The global reaction to CSA prioritising the SA20 over the Test tour of New Zealand has been strong, but it may have been the right move for cricket in South Africa

Firdose Moonda02-Jan-2024Two former Australia captains have questioned whether South Africa’s decision to send a makeshift Test squad to New Zealand creates a fork in the road for the future of the format. A former South African captain is already on one of those paths, which maybe tells us all we need to know.While Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke stress the primacy of Test cricket, Graeme Smith, who played 117 Tests himself, is the commissioner of the SA20, the tournament that South Africa’s Test regulars will play instead of touring New Zealand. Essentially, that is the issue that has sparked conversations around Test cricket in the first few days of 2024 and it isn’t as clear cut as either side may make it seem.To recap: Cricket South Africa (CSA) launched a T20 tournament with six teams owned by IPL-franchise owners in partnership with private broadcaster SuperSport last year. It followed two failed attempts at launching a T20 league aimed at securing financial sustainability for cricket in South Africa. The agreed window for the SA20 begins the week after the New Year’s Test and ends in early February. Like most such tournaments around the world, it aimed to grab headlines through big-name players. And because CSA is the tournament’s majority shareholder, it could decide that its centrally-contracted players should play the SA20 ahead of anything else. Even South Africa’s international fixtures.Last year, South Africa forfeited an ODI Super League series in Australia that counted towards World Cup qualification to launch the SA20 with its best players. This year, CSA is honouring its bilateral commitments and sending a Test squad to New Zealand while the SA20 is on, but with a new captain and potentially seven debutants. Cue the hand-wringing from Waugh and Clarke over the future of Test cricket.Related

