28-Aug-2016Like in the previous ODI, Mitchell Starc had Danushka Gunathilaka bowled in the first over•Associated PressSoon after, Kusal Mendis was caught at second slip off Josh Hazlewood as Sri Lanka slipped to 23 for 2•Associated PressDilshan carried Sri Lanka towards 100, before his final ODI innings ended when he picked out midwicket on 42. He finished as the 11th highest run-scorer in ODIs, and the fourth-highest among Sri Lankans•Associated PressDinesh Chandimal, who had started the rebuilding phase with Dilshan, continued even though he did not get much support from the middle and lower order•AFPAdam Zampa derailed Sri Lanka in the middle overs. After accounting for Dilshan, he trapped Angelo Mathews lbw for 2•Associated PressDhananjaya de Silva struggled for his 30-ball 12, before Kusal Perera was bowled by a yorker from Starc just after Sri Lanka crossed 150•AFPSri Lanka tumbled to 178 for 8, but Chandimal, in the company of No. 10 Dilruwan Perera, took Sri Lanka past 200, bringing up his fourth ODI century in the process. He was dismissed for 102 and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 226 with four balls to spare•Associated PressMathews gave his side a strong start by dismissing David Warner for 10 and Shaun Marsh for 1. Aaron Finch, who scored 30 off 29 balls, could not convert his start as Australia stuttered to 44 for 3•Associated PressTravis Head, promoted to No. 5, kept the score ticking…•AFP… and along with George Bailey, who used his feet and reverse-sweeps to good effect against the spinners, put on 62 for the fourth wicket•AFPOnce Head was bowled by Dilruwan for 36, Matthew Wade and Bailey took Australia to a more comfortable position by scoring 81 in under 16 overs. Australia needed only 40 runs off the last 12 overs•AFPBut Sri Lanka fought back by dismissing Wade, Bailey (70) and James Faulkner within a space of five overs to leave Australia 206 for 7•AFPHowever, Australia’s tail saw them through for a slender two-wicket win, giving them a 2-1 lead. For Sri Lanka, though, the match will be remembered as the final ODI of Dilshan’s 17-year career•AFP

Farcical bowling, the helmet fielder, chess interruptions, batting for pints – ten instances of when matches weren’t cricket

Ed Kemp02-Nov-201610. Silly Brearley
Frustrated at Yorkshire’s unwillingness to engage in a run-chase, Middlesex skipper Mike Brearley once indulged in a “game within a game” with left-arm spinner Phil Edmonds. Removing the short-leg fielder, they instead placed his helmet at short mid-wicket in the hope of persuading Jim Love or Richard Lumb to play against the spin for the five-run bonus and offer a catch off the leading edge. “Childish?” Brearley asked in , “Probably, but if it were not for the child in us we would never play games at all.” His bit of fun led to the ruling that unworn helmets can only be placed immediately behind the keeper.9. The six-delivery dash
With yet another rain break having annulled any hopes of a result in the County Championship match between Yorkshire and Sussex at Headingley in 2007, the only game in town for the home side was increasing their over-rate to avoid a points deduction. . A compendium of AOC’s best top tens – the good, the bad and the downright weird – will be published by Bloomsbury in early 2017

Australia had just returned from a humbling in Sri Lanka, and South Africa were hurt by their own subcontinental humiliation. Both took something out of how the series ended in Adelaide

