He ended his 1020-day century drought with relentless, pressure-free and unhurried batting taken to the next level

Shashank Kishore08-Sep-20223:08

Is Kohli back to his absolute best?

It had a ‘ vibe to it. Except, there weren’t too many in the aisles in Dubai. Yet, when Virat Kohli swatted Fareed Ahmad over deep midwicket to bring up his 71st international century, the monkey that had probably grown into a giant-sized dinosaur was off his back.Just like that, Kohli had rendered all those who kept count of the days between No. 70 and this one, jobless. The count ended at 1020 days, a period that was intercepted by a full-blown pandemic, and one that had taken Kohli, and many others, down dark alleys of lockdowns, quarantines and isolations and bio-bubbles.Related

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When the moment arrived in the 19th over of India’s innings, Kohli was as free-spirited and expressive as you’d seen him in recent times. He carefully unlocked his helmet and belted out a big smile towards his applauding team-mates. There was this distinct look of disbelief on his face, as if he was suggesting this was the format he was least likely to break that deadlock in.All the while, Rishabh Pant stood still with a smile, allowing Kohli to soak in the moment and then embraced his former captain with a hug. Kohli didn’t stop there. He looked up at the skies, then yanked his gloves off to pull out to kiss his ring that had the initials of his wife engraved on it. By now, the shutter bugs who had frantically positioned themselves at appropriate angles, besides each other by the boundary rope, were clicking away to capture that ‘perfect’ moment.Before the moment passed, Kohli looked around the ground with a big smile, scanned his eyes towards pockets that had maximum fans and raised his bat. For all the ferocity he can display on the field, with his nerve-popping celebration and yelps, angry growls and send-offs, this was a moment of pure, unadulterated happiness.Once Kohli had regathered himself, it was business as usual. No dropping of guard, no ugly slogs suggesting he was done. He was going to carry on. Early in his innings, he trusted the good balls on merit, even defending them or nudging them around until he got his eye in. Now, he was in that batting zone players often talk of where they’re so in the moment that they let their instincts take over and muscle memory dictate their game. It was as if Kohli has transported himself to his 2016 vintage.This was fearless, pressure-free, relentless and unhurried batting taken to the next level. He uncorked his wrists to scythe wide yorkers behind point, got into positions quickly to sweep bowlers off their lengths. It’s a shot he almost never plays, but had seemingly pushed boundaries here, willing himself on to replicate shots he’d been training for. And when he wasn’t going down on his knees to sweep, he was slicing wide deliveries behind square, decking low full tosses deep over the extra-cover fence with his solid bottom-handed power.Kohli was having fun, he was toying with the bowling. He was backing away slightly, as if to ask the bowlers to follow him. When they didn’t, he’d bring his left foot back in line and play the most awe-inspiring cover drive. So what if there was sweeper cover? So what if the fielder had anticipated the shot and started running to his right as the shot was hit? He had no chance. This was Kohli at his regal best.As Kohli’s innings progressed, the gum-chewing aggression that brings with it the typical swagger was back in full view. Kohli wasn’t just seeing ball and hitting ball, he was enjoying that pristine feeling of finding that sweet spot and balls flying off in different trajectories. For a change, not many were looking at scores or runs or overs remaining. The small crowd had lost their voice in cheering for a majestic hundred. At that moment, nothing else mattered. Not India’s score, and most definitely not their early exit from the Asia Cup.The return of the King: Kohli’s maiden T20I ton was a magical one•Associated PressHis innings was magical. It was a display of the level he’d cranked his batting intensity to. All the while having a big smile. He was stepping out to deliveries as if he had the free license to bat the way he liked, and hitting them to different corners, as if he was merely listening to chants of the fans.And when you thought you’d seen it all, he played one of the most majestic no-look sixes you’d see. He got into position no sooner than Fazalhaq Farooqi had released the ball, knowing fully well what was coming, and sent it soaring over deep square. The glove punch with Pant that followed told you how much he enjoyed it.This was Kohli having fun. This was Kohli unshackled by expectation. There was a glistening smile that you couldn’t take off his face, litres of sweat dripping off his shirt as he walked off bat raised, gloves up, giving a victory sign and then a beautiful namaste.The joy factor in his batting was well and truly back. He had threatened all tournament, and on Thursday, all that positive energy that had been brimming on the surface had burst open like confetti on a grand stage. The giant screen flashed a message: welcome back, King.The King was indeed back.

Offspinner’s 15 wicketless overs undid seamers’ hard graft on second afternoon

George Dobell05-Mar-20211:40

What’s gone wrong for Dom Bess?