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It’s not that CSA – or South Africans – don’t care about Test cricket. The Boxing Day and New Year Test vibes are evidence of that. This country has pitches that produce some of the most exciting contests, always fields a competitive team, cheered on by a diverse fan base. But Test cricket can’t pay CSA’s bills or player salaries and the board has had to find other ways to make money to keep up with other countries raking it in through T20 leagues.But CSA’s own administration – not the current one, which is an important caveat – is also responsible for the problems it faces. Former CEO Thabang Moroe, who was fired for serious misconduct in August 2020 almost ran the organisation into the ground by alienating the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), misusing funds, and losing sponsors. CSA is still recovering and the SA20, which turned a profit in its first season, four years ahead of schedule, is a crucial part of that. And so CSA can’t be blamed for prioritising and asking its best players to play the SA20. But we can ask why the board agreed to a tour of New Zealand at the same time as the SA20.CSA announced its plans for a T20 league in April 2022, while the 2023-2027 FTP was released in August 2022. In a statement issued today, CSA said “the window for the SA20 had not been determined at that stage.” Some sources dispute this but CSA insists that “once it became apparent that there would be a clash, we made every effort to find another mutually suitable time-slot for this two-Test series in consultation with New Zealand Cricket.”CSA did make space in the SA20 schedule for a home ODI series against England last year, so did it do enough to try and create a window for the Tests in New Zealand? Insiders have revealed that because South Africa agreed to tour New Zealand when Covid-19 restrictions were still in force, they were expecting a little quid pro quo and asked for the Tests to be played later in February. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said no because they were scheduled to host Australia, after which players would have to leave for the IPL. CSA then asked for the New Zealand Tests to take place during the IPL, which would have left both teams depleted, but NZC declined. CSA finally asked NZC to move the Tests to 2025 but the only gap New Zealand have is from March, which is close to IPL territory once again. So with no room in the calendar, the upshot is that South Africa are sending a depleted squad to New Zealand.The SA20 is vital to CSA’s finances•SA20Has anyone asked New Zealand what they make of all this? In July last year, NZC said the agreed dates were not negotiable and that it considered South Africa a “popular and formidable Test team” and “an important part” of the summer schedule. After seeing South Africa’s depleted squad, it remains to be seen whether they still think so, and more importantly whether the broadcasters and corporate sponsors of the series still think so. But that’s not what Waugh and Clarke are worried about.Waugh said in a post on Instagram that “history and tradition must count for something,” and that “if we stand by and allow profits to be the defining criteria the legacy of Bradman, Grace and Sobers will be irrelevant,” which is easier to say in Australia, whose players are well paid. Some Australian players even skip IPL seasons because they can afford to but we’ll use that tournament to help illustrate the financial picture: one US dollar is about 1.48 Australian dollars at today’s exchange rate, but about 18.54 South African rands. So while Mitchell Starc’s record IPL deal of INR 24.75 crore (USD 2.98 million approximately) is hardly small change in Australia at around 4.38 million dollars, it would be stupendous in South Africa at more than 55 million rands. So even South Africans with smaller contracts at the IPL, CPL, Hundred, BPL and PSL are making big money away from home, and that reinforces why CSA had to create and prioritise the SA20.But is money all that matters? Not to everyone. Rookie batter David Bedingham withdrew from the SA20 draft – he could because he doesn’t have a CSA contract – so that he could tour New Zealand but he is one of very few. Most South African players could not do what he did and it seems they are resigned to their T20 fate even though some see Test cricket as valuable.Dean Elgar, South Africa’s stand-in captain for the New Year’s Test against India, doesn’t have an SA20 deal and will retire from Test cricket this week. “Speaking to the guys in the changeroom, especially the younger guys, they still very much live for this format [Test cricket],” Elgar said, but the situation is “out of the players hands, it’s out of our coaches hands, and team management’s hands.” He said it was “a little bit sad that it has gone in that direction.”David Bedingham is one of few first-choice Test players who will be touring New Zealand•AFP/Getty ImagesBut Elgar also remembers that when CSA gave its players a choice in 2022, all of them sacrificed playing Tests against Bangladesh to get to the IPL on time. He was critical of the players then and even questioned their loyalty. Now, with his international career ending, Elgar hopes things will change but accepts there’s little he can do about it. “The future is not in my hands. The future is up to administrators making right decisions for players and longevity of format, especially our Test format,” he said. “I would like to see younger guys coming through and experiencing what I have experienced over 12 years. It would be sad to see us play two-Test series. For me, that’s not a fitting way for those guys to learn about this format.”So who pulls the strings? Is it, as Waugh suggested, the ICC along with the boards of India, England and Australia? And should they create a “premium, equal match fee” for all Test players? Australian opener Usman Khawaja supported the idea, but when India captain Rohit Sharma was asked on the eve of the New Year’s Test in Cape Town whether the BCCI has a responsibility to protect Test cricket, he seemed to agree but then indicated the responsibility had to be shared. “I think so. Absolutely,” he said at first, before continuing. “Test cricket is something that we all have to protect and give importance to. It’s just not one or two countries’ responsibility. It’s all the nations who are playing. It’s their responsibility to make sure that we keep it entertaining. It’s everyone’s duty to make sure that it stays nice and healthy and it stays competitive.”Rohit comes from a position of privilege because India don’t have to compete with T20 leagues to field their best Test team. They don’t play international cricket during the IPL and their players don’t play any other leagues. “Luckily we don’t have those kinds of problems to deal with,” Rohit said with a telling smile.Instead, it was another former South African captain who juggled answers about a game he will soon no longer play but, in his words, will always love. “As long as I am around, I am going to be a Test fanatic,” Elgar said. “A lot of our guys are Test fanatics but opportunities need to come our way, otherwise the conversations are just going to be continuous and you are never going to put it to bed. We are just players and we can fight as much as we can but it’s up to the powers that be to make the right calls for us.”Except no-one really knows what the right call is.

As the IPL starts to take shape, here’s a recap of the main storylines involving the Australians

Alex Malcolm08-Apr-20241:10

Will Mitch Marsh be dropped?

