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Worcestershire’s hopes of a home quarter-final remain in abeyance after Leicestershire silenced dangerman Callum Ferguson in the nick of time to claim their first home win

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2018
ScorecardDespite the best efforts of Callum Ferguson, Worcestershire Rapids fell short completing the victory that might have guaranteed themselves a home Vitality Blast quarter-final in their bid to reach Twenty20 finals day for the first time in their history.The 33-year-old Australian, who registered his maiden T20 century against Nottinghamshire a week ago, played a superbly measured innings after Leicestershire had made 155 for 9 in their 20 overs.He seemed on course to lead the Rapids to a fifth straight win after rescuing his side from a difficult start that had seen them in trouble at 32 for 3 in the fifth over, despite needing to maintain a run requirement of 10 per over from the halfway stage.Worcestershire still needed 30 from the final three overs but Ferguson was hitting the ball so nicely it was difficult to see him not seeing them home.However, his legs let him down when sixth-wicket partner Wayne Parnell called him through for a second run off the fifth ball of the 18th over and Mohammad Nabi’s throw from long-on comfortably ran him out for 68, an innings that included nine fours and a six off 49 balls.No one was more relieved than Neil Dexter, who had let him off by dropping a real sitter at midwicket earlier in the same Zak Chappell over.There was still a scare to come when Chappell conceded three boundaries in his final over but hitting the six off the final ball to win the match and make up for his error over the run out proved beyond the crestfallen Parnell.It was not all bad for Worcestershire: despite defeat at least they are certain of a last-eight place.It was a first home win of the season for Leicestershire, who again looked to have come up short in their 20 overs as key batsmen gave themselves a platform to make a big contribution to the Foxes’ cause only to squander their chance.No one was more wasteful than Ben Raine, who looked in the mood to do some significant damage when he punished Pat Brown’s opening over in aggressive style, cracking the country’s top T20 wicket-taker this season with a six over extra cover and another back over the bowler’s head before following up with two fours.But having raced to 32 off 18 balls with the Foxes 45 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay he swung at and missed a ball from Daryl Mitchell that was rightly signalled a wide but neglected to anchor himself in the crease and Worcestershire’ fine wicketkeeper Ben Cox is not one to squander such gifts.Nabi was also the victim of his own carelessness, moments after he had cleared the ropes off the costly Brown, when he optimistically went for a second run to Ross Whiteley on the midwicket boundary off the same bowler and failed to make his ground by some distance.Brown failed to add to his 22 wickets, his four overs costing 45 runs, but a poor day for the skilful 19-year-old was balanced by better ones for Wood and Wayne Parnell, who took an early wicket each as the Foxes stumbled to 6 for 2 in the second over and came back to strike important blows near the end.Nabi came back well with the ball for the Foxes, conceding only 21 in his three overs and being unlucky not to claim a wicket or two. In combination with Callum Parkinson and Neil Dexter, who was also effective in taking the pace of the ball, he created the pressure on Worcestershire in the latter stages of the innings that was always likely to provoke mistakes.And there were three key wickets for Gavin Griffiths, who made sure that Joe Clarke, Damian D’Oliveira nor Ross Whiteley could come up with the supporting innings for Ferguson that might have swung it for Worcestershire.

Dave Parker, a Hall of Fame outfielder, first baseman and designated hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates and five other squads over a 19-year career, died Saturday, the Pirates announced. He was 74.

"We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Hall of Famer Dave Parker," Pittsburgh said in a social media statement. "The Cobra was part of the inaugural Pirates Hall of Fame class in 2022, and will be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown next month."

Parker played 11 years for Pittsburgh from 1973 to '83, and was one of the team's stars when it was the class of baseball. In 1978, he was named the National League's MVP after combining a .334/.394/.585 slashline with 30 home runs and 117 RBIs. A year later, he was an All-Star and Gold Glover on the immortal "We Are Family" Pirates—the franchise's last championship team to date.

Parker was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in December via voting from the Classic Baseball Era Committee alongside fellow slugger Dick Allen.

In the 1980s, Parker was ensnared in a wide-ranging drug scandal surrounding a Pittsburgh-area cocaine ring that tarnished his public image. He remained productive into his later years, making three All-Star teams in his 30s with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

Parker was a native of Grenada, Miss., though he was raised in Cincinnati and continued to live in the area into recent years.

Gautam Gambhir talks about how the IPL has changed over the years, how KKR’s key players have performed this season, and what keeps him motivated

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi10-May-2017Another good IPL for you personally as well as for the team?
Yes, you can say that. But personal things do not matter. We still have to qualify for the playoffs. Yes, it is always good to contribute, but the most important thing is where we finish on the points table. That is more important to me than how many runs I score.It was not an easy beginning. It is tough when you lose a player like Andre Russell. It is very difficult to replace someone with his abilities, especially with the kind of the firepower he used to provide at No. 7 – bowling at 140-plus was always an advantage – and he is an unbelievable fielder. Still, we should be pretty happy with where we are at the moment. Having said that, in two recent matches we got outplayed by two individual performances. It was not teams, but David Warner and then Rahul Tripathi who outplayed us in successive matches.Your strike rate so far this season is your highest in any season since 2012. Has there been a conscious effort to push it up?
Strike rates depend on the surfaces you play on. The surface we used to play on at home was different to now. In the previous seasons, we played seven matches on a surface that was slow and low. Playing on a low surface is always difficult for anyone to play their strokes. You need to be more of a grafter. But now since the surface has changed and the ball comes on much quicker, you can play through line.It also depends on your mindset: what you are looking to do, how you are looking to approach each season. I have always thought that it is important for me to be positive because, as I said, since we do not have someone like Russell to finish off matches, I have to be really proactive up front in the first six overs. So, yes, there was a conscious effort on my part.What kind of role did you assign yourself: play the anchor or the aggressor?
You ought to start by feeling positive, especially in those first six overs, when you can cash in a lot. And after that, depending on how your partner is batting and what kind of form he is in and what total you are chasing or planning to set as a target, you decide who bats through and who plays the aggressor. At one stage Robin [Uthappa] fortunately had been hitting the ball really well and taking a lot of pressure off me. So I could be the aggressor in the first six and then maybe try and bat till the 15th over to try and set a platform for the lower middle order to take over. So your partner helps you decide what kind of role you want to perform.

