Mohammad Kaif Has A Stern Warning For India For The World Cup 2023: The cricketing world is looking ahead to the World Cup 2023 with anticipation, but Mohammed Kaif, the former Indian cricketer, has a word of caution. As Jasprit Bumrah prepares to lead the side in the upcoming T20 series in Ireland, all eyes [...]
Watch: Shaheen Shah Afridi made his debut in The Hundred a special one, taking two wickets with his first two balls to set Welsh Fire on the victory path against Manchester Originals.
However, we went the distance thereafter, conceding five boundaries in his last six balls.
Shaheen’s debut in The Hundred has been hotly anticipated in England, with the Pakistan speedster picked up in the second highest price bracket in the 2023 draft. The left-arm quick has developed a reputation as one of the most devastating and watchable in the world game, and he showed exactly why with his first two balls.
Defending 95 in a rain-shortened 40-ball game, he had England opener Phil Salt in his sights first up. The 26-year-old lasted just one ball, with Shaheen swinging the ball back in from over the wicket and pinning Salt in front. He reviewed, but to no avail, with the in-swing allowing the ball to pitch in line and crash into the stumps.
His next ball was even better, with Laurie Evans helpless as Shaheen nailed a pinpoint, hooping yorker. He was hit on the boot and had to go on his way.
However, Shaheen was then taken to the cleaners by Manchester Originals No.4 Max Holden, who hit him for five fours in six balls, with the bowler having been kept on for a second consecutive set of five balls.
Manchester Originals weren’t able to keep up the fightback, finishing on 85-4 as Welsh Fire wrapped up a nine-run win. Welsh Fire lost eight out of eight in 2022, and the Shaheen effect has already seen them better that record.
This is @iShaheenAfridi, everyone
#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/NGhPJZ9QqX
— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 2, 2023
The post Watch: Shaheen Shah Afridi finds big swing to take two wickets with first two balls of Hundred career appeared first on Wisden.
In the wake of the 2023 Ashes, Melinda Farrell reflects on a series which had us gripped from its first ball to the final showdown.
It started with the shot.
The hum rolled around Edgbaston, bathed in bright sunshine, and we grabbed our popcorn and nestled in to our seats for the marathon screening of the Men’s Ashes: 2023 edition. It took all of one delivery, one glorious crack of Zak Crawley’s bat, to unhinge jaws and leave no doubt this movie would be a rollicking ride.
The opening scenes of England’s high-octane batting had fast and furious energy, Australia revving their engines just to keep up. And just as we prepared for an intermission and a loo break, Ben Stokes shoved us back in our chairs with a declaration plot twist that even the scriptwriters didn’t see coming, Joe Root’s unbeaten century left dangling and sparking the first of many ‘what ifs’ that would rumble around the cricket world.
The two sides traded blows in extended fight scenes where it was tough to discern who was on top as they somehow landed knockout punches while simultaneously sagged on the ropes.
From Usman Khawaja’s bat-flinging century to Scott Boland’s thunderous spell under gloomy skies; through David Warner’s customary capitulation to Stuart Broad around the wicket and the reminder that Stokes is human after all when he dropped Nathan Lyon in the game’s final stanza. So strong was the feeling this encounter showed the best of Test cricket that, after Pat Cummins fulfilled his leading man’s duties with a winning boundary, there didn’t seem to be a loser. England certainly felt that way and shrugged off suggestions the declaration had handed Australia the early advantage.
To Lord’s and a change of cast. The gory subplot of Moeen Ali’s shredded finger left him on the cutting room floor but it was Australia’s off spinner who would bow out of the series entirely, swinging his bat while hopping on one leg, in a development that would have significant repercussions on the narrative to follow as would the departure of Ollie Pope’s shoulder, taking him with it. Josh Tongue barely put a foot wrong in his first Ashes showing and was unlucky the casting directors denied him a recurring role.
It was time for the villain to be introduced and whether it was Alex Carey or Jonny Bairstow depended on whether your 3D glasses were red and white or green and gold. In reality, it was neither; the real baddies were the buffoons of the Long Room, more bile-filled twits than cat-stroking Blofelds.
