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Also: how many Australians have made one-day hundreds in Sri Lanka?

Steven Lynch20-Sep-2016Middlesex’s title decider is being played this week. Has there ever been first-class cricket at Lord’s this late in the year? asked Bob Rollins from England

For many years the cricket season on the main ground at Lord’s would finish with the Gillette Cup (later NatWest Trophy) final, which was held on the first Saturday in September. That tradition has slipped a little in recent years, but it turns out that this week’s County Championship match between top-of-the-table Middlesex and second-placed Yorkshire is indeed the latest that top-class cricket has ever been played on the world’s most famous ground. At first I thought the previous-latest first-class action there was a splendid match between Smokers and Non-Smokers in 1884 – it was played on September 15-16 – but ten years after that, in 1894, the game between Gentlemen of the South and Players of the South ran from September 17-19. Two major matches in recent years have been played later than that: in 2010 there was a one-day international between England and Pakistan at Lord’s on September 20, while in 2013 the Yorkshire Bank 40 final (the successor to the Gillette) took place on September 21. The latest Championship action at Lord’s before this year was also in 2013, when Middlesex’s four-day game against Nottinghamshire finished on September 14.Who has played the most Test matches without ever playing at home? asked Ian Johnston from England

A couple of old-time England players lead the way here. The Yorkshire allrounder Willie Bates played 15 Tests on four separate tours of Australia in the 1880s, but never appeared at home. In those days the sides for England’s overseas tours were raised privately, rather than by a central selection committee, while teams for home Tests were usually chosen by representatives of the ground staging the match. Frederick Fane, the Irish-born Essex amateur, played 14 Tests for England – and captained them in five, including three matches of the 1907-08 Ashes – but never played at home. And the Rhodesian allrounder Percy Mansell played 13 Tests in the 1950s, all of them outside South Africa. This excludes several current Pakistan players who have been unable to play at home for security reasons. Azhar Ali has now played 49 Tests but none in Pakistan, and Asad Shafiq 45. They have, however, played several “home” Tests in the United Arab Emirates.Who’s the only man to play more than 100 international matches at the same ground? asked Khalid Zafar from Pakistan

The answer here was quite a surprise: there is indeed only one man who has played 100 international matches (in all three formats) on one ground – Mushfiqur Rahim, who has played 105 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Shakib Al Hasan has played 97 games there, and Tamim Iqbal 93. Next comes Hamilton Masakadza, with 91 at the Harare Sports Club, where Elton Chigumbura has played 89. The Test record is held by Mahela Jayawardene, who played 27 matches at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, where Muttiah Muralitharan played 24. Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara both played 23 Tests at Galle. Alastair Cook has played 22 Tests so far at Lord’s. Wasim Akram leads the way for one-day internationals, with 77 at Sharjah; Mushfiqur has so far had 73 at Mirpur, while Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya both played 71 ODIs at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium. Rahim has played 19 Twenty20 internationals at Mirpur, and Umar Akmal 18 in Dubai.A 33-year wait: incredibly, David Warner’s 106 in Pallekele earlier this month was the first ODI century by an Australian in Sri Lanka•AFPWho had the most runs after playing 100 Tests? asked Keshuv Huria from India

Top of this list is Brian Lara, who amassed 8916 runs in his first 100 Tests. It’s quite close, though – nine others had more than 8000 runs, plus Garry Sobers who scored 8032 in a career of 93 Tests. Second behind Lara is Kumar Sangakkara, with 8651 runs, then come Younis Khan (8640), Rahul Dravid (8553), Matthew Hayden (8508), Virender Sehwag (8487), Sunil Gavaskar (8479), Sachin Tendulkar (8405), Ricky Ponting (8253) and Graeme Smith (8173). Of these Tendulkar had the highest average, with 57.97, just ahead of Dravid (57.79) and Ponting (57.71).I see that Sir Viv Richards has one stumping to his credit in first-class cricket – who was this? asked Jogeshwar from India

Sir Vivian Richards’s only stumping in first-class cricket came quite early in his career, in a festival game at the end of West Indies’ 1976 tour of England. Playing against T. N. Pearce’s XI in the last match of the tour at Scarborough, at some point in the second innings Richards relieved Mike Findlay of the gloves, and stumped the Pearce’s XI No. 8 Martin Vernon off the bowling of slow left-armer Raphick Jumadeen. I’m not aware that Viv ever kept wicket in an international match.Did David Warner become the first Australian to score an ODI hundred in Sri Lanka during the recent series? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada

Rather surprisingly, David Warner’s 106 in the last match of the recent series in Pallekele was indeed Australia’s first century in a one-day international in Sri Lanka – and it was their 40th official ODI there. Australia’s previous-highest score in Sri Lanka was 94, by Mark Taylor at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo in August 1992, just ahead of Matthew Hayden’s 93 in Dambulla in 2003-04. Two Aussies have managed 90 not out: Ricky Ponting in Hambantota in August 2011, and George Bailey in the previous match of the recent series in Dambulla.Send in your questions using our feedback form.

Pakistan’s selectors are understandably cautious about going back to Mohammad Asif, but he is capable of changing the most stubborn minds when he bowls like he did on day one of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final

