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Former England legspinner had been in job since late 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2022Sussex have announced that Ian Salisbury, the club’s Championship and 50-over coach, will leave his position at the end of the season. Salisbury had reportedly been placed on gardening leave following a non-cricketing dispute with one of his players.Salisbury was appointed as co-head coach, alongside James Kirtley, in 2020. He inherited a young squad and, despite several players making good progress, Sussex have won just twice in red-ball cricket over the last two seasons – although they did make a run to the semi-finals of this year’s Royal London Cup.”We would like to thank Ian for his contribution to the club over the last couple of years and wish him well for the future in whatever this may hold,” Rob Andrew, Sussex’s chief executive, said. “He has helped develop a very promising group of young players and we are looking forward to seeing them develop further in the next few years.”Kirtley admitted the situation with Salisbury, who had not been involved with the first team since mid-August, was “an obvious distraction” during Sussex’s final Championship game of the season, against Glamorgan at Hove, which ended on Thursday in a draw, leaving them second from bottom in Division Two.Salisbury was described as being “not part of the business” earlier this week, with the BBC reporting that the issue centred on his handling of young offspinner Jack Carson.On leaving the club where he played between 1989-1996, Salisbury said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time at Sussex for last two years and the journey has really helped me after the loss of my wife. However it’s the right thing for myself and daughter to look for a fresh challenge.”I want to thank the backroom staff, ground staff, foundation, office staff, catering and stewards for their support throughout my time at Hove. Whoever takes over from myself will inherit a very talented homegrown squad who if supported from above are ready to fly in the next few years.”

Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are both set to return to competitive cricket in the coming days as they continue their rehabilitation from surgery

George Dobell24-Jun-2016Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are both set to return to competitive cricket in the coming days as they continue their rehabilitation from surgery.Stokes, who was forced off the pitch during the first Investec Test against Sri Lanka in Leeds and subsequently underwent knee surgery, will play as a specialist batsman in Durham’s NatWest T20 Blast match against Yorkshire tonight. He is expected to field throughout.He was given special dispensation by the ECB to come on as a substitute fielder on the final day of Durham’s Championship game against Yorkshire on Thursday and soon took a slip catch to dismiss former England teammate Adam Lyth.He will not, though, now play club cricket this weekend. Given a choice of whether to play in the T20 on Friday or the club game on Saturday, he elected for the Durham match.Stokes has not yet returned to bowling so the ECB are reluctant to put a date on his likely return. They remain hopeful, however, that it will be in July.Wood, meanwhile, has not played since the end of October when he represented England in the Test against Pakistan in the UAE. He has, since then, undergone two bouts of ankle surgery.But he will play as a specialist batsman for Durham in the four-day match against Sri Lanka A that starts on Sunday and will work on his bowling during the intervals. He also came on as a substitute fielder on the final day of the Championship match against Yorkshire.If all goes to plan, it is hoped that Wood will make his full return in the County Championship fixture against Lancashire in Southport that starts on July 16.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said he isn’t in favour of producing pitches that turn excessively in the Ranji Trophy and cause matches to end in two days

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2015Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said he isn’t in favour of producing pitches that turn excessively in the Ranji Trophy and cause matches to end in two days. Dravid, the India A and Under-19 coach, said such “poor” pitches will hurt Indian cricket and harm the growth of young cricketers in the long term.Of the 96 matches played in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy so far, seven finished in two days while 14 ended on the third.”It’s disappointing to see this,” Dravid said in Kolkata, where he is with the U-19 team, two days after Odisha lost to Bengal inside two days at a new venue in Kalyani. “I don’t want to specifically mention the Bengal game, but all around in the Ranji Trophy this year teams are producing poor wickets – square turners where matches are finishing in two or three days. I don’t think it’s good for the health of Indian cricket.”

