Questions over the lack of power in the middle and lower order remain for a team that is formidable in all other aspects

Saurabh Somani21-Mar-20197:09

Bowling-heavy Sunrisers seek middle-order lift

Where they finished in 2018: Runners-up in the tournament, and on top of the league table with 18 points in 14 games
StrengthsAs with seasons past, this year too Sunrisers Hyderabad’s main strength is their varied and potent bowling attack. The duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan almost guarantee eight overs that the opposition will have to tread carefully, but the support cast is what makes Sunrisers’ bowling so good.There’s Khaleel Ahmed and Siddharth Kaul, who have both been on the periphery of the Indian team in recent times. There’s the exciting Basil Thampi, who burst onto the scene as a yorker specialist but now has an excellent Ranji Trophy season behind him too. There’s also Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan, both with proven T20 credentials, while Billy Stanlake provides a pacy and incisive option among the overseas contingent.Sunrisers also strengthened their spin attack with the addition of Shahbaz Nadeem, and it won’t be going too far to say that, as far as bowling goes, they have the personnel to account for any opposition or conditions. Since 2016, the year their formidable attack took shape and they won the title, Sunrisers have had the best economy rates in the Powerplay and death overs. In the middle overs, they are second, their figure of 7.88 only marginally behind Mumbai Indians’ 7.78. Not only do they keep the runs down, but they also pick up wickets. They are near the top in averages for the Powerplay (third) and middle overs (second with 27.98 to KKR’s 27.75), and the best at picking up wickets in the death overs.WeaknessesSunrisers made a smart trade in getting the trio of Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma for Shikhar Dhawan, but Dhawan’s departure adds to their batting worries. David Warner will be back this season, but whether he finds his old touch straightaway or not remains a question, as does the identity of who will partner him at the top.Kane Williamson or Jonny Bairstow seem like the likely candidates, and between them the three do form a good top order, though one that isn’t used to working together as much perhaps.The middle and lower order, though, has lacked firepower for Sunrisers. Manish Pandey had a poor run last season and while Yusuf Pathan is still capable of sending balls into crowds, he does so less regularly now. Their auction picks – Bairstow, Martin Guptill and Wriddhiman Saha – don’t really address that, but Vijay Shankar’s arrival could help, though they might still need to depend on the likes of Deepak Hooda and Ricky Bhui to step up as finishers.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe overseas questionThree overseas spots are sealed – Williamson, Warner and Rashid. Warner might be rusty, but he will certainly get a long rope at the top even if he fails in the first few games given his past record for the franchise. Williamson and Warner will have to shoulder a large part of the batting responsibility. Rashid, of course, has rapidly become one of the world’s top bowlers in the shortest format. The men who will vie for the fourth overseas spot, at least at the start, are likely to be Jonny Bairstow, Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Nabi. Given that the bowling is already strong, Shakib might have to miss out since Sunrisers already have Shahbaz Nadeem as a left-arm spinner. Between Bairstow and Nabi, team balance would indicate a preference for Bairstow, since he can don the keeping gloves. That means a top order of Warner, Bairstow and Williamson – as good as any in the world.AvailabilityLike all teams, Sunrisers will have to deal with early departures, in their case of Warner and Bairstow, with both CA and ECB having said that their World Cup players will be withdrawn from the tournament on May 1. In Guptill they have a readymade replacement for Warner, and having bought back Wriddhiman Saha, they are covered as regards keeping too. Replacing Bairstow’s dynamic batting will be more difficult, though. The other thing they’ll be hoping for is that Williamson recovers from his shoulder injury well, and quickly.SquadESPNcricinfo LtdThe best XI1 David Warner, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Shahbaz Nadeem, 10 Siddharth Kaul, 11 Khaleel AhmedHead coach: Tom Moody. Bowling coach: Muttiah Muralitharan. Mentor: VVS LaxmanWill they make the playoffs?The truism in cricket that bowlers win you matches has been shown to hold in T20 cricket too, especially by Sunrisers. They have always had a couple of holes in the batting but have still made the playoffs in the last three years, winning in 2016, achieving fourth place in 2017, and being runners-up in 2018. They should make it four out of four this year.Poll