Umar Farooq in Karachi11-Dec-2016There are two types of swagger: one is intrinsic, the other is put on. The fake kind is hollow and often irritating but the genuine article is beautiful and irresistible. The feigned kind of swagger is exposed sooner or later on a cricket ground, and doesn’t last long.Mohammad Asif has lived a scandal-filled cricketing career and hit rock bottom in 2010 for being banned and jailed for spot-fixing. He has also been caught carrying illegal drugs at the Dubai Airport, has had a notorious and failed public affair with a TV actress, and has failed a dope test. Somehow, he is still a relevant cricketer with his swagger intact. It never went away.His physique as a fast bowler never made sense. He looks thin enough to be blown away by a poke. But he is strong, as all tend to be. His presence in the ground can easily be felt; he strides like he is walking a tightrope. On Saturday, the first day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, Asif was the last man to leave the dressing room for Water and Power Development Authority’s warm-up session before the toss, and walked straight to the pitch, which was topped with patches of green.By the end of the day’s play, he had figures of 18.1-4-29-4 as WAPDA bowled Habib Bank Limited out for 236. It took his season’s wicket haul to 19 in five matches, at an average of 18.63. Of the 127 overs he has bowled, 52 – or nearly 41% – have been maidens. He has made a massive impact on his team, leading a brittle attack, holding it together, winning games. Whether that is enough for Pakistan to pick him again remains to be seen; the selectors watched him keenly, but they retain a sense of reluctance about going back to him – given all his misdemeanours, their caution is probably reasonable.But Asif’s bowling is capable of changing the most stubborn minds. He ripped through Habib Bank’s top order within no time, leaving them 19 for 3 by the time he had bowled three overs. In the seven overs of his opening spell, he conceded a mere eight runs. His second spell of five overs was wicketless, but he bowled three maidens and only conceded four runs. His rhythm was relentless.His run-up and follow-through were smooth as ever, stirring old memories of a master strategist. He didn’t bowl at any great pace: he made Kamran Akmal stand up to the stumps even when he bowled with the new ball, but this was also because he wanted to push back Ahmed Shehzad, who was standing out of his crease in a bid to counter his movement.At one time, Habib Bank were reeling at 21 for 6, before Rameez Aziz and Fahim Ashraf rescued them with an 84-run stand for the seventh wicket. A 99-run ninth-wicket partnership between Aziz and Abdur Rehman frustrated WAPDA further, before Asif returned to send back Aziz.”I did well in previous games but since today was the final and it was also being live telecast, I was just enjoying,” Asif said after the day’s play. “I have a much-needed rhythm, and since it was a big match and only big player delivers on such occasions, I gave it all and am now hoping to make the second innings count as well.”Asif posed a considerable threat in each of his four spells, and a powerful appeal against Aziz took you back to the past, low to the ground on bent knees with arms outstretched. There was no way to gauge his fitness, at 33, and say if he would be able to cope with international cricket, but he looked confident.
“I bowled seven straight overs with the new ball. In fact I bowled more overs than anyone else, 18.1 overs,” he said. “What else do you expect me to do to prove [my fitness]. If I wasn’t fit I don’t think I could have bowled those overs.”I am doing what I am required to do; rest is in the hands of and then the selectors. I am doing my best and I can’t do more. So to me I am doing well. The basics are still the same, which I haven’t forgotten, and I am just applying myself with everything I have. I know I still have my space there and it is never taken by anyone and I am confident that I will soon be taking it back.”Asif is playing his second day-night game with the pink ball. He wasn’t too happy with the quality of the ball being used in the tournament, and said it becomes soft after about 15 overs and that dew was also an issue under lights.”It’s an experiment, but obviously we have to adopt it as this is the future for Test cricket,” he said. “The ball being used isn’t the grade A quality and if you want bowlers to be groomed you need to have good balls.”As a bowler it’s slightly difficult during the twilight because the ball is hard to spot against the background, especially when the sun is out along with the lights. So that transition period causes some problem for the fielders as well, especially for the catching positions or at some sharp fielding positions like point, where the ball is a little difficult to pick up. But it’s a learning curve for all of us and we are getting used to it.”

Australia’s batsmen had the chance to take control of the Test on day two. They didn’t. On day three, Dean Elgar and JP Duminy showed them how it was done

Daniel Brettig at the WACA05-Nov-2016Welcome back to the friendly, air-conditioned confines boys. It was hot work out there, hey? Hot enough for extra drinks breaks anyway. The breeze came in to the WACA Ground in the evening session, which offered some kind of respite from the heat and the sun. That should have helped you cool down enough to process a few things.But before you do, I want you to remember how you feel right now. The heavy legs, the dry mouths and the dull headaches from your sweaty baggy green hat-bands. Remember too the sinking feeling you got when you took a final glance at the WACA’s old scoreboard before reaching shade, showing South Africa’s vast lead. A word of warning: it will be a fair bit bigger by the time you get another bat.Inconvenient memories like this can help you in future, when you have the opportunity to make a Test match your own. They can help you to keep your focus clear and your ruthlessness intact as they should have been yesterday, in the hour or so after Dale Steyn dropped out of the match, the tour and possibly even his whole career with a serious shoulder injury. That moment should have been one to steel yourselves, and think coldly about the physical imperative of Test cricket.South Africa had lost a bowler, and a great one at that. Chat to your team’s long-time physio Alex Kountouris, now Cricket Australia’s head of sports science. He will be able to tell you of the pitifully small percentage of Test matches won by teams that lose a frontline bowler so early on. Another medico, doctor John Orchard, is perhaps the world’s biggest advocate for injury substitutes in Tests. His forward thinking can’t help this week though.One of Orchard’s prime case studies comes from the last time South Africa toured Australia, in 2012. He has outlined how a side injury to James Pattinson – remember him? – in Adelaide led to an excessive workload for Peter Siddle in a match South Africa fought back to draw. In Siddle’s absence the visitors won in Perth, and the extra overs duly bowled by Mitchell Starc flowed into the need to rest him from the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka. It all adds up, you see.I don’t need to tell you much about the physical drain, because your legs are still heavy even as you cradle some ice water, Gatorade or perhaps a consolation beer. Adam Voges has a tender hamstring. The sight of the fast bowlers icing feet, legs and shoulders – Starc is re-dressing the open wound in his left leg as we speak – should also remind you of the fact that you didn’t give them much rest at all after their exertions on day one. Less than 24 hours in fact.That’s a betrayal (a strong word, but a true one) of the unwritten compact between batsmen and bowlers. They work so hard in the field on days like these, and should have the right to expect a decent total to defend after a reasonable amount of time at rest in the team’s viewing area. Pattinson (he’s not had much luck, Jimmy) once suffered serious injury in a Lord’s Test match after being asked to bowl again too soon after the first innings, due to a batting collapse. Slim first innings exacerbate the risk of injury to the very men who can win you the Test match. A confronting thought.Equally, the first Test of a series can influence how the rest play out, particularly back-to-back matches. Starc and Siddle in particular are coming off limited preparation for this series. They are playing in Perth not because they are fully fit, but because they are the best available for a vital contest. Selectors, coaches and medical staff took a calculated gamble that they would not be placed in the position they are now in, with the second Test in Hobart starting as soon as Saturday. South Africa are exacting a physical toll that will help them later.This brings us to the main thing I want you to take out of today. Once your thoughts of frustration subside, you really need to take in the lessons offered up by JP Duminy and Dean Elgar. Much like you on day two, they had a massive opportunity to take control of the Test. Unlike you on day two, they took it.Not through anything flashy or overly ambitious, but simply through relentless and disciplined Test-match batting – the batting you needed to provide on day two of this game. The bowlers bowled well, there were a few plays and misses, but they forged on regardless, frustrating and tiring the fielding side. That’s the way it’s done. As the day went on, South Africa’s drinks waiters brought on chairs for them to sit in. You’d have to agree they earned that.Now there may still be hope of escaping Perth without defeat. The pitch is still good, the cracks are far from the most dangerous ones seen in these parts – just ask your fielding coach Greg Blewett – and, as we’ve said, South Africa are a bowler down. But even if there isn’t, you should be using days like these as motivation to bat like Elgar and Duminy in the future. The rewards will be Test match victories, happier bowlers, and fewer days of exhaustion.Anyway, I’ve said enough. Go cool off, binge on a season of , and we’ll catch-up tomorrow. Look forward to seeing some resilience.