Marsh’s hamstring concernMitchell Marsh is set to be confirmed as Australia’s T20I captain for the World Cup but there is a major concern over his fitness after he missed Delhi Capitals’ loss to Mumbai Indians on Sunday with a hamstring injury. Capitals’ assistant coach Pravin Amre called it a “worrying sign” for Capitals but it is a greater concern for Australia given his injury history.”He has gone for a scan and the physios will give us a report in a week’s time,” Amre said. “Then we will come to know what the exact situation is. Whether he can [play the entire season] or not depends on the reports.”Related

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Cricket Australia’s medical staff will be kept in the loop but there is no indication yet of whether he would be withdrawn from the IPL to rest for the World Cup. Marsh has been very carefully managed by CA over the last 12 months since returning to being a three-format player, culminating in being named Allan Border Medallist as Australia’s best-performed player in all forms over the last year.His form prior to the injury was a concern for Capitals with talk of his place being in jeopardy after scores of 20, 23, 18 and 0. But his performances would not have concerned Australia’s selectors given he has still been making fast starts without going on with it. He is playing the style of cricket Australia’s hierarchy will want him to play in the powerplay during the World Cup.Maxwell and Green struggling at Royal Challengers Bengaluru2:19

Moody: Both Green and Maxwell are under pressure

Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green have both had tough starts to the IPL at Royal Challengers Bengaluru and their form has had an impact on the team’s performances as a whole. Maxwell has scores of 0, 3, 28, 0, and 1.In the last match against Rajasthan Royals, he walked out in a situation set-up for a Maxwell masterclass but was cleaned bowled backing away. Opposing teams have used high pace against him early with great success, which will be a theme he will see a lot of heading to the World Cup. He told ESPN’s that he has had trouble adjusting to Bengaluru’s two-paced pitch. Maxwell has bowled very well in the two matches he has been used. He credited work with RCB assistant coach and current Victoria bowling coach, Adam Griffith in helping him get more overspin and bounce which has yielded four wickets at an economy rate of 7.37.Glenn Maxwell is having a lean time at the IPL•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile Maxwell’s form will not concern Australia’s selectors, Green’s form is not helping his bid to make the T20 World Cup squad. He was already on the fringes of the final 15 for the tournament but he has been unable to make a statement in a new role for RCB. Having had an excellent debut season for Mumbai Indians last year batting at No. 3, and having had some brief T20I success as an opener, Green is struggling to find his feet at No. 5 with scores of just 9 and 5 not out in the last week. He lost his off stump to the pace of Mayank Yadav and then had no impact at the death against Rajasthan, unable to find the boundary in six balls faced.His best innings of the tournament so far came at No. 3 against Kolkata Knight Riders where he made 33 off 21. In his three innings at No. 5 he has struck at under 100 across 37 balls. He has also struggled to make an impact with the ball. He did take two wickets in the first match of the tournament but has gone wicketless since. Green did not play any T20 cricket at any level between last year’s IPL and this one as Australia’s selectors kept him focussed on red-ball cricket. That lack of exposure may play against him when the selectors sit down to pick the final World Cup 15 later this month unless he can find some form for RCB.Stoinis and David power up2:21

Why Stoinis came in to bat before Pooran

While Maxwell’s out of runs, Australia will be pleased by the performances of Marcus Stoinis and Tim David for their respective teams on Sunday. Stoinis muscled a match-winning 58 from 43 balls in Lucknow Super Giants’ low-scoring win over Gujarat Titans while David clubbed 45 not out off 21 balls in Mumbai’s mauling of Capitals.The form of Stoinis will especially please Australia’s selectors. He was promoted to No. 4 with LSG having lost momentum outside the powerplay and picked his moments to attack to give them a winning score to defend on a surface that became slower throughout. He also played an important hand in the previous win for LSG making 24 off 15 against RCB. He took a wicket in that game but has strangely only bowled one over for the tournament. He was subbed out after his half-century against Titans.David’s start to the tournament had been very unusual. He was demoted to bat behind legspinner Piyush Chawla in Mumbai’s previous game against Royals. But he was back at No. 6 against Delhi and smashed four sixes as he and Romario Shepherd ransacked 42 from the last eight balls of the innings as Mumbai finally broke their season drought.Mitchell Starc was finally among the wickets in IPL 2024•BCCIStarc bounces back, Cummins keeps on keeping onMitchell Starc’s expensive start to the IPL after his expensive auction purchase had raised some eyebrows but he fought back last week with wickets against Capitals. He claimed 2 for 25 from three overs including the scalp of Australia team-mate David Warner who chopped on the ball after smashing Starc for six over cow corner. Starc was unperturbed by his expensive start to the tournament claiming “a little bit of luck” had gone against him in the first two games.Meanwhile, Pat Cummins is looming as a key man for Australia at the T20 World Cup given he is bowling superbly at the IPL. He produced another frugal display in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win over Chennai Super Kings including the key wicket of CSK’s form batter Shivam Dube.

