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Two years into the job, Steven Smith is already thinking of the 2021 Test tour of India, which he craves to lead in and win

Adam Collins in Mirpur26-Aug-20171:04

Gambhir: Australia will start favourites in Bangladesh

Occasionally, selection is just as much a pointer to the coming months and years as it is for the five days ahead. That is the case with Steven Smith’s side for the first Test in Mirpur. They will be making two changes to the XI that lost their previous Test, in Dharamsala against India in March.Ashton Agar returns after four years away, while Usman Khawaja is principally back to get into the Test groove again before the Ashes opener in November. Smith’s explanation of Steve O’Keefe’s omission from the squad, in favour of Agar, is instructive of his longer-term leadership goals. Namely, that he plans to be around for a long time.Since Allan Border, no Australian leader has spent more than Ricky Ponting’s seven years in the job, the rest staying for somewhere short of five. With two candles nearly on the cake for Smith, he is already thinking four years ahead to the next time Australia is due for a Test series in India, one he craves to lead in and win.While O’Keefe’s numerical return at Test and first-class level is top class, at 32 he is nine years Agar’s senior. The younger man has far from bashed the door down on conventional measures, claiming his first-class wickets at more than 40 apiece. Despite his two Ashes Tests in 2013 (for just two wickets) he remains, to a certain extent, a project player. But that project aligns neatly with Smith’s own: the aforementioned Indian return bout in 2021.”He’s come a long way,” Smith said of Agar’s inclusion. “For us it’s more looking to the future. Ashton has obviously been on the radar for a long time and someone we see as having a pretty bright future. Four years’ time back in India it’s something I want to achieve while I’m captain. I want to win in India, that’s big on my bucket list.”Similar logic applies to Khawaja. Aside from a dismal run in Sri Lanka last year where he lost his subcontinental spot, he has a body of work to dream of since returning to the side two Australian summers ago. But Smith made a more basic point about why Khawaja has nudged ahead of Shaun Marsh in the pecking order.”Usman obviously hasn’t played any cricket since the Sydney Test match, that was his last game and that was a long time ago,” he said. “We need to get him back into the fold and get him playing cricket again.” Before the home Ashes, Smith means, where the stylish left-hand batsman remains a lock.The series presents an opportunity for both Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja•AFP

It isn’t just the fortunes of Khawaja that have changed since that Sri Lankan shocker. Whitewashed three-zip after going in favourites, expectations for India were measured, to say the least. But there, they stopped the rot and put on a better than commendable show, not least by breaking a nine-game losing snap in the region. It governs a far healthier mindset.”Something I learned a lot about in India as a captain in particular was knowing the different tempos of the game and when to attack a little bit more,” Smith said. “It’s been a good learning experience for me. I think the key to winning overseas is to ensure that you’re adapting consistently and putting those performances on the board consistently.”This confidence translates to relying on four bowlers alone to capture 20 wickets. Smith has been reluctant to use Glenn Maxwell’s spin since his return to the Test side in Ranchi, and seldom bowls himself now despite earning his national debut as a bowler first.”I know I copped a little bit of criticism for not using him [Maxwell] as much in the India series but again, you’ve got two quality spinners and they’re there to do a job,” Smith said. “In an ideal world, someone in the top six could bowl some good medium pace or good pace, it’d be ideal, but at the moment we’ve got to go with what we’ve got.”The tacit message to Maxwell came in response to the next question put to Smith, about England’s allrounder penchant. May it necessitate a seaming allrounder for Brisbane in November? “Yeah it could,” the Australian captain said. “They’ve got a very deep line-up.”With Smith also detailing a scenario where five specialist bowlers could be included for that series opener – a fit fab four of Australian quicks (Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson) alongside Nathan Lyon – it’s doubly important for Maxwell to use these Tests to make himself indispensable at six. “He does have an opportunity,” Smith continued. “He played pretty well in India, a lot better than other guys in that last Test. He certainly has the opportunity to nail down that spot, that’s for sure.”For all the inevitable Ashes chat, Smith was quick to clarify that Bangladesh won’t be underestimated, given they bossed over England inside three days the last time they played a Test here. Bangladesh also beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka to level a three-Test series in March. “We’re going to have to be at our best here,” he said.A slightly dry surface has been chosen in Mirpur among the two shortlisted, but Smith was reluctant to enter the encounter worrying too much about that. “There’s a ‘no whingeing’ policy about anything here in the subcontinent, wickets certainly fall under that,” he said. “They’ve put some grass clippings down to make it look a bit greener than what it is but it’s pretty dry underneath. I dare say it’ll be pretty slow.”Off-field, it is the first time an Australian team of any variety has played since the conclusion of the bitter pay war earlier this month, finally striking an agreement that made this tour possible. As a consequence, Smith acknowledged the importance of now rebuilding the brand of the game and national team after a torrent of bad blood was shed between players and administrators.”The pay dispute went on longer than we all would have liked but thankfully it’s all dealt with now,” he said. “We can move on with playing and trying to win back a few fans that we perhaps may have lost along the way. I think we’ll do that by playing good, hard fought cricket and winning games of cricket.”Bangladesh is good a place to start as any. Smith’s predecessor Michael Clarke put a premium on winning away and had middling success in doing so. For Smith, he managed it at the first time of asking in New Zealand, but came away without a trophy in the next two attempts. So drawing from the qualified-success of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there is no better time or place to square the ledger and begin charting the course to his long-term Indian summit.