The allrounder’s newly-released autobiography, , contains an excerpt that might confirm what many fans have long suspected

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2019One of cricket’s greatest mysteries has finally been solved…sort of.Shahid Afridi, as many fans have long suspected, is not as young as official records have had it all these years. Afridi himself has made the revelation in his autobiography released in India and Pakistan this week. In a chapter in which he describes his call-up to the senior Pakistan team in October 1996, Afridi writes that he was born in 1975. Though he doesn’t give a month or day, that makes him, potentially, five years older than what he is: official records, including ESPNcricinfo’s player profile pages record his date of birth as March 1, 1980.Afridi debuted in an ODI tri-series tournament in Nairobi, and, most famously, hit a 37-ball hundred the first time he batted in international cricket. That record stood for over 17 years and was even more outrageous for the fact that it had been achieved by a 16-year-old. Except, now we know, he wasn’t.Yet Afridi only deepens the confusion in his book with the following line: “Also, for the record, I was just nineteen, and not sixteen like they claim. I was born in 1975. So, yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly.” If he was born in 1975, that would make him 20 or 21 at the time of the innings and not 19 as he writes.

Alhamdulillah, #GameChanger is already making waves. But dont go for the media hype! To appreciate what @wajskhan & I have penned in my bio, please READ THE BOOK (yet to get my 1st copy!) If I've been tough on someone, I've given them credit where its due! #TruthFirst #HopeNotOut

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) May 2, 2019

He had arrived in Nairobi from the Caribbean, where he was playing in an Under-19 series for Pakistan – which now suggests that he wasn’t really under 19 at the time. Afridi has long retired from the international game though the admission adds a retrospective gloss to his performances in the PSL this season, where he played eight games for Multan Sultans and took 10 wickets conceding just 6.74 runs per over – all as a 43- or 44-year-old.The year 1975 would also mean that he was 34 or 35 when he suddenly retired from Test cricket in 2010, having returned after a four-year absence from the format – as captain – and staying for just one Test. It also means that when he finally played his last game for Pakistan at the 2016 World T20, he was not 36 but 40 or 41.Fans will recall another public admission of a real age, from a contemporary and team-mate of Afridi. After leading Pakistan to a memorable World T20 win in 2009, Younis Khan announced his retirement from the format, saying that he was 34 and “too old for this kind of cricket”. By his official records, Younis was 31 at the time he made the statement; in fact, the number on his ODI shirt – 75 – was the real year of his birth, the same, incidentally, as Afridi’s.

Their planning in the lead-up to the tournament has been poor and as a result they have a line-up full of top-order batsmen and not enough bowling cover

Jarrod Kimber in Nottingham19-Jun-20191:29

How Aaron Finch turned his form around

Alex Carey, the Australian vice-captain, gave the press conference before this game. When Australia last played Bangladesh at an ICC event, Carey was barely a glint in the selectors’ eyes.At that stage, Carey was nearing 26 and had played 20 games of professional cricket. To go from there to vice-captain, wicketkeeper and middle order saviour shows how little Australia had planned for this event.Carey is not even a middle order player. He came to prominence after a pro Australian Rules football career by opening the batting for Adelaide Strikers. His South Australia record with red and white ball is fine, but not international worthy. It was the long innings opening the batting for the Strikers that made people take notice.Until this tournament, he wasn’t a success. He made some runs, but at a strike rate of 82, it was often too slow for someone coming down the order. This tournament he’s averaged 41 in the five games so far, with a strike rate of 108, and he was run out in one game. There seems to be a touch of luck in Carey’s sudden rise, but the talent he has is evident.

All the other top contenders look like they know their best squads and elevens. Australia just turned up.

