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Head coach Ben Sawyer and assistant coach Craig McMillan oversee ten New Zealand players including Jess Kerr, Brooke Halliday and Georgia Plimmer

Deivarayan Muthu10-Aug-2025New Zealand have ramped up their prep for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka with a two-week camp in spin-friendly conditions at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in Chennai.While a number of Black Caps, including Rachin Ravindra, have frequented the high-performance facility in the recent past, this is the White Ferns’ first specialised overseas camp and the timing of it has been “perfect,” according to head coach Ben Sawyer, who is overseeing ten New Zealand players in Chennai along with assistant coach Craig McMillan.”Yeah, 100% correct. It’s currently winter in New Zealand, there’s no cricket and we’re nearly two months out of the World Cup,” Sawyer told ESPNcricinfo. “So, to have that prep time in India, we’ve been able to bring seven contracted players and then three of our players of interest along. So, the girls that we think will play lots of cricket in India in the future as well. So yeah, it’s been an amazing experience so far.”Related

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Seam-bowling allrounder Jess Kerr, opening batter Georgia Plimmer and Brooke Halliday, who had scored 38 off 28 balls in the T20 World Cup final last year, which New Zealand won, are among the seven contracted players on tour while Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire and Emma McLeod have been included as emerging players.After the Chennai camp, New Zealand’s players and staff will return home and will likely head to Dubai to play one-dayers against England in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup, which will kick off on September 30. Sawyer believes that exposure to stifling conditions in Chennai and Dubai will tune up New Zealand’s players for similar conditions that may face during the ODI World Cup.”Yeah, it’s hugely beneficial and even more so this year because just with the FTP cycle, we’ve had no official matches since February,” Sawyer said. “So to get these three one-day games in Chennai, to get two or three games in Dubai against England, a really strong opposition, will be great and then we also get the two World Cup warm-up games. So that’s seven or eight games we’re going to get in similar conditions. Yeah, that’s just huge for us.”Jess Kerr runs in to bowl during New Zealand’s time at the Super Kings Academy•Super Kings Academy

New Zealand’s team management is also leaning on inputs from High Performance Sport New Zealand and Dr Kirsty Fairbairn, an experienced dietitian who has worked with both the White Ferns and Black Ferns (the women’s rugby team), to look after their players in subcontinent conditions.”We’ve actually tried to train really hard the last five days and I guess in a way not to recover, try to just do it naturally and let your bodies adapt to the conditions,” Sawyer said. “And now we’re playing the three games, we’ll try and recover really well.”But yeah, we’ve actually tried to expose ourselves as much to the heat as we can. So, we’ve had some really good help from High Performance Sport New Zealand and a guy that helped with the Tokyo Olympics and how they dealt with the heat. He’s basically told us that the week here and then the week in Dubai are probably perfect timings for the World Cup.”The presence of India internationals such as Asha Sobhana and D Hemalatha, Tamil Nadu’s teenage prodigy G Kamalini, who had won WPL 2025 with Mumbai Indians, and Swiss international Meghna Rajan has added a competitive edge to the camp. Asha castled Polly Inglis on Saturday and tested other New Zealand batters with her loopy legbreaks and wrong’uns on a sluggish surface.”Getting balls to face in New Zealand during the winter is really difficult,” Sawyer said. “We’ve had WPL players come down to bowl to us and Asha from RCB is with us here in the camp and it’s been great for our girls to chat to her and learn about these conditions.”Just a few days into the camp, Sawyer is impressed with the positive approach of the New Zealand batters against spin.”I think Izzy Sharp is a great example today,” Sawyer said. “She made 80. She played a lot off the back foot, but then was able to get really close into the pitch of the ball. And Sri (Sriram Krishnamurthy, former NZC pathway coach who is now CSK academy’s head coach) was great the other day, gave us a bit of a masterclass in playing spin.”And it was great to see Izzy use her feet today and get down the wicket really quickly. Maddy Green’s a great player. She did it her way [with sweeps and reverse-sweeps], she did it in a different way to Izzy, but both were successful and that’s what we’ve spoken about.”While this group is sweating it out in Chennai, Suzie Bates had posted a career-best 163 for Durham last month and Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr are currently playing in the Hundred. It’s still winter in New Zealand, but the team management has ensured that their players won’t rock up cold at the World Cup.”You can see we brought a lot of younger players because the likes of Sophie, Suzie and Lea Tahuhu have been here before and Sophie is at the Hundred,” Sawyer said. “Paul Wiseman is with our spinners in Lincoln and a few of our quicks are working with Graeme [Alridge] in various locations. So, everyone’s getting what they need. Some players are actually doing a few sessions in heat chambers back home. I think we’re doing as much as we can to prepare for the conditions [at the World Cup].”