Just for a moment, it seemed England might get away with it.Just for a moment, after they had claimed a sixth Indian wicket with the hosts still 59 runs adrift, it seemed England may get away with their inadequate first-innings total, their ill-balanced team selection and a domestic system which has left them with an unprecedented weakness when it comes to both bowling and playing spin.But this can be a brutal game. And, in the evening session, as England were forced to endure the slow agony of seeing the hard-won gains of their day’s work slip away from them, it became apparent that each of these chickens was coming home to roost. You can’t waste first use of a surface like this. You can’t make do with a spinner learning his trade in India. And you can’t ask a sick man – even a sick superman – to plug the gaps by bowling for so much of the day in this heat.England did a huge amount right on the second day of this match. They knew they had squandered the chance to set a match-defining total on the first day, but they showed admirable resilience in clawing their way back into match with an outstanding performance in the first two sessions on the second.At the heart of that performance were England’s two seamers. At one stage Ben Stokes bowled 10 overs in a single spell broken only by a change of ends, while James Anderson provided a masterclass in skill and frugality and was into his 14th over before he conceded a boundary. Given steady support from Jack Leach, who continued his remarkable domination over Cheteshwar Pujara, they probably had their noses in front at one stage. With batting likely to become more difficult, the possibility of a series-levelling victory was very much alive.But there was a problem. Having gone into the game with only four main bowlers – plus the part-time spin of captain Joe Root – they needed each of them to contribute.Try as he might, Root was struggling to introduce Dom Bess into the attack. Having given him one over at the end of the first day – a decent chance to settle, you would think, with India playing for stumps – he waited until minutes before the lunch break on day two before asking him for another bowl. Again, while the plan might have been to allow him to settle with the batsmen playing for a break, those two overs conceded two boundaries – one from a long full toss – and can have done little to boost Root’s confidence in his young bowler.Still, Root retained patience with him after the break. Resisting the temptation to bowl himself, he perhaps reasoned that Bess required a show of faith if he was to play the required role in the fourth innings of the game. So, Root gave him another five overs after the break. And while the total of 26 runs conceded from those five overs (containing two boundaries off the bat from over-pitched balls plus four byes when he fired a long-hop down the leg side) might not seem dramatic, in the context of a low-scoring match, each of them was a body blow to England’s hopes.Dom Bess endured a tough day•Getty ImagesRoot tried him again just before tea. While the two overs before the break were largely uneventful – and he was unfortunate not to win a leg-before decision against Rishabh Pant, with the on-field ‘not out’ call upheld by a fine margin – the overs afterwards were not pretty. With the pitch offering assistance and two left-handers at the crease, it was not only an opportunity for him to settle into the game but a moment when England needed him to contribute.But his first over after the break, containing a full toss and two long-hops, was taken for 10. And if that doesn’t sound so bad, it should be remembered that, after 15 overs, Anderson had conceded just 11 runs and, after 11 overs, Stokes had conceded 13. After one more over – which contained two more low full tosses – Root had little choice but to withdraw him once more. With the match on a knife edge, bowling him felt like a liability.In a four-man attack, though, there are knock-on effects to such decisions. Although Leach bowled nicely enough, he is less effective against left-handers and was carted for a boundary that suggested Pant might launch the sort of assault we saw in Chennai.So Root was persuaded, once more, to turn to Stokes. But by bringing him into the attack for the 76th over, right before the second new ball was available, England were eating their sandwiches on the way to the picnic. Stokes had, by then, bowled 15 overs in the day – a day in which temperatures rose above 40 degrees – having suffered an upset stomach two nights before. Stokes has showcased his immense stamina in the recent past, but there are limits to what can be expected.Here, eventually, Stokes hit the wall. His 19th over, containing a head-high full toss and two boundaries, cost 12 runs and saw India creep into the lead. But even then, with his team requiring more, he bowled on until, across his 20th, 21st and 22nd overs, he conceded five boundaries in eight deliveries. All that work, all that progress had been undone. India’s first-innings lead is already threatening to stretch beyond the horizon.The simplistic reaction would be to blame Bess for all this. And it’s true, he proved unable to fulfil the role England had for him. While he is certainly young enough to come again, there should be no pretence that things “just didn’t work out for him today” as Jeetan Patel, England’s spin-bowling coach, loyally described it later.Bess has struggled with length across most of this tour. He was flattered by his five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka and he bowled more than 20 full tosses during the first Test in Chennai. It really does look as if he requires an extended spell back at county level to master his trade. Andrew Strauss, working as a pundit for Channel 4, described it as “painful to watch” and that seems about right. Bess is a talented young man. But he’s been picked too early and, on this tour, it has showed.Wait there, you may be saying: he conceded 3.73 runs per over. That isn’t so bad, is it?But that’s because, for large stages of the innings, his captain didn’t trust him enough to throw him the ball. And while Patel was no doubt right to praise the manner in which Pant, in particular, played him, the truth is most Test batsmen play the full toss well. Bess has delivered 10 of them so far. Consider the 11 short balls he has delivered and the three boundaries he conceded from other over-pitched balls that did at least pitch and you’ll begin to understand how tough life was for Root. Really, this was a performance to compare with Simon Kerrigan at The Oval in 2013 or Ian Salisbury in Pakistan in 2000.But you have to remember why Bess was in this position. You have to remember that he has never been the first-choice spinner for his county side. You have to remember that he is 23 and has been asked to learn on the job in a huge series against the strongest of oppositions. That he was dropped, just a couple of games ago, and such was the lack of confidence in him, England asked another player to change his plans at the last minute and stay on the tour.Related

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And, when Moeen Ali declined, England demonstrated their continuing lack of confidence in Bess by declining to pick him for the third Test on a track as ideally suited for spin as you will ever see. None of that can have been especially helpful for his confidence.But the seeds of this problem were sown much longer ago. They were sown when the ECB squeezed a generation of experienced spinners out of their game with their incentives for playing young players. They were sown when the County Championship programme was pushed into the margins of the season, reducing opportunities for first-class spinners to learn their craft. They were sown when Bess was picked for England on the back of impressing as much with his fielding and batting as his bowling and despite the fact that he averages 47.66 in the Second XI Championship. His selection was always a hunch. And while there have been moments – notably in South Africa in January 2020 – when it has looked as if it could work, ultimately the increased exposure has done him few favours.More than that, this is a problem sown by the poor management of Moeen which saw him dropped and lose his red-ball central contract while the top wicket-taker in the world over the previous 12 months. Those 56 wickets in his last 11 Tests at a cost of 25.69 don’t look so bad now, do they?With all that in mind, it is increasingly hard to escape the conclusion that Bess – with his positive demeanour and willingness to embrace the challenge – has been asked the perform the impossible task of filling the void at the heart of the English game where spinners should be. It’s not Bess at fault; it’s a system. And that is what came back to bite England on the second afternoon of this match.

