditions were so difficult. Because Yuvraj has withstood them for 125 minutes. Because he is nowhere near his best, and yet only Kohli and Sabbir Rahman have bested him at spending time at the crease.The Asia Cup has offered bowlers a chance, and as a result the cricket has been intriguing. There has been a thrust and there has been a parry. Even an Associate nation like UAE has been able to cause a few scares. So much that none of the results so far have been foregone conclusions and all of the matches have demanded the batsmen to be clever.Take India’s innings today, for example. They were 16 for 2 by the fourth over with the ball nipping just about enough to make Sri Lanka believe 138 could be defended. Virat Kohli was at the crease, Suresh Raina joined him and they stuck together for 47 balls. Only 14 of them were dots. There wasn’t any release in pressure but dew had set in and the seam movement had diminished.Kohli and Raina had faced enough deliveries to ascertain the line of attack practiced by Nuwan Kulasekara and company – off stump and just outside – and the field was appropriately set. Point, cover, mid-off and the sweeper. Which meant there were gaps on the leg side; gaps that could be capitalised now that the ball wasn’t jagging about anymore.Out came the flicks. Gentle ones, played late and with a roll of the wrist to keep them down. Kohli diminished his chances of getting out even further by batting outside the crease. This meant he could reach the ball before it had the chance to deviate laterally and even force Sri Lanka to hit a shorter length lest they gave away half-volleys.Such finesse becomes surplus on flat pitches, as was amply clear during India’s tour to Australia in January. Perth was a puppy dog. The Gabba left onlookers gobsmacked. The fastest pitches in the world had been put to sleep. No total seemed safe and the cricket almost numbed the senses. Matches like those can help youngsters like Hardik Pandya get used to the pressure of chasing mammoth targets or Jasprit Bumrah get used to the pressures keeping big-hitting batsmen quiet when nothing is in his favour. But luck may play as prominent a part as skill in such circumstances. In the Asia Cup, with these sporting tracks, skill has been the deciding factor.Even if the conditions have not exactly mirrored those likely for the World T20, there is plenty that all the teams can take away from Bangladesh.”It [this experience] will help us assess the conditions [better],” Dhoni said “You won’t go in with the mindset that ‘generally this what happens here and we will bat like this’. It will push the openers especially to play a few deliveries. Especially, if you are batting first. If you’re batting second you get some sort of an idea as to what is happening. But if you’re batting first, they will give time to the bowler. Then after the second or the third over, depending how much it’s deviating off the wicket or if there is some swing, then they will play their shots. I think that’s very important.”Even on the flattest of wickets, it is the first couple of overs that are really important. We will be able to give that respect to the opposition and the condition, which I think is crucial. Because one or two overs for this side won’t make a lot of difference. Even if we don’t get too many runs in the first two overs, we still have the firepower to get those runs in the next 18 overs. That has been our strength.”What is important is to keep it in the back of your mind as to ‘this is what were thinking like when we were in Bangladesh when it was doing a bit but now’s it’s not so what’s a good score?’ All these things, being a cricketer is a part of your subconsciousness. I feel it will only help us.”This Asia Cup has provided some fantastic cricket, compelling stories, a refreshing balance between bat and ball. If the price for that is a little grass on the pitch, then so be it.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2016Peter Siddle chipped in with 49 as Australia cruised past 550•Getty ImagesVoges was the last man to fall, for 239, as Australia were bowled out for 562 with a massive lead•AFPMartin Guptill started briskly for New Zealand, smacking seven fours in his 55-ball 45•AFPBut had to depart after Mitchell Marsh pulled off an outstanding catch at cover off Nathan Lyon’s bowling•AFPAustralia then had the big wicket of Kane Williamson, for 22, as the hosts slumped to 121 for 2•Associated PressTom Latham provided some stability with a patient half-century…•Getty Images… but was coaxed by Lyon into skying a catch to Usman Khawaja at mid-off•Getty ImagesHenry Nicholls dug in with 31•AFPBut New Zealand lost Brendon McCullum in the last over of the day, ending the third day 201 runs behind the visitors. McCullum managed just 10 in his final innings at the Basin Reserve•Getty Images

Also: India’s youngest and oldest centurions, and an autobiography called

Steven Lynch09-May-2016Who has had the highest batting average in a calendar year, given a reasonable number of innings? asked Richard Edelman from England
Two Sri Lankans lead the way here. Kumar Sangakkara averaged 138.29 in 2007 – he had nine innings, two of them not-out, and his 968 runs included four centuries. Second comes Hashan Tillakaratne, with 136.40 from ten innings in 2001, helped by five not-outs. Next is Garry Sobers who, in 1958, made 1193 runs in 13 innings at an average of 132.56. Four of those innings were not-outs, including his 365 not out against Pakistan in Kingston, the Test record at the time. If you insist on a qualification of ten completed innings, then the leader is Michael Clarke, with 106.33 from 15 completed innings in 2012, the year he completed a record four double-centuries in Tests.Is Sachin Tendulkar both the youngest and oldest Test and ODI centurion for India? asked Ashish Mittal from Singapore