Family announce passing after year-long battle with Motor Neurone Disease

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Jun-2025David “Syd” Lawrence, the former Gloucestershire and England fast bowler, has passed away at the age of 61 following a year battling motor neurone disease (MND).A strapping fast bowler, Lawrence played five Tests for England and making 280 appearances for Gloucestershire, taking 625 wickets for the county. In 1988, he became the first British-born Black cricketer to represent England. In 2022, he became his county’s first Black president. This month, Lawrence received an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours, having been named as one of the inaugural Honorary Life Vice-Presidents of the ECB earlier in the year.Lawrence was diagnosed with MND in 2024, a degenerative condition that affects the brain and nerves, causing muscle wastage. There is no cure, and Lawrence was working to raise money and awareness of the condition.Related

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In that time, he remained an inspirational figure at the club, sharing in their Vitality Blast success last summer. Gloucestershire assisted fundraising efforts with a “Pink 4 Syd” evening at the club, honouring Lawrence with a pink kit to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) during their men’s fixture with Hampshire Hawks in the Vitality Blast. Last week, his autobiography, “In Syd’s Voice”, written in partnership with his friend and former Mirror cricket correspondent, Dean Wilson, was published.A statement from Lawrence’s family read: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dave Lawrence MBE following his brave battle with Motor Neurone Disease.”‘Syd’ was an inspirational figure on and off the cricket field and no more so than to his family who were with him when he passed.”A proud Gloucestershire man, Syd took on every challenge with everything he could and his final contest with MND was no different. His willingness to encourage and think of others right up to the end was typical of the man he was.”As President of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Syd took on the role with incredible pride and passion and loved every minute of it.”Syd’s wife Gaynor and son Buster thank everyone for the kindness and support that has been shown to them and the family so far and would ask that they are now given some time and space to grieve in private.”Lawrence played his five Tests and single ODI between 1988 and 1992. A genuine quick bowler, he debuted at Lord’s against Sri Lanka and went on to take 18 wickets, including his best of 5 for 106 against West Indies at The Oval in 1991.His career was cut devastatingly short when, in 1992, he fractured his kneecap as he ran in to bowl against New Zealand in Wellington. Though a comeback never truly materialised, barring a four-game stint for Gloucestershire five years later, he used retirement as a springboard to expand his horizons, becoming a nightclub owner and later a competitive bodybuilder.He was also a leading advocate for inclusion and diversity in cricket. In 2021, he spoke openly of his experience of racism at Gloucestershire, for which the club offered an unreserved apology. He was also involved with the African-Caribbean Engagement programme (ACE) in Bristol.”Everyone connected with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club will be devastated with the news of Syd’s passing, and we send all our love to his incredible family and friends,” said Gloucestershire Cricket chief executive Neil Priscott.”The executive team at the Club were of course aware of his fine record as a one-county man but we all got to truly know and love him as our current President. He was so passionate about the power of cricket and how our sport can touch people’s lives. Syd pushed us to reach out to communities far and wide and we shall continue to do that in his honour. Friday night’s ‘Pink 4 Syd; match was a fitting tribute to a Gloucestershire great, and we are very sad to have lost someone so special.”In a statement released by the ECB, chair Richard Thompson said: “David ‘Syd’ Lawrence was a true trailblazer of English cricket and a man of immense courage, character, and compassion.”His impact on the game extended far beyond the boundary ropes. As a fast bowler, he thrilled crowds with his pace and passion. As a leader and advocate, he broke barriers and inspired change, becoming a powerful voice for inclusion and representation in our sport.”Even in the face of his illness, David showed extraordinary strength and dignity, continuing to uplift others with his resilience and spirit. He leaves behind a legacy that will endure in the hearts of all who love cricket.”Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and the entire cricketing community at this time.”