“In previous seasons, we played seven matches on a surface that was slow and low. But now since our home surface has changed and the ball comes on much quicker, you can play through line”

Do you know you are also the second-most* successful IPL captain in terms of win percentage, only behind Rohit Sharma (among those who have captained in at least 60 matches)?
Doesn’t matter. It is all about how many titles we win. [But] it is good, because I have always believed that it’s the team that helps me be successful. Yes, you can try and give them the best environment, you can try and give them a lot of security as well, by not chopping and changing too much. But it does make me happy, because I am not too much of a stats man.So no one told you about that stat?
Honestly, no. I don’t even know what my strike rate is this IPL. You are the first one to point that out.When you sit at the auction table, don’t the stats matter?
For me they don’t. I genuinely do not even see the stats. It is just about the ability of the individual, what he brings to the table is all that matters. Three years back, Russell’s stats were absolutely shocking. But we always thought he could be one of the most dangerous T20 players or could be the best allrounder in the world. At that stage, had I seen his stats, he could have gone unsold. I can’t expect Russell, who is batting at No. 8, to have an average of 30-35 in T20s. I would rather have him get a ten-ball 30-odd, and give me four overs with the ball.Perhaps that might explain your open-mindedness as captain, and willingness to experiment with strategy. For example, opening with Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn.
When we decided to play Chris Lynn this year, we thought we needed to get the best out of him, and the best way was to make him open. Yes, there was this thought that why do we fix something which is not broken. Me and Robin have done really well as an opening pair, but I always thought it is not about the individual. It is about where you can get the best out of an individual.Lynn had to bat in the top order so Robin had to go down. What Lynny did in the first two games was unbelievable. We don’t have that much firepower with Russell not being there, so we wanted to go really hard up front.It was unfortunate that Lynny got injured. We wanted to continue the same momentum. Obviously it was difficult to go as hard as Lynny was going. Sunil batting at No. 8 or 9 wasn’t giving us anything, especially as he was not able to face many deliveries. So if we could promote him and he could give us whatever little bit of momentum in the first six overs, that could help Robin as well – coming at No. 3, he could take his time. It helps me take my time as well, rather than both of us going hard straightaway. I could settle down in the first two or three overs while Sunil plays the aggressor.”People keep asking me about Narine’s mystery, but I have always felt that mystery is something which will only stay for a couple of seasons. You’ve got to have that quality to be consistent”•BCCIDid you tell Robin?
Obviously. There is nothing wrong. I’ve batted at No. 3 or 4 for the team. It is not about where individuals want to bat. It is about where the team wants you to bat. Individuals should not be having any choices. You are playing a team sport, so the team comes first. We thought that we could get the best out of Sunil by opening the batting with him. There are times when it backfired, when he did not get that many runs, but overall I am pretty happy with what he has delivered.With such a strategy, isn’t there a danger of becoming predictable, as oppositions know what Narine is there to do?
That’s fine as well. Bowlers will always be under pressure, because Sunil has nothing to lose. When the bowler is under pressure, he will end up bowling defensively rather than looking to take wickets. It can be an advantage for us. And the thing is, if you lose Sunil early, you don’t lose too much. If you lose someone like me or Robin, then it is a big loss. If Sunil can give us 20 or 30 quick runs and we end up losing him, we haven’t lost too much.You bought three fast bowlers at the auction, possibly because of the re-laid Eden Gardens pitch, which supports bounce and seam movement. Your top three wicket-takers this season so far are fast bowlers. So has your strategy proved to be correct?
We realised last year that our fast-bowling attack was becoming too one-dimensional. There was Morne [Morkel and Jason Holder. Umesh [Yadav] got injured. So there was not enough pace in our attack. Sometimes having pace is an advantage because someone bowling 145-150kph can be a wicket-taking option. We thought we needed variety as well. So Nathan Coulter-Nile and Trent Boult could provide that variety. The surface was a factor. Spin used to be more dominant in the previous seasons; now it has more carry. Yes, you prepare your team according to the home conditions, so it was a strategic decision.How much of a difference has Coulter-Nile made?
He is a pretty quiet guy. Take his very first match, which he was playing after a year, coming out of a stress fracture. It was at four o’clock and Delhi was absolutely boiling. To win the Man-of-the-Match award shows his character and mental toughness. The way he bowled at Eden when we got RCB out for 49 – it was the game-changing spell for me. He got Virat [Kohli] and AB [de Villiers]. Bowling at 148-149kph was unbelievable. When you see someone bowling at pace, it gives the confidence that we can rattle opposition. Really happy that we have someone like him. He is one of the best white-ball bowlers I have seen. He is someone who can swing it up front and bowls yorkers consistently at the death.

“I genuinely do not even see the stats when picking a squad. Three years back, Russell’s stats were absolutely shocking. But we always thought he could be one of the most dangerous T20 players”