Sachin Tendulkar was only 17 (plus 112 days) when he made his first Test century, against England at Old Trafford in 1990. He was, by nearly three years from Kapil Dev, India’s youngest Test centurion. In fact, Tendulkar made five hundreds before his 20th birthday, and no other Indian has made one. His last Test century came in January 2011, when he was aged 37 years and 255 days. Three Indians have been older when they reached three figures in a Test: Rahul Dravid scored seven hundreds at a greater age, the last in November 2011 when two months short of his 39th birthday, while Vinoo Mankad made two – both double-centuries – against New Zealand in 1955-56 when he was 38. But the oldest Indian centurion is Vijay Merchant, who was 22 days past his 40th birthday when he scored 154 against England in Delhi in 1951-52, in what turned out to be his final Test.It’s the other way round in one-day internationals. In these, Tendulkar is the oldest to make a hundred for India: that elusive 100th international hundred, his 114 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in March 2012, came up when he was aged 38 years and 327 days – around seven months older than Sunil Gavaskar when he made 103 not out (his only ODI century) against New Zealand in Nagpur during the 1987 World Cup. Tendulkar was 21 years 138 days old when he made his first ODI hundred, in September 1994. Three Indians have reached three figures when younger. Yuvraj Singh was aged 21 years and 120 days when he made an unbeaten 102 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in April 2003, while Virat Kohli made two centuries in 2009-10, not long after turning 21. But the youngest of all for India remains Vinod Kambli, whose 100 not out against England in Jaipur in January 1993 was scored on his 21st birthday.I noticed that Ravi Bopara has scored three Test hundreds, but no fifties. Has anyone else done this? asked Duncan Field from England
The Test career of Essex and England’s Ravi Bopara featured an unusual sequence. After three ducks in a row in Sri Lanka late in 2007, he was ignored for more than a year, then was recalled and made 104, 143 and 108 in three successive Tests in which he played in 2009 against West Indies, despite being dropped after the first of those centuries! Bopara has played only seven Tests since, the last in 2012, with a highest score of 44 not out: his international career appears to be over, even though he only turned 31 last week. No one else has finished their Test career with three centuries but no scores of 50-99. The only men with two hundreds but no fifties are Barry Knight (another Essex man) and Allan Steel of England, Australia’s Harry “Dasher” Graham, Amal Silva of Sri Lanka, and former Pakistan opener Wajahatullah Wasti. India’s KL Rahul currently also has two hundreds but no fifties to his name, but will probably play again soon.Will Ravi Bopara ever get the chance to score a Test fifty?•Getty ImagesAs per a recent question, Brad Hogg is the oldest player to figure in the IPL. But who’s the youngest? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
The youngest player to appear in the IPL is Sarfaraz Khan, who was only 17 years and 177 days old when he made his debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Chennai Super Kings in Bangalore in April 2015. Sarfaraz just edged out Delhi Daredevils seamer Pradeep Sangwan, who was two days older on his IPL debut, against Super Kings in Chennai in May 2008. Unmukt Chand was 16 days past his 18th birthday when he played his first match in the IPL, for Daredevils against Mumbai Indians at the Feroz Shah Kotla in April 2011.Which cricketer called his life story Run Out? Was it Jonty Rhodes? asked Simon Ellis from England
I suppose that’s what Rhodes should have named his autobiography, but actually his 1998 book is actually just called Jonty (and subtitled “Fruits of the Spirit”). Others might suggest that Denis Compton or Inzamam-ul-Haq should have had books by this name, but actually I can only find one cricketing title that broadly fits the bill. Graham Halbish called his 2003 book Run Out: it details the events that led to his removal as the Australian Cricket Board’s chief executive.Further to last week’s question about most missed Tests, how many did Bob Simpson miss in his ten-year break? asked Peter Blundell from Australia
Between his initial retirement in 1967-68 and his surprise recall, rising 40, to captain Australia in 1977-78 in the wake of the defections to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, Bob Simpson missed 71 Tests. That’s joint 14th on the overall list, but second for Australia, behind Brad Hogg, who missed 78 matches between his debut in 1996-97 and a short-lived recall in April 2003. Simpson’s gap of nine years and 305 days between Tests is another Australian record (Edgar Mayne also went more than nine years between appearances, mainly thanks to the First World War), although overall he is well down that particular list. Over his entire career, Simmo missed 86 Tests after his debut: that’s fifth on Australia’s list after Mike Whitney (92), Peter Sleep (95), Damien Martyn (101) and Brad Hogg (129).Send in your questions using our feedback form.