He will also be head coach of the Victoria Women’s team

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2020Lachlan Stevens has been named head coach of the Melbourne Renegades WBBL team and the Victoria Women’s team amid the restructuring at Cricket Victoria.The Renegades role is a comeback for Stevens who was previously their head coach in the first two seasons of the WBBL.Most recently he had been interim head coach of the Victoria men’s team following Andrew McDonald’s appointment as Justin Langer’s assistant with the national side.Stevens replaces Tim Coyle in the Renegades position after he was let go earlier this month while with Victoria he fills the role vacated by David Hemp.”It’s a great time to be returning to the women’s game given the growth female cricket has enjoyed in recent seasons,” Stevens said. “It’s always enjoyable to watch and work with players at all stages of their careers and I’m honoured to be able to work with another Victorian cricket side. I look forward to watching all of them going about their training and playing.””I was lucky enough to be a part of the Renegades in the first two seasons of the WBBL and I’m looking forward to catching up with several of those players again in the not too distant future. I can’t wait to watch the WBBL up close again with all the progress that’s been made in the game over the last three years.”Renegades, Victoria and Australia allrounder Sophie Molineux admitted it had been a shock to see Coyle leave his job.”There’s a lot going in, not just in sport, but it definitely hit home when we saw Coyley go,” she said. “The last couple of years at the Renegades he’s done a massive amount of work to get us into position to play in semi-finals and be really close to the grand finals.”We’ll always be thankful for what he’s done. The group has definitely got some really sad emotions about him not being able to come back.”The Victoria team includes Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry when they aren’t on international duty.

Jason Holder slips from the perch, concedes top spot among allrounders to Ravindra Jadeja

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2021Quinton de Kock’s 96 in the first innings of the second Test, after he scored 141* in the first, against West Indies has put him back in the top ten – at No. 10 – in the Test rankings for batters. He was last in the top ten back in December 2019, but after top-scoring with 237 runs in the two-Test series, which South Africa won 2-0, he has moved above Babar Azam and Dimuth Karunaratne.Related

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Rassie van der Dussen was a distant second to de Kock in the run-scorers’ list, with 125 runs, while Jermaine Blackwood was third with 88 and Dean Elgar fourth, with 87, and the three of them made gains on the table too: Elgar was up one spot to No. 19, van der Dussen up 31 spots to No. 43, and Blackwood one place behind him at No. 44, a rise of 12 positions.Jason Holder started the series as the top-ranked allrounder in Tests but average returns – 34 runs in four innings and six wickets (four of them in the first, which was before the period used in the latest rankings) – have pushed him down to second place behind Ravindra Jadeja, who is currently playing the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton.Kagiso Rabada was the player of the match in the second Test for his haul of five wickets, and moved up one place to sixth as a result, while Keshav Maharaj’s seven wickets, including a hat-trick, helped him go three places up to 28th. Lungi Ngidi also picked up three wickets in the game, and went up three places to No. 41.Kemar Roach was by far the best West Indies bowler on show, returning 3 for 45 and 4 for 52, and that took him close to the top ten for bowlers, as he finished at 12th place.