But Australia have used four wicketkeepers since the Champions Trophy, Peter Handscomb for one game, Tim Paine for a while and it was Matthew Wade who kept against Bangladesh last time. Wade’s now in better Big Bash form than Carey showed to get his call up and is back with Australia A.Moises Henriques was the seam-bowling allrounder in that last Bangladesh match. He has not played since that Champions Trophy. Since then Australia have tried James Faulkner, Michael Neser, and Mitchell Marsh. The role is now with Marcus Stoinis.ALSO READ: Australia still trying to find best XI – Brad HaddinTravis Head bowled eight overs against Bangladesh in that last game; he hasn’t played an ODI this year after a disappointing run in 2018. The Ashtons (Turner and Agar) have both been in as spin-bowling allrounders, though Turner didn’t bowl. D’Arcy Short has bowled since then too, but it appears Glenn Maxwell is now the spinning allrounder (with help from Aaron Finch).Josh Hazlewood was in irresistible form for Australia•Getty ImagesAnd there is Josh Hazlewood, the oddest omission. According to Cricket Australia’s website, “Cup absentee Hazlewood set to ‘explode'” is in the UK and fit enough for Australia A. Since the Champions Trophy, he’s played in six ODI games, and he’s now Australia’s seventh-best one-day seamer according to the selections of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff and the Richardsons Kane and Jhye. His economy rate in those six matches was 4.98.Since the last World Cup, Hazlewood has played 31 ODIs, averaging 26 and conceding only 4.85 runs an over.There are a few reasons he isn’t here; injury is the main one and looking to the Ashes is perhaps another. But they could have brought Hazlewood in when Jhye Richardson wasn’t fit. Instead, they were cautious with Hazlewood and went with Kane Richardson as a death-overs specialist. Since the last World Cup, Hazlewood has bowled 277 death-overs deliveries at less than a run a ball.ALSO READ: Trying to avoid watching the World Cup – HazlewoodSince that Champions trophy, Australia have tried the knuckleballs of Andrew Tye, the scariness of Billy Stanlake and even old faithful Peter Siddle. And yet, even with all those options, Australia have barely used four frontline fast bowlers in a game. The first time they did, they took seven wickets against England and in the second their batsmen went in first and failed.How is it possible that they haven’t tried to use their main strength as a tactic in ODI cricket coming into the World Cup?Australia hope to have Marcus Stoinis available again•Getty Images & PA ImagesYou could take it further, in Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith, Starc and Cummins, they have five fun players. They could have tried line-ups that included a solid top four, and then allrounders and hitters like Head, Maxwell, Turner (if bowling fit), Agar, Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Boyce, Dan Christian, Neser, Coulter-Nile filling spots five to nine, with Cummins and Starc. That would give them 11 batting options so that they could go hard, with two of the best seamers in the world still in their line-up.That is all experimental, and it might have failed spectacularly, but what is the point of bilateral ODIs other than as cash cows and for experiments. And Australia have spent most of the last couple of years losing ODIs anyway.When they have experimented, it’s been with players, not tactics.Australia have tried 33 players since the Champions Trophy, but no one has been used for more than 33 games. England have played 25, and six over 40. India have used 30 players, and seven over 40 (and two over 50). New Zealand played only 22 players in that time. All the other top contenders look like they know their best squads and elevens. Australia just turned up.This tournament, they have a batting order full of top-order players out of position, forcing Usman Khawaja to make runs in a place he’s never succeeded for Australia, using Shaun Marsh as a death-overs hitter. Finch has had to bowl, Stoinis has had to bowl at the death, and Hazlewood is preparing to bowl in an A game.Of all the gambles they’ve made, only Carey has worked.

Hold over Warner underlines importance of England’s senior seamer, especially in absence of James Anderson