West Indies have been enterprising, but there is that tentativeness of first-timers in their ranks as they gear up to face three-time champions Australia

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Apr-2016A team looking for a four-peat and another looking to score with their first attempt. Australia versus West Indies on Sunday, for the 2016 Women’s World Twenty20, feels different to previous finals.Perhaps because previous showdowns have felt like two of the world’s very best slugging it out. Australia arrive like locals: they know what they want to order and have nabbed the winner’s booth on the last three occasions. West Indies have never been here before and, between cycling through their options and seeing what’s good, there is that tentativeness of first-timers.Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies captain, says it will allow them to be fearless. But nothing highlights the difference in mindset and sense of deserving quite like the two dances that are associated with both teams.This tournament’s ear worm and corresponding celebration has, yet again, been brought to us by the West Indies men. , a Dwayne Bravo ditty, has become the soundtrack in their run to the final. And yet, the women have come just as far without so much of a double fist-pump.With both West Indies teams sharing semi-final and final venues, the players have spent a lot of time together. As well as exchanging tips on how to approach batting against a disciplined Australian attack, Bravo had one complaint for Taylor. They weren’t “Champion”-ing enough.They are a separate team with their own moves. Each wicket against New Zealand was greeted with various two-steps and skips. Shamila Connell took out Rachel Priest’ off-stump and broke it down. It’s certainly no . In fact, it’s almost as if they’ve been trying to avoid it. West Indies men have co-opted , and seems to have co-opted the women, whether they like it or not.There’s an element of convincing themselves that they deserve to be here. It’s not so much in their performances, which have warranted a final berth, but in Taylor’s word’s. She was bullish – “we’re not intimidated at all” – and also coy: “we’ve never been to any final before so, for us, to get this one would be like a dream come true”. In between, her admiration for the opposition came through too.Stafanie Taylor has promised to emulate the men’s team and bring out the ‘champion’ dance should they stop Australia from winning their fourth Women’s World T20 title•IDI/Getty ImagesAs for Australia, they have taken the opportunity to embrace a craze that speaks of their dominance. The dab.Hailing from the Atlanta hip hop scene, the dab is a dance move which, basically, involves sneezing to the beat. It’s a simple maneuver, which involves leaning into the crux of your elbow with a sharp twitch. It moved from the street corners to the screens and, now, has started to come into professional sport.It’s an expression of confidence. A nod to your own brilliance: almost as if that things are going so good right now that you just can’t keep it in. The phrase is “dab on ’em folks”. Essentially, show them why you’re the best. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton dabs. LeBron James has been known to dab. Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is football’s lead dabber.When Australia thumped Ireland by seven wickets in the group stages, Megan Schutt dabbed. She hadn’t enjoyed the best of starts, going for three consecutive fours in her first over. Isobel Joyce, the Ireland captain, decided to try and walk across her stumps to inflict a bit more grief. But Schutt saw what was happening, fired one in straight and trapped Joyce lbw. She appealed, then roared in celebration. Then she dabbed.It seems fitting that Australia, and Schutt, would bring it to cricket. The 23-year-old is one of the game’s brightest stars at the moment, with an ability to move the ball both ways and a strong nerve.Against England in the semi-final, she was entrusted to bowl the penultimate over. Wih 21 to defended, she was hit for four off the first ball by Katherine Brunt. Off the next ball, she cramped her for room and knocked out the middle stump. The ball after, she chased an overthrow to the non-striker and affected a direct hit at the other end to get rid of Jenny Gunn. The word you are looking for is “clutch”.While Schutt will be key to Australia’s bowling fortunes again, there’s no talk of dreams coming true in Australia’s camp. Meg Lanning is leading a group of players who are on the cusp of becoming the first Australian cricket team to win four global events in a row. “We love winning as a side,” she said. “We’re a very competitive side and anything we do we want to win.”So far, West Indies have been helped by the form of a select few in Taylor and Deandra Dottin. Australia can point to the fact that almost everyone is pulling their weight.Australia will look to put a dab on. As for West Indies, well Taylor has made a Champion promise: “If we do win, we’re going to be doing it. A lot.”