Hazlewood now has Root eight times in 14 Tests and Cummins seven times in 11

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-2021Pat Cummins took an early lead in the head-to-head with his opposite number, Joe Root – the No. 1 men’s Test bowler and batter in the world – on the opening day at the Gabba with Australia delighted they were able to follow the “blueprint” which has previously brought them success.As soon as Root walked out, Cummins brought himself on – removing Mitchell Starc from the attack after he had taken a wicket with the first ball of the series – but never got the chance to bowl at the England captain as Josh Hazlewood found the edge with a perfect delivery that was full enough to draw Root forward.Both sides pointed out that it was just one innings out of 10 Root might play this series, although Australia were able to acknowledge that from a position of much greater strength, but such is the weight that Root carries in this England order that it was one of the day’s significant moments.Related

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“It’s only the first innings of a five-Test series but it’s a huge reason why we were able to knock them over for 147,” Cummins said. “Walk into lunch having them four down, that’s big, by the time the ball gets softer you are already into the batting line-up. One of a number of the batters who were big wickets, after his year and being captain it’s probably a little bit bigger but it’s only the first time he’s batted this series.”Root has not scored an Ashes hundred since Trent Bridge in 2015 and his trip to Australia in 2017-18 was a story of unfulfilled promise as he passed fifty five times. Hazlewood now has Root eight times in 14 Tests and Cummins seven times in 11.”Josh and Pat have almost brought that blueprint from the previous Ashes over in England where they seemed to have their plans down pat to Joe,” Mitchell Starc told during the rain delay. “Fantastic to get off to the start we did and have him for nothing.”Hopefully that continues throughout the series, but those two have carried that blueprint on from four or five Tests in England to now at the Gabba. To stay on top of the opposition captain is a big one and we’ve certainly started off in that fashion today.”Although Cummins missed out on an early bowl at Root, he was able to claim the next-best thing when Ben Stokes edged to third slip shortly after the first drinks break. Stokes, playing a first-class innings for the first time since March, had lined the ball up well during his brief stay, got one boundary away through the covers and hit mid-off a couple of times before playing one from round the wicket he might have left on length.”It’s nice when they don’t get a good look, face too many balls,” Cummins said. “They are a huge part of their batting line-up. Thought Joshy Hazlewood, that’s the blueprint to bowl to Joe Root, high quality relentless bowling and nice to get Stokes’ wicket. Everything went to plan today.”Josh Hazlewood dismissed Joe Root for a duck•Getty Images

Ollie Pope, who was part of England’s best partnership of the innings alongside Jos Buttler, was not reading too much into a lean opening day for Root in a year where he has 1455 runs.”He’s on the back of an amazing summer, sometimes you play and miss, sometimes you nick them,” he said. “Wouldn’t say it dents the confidence of the team at all. Joe’s an amazing player and he’ll come back strong. We don’t look into that much, it’s nice when the captain gets runs but we have enough quality around him to score the bulk of the runs we need.”One of the other big talking points of the day came from England’s selection. It was already known that James Anderson would sit out this Test, but Stuart Broad was also sidelined which meant for the first time since 2016 neither was in the line-up – and the first time in an Ashes Test since the MCG in 2006-07.”Not sure if you asked anyone a couple of days ago if that was going to happen that anyone would believe you,” Starc said. “To take 300 Tests and over 1000 wickets out of their side is pretty interesting. Glad I don’t have to pick any side let alone that, or tap those two on the shoulder to say they aren’t playing but we certainly enjoyed conditions out there.”It meant England’s attack had eight Tests of experience in Australia – four apiece from Stokes and Woakes – and they might have liked the first opportunity on the sporty Gabba pitch.”I thought either one of those two would play in every game,” Cummins said. “Probably surprised but they have plenty of other bowlers to step in. It’s a big day for those bowlers on Thursday.”