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide27-Nov-2016Once upon a time, in a land Down Under, two great rivals had scheduled a duel. They were not fighting over a grand prize – the cup did not even have a name – but something far more important. Theirs was a battle for honour. Both had strong sporting prowess and both had plenty to prove.The hosts, Australia, had just returned from a humbling in Sri Lanka where they had to give up the crown they had worn for just a few months. They were ranked No.1 before that trip, buoyed by a satisfying home summer, but like the Emperor who thought he was clad in finery, their batting was actually bare.The challengers, South Africa, were embarking on their first mission since they were humiliated in India with their first away series loss in nine years. The months after that sent them reeling – a home defeat to England, an early exit from the World T20 and an off-field overhaul that put the focus on a change in team make-up through transformation. They arrived like Princess Aurora, asleep but still attractive.Still, something stirred in South Africa early on, which suggested they were ready to shake their last-season slumber. Their spearhead Dale Steyn threatened to push the opposition’s Humpty Dumpty off the wall. He said that would cause the body to fall but in a cruel twist, it was his own shell that could not be put back together again.The king’s other soldiers and the king’s other men had to go out on their own and Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj accepted the task. A stirring comeback allowed the two stepsisters of the WACA – JP Duminy, whose career was born there eight years ago but had returned on life support, and Dean Elgar, whose career could have been stillborn there four years ago – to go to the ball. When midnight came, they had both scored hundreds and another little star was twinkling too. Temba Bavuma effected the run-out that started the second Australian collapse and led to the unlikeliest of South African wins.Steven Smith’s team collapsed around him in Hobart, where South Africa won the series by taking a 2-0 lead•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesAustralia were caught off guard but they promised not to make any changes. Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann’s noses grew as the words came out. They were proved Pinocchios when Australia made three changes for the second battle., Philander smelled the blood of an Australian. He turned the Hobart pitch into a magic carpet, rolled back the years, and claimed his first five-for on the road since Lord’s 2012. Australia were all out for 85, which made for better reading than their 47 four years ago but would have felt a lot worse.All the better to rub your nose in it then, my dear, thought Quinton de Kock and Kyle Abbott. De Kock racked up a fifth consecutive score of fifty or more; Abbott claimed a nine-wicket match haul in his eighth Test over three years. South Africa had found a way to make stone soup, while Australia’s pot was still boiling.Too hot, too cold and nowhere near just right, explained the golden-locked Steven Smith. “If there is anything in the wicket – spin, swing, seam – at the moment, we are not adapting well enough. We are not willing to grind it out.”A trail of mints leading to a ball-tampering allegation shone in the moonlight but unlike Hansel and Gretel, the Australian team had no interest in following it. The ICC, however, did. It was alerted to the footage through media reports and laid a charge against the victorious stand-in captain Faf du Plessis, turning him from hero to villain. Despite carrying a previous conviction for this offense, he cried wolf and so did his cricket board.The Adelaide Oval was bathed in a golden sunset and a new-look Australia salvaged victory to signal that all was not lost•Cricket Australia”Everybody does it,” they bellowed. “The term artificial is not clear,” they said. “Ball shining is different to ball tampering,” they pleaded. They huffed and puffed but they could not blow the house down. Match referee Andy Pycroft found du Plessis guilty. The punishment was not harsh enough to prevent du Plessis from playing the Adelaide Test, a fixture that could lead to a pot of gold at the end of a slightly different-coloured rainbow.South Africa were chasing a whitewash in a game that would be played with a pink ball. They would have to beat another new-look Australian side to do that. The hosts had replaced grumpy, sleepy, dopey and sneezy with driven, determined, defiant and daring. Their fresh faces saved their snow whites with a consolation win in which their Rapunzel, Usman Khawaja, let down his long hair. He made South Africa’s attack toil, for only the second time in the series, and scored a century to finish as the series’ top-scorer.South Africa won’t leave too disappointed, though. After everything, they have plenty to celebrate. After du Plessis turned Cinderella, with a redeeming century, even their ugly duckling, Stephen Cook, whose technique was written off and career looked over, became a swan.In Perth and Hobart, Sleeping Beauty woke up; in Adelaide, the Emperor found a clever little tailor to begin stitching the basics of a new wardrobe and in the end, they all lived happily ever after. At least until the next series.