Worcestershire sealed a place in the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast when they overcame a sluggish pitch and a determined Derbyshire side by four wickets

ECB/PA17-Jul-2015
ScorecardJoe Leach ensured Worcestershire got over the line and into the quarter-finals•Getty Images

Worcestershire sealed a place in the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast when they overcame a sluggish pitch and a determined Derbyshire side to win the North Group match at Derby by four wickets.Derbyshire skipper Wes Durston hit 32 and Billy Godleman 33 in a total of 149 for 8 with Saeed Ajmal taking 2 for 21 in four overs. Despite Richard Oliver’s 45 from 38 balls, Worcestershire also found it hard to get the ball away against tight bowling with Alex Hughes taking 2 for 21. But Joe Leach hit an unbeaten 18 from 12 balls to secure victory and condemn Derbyshire to finishing bottom of the group.Derbyshire wanted to end on a high but were soon in trouble against disciplined bowling which was rewarded with three wickets in the Powerplay. Leach found some extra bounce to have Hamish Rutherford caught at slip in the second over and although Chesney Hughes twice dispatched him to the midwicket boundary, he was bowled making room off the last ball.Shiv Thakor carved Ed Barnard low to point in the fifth over and again it was Durston, the Falcons leading run-scorer in the T20, who led the fightback by sweeping Brett D’Oliveira’s first ball over square leg for six and pulling the legspinner wide of long-on for four.

Insights

In matches as tight as these on pitches as sluggish as these, know-how is so important. Worcestershire are flying high, now qualified for the quarter-finals with this win, while Derbyshire are consigned to the bottom of the North Group. This match was well balanced for much of its course and with 45 required from five overs it could easily have gone either way, but Worcestershire know how to win and Derbyshire do not. Leach’s 12-ball 18 again demonstrated the value of intensity in T20 cricket – it was only a 14 minute innings but he earned his money in a tight, pressurised situation.

But when he tried to launch Ajmal into the pavilion, he failed to clear long-on where Barnard took a well-judged catch to end a stand of 47 from 38 balls with Godleman, who swung Daryl Mitchell high over midwicket for two sixes to bring up the 100.But he sliced the next ball to point and when Wayne Madsen skied a drive at Ajmal to deep mid-off in the 15th over, Derbyshire were 102 for 6 before Alex Hughes and Tom Knight added 39 from 27 balls to get the total past 140.With the ball not coming on to the bat, Derbyshire were still in the game if they could take early wickets and Thakor struck in the fifth over when Mitchell pulled him to deep midwicket. Tom Kohler-Cadmore cut Alex Hughes to backward point in the ninth over as a combination of spin and seam denied Worcestershire a boundary for 21 balls and 85 from the last 10 overs was far from straightforward.Richard Oliver pulled Nathan Rimmington for his seventh four but then skied a drive to long-on off the last ball of the 12th over and the pressure was starting to tell when D’Oliveira miscued Alex Hughes to point.Worcestershire needed a big over and Munro delivered by taking 16, including a six over midwicket, from the 14th bowled by Durston but he then chipped Greg Cork to deep square leg in the next over.With 45 needed from the last five overs, Whiteley drove Thakor over long off for six and then swung Rimmington over long-on but was then yorked going for another maximum although four byes off the last ball reduced the target to 22 from 18 balls. Leach drove a Rimmington no-ball for four from an over which cost 10 and Worcestershire got home with three balls to spare.

