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Marnus Labuschagne's 'phenomenal' growth the highlight for Andrew McDonald

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Australia’s assistant coach said Labuschagne reached a level he had never seen before

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-202025:46

‘IPL is No. 1 when it comes to quality of cricket’

The rise of Marnus Labuschagne into the prolific Test No. 3 who dominated the Australian home summer even surprised some who had seen him close at hand.In five Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand, Labuschagne scored 896 runs at 112.00 with four centuries including a maiden double at the SCG. It followed his dramatic return to the Test side during the Ashes as Steven Smith’s concussion replacement at Lord’s and two matches later he was handed the No. 3 spot which he has now made his own.Andrew McDonald watched Labuschagne’s monumental season at close quarters having been appointed as Justin Langer’s assistant coach at the start of the summer. Though he had studied Labuschagne during his time as Victoria’s head coach, McDonald admitted the player who emerged was beyond what could have been imagined.”The real surprise for me, and it’s been pretty well documented, was Marnus. His growth into that Test No. 3 position was phenomenal and great to witness,” McDonald told ESPNcricinfo’s One-on-One series. “I’ve done a fair bit of coaching against him at the state level and had never seen the level he has been able to play at and long may it be the case.”Labuschagne also had his first taste of ODI cricket earlier this year when he made his debut in India on the tour where McDonald stood in for Langer as head coach. Across seven ODIs, Labuschagne is already averaging 50.83 with a strike rate of 94.42 and made a maiden century against South Africa in Potchefstroom.Marnus Labuschagne celebrates his double-hundred•Getty Images

“He was good in the 50-over game batting in the middle order, him and Steve Smith, he’s a very good player of spin,” McDonald said. “So going forward to a World Cup in 2023 think he’ll be a part of that one-day team with a view to being on the big stage in 2023 assuming all goes well. His ability to play spin, fast bowling, rotate [strike], he’s a good fielder, so there’s a handy package there. A good find for the selectors who persisted with him – no one saw that, so full credit to those who picked him.”Australia’s ODI form during the 2019-2020 season – mostly away from home with series in India and South Africa – was poor as they suffered five defeats in a row before returning to winning ways against New Zealand at an empty SCG, in what became the final match of the Australian season as the coronavirus pandemic shut sport down.However, their T20I cricket was much more impressive as they comfortably defeated Sri Lanka and Pakistan early in the home summer before clinching a 2-1 victory in South Africa. The notable tactical shift at the start of the season was to play five frontline bowlers with left-arm spinner Ashton Agar at No. 7, putting the onus on specialists rather than allrounders, before Mitchell Marsh was recalled for the series in South Africa.McDonald suggested a flexible approach will continue as Australia look to build their T20 side – although the T20 World Cup in October is now in doubt due to the pandemic – and that the return of Glenn Maxwell to the top order would further bolster the options.”We’ve seen Australia play five out and out bowlers – two spinners and three quicks – and finish their batting at No. 6 with Agar at No. 7. In that combination you have five strong bowling options, so your all-round option in the top six isn’t that critical. Whereas if you flip it around and want to lengthen your batting slightly then clearly your allrounder becomes pivotal.”We’ve seen Mitch Marsh come back into the fold, so he looks as though he has a little handle on that position at the moment and there are some other options in Australian cricket as well. Glenn Maxwell is missing as well so he could be classified as a spin allrounder.”