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2016Hashim Amla rotated the strike with dabs and cuts…•AFP…even as Rilee Rossouw was lbw to Nathan Lyon for 7 in the 10th over and wasted a review•AFPAmla’s innings was cut short at 35 when he was run out in the 19th over•AFPNathan Coulter-Nile then bowled AB de Villiers and JP Duminy to reduce South Africa to 104 for 5•AFPFarhaan Behardien and Aaron Phangiso resuscitated South Africa with a 37-run stand for the seventh wicket before Phangiso skewed a catch to long-off•AFPA patient 62 from Behardien helped South Africa finish with 189 for 9, one more than they managed in their previous game•AFPWayne Parnell got South Africa’s defence off to the ideal start by trapping David Warner lbw in the second over•AFPKagiso Rabada had Usman Khawaja bowled to reduce Australia to 10 for 2•AFPTabraiz Shamsi struck in his first over on international debut as South Africa’s bowlers gained the ascendancy•AFPAaron Finch, though, was fluent from the other end, using sweeps and muscular lofts to take Australia forward•AFPBut the South African spinners strangled the Australians and Rabada’s second spell dented the chase further. He finished with figures of 3 for 13 as Australia were bundled out for 142•AFP

Jonny Bairstow has gloriously fast hands when it comes to being one of the world’s most in-form batsmen. But they deserted him in his wicketkeeping duties, and it’s not entirely his fault

Jarrod Kimber at Lord's10-Jun-2016Jonny Bairstow is on his knees, clutching for the ball. Instead he clutches in vain as it bounces off his glove. It’s not an edge, but a throw from Stuart Broad. It’s low and bounces in front of Bairstow, but far enough away that it sits up well. But Bairstow never looks like collecting it. The next ball is a single to fine leg, the soft throw comes in on the half volley. Bairstow puts down one hand to grab it, but he fumbles it again. Two balls later, a ball is under-armed above his head. Somehow he fumbles again.In the three balls that have come to him, he’s taken a hat-trick of fumbles.Lord’s is a bad ground for wicketkeeping. The ball swings late. It dips. It isn’t easy. Then there is a slope as well. The world’s best wicketkeepers have often looked untidy here. But they have worked it out.Prior to today, Jonny Bairstow’s professional experience of wicketkeeping at Lord’s amounted to 78 overs. His most recent stint had come in a Pro40 contest in 2011. He dropped a catch today. Jonny Bairstow is not one of the world’s best wicketkeepers.That game in which Bairstow last kept at Lord’s, he made 114. That is why he is here now. Them runs. Lots of runs. His technique might still worry some, there might be a question as to how much luck he has, but no one can question his runs.His wicketkeeping, you can question that.Although when it was questioned at Headingley, after he dropped a catch off the low-in confidence-Steven Finn he said, with the air of a man trying his very best: “If you’d like to give me an explanation of what you think that was, I’d love to know about it because there’s a lot of things that people talk about that. I’d love to know about it, because obviously they’ve kept wicket for however many years and know all the technicalities of it. If people want to go into the intricacies of keeping wicket, I think it would be quite interesting.”Bairstow is right. People know very little about wicketkeeping. Books about how to bat or bowl are printed every year. If it is a complete book about coaching, there will be a section on wicketkeeping. But how many wicketkeeping specialist coaching books are there? Chances are, you don’t own CrickiTeacher: The Art of Wicket-keeping by Stephen Pope, or Major Ronald Thomas Staynforth’s seminal classic, Wicket-Keeping. And if you don’t own them, chances are you don’t own a book devoted to one of cricket’s most important skills, as they seem to be two of a very, very, rare breed.

