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England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket

Will Luke at Lord's28-Jun-2008

England have a habit of raising, then dashing, everybody’s hopes that they have finally cracked the formula for one-day cricket. In falling to New Zealand by 51 runs, they lost the series 3-1 – a generous result, some might say, had fortune not been on England’s side at Edgbaston. Today, chasing a gettable 267, they were rolled over for 215 in 47.5 overs – a batting performance that Kevin Pietersen, in his, first match as England captain, was at a loss to explain.”I really don’t know. I can’t answer that question, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s a very difficult question for me to answer for how the batting has gone. When you get to 20s, 30s and 40s…the key to it is to go on. I don’t mind if a guy gets nought or whatever, but when you get in, it’s definitely the key to take the responsibility. The onus on the individuals is there for the taking – to become a hero at the end of the day. That’s what we’re after.”There were no heroes today, and apart from Pietersen himself – whose scorching 110 led to their Chester-le-Street win – there have been precious few in the series. Owais Shah again proved his aptitude for a fight with a courageous 69, combing the deft with the explosive in pleasing measure, but his was very much the dying embers of an innings that never truly caught alight. And how often have we had cause to say that in this series?The situation was far more promising earlier, however. Alastair Cook returned from injury, replacing the banned Paul Collingwood, and together with Ian Bell staged a solid opening stand of 53 in 11 overs. That this was England’s highest opening stand of the series tells a sorry tale, though not one that should necessarily cut short the career of Luke Wright, Ian Bell’s partner at No.2 for the first four matches. Wright is impetuously youthful and needs a run in the side, but it is Bell, a man of such obvious gifts, who most frustrates. Scores of 46, 0, 20, 46 and 27 may indicate a batsman who has struggled to time the ball, or at the very least found conditions at the top of the order difficult. Yet with the exception of his duck at Edgbaston, in each of his stylish innings he has batted with the poise of a demi-god.Today, he was off the mark with the creamiest of fours through midwicket. Another gift on his legs was happily accepted before he played the day’s most orthodox stroke off the back foot through extra cover. He, and England, were cruising very nicely until he walked across his stumps. However, Bell is not alone: England’s woes with the bat was a collective failure all series, and one Pietersen insists needs addressing.”It’s very easy to say you need to get hundreds because the wickets are flat. In England, it nibbles,” he said. “New Zealand didn’t get a hundred. I’d like to see the stats from the New Zealand top six and compare [to England’s]. It’s hard because in England you don’t see many hundreds, so it’s hard to say you’ve got to get hundreds to win a series.”But I have said you need to get 70s, 80s, 90s…those are big scores in the UK. It’s an area we can improve but I don’t think it’s a catastrophe by any stretch of the imagination.”It wasn’t just with the bat that England struggled. Without their captain and allrounder, Collingwood, England also lacked a fifth bowler. And Pietersen’s decision to opt for Owais Shah’s part-time off-breaks ahead of Ravi Bopara’s neat seamers cost them dearly. Jacob Oram – who gives such balance to New Zealand’s side – had eased himself to a breezy 36, and welcomed the introduction of Shah like a cold beer on a roasting hot day. Oram heaved him into the Mound Stand over midwicket and over long-on before depositing a third into the Edrich Stand. Shah’s three overs had cost 30 and England had again let New Zealand escape.”I think Owais’ job today was good,” Pietersen said, forthrightly. “He had a dart in New Zealand. I’ve bowled in Tests but not much in one-dayers, so I thought the option of Shah bowling was good. You realise your options and, unfortunately, Colly was banned and we don’t have Andrew Flintoff. So you’ve got to look at your options and say ‘right. This is the England team I’m captaining. And this is what I have to do to make a good go of it.’ And that’s what I tried to do.”England’s defeat casts a shadow over their preparations for South Africa, who they face at Lord’s on July 10. Pietersen, however, remained confident that their feeble one-day effort will have no impact on the outcome of the forthcoming tough Test series.”It’s not a case of drawing a line under what’s happened. In the Tests we played fantastic, fantastic, amazing cricket against New Zealand,” he said. “We really cleaned them up, and that [a Test match] is what we have got against South Africa in two weeks. When we come to play in that week, we can have our heads held up really high. The captaincy of our big man, Michael, and everything will be great.”

USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie could return to the Premier League with negotiations on a new deal at Juventus reaching a stalemate.

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• Midfielder exploring potential return to England
• Contract expires at the end of next year, no extension immediate
• Has tallied nine assists this season in all competitions

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  McKennie's contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, and there has been little movement on a new deal for the 25-year-old. The Italian club might be looking to cash in as a result, as they are willing to accept a €20 million (£17m/$22m) bid for their star midfielder, according to . The reports would seem to counter talk that the Bianconeri are prepared to offer McKennie an extension.

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• WHAT MCKENNIE SAID

  In January, the midfielder asserted that his second spell at Juventus is an opportunity to return to his best: "When I left Leeds, I knew I had a bad showing. I knew I didn’t have the time that I thought I was going to have or that maybe I should have had. It put me in a mindset that when I came back here to Juventus, I was starting brand new. I’m going back to Juventus like it’s my first time. I have to prove myself all over again.”

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  McKennie has seized a role in central midfield for the Bianconeri, starting 24 Serie A games this season and tallying seven league assists. Juventus are third in the Italian top flight, and seem well positioned to return to the Champions League ahead of the 2024-25 season.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MCKENNIE

  The USMNT midfielder seems poised to be a part of the Juventus midfield going forward. He is set to feature on March 17, when his side take on Genoa.