MS Dhoni’s quips and one-liners

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2017If I tell everyone what it is, then they (CSK) won’t buy me at the auctions. It’s a trade secret.
Dhoni tight-lipped on the secret behind CSK qualifying for the playoffs at will.I won’t count it as a bad performance. It was so bad that I can’t count it as a performance.
MS Dhoni usually didn’t mince his words after a poor display.You can convert 1.8 runs or 1.9 runs into twos, but not 1.75 or 1.7.
Some calculations from one of the best runners between wickets for when an outfield has dew.Personally I feel I use a bit too much of my brain in this format.
Has anyone summed up the Twenty20 format better?That’s why you should watch the game. What went wrong you would have realised.
There were times when journalists were at the receiving end of his one-liners.Another 20 days and you can apply for citizenship.
The feeling after India’s long tour of Australia in 2014-15.It’s like having 100kg put over you. After that even if you put a mountain, it will not make a difference.
What’s pressure? A matter of a few extra kilos.Whenever we have played with four fast bowlers, two things happen. One the captain gets banned, two we lose.
He often got straight to the point when discussing tactics.They actually feel it will be better off to put a bowling machine there.
When his bowlers didn’t like the new ODI rules introduced in 2013.God is not coming to save us.
The words of wisdom in the huddle before India’s successful defence of a below-par total in the 2013 Champions Trophy final.At the moment, we are not even using one, where will we bowl two?
The time he felt helpless when two-bouncer-an-over rule was introduced in ODIs, given how India’s fast bowlers were either injured or out of form.Frankly, I am quite bad at analysing technique; you have seen my technique.
But will we see him as an expert on the telly?We will be busy shopping. That’s something we can afford to do. There is nothing really in our hands.
What to do when your team’s fate lies in the hands of a match played by others.From Kishore Kumar, we have gone to Sean Paul.
Dhoni had to adapt to the old and the young during his stint as captain.You die, you die. You don’t see which is the better way to die.
His wit didn’t desert him during back-to-back whitewashes in England and Australia.I don’t mind repeating everything.
After he led India to the 2011 World Cup. A lot of Dhoni fans wouldn’t mind hearing those words now.The only person who can control Sreesanth is Sreesanth. It is beyond my control and I don’t think too much about.
Man-management MS Dhoni style.Till the full stop doesn’t come the sentence is not complete.
The time when he got metaphorical ahead of the 2011 World Cup final.One other guy won’t play.
It’s not easy remembering your XI, especially when it’s the first game of a World Cup campaign.The only thing that went well for us was the warm-up before the game.
The positives from a bad game.If I have a drink in hand, I excuse myself by saying, ‘I’ll just get a drink’ but never show up in front of that person again.
Wonder if he still does this when he encounters someone with an Australian or British accent, which he found difficult to understand.Frankly speaking I don’t understand Duckworth-Lewis. I just wait for the umpire’s decision.
He is like the rest of us.What happens inside a meeting, where the selectors, the captain and the coaches are there, when it comes out, it is disgusting and disrespectful.
The time when he got upset when discussions of the selection meeting were leaked to the media.If you are not 100 per cent fit and not at your best [and still play], it’s cheating.
When he made his stance on fitness clear after sitting out a Test series in Sri Lanka, in 2008.When you’ve played international cricket, you realise you never play 100 percent.
When his stance on fitness evolved in a 2019 IPL match.I’ll just ask Mahela if he will lend Mendis for a couple of practice sessions.
That was a plan.You [media people] change my girlfriends every two days. Please let one continue for some time.
The days when Indian media loved speculating about all things Dhoni.We are told that Mumbai is a city which is always on the move. See, me and my boys have brought the entire city to a standstill today.
His reaction after crowds thronged to welcome the team at a parade following the World T20 win.Before I start I should say I read an article by you in Cricinfo. You’d said Australia were the favourites. Today I think me and the boys, we proved you wrong.
Speaking to Ravi Shastri after India’s victory over Australia in the semi-finals of the 2007 World Twenty20, MS Dhoni had revealed that he read our site.Now even PETA has said you can’t cosmetically remove the tail.
A woke answer from a woke captain – after many questions about India’s lower-order batting.You may put hybrid fuel in the car but the cylinder, the engine, everything, needs to be like that.
On whether India needs a fielding coach.I love to go back to Ranchi. I have three dogs at home. Even after losing a series or winning a series, they treat me the same way.
On the break from being India’s captain and under constant scrutiny.In countries like Australia or England, people speak English in such an accent that it is very hard to understand. So, at parties when locals come to us and start talking, even if we are not getting anything, we say ‘yeah’. Or if I have a drink in hand, I excuse myself by saying, ‘I’ll just get a drink’ but never show up in front of that person again
Early tours with the Indian team were challenging on many fronts.I didn’t expect MS to ask me to captain the side for five overs. I was already switched off, so he woke me up. I didn’t know what was happening the first six-seven balls.
Sourav Ganguly, when MSD made an unexpected gesture in his final Test…
From 1929 hrs consider me as retired
Finally, Dhoni using his first Instagram post in eight months to announce retirement in the way only he could

Far from being downcast after a chastening defeat in the first ODI, Jos Buttler believes England have the batting firepower to bounce back at Cuttack