Rinku Singh nearly pulled off a stunning chase as KKR’s campaign came to an end

Hemant Brar20-May-2023Lucknow Super Giants 176 for 8 (Pooran 58, Shardul Thakur 2-27, Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 7 (Rinku 67*, Roy 45, Bishnoi 2-23, Yash Thakur 2-31) by one runLucknow Super Giants survived a Rinku Singh scare to become the third team to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2023 as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by one run at Eden Gardens. They ended with 17 points, tied with Chennai Super Kings, but LSG’s inferior net run rate meant they finished third. They will now face the fourth qualifying team in the Eliminator in Chennai on May 24.At the start of the day, LSG had a chance to secure a top-two finish. However, CSK’s 77-run win over Delhi Capitals in the earlier game meant LSG needed to beat KKR by a margin of around 97 runs to go above CSK. That was not going to be easy, especially after LSG posted 176 batting first. At 73 for 5 in the 11th over, they didn’t look like scoring even that many, but Nicholas Pooran’s 30-ball 58 lifted them.KKR had a flying start before they lost their way in the middle overs. It came down to 56 needed from the last four overs, and then 41 from two. Rinku took 20 off Naveen-ul-Haq in the 19th, leaving 21 for the last.Vaibhav Arora took a single on the first ball of the final over, bowled Yash Thakur. That was followed by two dots and two wides, making it 18 required from three balls. Rinku hit the next one for a six but could pick up only a four off the fifth. A six on the final delivery only reduced the margin of defeat.

LSG’s hit-and-miss start

After being sent in, LSG lost a wicket in the third over of the innings when Harshit Rana bounced out Karan Sharma for 3. Prerak Mankad tried to attack but he was more like a cat on a hot tin roof. After being on 4 off eight balls, he picked up five fours in the next two overs but hardly looked comfortable. Once the powerplay ended, his attempted upper cut against Arora was taken at deep cover. Two balls later, Arora bounced out Marcus Stoinis for a duck, making it 55 for 3.Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine dragged LSG back further. Narine had Krunal Pandya mistiming a slog sweep to deep square leg in the tenth over, and Varun got Quinton de Kock to top-edge to deep midwicket. De Kock, who picked up two sixes in the powerplay – his only boundaries on the night – ended with 28 off 27 balls.

Pooran hits them beyond the boundary

Pooran came in at No. 7, a ball after the halfway mark in the innings. Varun induced an outside edge straightaway but Pooran had played it with soft hands, resulting in the ball falling short and to the left of first slip and going for four. The next ball, though, was too short, and Pooran cut it for four. Varun then overcompensated, erring on the fuller side and was duly smashed for a straight six.With another six in the spinner’s next over, Pooran moved to 23 off just ten balls. KKR had brought in Suyash Sharma as the Impact Player for Harshit, who had bowled three overs for 1 for 21. Pooran welcomed Suyash with yet another six, and ended the over with a four, making sure the legspinner didn’t bowl another over in the game.In the 19th over, Pooran brought up his half-century with a six off Shardul Thakur. He sent the next ball over the boundary line as well, but Thakur had him caught at deep third when the batter attempted a hat-trick of sixes. Andre Russell conceded only three off the first four deliveries of the 20th over before K Gowtham hit the last two for a six and four to take LSG past 175.

KKR quick out of the blocks

KKR had an almost impossible task in front of them: they needed to win in 8.5 overs to lift their net run rate above Rajasthan Royals’ to stay alive for the playoffs. Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer smashed 30 in the first two overs but the next two brought only 15. Roy did hit three fours off Krunal’s first three balls in the fifth over but Iyer fell to Gowtham in the next, and KKR finished the powerplay on 61 for 1.

Rinku takes it close

As far as this match was concerned, KKR were well ahead of the required rate. After eight overs, they were 78 for 1, but could score only 30 in the next six for the loss of three wickets. Ravi Bishnoi had Nitish Rana caught at extra cover, Krunal bowled Roy for 45 off 28, and Yash Thakur’s slower ball accounted for Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10 off 15.With 63 needed from 28 balls, Russell hit Bishnoi for a six but was bowled on the next ball. Rinku was still in the middle, and if there is one thing this season has taught us, it is that no game is over till Rinku is batting. En route to his unbeaten 67 off 33 balls, he took Naveen for three fours and six in the 19th over but with 18 needed from three balls, he could hit only 6, 4 and 6.