Abhishek Nayar has contributed wholeheartedly with both bat and ball going into the Ranji Trophy final. On the eve of the match, he even fought against sickness before taking more wickets and scoring vital runs for Mumbai

Shashank Kishore in Indore13-Jan-20171:51

We could have batted smarter – Nayar

At 3am on the morning of the final, Abhishek Nayar made a frantic call to the team physio. He hadn’t slept a wink. Severe chest congestion and fever pushed him to the edge. He was injected with two doses of antibiotics to bring the fever and shivering down. At 5.30am, he was back in bed, trying to rest before the match. Finally, he gave up and joined his team on the bus as if everything was normal. It wasn’t until after play on the opening day that his team-mates found out he was running on reserves.Just the previous day, he had batted in the nets for two hours across three different stints. Then he bowled for half hour. He topped it off with a running session. Nayar says he would have it no other way, because these were “part of his pre-match preparations”, which he religiously follows, not because he should do it but because he has to set an example for the younger players to emulate.He had had an impressive run to the final; he picked up nine wickets in the quarter-final against Hyderabad, made a vital half-century that helped Mumbai take a lead and set themselves up for a win in the semi-final over Tamil Nadu. In the first innings of the final, he rallied with the tail to make a fighting 35 that helped Mumbai post 228. Then, he bowled three spells of seven, ten and seven overs. These were efforts of a man his captain, Aditya Tare, described as a “genius who will give everything for the team”.It’s this process that has earned him the title of the side’s ‘crisis man’ over the years. It was this pre-match process, he said, that gave him the power and strength that he drew to make a fighting second-innings 91 to keep Mumbai’s hopes of a 42nd Ranji Trophy alive going into the final day.It wasn’t just about the runs, but how he went about making them that stood out. He added 85 with the last two wickets, when at one stage there was a possibility of Gujarat chasing around 230. “I know I need to bat with the tail, so my personal preparation is what matters,” he said. “No matter what you talk, it’s how you prepare on the field, how you prepare for practice sessions, how you prepare mentally before a game.”After my surgery [in 2014], I have been thinking of the tough situations I may have to overcome. I wasn’t practising but I was preparing myself mentally to be in a situation where I may not be getting runs and how you prepare for it. I kept preparing myself for the worst and when you do that, the best comes out.”On Friday, Mumbai were aiming to defend “at least 300”, which didn’t look possible when the eighth wicket fell with Mumbai 226 ahead. It needed a special effort and Nayar didn’t blink. “The plan was to go big after tea. I think we have not brought out our A game in that aspect,” he said. “Had we played smarter, we could have got lot more than what we did in the end. But from that situation, everyone has done well to help the team reach where we are now.Abhishek Nayar smashed five sixes in his 91•Prakash Parsekar”Vishal [Dabholkar] and I have had couple of such partnerships earlier also and I hold him in high regards. I have batted with the tail for the past two seasons now. I knew that Vishal could bat and in the first innings I got him run-out. Otherwise we could have added more in the first innings. This time I made a conscious effort to take most of the strike and give him one or two balls, initially, to help him get the confidence. Once he got the confidence, we were discussing which bowler he was comfortable facing. I was giving him strike to only that bowler. Having someone fight it out with you gives you the motivation to take your team through.”During the partnership, Nayar also had to be mindful of Gujarat’s defensive tactics in the second session. The only man inside the ring was a wide slip fielder; the rest were patrolling boundaries just to get Nayar off strike. The second session fetched just 67 runs in 30 overs. When they came out for the final session, Gujarat were desperately trying to slow the game down – they were 14 overs short at stumps when Mumbai’s innings ended.Nayar smashed five sixes and scored 46 quick runs after tea before becoming the last man to fall. Even in pain, there was no question of simply trying to hit out, according to him. His method, he revealed later, was about which bowlers to target. “It was more about the situation. I calculate and think about which bowler I should take a chance against,” he said. “You need to understand when the bowler is going to bowl a good ball. A bowler will not ball six effort balls.”There will be one or two balls where he will try and get you out. I wait for those balls. I was trying to understand what my areas were and I was very calm today. I was a bit brash in the first innings and that is normally not me. So I wanted to make it count today since it was an important game for us.”Over the course of the last four seasons, Nayar has taken over the mantle of a mentor, who sets plans in place for the youngsters to emulate. And if they are not able to do so, he takes it upon himself to do the job. It comes from the experience of a 33-year-old, who is not after only an India call-up.”At No. 7, my role in this team is to absorb pressure and I have to accept it, because I’m the senior-most player,” Nayar said. “That is what I always try to do. I believe whenever a challenge is thrown at you, you have to accept it and only then can you try and give your best. It’s the love for the game that keeps me going. I love a challenge, I love this team. Not always do you play to get something. Sometimes you just do it because you enjoy it and love it.”Nayar swears by his favourite line from the series: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” On Friday, he actually demonstrated what that meant but he will have to show some more of that on Saturday.

Glenn Maxwell’s Test career seemed dead in the water after a long spell in the wilderness. But he never gave up hope of making the grade, and now has his coveted maiden century