Vishal Dikshit in Cuttack18-Jan-20171:59

‘Chasing can be an advantage’ – Buttler

Jos Buttler is relishing the fear factor that has been attributed to him over the last few years, and especially on Wednesday evening by an Indian player. On the eve of the second ODI in Cuttack, where England hope to launch their comeback in the three-match series, India opener KL Rahul was asked which England batsmen he thought were the biggest threats for India. He was given one option – Buttler – and he didn’t need more.”When he was batting in the last game we were worried about Jos, because we know what he can do at the death,” Rahul said. “We’ve watched him in the IPL, he can play around the wicket, he’s a 360-degree player. We’ll have to make sure to get him out early, that’s our best chance. We’ve seen how he’s changed scenarios and won games for England.”When told a couple of hours later about what Rahul had said, Buttler kept a straight face but took pride in the kind of menacing match-winning for which his opponent had singled him out.”Yes, I really enjoy that,” Buttler said in acknowledgement. “That’s something I want to be as a player, someone who can win games for England. The real motivation is to try and win games of cricket for England and to stand up and take responsibility to do that. That’s something I really want to develop even more as a player and try and keep doing for this side.”Especially in this series, it is a fantastic challenge for us. As a group, we’ve made good strides in the last couple of years and playing India in these conditions and against these crowds is a fantastic challenge. That’s something that, personally, I want to stand up and overcome.”Buttler, after all, has been one of the batting mainstays in England’s new wave in the last two years, breaking numerous records in limited-overs matches. Since the 2015 World Cup, he has scored 968 runs at 53.77 in 23 innings with a staggering strike rate of 132.78, which is faster than any other batsman (minimum 15 innings).Jos Buttler believes England have the weapons to fight back against India•AFPHe also resumed his Test career against India before Christmas, after a year on the sidelines, but his most notable feat this winter was to lead the England ODI side to a series win in Bangladesh – something Pakistan, India and South Africa were unable to achieve in the last two years. It was probably that recent leadership stint that, when asked about his own game, led him to talk as much about the team as his own performances.”As a side, if we can come from 1-0 down and win the series 2-1… obviously we’ve got to progress one game at a time but I think it is great that we can get that excitement, not just for myself but for the group, that straight away, tomorrow is a knockout type of a game. I think that’s a real motivation.”England could probably count themselves somewhat unlucky to be a defeat away from a series loss in a three-match contest, despite scoring 350 and reducing India to 63 for 4 in the chase. Buttler, however, looked at the other side of the story – how the two teams had gone about scoring those 350 runs.”There are a lot of positives for us to take from the other game,” he said. “We reached 350 without anyone going on getting a hundred. That’s the difference between the two sides, two guys standing up for the Indian team and going past the three figures. Getting to 350 should give us confidence. Guys do go on and make telling contributions, 350-plus is achievable for us as a side.”The Barabati Stadium, the venue for the second ODI, does not have big boundaries and may easily play host to another high-scoring match. It is only slightly bigger than the MCA Stadium in Pune and looked like a “very good batting wicket”. While there may be some dew, making bowling second more difficult, Buttler said that, even though England had recently put other teams under pressure by putting massive totals on the scoreboard first, batting first on flat tracks is not always the best option as one could not be sure what score would be enough.So was batting second an advantage? “It can be,” he said. “Sometimes it is good to know exactly what you are chasing. Sometimes the challenge on very good wickets is trying to pace the innings when you’re not chasing a score. So it’s probably tough to be estimating what way you need to get to and what you need to get to, to be a winning score.”I think we weren’t far away the other day. Probably when I got out was the time when we were looking to really pick up the pace. Between 30 and 40 overs can be quite a crucial time. So chasing can be an advantage, obviously knowing exactly what is required. Whether you bat or bowl first, you have to do it very well and one of the strengths of our side has been winning the toss and batting and putting teams under immense pressure by putting a score on the board. We had India at 60 for 4 and 350 seemed a long way away. I think both have advantages.”Buttler captained England to victory in the ODI series against Bangladesh in October•Getty ImagesButtler was also happy to go back to being vice-captain on the return of regular captain Eoin Morgan. After leading England to a 2-1 series win in Bangladesh, Buttler said it was good to be the deputy as well as the wicketkeeper to offer advice.”Yes definitely, I’m enjoying it [vice-captaincy],” he said. “Under Eoin, it’s fantastic to have him back. As a wicketkeeper, your role is to always offer advice to the captain and try and come up with plans and solutions.”He has a wealth of experience; he’s played a lot of cricket compared to the young group that we are. His vision for the game as to where the side should get to, he’s a fantastic leader in that sense. He really champions people playing in the way they believe and he goes out and shows that in the way he plays and he has done that for England.”He’s probably one of the first revolutionary players for England and that shows in the group in the way the people look to him, the way he’s taking his career forward and the way he champions guys to play. He gives guys a lot of confidence to go out there and play in that fashion. He’s very calm under pressure, a very forward thinking guy.”

England top the win-loss ratio and run rate charts since the 2015 World Cup; South Africa aren’t too far behind on both counts either

S Rajesh28-May-201726/13 England’s win-loss record in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup; their ratio of 2.00 is the best among all teams during this period. South Africa are next at 25-13, followed by Bangladesh’s 16-10. Against teams that are playing in the 2017 Champions Trophy, South Africa have a 23-11 record, which is the best, followed by England’s 21-13.10/9 Bangladesh’s win-loss record against the top eight teams in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup, the best among the four Asian teams. India have won nine and lost 12, while Sri Lanka (5-19) and Pakistan (6-18) have the worst records against the top teams in this period.6.14 The average ODI run rate in England since the 2015 World Cup. This is the highest among all countries that have hosted at least 10 ODIs since. Australia are next with a rate of 6.00, followed by South Africa (5.94) and India (5.74). In the period between 2013 and the end of the 2015 World Cup, the run rate in England was 5.21, sixth among ten countries.6.28 England’s ODI run rate since the 2015 World Cup; they are the only team to score at more than a run a ball during this period. South Africa are next at 5.82 followed by Australia’s 5.81. Against the top eight teams England have done even better, scoring at 6.33 runs per over. In these two years, England have 20 scores of 300 or more. South Africa are next best with 12.