We need to grab our chances; can't give excuses every day – Kohli

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The Royal Challengers captain asked each of his team-mates for self-introspection

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2019For the sixth time in a row, Virat Kohli was asked to explain the freefall his team Royal Challenges Bangalore are experiencing this IPL. The defeat against Delhi Capitals on Sunday meant Royal Challengers have started the season with six successive defeats, equaling the record for the joint-worst start previously held by Delhi Daredevils in 2013.Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their sixth straight match this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As pointed out here, Royal Challengers were embarrassing for the second successive game in the field, allowing the opponent to capitalise on the let-offs. Still recovering from the knockout punch to their gut from Andre Russell in the defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders two evenings ago, they once again dropped chances, failed to convert run-out chances, misfielded and bowled no balls.Instead of being harsh at the post-match presentation, Kohli just asked each of his team-mates for introspection. “When the mind is cluttered you wouldn’t be able to focus on the chances that come your way, so clarity of mind is very important in the game especially if you want to convert the half chances and pull the game back,” Kohli told the host broadcaster .Shreyas Iyer was dropped by Parthiv Patel on 4 on the last ball of the first over of the innings in which Tim Southee had already dismissed Shikhar Dhawan. Iyer proceeded to finish with a 50-ball 67.”Look, in T20 cricket no one is going to keep giving you chances. We got two there – Shreyas got 65 (67). He was on 8 (4) when he was dropped first and then on 20-odd again. Look that takes the game to a different dimension altogether. Like at the end they panicked a little bit.”Kohli admitted his team was once again not “good enough” when it mattered. He thought the under-par total of 149 was actually competitive only because the pitch was “dry underneath” and was hence behaving slow. “We thought 160-165 would be a very competitive total. Even 150, had we held on to our chances, would’ve been very difficult for them. Look, we need to grab our chances when they come our way. We can’t give excuses every day saying something or the other. We weren’t good enough on the day again, and that’s the whole story of RCB so far.”Although he was the top-scorer for Royal Challengers with 41, it was an unusual innings from Kohli who didn’t get much strike for the 17 overs he batted, facing only 33 balls, and when he did, his punch lacked any impact. Kohli explained that he decided to drop anchor once AB de Villiers fell in the sixth over.”When two senior batters are there in the team and one gets out, the other one has to take it deep. So that was the whole idea of that (my) innings. The pitch also didn’t allow us to play our shots that much in the first innings. I wasn’t too happy getting out to a ball like that. I thought if I had stayed [we] could have added maybe 25-30 more to the total. In hindsight you can look at all the things possible, but even with the total in hand, we thought 160 (150) would have been very competitive.”So what should Royal Challengers do to avoid further embarrassment? Kohli did not have much energy or words.”There’s nothing more you can say to the team,” he said. “We have asked the guys to take responsibility, come out here and perform to the best of their abilities. It hasn’t happened so far. That’s the reality of the situation. We do accept it. The more we get frustrated, the more it is going to get tougher and tougher. So the key is to just enjoy ourselves as much as we can, play expressive cricket in the remaining games. Personally as well, not trying to control the situation too much. There is to a certain extent that you can control, which is your own personal skill and try to give your own effort as much as possible and we expect that out of the team, too. Yeah, the team should just take it easy, relax. Whatever it is in front of us, it is in front of us. We can’t really change the situation.”

Ashwin, Jadeja go 1-2 in Test bowling rankings

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For the first time since 1974, two Indian bowlers – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – occupy the top spots in the ICC Test bowling rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2016Ravindra Jadeja’s maiden ten-wicket haul in the fifth Test against England in Chennai helped him rise to second in the ICC Test bowling rankings, a list led by team-mate R Ashwin. This is the first time since 1974 that two India bowlers occupy the top spots in the bowling rankings. The last pair was left-arm spinner Bishan Bedi and legspinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. Having gained 66 points, Jadeja is now eight behind Ashwin.In the recently-concluded Test series against England, Ashwin took 28 wickets at an average of 30.25. Jadeja claimed 26 wickets at 25.84, and an economy rate of 2.31. Of the 93 England wickets to fall in the series, both combined to take 54. Jadeja overtook Josh Hazlewood, James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Rangana Herath on the list. Ashwin has held the top spot since overtaking Dale Steyn and James Anderson in October this year.Jadeja also leapfrogged to No. 3 on the allrounders list, also topped by Ashwin. Jadeja contributed with 224 runs at an average of 37.33 with two fifties. Ashwin chipped in with four fifties with the bat, making 306 runs at 43.71.Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc also moved up to a career-best sixth position after picking up seven wickets in the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba. ‘