Chris Rogers and Brad Hodge took control on the second day by racing Victoria to 3 for 452 against South Australia

Cricinfo staff31-Oct-2009Victoria 3 for 452 (Hodge 169*, Rogers 149) lead South Australia 292 by 160 runs

Scorecard
Loud message: Chris Rogers started the season in strong form with a century in Adelaide•Fred Kelly

The opener Chris Rogers followed his verbal reminder to the selectors with an on-field one as Victoria took control on the second day by racing to 3 for 452 against South Australia. Rogers deflated the home bowlers in posting 149 while Brad Hodge stepped in with an unbeaten 169 as the Bushrangers collected a strong lead of 160.During the week Rogers said he was disappointed that he wasn’t considered for the Ashes Tests and it is unlikely this innings will change the selectors’ minds, but it kept the pressure on the preferred New South Wales trio of Simon Katich, Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes. Rogers, who grabbed 22 fours as well as a flicked six off Peter George, added a run after tea before driving at a wider ball from Dan Christian and being caught by Aaron O’Brien in the gully.It was Rogers’ first chance, with the dismissal ending his stay after 187 deliveries and stopping the dominant partnership with Hodge of 181, which was achieved at a run-rate of 4.8 an over. Hodge continued to torment the Redbacks despite losing David Hussey, who hit Cullen Bailey to short cover on 46.Hodge had started nervously, surviving a first-ball lbw appeal, and was dropped on 54 by the stand-in captain Daniel Harris, but he showed few concerns once he got going. He lifted three sixes – one brought up his 150 – and found 24 fours during his 221-ball occupation that helped push the Bushrangers to 450 runs in a day.Christian (2 for 101) collected the first breakthrough when Nick Jewell was lbw shortly before lunch following an opening stand of 102. The Bushrangers have had no trouble adapting to the Sheffield Shield format following their Champions League Twenty20 experience and will look to add to their first-innings points over the next two days.

Limited-overs job would have been too “cushy” given strength of England’s white-ball teams

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-2022The challenge of lifting England’s Test cricket from “rock bottom” instead of a “cushy” role with the limited-overs side is what attracted Brendon McCullum to his first red-ball coaching job.McCullum was confirmed as England’s Test head coach on Thursday and will take up the position in time for the series against New Zealand next month after he concludes the current IPL season with Kolkata Knight Riders.He admitted that initially it was not a job he had given much thought to but as the interview process progressed the opportunity “kind of smacked me in the head.””I looked at the two roles, the white-ball didn’t interest me as such because the team is flying, one of the best teams in the world, they’ve got Eoin Morgan who is a very good friend of mine and I know has built a structure and system which will continue well after he finishes playing,” he told radio station SENZ.Related

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“I wasn’t really interested in a cushy kind of gig, for me if you are prepared to change your life for something then it’s got to be something a bit grunty, a bit meaty, and the challenge of trying to bring a team which is rock bottom at the moment, and try and build something long term that is sustainable and successful, that is more where the challenge lay.”McCullum added that it was vital for the health of Test cricket that England, who have won just one of their last 17 matches, were strong in the format. The four-year deal he has signed will take him up to the end of the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia.”For me, Test cricket is on a downward trend in terms of its popularity and where it sits and while I’m lucky enough to have a career in franchise cricket and white-ball cricket, Test cricket is my real love,” he said. “If anyone is going to be able to reinvigorate Test cricket and get it popular again then it’s going to be England.”If you can be at the forefront of that by playing an attractive brand of cricket, play with a smile on your face and try to entertain, then Test cricket has a chance. Once you strip that out it was like, crikey, I’ve got to give this a chance if they think I’m the right person.”McCullum was excited about striking up a partnership with new captain Ben Stokes – jokingly noting that it was now two New Zealanders in charge of the Test team – and called the opportunity given to him “humbling”.”The way Ben Stokes plays the game is pretty similar to how I play and how I love coaching, which is to play with a bit of freedom and try and put pressure back on the opposition,” he said.However, it did not pass him by that there may be some strange feelings on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s on June 2. “That’s going to be a little interesting, I will say that, but at the same time there’s something kind of cool about it too.”