Alan Gardner at The Oval15-Sep-2019In many ways, this Ashes series has told us very few things that we didn’t already know. England’s Test cricket during the Trevor Bayliss era has been compelling but unloved by the critics, more Paul WS Anderson than Paul Thomas Anderson. Steven Smith is batting’s equivalent of Captain Ahab, forever chasing the Moby Dick of series run aggregates (he ended up 200 short of Bradman in 1930). Ben Stokes is a phenomenon, Pat Cummins a champion, Jofra Archer the real deal.That Stuart Broad is a man with a bit of an Ashes aura about him does not exactly constitute a revelation, either – although the prospect that he would be as dangerous as ever this summer was far from certain, as was his place in England’s best XI. Then James Anderson reached for his calf after sending down four overs at Edgbaston and Broad’s remit became crystal clear.Four more wickets on the final day at The Oval, as England sealed a farewell win for Bayliss, meant that Broad took his tally for the series to 23 at 26.65 – surpassing his previous Ashes best. He now sits third on the all-time list for England, with only Ian Botham and Bob Willis having been more prolific against Australia. Four times has he taken 20-plus wickets in an Ashes series, an achievement unmatched by Englishmen, and only previously achieved among quick bowlers by two of the greatest, Dennis Lillee and Glenn McGrath.Whether Broad lasts to take part in a fourth tour of Australia in 2021-22, when he will be 35, is open to question but England’s departing head coach backed him to still be involved.”It was a big loss, missing Jimmy, and someone of Stuart’s experience – we didn’t have to say anything to him, he took on the extra burden,” Bayliss said. “The proof is in the pudding. With Jofra he led the attack and took important wickets when we needed them, kept the pressure on when we needed to. I think he will go to the Ashes in two years’ time.”Doubts about Broad’s longevity had begun to creep in, and not purely because of the rise of Archer. He was left out of the side in Sri Lanka last winter, only playing in Colombo when Anderson was rested, and then did not feature against West Indies in Barbados (although that error in selection was rectified for the second Test).Broad has had to get used to people wondering about how long he has left, in part because his prolific England buddy act with Anderson seemingly leads to them being both put in the same age bracket – though Broad is the junior partner by almost four years. But as often as Broad has found his form or his place questioned, he has come up with a response. You don’t get within sight of 500 Test wickets otherwise.In 2015, as Broad confirmed the other day when replying to a tweet from ESPNcricinfo, he began to work on the round-the-wicket angle that has made him so potent against left-handers – as David Warner discovered to some anguish over the past few weeks. He has also reaped the benefit of pitching the ball up further than he ever has, convinced by Joe Root to abandon the asceticism learned during the Strauss era and have some fun.ALSO READ: The Ashes once again underlines importance of bowling in pairsInvigorated by a frisky showing to help dispatch Ireland for 38 at Lord’s, Broad stepped up in the absence of Anderson to begin his seventh Ashes with a seventh five-wicket haul against Australia. That it was completed with the dismissal of Smith hoicking across the line at the conclusion of his magnum opus 144 was doubly portentous.England’s best chance of neutering Smith might have lain with Broad, but it was not to be. He has removed Smith more times than any bowler in Tests – though it took until the last act of the tour for him to enjoy an eighth success. The level of jubilation that greeted Smith finally steering a hip-high short ball into the hands of leg slip, a plan England have long schemed over, might have suggested Root’s side had clinched the Ashes, rather than simply removed him for less than 50 for the first time in seven Tests.Drawing the series was the best they could do and Broad began England’s victory charge at The Oval by removing Marcus Harris’ off stump with a satisfying “kerplunk”. He then extended his mastery over Warner to seven dismissals from 10 – equalling the best series return for a bowler against one batsman in Tests – but it was the wicket of Smith that allowed England fans to sit for the most part in comfort as the long-and-winding road of this World Cup and Ashes summer meandered towards its curtain call.The hopes of a quick kill ebbed through the afternoon, while Broad for the most part grazing in the outfield. Archer engaged in a fiery battle with Matthew Wade, whose hundred kept alive Australia’s chances of extending the series into the working week, bringing the crowd back to life during a somnolent evening session. Broad then returned to give them what they wanted, breaking a stubborn stand between Wade and Pat Cummins before being serenaded back down to fine leg one last time.It was of course at The Oval a decade ago that Broad first produced the sort of heart-pounding spell that became his trademark, filleting the Australia top order and setting up England to regain the Ashes. This was a more laidback affair, a lazy Sunday romancing from an experienced performer. He finished having nudged his way back ahead of Archer as England’s top wicket-taker in the series. So there you go, Broad remains an Ashes gun. But then we already knew that, right?