Teams scrap for first points

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ESPNcricinfo previews the game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers in Kolkata

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit10-Apr-2011

Match facts

Monday, April 11
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Kolkata will look to get over their choke in the opening game•AFP

Big picture

Both batting line-ups faltered in their opening games; Deccan Chargers never got going, and Kolkata Knight Riders choked. Kolkata definitely have more class and power in their batting, but until Brett Lee and Shakib Al Hasan return from national duty, their bowling looks thin. In their absence though, Kolkata’s bowling held up decently against Chennai Super Kings, but it was the star-studded batting line-up that failed to get them home in a modest chase, blowing away a winning position.
Deccan have a world-class bowling attack, but it was given too few runs to defend by a misfiring batting unit. They tried hard, but Pragyan Ojha had an off day. Their bowling relies on Dale Steyn for making maximum impact, and the way he was played out by Rajasthan Royals after they had conceded two wickets to him, could be one approach teams would look to use against Deccan. The rest of the bowlers will be targeted, but there is no reason why they cannot step up, given their pedigree.

Team talk

Gambhir said that he had come lower down the order against Chennai in order to hold the line-up together, as Jacques Kallis had got off to a good start. The move of sending Yusuf Pathan at No. 3 and demoting himself to No. 6 did not work, and Kolkata would look at rejigging the order.

In the spotlight

Gautam Gambhir has acquired a reputation for some brain fades of late, getting run-out, stumped and bowled after a blind charge in the three World Cup knockout games. He followed that up with another run-out in the IPL opener. He has been in fine touch otherwise, but will have to stay in the middle long enough to make the runs. And would also need to bat at his natural position, in the top order.
Rajasthan targeted Pragyan Ojha who went for 44 in 23 deliveries, blunting a bowling performance that had otherwise been largely on target in defending a small total. Ojha, the top wicket-taker in the previous IPL, will have to complement Steyn’s efforts with the ball.

Prime numbers

  • Kolkata’s 67 against Mumbai Indians in 2008 is the second-lowest total in the IPL
  • The longest losing streak in the IPL is eight matches by Kolkata in 2009

The chatter

“These things happen. If they did not happen, we wouldn’t call cricket an unpredictable game.”
Gautam Gambhir is not too worried over his run-outs

USA thrash Tanzania by ten wickets

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United States of America thrashed Tanzania by 10 wickets in their ICC World Cricket League Division Four match, reaching the target of 129 in 12.4 overs

Cricinfo staff15-Aug-2010United States of America thrashed Tanzania by 10 wickets in their ICC World Cricket League Division Four match in Navile, reaching the target of 129 in only 12.4 overs.USA openers Sushil Nadkarni and Orlando Baker hammered the Tanzania bowlers all around the park on their way to unbeaten half-centuries. Nadkarni hit three fours and eight sixes in his 68 off 31 deliveries while Baker hit seven boundaries and four sixes in his 63 off 44. Tanzania offspinner Kassim Nassoro went for 47 runs in his three overs.Nassoro was earlier responsible for his team getting to three figures, after they were reduced to 63 for 8 at one stage, USA offspinner Muhammad Ghous being the chief destroyer with figures of 10-2-15-4. Nassoro resisted with an unbeaten 49 off 37 deliveries hitting five fours and three sixes. However, fast bowler Adrian Gordon took the remaining two Tanzanian wickets to finish with 3 for 21 off 8.1 overs.In Pianoro, Nepal won a low-scoring game by five wickets, chasing down the target of 72 in 25 overs.Electing to field, Nepal put in a disciplined bowling effort to dismiss Italy for a paltry 71. Amrit Bhattarai took 3 for 8 off 6.1 overs. Three other Nepal bowlers took two wickets each as six Italy batsmen failed to reach double figures.The Nepal chase had its share of hiccups, with the score reading 55 for 5 at one stage. However, Mahaboob Alam kept his cool to steer Nepal home.The game between Argentina and Cayman Islands was abandoned without a ball being bowled. It will be replayed on Monday.