Melinda Farrell in Ranchi17-Mar-2017Test cricket has been a journey of waiting for Glenn Maxwell. Of rare peaks separated by vast stretches of desert and wondering, broken up by the odd travelling carnival of limited-overs cacophony and luridness. Of carrying drinks and inspiring twitter LOLs, and polarising fans and experts alike.After climbing his debut peak in Hyderabad in 2013, where he contributed 21 runs and claimed four wickets, Maxwell descended to the waiting plains.A year and eight months later, another brief ascension, this time in Abu Dhabi. His contribution with the bat was slightly greater but the sight of him charging at Zulfiqar Babar only for the ball to splatter the stumps was enough for many to mark his card: Short Form Slogger. Sentenced to life in the Test wilderness, and take your big show to the carnival big tops along the way.At his lowest point, weighed down by the waiting, Maxwell feared there would be no parole, no further opportunity to prove what he so desperately wanted everyone to believe; that he was a Test player. Really and truly.The waiting stretched on. Even when the invitation arrived for India, there was no guarantee of a place at the table.So Maxwell continued to wait. A drinks waiter in Pune and Bengaluru.And even when the third peak was scaled and he was a Test player once more, Maxwell had to wait.This time it was the anxious wait of anticipation, filled with the weight of expectation; a sleep-deprived night with 82 runs on the board. Eighteen measly runs shy of the milestone that is also a mark of belonging.After waiting three years, four months and 13 days for another shot at Test cricket, the following night was probably the hardest, a build-up of tension that visibly burst when Maxwell, the short-form slogger, reached a carefully and patiently crafted century. There was no leaping or bounding or punching the sky; it was too intensely emotional for extravagant physical display. Instead, Maxwell bowed his head, clenched both his fists and then hugged Steven Smith so hard it seemed he might snap his captain in two.Glenn Maxwell hugs Steven Smith after bringing up three figures•Associated Press”It was probably more the emotions of the whole night I had as well,” Maxwell said. “You go to sleep 82 not out, you’ve just put on 150 with the skipper, I thought about it all night.”I went through about 300 to 400 different scenarios that could’ve happened the next day, most of them weren’t good. So much emotion fell out of me as soon as I got that hundred. Even thinking about it now I’ve got a frog in my throat. It’s as special a moment as I’ve had in my career and hopefully it’s not the last.””It has been a long time between drinks since 2014, my last Test. To get back in the side in the first place was something I really held close to my heart. I was so happy to be able to walk back on the field with the Australian Test team with the baggy green cap on and I was just filled with joy when I got told I had the opportunity to do that again. I didn’t want to waste the opportunity, didn’t want to make it my last Test, that’s for sure. I know how bad it felt when I played that last game in Dubai and didn’t play again. I just wanted to make it count, every opportunity I get.”Maxwell now shares with Shane Watson the distinction of being the only Australian players to have made centuries in all three formats of the game. But even though few could deny his game-breaking talents in the short form, his inclusion or exclusion in any format has caused headlines and debate.Some of this stems from his tendency towards unfiltered honesty in front of the media. His admission, during the Australian summer, of feeling frustrated at batting below Matthew Wade when playing for Victoria drew swift rebukes from his coach and team-mates. It capped off a difficult 12 months. At the start of 2016, after being named the Australian T20 Player of the Year, Maxwell hoped it would be his breakout year. Instead, he was in danger of sliding further than ever from his Test dream and he subsequently set off on a mission to change perceptions and prove his commitment.”I got pretty low, that’s for sure,” Maxwell said. “I wouldn’t say as low as some might think. I was in a place where I doubted whether I’d play Test cricket again, whether I’d have a chance to put the cap back on.”I just did everything I could, on and off the field. I trained as hard as I could. I changed things in my technique, I had numerous conversations with different people and tried to stay in the loop as much as I could and just kept on asking questions.

“I’ve always felt like red-ball cricket is my best format. To be able to show that at Test level is something I’m extremely proud of.”

“I just changed people’s perception of what they thought Glenn Maxwell was doing. Every time they [asked] ‘what’s Maxy doing?’, well, we know he has been training, we know he has been in the gym, or we know he has been over here playing golf. It doesn’t matter. I was always in contact with them and just having those conversations made people lose those perceptions a little bit. You gained a bit of trust off people as well. For them to have that trust in me, it probably led to them giving me this opportunity.”When I got told I was playing this Test, there was a lot of emotion in that as well. I just remember going home that night and just being so excited to put on the cap the next day.”I’ve spoken a lot about red-ball cricket in a lot of interviews that I’ve done, I’ve spoken at length about how I’ve always felt like red-ball cricket is my best format. To be able to show that at Test level is something I’m extremely proud of. And, yeah, I can finally almost show people with a result instead of just talking.”Now Maxwell has further challenged perceptions about his temperament. It wasn’t just the number of runs he made in Ranchi, it was the maturity and restraint with which they were compiled. The absence of risk and extravagance, the calculated glimpses of his destructive power in lofted drives, beautifully executed, and the patient defence in playing out a Jadeja maiden on 99.Of course, it wouldn’t be Maxwell without at least one moment of anxious inhaling; that came when he slashed the ball just wide of gully to seal the century. But that was the exception: conservatism was the rule.”Obviously yesterday I came in at a time when it was a bit of a tricky situation,” Maxwell said. “I think we were 4 for 140 and luckily I had Steve at the other end who is quite experienced. I worked really well with him, the ball was reverse-swinging and I tried to play as straight as I could and keep my pads out of the way. The plan was pretty simple to keep doing that for as long as possible and try to keep the Indian team out on their feet for as long as possible.”We were lucky, they bowled a few loose balls to start off the day. We were able to score quite freely. It was unfortunate when I did [get out] because we could have made it a 200-250 partnership that could have really driven the game a long way forward for us.”Glenn Maxwell’s discipline was a feature of his innings•Associated PressIt’s a rare Maxwell innings that isn’t peppered with sweeps, reverse sweeps and a plethora of unorthodox shots, but his Ranchi century was an exhibition of hitting in the “V”, although that wasn’t necessarily the plan Maxwell took to the crease.”I was planning on sweeping. I was just waiting for the line of delivery at certain stages. And they bowled quite straight to me, so I just never really got the option. Then later in the day, Ashwin bowled one that I tried to reverse.”Instead of trying to hit it, I tried to paddle it. So I was only trying to get a couple of runs and move a fielder there. But Steve came down and said ‘look, you’ve been hitting the ball pretty well straight, so don’t worry about it’. So I put that in the bin.”It was, perhaps, fitting that Maxwell’s maiden century arrived with Smith at the other end. When Maxwell made his Test debut in Hyderabad, it was Smith carrying the drinks and trying to convince his many detractors that he was more than a legspinner who batted ugly. He chartered a path Maxwell keenly wishes to follow.”He probably lifts the team to another level because he makes the game look so easy as well,” Maxwell said. “We watch him play and everyone’s in awe of the way he goes about it, he does it in such a different, unique way and he owns that. He doesn’t care what people say about his technique. He knows he has his technique doubters, but when the bloke’s got 19 Test tons and averages over 60, I don’t think you can knock it too much.”As much as he would like to emulate Smith, Maxwell feels he can’t do what his captain has done in letting go of his now rarely used spin bowling to become a specialist batsman. If he is to make the No. 6 position his own, he needs to have more than one string to his bow and it will be a challenge to cement the role as a spinning allrounder when playing in Australian conditions, where pace is king. Still, if Maxwell has a successful tour here and proves his extravagant talents are truly suited to the Test arena, like those of Smith and Warner before him, he could be a formidable weapon for Australia as an established fixture in the side.”I can only hope so,” Maxwell said. “I can’t really answer that right now. Hopefully I can continue to be consistent. That’s always been the biggest thing the coaches and selectors have wanted, consistency. If I can keep producing long innings and bat long periods of time, building partnerships with other players, that’s going to go a long way to firstly holding my spot and secondly winning games for Australia.”