Chris Woakes has been Knight Riders’ leading wicket-taker so far this season. How do you assess his performance in his first IPL season?
Colin de Grandhomme is our batting allrounder. Chris Woakes is more of a bowling allrounder. If you want to replace someone like Russell, you need two people to actually replace him. Woakesy, it is a little unfair on him because he has batted at No. 8, where he has not got too many balls to face. He is a good batsman who needs to take his time. He comes in when there are hardly two or three overs left.But he has bowled really well. It is always tough to bowl first-change, especially in the Powerplay, when you are bowling the fourth or fifth over, when batsmen are willing to take you on. Opening the bowling is still a little easier than bowling first-change in the Powerplay. And it is his first IPL as well. The way he has handled the pressure, bowling those tough overs initially and then at death, he has been very good.In the past, Narine was the go-to bowler. But this season he has endured possibly his worst IPL, in terms of average and strike rate. Yet you have persisted with him.
You need to keep in mind the conditions at all venues. Earlier there were two places where it used to spin: Chennai and Kolkata. This year, apart from Imran Tahir, who is a wristspinner, not a lot of spinners have got too many wickets.Stephen Fleming, coach of Tahir’s team (Rising Pune Supergiant), said that teams had failed to read the conditions well in the initial phase of this IPL. Do you agree?
Look at the surfaces as well. The conditions at Chennai and Eden, especially in the second innings, it used to turn. But this year, on most surfaces the ball has not spun at all. But even if Narine has not got too many wickets, some of the spells he has bowled have been game-changers for us. Bowling four overs for 16 or 20. The oppositions, I feel, have decided not to give him a wicket. They want to just play out his overs and then attack from the other end. So you have to give it to him, the kind of consistency he has shown over the years, which has been unbelievable.He has planted doubt in batsmen’s minds over the years.
Exactly. That is what he has done. People keep asking me about his mystery and stuff, but I have always felt that mystery is something which will only stay for a couple of seasons. You’ve got to have that quality to be consistent and to be able to carry on for so many seasons. That is what he has shown – he is a quality bowler.”I don’t know how to play a switch hit. I have never attempted it even in the nets. I have never reverse-swept either. My game is too conventional”•AFPDespite the consistency the Knight Riders have displayed, there have been instances, as you pointed out, when individuals like Warner or Tripathi have trumped your plans. How do you guard against that in the rest of the tournament?
This is the only format in which an individual can take the game away from you. That is expected. But you’ve got to be careful. Things can get out of your hand and at the same time you can wrest control back very quickly in T20. You can get the momentum back with two or three good overs.I still remember against RCB we were 70-odd for 1 after six overs. And we were all out for 131. When I got out after six overs I was expecting us to get 180-190 easily. We were bowled out in the 20th over. So things can change very quickly. What happens is, batsmen are always looking to score runs, they are always looking to be aggressive, so there is always an opportunity for a bowler to strike.People say that T20 is a batsman’s format, but I am a very strong believer that it is a bowler’s format as well. A bowler knows he has 24 deliveries and that there is an opportunity every ball to strike. Twenty-four deliveries, 24 opportunities. Because if you ask me as a batsman, my mindset is: I’m always looking to score runs, I’m always looking to strike hard, I’m always giving an opportunity to the bowler to get me out. It is not like I am looking to be subdued and rotate strike. Very few times does that happen.Is there a big change you have seen in ten years of IPL?
One big change, in fact, has been in the field placements. People have become far more innovative. In 2008 it was very conventional. We never had fields like three points and a deep cover and a long-off. There always used to be a short third man, a backward point and a cover – a more conventional field. There was a time when teams placed four fielders on the off side and the rest on the leg side.There is a range of different strokes as well. I don’t remember in the first two or three years batsmen playing so many switch hits. Okay, people used to whack the ball out of the ground, but that was done the conventional way, not the unorthodox way. Look now: people lapping, reverse-lapping, scooping, switch-hitting. With different strokes, there have been different innovations and different field placements, which has made it very exciting. But it has also made it tough for the batsmen.I feel getting runs in the first three years of the IPL was far easier than it is now. The reason is, bowlers have become smarter, have different game plans and have different field placements. They come round the wicket, bowl wide yorkers, have different variations, bowl different slower balls, the knuckleball.

“People say that T20 is a batsman’s format, but I am a very strong believer that it is a bowler’s format as well. As a batsman, I’m always looking to score runs, I’m always giving an opportunity to the bowler to get me out”

Batsmen have also started treating the first four or five overs as if they are playing at the death.
Exactly. When I joined KKR the first year [2011], our game plan was to get 40-45 in the first six overs, try and get to 100 by 15 overs with wickets in hand and then go hard in the final five. I still remember when Jacques [Kallis] was there as opener. We used to say, in our conditions, let us score at seven an over till the 15th over and then try and get 50 in the final five overs and get to 160, which we always thought, with our bowling attack in home conditions, would be a good score. Now, sometimes 200 is not a good score. People have become far more fearless, far more innovative. This is what IPL has done.All this means more headaches for a captain. What do you when Warner switch-hits Narine repeatedly?
Yes, he kept switch-hitting. Bowlers do not expect batsmen to switch-hit consistently. The only thing you can do is try and set a different field. If I want to bowl a good delivery I would looking at the conventional shot, not the unorthodox shot. And when someone like Warner is playing an unorthodox shot, you try and work with your field placements. Sometimes you just have to stand and applaud a batsman.You don’t play the switch hit. Why not?
I don’t know how to play a switch hit. I have never attempted it even in the nets. I have never reverse-swept either. My game is too conventional. That is how I was brought up. I don’t even sweep that much.Growing up, I was told by my coaches that the sweep is the last option you have against spin. If you can try and use your feet, if you can use the depth of your crease, you don’t need to sweep. But now I have realised it is always good to have another shot in your armoury. If I have to, I might do it in T20 when you have to slog-sweep and lap, but these strokes do not come to me naturally. I would never try and do it in 50-over cricket, unless it is a compulsion. I would hate doing it in first-class cricket.At 35, your drive is as strong as it was when you played for India for the first time. What keeps that passion strong?
I love winning. Winning for me is everything. Winning makes me happy, makes me satisfied, makes me be at peace. I just want to win, irrespective of what platform I play. Nothing else keeps me hungry. Nothing else makes me work hard.*After the loss to Kings XI on May 9, Gambhir is now the third-most successful IPL captain, below Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. This interview was conducted before that game.

No matter how much ‘mental disintegration’ the Australians engage in, one rule of thumb they must remember: you’ve got to stick it out if you’re going to dish it out

Daniel Brettig in Port Elizabeth09-Mar-2018In the most frequently recalled moment of the 1995 series in which Australia wrested the Frank Worrell Trophy from the West Indies, Steve Waugh chose to pick a fight with Curtly Ambrose in Trinidad. This stand-off, where Ambrose ultimately had to be pulled away by his captain Richie Richardson, came to be seen as symbolic of Australian ascendancy, and mentality.Less frequently cited, though it really should be, is that Waugh picked the fight in the midst of a half-century made with bowling conditions totally in Ambrose’s favour, in an innings where no-one else made 20. Though West Indies won the Test, they were now wary of Waugh who, on a better pitch in Jamaica, went on to score the 200 that decided the series. We seem to remember the 30 seconds of tough talk more readily than the hour upon hour of tough batting.Marsh illness a concern for Australia

Mitchell Marsh claimed a critical wicket for Australia in the fourth innings at Kingsmead but a severe bout of gastro may limit his ability to do likewise in Port Elizabeth. The tourists have been coping with stomach ailments since Durban, with Jhye Richardson among the first affected before several members of the support staff – including the head coach Darren Lehmann – also went down.
No members of the starting XI for the second Test had been struck by the illness until match morning, when Marsh fell ill. Apart from a brief innings amid Kagiso Rabada’s damaging burst of reverse swing, he spent much of day one sleeping in the dressing room. Nathan Lyon said the team was hopeful of a swift recovery but confirmed Marsh was not well.
“He’s pretty crook. I’m not a doctor or anything like that so I don’t know what’s going on but, hopefully, he’ll get a big rest tonight then come out and have an impact with the ball like he did in the first Test,” Lyon said. “He’s a class player and hopefully he’ll bounce back, get re-hydrated, get some food in him and have a good night’s sleep.”