Smith rues more missed chances

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South Africa’s stuttering one-day form hit another low point with their comprehensive 39-run defeat against England

Andrew McGlashan at Kensington Oval08-May-2010South Africa’s stuttering one-day form hit another low point with their comprehensive 39-run defeat against England and it left Graeme Smith fuming at the basic errors made in the field. The reversal leaves them facing a crucial match against Pakistan in St Lucia on Monday if they want to progress to the semi-finals and on this effort that is anything but certain.After an efficient performance against New Zealand two nights ago South Africa reverted to the indifferent form that has plagued their displays in coloured clothes since last year’s World Twenty20 in England, where they reached the semi-finals. Since then they have been dumped out of the first round of the Champions Trophy on home soil, shared the Twenty20 series with England, lost the ODI contest and also pulled up short in India.What made it even more frustrating for Smith was that they created chances but a combination of bowling and fielding errors meant they didn’t count. Within the space of three deliveries Craig Kieswetter was caught at third man off a Morne Morkel no-ball and Kevin Pietersen edged between Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. Then, in the 10th over, Kieswetter was given a second life when JP Duminy spilled a simple chance at deep midwicket.”I think the first six overs were especially disappointing,” Smith said. “Basic mistakes, no-balls, and missed chances up-front proved costly for us. We really could have had England three or four down in those first six overs and all the plans we had up-front worked, Morne bowling at Kevin and Kieswetter, they worked for us but basic mistakes allowed them to get a partnership that has proven to be the difference between the two teams.”The game is often about small moments and pressure. We cost ourselves a lot by not being up to those small moments and we allowed England to put us under pressure.”Of particular concern for Smith will be the front-foot problems for Morkel, who has now taken two crucial wickets in this tournament off illegal deliveries. In South Africa’s opening match against India he had Suresh Raina caught at mid-off from a no-ball and the left-hander went on to get a match-winning 101. Kieswetter’s contribution wasn’t so substantial, but the impact on South Africa’s mindset was significant.”It is very frustrating and something we have spoken about,” Smith said. “It seems to come and go, he goes through phases where he doesn’t bowl them and then he goes through phases when he does. I guess it is up to the bowling coach and Morne to get it right.”The problem is that South Africa’s strategy is based around the twin pace threat posed by Morkel and Dale Steyn, although that game-plan may now have to be adjusted for the final group match on the slower surface in St Lucia. “The players are there. It is just about getting it together again,” Smith said.”We proved against New Zealand that we can play to a certain level and be difficult to beat. It is about us regrouping mentally, making sure that tomorrow we work out what went wrong and try and put it right against Pakistan. St Lucia is a very different wicket, a different stadium, so we need to be able to put that into play in those conditions.”Despite the fumbling display in the field South Africa would have been expected to make a better fist of the run chase, but the top order couldn’t find any early momentum and then England’s spinners preyed on the batsmen’s frustrations. “I found the wicket pretty two paced and hard to play freely on,” Smith said.”Everyone of our batters struggled except for JP [Duminy] really. You have to give credit to England’s bowlers. They hit the right areas, they didn’t give us any room, they tucked us up, hit the deck nice and hard, almost the total opposite to the way we bowled in the first six.”

UAE grab five-wicket win

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United Arab Emirates completed a comfortable five-wicket victory over the United States of America in their World Twenty20 Qualifier warm-up game at Sharjah.