The Pakistan coach feels his batsmen did not stick to their roles, and his bowlers abandoned good plans too quickly against India

Shashank Kishore in Dubai20-Sep-20181:05

We were soft, and batted outside our roles – Mickey Arthur

If the Pakistan players were looking for some consolation from their coach Mickey Arthur after an eight-wicket pounding from India on Wednesday, they found none. There was no sugar coating, just an honest appraisal of what went wrong.The first glaring mistake was deviating from set plans. In nine ODIs coming into the India game, never mind that five of them were against a second-string Zimbabwe team, Imam-ul-Haq had been the grafter who looked to bat through. While he has four hundreds in these games, sceptics have felt his batting style is out-dated.On Wednesday, after facing seven deliveries for two runs, he had a Shahid Afridi moment though – advancing down the pitch to heave Bhuvneshwar Kumar after Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a maiden over to Fakhar Zaman. Imam isn’t the adventurous kind, even if he steps out. The result was a thin edge leading edge through to MS Dhoni, and Pakistan had lost a wicket in the third over.”I think the pressure told on Imam,” Arthur said. “That’s not in his area. If he comes down, he’s going to be going extra cover, not midwicket, so yes I do think there was a little bit of pressure.”Arthur wasn’t against the idea of hitting over the top, but said the team management had worked overtime to drill into each player their role. Fakhar, for example, has been empowered to biff the bowling without worrying about repercussions, because anything else would be tweaking his natural ability.”We’ve got guys, X-factor guys whose role it is to do that [hit out],” Arthur said. “If Fakhar gets out playing that way, then it’s okay, because that’s what he needs to do. If Asif Ali gets out like that it’s okay because that’s his role. But the other four batsmen certainly need to take responsibility. And I just thought we were soft – 158 dot balls out of 258 played is not good enough.”With the middle order exposed early, Pakistan’s experienced batsmen had time to forge a recovery, and while crease occupation was important, they had to be mindful of runs too. It was in trying to step out and loft Kedar Jadhav over long-on that Sarfraz Ahmed was caught brilliantly on the boundary by Manish Pandey. Babar Azam had looked compact, but was out stepping out to Kuldeep Yadav. Then a mix-up with Asif Ali cost Shoaib Malik his wicket. In the end, a tame 162 all out in 43.1 overs was all they had.The deviation from plans wasn’t just restricted to their batting. After giving away just 15 runs off the first six overs with the ball, Pakistan could have looked to build pressure by continuing to bowl full and swing the ball. Strangely enough, Usman Khan decided to adopt a short-ball strategy from around the stumps to Rohit Sharma, and saw the plan spectacularly backfire as Rohit played the hook to perfection.”On a wicket like that you need to strike really if you’re going to defend it. We didn’t strike early enough,” Arthur said. “We went away from our plans too quickly. We said that our batters batted outside our roles and that wasn’t acceptable. With our bowling, we went outside our plans far too quickly. We wanted to bowl hard lengths, hit the top of off stump.”It was tough to score then. We did that in the first six, and then [Usman Khan] Shinwari decided to come around the wicket and bowl a bouncer with fine leg up. And from there it just tumbled. We’re going to sit down and talk about that. It’s not good enough. We went outside our plans. That’s not acceptable. I think there was a bit of panic when they didn’t strike early.”It wasn’t just Usman’s poor outing that concerned Arthur. He was also mindful of the growing pressure on Mohammad Amir, whose struggle for wickets since last year’s Champions Trophy is becoming an Achilles heel, but was encouraged by what he saw in the six overs Amir bowled.”I’d be lying if I sat here and said there wasn’t [any concern about Amir],” he said. “I had a really good, long hard chat with him last night and I thought he came out and bowled really well. He hit the crease really hard. He ran in well. He’s been decelerating to the crease, but he didn’t do that today. Today he seemed more fluent, there was a little bit more pace there. And I was comfortable [with what he did], he bowled well tonight. There is pressure on him, of course there is.”With the assessment of his team done, Arthur was asked how an attack that almost failed to defend 286 against Hong Kong just the previous day transformed itself. Arthur put this down to the Bumrah factor.”You see what a difference Bumrah makes to their attack,” he said. “I thought their spinners bowled better, their lengths were far better than they were last night [v Hong Kong]. So I think they were better for the hit out. As far us, whenever we go head-to-head with India, I am comfortable that we’ve got a dressing room of players who can stand up to it. I am comfortable we’ve got a dressing room of players who, on any given day, can win. So I still think it’s a 50-50. Lucky this game was inconsequential in the tournament.”