Two-day matches this season

• Saurashtra v Jharkhand (Rajkot)

• J&K v Services (Jammu)

• Saurashtra v Hyderabad (Rajkot)

• Jharkhand v HP (Ranchi)

• Punjab v Andhra (Patiala)

• Delhi v Maharashtra (Delhi, Kotla)

• Bengal v Odisha (Kalyani)

Chasing 171, Odisha were dismissed for 37, with fast bowler Ashok Dinda taking 7 for 19 and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha taking 3 for 14. Odisha lodged a complaint with the match referee about the uneven nature of the pitch and the OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera said he would write to the BCCI asking it to investigate the issue.Dravid was in Kalyani to watch the game and his comments came at a time when there is debate about the quality of pitches being produced for the Test series between India and South Africa. The surfaces in Mohali and Nagpur have turned from the first session of the match and batsmen from both teams have struggled to survive. Dravid, however, said there was a difference when it came to international cricket.”It’s a little different at the international level, though, since you are looking for wickets and to win matches,” he said. “But at the Ranji Trophy level, we are looking to prepare the players for the international stage. What I have seen recently, these wickets are poor. I really don’t think it’s good for Indian cricket because if you think about them it’s a waste of time, energy and money.”The reason for the Ranji Trophy is not only to decide the winner in the end. It also has a job to develop and prepare cricketers for the international stage. And if we keep playing on bad wickets like these, we are not going to develop and produce good cricketers.”Dravid said state associations and curators needed to find a balance in laying out a pitch. “We need to nip this in the bud. We need to start forcing teams to preparing good wickets. We don’t want green tops but we don’t want wickets either where matches finish in two days, and people bowling darts get six-seven wickets. I think we need to be very careful that we don’t go down that path.”I am glad that the knockout stage is at neutral venues. We will see good wickets at least during the knockout stages. A lot of people criticise and say Ranji Trophy matches should be held in home venues of teams. But if teams resort to doing these kind of things, then I think it is better the knockout matches are staged in neutral venues.”

Amid the recent failures, West Indies captain Jason Holder has tried to lead by example, and his coach Phil Simmons admires his courage in doing so

Brydon Coverdale27-Dec-2015West Indies coach Phil Simmons said before this Test that one of Jason Holder’s strengths is his ability to leave the pressure on the field. Whatever is happening out in the middle, whatever gaping hole West Indies find themselves in, Holder is a man who can relax when he changes into his civvies at the end of the day. It’s a good thing too, for Holder is in charge of a team that is about as far behind in this series as is humanly possible.Consider the raw figures. By the end of the second day in Melbourne, West Indies had lost 24 wickets in this series for 462 runs. Australia had lost seven, for 1134 runs. It meant Australia were averaging 162 runs per wicket lost, West Indies 19.25. You need 10 wickets to dismiss your opposition, but if Steven Smith enforces the follow-on and things continue at this rate, West Indies might struggle to take 10 in the series.Amid all the failures, Holder has tried to lead by example. On the first morning, Kemar Roach leaked 15 runs from his first over with the new ball, and Holder immediately took Roach off and took the ball himself. He also began on the second morning, and while he went wicketless throughout the innings, he alone amongst his bowlers was highly economical, his 22 overs costing only 47 runs as he tried to build pressure at one end.”I love that fact that he’s taken on the responsibility,” West Indies coach Phil Simmons said after the second day’s play. “Even this morning he bowled a lot … and he said ‘right, I’m going to start this, and set the tone’, which is admirable. But at the same time it takes a lot out of him. I think it’s a case where he has to know when to do that and when not to do it. But it’s very admirable that he’s trying to lead from the front.”I can’t speak for him exactly but it must be frustrating and it must be hard on him, being the captain, being one of the leading bowlers and looking at [him as] one of the batsmen, because he has a Test hundred recently. There’s a lot for him as a young man to deal with. But talking to him and looking at him and I think he’s doing a good job.”And it is a hard job. Everywhere Holder looks he will see a problem, be it bowlers missing their lengths, fielders not pushing hard to chase balls, or batsmen losing concentration too quickly. That West Indies went to tea on day two at 0 for 33 was encouraging after Australia had piled on 3 for 551 declared, but by stumps it was the same old story, and they had collapsed to 6 for 91.”I think, as in yesterday’s performance too, the first hour we worked hard and we did the right things in the first hour … but then let it go in the second hour,” Simmons said. “And let it go in the hour after lunch. We batted fairly well leading up to tea, and then after tea some soft dismissals.”That’s the frustrating part. It’s about doing the things, but not just doing it for an hour. It’s about doing it for the two hours, come in and rest, do it for another two hours, and that’s where we’ve fallen down. Yesterday evening we bowled pretty well late in the evening. It could have been 400 in the day but we pulled it back, and then let it go again today. That’s the frustration, it’s not as consistent for the two hours of a session.”One of the key problems for West Indies has been the lack of impact from their senior men. Roach has been wayward with the ball and has not taken a wicket this series, Jerome Taylor has two wickets at 102.50, and Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels have each scored 12 runs from three innings. Samuels, in particular, has been a disappointment, and late on the second day at the MCG was trapped lbw by James Pattinson for a third-ball duck.”He’s been one of the top batsmen for West Indies and he has that class that he can deliver tomorrow or Tuesday as the case may be, where we have to bat again,” Simmons said. “I don’t believe in writing him off. I think he’s struggled. It’s up to him to get his head in the right space for the second innings of this match.”