Cricinfo staff05-Feb-2010
Scorecard
United Arab Emirates completed a comfortable five-wicket victory over the United States of America in their World Twenty20 Qualifier warm-up game in Sharjah. A middle-order collapse meant USA could only muster 134 for 8, and after opener Mohammad Iqbal’s brutal 43 the target was chased down with 11 balls to spare.USA had looked set for a large total after Sushil Nadkarni and Carl Wright put on 64 in the first eight overs. Nadkarni, who has a reputation as a prolific batsman in American cricket, blazed his way to a half-century, but his dismissal by Fayyaz Ahmed sparked a disastrous collapse as seven wickets fell for only 25 runs in the second half of the innings.Ahmed grabbed three wickets in four balls – including the captain Steve Massiah and Sudesh Dhaniram for first-ball ducks – while Ahmed Raza and Shadeep Silva ensured there would be no fightback from the lower order. Orlando Baker’s breezy cameo took the score past 130, but USA would have been hoping for 30 to 40 more runs after the bright start to their innings.UAE’s reply got off to a brisk start courtesy of Iqbal. He smashed six boundaries, including three sixes, to take the pressure off his opening partner, Arfan Haider, who played a far more sedate innings before he was dismissed by Imran Awan. Iqbal was run out in the same over, but calm innings from Saqib Ali and captain Khurram Khan ensured there would be no repeat of USA’s collapse.Timroy Allen, the young Jamaican-born fast bowler, struck twice in the 18th over to remove Khan and Ahmed, but by then the result was all but sealed. These two teams meet again at Abu Dhabi in two days time for their second warm-up game before the World Twenty20 Qualifiers begin on February 9.

Hybrid model for Champions Trophy? ICC likely to take call on November 26

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An emergency meeting of the ICC Board will be convened to discuss this matter, with fewer than 100 days left to the expected start of the tournament

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Nov-2024The ICC Board will convene next week for an emergency meeting to discuss the fate of the 2025 Champions Trophy. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the single-point agenda for the meeting, which is likely to be held on November 26, is to reach a consensus on whether a hybrid model should be adopted for the tournament with matches being spread between Pakistan, the host country, and a second overseas venue, which is yet to be confirmed.While several people privy to discussions confirmed the development to ESPNcricinfo, an ICC spokesperson said there had been no official communication confirming the meeting next week. It is not clear how many boards have been informed of the meeting at this point. A PCB official also said they had received no such information at the moment.The ICC Board comprises representatives from the 12 Full Member countries, three representatives from Associates, an independent director along with the ICC chairman and CEO.The meeting has been called for after the BCCI told the ICC that the Indian government has denied Rohit Sharma’s team permission to travel to Pakistan. That decision only came a fortnight ago; the PCB was awarded hosting rights for the eight-team ODI tournament three years ago, in November 2021, and has been steadfast about conducting the entire event in Pakistan, at three venues: Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi.Related

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  • PCB draft schedule has all India games in Lahore

The impasse has meant that with under 100 days to the expected start of the tournament – as hosts, the PCB have penciled it in to run from February 19 to March 9 – there is still no official schedule from the ICC for the event.Speaking to media in Pakistan this week, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said he retained “positive expectations” about the Champions Trophy taking place in the country. Naqvi, who is also the head of the Interior Ministry of the Pakistan government, said he was willing to have a dialogue with the BCCI to break the deadlock, even while the PCB awaits a response from the ICC to a set of questions about why India cannot travel to Pakistan for the tournament.This is the second time in successive years the PCB has been confronted with the hybrid model to host a multi-national tournament to accommodate India. The 2023 Asia Cup was played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka after the Indian team was refused permission to travel to Pakistan. It was Pakistan that travelled between their country and Sri Lanka where the tournament final was played. Pakistan travelled to India for the ODI World Cup soon after that tournament, a decision the PCB has said it expected to be reciprocated for the Champions Trophy.Earlier this week the India team was also forced to withdraw from the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup scheduled to be held in Pakistan, after failing to secure the Indian government’s clearance for the squad to travel to Pakistan.