Had Waugh fired up Ambrose then got out, and not followed up in the next match, how would his attempt at mental disintegration have been viewed? There’s a simple answer to that, for in the previous encounter between Australia and West Indies, Dean Jones did exactly that. Pre-emptively asking Ambrose to remove his white wrist band in a World Series final at the SCG, he steamed up the fast man to such effect that West Indies did not lose another match on tour. Without the tough cricket, the rest looks more like competitive disadvantage, self-inflicted at that.Having started the day with a public rebuke from the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland for overdoing the “tough talk” or whatever other euphemism best suited the sanctionable actions of Nathan Lyon and David Warner at Kingsmead, Steven Smith’s team set out to play the tough cricket of Waugh at St George’s Park. They started with a tough decision – electing to bat on a pitch that was sure to help South Africa’s seamers – and were given the ideal start by Warner and Cameron Bancroft.But the return of a familiar brittleness to the batting line-up, scythed through by Kagiso Rabada, provided a reminder that for all the debates about the image of the Australian side and that way they play their cricket, it is all pretty moot if the top six are unable to stand up technically and mentally to concerted pressure. In other words, you’ve got to stick it out if you’re going to dish it out. With a couple of notable exceptions on day one in Port Elizabeth, the Australians were more Jones than Waugh.Walking out under an overcast sky and with moisture underfoot, Warner and Bancroft knew their commission would be a testy one. Vernon Philander and Rabada immediately had the ball seaming, but were met for the most part by sound judgement of what to play and what to leave, and relatively few flirtations of bat towards the moving ball. When, after an hour of stolid occupation, the dam burst with a flurry of boundaries, it seemed the Australians were through the most difficult bit.Warner’s innings, given the circumstances of the past week and even the fact he had such limited preparation for the tour, was exemplary. He creates such fine margins for a bowler’s error, allied to a fundamental tight defence, all the while with a level of balance that allows him to turn good balls into four-scoring balls with a simple weight transfer and a swift flash of the blade. The hour leading to lunch was joyous to watch as he combined all these elements in conditions still weighted very much towards the bowlers.Bancroft, meanwhile, does not possess Warner’s outrageous skill and is still finding his way, but he was able to show strong balance here to draw the bowlers into attacking his stumps and then scoring fluently through the leg side as a result. One on-drive past Warner at the non-striker’s end was redolent of the very best top-order players, and numerous other strokes in the straight-midwicket region forced South Africa to revert to a wider line outside the off stump.Unfortunately for Bancroft and Australia, this was where the day changed. As lunch approached, he began to chase these wider deliveries, playing and missing at several, before being tempted into a push at Philander just as the time approached for the lifting of the bails. That wicket did not undo the good work of the morning, but it did allow the South Africans to enter the afternoon with an opening to exploit.Kagiso Rabada celebrates in Mitchell Marsh’s midst•AFPUsman Khawaja, who is not enjoying the best of tours, was duly coaxed into following a Philander delivery running across him, Warner played for away movement when there was none, and before either Shaun Marsh or Smith could press home their starts they were upended by Rabada’s reverse swing and speed. For Smith, the dismissal is one that seems to happen about twice a season – misjudging a ball angling in at his stumps and falling lbw in the manner all bowlers think they can dismiss him, but Chadd Sayers in a Sheffield Shield match back in November was the most recent. For Shaun Marsh, falling over to a late swinger for 24 was not as disastrous as his 2014 pair on this ground, but may feel still more frustrating.None of Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins or Mitchell Starc could hold up Rabada for long, meaning that for the third time since the Bangladesh tour the Australians had succumbed to what the team analyst Dene Hills would deem a collapse. A decline from 98 for 0 to 182 for 8 will certainly exhume many of the old questions about Australia’s batting wherewithal in difficult, seaming conditions – questions that are almost as old as those about sledging. Warner described the surface as “English”, which will interest James Anderson and Stuart Broad, among others.”It seemed to me to be very much like England, where, if you get through the tough periods with the new ball, you can try and cash in a little bit after,” Warner told SuperSport. “I felt like it was a good wicket and if they got it into the right areas they were going to challenge us. But coming from 0 for 98 to be all out for 240-odd is quite disappointing. It was one of those English wickets where it does just a bit. It was doing too much early. And that’s where the nicks come into play and bowled and lbw come into play.”Nathan Lyon, brought in to put the best spin on Australia’s day, essentially summed it up as a case of wasting a strong start and failing to recognise a key moment. “A tough day for Australia but the positive thing is I thought we actually got through the real difficult part of our batting innings with being 0 for 18 in the first hour and then to be 1 for 98. I thought the batters Cameron and Davey did a fantastic job,” Lyon said after play. “The disappointing part is we spoke about the key moments before the series and we didn’t identify the big key moment with Rabada reversing the ball.”When you’ve got a world-class bowler like Rabada bowling in a spell like that, we’ve got to be better and sharper to identify those big moments and try to shut that down. That’s the game of cricket, hats off to Rabada, he outbowled us today.”At the tail end of the innings, however, Australia did get a second glimpse of the tough cricket Waugh had embodied. By his own admission, Tim Paine was not brought into this team for his batting, but he was able to fashion lower order stands of 30 and 31 with Lyon and the last man Josh Hazlewood, meaning the tourists will at least have a fighting chance on day two given the pitch’s various vagaries of lateral movement and variations in pace. Lyon spoke glowingly of Paine’s calming presence at the crease.”After Tim’s been brought in at the start of the summer, I think he’s provided a lot of calmness around batting with the tail,” Lyon said. “I know personally I like batting with him, he seems to not make you so nervous. Especially as a bowler who can’t hold it [the bat], you’ve got to try and enjoy the challenge of facing the best bowlers in the world and I certainly was enjoying that out there today and credit has to go to Tim, he played a massive role in that to get the score from 170 to 240.”It’s well below par, I’m not saying we’re even close to it, but it’s given us a sniff and an opportunity to bowl well and hopefully challenge these guys’ defence.”Perhaps the most stinging element of Sutherland’s message on Friday morning had been that “the Australian team understands that fans expect better”. Whatever that means in terms of on-field comportment and use of verbal intimidation, the non-negotiable is that followers of the Australian game demand toughness in terms of deed rather than word. More Waugh than Jones; more Warner, Bancroft and Paine than the rest.

Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood weren’t at their best, Australia’s fielders missed three chances, but Mitchell Starc’s five-for had the visitors batting well before stumps on the first day in Galle

Daniel Brettig in Galle04-Aug-2016Australia’s day one effort in Galle was not so good as their opening day in Pallekele, if better than the second innings. Mitchell Starc delivered his best stuff of the series so far, Nathan Lyon disappointed and Josh Hazlewood ended the innings looking a little on the sore side. Dropped catches were an unwelcome sight, but Jon Holland can be expected to be better in the second innings after easing his debut nerves with a wicket. All the while, however, the bowlers were aware it is the batsmen who have more to prove in these conditions.Mitchell StarcAn excellent display to top and tail Sri Lanka’s innings, with a tight spell in between to account for Kusal Mendis. Starc has not been able to generate much of his trademark new- ball swing so far in this series, but in the case of Dimuth Karunaratne that was almost a blessing for Australia. Having twice got him lbw at Pallekele with balls angling into the stumps, this time Starc drifted the first ball of the match into Karunaratne’s pads and was the most delighted man in Galle when the opener flicked it obligingly to Joe Burns at forward square leg. A classical left-armer’s dismissal followed when the angled ball accounted for Kaushal Silva, before Starc worked his way into tackling Mendis’ considerable skill. Operating in tandem with Hazlewood, Starc was able to gain just enough reverse swing to find an edge, denying Mendis a second hundred in as many innings. Starc returned to the attack to clean up the tail and showed evidence his rhythm has improved since the second innings at Pallekele, finding a pair of yorkers to have Australia batting well before stumps.Josh HazlewoodA better day than his figures of 1 for 51 would suggest. After a tidy opening spell, Halewood’s return in the 22nd over signalled a period of sharp reverse swing and the opportunity for the Australians to attack. So sharp was the bend on Halewood’s inswinger that an lbw decision against Mends had to be overturned because the ball was projected to be skimming past leg stump, but he persisted to squeeze out Denesh Chandimal and so deny Sri Lanka a follow-up to their young No. 4’s latest exploit. Hazlewood did go for a few more boundaries than he would have preferred, but this was mainly the result of attacking the stumps in search of wickets rather than anything overly loose. He ended the day looking somewhat preppy, and did not return to partner Starc against the tail.Nathan LyonReturning to the scene of his first Test in 2011, Lyon was unable to repeat his first ball dismissal of Kumar Sangakkara that day, but did offer a fair impression of the delivery with another sharp offbreak to account for Kusal Perera. Later on he spun another fine delivery through Dilruwan Perera for a considered lbw verdict from the umpire Richard Kettleborough, but in between was unable to pose the sort of consistent threat the pitch suggested he might have. Sri Lanka’s batsmen have played Lyon well, calculating their attacks on him in between tight defensive strokes and plenty of sweep shots. Mendis and Angelo Mathews both heaved Lyon over the boundary for sixes, while Sri Laka’s captain also essayed a most impudent reverse sweep to a more than respectable delivery. Darren Lehmann said in the lead-up to this Test that the tourists wanted to see better from Lyon: an economy rate of 4.33 was more generous than the coach would have desired.Mitchell Marsh contributed with the wicket of Angelo Mathews•Associated PressMitchell MarshAnother useful supporting stint, albeit with a few boundary balls early on. There was some talk of Marsh being replaced by his brother for this match, but his lively fast medium will always offer a useful counterpoint and here he was able to contribute with the wicket of Mathews, dabbling at a ball better left alone. His best balls actually followed that wicket, with a one-two punch to Dilruwan Perera that beat the bat then won an lbw verdict from Chris Gaffaney, although the decision was then reversed on review. Marsh was also unlucky to watch Steve Smith drop a chance at slip, something seldom seen from an otherwise excellent fielder.Jon HollandThe prominent cross-breeze in Galle offered lavish drift at times for Holland on debut, and the wicket provided occasionally expansive turn. But it was always going to be a lot to expect Holland, not long off the plane from Australia, to adapt in the manner that Steve O’Keefe had done with he benefit of more than three weeks in India and then Sri Lanka to prepare for the Pallekele Test. That being said, Holland was not disgraced, posing numerous problems amid Sri Lankan attempts to attack him, and denied a first wicket when his offsider Lyon misjudged the flight of a ball sailing high in the direction of midwicket. Holland eventually had his reward when Dhananjaya de Silva missed a full toss, and Australia can expect better from him in the second innings.Fielding and catchingIf Lyon’s misjudgment of Kusal Perera’s loft into the outfield is included, the Australians missed three clear chances for the day, a figure that will not please Smith. He will be even less happy to have been one of the culprits. Nor will Peter Nevill be pleased to have missed a low chance soon afterwards. In themselves, these errors were not overly costly against a Sri Lankan batting line-up that offered more opportunities at regular intervals, but the coach Lehmann will be aware that stronger batting line-ups will be encounters later in the season, not least in India next year. For now the batsmen must do their job, but improvement in the field must also be a team priority.

Quinton de Kock stole most of Sunday’s headlines for his rapid century, but Mohammed Shami’s successful return in his first IPL match since 2014 provided a rich subplot in Delhi Daredevils’ seven-wicket win