Thompson plus Hampshire crew build on Bell-Drummond innings as Whiteley fifty is in vain

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2022London Spirit’s Hampshire Hawks bowling attack used their Ageas Bowl insider knowledge to end Southern Brave’s home domination.Daniel Bell-Drummond had clocked 46 to help Spirit to 147 before Liam Dawson, Brad Wheal, Mason Crane and Nathan Ellis produced the type of defence that won the Hawks the Vitality Blast earlier this summer.Dawson, Wheal and Crane all picked up a wicket-a-piece, along with non-Hawk Jordan Thompson’s 2 for 32, as Ross Whiteley’s 52 wasn’t enough and Brave fell nine runs short.Spirit are three from three in the tournament, having taken home the wooden spoon last year, while holders Brave lost their 100 per cent record at the Ageas Bowl.The intrigue for the Brave chase was how James Vince would go against his Hawks bowling attack. That remained unanswered as another former Hampshire team-mate Glenn Maxwell bowled him first ball – the unlucky 13th golden duck of his T20/Hundred career.Brave’s start got worse when Quinton de Kock and Alex Davies met in the middle of the pitch with the stumps broken for a clumsy run out to leave the hosts 4 for 2.Davies got the scoreboard moving upwards with a four-six combo off Dawson, with Marcus Stoinis striking through the covers and straight before running past spinner Dawson to be stumped.Davies departed for 36 when Crane tempted him to slog to long on, while Wheal got Tim David skewing to extra cover.Whiteley, another Hampshire player, had quietly biffed his way to a 32-ball 50, brought up with a perfectly timed clip to the leg side but was bowled by Thompson’s next ball.Brave needed 27 runs off the last 10-ball end. But despite James Fuller pulling that down to 12 off three, Thompson had him slicing to deep point as Spirit’s 12-month turnaround continued.Earlier, Spirit chose to bat and were indebted to Maxwell, Bell-Drummond and Kieron Pollard’s contributions to get them up to 147, eight runs shy of their female team-mates’ losing total earlier in the day.Maxwell and Bell-Drummond were joined at the crease after Adam Rossington had lifted Michael Hogan to mid-off and Zak Crawley swung to deep square leg to leave Spirit 29 for 2.The duo’s 39 together got rolling with a pair of Maxwell fours, the first an effortless drive through the covers before opening up the offside again two balls later. He then used his upper body strength to dispatch Jacob Lintott over deep midwicket.The Australian pumped three more boundaries before mullering straight at mid-off, and then Eoin Morgan run out backing up at the non-striker’s end.Bell-Drummond, now in a 53-run partnership with Pollard, had struggled to get going with 18 off 21 balls, and been dropped twice, albeit both very difficult chances.The sluggish start peaked with five fours and a towering six over long-on before he fell for 46 off 33 balls when he was run out. In the last 13 deliveries, Thompson was yorked by Hogan with 24 runs coming.