When did Ravindra Jadeja get so good with the bat? You may not have noticed, but it has been a while

Karthik Krishnaswamy22-Feb-20241:11

Manjrekar on the talking points for Ranchi, from India’s perspective

At some point around 2018 or thereabouts, commentators began to notice that Ravindra Jadeja had been contributing consistently with the bat “over the last couple of years”, or “over the last two-three years”. All these couples of years later, they often still use the same words when talking about him.Here’s the thing. Jadeja has averaged over 35 with the bat in eight of the last nine years – including the one we’re in – and over 40 in four of them. Since the start of 2016, he’s scored 2532 runs at an average of 42.91. Of the batters who have scored at least 2000 runs in this period, Jadeja has a better average than: Angelo Mathews, Cheteshwar Pujara, Azhar Ali, David Warner, Tom Latham, Alastair Cook, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Hashim Amla, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes…We could go on, but let’s stop at Stokes, because, well, you know why. Stokes, in this period, averages 38.47. He also, of course, has 11 hundreds in this period to Jadeja’s four. There’s a reason why you might assume Stokes is the better batter of the two when you debate who the world’s best allrounder is.Related

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There’s also the matter of Jadeja’s unusually high proportion of not-outs: 19 in 78 innings, nearly one in every four. Compare that to Pujara’s six in 120 innings, or Stokes’ seven in 145.It’s true that Jadeja’s batting record – particularly from 2016 to 2019, when India ran up a lot of massive totals on flat home pitches – is slightly inflated by how many runs he’s scored in declaration innings. But he’s also played match-turning innings on difficult home pitches, averaged over 40 in Australia, and shown the soundness of his defence against swing and seam in England, not least during his 104 at Edgbaston in 2022, when he put on 222 with Rishabh Pant after they came together at 98 for 5.Basically, he’s been bloody good for a long time.But when you watch Jadeja bat, you can kind of see why commentators continue to do the “last couple of years” thing. It may be because his batting is a little, well, unmemorable, in the sense that it’s a little lacking in idiosyncrasy, in shots he plays in a manner that’s his alone, and in stylistic flourishes and unorthodoxies. You wouldn’t call him attractive to watch, but you wouldn’t call him unattractive either.Last week, he walked in at 33 for 3 on his home ground and scored 112. By the end of it, what stuck in the collective memory – judging by discussions in traditional and social media – was his role in running Sarfaraz Khan out in his debut innings, and the nature and timing of his own dismissal, a chipped caught-and-bowled off Joe Root early on day two.This series, Jadeja has mixed attack with good defence•AFP/Getty ImagesIt was, to be fair, that kind of innings. Watching it, you may have found yourself thinking thoughts such as, “Wait, he’s on 31? How did he get here?”You may even have made a comparison with R Ashwin, the Siamese twin Jadeja is entirely unlike. Even in his briefest stays at the crease, Ashwin can play shots that leave a lasting impression: a back-foot drive off Josh Hazlewood in Bengaluru, for instance, the only scoring shot in an innings of 4.Jadeja?It took until he was in his 60s for Jadeja to play a truly Jadeja shot: something that made you go, ah, yes, I’ve seen do before, many times.It was off a short ball from Root, to which he rocked so far back that you feared he’d trample the stumps. From that position, with upper body leaning further back, he played more a shovel than a pull, hitting under the ball rather than across it, launching it over the midwicket boundary. Not immediately pleasing to the eye, but not unpleasing either, with a robust, utilitarian charm. A shot much like the cricketer who played it.