Manoj Tiwary sounded the first unofficial salvo in the run-up to the India-Australia series when he said that a good number of Australian batsmen had been “wanting” in their technique against the India A spinners

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2013Manoj Tiwary sounded the first unofficial salvo of an otherwise far ‘kinder, gentler’ run-up to an India-Australia series in a long time when he said that a good number of Australian batsmen had been “wanting” in their technique against the India A spinners on day two of their three-day practice match at the ICL Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai.Tiwary, a free-spirited batsman, became the second centurion in the India A innings, scoring 129 as his team was all out for 451 just before tea on a rain-affected day. After the day’s play, with Australia scoring 131 for 4 and losing all four batsmen to the spinners Rakesh Dhurv and Jalaj Saxena, Tiwary didn’t hold back, either on opinion or prediction.”They haven’t played the spinners as well as they could have – because I think the technique was [found] wanting,” he said. Australia were tootling along at a good clip against the four India A medium pacers before spin was introduced in the 21st over. Left-arm spinner Dhurv had Ed Cowan leg before in the 23rd over and Australia lost three more wickets before stumps. Off-spinner Saxena had Phil Hughes stumped and Usman Khawaja bowled, both scoring 1. Of all the batsmen, it was only Shane Watson who looked completely in control.Tiwary said of the bulk of the Australian top order, “They were not sure of their defence to be honest. That’s why they were not stretching enough to play the spin and not going back enough to play their shots.” Australia are without captain Michael Clarke and opener David Warner and Tiwary was not without his assessment. “If this is the way they are going to bat, it’s going to be difficult for them to be honest… to face quality spinners like Bhajjupa (Harbhajan Singh) and Ashwin and Ojha. The way they are bowling, it will be very difficult for them.”Should the wicket in Chepauk, where the first Test begins on February 22, be like what it was at the Guru Nanak College ground – slow, low, with very little pace and minor turn – Tiwary predicted more worries for “all their bowlers.”Watson though said there was, “absolutely no doubt about what India is going to hit us with.” The start of the tour, he said, was proving to be a “big learning curve for a lot of the guys” and that the best approach to playing spin in India had to be “proactive.” Spinners he said must “certainly” be attacked. “You can’t just allow them to settle in a certain line and length and allow them to be able to bowl that ball over and over again. At some stage that ball is going to turn and bounce and do something. As individual batsmen, we have to find a game plan to have as much success as we can.”Australia’s lesser-experienced batsmen, he said, were however, “very talented guys.””They have scored a lot of first-class runs in different conditions and it won’t take a very long time to find a game plan and a technique that will work here.”Lost in the assessment of Australia’s response to the two rather unheralded Indian spinners was Tiwary’s own performance; every time he has been given an opportunity against touring sides, he has scored runs this season, getting 93 against England A before his century in Chennai. “I came out to play this match, not to impress anyone but just to make myself happy after scoring runs. I was very conscious about getting big runs here to prove myself that I can score runs against quality opposition as well,” he said.One of the shadow men for spots in the Indian Test middle order, Tiwary more talked about for his one-day game said, “My dream has always been to play Test cricket. It depends on the selectors what they think about me and whether they can show some faith in me. My job was to score runs and I will do that as long as I play first-class cricket and four-day cricket.”The push for an India spot, he said, demanded a high degree of determination because of the competition. “You know the competition is so high you can’t miss out in an innings because you will go back few months of selection.” When asked whether he considered his game good enough to handle fast bowling adequately, he said that he was not concerned what his game “looked” like. “What I can do is I can score runs and if you can only look ugly and score runs, I will still go for runs. It doesn’t matter if I look odd or ugly in facing quick bowlers. I know my game and I know how to score runs. That’s how I have been able to score more than 5000 runs in seven or eight years of first-class cricket.”

Justin Langer, Australia’s assistant coach, has emerged as a leading candidate for the position of director of cricket at Somerset.