Ten wickets in the match leave visitors four wickets from defeat at close

ECB Reporters Network12-Jul-2022Gloucestershire 136 and 140 for 6 (Harmer 5-51) trail Essex 310 (Cook 145, Westley 90, Gohar 5-84) by 34 runsAlastair Cook and Simon Harmer combined to leave Essex on the cusp of victory in their LV=County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Chelmsford.Cook recorded his 31st first-class century for his county on his way to 145 out of 310 all out before off-spinner Harmer bagged 5 for 51 wickets as the visitors capitulated against the spin wizard.Cook occupied the crease for almost seven hours as Essex and with skipper Tom Westley, who scored 90, provided a significant second-wicket partnership worth 196.Trailing by 174 runs on first innings, Gloucestershire were flummoxed and confused by the wily Harmer who was introduced into the attack for the 6th over and by the close, had tantalised the visitors to the brink of defeat.Ollie Price reached the close unbeaten on 42 and will resume with Zafar Gohar on 10 but winless Gloucestershire look set for another reverse.Harmer’s first victim came in his third over when Marcus Harris was bowled and four balls later, he had Ryan Higgins picked up at bat/pad for a duck to leave the visitors 26 for 2Although Chris Dent batted resolutely, he saw Miles Hammond and James Bracey fall to Harmer. Hammond bowled when he injudiciously went on the back foot before James Bracey reached forward and was stumped.Then Dent himself fell to Harmer for 33 out of 77 for 5, leg before on the back pad to give Harmer his tenth wicket of the match.Cook and skipper Westley had made serene progress during the morning session when they resumed on the overnight 127 for 1, just 9 runs adrift of their opponents.With the 15th delivery of the day, a boundary by Westley moved Essex into credit and he and Cook increased the advantage with a series of nicely-timed and well-directed drives.Westley’s penchant for an array of leg side strokes complemented the classic cover driving and square cuts executed by Cook as the partnership flourished.There was a rare moment of anxiety though for Cook when he had scored 71 following the introduction of slow bowler Miles Hammond, the eighth bowler used by the visitors.Hammond’s first delivery found the edge as Cook played forward but the ball escaped the clutches of Higgins at first slip to allow the Essex Knight of the Realm to continue to showcase his talent to his Chelmsford kingdom.Gloucestershire were finally able to bring about a conclusion to the Cook-Westley alliance when Westley’s defence was breached by a beautiful delivery from Tom Price that nipped back to re-arrange off stump.Cook arrived at three figures with his 12th boundary having faced 236 deliveries steering the ball backward of square on the off to earn a standing ovation from the crowd.Shortly after the impressive Price struck again. Dan Lawrence was caught at short mid-wicket off an intended pull to give the paceman figures of 3 for 47 as Essex arrived at lunch on 222 for 3 at lunch and a lead of 86 runs.Cook continued relentlessly but at the opposite end, his colleagues were being undone by left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar. He enjoyed a spell of 3 for 7 before Ryan Higgins tempted Cook to nibble outside off stump to be caught behind.Adam Rossington clubbed a couple of sixes to book a third batting point before Zafar added two more wickets to return figures of 5 for 84 and his fourth five-wicket haul for his county.

Alex Hales and Dan Christian helped Nottinghamshire kick off their Royal London Cup campaign in impressive style with a nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire

ECB/PA25-Jul-2015
ScorecardAlex Hales scored a blistering century as Nottinghamshire cruised to victory•Getty Images

Alex Hales and Dan Christian helped Nottinghamshire kick off their Royal London Cup campaign in impressive style with a nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire at Welbeck Cricket Club. Hales blasted his way to 103 and hit seven fours and nine sixes in his 61-ball stay as Notts chased down their victory target in only 28.1 overs.During the first part of the day, Christian took the bowling plaudits for the home side, taking 5 for 40, as Warwickshire were bowled out for 220 in only 49.1 overs after being invited to bat first. Ian Bell, given dispensation by the ECB to play in between Test matches, made 52 from 83 deliveries but there was little in the way of support for him, as last season’s runners-up made a stuttering start this time around.Defending a modest total, the visitors ran into Hales and the in-form Riki Wessels, who were both at their hard-hitting best. The openers put on 164 in just 20.1 overs before Recordo Gordon picked up the only wicket to fall, having Hales caught at the wicket by Tim Ambrose.Wessels reached his own 50 from 56 deliveries, with five fours and a maximum and he closed on 86 not out, with James Taylor making an unbeaten 24. Notts hadn’t used a home outground within Nottinghamshire since 1998, when they had last played at Worksop, and an enthusiastic crowd of around 2000 turned out to wish them well in their venture.Earlier, Warwickshire were put under pressure after a fortuitous incident broke their opening partnership. A drive by Bell was deflected by the bowler, Luke Fletcher, on to the stumps at the non-striker’s end and Jonathan Webb was adjudged to be short of his ground.Christian’s first over, when he entered the attack, didn’t give any indication of what was to come, with four ill-directed leg side wides contributing to the total. From then on, the 32-year took centre stage with his medium-fast swing bowling and he picked up wickets in each of his next three overs. Tim Ambrose was caught behind by Chris Read and then both Rikki Clarke and Laurie Evans were taken in identical fashion by Alex Hales at second slip.Ian Bell and Chris Woakes mounted a fightback, adding 63 for the fifth wicket before Christian returned to remove them both. Bell had reached his 50 from 82 balls, seven of which were hit to the boundary boards but he then perished tamely to his next delivery, after picking out James Taylor at point.Woakes, who had played one match in recent weeks for Nottinghamshire’s second string on his recuperation from a knee injury, made an impressive 36 before playing all around a full-pitched delivery.Keith Barker hit a lusty 27 and Ateeq Javid contributed 33 but the total always seemed well below par and Warwickshire even failed to bat out the final over, with Jake Ball dismissing Josh Poysden for his second wicket. Ball, a product of the Welbeck club, finished with figures of 2 for 47.Notts will stage the second part of their “Welbeck Weekender” on Sunday when they host Glamorgan at the same venue.