As long as he was there, giving India’s faltering chase direction, the allrounder put the New Zealanders on the back foot

Nagraj Gollapudi at Old Trafford10-Jul-20195:23

What’s the fuss about ‘Bits and Pieces’ cricketers?

Ravindra Jadeja stood still. Head down. Just for a tiny moment.He caught his breath. Gathered his thoughts. The Indian fans were dancing, chanting, shrieking, celebrating his half-century. He then twirled his bat in his familiar sword fashion in the direction of the dressing room. He then raised his hands high, and spread them wide, looking in the direction of the commentators’ box at the Brian Statham End, as if to say something to one particular gent sitting inside: Sanjay Manjrekar. Jadeja seemed to tell Manjrekar in Denesh Ramdin style : “Yea Sanj, talk nah.”

****

Last week, Manjrekar had said that he did not believe in “bits-and-pieces” cricketers like Jadeja in ODI cricket and preferred specialists in the Indian XI. Unusually for a quiet person, Jadeja retorted strongly, tweeting: “Still i have played twice the number of matches you have played and i m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea.@sanjaymanjrekar.”Watch on Hotstar (India only): Highlights of Ravindra Jadeja’s inningsThe tweet created more than a ripple. Jadeja had his team’s support all right. Vice-captain Rohit Sharma said it was not right for analysts – without naming Manjrekar – to keep “yapping”. However, perhaps unwittingly, Manjrekar seemed to have spurred Jadeja on. Jadeja was smart to understand that deeds speak louder than words. No one understands that better than athletes, with the possible exception of Nick Kyrgios.Are you not entertained?: Ravindra Jadeja answers his critics Gladiator style•IDI via Getty ImagesJadeja might not have the gift of touch that Kyrgios has, but unlike the Australian tennis player, the Indian allrounder is dogged. On Wednesday, the reserve day of the first World Cup 2019 semi-final, he had walked in to join MS Dhoni with India needing 148 runs from about 19 overs. This was only his second match of the World Cup, the first in India’s last match of the group phase, against Sri Lanka, where he was not needed to bat.WATCH on Hotstar (US only) – Highlights of India’s chaseThe pressure was immense. But Jadeja got into the act quickly. With Jimmy Neesham feeding him in the slot, Jadeja hit one over deep midwicket for a flat six, the first of the stuttering Indian innings. Indian fans, silenced by the early massacre of the top order at the hands of Matt Henry, in the main, sensed something. Jadeja kept the tempo up, and “O Ravi Jadeja” became the background score for nearly the next hour and a half as he hit 77 from 59 balls. From No. 8.While Dhoni quietly found the singles, Jadeja chose to attack the bowler. Even Mitchell Santner, who had dried India’s run rate in the middle overs by making use of the turn on the pitch, was hit for two sixes in successive overs. When Santner fired an arm ball, Jadeja was ready to flat bat it. Spin or pace, it did not matter to him.

Virat Kohli says Jadeja had something to prove, and in 10 years of playing with him, this was his best ever knock #INDvNZ | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/k49kvtjKse