The highlights reel of his Rajkot innings is utterly unremarkable because it’s full of competently executed attacking shots off less-than-good bowling. But it shows you that he’s not attempted to drive balls on the up or sweep them from the line of the stumps, and that he’s survived enough of the good balls to be able to be on strike against the not-so-good ones

On Thursday, the eve of the fourth Test in Ranchi, India batting coach Vikram Rathour gave this insight into Jadeja the batter.”Lately, I think what he’s doing really well is – that has been his strength in bowling as well, that’s the kind of character he has – he keeps everything very simple,” he said. “There is no complication. He is not overthinking, he is not overanalysing anything. He just does what the team requires at that stage, and that goes for his bowling and batting both. That’s the great asset that he has – keeping it really simple and executing his plans.”It was the kind of press-conference reply that may have initially disappointed the questioner – come on, you’re the batting coach; give us something about his technique and gameplans! – before the realisation dawned that this was, pretty much, the heart of it.Jadeja keeps things simple. There’s probably no shot in the book that he’s among the best in the world at executing, and many others have tighter defences. But he does many things well enough to be very good at them at Test level, and he knows his own game better than most.But perhaps the thing most viewers underestimate about Jadeja is how much natural talent he possesses. The simplicity of his methods can give you the illusion of a limited player, but one look at his record should tell you he’s no such thing. Particularly with the ball. There have always been accurate left-arm spinners who’ve bowled quick and attacked the stumps; there have always been left-arm spinners who’ve given the ball a rip; there have always been left-arm spinners who have varied their pace and used the crease cleverly. Jadeja does everything.Jadeja – Great with the bat, amazing with the ball•AFP via Getty ImagesThis is why there was an air of inevitability about his fourth-innings five-for in Rajkot. The areas he was hitting, ball after ball, and the amount of help he was able to extract from them, left England’s batters little choice but to succumb. Why did Ollie Pope try to cut when the cut really wasn’t on? Why did Jonny Bairstow and Root try to sweep when the sweep really wasn’t on? Jadeja was giving them neither the confidence that they could survive him by defending nor any balls they could score off with relative safety. So they simply had to take those chances.Jadeja isn’t quite as good with the bat, relative to his peers, as he is with the ball, but he brings to his batting the same sense of naturalness – has he ever tinkered with his stance? – the same adherence to clear, simple plans, and the same genius for playing the percentages. The highlights reel of his Rajkot innings is utterly unremarkable because it’s full of competently executed attacking shots off less-than-good bowling. But it shows you that he’s not attempted to drive balls on the up or sweep them from the line of the stumps, and that he’s survived enough of the good balls to be able to be on strike against the not-so-good ones.Since September 2018 – when he scored an unbeaten 86 at The Oval that showed him how good he could be, even away from home, if he trusted his defence – he’s gone past the 100-ball mark 15 times in 49 innings. Nearly once every three innings, which is remarkable when you factor in his bowling workload.There’s a ceiling to what Jadeja can do with the bat, of course, and he probably won’t play a lot of high-impact, Stokes-like innings against top attacks that don’t give batters clear-cut scoring opportunities. But this is where the comparisons stop making sense because these are two very different types of allrounder. Jadeja is one of the greats of his type, and he’s been this good for a long, long time.Much longer than a couple of years.

Chris Silverwood praises the Sri Lanka quicks for showing “a lot of heart, determination and passion”

Mohammad Isam02-Apr-2024Mominul Haque took the blame for playing a part in Bangladesh not capitalising on a good batting pitch on day four of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram.Bangladesh had their best batting day of the two-Test series as they crossed 200 for the first time in five Test innings, but a number of batters failed to convert their starts, and they are now staring at a big defeat, reduced to 268 for 7 in a tall chase of 511.Mominul, when on 50 off 55, struck a sweep straight down deep-backward square-leg’s throat minutes before the tea break. Shakib Al Hassan and Litton Das then fell for 36 and 38 respectively, and Shahadat Hossain walked back for 15.Related

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“It was my fault to play that shot in the over before tea,” Mominul said. “I shouldn’t have got out like that. If we had lost two or four wickets all day, it would have been a different story. They [Sri Lanka] would have been under pressure. It would have left us to bat all day on the fifth day. The pitch is still good but we lost too many wickets today. Most of us got out after getting set. All of us, including myself, are to blame.”Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood, however, praised Bangladesh’s forthright approach on the fourth day.”I think Bangladesh played well today,” Silverwood said. “They put the pressure back on the bowlers. They made life difficult for us. I think we bowled well in patches. There were periods when we could have bowled better. I don’t think we quite had the consistency in this innings as we showed in the first innings with the ball. Thankfully, our hard work has put us in a strong position going into tomorrow.”In these sorts of wickets, you need to hold your line and length. Bangladesh didn’t allow us to do that today. The run rate stayed around 3.9, which means they were pushing back. It is a good learning curve for us.”