ODI stats v top eight teams since the 2015 World Cup

Team W/ L Ratio Bat ave RR Bowl ave ERSouth Africa 23/ 11 2.09 40.17 5.85 31.13 5.57England 21/ 13 1.62 41.11 6.33 36.30 5.86Australia 20/ 15 1.33 35.93 5.86 32.36 5.64New Zealand 20/ 17 1.18 32.84 5.66 32.67 5.72Bangladesh 10/ 9 1.11 35.48 5.55 31.15 5.33India 9/ 12 0.75 38.90 5.89 37.55 5.97Pakistan 6/ 18 0.33 31.85 5.39 44.36 5.96Sri Lanka 5/ 19 0.26 28.00 5.28 46.65 6.088/1 India’s ODI win-loss record in England in the last five years, the best ratio among all teams during this period. Pakistan have the poorest record (1-7) among the teams participating in the Champions Trophy. Bangladesh, meanwhile, haven’t played an ODI in England during this period; they last played in 2010 and have a 2-7 record since 2005.6.02 England’s run rate in the middle overs in ODIs since April 2015. They are the only team scoring at more than a run a ball in the middle overs as well in this period. The next highest is India’s 5.47. England have hit a four or a six once every 10 balls, while the next best is 11, by Bangladesh. They are also the only team with a dot-ball percentage of less than 45 in the middle overs. The two highest run-scorers in the middle overs during this period are also from England: Eoin Morgan (1309 runs at a strike rate of 97), and Joe Root (1277 runs at a strike rate of 95).

Teams in the middle overs (10.1 to 40.0) in ODIs since Apr 1, 2015

Batting Team Run rate Ave BpB Dot %England 6.02 49.00 10.00 44.67India 5.47 53.85 11.66 46.58South Africa 5.45 44.35 11.86 46.27Pakistan 5.40 41.03 12.40 47.37Australia 5.39 45.45 11.70 48.61Bangladesh 5.29 39.57 11.01 51.50New Zealand 5.22 37.01 11.82 50.19Sri Lanka 5.06 35.13 13.40 49.9731 ODI wickets for Mustafizur Rahman against the top eight teams since the 2015 World Cup. He’s got them at an average of 18.41 and an economy rate of 4.84. While nine bowlers have taken more wickets than he has, in terms of the bowling factor – average multiplied by runs conceded per ball – Mustafizur has the best numbers, among bowlers with 25 or more wickets against the top eight teams.Mustafizur Rahman has been outstanding against the top teams in the last couple of years, taking 31 wickets at 18.41 and an economy rate of 4.84•ESPNcricinfo Ltd42.67 The bowling average for legspinners in ODIs in England in the last five years. They have taken 42 wickets, at an economy rate of 6.16. Offspinners have done better, taking 147 wickets at an average of 34.31 and an economy rate of 5.12, while left-arm spinners average 33.85 at an economy rate of 4.95. England’s Adil Rashid hasn’t done badly at home, taking 37 wickets at 31.72 (ER 5.72), though his best bowling figures were achieved against the relatively weak Ireland batting line-up, when he took 5 for 27 in Bristol. In his only ODI in England, Imran Tahir had figures of none for 68 from nine, while Yasir Shah has figures of none for 110 from 15.3 overs.

Pace and spin in ODIs in England since Jan 2012

Bowler type Wkts Ave ER SRRight-arm pace 467 34.77 5.43 38.40 Left-arm pace 114 35.16 5.66 37.24Offspin 147 34.31 5.12 40.19 Left-arm orthodox 62 33.85 4.95 41.05Legspin 42 42.67 6.16 41.55 9 ODI hundreds for David Warner since April 2015, the most for any batsman. Quinton de Kock is next with six. Warner’s aggregate of 1899 is also the highest during this period. Against the eight participating teams at the Champions Trophy, Warner’s aggregate is the highest since the last World Cup, but in terms of the batting factor – the product of the average and the runs scored per ball – AB de Villiers is slightly ahead of Warner (among batsmen with 750 or more runs).AB de Villiers’ form will be a huge factor is how far South Africa progress in the Champions Trophy•ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 Instances of Australia winning the Champions Trophy – they are the only team with outright wins in two finals. India have also won twice, but in 2002 they shared the trophy with Sri Lanka after the final was washed out. South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies have won it once each.15/6 India’s win-loss record in the Champions Trophy, the best among all teams. Australia are next with a 12-7 record.

The laundry list of records broken during the Quadrangular series between India, South Africa, Ireland and Zimbabwe