The fast-bowling coach, who worked with Pakistan over the last year, talks about Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, and what went wrong in the England series

Interview by Danyal Rasool06-Feb-2023Shaun Tait was named Pakistan’s fast-bowling coach in February 2022 for a year*. As one of the fastest bowlers of his generation, his appointment appeared to make sense, particularly to the cricketing nation with the most reverential relationship with its fast-bowling history.The Pakistan backroom staff at the time felt transitional by its very nature; Saqlain Mushtaq had just had his interim stint extended by another 12 months. Pakistan had several highly promising fast bowlers, all frighteningly quick, most extremely young. Tait was with the team in a frenetic, tumultuous year that had its fair share of joy and frustration.During one of those low points, the evening before England put the finishing touches on a 3-0 Test whitewash, we spoke to Tait about his time in Pakistan. He spoke, individually, about Hasan Ali’s streakiness, Mohammad Hasnain’s pace, and Naseem Shah’s leadership qualities.How has your stint with Pakistan been?
I’ve enjoyed it. It was so exciting. Asia Cup, World Cup, the lead-in to that, I loved that period. Our bowlers were up and ready and they were bowling fast. We had a couple of huge games against India with big crowds and our guys bowling good pace. To me, that’s it. That’s what I liked as a player – entertainment. As a coach, I like to see the bowlers do that – entertain, run in to bowl fast, take wickets. So that was enjoyable.Is your role tactical or more focused on man management?
I just read an article about Allan Donald [working] with the Bangladesh fast bowlers. He said that he coaches mindset. I’m not gonna put myself in his category, but that’s a similar approach, I guess, to what I have. Big on relationships with the guys, but also giving them their space. Not hugely technical unless I really see something that is worth talking about. And then I’ll have a conversation with the player if the technical side of things needs to go further. But I’m certainly not going to try and change people. I’m not a by-the book-coach.A lot of it goes on feel, learning about the player. I think if you use your ears more than your mouth as a coach and listen to the players, that serves you well. I’ve learned more about the modern-day cricketer by listening to them. The technical stuff is there, but I’m not an overly technical coach. I’m not huge on the analytics, but it’s there and you’ve got to use some of it. But I’m big on feel, mindset and relationships.Why did the England series go so horribly wrong?
It was certainly eye-opening for a lot of people. We knew the way England were going to approach it. We’ve seen the way they’ve been playing in recent times. They obviously stepped it up a little bit.It started from the first Test. They got the rub of the green. England winning the toss on a wicket where they could certainly play their shots helped. We ended up with a couple of injuries. The first Test was a perfect storm for England. The momentum just continued from there. It’s been a tough series, but I think there’s been moments when Pakistan have certainly stepped up and had a crack. There’s been times when we’ve moved the game forward, more so than maybe in the past. It just goes a little bit unnoticed.Related

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Do you have any input on the kind of wickets Pakistan produce in Test cricket?
I don’t have any input whatsoever. I would like to see different pitches, and I’m not the only one, but I’m not saying I should have any say in that. We didn’t have the attack that people thought we may have gone in with. We lost Haris [Rauf]. We lost Naseem [Shah]. Shaheen [Shah Afridi] was out injured. The team looks a little bit different to what it did maybe nine months ago.But I’d like to see pitches different because I’m a bowling coach, I’m a fast bowler. I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to realise that it would be nice if things were different.Pakistan produced great fast-bowling wickets against South Africa before you came in, so have the fast bowlers given you any input into what’s changed?
Talking to you right now, I’m probably learning more about them. I don’t know enough about cricket wickets to know if they can make these pitches fast-bowling friendly. I don’t talk to the curators about whether they can make a wicket better for fast bowlers. I don’t think it would matter if I did, to be honest. If I, as a fast-bowling coach, walk up to the curator and say, “Can you please make this wicket fast bowling friendly?” I don’t think he’s going to do that.Most of the fast bowlers seem to have bought into what you’re trying to do with this unit. How have you built that rapport with them?
Maybe they can relate to me a little bit because I played and I bowled with pace myself. Certainly not as good as these guys. I played three Test matches, 35 ODIs, but I think they can relate to the fact that I bowled with pace and I liked to entertain. They can warm to that and I can relate to them. That helps. I sort of know what they’re going through – not all the time but a lot of the time. I haven’t tried to force them to do things that they don’t want to do just because I believe in it. Except, I’ve held them fairly accountable to death bowling, which has been ongoing, and I knew it was going to take quite a while for it to happen.By the time the World Cup came, I looked at them and I’m happy we did that death-bowling preparation. It started months and months ago, the discussions around death bowling and being disciplined in the basics of death bowling. Ruthless in the basics and adding some of their strengths in with that. I think we did a good job of that in the World Cup. Being brave at the death is not always going to work out, but when it does, it’s such a great feeling for a fast bowler. You’ve pulled off the last four overs of the game. That specifically has been something that I think I’ve added to their mindset.