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 11, 2019

Neesham and Lockie Ferguson grimaced as Jadeja read their faster balls, their slow bouncers, their short-pitched stuff with ease and countered them with power and confidence. Ferguson set an attacking field with no long-off, and Jadeja hit a length ball high into the stands there for a six.New Zealand knew what Dhoni was capable of at the death, whatever the run-ball equation, but Jadeja might have surprised them.
He had done it in the first half – or the first day – of the game too. He ran through his ten overs in next to no time, returning 1 for 34. He was India’s most economical bowler. The wicket came from a beauty, bursting through Henry Nicholls’ defence with one that pitched on length, drew the batsman out, and then turned into him before hitting the stumps.The Old Trafford pitch was two-paced and gripping, there was a bit of turn too. Perfect for Jadeja. There were Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in front of him.In the 24 deliveries Williamson faced from Jadeja, he scored 17 runs. But the Indian’s grip over the New Zealand captain is easily gauged from the number of dot balls there – 14. However, it was Taylor who Jadeja tormented. In the 21 balls he faced off the left-arm spinner, Taylor played 17 dot balls, while picking four runs, all singles.Jadeja was accurate and disciplined. He pitched on a good length and varied his pace. On flat surfaces, Jadeja usually fires the ball in, but on a pitch like at Old Trafford, he slowed it down while also mixing his pace. According to Murali Kartik, former India left-arm spinner, Jadeja gave the batsmen barely any scoring opportunities. Not too full, not too short; almost everything was played to fielders.Oh, before we forget, there was that throw to send back Taylor too.Ross Taylor chanced Ravindra Jadeja’s arm and paid the price•IDI via Getty ImagesAlthough he failed to take India home, Jadeja did play a memorable innings.When at home, Jadeja rides his horses to relax. On Wednesday, despite Dhoni’s presence, Jadeja grabbed the whip and cracked it, for a while. For that period, 84 minutes, he dictated not just the run flow, but also the decision-making of the New Zealanders. He pushed Dhoni for twos, and Dhoni did not mind. The key was to keep building that partnership, keep taking forward that momentum. It nearly worked.Kohli said India’s dream was shattered in the first 45 minutes of the chase. While he was out there, Jadeja kept that dream alive, flickering. Bit by bit, piece by piece.Afterwards, Manjrekar responded: “Well played, Jadeja.” And later told the host broadcaster, “By bits and by pieces, he just ripped me apart today.”

It was not only great skill but enormous character, enormous courage, says the Australia coach about the batsman twin centuries at Edgbaston

Daniel Brettig06-Aug-2019Following twin centuries that left even the most perceptive judges searching for superlatives, Steven Smith’s skills have been summed up by Australia’s coach Justin Langer as being those of the “best problem-solver in the game”, who, at the same time, creates more problems for bowlers than anyone else on the planet.Over the Australian summer, Langer was no stranger to greatness, given that his weakened team had to find ways to dismiss Virat Kohli, largely without success. But over five days at Edgbaston, on a pitch that started by offering seam and was spinning square by the end, Smith played contrasting but equally masterful innings that bumped him up to No. 3 on the Test rankings and set up Australia’s 251-run victory, their first in Birmingham since 2001.”I said during the summer that Virat Kohli is the best player I have ever seen but that [Smith’s knocks] is just another level,” Langer said. “You go through the periods, I remember being a young player on the fringe for a long time watching Steve Waugh on all the tours and he was a run machine, I wanted to be like Steve Waugh. Then I played with Punter and I wanted to be Ricky Ponting because he’s a run machine.

It was not only great skill but enormous character, enormous courage, very brave, unbelievable concentration, unbelievable physical stamina, unbelievable mental stamina, all traits of great playersJustin Langer on Steven Smith