When Kemar Roach first played Test cricket he looked a world-beater, but while the years have slowed him down he can still trouble the best

Jarrod Kimber at Headingley25-Aug-2017The delivery is 80.3 miles per hour, and Chris Woakes, England’s No. 9, pulls it like he’s facing a middle-aged England pro. It flies to the boundary. Next ball has some extra effort, it tails away late, and it takes the edge, but bounces before it reaches slip.Kemar Roach puts his hands on his hips and looks towards nowhere; it’s not the first time he’s done that this series, or over the last few years. Like an embittered office worker who is staring out the window after another workplace disappointment.There was a time when everything looked so effortless for Roach. From the moment he arrived in Tests he seemed destined for a great career. He was fast, and not inconsistently fast, not showy fast, but continually properly fast, and easy fast.His run up was like poetry; there was no jerkiness, he wasn’t trying too hard, it was just an ever increasing jog into the crease finishing with 90 miles an hour (145kph) – and beyond – deliveries. He came close to the stumps, his wrist looked great, it was a teen dream action. Big chain flapping, top speed, and also sideways movement.He looked like a 400 Test wicket player.And he bowled like he believed it. This was a man who took on Ricky Ponting with the short ball, and won. Not through a catch on the boundary, or a pull shot smashed to midwicket, Kemar Roach sent Ricky Ponting off the field, and into a hospital, after he slammed him on the arm. Ponting doesn’t do pain, to even admit that he was hurt was a huge thing, but to be retired hurt to go to a hospital, that’s massive.From the start of his career until April 20, 2014, the dreamlike Roach took 85 wickets at 27. When the West Indies could keep him on the field – not often enough – he looked like a star. He took a ten-wicket haul against Australia at home, and worried more than a few batsmen with pace or movement, usually both. He was, as you would expect of a young quick with a fragile body, a bit up and down, but the talent was stupefyingly obvious, and a bowling average in Tests of 27 with almost a 100 wickets in this era is remarkable.On the 20th of April 2014 this happened:”Roach, 25, crashed his BMW sedan after losing control due to slippery road conditions at traffic lights near Wanstead Drive, just outside Bridgetown. According to local reports, the car flipped several times before landing in the 3Ws Park, approximately half a mile from the 3Ws Oval.Two wheels of the vehicle were broken off and the airbags deployed reports stated. Roach sustained a head wound but appeared coherent as he was taken by ambulance from the scene. Roach took to Twitter a few hours later after the accident to reveal to follows that he was recovering and in good health. “Sorry To Scare My Friends, Family And Fans But I’m Straight! Thanks For The Love! #BlessUp.”.

Roach was out at cover point; bowlers only ever go that far to pick up a ball when they have a spread field or to celebrate a wicket, Roach was doing neither, he could not believe another chance had gone down, he’s staring at nothing, fuming at everything

Since the crash he’s taken 39 wickets at 36, and only one five-wicket haul.It’s not as simple to just say the crash has changed him, but the Kemar Roach before the crash is not much like the one after it.For two of his wickets this series, Roach has been comically wide of the crease, Colin Croft wide. The ball to Mark Stoneman at Edgbaston – which was so obscene it should be rated 18 – was delivered from very wide. And again today, the ball to Tom Westley was from wide on the crease, probably wider still, and it not only came in on the angle, but swung in further as well.If you look at the ball from 2009 when Roach smashing Ponting on the elbow, you’ll also see something completely different; his release was completely normal. Bowlers often play with the crease, and Roach certainly does that, he bowls from wide, or very wide. But that’s not what he was doing to Ponting, it wasn’t a surprise ball from close to the stumps, at that stage of his career he bowled close to the wicket all the time. And now he bowls wide of the crease all the time.CricViz’s data over the last few years suggests he has gradually gone 30cm wider on the crease, although that data was still in its infancy when he started. The gap between where he bowls now and where he was bowling in 2009 looks closer to 60cm than 30. Roach said after the day’s play to Sky that it was a “technical problem” he was trying to work on, and was partly brought on by all the injuries he’s had.That’s not the only change, the other one is partly from the accident, and partly from being an older bowler – Roach is no longer quick. His average speed on the opening day at Headingley was 83mph (133kph), his top speed was 85. It’s not slow, but it’s not busting-Ricky-Ponting’s-arm fast.So instead of being a 90 mile-an-hour bowler from close to the stumps who can beat you with pace or movement, he’s now an 83mph guy from wide of the wicket with the occasional magic ball.That doesn’t mean he’s finished, he was by far the best bowler at Edgbaston, and while that’s not saying much, with support from the other end he could have troubled England. Here, Roach got two of the three early West Indies wickets, and put them completely on top with a draining nine-over opening spell.Kemar Roach did not have everything go his way•Getty ImagesWhen he came back for his second spell, with Root gone, it was all about getting Ben Stokes.He started with a full, wide one that had plenty of noise as it went through to the keeper, but was ultimately called not out. Stokes may have hit it, but the West Indies didn’t review, and even if they had, the evidence to overturn was probably not there.Then Roach angled one in from around the wicket – he’s looked extraordinary coming round the wicket in this series – it moved slightly and bounced, all Stokes could do was edge it straight to second slip, who dropped it.Then Stokes hit a couple of boundaries, so Jason Holder started one over by moving third slip into covers to slow him down. This time Stokes was driving, edging and the ball went straight through the newly vacant third slip area. Holder brought the slip back in, and Stokes smashed one through the newly vacant cover gap.It was a great spell that made Stokes struggle, and it read in the scorebook 5-0-33-0.It wasn’t even the Stokes moment that bothered him the most.Roach was out at cover point; bowlers only ever go that far to pick up a ball when they have a spread field or to celebrate a wicket, Roach was doing neither, he could not believe another chance had gone down, he’s staring at nothing, fuming at everything.This one was when he was bowling to Stokes again late in the day, he’d already taken Moeen Ali just as that partnership was getting dangerous. The wicket of Stokes late in the day was never going to be as pivotal as it would have been earlier, but it could end England’s innings.Stokes had moved onto 98. But Roach keeps the pressure on him and Stokes hits the ball straight to mid-on. Shannon Gabriel couldn’t ask for a much simpler chance, and he couldn’t make a much bigger mess than this.The next over Gabriel takes the wicket of Stokes, and then another, the whole team come in excitedly as England are going to be bowled out relatively cheaply. Roach is at fine leg. He slowly jogs in, he’s in no hurry to celebrate, when he finally arrives he gives Gabriel a somewhat emotionless high five.A few balls later Woakes edges a Roach ball, it flies straight into the gloves of Shane Dowrich, and Roach stands mid-pitch pumping his fist. The release is intense and long; he now looks like a person who has received great news on a bad day.He is no longer the teen dream; he’s now the elder statesman of the side. When West Indies start to leave the field, it is Roach who goes over to each player to shake their hands, give a high five, and slap them on the back.Roach is not the exceptional talent he once was, he’s been wearied by time and life, but England are out for 258. The young man with effortless speed that sent legends to hospital no longer exists. The man who has replaced him looks exhausted, almost seems to be limping and is a bit hunched over, but he leaves the field with four wickets, and probably a few more thoughts of what could have been.