Deivarayan Muthu in Bangalore17-Apr-2016The Chinnaswamy Stadium geared up for an ensemble-driven blockbuster on Sunday night. Chants of “R-C-B, R-C-B!” were deafening an hour before the start of the hosts’ second match of the season.The chants grew louder when Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shane Watson turned up for practice. Delhi Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid, hoping for a happy homecoming, also drew a big cheer.At the pitch adjacent to the playing surface stood the comeback man Mohammed Shami with a new, flashy hairstyle. He listened intently to his captain Zaheer Khan, nodded, and delivered a short ball with extra bounce. It thudded into the gloves of Quinton de Kock. Zaheer had another chat with Shami and patted the fast bowler on his back. That turned out to be a regular scene throughout the first innings.After opting to bowl, Zaheer explained that Daredevils had picked Shami to exploit Royal Challengers Bangalore’s middle order, which does not have as much cream as the top. Shami, playing his first IPL match since May 2014 and his fifth competitive match since the 2015 World Cup, was far from his best, but changed the game by giving Daredevils the momentum de Kock needed to run away with the chase.At 16 overs, when Shami came back for his third spell, Royal Challengers were cruising at 164 for 2 with Kohli in a rarefied zone on 75 off 43 balls. By then, Watson was also set – on 27 off 17 balls – and the pair had the crowd grooving to their shots. Zaheer had been put away for two sixes and two fours in the previous over . The pressure was on Shami and to remind him the raucous crowd went: “We want sixer, we want sixer!”Shami duped Watson with a slower ball, but the batsman managed to find a six via a mis-hit. The crowd wanted more. Shami, however, muted them with a chest-high short ball, which tucked Watson up for room. He only managed to pop a catch off the gloves to short fine leg. Shami was pumped and let out a roar.Three balls later, Shami showed off his improved fitness and ran out Sarfaraz Khan off his own bowling. Shami nimbly moved to his left in his follow through, picked the ball up with his left hand, spun around and fired, all in one motion to nail the stumps and catch Sarfaraz a foot short despite a dive. Shami’s confidence was back.The crucial blow, though, came in his next over when Shami speared a full ball that Kohli could not get underneath and shovelled to long-on. Shami and Daredevils were on to something and he followed it with rising short balls that gave Kedar Jadhav and David Wiese no leeway to free their arms. He gave away only 14 runs from his last two overs and finished with 4-0-34-2.Morris’ hit-the-deck bustle complemented Shami and helped Daredevils drag Royal Challengers back to 191, which de Kock later termed a “par score.” At the post-match presentation, Zaheer said that his last over – the 16th which went for 21 and preceded Shami’s final spell – had made Daredevils re-assess their bowling plans.”My bad over helped me figure out what will work,” Zaheer said. “Just told [Shami and Morris] bowl back of a length … Tournament like IPL, momentum helps, these kinds of games matter. We ticked a box and now we have three to four days off.”That Shami hit back after a nervous start should come as a boost for Daredevils and Shami himself. His second ball was a loosener down leg, which was helped on its way. His third was a decent length ball, which was manoeuvred to the cover boundary by Kohli’s supple wrists. His sixth was a rank full toss, which was gleefully swatted into the stands beyond midwicket by de Villiers. In the tenth over, Shami lumbered to his right from long-on and fumbled, allowing two instead of one.Shami looked like he was shaken. It helped that he had Zaheer, who had the experience of mentoring several bowling groups, kept chatting with Shami and shielded him from pressure like an older brother would protect his younger one. The innings ended with a smiling Shami high-fiving Zaheer. The night ended with de Kock’s sparkling century sealing Daredevils’ first win over Royal Challengers since 2010.

Jess Jonassen smashed 42 off 20 balls and took two wickets in her first over to sink UP Warriorz

S Sudarshanan07-Mar-2023A cushion of over 200 runs to defend in a T20 game can be a double-edged sword. While it certainly puts the chasing team under pressure, it could also induce bowlers into taking it easy – or the opposition taking the game head on with little to lose.Alyssa Healy did just that, giving UP Warriorz a fast start in their chase of 212. Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey bore the brunt of Healy’s fire and so the Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning turned quite quickly to her left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen.Related

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Jonassen’s first ball was on the pads and Healy dispatched it to the deep square leg boundary. She then tossed it up wider outside off a couple of balls later, enticing Healy to come down the track and go over the top and had her slicing to backward point. Healy’s innings was cut short for 24 off 17, and Capitals had won half the battle.Two balls later, Jonassen also had hard-hitting batter Kiran Navgire, holing out to long-on. Two down inside four overs, Jonassen had successfully managed to put Capitals on course for their second win in as many games.But Jonassen had done much more than spearhead Capitals’ defence. Her unbeaten 42 off just 20 balls had powered them to their second successive 200-plus score in the WPL. For Queensland Fire in the Women’s National Cricket League and for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League, Jonassen is used to batting in the top order, but in a power-packed batting line-up like Australia, her batting skills are seldom needed.Capitals have similar firepower at the top. Lanning’s second successive half-century and her fifty-run opening stand with Shafali Verma had once again got them off to a quick start. Lanning kept finding the boundaries regularly, first in the company of Kapp and then Jemimah Rodrigues. Alice Capsey blitzed a ten-ball 21 after Rajeshwari Gayakwad managed to get the better of Lanning once again.Tahlia McGrath’s unbeaten 90 wasn’t enough to chase down 212•BCCISo when Jonassen found herself in the middle with less than six overs left, she had a platform to tee off from, with a well-set Rodrigues for company.Jonassen’s first boundary came via an inside edge off Deepti Sharma’s offspin. She then played the field when she made room and lofted left-arm seamer Anjali Sarvani over extra cover to target the shorter off-side boundary. She powered Sophie Ecclestone past mid-on before giving her Australian team-mate Tahlia McGrath some special treatment.A length ball was lofted over long-on before Jonassen smacked McGrath over wide mid-off. Rodrigues then hit back-to-back fours to finish the 19th over that went for 19 runs. Jonassen also slog swept Deepti far over deep midwicket to bring up Capitals’ 200.After those batting exploits and her two wickets in her first over, Jonassen went for 35 off her last three overs and dismissed Devika Vaidya. Warriorz, however, never picked up enough momentum in their chase after Healy and Navgire fell in succession. In a surprising decision, they had opted to play an extra seamer in Shabnim Ismail at the expense of Grace Harris, who had helped them chase down 53 in the last three overs against Gujarat Giants.McGrath tried her best to challenge the target despite running out of partners and firepower at the other end. She added 49 off 40 with Vaidya before having another 40-run partnership with Simran Shaikh off just 19 balls to finish unbeaten on 90. Delhi eventually prevailed by 42 runs, and are locked in a race with Mumbai Indians for the place at the top of the table.