Pakistan have shown glimpses of quality, particularly with the ball, but need to show a greater breadth of limited-overs skill to stage a comeback in the second ODI in Napier

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Napier27-Jan-2016

Match facts

January 28, 2016
Start time 1400 local (0100 GMT)1:12

Pakistan look to stop the rot

Big Picture

Pakistan hoped to pose a stiffer challenge to New Zealand than Sri Lanka did, but with two matches to go, their tour is threatening to go the same way as the previous one. The most recent loss was perhaps the most disheartening of their three on tour. Having held New Zealand by the collar at 99 for 6, Pakistan eased their grip – introducing spinners to hasten the over-rate – and the New Zealand lower order shoved them to the ground. Even with Mitchell McClenaghan in hospital, New Zealand eased to their eighth limited-overs victory in ten games.As ever, there is an edge to this Pakistan attack, but they have also lacked the full breadth of limited-overs skill, at times. They had broken New Zealand’s batting open with swing, seam and pace, yet have had struggles with containing throughout the tour. There was also a seeming dearth of intent with ball and bat. With six wickets down by the 23rd over, they opted to reserve the quicks for later in the innings, instead of hunting for those last four scalps. Then the chase of 281 began slowly – only 33 coming from the Powerplay.New Zealand have scrapped, jived and thrived despite everything that has been thrown at them. Four top players are ruled out of the next match, but such is the depth in their cricket at present that they have a bowler of Doug Bracewell’s quality to replace McClenaghan. Their middle order had seemed a weakness, but on Sunday it was Henry Nicholls and Mitchell Santner who revived the team with their seventh-wicket stand.The weather may play a role in shortening this match, but the rains are forecast to clear by afternoon.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)


New Zealand: WWLWW
Pakistan: LLLLW

In the spotlight

The latest in New Zealand’s production line of exciting young players is Henry Nicholls, who on Sunday played virtually the perfect rebuilding innings, notwithstanding an edge to slip that was shelled early in his stay. Nicholls punished short balls as he established himself at the crease, then slipped into low-risk accumulation mode when the team lost more wickets. His talents have been noticed internationally as well – the Sydney Thunder picking him up for a two-match stint towards the end of the Big Bash League.Ahmed Shehzad averages 32.28 in ODIs since the start of 2015, but of more concern might be his strike rate of 75.22. A hitter of flashy boundaries atop the innings, his ability to keep the scoreboard moving during the tougher periods has sometimes limited his game. After four low scores in the tour now, Shehzad will want to make an impactful contribution on what has traditionally been the best batting track in the country.

Team news

Luke Ronchi is rested for the last two matches, and BJ Watling replaces him.New Zealand (probable): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt.), 4 Henry Nicholls, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Trent BoultPakistan will probably keep their attack intact, but Shoib Malik is likely to come back into the middle order, having recovered from his injury. Sohaib Maqsood seems likeliest to make way.Pakistan (probable): 1 Azhar Ali (capt.), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Babar Azam, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Mohammad Rizwan, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Pitch and conditions

The McLean Park surface is usually full of runs, but the weather does not look promising. The forecast suggests there will be rain until the early afternoon, and cloud thereafter. A strong southerly wind is also expected.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand struck 369 and won by 119 runs when these teams last played in Napier, in February 2015
• Trent Boult became the top-ranked ODI bowler in the world ahead of the the first match of the series. Matt Henry is seventh on that list, while Mohammad Irfan is tenth.
• Babar Azam has struck a fifty in half of his eight ODI innings so far

Quotes

“The New Zealand fast bowlers seem to be going really well. They’ve got a few options up their sleeve and they’re rotating the guys. It’s exciting to be back in the mix.”