Cricket data is naked when it comes to wicketkeeping. Missed chances are barely recorded around the world, and counting byes has never truly worked when working out the class of a wicketkeeper

Before play, the cricket charity Chance to Shine were handing out copies of a cricket “bucket list”, including such must-do-at-least-once gems as “take a crowd catch” and “go to a Test in fancy dress”. One of the list items was, “fill in as a last-minute wicketkeeper”. That is not quite how modern cricket works, but it is the direction it does seem to be heading.Michael Bates, the former Hampshire wicketkeeper, is only 24 years old. But he is now a wicketkeeping coach, according to his Twitter profile, rather than a player, because while Bates can wicket-keep to a highlight-reel level, his batting isn’t up to the modern standard. Don Tallon, perhaps the greatest wicketkeeper of all time, only ever batted as high as seven in one innings in his career, and averaged 17.13 in 21 Tests. Since the war, according to Lookatthedata.blogspot.co.uk, the amount of runs produced by wicketkeepers in Tests has risen from 6% to 10%. Wicketkeepers have slowly and surely been turned into batsmen. We all know that. And the actual skill of wicketkeeping is struggling as a consequence.Modern wicketkeeping involves batsmen with fast hands, all of them tremendous athletes, diving and hoping. They are point fielders with gloves. Some don’t run up to the stumps when the ball is played into the field, thus missing the chance to complete run outs. Others don’t expect the ball to be missed, and are caught looking silly when it is. And almost none of them use their feet.It is not Bairstow’s fault his keeping is not better than it is. There is no doubt he works hard, he consults experts, and he works with the ECB keeping coach, Bruce French, a lot. He is fit, hungry, and he wants to be a success. And because of that, he might be. But he isn’t right now, and that isn’t his fault, that is the selectors’ fault.It is the England selectors, and selectors the world over, who have turned wicketkeepers into fast heavy handed allrounders. The wicketkeeper usually touches the ball more than anyone else, they take around 20% of the total dismissals in modern Test cricket. That is four wickets a game, the same as a top-class Test bowler.Yet teams rarely pick a batting allrounder as a frontline bowler, unless they have back-up in another couple of batting allrounders. There is no back-up for the keeper (unless you’re the Sri Lanka team), you are on your own, in a position in which you don’t create many chances so you have to accept the ones that come your way. So we have, as a sport, given away one of the most important positions in a cricket side to point fielders. Why? Because cricket doesn’t rate wicketkeeping, it rates runs.Jonny Bairstow dropped an chance early in Sri Lanka’s innings•AFPCricket data is naked when it comes to wicketkeeping. Missed chances are barely recorded around the world, and counting byes has never truly worked when working out the class of a wicketkeeper. And chances created by wicketkeepers isn’t even a conversation yet. Cricket’s lack of data means runs win.The scenario wasn’t so different when Matt Prior was picked for England. No one would say Prior was James Foster, but he was a top-class batsman who could make a Gilly-esque impact. Early on the second day, Prior was up on the balcony with his old team, watching the man who has inherited his job make 167 not out. The highest score by an English keeper in a Test match in England.In 2013-14 at Sydney, Prior watched Bairstow again. This time it was during a wicketkeeping drill he took him through before his second Test with the gloves. Prior had Bairstow on the mat that keepers use to practise against spinners. The balls hit his hands, they had the softness of a tank filled with anvils, and the balls ricocheted accordingly. As he ran off to collect the many balls he had missed, Prior shook his head.It was the same kind of shake the bowlers gave in South Africa, especially at Centurion where Bairstow missed chances from Stephen Cook and then Hashim Amla as the pair compiled a matchwinning partnership on the first day.Today it was Woakes who was shaking his head. Well he would have, but he was so put off by what he had just seen he didn’t know whether to perform a tea pot, point and shout, or kick the air and swear like he had in Centurion. Woakes has 13 Test wickets to date. He has also had five dropped chances, three of them from Bairstow.Bairstow has missed four chances this series. Three catches and one stumping. According to CricViz England are -153 in the field. Bairstow is -109 on his own. If the average batsman makes 32 runs, he’s -128 by that measure. All this after he had adopted goalkeeping practice that he said had improved his keeping.If it has improved it, perhaps that is because he was starting from such a low base. In 2013 Bairstow was keeping for Yorkshire at The Oval, but his glovework was so poor it seemed his job wasn’t to stop the ball, but to parry it and then run off to collect it.Today, people fumbled for excuses much as Bairstow had fumbled for the ball. Lord’s is a bad ground for wicketkeeping, you know. The ball swings late, you know. It dips, you know. It isn’t easy, you know. Then there is a slope as well, you know.Not to mention he is still learning. The last time he played a first-class game at Lord’s, Andrew Hodd was keeping for Yorkshire, and he is still early in his career. You know.But that catch, you know.When Woakes hit that area just short of a length at a good pace, when the ball bounced well and took the finest of edges, and went through to Bairstow, it just didn’t seem like there was an excuse. It didn’t seem like it was possible for a Test keeper to drop such an offering.If you were in a catching competition, and you had to take ten catches to win 100 dollars, and you dropped this catch, even as a fat amateur who hadn’t put the gloves on for years, you’d never forgive yourself.And not only did Bairstow not take it with those glorious fast batting hands, those 167 not out hands, they barely got near it.Bairstow didn’t shake his head, he had a nervous smile, and then buried his head in his arms. Had his head been a chance, he might have dropped it.