“There’s no way – no way – an express fast bowler can now play all three forms consistently”

Is it different coaching high pace vs regular pace? Are express pace bowlers more vulnerable?
Yeah, I think so. I step back from the medical and fitness side a little bit and let those experts work with the fast bowlers. I’m just in the conversation, helping out. So from that point of view, it’s been interesting.We’ve had back-to-back stuff. Even if it’s T20, it’s still high intensity and we’ve got guys on the sidelines. Your Shaheens, your Naseems, your Haris Raufs. They were on the sidelines for much of our season, so I suppose that is a good example of the toll it’s taken.Can extreme fast bowlers bowl in Tests?
It didn’t work for me! If you talked to Brett Lee, it might be a different story. It doesn’t happen very often, but I have to say this: There’s no way – no way – an express fast bowler can now play all three forms consistently. That’s for sure.Afridi’s injury during the Sri Lanka Test series was mismanaged. He went on to break down in the World Cup final. Is there a recognition that lessons need to be learned from what happened there?
I don’t know. Like I said, I step back from that [medical] side. If you look at the FTP [Future Tours Programme] going forward, it’s stacked. That’s what I mean when I say there’s no way an express bowler can play all forms. But it’s certainly opened our eyes up to how polished our management of Shaheen’s going to be.What do you think of the level of sports science around Pakistan’s fast-bowling unit? Is it where it needs to be? How far does it need to go?
I hate the sports-science subject. I’m not a big analytical coach and I’m not a huge sports-science guy. It’s not that I don’t believe in it. I just don’t know how much you can constantly throw into sports science and expect that these stallions are going to keep going. Every individual is different and that has to be taken into account. For me as a bowling coach, it’s taken time to work out every individual and what they need differently. I’ve got a good grasp of that myself now. My relationship with individuals is quite good, I suppose. I would say sports science is getting better, but that’s not my subject.Is there space for you to be more assertive in how much the fast bowlers play and when they rest?
Those conversations have happened, and I’m asked for my input, but if I knew what causes injuries, I wouldn’t have got injured so much myself and I would have played a lot more Test cricket probably. If you get someone that’s got a great eye for bowling technique, I’m sure they’ll come up with something. There’s a six-month process required to change things. There’s not a great time to do that because the media, the fans, selectors, want to see players on the park.”My input with Hasnain is purely about just using his athleticism. Getting that grunt as a fast bowler and being angry. Just running in fast and feeling good. He can play Test cricket, but not a great deal”•Christopher Lee/ECB/Getty ImagesWe played a hell of a lot of T20I cricket in the World Cup and its build-up, and bang, we were playing five Tests. A couple of guys get injured because they’re so used to bowling four overs. And even though you’re trying to build up their workloads during that time, it’s very difficult to get into Test cricket on a flat pitch. I don’t think that’s a great shock. You look at England – their fast bowlers were pretty much red-ball bowlers that haven’t been with the T20I side. Our guys have been with the T20I side and then they came into the Test side. That was asking a lot of those bowlers.Does there need to be segregation between white- and red-ball teams?
You have to start going down that path, which is not easy because you have to then pigeonhole players about whether they’ll be Test or white-ball bowlers. The players have to be in that conversation, but definitely, there’s got to be some separation. You’re also away from home now, even the coaching staff. It’s not just physical, it’s mental as well. It’s definitely got to be looked at.Are there lessons to be learned from your own career in the way you manage these players?
I think you can’t help but look back on your own career a little bit. And everybody’s different. You don’t necessarily come in and manage or mentor or coach thinking every player is [like yourself]. That’ll be unsuccessful. But I certainly think about times from my career and I sometimes mention to players what worked for me. “What do you think, maybe it’ll work for you?” I have empathy for them because I know what they’re going through a little bit, which helps. So yes, at times you do draw on your own experience.When you were hired in Ramiz Raja’s time, it was obvious he was influenced by the Australian mindset. Do you think that was part of what you were expected to bring to this role?
I don’t know if that’s why I got hired – maybe it is. But it suits this fast-bowling pack. There’s a whole heap of obstacles in the way for cricketers. Whatever those obstacles are, my job is to remove as many of those as I can and make life easier for them. That would be the No. 1 part of the job. And if that’s the mindset, then great. I hope the players are enjoying it.You’ve got to get their trust as quickly as possible. Once you get their trust and they know you’re in their corner, that’s great. It’s not, “I’m the coach and you’re there.” I don’t like that way of coaching. I’m in the corner with them and we’ll fail together and then have success together as well. I think if I can walk up to Naseem, put my hand on his shoulder, and if it has any effect on him at all, that’s great. That’s part of my job, I guess.