Hardik Pandya’s three sixes in a 25-run penultimate over from Pawan Negi settled a rollercoaster chase for Mumbai Indians, and handed Chennai Super Kings their first defeat at home this season

The Report by Abhishek Purohit08-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:32

O’Brien: Negi was flustered under pressure

Hardik Pandya’s three sixes in a 25-run penultimate over from Pawan Negi settled a rollercoaster chase for Mumbai Indians, and handed Chennai Super Kings their first defeat at home this season.The visitors had the chase of 159 under control with an 84-run opening stand in ten overs, but R Ashwin had Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons caught in the deep in the 11th. Dwayne Bravo ran out Kieron Pollard in the 12th as Super Kings started their familiar fightback.The ball was turning, sharp fielders were cutting off singles, and Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu were struggling to score. The asking-rate rose to two runs a ball.Rohit tried to go after Dwayne Bravo’s slower ones, and was dropped by Faf du Plessis at long-off. He tried it again in the allrounder’s next over, and Suresh Raina did not drop it at long-on.It was down to 30 off the last two overs. Decision time for MS Dhoni. His fast bowlers had conceded 0 for 64 in five overs, his spinners had taken 2 for 54 in 11. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had bowled out. Dhoni went for the left-arm spinner Negi, who had given ten in three overs and had revitalized Super Kings innings with an unbeaten 36 off 17.Pandya cracked three of Negi’s first four balls for straight sixes. Game all but over. Rayudu lifted the last ball for another straight six. Game definitely over.Fittingly, the game met a tumultuous end. Jadeja dropped Pandya running in from deep midwicket first ball of the last over, and Rayudu brought up the win with an edged four to third man.Dhoni later admitted it was a tactical error giving a spinner the penultimate over, but added that his hand had been forced by the performance of his fast bowlers. Mohit Sharma and Ashish Nehra had leaked runs at the start as Parthiv and Simmons raced away after Super Kings’ sluggish innings.Parthiv played a range of strokes during his 45 off 32 while Simmons bludgeoned and steered a few boundaries on his way to 38 off 31. Amid Mumbai Indians’ smooth progress, four overs from Ashwin went for only 17.Returning after missing three games with a finger injury, the offspinner proved vital again for Super Kings, his double-strike in his last over providing the opening for the hosts.It was another spinner who had revived Super Kings to a decent 158 for 5 from 108 for 4 after 16. Negi launched Marchant de Lange – playing only because Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga was not allowed to in Chennai – for three fours in the 17th over to begin the acceleration.Dhoni, once again this season, failed to connect and time too many despite facing as many as 32 balls and ended on 39. He did add 54 off 28 for the sixth wicket with Negi.Super Kings had started strongly as well, though Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith did not last as long as the Mumbai Indians openers. McCullum holed out to Pandya for 23 off 11 in trying to hit Vinay Kumar for a fourth successive boundary. Suresh Raina and Smith were tied down and then failed to clear Pandya in the deep. Faf du Plessis got in but fell just as Super Kings were looking to push on in the 16th.Negi provided the finish du Plessis could not, before it all came apart for him and Super Kings in that 19th over.

Former captain praises successor for supreme batting focus but fears his message is getting lost