Annesha Ghosh21-May-201716 Successive victories for India between February 2016 and May 2017, equalling the second longest winning streak in women’s ODIs. In this period, opener Deepti Sharma was Player of the Match on five occasions.188 Deepti’s score against Ireland. It is the highest by an Indian and second-highest in women’s ODIs, after Belinda Clark’s unbeaten 229 against Denmark in 1997. Deepti, 19, became the tenth youngest centurion, surpassing Charlotte Edwards’ unbeaten 173 to claim the second spot on the list of highest individual scores in ODIs. She also bettered Jaya Sharma’s 138 not out against Pakistan in 2005 as the highest score by an Indian.6 Consecutive half-centuries for Mithali Raj. She equalled the record for the most back-to-back fifties by Australia’s Ellyse Perry and Lindsay Reeler and England’s Edwards, with her 79-ball 62 against South Africa in the final on Sunday.27 Fours hit by Deepti in a single innings – a world record. She took over from New Zealand’s Rachel Priest (23 fours). Deepti’s 188 was also the highest score among maiden centuries in women’s ODIs.File photo: The 18-year old Laura Wolvaardt hit 149 and took South Africa to 337, their highest total in ODIs•Getty Images320 Runs put on by Deepti and Punam Raut in partnership against Ireland. It was the highest in women’s ODIs for any wicket and only the second 300-run stand across formats.13 years 360 days Louise Little’s age when she became the youngest player – male or female – born this millennium to feature in an ODI. Little is the third youngest debutant for Ireland and fifth youngest to play women’s ODIs.50 Fifty-plus scores for Raj in ODIs. She became only the second woman, after Edwards, to achieve the feat. While Edwards got to the milestone in 160 innings, Raj took 157.100 ODIs as captain – Raj became only the third player to do so after Edwards (117) and Clark (101).181 Wickets for Jhulan Goswami – the most by anyone in women’s ODIs. She trapped South Africa’s Raisibe Ntozakhe on May 9 to surpass Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick.249 India’s largest margin of victory, in terms of runs, in ODIs, registered on May 15 against Ireland. Their previous best was the 207-run win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup in 2008.53 Catches for Goswami – the most by a non-wicketkeeper in women’s ODIs. She moved past Edwards and Lydia Greenway’s tally when she helped dismiss Sune Luus in the final against South Africa on Sunday.Deepti Sharma, in making 188 off 160 balls, hit the most fours by a batsman in an innings in Women’s ODIs•Associated Press89 Catches for South Africa’s Trisha Chetty, equalling the record for a wicketkeeper in women’s ODIs. In her 88th innings behind the stumps, she caught Ireland’s Jennifer Gray to draw level with former New Zealand wicketkeeper Rebecca Rolls, who needed 101 innings to set the mark.100 ODI wickets for fast bowler Shabnim Ismail – the second among South Africans, after Dane van Niekerk, and the second-fastest after Australia’s Fitzpatrick to reach the milestone. She bowled India’s Sushma Verma on May 17 to earn her 100th scalp and became the 17th player in women’s ODIs to bag as many wickets.337 South Africa’s highest total, against Ireland, was piloted by 18-year old Laura Wolvaardt’s run-a-ball 149 on May 11. South Africa’s bowling attack stifled the opposition to 159, completing a 178-run win – their fourth-largest margin of victory in terms of runs. A game later, South Africa recorded their second-highest total, 323, against the same opponents.358 India’s highest total and the tenth-highest in women’s ODIs. India became the sixth team to reach the 350-run mark.

How a teenage fast bowler made her way out of Peru and closer to playing for the team of her dreams