Steve Smith played his greatest hits and box-office Ben donned his cape but couldn’t save the girl, despite reciting the same lines of his Headingley drama. Australia had watched that film – Justin Langer made sure of that – and wrote a new ending. Never mind, said Stokes, we’ve got them right where we want them. The sensible viewers tittered as they slurped on their soft drinks.
You should never attempt to remake a classic and sequels are rarely as good as the original. But, while Headingley ’19 was a standard flick until the extraordinary final day, Headingley ’23 was a thriller from start to finish.
Mitch Marsh emerged from the wings to take on the character previously played by Cameron Green and nailed the performance so well, Green was never again seen. The miracle of the Manuka honey balm saw Moeen resurrected and promoted while England’s buddy cops waltzed in and stole scenes, Mark Wood warming up with his dog-impersonating exercises before flinging thunderbolts from his fingers and hooking with abandon, Chris Woakes politely taking wickets and affably hitting the winning runs.
The players dispersed for their mid-series mini-breaks. Warner tried to forget his Broadway nightmare in Disneyland, Carey escaped the spirit of cricket preachers on the fairways of Scotland and Harry Brook was chillin’ with his missus in Ibiza.
Armed with a fresh round of snacks and at least eight different weather apps, we reconvened at Old Trafford.
A year earlier, before the second Test against South Africa, England had trained in the nets to the soundtrack of Brendon McCullum’s boombox. There were no real bangers, just feel good tunes for this vibey gang, with an occasional and somewhat startling ballad.
Crawley stood in the fast bowler’s net, impervious to the raging critics who had questioned his place from the moment he was given it. Jimmy Anderson charged in and let fly, shattering Crawley’s stumps as Foreigner’s I Want To Know What Love Is blared from the speakers.
Baz and Ben felt the Crawley love, though, and he showed why he deserved it as he rode his luck early and then punished Australia with impunity, flaying an attack that appeared anything but refreshed by the break.
If he’d softened them up, it was another player who had copped his share of criticism throughout the series who finished them off; Jonny Bairstow pummelling every negative word uttered in the media into the stands along with the hapless ball.
But here the scriptwriters failed. With no giant bucket hat floating above Old Trafford to keep it dry, Australia’s retention of the urn in pelting rain felt flat and spurred the biggest wave of ‘what ifs’ the series had seen. Frankly, it was a bit shit.
It also robbed us of a winner-takes-all showdown at the Oval, but the thrills of the final instalment were still tangible, the emotional whiplash between despair and ecstasy relentless. Hugh Jackman was in the house but the greatest showman was on the field for the very last time, Stuart Broad tearing up the script and ad libbing his way to a bail-fiddling, left-hander-destroying adieu. Will we ever see a greater exponent of jazz hands again?
When Stokes dropped Steve Smith off a ragger from Moeen (human, again!) just before the rain arrived, it seemed to be curtains for England. But everyone knows you never leave a Marvel film or an Ashes series until after the credits have rolled.
It was the Brummies wot did it. Moeen and Woakes – two men who would probably give the best lines to someone else, just to be nice – slicing through Australia before Broad, naturally, bowed out with all the fanfare. There may not have been a decisive result but that should matter not.
From the first shot to the final wicket we couldn’t tear our eyes away. England’s irresistible force met Australia’s immovable object and the outcome was an Ashes series deserving of all the Oscars and leaving us counting the days until we can do this all over again.
Rating: FIVE STARS
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The post From first scene to last, the 2023 Ashes series was an Oscar-worthy masterpiece appeared first on Wisden.
Chris Woakes believes his England career has been extended rather than obstructed in the shadows of the evergreen James Anderson and outgoing Stuart Broad.
A double World Cup winner with an outstanding Test record on home soil, Woakes has nevertheless found himself frequently playing second fiddle to England’s record-breaking seamers in the longest format.
Injury issues have also played their part but, after more than a year out of the side, Woakes had his moment in the sun after a starring role in the Ashes, where his 19 wickets at a phenomenal average of 18.14 in the final three Tests went a long way to helping England claim a hard-fought 2-2 series draw.