Travis Head had “robust” conversations with Australia’s selectors after he was surprisingly dropped for the opening Test in India but believes he has shown he can find success in challenging conditions amid a hasty switch to opening the batting.Head was left out in Nagpur despite a prolific home summer based on his poor returns in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. He admitted that having worked hard to adapt his game ahead of the tour, he was shocked by the decision but swiftly returned to the side in Delhi albeit the reasoning was curiously linked as much to his bowling as batting.”The conversations were robust, I guess, and everyone has different opinions,” Head said. “But I respect the coaching staff and selectors. I have a really strong relationship with them so think that’s what made the conversations the way they went because there’s respect both ways and we are able to voice our opinions.Related

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“It’s something I didn’t expect coming here, but sometimes that happens and thought I was able to go through that week and prepare myself for another chance… Now it’s making the most of that.”Head made 12 in the first innings in Delhi before edging Mohammed Shami to slip and then produced a sparkling 43 when he opened in place of the concussed David Warner. It was an innings that had put Australia ahead in the game, only for things to come crashing down on the third morning after Head edged R Ashwin.Head’s outstanding form at home – where he has averaged 73.50 over the last two seasons – has come with a blistering approach which has seen him strike at 91.20. He struggled to replicate that in the subcontinent last year, going at 48.40 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but was encouraged by the way he was able to counter Ashwin in Delhi where he scored at better than a run-a-ball against him during the second evening flurry.”I was pleased with the way I was going forward and back, watching length, and a few things I’ve worked on,” Head said of his innings. “It was a small sample piece but over here small sample pieces can be a little bit of gold to hopefully push forward for the next two Tests.”Felt like the way I played the other day was a step forward in that direction. Would have loved to have done it in the previous series, but that’s development, that’s understanding, that’s watching other teams go about it and other players and trying to learn on the go with not much experience in the subcontinent.”Head feels the attack-first mantra that is now instilled in his Test-match batting also puts him in a better position defensively and it was not being able to commit to that philosophy that brought his downfall on earlier tours.”[In] Sri Lanka, especially, when it was more spin-friendly than Pakistan, I found myself sitting on the crease a little bit and probably looking more to defend and waiting to attack, whereas here I’ve come with the approach that I want to attack first and defend second,” he said. “When I do that, and I’ve found it in Australia, my feet move better and I’m in better positions.”With Warner having been ruled out of the final two Tests, Head is all but certain to continue to open the batting in Indore next week. While Warner was defiant about his own future when he returned to Australia, it is far from guaranteed he will have the opportunity to resume his Test career in the World Test Championship final – should Australia qualify – and the Ashes.Whether Head is a viable long-term option remains to be seen – he appears inked in as the ODI opener heading towards the 2023 World Cup – but having been jolted by his omission in the first Test, he is more determined than ever to make himself valuable in any role.”Honestly, after missing out in the first Test, I would bat anywhere the team needed me to get a game. I’ve always said that. I didn’t come here expecting to open the batting last innings but whether it’s opening or No. 5, I’ve got to find a way in both of them if needed for the team.”Australia had a final training session in Delhi on Saturday before flying to Indore, which was hurriedly handed the third Test in place of Dharamsala. Mitchell Starc is expected to return to replace absent captain Pat Cummins who has remained in Australia with his seriously ill mother while Cameron Green will also be back from injury.

da lvbet： It’s easy to focus on goals when assessing the top players in the modern game, but which individuals have the most assists across Europe in 2024?

da spicy bet： Another 12 months of fascinating football is almost over, with plenty of drama taking place domestically, in Europe and on the international stage.

Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres has scored the most goals in Europe in 2024 to date, but who have been the leading assist-makers across Europe’s top divisions? With the help of data from Transfermarkt, here are the top 17…

Most assists in European football in 2024

Rank

Player

Club

Matches

Assists

1

Dries Mertens

Galatasaray

50

27

2

Mohamed Salah

Liverpool

44

23

3

Alejandro Grimaldo

Bayer Leverkusen

52

21

4

Viktor Gyokeres

Sporting CP

56

20

5

Kevin De Bruyne

Man City

41

19

6

Vinicius Junior

Real Madrid

47

19

7

Dusan Tadic

Fenerbahce

53

19

8

Trincao

Sporting CP

55

19

9

Zlatko Tripic

Viking

29

18

10

Jorginho

Differdange 03

35

18

11

Vladimir Ambros

Petrocub

37

18

=12

Oscar Gloukh

RB Salzburg

40

18

=12

Omar Marmoush

Eintracht Frankfurt

40

18

14

Joel Bopesu

Zalgiris

41

18

15

Lamine Yamal

Barcelona

47

18

16

Bruno Fernandes

Man Utd

49

18

17

Angel Di Maria

Benfica

50

18

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Posts ByHenry Jackson Jan 2, 2025 17 Angel Di Maria (Benfica) 18 assists

He may be 36, but Angel Di Maria is still performing at the top level, with the Argentinian having a stellar year back at Benfica following his return in the summer of 2023.

2024 saw him set a total of 18 assists in all competitions, and it arguably should have been a lot more, with only six coming in the 2024/25 season, but a superb start to the calendar year last time out saw Di Maria shine for the Primeira Liga runners-up.

16 Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) 18 assists

Bruno Fernandes has his critics at times, perhaps due to losing possession too often, but the risk he takes with the ball allows him to create plenty of chances, too.

For that reason, it’s no huge surprise to see the Manchester United captain on this list, with the Portuguese assisting on 18 occasions and showing further signs of improvement under new manager Ruben Amorim.

15 Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) 18 assists

One of the most prodigiously gifted young footballers on the planet, Lamine Yamal’s rise this year has been remarkable, with the 17-year-old excelling for Barcelona and Spain.

While the winger has scored some great goals in the past 12 months, his passing has also stood out, not least his brilliance with the outside of his gifted left foot. 18 assists in 47 appearances is an excellent return for any attacking player, let alone one so young.

14 Joel Bopesu (Zalgiris) 18 assists

Zalgiris defender Joel Bopesu finished joint-top of the Lithuanian league’s assists charts, with his exploits in the national cup and this year’s Conference League qualifiers putting him on a par with Europe’s best.

A champion with Zalgiris, who won the annual championship which finished in November, Bopesu notched 14 in the league campaign alone, providing one of the continent’s most potent threats from left-back.

13 Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt) 18 assists

Omar Marmoush has been linked with plenty of top clubs in recent months, and given the level of his performances for Eintracht Frankfurt, it’s not difficult to see why he is such a wanted man.

The Egyptian is yet another with 18 assists in total, with seven of those coming in 15 Bundesliga appearances this season, and he is also a goalscoring machine for good measure, finding the net 13 times in the league in 2024/25 to date.