Andrew Miller04-Apr-2022Alastair Cook says he is in awe of Joe Root’s ability to stay focused on his run-scoring amid intense speculation about his future as Test captain, but has warned his successor that the relentless focus on the “positives” within England’s dressing-room is running the risk of sounding “deluded”.Root is currently taking a break from cricket in the wake of England’s series loss to West Indies, having overseen a run of one Test victory out of 17 since February 2021. And Cook – who is gearing up for his 20th season of county cricket with Essex – knows better than most how his predecessor will currently be feeling, having come through his own torrid year as captain in 2014, when England’s 5-0 whitewash against Australia gave way to the controversial sacking of Kevin Pietersen.However, while Cook acknowledged that his own Test form suffered amid the furore, Root’s own batting standards remain a class apart. Despite a relative lull during the Ashes, in which he was still one of only two England batters to average more than 30, he returned to form with twin hundreds in the Caribbean, making it eight in 20 Tests, and a total of 2066 runs, since the start of 2021.”The amount of runs that Joe Root has scored is an incredible effort,” Cook said. “I really struggled in 2014, scoring runs with that KP stuff going on the background, that really affected me. For him to be able to handle that and not let his personal performance go, that’s an unbelievable sign.”He’s England’s most complete batsman I’ve ever seen, but if [juggling the captaincy] was going to affect him, it would have affected him in the last eight months or so,” Cook added. “To score 1700 runs [in 2021], 1200 more than anyone else, it’s laughable, and normally it’s untenable to do that. But the way he’s scored those runs, and singlehandedly carried England’s batting, is an extraordinary effort, with all the other stuff going on.”Nevertheless, Cook also warned that the singlemindedness that has allowed Root to block out the criticism and concentrate on his run-scoring could also be a double-edged sword when it comes to recognising when and if his tenure as captain has run its course.Writing in his Sunday Times column, Cook had praised Root’s determination to “get England’s sinking ship … floating again”. However, having spent the winter as an at-times outspoken pundit for BT Sport, Cook also admits his concerns that the players will stop listening to their captain’s belief in the team’s progression if – as seemed to be the case in the immediate aftermath of their ten-wicket loss in Grenada – it seems too far removed from the reality of their performances.”I am a bit bored of all the positive chat, because I don’t think it was a sense of reality in that changing room,” Cook said. “All the noise was that ‘we’ve turned a corner and our attitude is brilliant’. Some of that stuff should have been a given.Root speaks to his team during the tour of the Caribbean•Getty Images

“And it looked like a dig at the Australia tour, that their attitude there wasn’t great,” Cook added, after a raft of senior players were dropped for the West Indies – most notably James Anderson and Stuart Broad, but also Rory Burns and Dawid Malan.”Actually, from watching, I never saw them throw the towel in. They just weren’t good enough to compete, and their batting under pressure folded, and the same thing happened in Grenada.”I compare it to Toto Wolff and the Mercedes [Formula One] team,” Cook continued. “They’ve been the outstanding team for the last eight years, and they’ve obviously designed a car which isn’t quite as quick as their rivals, and [Wolff] comes out after two races, and says ‘that’s totally unacceptable’.”Now that’s not slagging off his team. It’s just the reality they’re in, and I’m sure he would have said ‘we will be good enough to turn it round’. But some of the stuff coming out [from England], with all this positivity. We’ve just lost again, we’ve won one in 17. That’s the reality, and it hurts. But if you own that, as a side, that could be a step forward.”Cook, however, also recognises there are extraordinary external circumstances dominating England’s current agenda, and that nothing significant can change within the existing set-up until a raft of permanent appointments are made at the ECB.”It’s maddening to think that a company as big as the ECB has got no chairman, no director of cricket and no coach,” Cook said, following the departure of Ian Watmore before Christmas and the sackings of Ashley Giles and Chris Silverwood after the Ashes. “How it’s got there shows where English cricket is at this point. It’s an amazing challenge for whoever does get that job to turn it around because there’s been some dark days for English cricket.”Maybe dark isn’t the right word, because actually there’s a huge amount of talent around and I think everyone can see that. But you can’t have no coach, no director of cricket and no chairman – if you’re running a business that doesn’t seem to make much sense. So it’s an exciting time. You’re actually thinking if the next appointment is a good appointment, it’s a total and utter fresh start because that’s what English cricket needs.”With that in mind, there remains an awkward piece of unresolved business for whoever does take over, given that Anderson and Broad, 39 and 35 respectively, have both made it clear they are not ready to accept their time in the England team is over just yet – and that, with the possible exception of Saqib Mahmood, few of the seamers selected for the Caribbean tour enhanced their claims to be long-term replacements.Related

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Cook himself bowed out of Test cricket on the ultimate high in 2018, with a matchwinning century in his final Test innings against India. But he recognises that not everyone gets the chance to go out on their own terms, even when their records and reputation merit a perfect send-off.”Absolutely they [deserve it], but professional sport doesn’t always work like you want it to,” Cook said. “We know they are legends of the game. They’re legends of English cricket, they’re right up there with the best bowlers ever to play the game.”Hopefully they do get a chance [for a send-off], but tell that to Jimmy, he’ll slap your hand off and say ‘I’m not thinking about retiring, I’m still playing until I’m 75’. He’s thinking, I want to get back in that Test side and prove that they shouldn’t have left me out.”But it makes it an interesting summer doesn’t it? Do they play or who is the new line-up? Are they good enough? Absolutely. Do they still warrant their places? Yeah, you’d say so with the quality they’ve got. But this is where England need to be clear.”