“Being brave at the death is not always going to work out, but when it does, it’s such a great feeling for a fast bowler. You’ve pulled off the last four overs of the game”

Is that also the way you were coached?
Not necessarily. I was in and out of the Australian team quite a bit, so I didn’t have huge influences on my bowling. The biggest influence on my bowling was with my team-mates. So as a young guy in the Australian squad, I had Brett Lee, [Glenn] McGrath, [Jason] Gillespie, [Michael] Kasprowicz, but not necessarily coaches, no.Hasan Ali is an enigma, given the huge gulf between his ceiling and floor. How do you deal with that?
He needs to trust himself more. You can get 20 different opinions about your bowling, but I think he’s probably earned the right to trust himself and realise what works for him. He had a fantastic couple of seasons not long ago. I have not sat with him and done a lot of technical work, but I’ve tried to have a few discussions with him about clearing his mind and just keeping things simple. I know that sounds like a cliché and a bit lazy. He’s a good bowler. I think he just needs to get some confidence back.Is he someone who’s more susceptible to outside voices, the media, etc?
Possibly. What I tell them is to shut out the noise as much as possible and just concentrate on what you’ve done in the past that’s been really good. It’s such a simple approach. With him, I certainly think that’s necessary. But he’s a smart bloke as well. Smart guys like him are not the easiest to coach because he’s smarter than me!Sometimes if I say something stupid, Hasan’s going to go, “Really? I don’t think that’s right.” So he’s a smart bloke and he can work it out for himself. I don’t know what the future holds, but it’d be nice to do some more work with him.The fastest bowler Pakistan have is perhaps Mohammad Hasnain, but he struggles with confidence and has had action issues. What sort of career do you see for him?
Hasnain has got the ability to bowl proper rapid, but yeah, there’s no doubt [there’s an air of vulnerability to him]. I mean he went through the whole action thing, so he’s now getting used to his body. It was Umar Rasheed [a bowling coach at the National High Performance Centre] who did a lot of work on his action. They’re quite tight. He did a lot of work with him, and he’s been great.But my input with Hasnain is purely about just using his athleticism. Getting that grunt as a fast bowler and being angry. Just running in fast and feeling good. During the World Cup, I had a good chance of working on his run-up. He can play Test cricket, but not a great deal. But you see how the English manage Mark Wood. They do it pretty well. Potentially someone like Hasnain, maybe he gets his pace up and bowls short spells. He’s going to be tough to deal with.”Hasan Ali needs to trust himself more. I’ve tried to have a few discussions with him about clearing his mind and just keeping things simple. I think he just needs to get some confidence back”•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesCould you do this job for a reasonable length of time?
I’ve enjoyed this role, and I certainly don’t take it for granted. Going forward, I have no idea what the decisions are going to be. I have no clue. I like this job. I love the boys. I love working here and the people of Pakistan. Even travelling to Australia and New Zealand and the Netherlands, the amount of [Pakistan] fans are ridiculous. There’s obviously a great following. It’s a big thing to be part of. Pakistan’s a big team with a great bunch of fast bowlers. I get asked for selfies all the time, much more so than I do in Australia. I probably get abused by Australian supporters more than anyone else!Do the players consider you a hard taskmaster?
Unfortunately, no!Do you have aspirations of being a head coach?
I don’t know. I have weird goals. I’m not overly ambitious, but I could see myself being a head coach one day. But that doesn’t mean [only in] international cricket. I don’t sit there and go, I want to be with the biggest team in the world and I want to be the head coach. I don’t have those overarching goals. I just enjoy the ride as it is.What doesn’t happen in Pakistan fast bowling right now that you think needs to happen?
[Long pause] I won’t talk about the pitches anymore, but if they leave some grass on the wicket, that would help a lot. The fact I haven’t got a straight answer is probably not a bad thing.Do you wish one of these fast bowlers was a bit older? Because these pace bowlers are a similar age and that way it’s harder for a natural leader to emerge.
No, I like that. Shaheen’s a natural leader. They all are. Even Naseem, he may be a young bloke, but he’s got a head on his shoulders that’s far above his years. I don’t even think they need a great deal of leadership. I think they’ve got it in them. And they’ve got charisma. The Asia Cup stood out to me this year, their charisma and presence. I talk to them about presence all the time as a fast bowler. That stood out in the Asia Cup. Everyone was talking about the Pakistani bowling attack, the way Naseem knocked over KL Rahul, the celebration – it all just looked great. And [that too] on debut. The way he bowled was just a guy that was above his years.One thing I would like to see is a little bit more mongrel, you know? A little bit more. They can be aggressive but I’d like to see even more aggression. I’m Australian. I think Australians are trying to behave themselves on the cricket field more nowadays, but I don’t think you can ever rub that off. I would love to see us be less friendly in general.Have you conveyed that to them?A little bit, but probably not enough. Watch out for it in the future.*Feb 6, 2023, 10.09GMT: The introduction to the interview was edited to make it clear that Tait’s appointment as Pakistan’s fast-bowling coach was only for one year.