George Dobell18-Oct-2012Justin Langer, Australia’s assistant coach, has emerged as a leading candidate for the position of director of cricket at Somerset.Brian Rose, who formerly held the role, stepped down in September and ESPNcricinfo understands that Langer and Somerset are in detailed talks with an appointment anticipated in November. Somerset, while declining to confirm that they are in talks with Langer, confirmed that several candidates they are considering have have requested anonymity.Langer, 41, a former Australia opening batsman, enjoyed a successful period at the club between 2006 and 2009, captaining the team to the final of the domestic T20 and into the Champions Trophy. He is also credited for instilling new standards of professionalism into a club that was, in the past, known more for its charm than its achievement.The appointment of such a high-profile figure would represent a coup for Somerset, who are anxious to lose their reputation of being perennial runners-up.it would also allow Langer to settle with his family in one spot and avoid the touring that comes with life as an international coach. Somerset, well run and financially successful off the pitch, are able to compete with the salary offers of the majority of first-class counties and have a well-justified reputation as a friendly club.Somerset have an excellent record in recent seasons, but have narrowly missed out on winning a trophy. Between 2009 and 2011 they were beaten in three successive T20 finals and, in 2010, lost in the CB40 final and were deprived of a first County Champions title only through having won one fewer game than Nottinghamshire.They remain one of the few sides – Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire are the others – never to have won the County Championship.

Doug Bollinger, who arrived from the Champions League two days before the first Test, injured himself on the final day of the Mohali Test

Sidharth Monga in Mohali06-Oct-2010October 24, 2009. Brett Lee joins the Australian team barely 12 hours before the toss for the first ODI of the gruelling seven-match series. Till then, Lee has been occupied in winning New South Wales the Champions League Twenty20. On the day of the match, with Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar threatening a heist with the bat, Lee pulls up sore. End of series.It’s déjà vu in October 2010 in certain ways. Doug Bollinger, after a successful Champions League, arrives here two days before what turns out to be an all-time great Test, bowls impressively in the defence of a modest total, and when he is on absolute fire, running through the Indian batting with his aggression and hostility, he has to pull out because of abdominal pain. After an over in which he bounces Harbhajan Singh out, Bollinger is not available through the rest of the innings.”I actually had him ready to bowl the next over,” Ricky Ponting said later. “I went to grab his hat off him for the start of his next over and he said he’d felt some pain in one of his abdominals, and being a fast bowler and having that sort of injury I just sent him off the ground straight away.”
Ponting, captaining an Australian side not dominant any more and hence in need of every resource it can get hold of, didn’t hide his disappointment last year. He is not hiding it this year.”It would have been nice to have another fast bowler to rotate through when we needed that breakthrough,” Ponting said. “At that stage, Doug had bowled just the one spell as well, so he would have been nice and fresh. When you are bowling at the tail, you need those strike options. That said, we used five other bowling options, but none of them could give us that result.”Ponting – not obligated, unlike many other international players, to always sing praises for the leagues – and the Australian team management haven’t been a fan of the clashes the various leagues create with national duty, the preparation part more than the actual playing part. They have all been concerned about the late arrivals of Bollinger and Michael Hussey.There is nothing to ensure that Bollinger wouldn’t have been injured had he trained with the Australian team for the last 10 days, but it helps a captain to know that his strike bowler has not been away playing in a private league until two days before a Test.”It probably doesn’t help,” said Ponting of Bollinger’s Champions League commitments. “But he’d been bowling, and that’s one positive for Doug that he’d been playing competitive cricket.
“He probably hasn’t been bowling the amount of overs in the Champions League that some of the others have had coming over here, but the facts are that he’s been playing, he arrived a couple of days before the game.”I thought his work before that was very good, I thought his spell today was probably the best he’s bowled during the game, so [it was] disappointing for him to go down at the end there, it hurt us a lot.”

Hosts were in dire straits at 53 for 4 in response to Surrey’s 433 all out built on Jamie Smith’s first-day ton