“We have seen some good skill levels from the boys. They have shown a lot of heart, determination and passion. I think they are learning how to bowl in different conditions”Chris Silverwood on the Sri Lanka fast bowlers

Bangladesh’s top seven in this series have the lowest collective batting average for the side in a series since the start of January 2021. Mominul said that the lack of red-ball cricket in the lead-up to the Test series could be a reason for the poor performance but did not want to use that as an excuse. Bangladesh played their last Test series before this one in December, and their two first-class competitions also ended in December.”Our batting has totally collapsed in this series,” Mominul said. “We can’t give any excuses about it. If you compare it to how we batted in the first Test against New Zealand [in November last year], we couldn’t click in this Test series. We couldn’t play to our capabilities.”You will think I am giving an excuse if I say that we are playing a Test after a considerable break. You might then ask me why I didn’t have a problem [scoring runs when others couldn’t]. I might have tackled it better but the rest of the team were mostly playing white-ball cricket [till recently]. This is the reality. It will sound negative, but this is the truth.”Lahiru Kumara is the second-highest wicket-taker in the series at this stage•AFP/Getty ImagesBangladesh’s batters have found the Sri Lankan fast bowlers especially tough to tackle. With a total of 31 wickets so far, the quicks have taken the most wickets by a Sri Lanka fast bowling attack ever in a two-match Test series. The previous occasions when they took 25-plus wickets were all in Australia, South Africa and England.”I think they have been absolutely fantastic in this series. We have seen some good skill levels from the boys. They have shown a lot of heart, determination and passion. I think they are learning how to bowl in different conditions,” Silverwood said. “We had a completely different style of pitch in the last Test. So we had to change the way we go about things. They adapted very well. They are growing. They have a lot left to learn. They are improving all the time.”Silverwood reserved special praise for Lahiru Kumara, who is making a comeback after a long injury layoff. Kumara has so far taken nine wickets in the series, often troubling the batters with sharp short-of-a-length deliveries.”He [Kumara] has created an impact. He got wickets in important times. He bowled some fantastic deliveries,” Silverwood said. “He has looked dangerous every time he has come into the attack. We want to continue to develop him. I think the more he plays, the better he is going to get.”

The Essex seamer on hat-trick balls, the Kookaburra and managing his England “obsession”

Vithushan Ehantharajah10-Apr-2024Essex’s 254-run victory against Nottinghamshire in their Division One opener to the 2024 County Championship was the third time Sam Cook has pocketed a ball from both innings of a match in 75 first-class appearances. This time, however, he felt a little guilty.”Do you keep a hat-trick ball?” Cook asks, having achieved the feat in the first innings at Trent Bridge. “It’s not the same as a five-for. I’m sure someone will tell me if it’s the done thing or not.”Critch [Matt Critchley] grabbed the hat-trick ball, and I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was; whether to hang on to it. It didn’t quite sit right with me. But I do have both of them.”The hat-trick on day two – dismissing Lyndon James, Brett Hutton and Dillon Pennington in the first over of the second new ball to give him figures of 4 for 59 overall – was followed by 6 for 14 in the Notts second innings. It was Cook’s 13th five-wicket haul and the fourth time he has taken 10 or more in a match. Two of those (Kent in 2019 and Northamptonshire in 2021) featured five-fors in both innings.Related