A look at those who did well, those who didn’t, and everything else around a dramatic season

Mohammad Isam26-Jun-2021Champions, runners-up and survivorsAbahani Limited became Dhaka Premier League champions after their eight-run win against Prime Bank Cricket Club. Both teams made it a title-deciding match after losing their respective penultimate matches, locking at 22 points each going into the last day.Related

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• Shakib and Sabbir incidents overshadow on-field action

• Shahadat returns to cricket after 18 months of five-year ban

This will count as Abahani’s 21st overall DPL title, as well as their first in DPL T20s. It also completes their fourth instance of a hat-trick of DPL titles.Prime Bank, who led the first phase’s points table, lost ground during the Super League when they lost three out of the five matches. Abahani won four Super League matches. Although Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club made a late dash, they never reached the top three when the title was still in play.At the other end of the table, big-spending Legends of Rupganj survived the drop to the Dhaka First Division Cricket League after beating Old DOHS Sports Club and Partex Sporting Club in the relegation playoffs. Partex became only the third T20 team after the CPL’s St Lucia Stars and Impi (from South Africa’s old T20 tournament) to go winless in a domestic tournament (playing more than ten matches).Mustafizur Rahman was one of four bowlers to take a five-for this season•BCBTop performers
 Mohammad Saifuddin’s 14 wickets in the Super League phase, including the 4-36 against Prime Bank in Saturday’s finale, was key to Abahani’s late push for the trophy. He finished on 26 wickets, equal with Kamrul Islam Rabbi who was impressive in his death bowling. Fast bowlers took up eight out of the top ten wicket-takers’ spots.Abahani were also lucky that Liton Das recovered from his wrist injury shortly before their captain Mushfiqur Rahim was sidelined with a finger injury. Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto made crucial runs in the Super League phase. Dhanmondi Club’s Nurul Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful, and Mahedi Hasan, for Gazi Group Cricketers, looked in good touch during the Super League stage.Mizanur Rahman, with his 418 runs at 52.25 average from the first phase, finished as the highest scorer. Hasanuzzaman and Rahman were the only centurions while three left-arm quicks – Mustafizur Rahman, Ruyel Miah and Salauddin Sakil – were among four bowlers to take five-fors. Alauddin Babu took the only hat-trick of the tournament.Flattering to deceiveBy Shakib Al Hasan’s world-class standards, his 120 runs and nine wickets in eight appearances for Mohammedan Sporting Club were a let down. Soumya Sarkar who was picked in Bangladesh’s T20I side against Zimbabwe next month, averaged 22.92 and batted at 117.15 in 16 innings for Gazi Group Cricketers.Mosaddek Hossain and Sabbir Rahman were also under par, given their experience, averaging in the early twenties with one fifty each.While most of the pace bowlers were among the wickets, Abu Hider and Qazi Onik had disappointing outings. Among the spinners, the veterans Sohrawordi Shuvo and Sohag Gazi finished with high bowling averages and few wickets.On the national radarDPL T20 performances got Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Aminul Islam into the Bangladesh T20I side for the Zimbabwe series next month. But the national selectors must keep Kamrul Islam Rabbi, joint highest wicket-taker, and Mizanur Rahman, top run-scorer by a distance, in the loop to not lose their rhythm and form.
 Mahmudul Hasan Joy will certainly interest the selectors, but he also has to work on his open stance that keeps him away from deliveries outside off stump. Parvez Hossain Emon and  Saif Hassan were among only three batters to hit at least 20 sixes, so they should also be in consideration in the near future.Shakib Al Hasan kicks the stumps in anger after having an lbw appeal turned down by umpire Imran Parvez•WaltonTalking pointsThe image of Shakib kicking down the stumps catapulted the DPL T20 to worldwide notoriety. Shakib’s tantrum was an embarrassment, though it also brought some attention to the already regular accusations of favoritism towards the Dhaka league clubs linked to the BCB’s power base.There probably needs to be a deeper inquisition into the culture of Bangladesh cricket after Sabbir Rahman was found guilty of racially abusing Elias Sunny.These incidents, however, took the sheen away from some positives that emerged from the DPL T20. A significant moment was when the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) rescheduled the relegation playoff between Legends of Rupganj and Old DOHS Sports Club to the Shere Bangla National Stadium from BKSP. There was live TV coverage, as well as the involvement of international panel umpires Sharfuddoula and Masudur Rahman. There were no incidents, but it was commendable for CCDM to heed Rupganj’s request.High-quality TV coverage during the Super League stage was another important addition. The BCB had earlier provided one-camera coverage for all other matches.There was other good news too. Shahadat Hossain’s five-year ban was reduced on humanitarian grounds after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Hossain appeared for Partex Sporting Club, money from which will help her treatment. There was some attention paid to the four young legspinners Aminul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Minhajul Abedin Afridi and Jubair Hossain who played a significantly higher number of matches than in previous seasons.The BCB also ensured a large bio-bubble for all twelve teams and match officials that included staying in five-star hotels, travel and food, as well as arrangements for entertainment.Lastly, it was the ground staff at the three venues who really made a difference. They put in at least 18 hours of work on match days, pulling the covers on and off several times due to the heavy rain in June. They are probably the least appreciated of all in Bangladesh cricket, but it would have been impossible to finish the DPD T20 in time without them.