Bangladesh have received a string of thrashings at the hands of South Africa. Here are a few things they could do to get out of the doldrums

Mohammad Isam24-Oct-2017After suffering big-margin defeats in the Tests and ODIs in South Africa, the Bangladesh team has a lot to put right on and off the field in the next 12 months. Leading that process should be four of their most experienced cricketers and a coach who is considered the most successful in Bangladesh’s history. Here’s a close look at what each has to do to bring the team back onto the winning track.ESPNcricinfo LtdChandika Hathurusingha
He is arguably the most powerful person in the Bangladesh dressing room, having guided the team through their purple patch from 2015 to mid-2017. Hathurusingha has been credited for backing the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Mustafizur Rahman when others in BCB’s power structure were skeptical. In their rookie year, the players performed impressively well, but are now faced with their first dip in international cricket.Soumya burst onto the scene in 2015, but since then has done little of note except a few fifties that he hit in Tests earlier this year. Yet he continues to enjoy the support of the team management despite battling with technical flaws to deliveries away from his body.Hathurusingha also expanded Sabbir from a utility T20 player to an ODI regular and then a Test player. He has, however, failed to achieve consistency despite being given different spots in the batting order.Mustafizur, too, has been erratic. Although he can’t be expected to maintain the high notes of his debut season, he has struggled with his rhythm since his shoulder surgery last year. He showed some flashes of his skill during the South Africa Tests, but it was hardly match-winning material.BCB chief Nazmul Hassan has been Hathurusingha’s biggest backer for the past three years, including granting his wish of becoming a selector. Whether this change in selection policy has worked is now open to debate.Two factors work in Hathurusingha’s favour for now. First, Mosaddek Hossain’s eye infection deprived Bangladesh of a player in good form. Second, if the batsmen are not executing the coach’s instructions out in the middle, there’s very little the coach himself can do other than repeat his words every day.It hasn’t helped that Hathurusingha – or the other coaches – has been conspicuously and unusually absent from the spotlight in explaining the team’s performances in South Africa. But he will now be expected to turn things around for these younger batsmen, particularly Soumya and Sabbir who have been Hathurusingha’s projects over the last three years. How he turns things around after his first major setback will be intriguing to watch.Shakib Al Hasan
It is now unlikely that the BCB will grant Shakib any more days off in any format until the 2019 World Cup. The drubbing Bangladesh received in the two Tests in South Africa proved that the inexperienced bowling attack badly needs him to tie one end down.Shakib’s batting was also missed in the Tests; as he showed in the ODI series, his counterattacking style is a factor that comes in handy in any format. The timing of Shakib’s break from Tests wasn’t great as he had just had a superb series against Australia at home.His bowling in the ODI series wasn’t great: he took only two wickets, giving away 164 runs in the three matches. In fact, Shakib’s ODI bowling since the Afghanistan series last year hasn’t been great. This year has been his worst as an ODI bowler, considering he has snaffled only six wickets in 14 matches at an average of 99.In the coming 12 months, Shakib – who, till the South Africa tour, had had a fine year in Test cricket but not so in ODIs – has to clearly outline what he wants out of international cricket, particularly because he is one of the candidates for the Test captaincy. If he doesn’t think there’s a future for him in the longer format, BCB has to plan accordingly and find someone else for the job. However, if he does indeed envisage himself in the team’s long-term Test plans, he could be leading Bangladesh across formats in the next two years.Mashrafe Mortaza
Whenever things have gone wrong, especially over the last two years, Bangladesh has banked on Mashrafe Mortaza. As the ODI captain, he has led them through the 2015 successes and the steady development until the 2017 Champions Trophy. Since 2015, he has been the team’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs.There have been occasions when he has finished games with his big-hitting. Add to that his position as the leading statesman of Bangladesh cricket; remember when he appealed to the England cricketers to make themselves available to play in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the country’s worst terrorist attack last year?For someone who remains so much invested in his game, going wicketless in the ODI series against South Africa will hurt. He has already admitted it was a tough series, and he was also slightly unlucky in Paarl. The measly returns notwithstanding, the majority of Bangladesh’s fans trusts him as someone who can bring himself and the ODI team back from the dead.Will the BCB and the team management continue to trust him as the ODI captain? There was significant pressure on him even after he led Bangladesh to the semi-final of the Champions Trophy, finally settling down when BCB president Nazmul Hassan publicly confirmed his captaincy till the 2019 World Cup.Given his track record, one wicketless series shouldn’t invite questions on his place in the side. In fact, it should be quite the opposite – only Mashrafe has faced up to the heat on behalf of his team in South Africa. And only Mashrafe can rouse this team again.Mushfiqur Rahim
While his place in the Bangladesh side as a batsman is without debate, two responsibilities are no longer suited to Mushfiqur Rahim: captaincy and wicketkeeping in Tests.Whether he continues as Test captain against Sri Lanka in January next year will be entirely up to the new BCB committee. Given how Nazmul Hassan has criticised Mushfiqur for his outbursts during the Tests in South Africa, Mushfiqur’s captaincy is now on fragile ground.He can be given a break from wicketkeeping if Liton Das takes his resurgence as a gloveman seriously. He hasn’t had the best of times as a Test batsman but seems to be up to the mark as a wicketkeeper. Mushfiqur’s comeback from the woeful Test series should be a great example for a relative novice like Liton: with so much going on around him, Mushfiqur responded with an unbeaten century and half-century in the first two ODIs.He is the type of cricketer who thrives on responding to criticism. It would be wise to let him focus solely on his batting in all three formats over the next 12-18 months.Tamim Iqbal
A fully fit Tamim Iqbal would have been a handful for South Africa but, instead, he was recovering from a thigh injury that he sustained on the first day of the practice match in Benoni. He then got injured during the first Test as well as after the second ODI, which effectively ended his tour.With the form he has been in, Tamim will need to be handled carefully by the BCB and the team management. Currently, there isn’t an opening batsman who can be relied upon with surety to replace or even partner him. Since 2015, his sincerity towards fitness and improvement in batting has been as good an example as Mushfiqur’s progress as a batsman.Tamim’s priority in the next two years would be to sustain this batting form, and continue to be the stabilising factor in Bangladesh’s top order. He is also among the Test captaincy candidates, and the BCB will have to tread that line carefully in order to not disrupt his batting form.