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Posts ByBarney Lane Oct 19, 2024 12 Oscar Gloukh (RB Salzburg) 18 assists

Tied on the same number of goals and assists as Marmoush is Israeli forward Oscar Gloukh, who continues to stand out as one of the most influential creative forces in the Austrian Bundesliga, providing plenty of quality in attacking areas for RB Salzburg.

The talented 20-year-old also had 18 assists to his name in 2024, averaging 0.45 per match, which is an impressive ratio.

11 Vladimir Ambros (Petrocub) 18 assists

Squeezing into 2024’s top assists chart is Petrocub forward Vladimir Ambros, whose assist in the final round of the Conference League’s league phase helped break Hearts’ hearts as both clubs crashed out.

Ambros had a particularly impressive end to the previous campaign, grabbing six league assists and five more in the Moldovan Cup as Petrocub secured a domestic double.

10 Jorginho (FC Differdange 03) 18 assists

Like Marmoush, Jorginho is another player who has been ruthless in front of goal this year, but the creative side of his game has also shone through, ensuring he is alongside some illustrious company in the assist stakes.

The Differdange 03 forward has bagged 18 assists in 2024 so far, coming from a total of 35 appearances for the Luxembourg-based side.

9 Zlatko Tripic (Viking) 18 assists

Zlatko Tripic is one of the lesser-known players on this list, but he has enjoyed a superb 2024 in his own right, catching the eye for Norwegian outfit Viking.

A tally of 18 assists in just 29 games is better than those already mentioned, at a superb ratio of one every 0.62 matches. Judging by the video above, the past year has been no flash in the pan – and at 32 years of age, he appears to be ageing like a fine wine.

8 Trincao (Sporting CP) 19 assists

Viktor Gyokeres may have been the star man for Sporting CP last year, both in a scoring and creative sense, but teammate Trincao has been just as productive when it comes to setting up goals.

The 24-year-old had 19 assists to his name in 2024, with his quality from out wide playing a big part in his side’s success over the past 12 months or so as Sporting strolled to domestic glory.

“I’ve got to keep embracing the responsibility and when the time comes to shine, I’ll do so”

Firdose Moonda19-Mar-2023A career-defining century by a cricket captain should be enough to win a game of cricket, according to Shai Hope. And he wasn’t talking about himself.”Temba Bavuma – an innings like that deserves to be a victorious innings but it just so happened that we came out on top at the end. I must give him credit for the way he controlled the innings. He played the situation well and he really deserved to win the game but there can only be one winner,” Hope said after West Indies successfully defended 335 runs – their highest score against South Africa – in East London.Bavuma slammed a career-best 144, exactly a week after his Test best of 172 last and less than two months after he hit a series-winning 109 in South Africa’s World Cup Super League victory over England in Bloemfontein. He is a player transformed from the one who struggled to score runs during South Africa’s season-opening white-ball tour of India, where he made 11 runs in four innings, and the leader who oversaw their T20I World Cup campaign, which ended in defeat to the Netherlands. Bavuma attributes the change to the simple truth of having more fun.”I’m enjoying my cricket at this point in time,” Bavuma said. “My mind is just a lot clearer as to what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do that; feeding off the confidence that I am getting from the players as well as the new coaches.”After his 172 in the Wanderers Test, Bavuma said he felt more backed by red-ball coach Shukri Conrad than he had since he was under the wing of his domestic coach at the Lions, Enoch Nkwe (who also served as South Africa’s interim coach for a trip to India in 2019) and that’s despite being captain in two formats in the interim. In May 2021, Bavuma was put in charge of South Africa’s white-ball sides, albeit with only six ODI and eight T20I caps to his name. While 50-over cricket is clearly his forte, the shortest format proved to be tricky, particularly from a strike-rate perspective and since being relieved of that role, and put in charge of the Test team while keeping the 50-over gig, Bavuma has flourished.His recent innings have shown us a batter who is strong on the sweep and the slog, who has opened up scoring areas both in front of and behind square and who is able to rotate strike well. While it may look like a revelation to those looking in from the outside, for Bavuma, it’s merely a demonstration of “what was always there,” that is now coming through.”It’s just a confidence thing. Confidence is a big thing for any sportsman,” he said. “I am just trying to carry on the form and the momentum I got in the England series. I am hitting the ball quite nicely. I am managing to find gaps, which is a big thing for me as a stroke player. I can only hope that lasts.”Despite his best efforts on Saturday evening, South Africa fell 48 runs short of beating West Indies, a side who are after a new start of their own. After losing 16 of the 20 ODIs they played last year, West Indies are all-but-certain to miss out on automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup, and need to start winning. Victory in South Africa – their first on the road against a team other then Netherlands and Ireland since they beat Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2018 – “means a lot,” as Hope put it.Temba Bavuma – “My mind is just a lot clearer as to what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do that”•Gallo Images

“It’s something we speak about in the meetings. We are just trying to win more cricket games. We didn’t have a successful 2022 and we are trying everything to turn it around,” he said.It also marks a successful start for new leadership. Hope is now in charge of the ODI team, with 105 matches under his belt, and a lot on his plate. Though he did not open the batting in this match – as he has done since 2019 – he batted from the 10th over, kept wicket and captained and described the fixture as a “tiring game for me.”So how will he manage the many roles he has to play in what is a big ODI year for West Indies? “I am definitely going to take it on full speed. It’s about giving my all to the team,” Hope said. “I am getting support from all ends. I have got support from guys off the field and on the field. I’ve got to keep embracing the responsibility and when the time comes to shine, I’ll do so.”And he intends to apply that in all formats. As the ODI series opener played out, shortly after West Indies’ batting let them down in the Test series, there was some talk about whether players like Hope and former captain Nicholas Pooran should be considered for the red-ball team as well. On the evidence of the East London ODI, West Indies could do worse, but there’s also some interesting context to Hope’s exclusion.Like his opposite number Bavuma, Hope only has two Test centuries to his name – and they came in the same match. Hope has not played Test cricket since December 2021. Asked if the longest format is something he’d like to get back to, Hope indicated that hope will win out.”Something that I always preach in the camp: control what you can control. I can’t control what the selectors do, I can’t control things behind the scenes, all I can control is the way I prep, the way I play and the performance I put in on the field,” he said. “If the chance and the opportunity arises, I will take it with both hands.”