The keeper-batter came into international cricket at a time when Australia were at a low ebb, and it took a toll on his mental health

Shannon Gill28-Jan-2022When South Australia’s Alex Carey slipped on the gloves for his debut Test earlier this summer, it felt like the natural order. He was nurtured in A squads and blooded in white-ball cricket, but his selection was never assured. Still, there was no doubt about the role he would be playing if a baggy green was presented, and about the support behind him.It was vastly different the last time South Australia had a wicketkeeper play more than a single Test for Australia. Wayne Phillips rode a roller coaster of uncertainty for 27 matches, 18 of them behind the stumps as an accidental gloveman. His was one of Australia’s finest debuts but he was soon left exhausted and disenchanted with the game. It was only many years later that he really understood what he had been going through.Phillips, “Flipper” to everyone in cricket, grew up in the 1970s loving the game. He would bat wherever they asked him, and at school he’d even take the keeping gloves if need be. He was willing to give anything a go because it was more about having fun with his friends than any pretensions to a cricket career.His talent and thirst for the game took him into the South Australia team. A middle-order batter, he was willing to open when a spot came up, and helped pilot the side to the 1981-82 Sheffield Shield title, becoming one of the hottest young batting prospects in the land in the process.Related

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By 1983-84, generational change was imminent for the national team. An early-season Shield double-century gave Phillips an opening berth for Australia against the visiting Pakistan side. (The previous season, he had toured Pakistan with Australia, playing two tour games.)”I was in pretty reasonable form, but it was daunting to walk into a dressing room with icons of the game – Marsh, Lillee, Chappell, Hughes and Border,” Phillips says.Daunting, you say? In his first Test, in Perth, he ended the first session with 66 not out to his name, and his batting had all the fuss of a game of backyard cricket: If it was pitched up, he whacked it back down the ground. If short, he lathered it through point.It stands as one of the most remarkable Test debuts ever by an Australian cricketer. Phillips is one of only five men to open the batting and score a century on debut for Australia and sits with Charles Bannerman as the only Australian to walk out to bat for the first ball of a Test and score a century.”I trusted my game and Pakistan didn’t know too much about me, so there weren’t any obvious plans once I got a start,” he says. “I had nothing to lose, so it probably looked carefree.”Eventually out caught in the deep for 159, he fell six short of Bannerman’s score, still the highest on debut by an Australian. In keeping with the laid-back exterior, Phillips had no idea about the record’s existence. “I wasn’t aware of those intricacies at the time but 159 has become a bit of a calling card – 1:59pm will be the starting time for my funeral!” he laughs.Phillips bats against Somerset in one of the tour games on the 1985 Ashes. He made 62 in the match•Adrian Murrell/Getty ImagesTall and handsome with flowing locks that flourished at the front and ran narrowly down the neck, Phillips in 1983 looked like he could be fronting a pop band on the TV show . As a bunch of ’70s icons came up to their curtain calls, he looked to be a face for the changing times.”To come in and score those runs in the first Test and go through the series acknowledged as part of the future of Australian cricket was wonderful,” he says. “It was a comfortable tag to lug around – opening bat for Australia.”The legendary Bill O’Reilly applauded Australia’s new find and concluded in the that “Phillips has come to stay”. But he couldn’t have foreseen the years of chaos around the Australian team that were to derail the prediction.As was so often the case for opposition teams through the ’80s, it was against West Indies that the trouble started.Phillips had barely picked up a keeping glove since playing first-class cricket, but the selectors knew he had dabbled behind the sticks as a teenager, and their eyes lit up when he top-scored with 76 in the second innings of the first Test, in Georgetown.”Roger Woolley had been selected to take over from Rod Marsh and done everything right, but horribly for him, he broke his finger in the lead-up game to the first Test and I was the dubious back-up keeper on the tour.”I wasn’t a keeper at all, I was just an emergency replacement who had kept wicket as a kid. I hadn’t kept regularly since I’d been at school. I didn’t even have keeping gear on tour.”Phillips’ batting led the selectors to think they had found someone who would allow them to play an extra bat or bowler, so they kept him on in the role for the series. “If Roger didn’t break his finger, I would never have been asked to keep wickets at all in my career,” Phillips says.There was anything but stability in the role as he bounced between opening and batting in the middle, usually dependent on the form and fitness of others. But Phillips wasn’t about to rock the boat. “I’m in my first year of getting a game for Australia, it can’t get any better than this. I was happy to do whatever they asked me to do.”Phillips (right) with team-mate Glenn Bishop during a Sheffield Shield game against New South Wales in 1984•Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesIn a series that was not televised back home, he produced a 120 in the third Test, in Barbados, that remains one of the great lost classics of Australian batting. correspondent Peter McFarline wrote that Phillips’ innings was fit to rank alongside anything that the likes of Barbados greats the three Ws, Garry Sobers and Seymour Nurse had produced. “He may some day strike the ball as well. But he will never do it with more confidence, timing, power and placement,” the report said.Phillips strode to the wicket at 263 for 6 and produce a mixture of power-hitting and tail-end shepherding that took Australia to 429.”I’ve seen some bits of it on replay and Marshall, Garner, Holding, they all went for six,” he recalls. “I understand it has been acknowledged as one of the better innings of the time, so I’m immensely proud of that.”But in the second innings the team folded for 97. The dam walls had broken. West Indies would dominate the rest of the series, and the return series, months later down under.Australia were flailing through this stretch, so to have one of the country’s best batters also keep wicket was irresistible for the selectors, and the Phillips keeping experiment became a long-term fix. For the man himself, it soon took a physical and mental toll, and it was hard for him to ever feel as if he was best prepared to make runs – his chosen vocation.In the field during a Benson and Hedges World Series Cup game against New Zealand in 1986. Six of Phillips’ 27 Tests and nine of his 48 ODIs came against New Zealand•Fairfax Media/Getty ImagesAmidst the growing pressure there was a flirtation with the South African rebel tour, as much for career stability rather than financial reasons before he opted against that trip and took the gloves for the 1985 Ashes tour and regularly performed rescue jobs on wearing pitches.”I got 90 in the first Test, had a decent partnership with AB [Allan Border] to save a Test, hit a six at Lord’s to get us in a position to win a Test, so with the bat I thought I was making a genuine contribution.”He remains the only Australian wicketkeeper to ever score 350 Test runs in an away Ashes, but in a losing team there was a reliance on his batting of the sort no other Australian keeper before or since has had to deal with. He played 15 one-day or first-class games in addition to the six Tests on that tour, taking the gloves 12 times, and customarily batted in various positions. In Phillips’ words cricket was “getting big on him”.”Not having that regularity of knowing what I would be doing did start to affect me. Yes, I was playing for Australia, which was fantastic, but boy, I reckon it would have been a bit less challenging if there had been some structure and support around what I was doing. There just didn’t seem to be any thought about how this dual role could work best.”The season to follow was the nadir of Australia’s mid-eighties slump, punctuated by two series losses to New Zealand and two draws against India, one of them lucky. For Phillips, two years of pressure of doing double time in a team that kept losing was about to reach the point of no return. He was back opening the batting, but his form and confidence were slipping.