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2016Umesh Yadav broke through when he swung one back in to trap Guptill lbw•Associated PressKane Williamson got off to a start, but then perished to the part-time offspin of Kedar Jadhav•Associated PressRoss Taylor shared a third-wicket stand of 73 with Tom Latham to lay a solid platform•AFPTaylor’s dismissal triggered a collapse. When Luke Ronchi was stumped – thanks to some lightning work behind the stumps from MS Dhoni – New Zealand had slid to 161 for 5•Associated PressBut Latham tried to keep the fight going with his fifth international half-century of the tour…•AFP… before Kedar Jadhav got him – his third wicket•Associated PressTim Southee chopped a short ball on and New Zealand were down to 199 for 8•Associated PressBut James Neesham biffed 57 off 47 balls and put together 84 for the ninth wicket with Matt Henry; New Zealand recovered to 285•Associated PressMatt Henry struck in the third over of the chase when Ajinkya Rahane chipped a simple catch to cover•AFPHenry was denied a second wicket when Ross Taylor dropped Virat Kohli at wide slip. Kohli was on 6•Associated PressBut with Tim Southee trapping Rohit Sharma lbw with a slower ball, New Zealand edged ahead in the first Powerplay•Associated PressMS Dhoni promoted himself, steadied the chase, and completed 9000 ODI runs•Associated PressWith Kohli also scoring freely at the other end, the duo added 151 for the third wicket•Associated PressHenry broke the stand when Dhoni mistimed a shot to cover on 80•Associated PressKohli stayed till the end, completing his 26th ODI century and racing away to 154, as India eased home with 10 balls and seven wickets to spare•Associated Press

With remorseless accuracy and an ability to find swing and cut, Ken Higgs might have won more than 15 Test caps for England

David Hopps07-Sep-2016Ken Higgs, observed an admirer, was a wonderful fast-medium bowler with great stamina, an instantly recognisable curved run and an arse that crossed two postcodes. He played in 15 Tests for England, and, especially in Lancashire, many will profess he should have played more. With his passing, at 79, one of the Red Rose county’s cricketing legends has been lost.Higgs was a heart-of-oak bowler, who took pride in his remorseless accuracy and his ability to find swing and cut when conditions offered the slightest encouragement. Few bowlers of his pace – early 80s perhaps – have jarred the bat with such regularity.His England record was a fine one: 71 wickets in 15 Tests at 20.74 each and with an economy rate of only 2.14 runs an over. Better economy for England than Brian Statham, Lancashire’s prince of parsimony, and at Old Trafford there was no higher accolade than that.Born in Kidsgrove, in Staffordshire, on January 14, 1937, he lived there throughout his Lancashire career. He did not drive and would commute daily to Old Trafford by bus and train. This was an era in which all but a few high-profile batsmen habitually walked for a dismissal if they had edged the ball. Higgs was incensed one day at Old Trafford when David Steele stood his ground after the bowler believed he had found the edge. They were due to return to Staffordshire on the same train from Manchester Piccadilly after the match, but Higgs was resentful enough to catch the next one.He had suggested no particular aptitude for cricket as a schoolboy. He was more taken by football and as a centre half attracted the attention of Port Vale junior sides and was selected for an FA youth tour of Germany in the winter of 1953-54. But military service intervened and gradually his interests shifted to cricket, encouraged in part by watching his brother, Roy, play in the Staffordshire League. When his military service was over, it was not long before he broke into Staffordshire’s Minor Counties side. The Lancashire coach, Stan Worthington, a former Derbyshire and England allrounder, recommended him to the county, suggesting that he “might develop into another Alec Bedser”.Higgs quickly proved himself to be Statham’s most faithful new-ball partner at Lancashire after making his debut against Hampshire in 1958, taking seven wickets in the second innings. He took 67 wickets that year and 113 in his second, the first of five years in which he was to take