Some mark he made on this series
With 19 #Ashes wickets…@ChrisWoakes is our Player of the Series
pic.twitter.com/LdqIN7kW8O
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 1, 2023
His input – there were also a couple of key cameos with the bat – meant he walked off with the prestigious Compton-Miller Medal for player of the series despite not featuring in the first two Tests.
Broad attracted much of the fanfare in his final Test but while his retirement leaves the door ajar, Woakes only had warm words for how much he has learned from the now ex-fast bowler and Anderson.
“The last three weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind and it’s just amazing to be a part of,” Woakes said. “I think I’m just proud of myself to be able to keep going.
“I feel very lucky to have played with Stuart. Jimmy’s the same. The stuff that I’ve learned from them has had a huge impact on how I’ve bowled about over the years. It’s been an honour.
“It’s extended my international career, if anything. We won’t know what would have been if they hadn’t been around, but I only have good things to say in terms of the knowledge they’ve passed on.”
Woakes, who was once regarded as the successor to 41-year-old Anderson, wants a more senior role after Broad’s exit and should be a shoo-in in England owing to an average of 21.88 in home conditions.
But that climbs to 51.88 from a not-inconsiderable 20 Tests overseas, so he was understandably cautious about his expectations of being on the plane to India for England’s next assignment in the new year.
“I think that’s a question for another day,” he said. “Let’s let this sink in. I have no idea. We all know my record away from home, so I think we’ll come to that if it happens.
“I want to play for England for as long as possible. Still, for me, playing international cricket is the pinnacle. You want to be a part of days like (the last day of the fifth Ashes Test).
“You don’t get it anywhere else, so you want this to last for as long as possible whilst you’re still performing.
“I think it’s important that the older guys in the team do pass on the knowledge to younger guys coming through. There’s a big thing to be said for that.”
Woakes won player of the match at the Kia Oval after bagging seven wickets in the Test, as England levelled the series – all the more remarkable given he was nursing a grade one quad tear.
“A tiny, tiny one,” he said. “I felt it in over 10 (in Australia’s first innings) and I was a bit worried because it was the first innings and I thought ‘oh, no, it could be going’.
“But then I ended up bowling 25 in the first innings and it disappeared. It’s one of them. I’ve had the physio on it all week. To get through made it all worthwhile.”
Woakes thought a knee injury he sustained on his last Test assignment in the Caribbean in March 2022 might have ended his career and reflected with incredulity at how his fortunes have turned.
“The way my knee felt, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play cricket again,” he said. “At no point did I think I’d be stood here now with with what I’ve achieved. It’s pretty incredible to think about.”
Woakes had an operation last summer to correct the problem and was asked if he could pass on his surgeon’s number to skipper Ben Stokes, who has been battling through a longstanding issue in his own knee.
“I’m sure if there’s a surgeon to be seen, he will be seeing my surgeon,” Woakes added. “Andy Williams is the best. He’s done an amazing job. He’s done two ops on my knee and thankfully I’m still here.
“But I think Stokes’ issue is probably slightly different to what I had.”
The post Chris Woakes pays tribute to bowling rivals Stuart Broad and James Anderson appeared first on Cricket365.
England captain Ben Stokes moved to squash any controversy about a lack of post-series drinks with Australia after an apparent misunderstanding over the traditional get together.
The rivals usually mark the end of the on-field hostilities by joining each other in the dressing rooms to socialise and debrief, but that did not happen at the Kia Oval on Monday.
Initial reports from travelling Australian media suggested the tourists were left disappointed as they waited to be invited in following England’s series-levelling 49-run win and even knocked on the England changing room before departing around an hour later.
To clarify…Our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time event’s.We decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) August 1, 2023
England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum had cast doubt on the longstanding convention earlier in the summer, declaring “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer with them any time soon” in the aftermath of Jonny Bairstow’s controversial stumping by Alex Carey in the second Test at Lord’s.
But the PA news agency understands the home side were simply running late, with their own internal wrap up going on longer than usual due to an extended presentation session that marked the retirements of Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali.
England, who were still at the ground at 11pm, were said to be surprised that the Australian team had left the ground.
Stokes had his own say on the matter in a tweet posted at 4.11am, responding to journalist Bharat Sundaresan who had been reporting on the missed drinks.