The legspinner doesn’t turn the ball too much, but by bowling full and out of the reach of batsmen looking for quick runs, he has been able to get the better of them

Sidharth Monga27-Oct-2017It is Chennai, a 21-over chase, the Australian top order is gone, and Glenn Maxwell has nothing to lose. India have their two wristspinners on, and Maxwell starts unleashing his sweeps. Like Hardik Pandya did to Adam Zampa earlier in the day, Maxwell hits Kuldeep Yadav for three consecutive sixes. There are long conferences. India should have this game in the bag, but there are squeaky bums around. Three sixes can do that to you. What if he keeps coming off for another three-four overs? It is a short chase after all.On comes the other leggie. Yuzvendra Chahal does less with the ball in the air and off the pitch than Kuldeep. Yet you don’t see him chatting that much with seniors between deliveries, even when Maxwell hits the fifth ball of this over for his fourth six in two overs. Chahal has hardened himself up bowling containing legspin in IPL matches in Bengaluru, where anyway beating batsmen in the air doesn’t amount for much because mis-hits sail for sixes.Now Chahal does what only he has done to Maxwell this innings: bowl full and wide. Maxwell has to drag it for his big hit, and Chahal has him caught at long-on. He holds his arms aloft, and then points one finger to his forehead.”Whenever I bowled to Gayle [in the RCB nets] I would bowl well wide outside off, and work out that if he isn’t able to hit me then I can try this against Warner and the likes,” Chahal told ESPNcricinfo last year.

In an earlier era, you might have dismissed this as Chahal’s luck. It is not. Denying boundaries in shorter formats is a bona fide way of taking wickets

It is Pune, and India have shackled New Zealand this time, but out comes Colin de Grandhomme batting like a dream, chipping straight balls over straight midwicket ala Mark Waugh and Carl Hooper. De Grandhomme hits Chahal for a four and a six before he comes back for another spell in the 44th over. And again, Chahal bowls that wide ball – this time on a length, the widest bowled to de Grandhomme all innings. He tries the big straight hit, and the edge carries to short third man.Chahal has tried the full and wide variety to big hitters in the lower order with success. James Faulkner once offered a return catch that Chahal failed to grab. Matthew Wade was stumped. He nearly had Tom Latham caught behind in Pune when again he tested the batsman’s reach. Against his 26 wide balls pitched on a length or fuller, New Zealand have not been able to hit a single boundary. Faulkner managed a six, but that was the only boundary Australia hit when Chahal practiced this line. On an average he slips in one full and wide ball every over.In an earlier era, you might have dismissed this as Chahal’s luck. It is not. Denying boundaries in shorter formats is a bona fide way of taking wickets. As a skill too, bowling out of the reach of the batsman but within legal limits is not to be scoffed at. For starters it is an extremely difficult delivery to execute, as commentator and former India spinner Murali Kartik remarked when Chahal got de Grandhomme’s wicket. You have to control the turn. Indian pitches are changing – which is not a bad thing in ODIs because they are preventing scores of 350 from becoming routine – so you have to bowl a length that doesn’t give the ball enough time to turn away and go past the wide lines.Then you have to choose wisely when and to whom to bowl this delivery. Chahal has kept the full and wide ones for big hitters who are not in a mood to be watchful: Maxwell, Faulkner, Marcus Stoinis, de Grandhomme in the 44th over. In that whole innings off 39 off 18 in Chennai, Maxwell faced only three wide balls, all from Chahal and none scored off. It also takes shedding of the ego to not mind being a legspinner whose signature delivery is the one bowled full and wide, not turning too much, not necessarily aimed at taking wickets.Defensive bowlers are getting due recognition with the abundance of limited-overs cricket. Analysts are looking at how well a player comes back when under pressure, when the batsmen have little to lose and the freedom to swing for the hills. Of all the spinners who have bowled in this limited-overs season in India, Chahal and Mitchell Santner have shown they find answers the quickest.Perhaps that is why Chahal has been preferred to Kuldeep when there is room for only one wristspinner in the Indian XI. Kuldeep has made all the highlight reels, practicing the rare art of left-arm leg spin well enough to pick up an ODI hat-trick, but Chahal has shown that when the pressure is high, on a flat pitch, a simple wide ball can be more valuable. Not to invoke his well-documented prowess at chess, it’s the hitters’ move now.

Kevin O’Brien isn’t the best player Ireland has ever had, he’s just the one who keeps producing their most important innings

Jarrod Kimber at Malahide14-May-20185:42

#PoliteEnquiries: O’Brien for Ireland’s Prime Minister?

Everything was shocking about Kevin O’Brien’s World Cup hundred against England. His hair, his shots, the win. And that it was Kevin O’Brien.I mean Kevin O’Brien. Not his brother Niall, not Trent Johnston, not William Porterfield or Ed Joyce. At one stage O’Brien complimented Jimmy Anderson on a good ball, Anderson asked how O’Brien would know what a good delivery was and O’Brien retorted that he knew what a bad one was, and he’d just smashed one of them away for six. Sledging Jimmy, heaving 113 from 63, breaking world records, six sixes and Ireland beat England. The whole thing was crazy. O’Brien was rated by no one outside Ireland and was slapping balls around everywhere like, well, as no one had ever before in a World Cup.It was that day, as much as any, that changed Ireland’s history. And if not that day, it was the 2007 World Cup win over Pakistan, in which O’Brien was second top score behind older brother Niall and remained unbeaten when Johnston hit the winning runs. The three most significant games in Ireland’s history, Kevin O’Brien has been there. For Ireland, O’Brien is always there.Outside Irish cricket, O’Brien has never had much impact on cricket. A few T20 franchise contracts, some List A in England, but even then he rarely grabbed attention.Then he plays for Ireland. Some players play much better for their country than they do for their clubs. You see, the plodding power forward from the NBA who suddenly at the Olympics is some brutish enforcer, or the journeyman pro tennis player living the good life until he fires up for the Davis Cup. That is not quite the case for O’Brien; his numbers suggest he’s been as good for everyone else as he has been for Ireland. The real difference is when O’Brien is astonishing, it is for Ireland.In the first innings, his top order was smashed in the face by Pakistan bowlers. They were playing for lunch like it was the last meal. Gary Wilson was off getting his arm fixed, and it was O’Brien who had to come in before there were ten runs on the board. His innings started as nervously as anyone, but he soon took control, and he looked like he belonged.The man who has only played two first-class games in county cricket – one for Surrey, one for Notts – and just 41 first-class games overall dating back to his 2007 debut in the Intercontinental Cup against the UAE, seemed like the Test match player Ireland needed. And then after scoring more than half of Ireland’s runs up to that point, he got caught in the ring. He was filthy, shaking his head, mumbling at himself and kicking at the ground. He felt like he’d let his team down when actually he was the first to stand up.But he always stands up. While other players have been better than O’Brien, no one’s been more representative of Irish cricket. England would never come calling and take him away. He has 300 caps, more than any Irish player. He’s almost always available. While some Associate nations in their moments of success have been accused of being a team of ex-pats, Ireland had O’Brien: an Irish underage cricketer, with an Irish playing brother, and father, plus a flock of ginger hair. In O’Brien, Ireland had a poster child for Irish cricket. He’s their giant ginger mascot who hits sixes and wins games.Today he didn’t hit sixes. His 50 came up off 100 balls, completely inverse to his 100 off 50 against England. We’ve had O’Brien the bludgeoner; today we had O’Brien the nurdler. He poked and prodded, ESPNcricinfo’s stats say the flick was his most successful shot, most of the time he knocked the ball towards cover point for a single. There was a french cut, a bunch of composed leg glances. Edges past slip, short of slip, balls ending up near the stumps. It wasn’t always regal, but it was stoic.