more than 100 first-class wickets in a summer. He was not averse to a scathing quip or two if he felt that luck was against him.These were difficult times for Lancashire. They were runners-up to Yorkshire in 1960 but finished no higher than 11th for the next seven seasons. Job insecurity did not help Higgs’ cricket and there was some talk of his release, until a dramatic recovery of form that led to an England Test debut alongside Statham against South Africa in 1965. It was to be Statham’s last Test, but Lancashire’s pace attack now briefly served country as well as county.Higgs was summoned for the 1965-66 Ashes tour but illness and injury prevented him following up a useful first outing in Brisbane. A subsequent tour to New Zealand brought more fortune, with 17 wickets in three Tests.His best series came against a powerful West Indies in 1966, when his 24 wickets were not only the most by an England bowler but were heavy with top-order wickets: Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai and Basil Butcher to the fore. His 6 for 91 in a drawn Test at Lord’s remained his best Test figures. “A grand effort,” , they had intended to pose for the photo with a pint of beer – their chosen reward for thirsty work – only to be informed that it did not set the right tone.Higgs retired after the 1969 season, at 32, with 1033 first-class wickets at 22.90, his departure influenced to some degree by the belief that Lancashire were not paying him his due compared to Farokh Engineer and Clive Lloyd, two of the overseas players who brought a much needed shot in the arm to the county game in the late 1960s. Suitably, for family fallouts, the Old Trafford flags flew at half mast on news of his death, nearly half a century later.He played two seasons for Rishton in the Lancashire League, but county cricket retained a pull for him and he was persuaded to make a return by Leicestershire’s chief executive, Mike Turner, and made such a success of it that he took his first-class tally past 1500. He took 4 for 10, including a hat-trick, in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup final, and a few years later scored 98 batting a No. 11, during what remains a club record partnership of 228 with Ray Illingworth. As ever, Higgs’ sweep shot, which he doted upon for his entire career, was to the fore.Illingworth, whose captaincy was to transform Leicestershire after he cut his ties with Yorkshire, wrote later: “He was just the type we needed – as strong as a bull, and he never turned it in. He was a bit temperamental at times, because he needed to blow up about twice a season, and then you had to handle him a bit diplomatically, but he has a big heart, and was always willing to put everything into the game with you.”After his retirement Higgs became Leicestershire’s bowling coach, but after four years in retirement, a spate of injuries pressed him into an emergency return against Yorkshire in 1986. Conditions were perfect for swing and seam, and possessed of a statelier heft than ever, he came on second change and returned 5 for 22 in 11 overs at the age of 49, passing the outside edge at will. He was proud of the coaching clinic he had just enacted. “I knew he’d do that to us,” bemoaned Yorkshire’s wicketkeeper, David Bairstow.Higgs’ partner for much of that spell was a player at the extreme opposite end of his career. Phil DeFreitas, then aged 20 and in the second season of his first-class career, took four of the remaining five Yorkshire wickets to enhance a reputation that would later that year earn him his first England call-up for Mike Gatting’s tour of Australia. DeFreitas was one of many who praised Higgs’ mentoring abilities upon hearing of his death. “He taught me so much about the game,” he said.Higgs could be a gruff soul, not much given to small talk, and he was no fan of authority, especially when it came with limited knowledge. But former team-mates often spoke warmly of his willingness to offer advice and guidance, and of his strong, uncomplicated team ethic. He just got on with his job, operating around 80mph, but getting enough life from the pitch to jar a batsman’s hands and make batting a demanding task. After his retirement he ran a guest house in Blackpool, where further wisdom was offered over the fried breakfasts.