Aishwarya Kumar04-Jun-2017Jade Rodriguez felt her anxiety rise with every step. Her heart pounded, and her stomach constricted. The masses of people around her didn’t help ease the claustrophobia she suddenly felt. She was having an anxiety attack – and she had to get away.At just 15 years old, Rodriguez had experienced these attacks before, and sometimes – as with this one – they came without any provocation. It was late 2015, and the cricket community in Peru was throwing an end-of-season party at the Lima Cricket and Football Club. She stepped outside and wandered around aimlessly until she found some cricket nets. She picked up a cork ball, started running in and bowling as fast as she could, her bushy brown hair flying out behind her as she ran. She did this over and over, and within minutes, she found herself relaxing. Years of bottled-up emotions flooded out. Her breath was steadying. She felt in control of her life as she held the maroon ball around its seam.Rodriguez’s mother, Juliet Solomon, came looking for her daughter as soon as she realised she was missing from the party. When she found her in the nets, she knew Rodriguez wasn’t going to talk just yet. She is known to bear the burden of her intense feelings by herself. So Solomon picked up a bat, and without uttering a word, started defending her daughter’s deliveries.That was the first time Rodriguez had touched a ball in a year. She had been the lead bowler for the Peruvian women’s national cricket team since she was 11 years old. But dealing with depression between 2014 and 2015, she could barely find the motivation to live, let alone play cricket.”Cricket saved my life,” says Rodriguez, now 17, thinking back to that day. “Every day I would wake up and would think to myself, ‘One less day to Sunday, when I can train’ – and that would keep me going.”Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in London, Rodriguez was ten when she and her mother first moved to Peru in 2010 for her mother’s job with the United Nations. Her father, Hector Rodriguez, stayed in London. The move was rough for a child who was used to making friends easily in London. In Peru, she suddenly had to deal with cliquish classmates who looked at her like an outsider.She was bullied, picked on and beaten up for looking different. She would get anxiety attacks during classes, and her teachers would give her permission to go to the gym and take a few swings at the punching bag. She didn’t have a pair of gloves, so every swing hurt, but it made her feel better. She sometimes even punched the nearest wall, finding a way to calm down. She changed schools after her first year in Peru, when the bullying got out of control.Through this rough transition, she had one thing that “kept her sane”, Solomon says: playing cricket in the Lima Cricket and Football Club.The CanAM side with the West Haven Cricket Club team at the Philadelphia International Cricket Festival in May•Aishwarya Kumar/ESPNRodriguez grew up in a household where daily conversations included the names of Vivian Richards and Garry Sobers. Her mother, a Trinidadian, was room-mates with the daughter of former West Indies cricketer Clive Lloyd when she was a student in London. She also waitressed in a hotel there where the West Indies team stayed during tournaments.At nine years old, Rodriguez watched her first match: West Indies v Australia at The Oval. She was clad in the team’s maroon and a West Indies hat and jersey, screaming in joy. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew she loved it.Her first hands-on experience arrived when she was ten, when her mother started volunteering as a scorer in Lima. At first, Solomon tried making Rodriguez sit on the sidelines with her stepbrother while she scored, but Rodriguez wanted to be on the field. That was where she knew she belonged.Most children want to be batsmen, but ever since Rodriguez saw Curtly Ambrose in , the documentary on the transformation of the West Indies cricket team in the 1980s, she found herself dreaming of being a fast bowler. There was a sense of pride in being called such.She played in the first Peruvian women’s national team – a team that her mother organised – that participated in the South American Championship in Brazil in 2011. At 11 years old, Rodriguez, the youngest player in the tournament, picked up her first wicket, a difficult lbw against the reigning champions, Argentina. Wanting to train at a higher level, she stood on the sidelines during the boys’ practice sessions, and soon the coach, Julian Walter, called her in to bowl a few deliveries. In 2013, she earned a spot on the team in the South American Championship, the only female player in the entire tournament.Though she was getting good results in South America, she wasn’t competing at the highest level. “When she first played for the Peru team against Argentina and Brazil, she was the best among the worst in a sense,” says Solomon.That was when she heard about the CanAm United Women’s Cricket Association – a nonprofit organisation that develops women’s cricket in the Americas – during one of her practice sessions in Peru. She talked to the CanAm general manager about playing for the team. In 2015, after her one-year break from cricket, she participated in her first tournament in North America: a T20 series in Atlanta.In the last match of the tournament, she took a wicket with her first ball. That boosted her confidence. She realised she could be competitive at a higher level outside of Peru. Rodriguez went on to participate in tournaments in Argentina and London for CanAm between 2015 and 2017.In 2016 she visited Lord’s for the first time since watching her first match as a nine-year-old in London with her mother. It was special to go back as a player, she says. That was also the first time she had seen her father in six years. With the distance between them, they didn’t have a strong relationship.Rodriguez works on her front-foot game at practice•Aishwarya Kumar/Juliana AnwarIn early May this year, Rodriguez was part of the 14-member CanAm squad, that played against 17 men’s teams at the 25th Annual Philadelphia International Cricket Festival. It was the first time an all-women’s squad played in the tournament. CanAm pushed to take part in the festival, knowing it would expose their players to higher competition. The team won three of five matches, Rodriguez picking up key wickets throughout.While she may be quiet before games and around her team-mates, Rodriguez lights up when she marks the start of her run-up, her eyes focused. With intensity, she runs down to deliver the ball, releasing it seam up. “She is shy in the sense she doesn’t want the attention on her, but she is paying attention to every tiny detail and learning from everybody the entire time,” says CanAm batsman Roberta Moretti Avery.At the end of May, Rodriguez was in Barbados, training at the Franklyn Stephenson Academy to qualify for the West Indies national team – a decision she made after graduating from high school in Panama, where she moved with her mother in 2015. (Rodriguez’s Trinidadian heritage makes her eligible to play for West Indies.) First, she hopes to be scouted to play for Barbados, and eventually, to move up to West Indies.”When we have tournaments at the academy,” Rodriguez said, “I have coaches from the Barbados team and a bunch of West Indies board members. So if I perform well in all the tournaments I play in, I will climb up the rankings until I make it to the West Indies team. My coaches and scouts will also keep tabs of my performance in tournaments for CanAm.”To reach that goal, she is training under a private coach, Amahl Nathaniel, who she first met during a cricket camp in Barbados in 2016, where again she was the only female player. She was relentless in her training, and she had a “lovely bowling action, and I knew right then I wanted to train her,” Nathaniel said.Rodriguez trains for eight hours every day – three with Nathaniel and five at the academy. She has been focusing on her batting, looking to become an allrounder. “She reminds me of Hayley Matthews,” says Nathaniel. “[Matthews] used to play with boys, with the willingness to learn and improve, and I see a lot of her in Jade.”Cricket isn’t Rodriguez’s sole focus. She is also taking online film studies courses through the Toronto Film School. The school requires her to be physically present for the second year, so that means training with CanAm in Toronto next year. She will also be touring South Africa and Canada with CanAm in 2017.Rodriguez has also given back to the sport that saved her. For her, the memories of the bullying, the struggles and that night in late 2015 outside of the Lima Cricket and Football Club aren’t too far in her past. She has coached children in Peru and Panama, and still mentors Caitlin Yarna, a female cricketer in Peru. Although they are about the same age, Yarna found a role model in Rodriguez and credits her as the reason she is still playing cricket. Rodriguez also wants to open her own boarding school for foster children and refugees.”I am glad I went through what I went through in Peru because it opened my eyes to life outside of my bubble. No matter what I do with my life – be it in cricket, in film-making – if it leads to me opening a home for kids, it’s all worth it,” she said.