Victoria women's coach resigns after just two weeks

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Dulip Samaraweera had been handed the role in early May and will now be replaced by Andrew Christie

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2024The head coach of the Victoria women’s team, Dulip Samaraweera, has resigned after just two weeks in the role after being denied an appointment he wanted to make to his staff due to the state’s policies.Samaraweera, who played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1994, had been appointed on a two-year deal earlier in May after being the interim head coach since Jarrad Loughman left the role last November.”During the recruitment process Dulip had expressed a desire to make a specific coaching appointment in his support team,” Cricket Victoria CEO Nick Cummins said.”That appointment was unable to be facilitated due to internal policies we have in place. Following further conversations, Dulip decided he would prefer not to remain in the role.”Samaraweera will be replaced by Andrew Christie, Melbourne Renegades’ WBBL assistant coach, who had been part of the interviews for the initial job. Christie joined Cricket Victoria in 2021 leading the female emerging player program.

Friendship and memories abound at unveiling of Richards-Botham Trophy

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Test greats become legends in their own lifetimes, even as news of Shane Warne’s death casts launch in strange light

Cameron Ponsonby07-Mar-2022Ian Botham is sitting next to old friend Viv Richards as they unveil the new Richards-Botham Trophy that England and West Indies will now compete for in Test cricket. And with a press conference, a photo-op, and a handshake, they have officially done it. They have been immortalised, not for the first time, in their own lifetimes.After the press conference, Richards is asked if part of his friendship with Botham was down to the fact that took their games to a level that only the other could relate to and understand.No, comes the answer. He was attracted to the person before the cricketer. That there was a magnetism about Botham. And that he, Botham, was like Richards.Yeah, geniuses attract other geniuses.In all, it’s a strange, if nice, event that celebrates the friendship between two men, and honours them as cricketers. It’s easy to roll your eyes at gestures that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things but, on an individual level, there’s no doubt it means a lot to the two men being honoured. An act that rekindles the fires behind two names that are greats of the game, not just among the best.And people love that stuff. In 2016, we named our club’s third XI trophy after a former player. It’s still his WhatsApp profile picture. It’s nice to do nice things.What’s more, Viv and Beefy’s relationship is worth celebrating as two people who found home comforts in someone from the other side of the world. They are each other’s Irish pub on the beachfront in Benidorm.”We made our first-class [County Championship] debuts together in 1974 against Lancashire at Taunton,” Botham says. “And that was really the start of what was, well, it was there already, but to take it to the levels that it did. He is the godfather to my son and you know it’s a special relationship and these things don’t come along very often.”The event celebrated a friendship, but it also mourned the loss of another, with the uncomfortable balance of two men being immortalised while addressing the death of a friend running throughout.Related

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It was the press conference of one man (Botham) who had just lost a close friend and has unsurprisingly spent 48 hours thinking about what those around him really mean to him. And another (Richards) who was sitting next to a friend in mourning and wasn’t quite sure how to pitch it. Who really knows how to react in such circumstances.At one point Richards – who, as fate would have it, turns 70 today – made a joke about how the news about Shane Warne had him “checking my shoulder, you know – what’s coming next”.One person laughs. In fact, they find it hilarious. The rest of the room is trying to work out if they think it’s appropriate, let alone funny, but this guy is deep into a hero-worship laugh. The type your boss gets for saying, “oh, half-day is it?”, when a colleague walks in two minutes late.At one point, Botham is asked about the omission from the Test squad of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. And within an answer that eventually concludes that he thinks they will be back, he says, “Look, you move on. Time moves things on. You’ve got to look forward to the future and we can’t go on forever.”It’s a fine and sensible message. It’s just a bit of a peculiar one to emerge at a ceremony that is commemorating the past with a newly unveiled trophy, while at the same time celebrating a lifelong friendship and the memories of a recently deceased friend.And yet, there is a difference between living in the past and celebrating it. And through doing the latter, things do live on and legends and legacies remain. Otherwise, none of us would be here at the unveiling of the Richards-Botham Trophy. And that guy definitely wouldn’t have been laughing at Richards’ awkward joke.