“I played with Allan Border and in my third Test he made his 10,123rd Test run [becoming the highest scorer of all time] and I wanted to be Allan Border. You have in different teams, different eras, great players but for someone like Smudge [Smith], who is averaging over 60 and the way he played in this innings with all the pressure and everything that is on him, it was not only great skill but enormous character, enormous courage, very brave, unbelievable concentration, unbelievable physical stamina, unbelievable mental stamina, all traits of great players.”You throw to him in the nets and you literally feel like you can’t get him out and there’s no batsman like that and you just end up throwing a million balls and you are just lost for answers. I guess you would have to ask England how they feel about that and they had some interesting tactics for him. They had the really short point which I had never seen before, they obviously had a tactic they prepared and Trevor Bayliss has seen a lot of Steve Smith since he was a kid. They would have studied him closely but he just has a knack, well, he is the best problem-solver in the game.”ALSO READ: Smith’s innings spoke of the beauty and power of human reform, writes Mark NicholasLanger’s first sight of Smith had been back in 2009 when he was called into the Australian squad as a wristspinner and lower-order batsman, a truly modest platform from which Smith has built a career to be reckoned with. “I’ve got a good story but I’ll leave it for my book I think,” Langer joked about his first impressions.”Let’s face it; when he first came in, legspinner, unorthodox… [everyone thought] ‘I’m not sure this kid’s going to make it’. Then he goes away [and decides] ‘I don’t want to be a legspinner; I want to be the best batsman in the world’. Then he transforms himself and he is the best batsman in the world with Virat. It’s a great credit to him.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”He’s under no instructions. He can hit as many balls as he wants. I don’t think he will because he won’t have anyone to throw them to him. Unless Dani [Willis, Smith’s wife] wants to put some in the bowling machine for him. She has done it before. He can prepare however he wants to prepare because we can have a theory on different players but he’s just shown once again that he hits more balls.”I said to Mark Ramprakash the other day, who used to hit more balls than anyone I’ve ever seen; Steve Smith hits double of what Mark Ramprakash used to hit. So, literally, he can prepare however he wants to prepare and we will keep encouraging that. But he’s going to be that tired after this game, physically and mentally, so I’m sure he’ll welcome the few days off.”As for Nathan Lyon, who claimed 6 for 49 in the final innings to seal victory and a 1-0 lead for the tourists in Birmingham, Langer conceded he had not realised the offspinner’s true quality until he coached Australia. “Like a few of our players, like Steve Smith, I didn’t realise how good Nathan Lyon was until I took over coaching the cricket team,” Langer said.”You see him on telly, yeah Nathan Lyon, offspin bowler, but the last 12 months or so I just can’t believe how good a bowler he is. He’s a brilliant bowler, such good control: he spins, he gets some bounce, great fielder, really good in the team, he’s the song master, so that tells you something about his character. He’s a gun bowler. Three hundred and fifty wickets – that’s an incredible achievement, isn’t it?”Ashes to Ashes, tons to tons: Steven Smith indicates the trajectory of his Ashes so far•Getty ImagesReminded of Australia’s recent penchant for losing series after being 1-0 up, Langer said the team he mentors was demonstrating plenty of resolve. “We talk about our values and you guys will probably start yawning when I say it but I say it very seriously,” Langer said. “Humility is one thing, very important, professionalism, mateship, you’ll see plenty of mateship in the change room right now which is half the reason we play the game.”[We] keep being honest about where we’re at; we’ve still only won one Test match. And we’ve got a captain [Tim Paine] who is that focused in there and he’s the best wicketkeeper in the world. You’ve just seen it. You’ve seen those catches today. He’s the best wicketkeeper in the world. I thought the way he batted in the first innings, he freed up and he’s worked really hard. He’s a brilliant leader, a great bowler and I thought tactically he was superb. He is so focused in this series, so there is no way he is going to let it slip and I guarantee you, I’m not going to let it slip either.”

As the group stages approach their conclusion, we round up the latest tactical trends among the contenders in the Vitality Blast

Matt Roller19-Aug-2019

North Group

Nottinghamshire – spin to win at the new Trent BridgeJake Libby plays a more important role for Notts than his one innings suggests•Getty ImagesNottinghamshire’s signing of Imad Wasim has left them with a distinctly spin-heavy attack. In their victorious 2017 campaign, spinners bowled 36.5% of their overs; this year, that figure is up at 47.5%. With Matt Carter – a 6ft 4in offspinner – complementing Imad’s darts and Samit Patel’s flight, they have all bases covered, and Carter and Imad’s regular powerplay overs have contributed to Notts being the second-most parsimonious team in the first six overs.We are more than used to seeing run-fests at Trent Bridge, but after hosting five World Cup games, the pitch has been noticeably slower-scoring, with a scoring rate of 7.96, down from 8.66 last year and 9.86 in 2017.The batting is yet to click, but Jake Libby has been substantially more important than his stats – five games, one innings of 24 off 28 balls – suggest. His presence in the side is similar to Billy Root’s in the 2017 team: he is an insurance policy, constantly ready to be deployed in the event of a collapse, and by picking him Notts effectively give their fast-scorers license to attack more.Durham – CLS: Chester-le-Street or Classically Low-Scoring?