Eight teams fighting to win. Can you guess where they will finish correctly?

03-Jun-2017One lucky winner will get a signed copy of ESPNcricinfo’s Timeless Steel, a collection of writings on Rahul Dravid. Read the terms & conditions here.

The Test summer could hardly have started better for England, but there are still several questions England must answer before their departure for the Ashes

George Dobell at Trent Bridge13-Jul-2017No. 3
The decision to recall his old friend, colleague and housemate Gary Ballance may well be the first major call of Root’s spell as captain. While Ballance is only one game into his recall, it feels as if he is already under pressure with the selection panel understood to have been split on his suitability. It certainly seemed an unlikely scenario at the end of the India tour, where Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed had emerged as strong candidates for top three positions and Ballance had slipped back into the pack after a poor tour of Bangladesh.He performed respectably at Lord’s – Root reckoned his second innings of 34, made on a deteriorating surface, was worth double in normal conditions – but until he makes a couple of significant scores, the pressure is unlikely to disperse. It is, after all, nine Test innings since he last made a half-century and he has made only two in his last 23. The criticism of Ballance tends to focus on his slightly unusual technique and his decision not to change it after his most recent spell in the Test side. But all four of Ballance’s Test centuries have been made from the No. 3 position – which was vacated when Root decided he wanted to return to No. 4 – and his record in county cricket this season, where he is averaging almost 100, rendered him a more than reasonable choice.Cook’s opening partner
With a century and half-century from his first three Tests, Keaton Jennings has earned the sort of extended run in the side that the likes of Adam Lyth, Sam Robson and Alex Hales enjoyed. He has made a sound enough start, too, and looks to have the game to succeed in Australian conditions. We’re not there yet, though. England have failed to find a long-term replacement for Andrew Strauss, who retired at the end of the 2012 English season, with many candidates tried and discarded before Jennings. Indeed, he is the 11th opening partner Cook has had since Strauss.His skills are unrivalled but James Anderson’s fitness has been an issue for some time•Getty ImagesThe top 3
Even if Ballance and Jennings settle, there will be those who feel England’s top three is too defensive-minded for their own good. Trevor Bayliss, the head coach, memorably once said he would prefer two of the top three to be relatively quick-scoring players. But with England’s top-order notoriously brittle in recent times – in the last three years and 65 innings, they have lost their third wicket for 55 or fewer 23 times – they may well prioritise stability over style or aggression. Batting Root at No. 3 might have helped, but he feels he will be more productive at No. 4 which gives the current top three an unfashionably stolid feel. It might be considered a price worth paying if they can prevent those top-order collapses, though.First-choice spinner
The choice of Liam Dawson as No. 1 spinner took most by surprise. Few would claim he is the best spinner in the country – he has not always been considered the best at his county, Hampshire – and he has a relatively modest first-class record. But there is some logic in it: as a man who is more adept than most at tying up an end and bowling economically, Dawson is seen as the sort of bowler who can give Root control in the field and ensure the pressure exerted by the seamers is not released. He can also, perhaps, take a bit of the pressure of expectation off Moeen Ali which, on the basis of Lord’s, has some merit. It is also clear the England management like his spirit and character. He made a quietly efficient start to his Test career in India, conceding three an over while Adil Rashid conceded more than five, but looked a little nervous at Lord’s and, after a half-century in his first Test innings, has now suffered three successive ducks. With Moeen looking more secure in the side than ever, England may have to decide whether they require another spin-bowling allrounder or whether they might be better served with a specialist at some stage.The seamers
While James Anderson’s record renders him an automatic pick for Australia, there are mounting concerns over his long-term fitness. The window between injuries – and there have been an array of those in recent times – appears to be shrinking and there has been some loss of pace. The skills and the control remain, however, and it is worth remembering that, in first innings at least, Anderson was effective on the 2013-14 tour. But Australian pitches are unforgiving for ageing seamers and any drop of pace could leave him vulnerable. More importantly, England have to see how he gets through this summer: back-to-back Tests are a tough proposition for a bowler with as many miles in his legs as Anderson and it has been noticeable how little he has bowled in training over the last couple of days. The other issue with England’s seam attack is the lack of variation: nearly all contenders are right-arm, fast-medium, with Mark Wood and Chris Woakes just a little quicker than the others. They would love one of the quicker bowlers – the likes of Jamie Overton – to come through before the Ashes, but for now it seems England will be heavily reliant upon Anderson’s experience and hoping it doesn’t prove a tour too far.