Stokes, who had distanced himself from McCullum’s comments previously and stated he was happy to honour the tradition, wrote: “To clarify…Our wrap took longer than expected because of multiple last time events. We decided to meet up in the night club rather than the dressing room.”
Cricket Australia were unable to clarify which of their players made it to the club with Stokes, but Fox Sports quoted an unnamed source saying: “We don’t really care, we’ve got the urn, but after a hard-fought series it is pretty pathetic. Talk about the spirit of cricket.”
The post Ben Stokes plays down lack of post-series drinks with Australia players at Oval appeared first on Cricket365.
India have announced a 15-member squad led by Jasprit Bumrah that will take on Ireland in a three-match T20I series starting August 18. Here are the key takeaways from India’s squad.
After the completion of their five-match T20I series against the West Indies on August 13, the Indian men’s team will travel to Ireland for a three-match T20I series, with games on August 18, 20, and 23.
However, the squad for the Ireland tour bears a near-new look compared to the one that will play in the West Indies: only seven players are common to the two squads.
India’s squad for the Ireland T20Is: Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravi Bishnoi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
The biggest takeaway from the Indian squad is the return of the pace duo of Bumrah and Prasidh. In fact, Bumrah returns not just as a player but as a leader in his first series for India after injury.
Both have been out of action from international cricket for nearly a year. While Bumrah’s quality across formats is well known, India had invested heavily in Prasidh as well before he got injured. He had established himself as one of the first-choice fast bowlers in the ODI side, having picked 25 wickets from just 14 ODIs.
The 2023 ODI World Cup will be less than two months away when the Ireland series begins, which will provide both Bumrah and Krishna an opportunity to ease into international cricket and test out their match fitness. India will hope they come out unscathed and reach peak fitness by the time the World Cup comes around.
Gaikwad, who has been named as the captain of Indian Men for the Asian Games, has been appointed as Bumrah’s deputy for the Ireland series ahead of Samson.
Samson has been leading Rajasthan Royals for several seasons now, and is a senior of Gaikwad, who does not have any leadership experience in the IPL or at the international level.
This appointment may indicate where the selectors think Samson stands in the pecking order, or it might just be a case of preparing Gaikwad for a leadership role before he leads the team in the Asian Games.
Technically, Rinku’s first India call-up came when he was announced in the squad for the Asian Games a couple of weeks back, but the Ireland series will be his first stint with the national side given it is to be played before the inter-continental event.
Rinku had an exceptional IPL 2023 where he scored 474 runs at an average of 59.2 and a strike rate of 150, playing the finisher’s role to perfection for Kolkata Knight Riders. He also boasts of a first-class batting average of 57.82, showing that he can be a versatile, all-format player and that this might be the beginning of a long innings with the national side for him.
Dube played a stellar role in Chennai Super Kings’ title-winning campaign in IPL 2023, scoring 418 runs at a strike rate of 158, hitting as many as 35 sixes in the tournament as he took down any and every kind of spin that was thrown at him in the middle overs.
Having made his T20I debut in 2019, Dube played 13 games for India in the format before being dropped in early 2020. At 30, he now has a golden opportunity to reestablish his place in the middle order as a monstrous spin-basher, a role that India has been found lacking in of late.
The squad contains as many as six left-handed batting options, including four pure batters – Jaiswal, Tilak, Rinku, and Dube – along with two all-rounders, Sundar and Shahbaz.
Given India’s lack of southpaws in T20Is over the last couple of years, this is a good opportunity for India to give game time to, and identify a bunch of left-handed batters who they focus on in the coming years to improve the robustness of their T20I batting order.
India’s squad for this series does not include Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, or Shikhar Dhawan. The last time India played a T20I without any of these four players was in 2016.
There have been whispers about the selectors having quietly moved on from Rohit and Kohli in T20Is. Dhawan has already been discarded. Pandya has been leading the T20I side lately but has been rested for this series.
Indian cricket has entered a transition that is going to last for a while. This young squad selected for the seemingly inconsequential Ireland tour, squeezed between a full tour of the West Indies and the Asia Cup, gives a glimpse into what the Indian T20I side might look like post-transition.
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The post A great returns to lead India’s next generation: Six takeaways from India’s squad for the Ireland series appeared first on Wisden.