If Irish cricket had a player type they’re known for, it would be allrounders who aren’t quite top level bowlers but often compensate with the bat: Stuart Thompson, Trent Johnston, John Mooney and Alex Cusack. For Irish cricket, there is nothing special about what O’Brien does, but there is everything special about when he does it.

And that doesn’t even mention Pakistan, who seemed to stop playing at one point, putting fielders out when they were still well on top, and Ireland was making the odd mistake. Maybe their best error was when O’Brien – on 91 – swept a ball to short fine leg, who missed, only for the deep backward square to come around to mop up, which he did not. Pakistan made errors, O’Brien did not.Against England, in that World Cup innings, he was playing brutish slog sweeps of raw, ungainly violence. Here he was at the non-striker’s end in Malahide after another eased single, practising his lap sweeps. He looked like an ogre trying to play with a children’s tea set. Getting O’Brien to draw this match was like asking a steamroller to solve a moral philosophy question.But he worked on it. He wasn’t massively in control but it was a chanceless hundred, albeit with one close lbw shout against Rahat Ali on 69 the only tight call. The ball wasn’t hitting the middle of his bat but he fought hard. He fought Pakistan’s bowlers, the match situation and his own instincts. Because O’Brien doesn’t really play many first-class innings, he is almost never the anchor, and he’s paid for fireworks not defence.In a career spanning more than a decade, he has made only one first-class hundred, an unbeaten 171 in a first innings run-fest against Kenya – his brother Niall and Andre Botha also made centuries in Ireland’s 578 for 4 declared – at Nairobi that set up an innings win in the Intercontinental Cup in 2008. His last hundred for Ireland was that World Cup innings against England, seven years ago.Today he played like a man who doesn’t make many hundreds. Around 80 he played and missed at a ball and then violently swung his bat over the stumps before being calmed down by Stuart Thompson. Then when he got to the 90s, the pressure got to him.On 97, there was a glimmer of his hundred before the ball that went to the fine leg boundary was signaled four leg byes, or as O’Brien said to Tyrone Kane, “Bloody leg byes”. Then there was a nervy steer along the ground near slip before he did some quadriceps yoga poses at the non-striker’s end because, “I’m getting old and I’m not used to batting for five hours”.On 98, he failed to get a ball away, which frustrated him so much he missed the next delivery, in which Shadab Khan appealed for a caught behind. Pakistan then brought on Mohammad Amir, who had been incredible earlier in the day. On 99, he went about as close to edging the ball behind as he could, before a leading edge popped up on the offside and fell safely through point to ensure that O’Brien made his second first-class hundred.”It’s nice to be on the imaginary honours board in these Portakabin changerooms”. There was no massive celebration, he didn’t even rate it as is his best innings. He said, “I’m just old, man. Batting for five hours takes its toll. I’m not used to playing these longer form games”. And as always he’s looking forward to the next day, the next job for Ireland. Because that’s what O’Brien lives for.If Irish cricket had a player type they’re known for, it would be allrounders who aren’t quite top level bowlers but often compensate with the bat. Stuart Thompson, who allowed O’Brien to make this innings, is one. Trent Johnston, John Mooney and Alex Cusack are just a few others. For Irish cricket, there is nothing special about what O’Brien does, but there is everything special about when he does it.There are – and will continue to be – better Irish players than O’Brien. He’s not the best player in this team, he’s possibly not the best player in his family. But because of when he stands up, you wonder if there will ever be another player who will play three innings as vital as he has for his country.It was shocking that O’Brien scored a hundred, that Ireland lasted a whole day, and that Ireland could win this match. But this time, it wasn’t shocking that it was Kevin O’Brien. It’s always Kevin O’Brien.Kevin O’Brien, Test centurion.

Australia made their second-highest opening stand in Asia but the numbers after that weren’t flattering

Bharath Seervi09-Oct-201860 Runs for which Australia lost all their ten wickets after the openers had put on 142. The collapse is the third-worst for any side after a century opening stand. The two worst such collapses were India’s 10 for 46 against England at Old Trafford in 1946, and New Zealand’s 10 for 51 runs against Australia at Auckland in 1974.ESPNcricinfo Ltd42 Runs by Australia’s last nine wickets are the fewest in their first innings in the last 50 years. After the openers, the highest individual score was Mitchell Marsh’s 12, and only two others got into double-digits.7 Number of times Australia have lost their 10 wickets for less than 100 runs since the start of 2016, the most by any team. England and Sri Lanka have had four such collapses and are joint-second on the list. Click here for the list such collapses for all teams in this period.

2 Number of better bowling figures on debut for Pakistan than Bilal Asif’s 6 for 36. Mohammad Zahid’s 7 for 66 and Mohammad Nazir’s 7 for 99, both against New Zealand, in 1996 and 1969 respectively, are the top two debut figures for Pakistan. Bilal’s figures are the best by any bowler making his Test debut against Australia. He bettered a record that stood for more than a 100 years, that of Fred Martin’s 6 for 50 in 1890.33y, 13d Bilal’s age, at which he became the oldest to take a five-wicket haul on debut in the last 50 years. The previous oldest was also a Pakistan bowler: Tanvir Ahmed, at 31 years, 355 days, versus South Africa in 2010-11.6 Instances of two debutants in the top-six batting positions making ducks in the same innings. Australia’s Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne got out for ducks to the debutant Bilal Asif in the same over. It was only the third instance when debutants at No. 5 and 6 got out for ducks.ESPNcricinfo Ltd142 The partnership between Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja – the second-highest for Australia in Asia. Their only bigger stand in the subcontinent than this is of 176 runs between Mark Taylor and Michael Slater versus Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 1994-95. The Finch-Khawaja stand is also the second-highest by any team against Pakistan in UAE. It was also the first time Pakistan had to wait for more than 50 overs for the first wicket in UAE.72.77 Percentage of runs by Australia’s openers in their innings – 147 out of 202. There have been only seven innings in Test history where the openers had a higher contribution to the team’s total. In the Port Elizabeth Test of 2014, Australia’s openers had scored 173 runs out of their total of 216, which is 80.09% of runs, the highest in Test history.280 Australia’s deficit in the first innings, their fourth-highest against Pakistan when batting second. Pakistan did not enforce follow-on. Australia have been asked to follow on only once in the last 30 years even though the opposite teams had at least eight opportunities to enforce it.