ECB Reporters Network20-Jul-2023Middlesex 179 for 5 (Simpson 55*, Holden 55) trail Surrey 433 (Smith 138, Burns 79, Clark 78, Helm 6-110) by 254 runs John Simpson and Max Holden shared a century stand to give Middlesex hope of saving the follow-on against reigning champions Surrey on day two at Lord’s.The hosts, with only two batting bonus points all season were in dire straits at 53 for 4 in response to the visitors’ 433 all out, but former England U19 Holden and redoubtable wicket-keeper Simpson added 116 for the fifth wicket.Holden fell shortly before the close, but a defiant Simpson will take guard on day three 55 not out with Middlesex 179 for 5, Sean Abbot taking two of the wickets.Earlier Surrey passed 400 with day-one centurion Jamie Smith finishing on 138 and Jordan Clark 78, Tom Helm completing a career-best 6-110 for the hosts.Stand-in skipper Mark Stoneman briefly suggested a positive response to Surrey’s substantial first-innings total, creaming two early off drives through the covers, but it proved a false dawn as with only 11 against his name he feathered a good one from Clark through to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.It would be the ‘Brown Hats’ only success for some while, but a combination of tight seam bowling and a lack of intent from Pieter Malan and Sam Robson – the latter for some reason batting at three – meant the hosts crawled along at two runs per over.Perhaps that explains the rash cross-bat swish by South African Malan to an innocuous ball from Jamie Overton which took the under-edge, giving Foakes a second comfortable catch.As too often this season, the departure of one Middlesex batter led to three falling for the addition of 10 runs in 39 balls.Robson, a centurion last week at Merchant Taylors’ was undone by one from Sean Abbott which came back into him up the slope and went off the inside edge onto the stumps via the thigh pad.A torturous period of the afternoon for the hosts concluded with Jack Davies, in the side for the injured Stephen Eskinazi, taking 18 balls to get off the mark only to then fence at one from Tom Lawes, sending it into the hands of Dom Sibley at slip.The bell summoning the players back after tea sounded like a death knell for the beleaguered home side, but to their credit Holden and Simpson showed some intestinal fortitude.Holden, displayed some of the T20 form which earned a wildcard pick from the Manchester Originals for the upcoming Hundred, driving well off front and back foot, while Simpson played one delightful cut and acquired an all-run four courtesy of an overthrow.Overton tried some chin music, but Holden’s sixth four through third man took him to his second Championship half century of the season from 93 balls before Simpson too found the fence to raise the century stand.Simpson’s own half-century came in the grand manner with a six into the Mound Stand, but just as it looked as if Middlesex would reach the sanctity of stumps without further loss, Abbott found the edge of Holden’s bat and a diving Sibley did the rest.Surrey had resumed on 312 for 5, and save for a six over square leg by Clark off Ryan Higgins, made steady, unspectacular progress before Smith was castled by Helm from one which came back through the gate.Clark eased his way to a 91-ball 50 though he was later unsettled, not to say frustrated by Ethan Bamber beating him outside the off stump with five successive deliveries. The young seamer, who had somehow gone wicketless on day one, finally got reward when Abbott hoisted him into the hands of Malan at deep square.Clark’s fine effort ended when Tim Murtagh got one to bounce and take the edge which flew to Robson at slip and while a few lusty blows from Overton delayed the lunch interval, Helm cleaned up the tail for his first ever six-for in Championship cricket.

England look to put a ropey week behind them as they launch their international summer at a chilly Malahide

The Preview by Alan Gardner02-May-2019

Big Picture

Right, here we go then: England are about to hit the home straight, going into a home World Cup. And yet, they might not feel quite so at home in Malahide, where Ireland will be looking to add to their troubles after a rocky week for the ECB. England’s management have spent most of the build-up dealing with the fallout from the Alex Hales affair (an ongoing series), so the chance to play an actual cricket match will be a pleasant change in that respect.Ireland rarely need much motivation when it comes to upsetting the English, but a few weeks out from a tournament in which Eoin Morgan – who switched allegiances exactly a decade ago – is hoping to lead his much-touted England side to a first global 50-over trophy… Well, that would go down like a pint of the black stuff at Gibney’s. Not least because this is the first World Cup at which Ireland will not be participating since 2003.England may be the No. 1-ranked ODI nation, but it won’t be the No. 1-ranked team who walk out in north Dublin on Friday. Hales’ fall from grace aside, there are numerous absentees through (mostly) minor injuries and prescribed rest for England’s IPL contingent. However, the confirmation of a debut for Jofra Archer, the most-talked-about potential World Cup star yet to have played a single ODI, does add a layer of anticipation from an England perspective.That aside, this is as much of a chance for James Vince to audition for Hales’ spot in the World Cup squad (if England don’t just give it to Archer); possible ODI debuts for Dawid Malan and Ben Foakes, who is in line to take the gloves after the shoulder injury that cruelly ruled out Sam Billings; and the jostling among the pace bowlers, with Chris Jordan, like his “little bro” Archer, trying to barge into World Cup contention.Any sniff that England are taking this game lightly would only encourage Ireland further, but there should be no room for complacency in the wake of recent disruption. Hales was part of the camp that got together at the weekend but was subsequently removed to protect the England team “environment” – with Morgan now having given a frank assessment of how the squad felt. Morgan can at least point to England’s record against Ireland on his watch, with victories in Dublin in 2011 and 2013 (plus a washout in 2015), and last year’s 2-0 win on home soil.For Ireland, the opportunity to claim a major scalp burns brightly – their last win over a Full Member (other than the recently promoted Afghanistan) came against Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup. They will also host West Indies and Bangladesh in a tri-series later this month, while the new FTP and forthcoming ODI league marks the next stage in their bid for more fixtures. But beating England, and emulating Scotland’s heroic effort in Edinburgh last year, would start their season on a sweet note.Jofra Archer prepares to bowl during England net practice•Getty Images