Taskin Ahmed’s rehabilitative work has paid dividends and led to joyous scenes in his neighbourhood, but there remains much hard work to be done by other Bangladesh bowlers with suspect actions

Mohammad Isam24-Sep-2016A garland was put around Taskin Ahmed’s neck as he was mobbed by neighbours, friends and relatives on Friday evening. The Bangladesh fast bowler couldn’t enter his house in southern Mohammadpur as kids of all ages tried to lift his hand. He waved at the crowd and shed a few tears.Less than a kilometer to the west, selector Habibul Bashar was about to go to the pharmacy when his wife, scared of all the bursts and pops in the nearby area, asked him to stay indoors. Bashar headed out nonetheless, unaware of what was happening just few blocks away. When he arrived at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday, he greeted Taskin who then described what had happened outside his house.”They burst crackers and rockets worth thousands. Everyone was celebrating, including my parents. I joined in too,” said a smiling Taskin, who had informed his mother first when he heard the good news on Friday afternoon.It was a scene out of an election campaign, and hardly something you would imagine for a fast bowler who had just had his bowling action cleared by the ICC. Certainly no cricketer who had just got cleared for an illegal bowling action has received such a reception.But that is how they roll in Zakir Hossain Road, Taskin’s quiet central Dhaka neighbourhood. When he plays for Bangladesh, there are posters of him everywhere in the area and kids try to imitate his bowling action and latest hairstyle. When he does well, his parents see neighbours bursting crackers and wishing them well. Now, they were celebrating the end of his exile, or at least that’s what it felt like.”When I walked out in the street, people asked me why my arm wasn’t straight,” Taskin said, recalling the time after his action had been reported. “There was a lot of pressure on me, so I am really happy now. This is an occasion to feel relieved, and I look forward to returning to international cricket.”The clean chit for Taskin’s action came as a satisfying reward for his hard work in the nets with bowling coach Mahbub Ali Zaki. It also vindicated his decision to play for Abahani Limited in the Dhaka Premier League, Bangladesh’s domestic one-day tournament, which was seen at the time as a risky move and a hindrance to his rehabilitative training routine.But Taskin regularly worked overtime after Abahani’s training sessions between April and June, ensuring he was progressing as planned by Heath Streak and later Zaki. He monitored every single delivery, and then the footage was passed on to the BCB’s newly-formed bowling action review committee in August. He gave a mock test in front of their cameras, after which he was told that his bouncer, the delivery identified as illegal in Chennai in March, looked clean. But no one could be sure.Taskin and Arafat Sunny headed out earlier this month to Brisbane for their reassessment, their only route back to international cricket. Both are now in the clear, and for Taskin there is immediate on-field action in the Afghanistan-Bangladesh ODI series.The boisterous celebrations demonstrated Taskin’s popularity, but the experience he and Sunny have had over the last six months should serve as a cautionary tale for the many domestic bowlers whose actions have been questioned by the BCB’s review committee. It was the suspensions of Taskin and Sunny that spurred the BCB to take suspect bowling action seriously in domestic cricket, so the garlands and firecrackers shouldn’t mark the end of this problem.It was Taskin and Sunny who were given the relief, and before them Abdur Razzak and Sohag Gazi. The rest of the country’s suspected and illegal bowlers would still need to correct their actions, and the BCB must remain vigilant and keep weeding out the suspects.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Australia in Dambulla

Brydon Coverdale28-Aug-2016The first-over specialist
Has Mitchell Starc been so dangerous with the new ball on this tour because Sri Lanka’s openers have been dreadful? Or have they looked dreadful because Starc has been so good? If it was the chicken-or-the-egg question, the answer would be an egg-and-chicken sandwich. In other words, a bit of both. Twice in the Test series, Starc struck in the first over of an innings and he has now done so twice in the ODIs as well, first in the opening match in Colombo and now in Dambulla. This time his pace and good length did for Danushka Gunathilaka, who played on. It continued Sri Lanka’s wretched record of opening partnerships in these Tests and ODIs against Australia – their highest so far is 12, set in the previous ODI.The undead ball
There was a bit of wind around in Dambulla and in the third over of the day it blew one of the bails off at the striker’s end while Dilshan was ready to face Starc. Nobody seemed to be bothered by it, though – certainly not Dilshan, who flicked a boundary through square leg. However, under Law 23 it should have been called a dead ball. The Law states that either umpire shall call and signal dead ball when: “one or both bails fall from the striker’s wicket before the striker has had the opportunity of playing the ball”.The missed review
Aaron Finch loomed as a danger man in the chase and had struck three fours and a six on his way to 30 off 29 balls when he was given out lbw off the bowling of Amila Aponso. Aleem Dar raised the finger and Finch walked down for a chat to his partner Shaun Marsh. However, Marsh had been backing up to the side of the pitch and was hardly in an ideal position to provide advice. The upshot was that Finch did not ask for a review. Had he done so he would have been reprieved: replays showed the ball was going on with the arm to miss leg stump.The missed stumping
Kusal Perera’s lightning hands effected a couple of brilliant stumpings during the Test series, but this time perhaps he was trying to be just a little quick. With Australia still needing 49 runs with six wickets in hand, Sri Lanka were desperate for a breakthrough when Matthew Wade lunged and missed a delivery from Seekkuge Prasanna. Perera gloved the ball and went to whip the bails off – but missed. Had he done so, Wade would have been out, but by the time Perera’s second attempt had knocked the bails off, Wade had the tiniest fraction of boot behind the line and was safe.