England’s star seamer hasn’t won a Test against Australia since 2015, and time is running out

Matt Roller27-Jun-2023At London Stadium on Saturday night, Adam Wainwright had one of the worst games of his career. A St Louis Cardinals pitcher, Wainwright conceded seven runs – his worst performance of what is his final Major League Baseball season, at the age of 41. Watching from the stands was James Anderson.Along with Nathan Lyon, Anderson threw the ceremonial first pitch of the match before joining the BBC commentary team, which featured his podcast co-host Felix White. “Remind you of anyone?” White asked Anderson after explaining Wainwright’s back story. “Definitely,” Anderson replied with a wry smile.Anderson’s performance in Birmingham earlier that week was not as bad as Wainwright’s in London – but it was not a Test match that he will look back on with any fondness. He took a solitary wicket in his 38 overs across both innings and admitted in his column this week: “I wasn’t on top of my game”.It could easily have been three wickets, however. Anderson had two chances missed off his bowling: in the first over of the third morning, Jonny Bairstow put Alex Carey down, and in the first over of Australia’s run chase, Usman Khawaja’s outside edge flew away between Bairstow and Joe Root at first slip for four.But uncharacteristically, he played a bit-part role. He bowled fewer overs than England’s other main bowlers; the first innings was the first time in 14 years that he had played in a home Test and not taken the new ball; in the second, he was unused for the final 36.3 overs as Australia snuck home.That stretch included not taking the second new ball. “We agreed it was the type of pitch the taller bowlers were getting more out of,” Anderson said. In a match that was decided in the 93rd over, his final ball was in the 56th – and was crashed over mid-off for four by Cameron Green.James Anderson walks out for practice ahead of his record 28th Test at Lord’s•PA Images via Getty ImagesIt all added up to a familiar sensation for Anderson on the final evening: walking off the field after losing an Ashes Test. This was his 19th defeat to Australia, the third-most of any Englishman after Alec Stewart and Mike Atherton, and his 10th consecutive Ashes Test without a win.Remarkably, the last time Anderson won against Australia was eight years ago at Edgbaston, a Test in which Alastair Cook captained England and Steven Finn was named Player of the Match. This summer, both men are working as pundits for the second successive Ashes series.Four years ago, Anderson came into the Ashes undercooked – and his series lasted four overs. He had not played in over a month after a calf niggle, missed a Test match against Ireland, and suffered a recurrence of his injury at Edgbaston that ruled him out for the summer.This summer, he came into the series after a similar break since his last first-class match and admitted during the first Test: “I feel like I do need a bit of game time to get back into it.” England’s hope is that he will be better for the run, and will have a greater impact at Lord’s this week.”Jimmy’s flying,” Stokes said on Tuesday. “He had a good bowl yesterday and a good bowl today and was completely fine.” England’s decision to pick an extra seamer might alleviate his workload, but Stokes clarified: “We didn’t pick four seamers to make this week easier for Jimmy – just to make that clear.”He’s good,” Stokes added. “I mean, he’s just an unbelievable athlete, still doing what he’s doing at 40 years old… it is just unbelievable to watch him go about his business.” Anderson celebrates his 41st birthday on the penultimate scheduled day of this series.Related

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Anderson has a remarkable record in the Stokes-McCullum era, with 46 wickets at 19.60 even after his quiet outing in Birmingham. He has spoken of feeling reinvigorated by the new regime, enjoying a new lease of life as he approaches the end of a long and storied career.But the first Test was a reminder of his humanity. Anderson has defied retirement for so long that it is hardly worth speculating how long he has left, but told the before the series: “I don’t want to drag it out and people are thinking: ‘Can you just do one?’ I would like to be able to go out on a nice note.”It is often said that England players are remembered for their feats against Australia but Anderson might be an exception to that rule. They are the opponent against whom he averages the most (34.43), with a slightly worse record at home (45 wickets at 35.06) than away (68 at 34.01).The next five weeks provide him with an opportunity to change that. Anderson has thrived at Lord’s and conditions for the second Test looked ideally suited to him: a covering of live grass on a pitch that MCC hope will have more pace than last week’s, plus cloud cover throughout the five days.There are five months between the end of the Ashes and the start of England’s next Test series in India, an obvious opportunity for Anderson to bow out if he decides it is time to move on. What better stage for it than a potential Oval decider?