Form guide

Ireland WLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWL

In the spotlight

For a long time considered one of Ireland’s most-promising talents, Andy Balbirnie has taken the long route to becoming a linchpin of the batting. He was released by Middlesex in 2016 and battled injury for a period but has blossomed in the last 18 months, scoring three ODI hundreds in the pivotal No. 3 spot. With Ireland’s class of 2011 slowly heading towards retirement, Balbirnie’s development has helped offset the loss of Ed Joyce, in particular, and at the age of 28 he should be coming into the prime of his career. Made a career-best 145 not out to guide Ireland to victory over Afghanistan in March and comes into this game on the back of another hundred for his province, Leinster.There can be no other candidate. Fortunately, Jofra Archer looks a player born to be in the spotlight, having blazed a trail around the world in T20 leagues from the Big Bash to the IPL since making his debut for Sussex in 2016. His story is now well known: left out of the West Indies squad for the U-19 World Cup, he decided to make use of a British passport and set out to complete the seven-year qualification process to represent England. A change of rules reduced that period to three years and the clamour to get Archer involved in time for the World Cup has only grown since then. A 90mph bowler who can blast sixes and pull down the toughest catches, now is his chance to make an irresistible case.

Team news

Stuart Thompson has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, with former Warwickshire allrounder Mark Adair called up in his place. The spine of the team is full of experience, but there could be a debut for 19-year-old left-armer Josh Little.Ireland: (possible) 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Andy Balbirnie, 4 Kevin O’Brien, 5 James McCollum/Lorcan Tucker, 6 Gary Wilson (wk), 7 Mark Adair, 8 George Dockrell, 9 Tim Murtagh, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Josh Little/Barry McCarthyWith Roy injured, Jonny Bairstow rested and Hales jettisoned, the stage is set for Vince and Malan to form England’s newest opening partnership. Joe Denly is set for his first ODI appearance in almost 10 years, with Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali among those given time off after the IPL. Ben Duckett and Jordan are the other options in England’s 13-man squad.England: (possible) 1 James Vince, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Joe Denly, 6 Ben Foakes (wk), 7 David Willey, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Tom Curran

Pitch and conditions

A classic green seamer that could have been designed for Tim Murtagh’s nibbly medium-pace. Having been undercover for the last two days, it is unlikely to be a deck for breaking batting records. It was raining in Dublin on Thursday, but the forecast for the match is for a largely clear – if bitingly cold – day.

Stats and trivia

• Ireland’s only ODI victory over England remains the 2011 World Cup win at Bengaluru, when Kevin O’Brien went ballistic.
• Gary Wilson is set to win his 100th ODI cap for Ireland.
• Morgan is about to go past James Anderson (194) on England’s list of most-capped players in ODIs, with only Paul Collingwood (197) above him.

Quotes

“He is exciting. The attributes and skills he has are good enough to play international cricket, it’s how he deals with the pressures that come with it and how he performs.”
Eoin Morgan on the prospect of Archer’s debut“England have knocked the benchmark up again in ODI cricket over the last couple of years. They’ve given ODI cricket an extra nudge.
They’re knocking scores up by about 40 runs regardless of the surfaces they’re playing on.”
Will Porterfield on the challenge posed by England’s hard-hitting batsmen