Although they face a massive deficit, Shepherd Makunura wanted his batsmen to learn from Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque and fight back in Dhaka

Liam Brickhill12-Nov-2018Having watched Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque bat for close to two days after they had Bangladesh on the ropes at 26 for 3, Zimbabwe have been given a thorough lesson in how to apply themselves on a pitch that has occasionally offered something for the bowlers.”Our batters can learn a thing or two from him [Mushfiqur], from how he applied himself on that pitch,” said Shepherd Makunura, Zimbabwe’s fielding coach. “Earlier on, especially in the first session, the ball did quite a bit, but he batted quite well.”Mominul’s counterattacking ton and Mushfiqur’s watchful double allowed Bangladesh to seize control of the game after Zimbabwe’s early inroads. But Makunura presented a brave face when asked about what must have been a frustrating experience for the visitors.”That’s part of cricket,” he said. “Things like that will always happen. You do get a few wickets early on, but in Test cricket there’s bound to be partnerships along the way. The way the Bangladesh batters applied themselves, they set themselves up for the other batters coming in.”One of those other batters was Mehidy Hasan, who made an attacking, unbeaten 68 at No. 9 to extend Bangladesh to a total of 522. “Coming in to a set batter like Mushfiqur made it a little easier for him, and the stage was set for a good partnership,” Makunura said of Mehidy’s knock. “They did bat quite well, the two of them.”Helpful in Bangladesh’s recovery were Zimbabwe’s lapses in the field. They dropped Mominul three times during his 161, and also offered Mushfiqur a second life in the fourth over on Monday, when an inside edge ricocheted off his thigh and wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva put the chance down.”It’s always frustrating,” Makunura said of the drops, “But it’s part of the game. You catch some, you drop some, and it’s part of the game. We have to take it in our stride, and move on from there.”Zimbabwe were made to pay for their mistakes in the field, and their bowling attack struggled to maintain the consistency that had helped set up their win in Sylhet. Fast bowler Tendai Chatara was stretched off with a suspected Grade 2 tear on his left quadriceps muscle, and though Kyle Jarvis stuck to his lines to take 5 for 71 in his absence, he was given precious little support by Zimbabwe’s spin attack, who went wicketless.”I don’t think the guys were complacent,” Makunura said. “We spoke in our change rooms earlier on this was an opportunity for us to win an away Test series, which we haven’t done in a long time. I don’t think we bowled well enough, but I wouldn’t put that down to complacency. We didn’t bowl as well as we should have, but we also must give credit to the Bangladesh batters.”Makunura remained hopeful that Zimbabwe could learn from Mominul and Mushfiqur’s example and bat themselves back into the game, pointing to the first session of the third day as being crucial to their mission.”I think the game is still evenly poised, although Bangladesh batted quite well,” he said. “It’s all going to depend on how well we bat tomorrow, especially the first session. If we can negotiate the first session, we can make life a little easier for ourselves. It’s going to take a lot of batting for us.”