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The novelty of the two balls added to the collection – curated by his mum in a box she keeps in his childhood bedroom – is that they are both Kookaburras. The ECB’s experiment with the Australian ball, starting with the first two rounds of the season before returning later this summer, was a means to identify seamers capable of thriving without relying upon the lavish movement of the Dukes. A quarter of the way into this year’s experiment, Cook has already set himself apart from the rest.”I think the brand-new Kookaburra can sometimes give you more assistance from the seam,” Cook says. “Obviously not for a particularly long period normally, but I found it pretty quickly and managed to maintain that for the whole second innings which was really pleasing.”It feels different in the hand. The seam is completely different – it’s a slightly wider seam. But the most obvious characteristic is it goes softer a lot quicker. I know the Dukes in the last couple of years have tended to go soft, but you still with the Duke expect to get 20 overs out of it in relatively in good shape, depending on conditions. With the Kookaburra I’d say you’re lucky to get 10 overs out of it behaving like a new ball as such.”The thing I’ve noticed with the Kookaburra is you’ve got to be a lot more specific with your seam presentation; it’s got to be a lot more upright. You can’t always get away with bowling big wobble seamers, which you can at times with the Dukes. Seam presentation has got to be pretty spot on to get something out of it.”Cook admits he was shaking off some early season rust in the first innings, but made amends in the second. At one point, he had figures of 5 for 9, with three batters (Haseeb Hameed, Matthew Montgomery and Hutton) bowled, along with Ben Slater caught behind and Calvin Harrison trapped lbw. Dillon Pennington’s edge to first slip was number six.

“I’ve looked at the guys who are similar to my skillset playing international cricket, and I’m operating at the speeds they are. When I’ve played in T20 comps, I know the speed guns tend to be a bit skew-whiff but I’m not bowling at 75mph anymore”

Not that Cook, 26, needed this Dukes-less round to state his case for higher honours. A record of 275 first-class dismissals at 19.48 – 261 for Essex across Division One and the Bob Willis Trophy – and a sub-20 average in each of the last four summers already have Cook on England’s radar.His aptitude with the Kookaburra is informed by the winters with England Lions, along with previous experience in Australian grade cricket. With the blessings of and England selector Luke Wright and recently-departed men’s performance director Mo Bobat, Cook opted against the Lions tour of India at the start of the year for stints in the T10 with Chennai Braves and SA20 with Joburg Super Kings. Nevertheless, breaking into Ben Stokes’ Test side remains his top priority.”I’d still absolutely love to play for England. This winter, I probably appeared to have turned attention more to white-ball [cricket]. But that was more through trying to experience new conditions and playing in South Africa with an eye to playing for England in the future.”What I’ve tried to do, though, my conscious effort since last season, is not become too obssessed with it. I’ve probably become too consumed with the obsession of wanting to play for England and gone away from what I do really well. That’s something I’ve tried to change, more from the fact that I think if I do what I do really well for long enough, that opportunity will come. Just to trust in that and not waver from what’s made me successful in the last few years.”Overriding that is: I’d still love to play for England one day.”Will the call come this summer? Stuart Broad’s retirement, Ollie Robinson’s disappointing India tour, and uncertainty over Josh Tongue’s fitness seemingly present an opportunity for Cook with three Tests each against West Indies and Sri Lanka to come. Though skilful, like Robinson, he is not as tall. And he is not as quick as Tongue, primarily operating in the low eighties. Though he is working to raise his speeds, he acknowledges there is only so much he can do without compromising what has made him so successful.Eyes on the prize: Sam Cook hopes to make his case for a Test cap•Getty Images”I think if anyone had the answer to that question I’d pay them a lot of money,” Cook replies when asked how he would go about adding speed. “I know there’s never going to be an increase of 10mph in my own pace.”But it’s trying to get the most out of what I can physically do, whether it’s been more focus in the gym on power and explosive exercises rather than bulk, heavy weights. It’s moving weights as quick as I can, focus on sprinting, that kind of stuff. I’m trying to maximise the pace side.”Rhythm is a big thing for me. My fastest spells have always been when I’ve been the most controlled, the most in rhythm and everything clicks from there.”I’ve looked at the guys who are similar to my skillset playing international cricket, and I’m operating at the speeds they are. When I’ve played in T20 comps, I know the speed guns tend to be a bit skew-whiff in some of those, but I’m not bowling at 75mph anymore.”For what it is worth, those who have faced Cook recently have noticed a few extra yards. Clips of cartwheeling stumps on social media certainly won’t harm his case. Nor will building on a strong start to the summer.

Sam Cook is a star: A hat-trick in the first innings, 6/14 in the second

Watch all six second-innings wickets – Essex's best County Championship figures since September 2022! pic.twitter.com/WXMlTv0Ita

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