Rashid Khan, one of T20’s hottest properties, will team up again with Jason Gillespie when he joins Sussex in the first half of the T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2018Rashid Khan’s whirlwind career will blow him into Hove for the T20 Blast. Rashid, the Afghan legspinner who has become one of the hottest properties in T20 cricket and lifted the stature of Afghanistan cricket in the process, will play for Sussex for the first half of the tournament.Rashid will join Sussex with confidence because he teams up again with Jason Gillespie, the county’s new head coach, who was in charge of Adelaide Strikers when they won this season’s Big Bash.Rashid was one of the Strikers’ chief assets, finishing joint top of the wicket-taking charts with 18 wickets in 11 innings at a startling economy rate of 5.65 runs per over – the most meagre in the tournament. He missed the final because of international duties, but Adelaide survived without him, comfortably beating Hobart Hurricanes.A stint in the IPL will dominate his thinking before he arrives on the south coast of England. At the recent IPL auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad paid US$1.4m for his services, leading him to be dubbed by some as “the million dollar baby”.At 19, his brief career has also taken him to the Caribbean Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League as the advance of T20 – not the discussions of international administrators in sparking-water filled committee rooms – promises to become the main driver for global opportunity.Gillespie needed a lift after losing both Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan to the IPL, so deflating Sussex’s promotion challenge from Division Two of the Specsavers Championship before it has begun. But the prospect of Rashid and Archer, a key performer in Hobart’s BBL campaign, teaming up in T20 will give Sussex one of the most talked-about bowling attacks in the competition.Sussex have become the sixth domestic T20 side to snap up Rashid Khan•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We are delighted that Rash has agreed to join us at Sussex,” Gillespie said. “His form for Afghanistan and the T20 teams he has played for over the last couple of years has been phenomenal. I have worked closely with Rash at the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL and have been incredibly impressed with his attitude, work ethic and team-first mentality.”We look forward to welcoming him to the Sharks where I’m sure he will quickly become a fan favourite.”Amongst bowlers who have bowled at least 500 deliveries, Rashid has the lowest average (13.82) in the history of international T20 cricket. His economy rate of 5.86 runs per over is the second lowest of all time.Sussex’s relatively small boundaries will offer up a new challenge, especially the tight boundaries square of the wicketSussex’s director of cricket, Keith Greenfield, expressed his delight at the signing. “Rashid is the most sought-after spin talent in the world,” he said. “He has made a significant impact in all the teams he has played for to date, so to make this move happen is fantastic.”

A round-up of the second day of Group C matches in the seventh round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2016Snehal Kauthankar’s second first-class century – and maiden double ton – helped Goa recover from 190 for 6 to 413 against Haryana at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Ghaziabad. Goa had started the day on 197 for 6 with Kauthankar on 80 and Shadab Jakati on 4. The two stretched their seventh-wicket stand to 64 with Jakati contributing 28. After Jakati’s dismissal with Goa on 254 for 7, Reagan Pinto, who had retired hurt on 25 on the opening day, returned and helped add 73 for the eighth wicket with Kauthankar. Pinto struck 58 before he became left-arm spinner Ashok Sandhu’s fourth first-class victim. Amulaya Pandrekar, Goa’s No. 11, spent over an hour at the crease and batted out 40 balls to help add 67 more for the last wicket with Kauthankar. Pandrekar contributed just 5. Kauthankar was the last man dismissed, for 225 off 374 balls, which contained 30 fours and four sixes. Harshal Patel and Amit Mishra did the bulk of the damage, taking four wickets each.Haryana made a strong start to their reply, with Nitin Saini, not out on 76, taking them to 110 for no loss in the company of Shubham Rohilla, who was unbeaten on 32. Haryana ended the day trailing by 303.Kerala‘s bowlers fought back after their team was bowled out for 219 by Andhra in Guwahati. Left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla and offspinner Rohan Prem, along with Basil Thampi, the right-arm medium pacer, took two wickets each to leave Andhra 173 for 6 at stumps.The day had begun with Kerala 188 for 8 in their first innings. KS Monish (14) – resuming on 4 – and Thampi (15) used up 76 balls between them and took them to 219. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt dismissed both batsmen. DP Vijaykumar, who had taken a six-for on the opening day, ended with 6 for 47, his best innings returns.Andhra began solidly with Srikar Bharat and Prasanth Kumar both hitting half-centuries and putting on 81 for the first wicket. Abdulla broke through, having Bharat caught behind for 54. He followed it up with the scalp of Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari for 3. Prasanth stuck on to add 63 more with Ricky Bhui for the third wicket before being stumped off Prem. That dismissal began a procession with Andhra sliding from 152 for 2 to 170 for 6. Bhui stayed not out on 47. Andhra trail by 46 runs.In Surat, Rishi Dhawan’s five-wicket haul triggered a collapse as Services, resuming on 276 for 3, were bowled out for 401 by Himachal Pradesh. Services lost Nakul Verma, the overnight centurion, for 117 when he was bowled by Dhawan in the third over of the day. From there, Services lost two more quick wickets to slip to 288 for 6. That they got to 401 was courtesy Vikas Hathwala, who struck 69 and added 42 for the seventh wicket with Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (18) and 56 for the final wicket with Raj Bahadur (11 not out). Dhawan finished with 5 for 82.In response, Himachal ended the day 182 for 4. Paras Dogra top-scored with 70, while Prashant Chopra (47) and Ankit Kalsi (23) got off to starts, but none of them could convert into a big score. Robin Bist was unbeaten on 34 at stumps and had Mayank Dagar (3 not out) for company.At the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium in Valsad, Hyderabad lost six wickets for 84 runs to get bowled out for 351 by Chhattisgarh. Hyderabad began the day on 267 for 4 with BP Sandeep not out on 73 and Mehdi Hassan giving him company on 10. Hassan was caught and bowled by right-arm medium pacer Pankaj Rao, while Sandeep missed his century by four runs, becoming the eighth man dismissed, to the right-arm medium pace of Abhishek Tamrakar. Rao, playing his sixth first-class match, took his second five-wicket haul, ending with 5 for 89.Chhattisgarh responded strongly, with their openers Sahil Gupta and Abhimanyu Chauhan notching up identical scores of 55. Gupta was trapped lbw by right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj, before Chauhan took Chhattisgarh to 124 for 1 along with Sumit Ruikar. Chhattisgarh are behind by 227 runs.At the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai, Jammu & Kashmir‘s bowlers reduced Tripura to 193 for 6 after they were bowled out for 315. J&K resumed on 270 for 6 with Aditya Singh on 65 and Samiullah Beigh on 35. Aditya added just nine to his overnight tally before being caught behind off Rajib Dutta, while Beigh raised a half-century and was the eighth man out, for 54. Tripura’s new-ball pair of Manisankar Murasingh (4 for 75) and Dutta (3 for 74) took seven wickets between them. Ajoy Sarkar took two wickets and Gurinder Singh had one wicket.Like Tripura, J&K’s bowlers hunted in a pack with each of the five bowlers they used making an entry into the wickets column. Opener Bishal Ghosh struck an unbeaten 86, but Tripura were hurt by the inability of several of their batsmen to convert their starts.

Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has said that the one-day specialists and seamers in the side countered Sri Lanka’s spinners by ‘adapting really well on some of the toughest ODI pitches’

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2016Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade has said that the one-day specialists and seamers in the side countered Sri Lanka’s spinners by ‘adapting really well on some of the toughest ODI pitches’, helping the visitors seal the ODI series after a 3-0 whitewash in the Tests.”We have had the advantage, the one-day players getting the advantage to see what the Test pitches have played like and coming here with a clear gameplan,” Wade said. “Myself and George Bailey and a few others have just come over for the one-dayers, we have had a clear plan and it has worked so far.”The wickets have been some of the toughest you’ll get in one-day international cricket, we’ve come from the West Indies, which took spin. You don’t usually play on used wickets back to back in one-day internationals. It hasn’t been suited to the way we play but we’ve adapted really well. We are playing a few more quicks than what they (Sri Lanka) are, but with variable bounce and reverse swing, we’ve countered their spinners.”Despite not being picked as Australia’s designated wicketkeeper for the following T20 series against Sri Lanka, Wade acknowledged he is contributing more to Australia now compared to a few years ago.”Every time you don’t get picked for Australia is disappointing, but that’s the way it goes,” he said. “I’m not a 100 % sure of the reason. (Peter) Nevill played the T20 World Cup and I was told he was going to bat lower, so they wanted to go with his keeping. I’ll just keep playing the way I play in ODIs.”I feel my game is at a level now where I can contribute in ODIs. There was a period of time where my game wasn’t in order three or four years ago, where I felt I wasn’t contributing enough. At the moment, I feel my game is in good order. I want to get picked for every tour, every match because I feel I can do the job.”After Australia’s tri-series win in the Caribbean, stand-in coach Justin Langer challenged Wade to become the best wicketkeeper in the country by following a diligent work ethic. More than two months later, Wade said his keeping is as good as it has ever been.”It came as a bit of shock to me that it came out in the press like that. I spoke to JL (Langer) after and understood what he was trying to say,” Wade said. “I’m under no illusions that I need to work harder and get better at my game. If I want to play Test cricket again, I have to work harder.”I’ve improved with my glovework over the past 3-4 weeks in the subcontinent. I went to England and kept playing, that makes a huge difference in the off-season: going home or just training indoors or going to Brisbane to get work done. This time I went to England. I feel like I’m keeping as well as I’ve done for a very long time.”