History is written by the victors and this year South Africa have made
so many alterations to the accepted version that the past is now
irrelevant

Brydon Coverdale in Perth21-Dec-2008

History is written by the victors and this year South Africa have made
so many alterations to the accepted version that the past is now
irrelevant. Their brilliant chase of 414, orchestrated by their two
youngest batsmen, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, proved again that no
target is out of reach these days and that despite what Australia
wanted to believe, South Africa hold no demons from past failures.They are two matches from potentially climbing the biggest mountain in
world cricket. Apparently, 2008 is the international year of the frog
and it could well finish with South Africa poised to leap over
Australia and into the top position on the world Test rankings. Wins in
the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney will get them there
and on the evidence displayed at the WACA, and with Australia to visit
South Africa in February, it will be only a matter of time.The key difference in this South African side compared to the older
versions is their self-belief. Australia have daunted South Africa so
much over the years that had Mitchell Johnson’s eight-wicket haul come
in a previous series the team’s confidence would have been shattered.
But the calmness of the captain Graeme Smith and the coach Mickey
Arthur has rubbed off on this unit and the way they fought back to
restrict Australia to 319 in the second innings was the key.”There’s only really one statement that stands out in the game,” Smith
said. “If we didn’t rock up on the day after Mitchell’s spell and bowl
as well as we did, put that statement in place that we’re here and
we’re not going away, then we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”Smith was the hero when his team chased down 281 to win at Edgbaston this year, which gave them their first series victory in England for 43 years. He again made a century in this triumph, the second-highest
chase of all time, which he was still struggling to comprehend after
the match.”We’ve had such an incredible last year and a half,” Smith said.
“Victories in the subcontinent, in England, a really big victory at
Edgbaston, which was very emotional. But I think the emotions that we
felt through this game, where we were and the way we came back,
everyone has contributed so from that perspective it’s got to be a
great Test win for South Africa. It’s got to go up there with my best
wins ever.”Smith was underplaying the significance of the victory slightly. A
visiting South African journalist said the win would rank alongside
any of the nation’s sporting achievements and it’s hard to disagree.
The enormity of the chase was one thing but defying the trend between
the two sides made it all the more exhilarating. South Africa’s most
recent two wins against Australia had come in dead rubbers in Durban in 2001-02 and Centurion in 1996-97. Only once since readmission had
they prevailed in Australia.

It was the perfect chase, every bit as impressive as India’s 387 in
Chennai last week, not the least because it was away from home against
the world’s top-ranked team. It began with Smith and Hashim Amla
building a platform, continued with de Villiers and Jacques Kallis reeling the
target to within sight and culminated in de Villiers and Duminy
completing the order. It was so well calculated that it even allowed
de Villiers to reach his century in the dying stages and Duminy to
finish with an invaluable unbeaten 50 on debut.Both men thoroughly deserved the milestones and it completed their
remarkable journey from the Under-11 tournaments they used to play
against each other. They have taken different paths to the top, de
Villiers being rushed into the side at 20 and being tried in just
about every position over 47 Tests; and Duminy waiting on the fringes and
watching enviously until a thumb injury to Ashwell Prince opened up a
spot in this match.When de Villiers was last seen in Australia in 2005-06 he was being
tested as an opener and made a couple of promising half-centuries but
was still learning on the job. He has matured immensely since then
and, much like the string of brilliant catches he took during the
match, he wasn’t about to let this game slip through his hands. There
was no streakiness and apart from a drive that just cleared mid-on,
barely any half-chances.He had come to the crease with 235 runs still required and but the
target wasn’t weighing on his mind. Small goals were set and
partnerships were built, first with Kallis and then with Duminy. The
century took care of itself and he celebrated enthusiastically when it
came, not so much because of his score but because he had helped his
team set up what by then was a certain victory.”It was never really an issue if I get a hundred or not against the
Aussies,” de Villiers said. “It was just important to get through
today. It’s more important to win a Test match over here than get my
own hundred. But it’s done and it’s great to have gotten a hundred and
win the Test match in one game. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s a
dream come true for me.”At 24, the men are younger than all of Australia’s players bar Peter
Siddle, who was born in the same year. That it has taken South Africa
several years to build this side should not be lost on Australia, who
are battling to balance struggling stars with new men still finding
their feet. Australia have written the script between these sides for
so long that it is hard to imagine a new author. Within the next
fortnight, South Africa could write their own names into the history
books.

Nick Gubbins, touted as an opener for England’s first Test of the summer against Pakistan, gave a wonderful audition for the role with an innings of 99

ECB Reporters Network11-May-20181:50

Nick Gubbins again advertised his England credentials

ScorecardMiddlesex’s England stars of present and possibly near future dominated day one of their Specsavers County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Lord’s.Nick Gubbins, touted as an opener for England’s first Test of the summer against Pakistan later this month, gave a wonderful audition for the role, before falling one short of a deserved century. Skipper Dawid Malan, a current red-ball incumbent for the national side, and England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan weighed in with 76 apiece – the latter in his first County Championship appearance in almost three years.The persevering Daniel Worrall was Gloucester’s standout bowler with 3 for 59, as Middlesex passed 300 in the first innings for the first time in 13 matches.Gubbins wasted no time making Gloucestershire regret their decision to forego the toss and bowl. He survived a couple of early scares, the first when wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick dropped him down the leg side off the bowling of Worrall when on just 17. The second shortly after saw him almost run out by a direct hit from Graham van Buuren, the ball ricocheting to the boundary for a rare 5.Gubbins’ cover-drives were a joy to behold and the opener was also quick to savagely cut anything short and wide. Sam Robson, perhaps fortunate to retain his place at the expense of Max Holden, by contrast looked edgy early on but found some batting rhythm particularly with some punchy drives through midwicket.The pair added 77 before the excellent Worrall squared up Robson who edged a low catch to Roderick. Gubbins though carried on unperturbed, hitting 10 boundaries in reaching 50 off 73 balls.Nick Gubbins works the ball away•Getty Images

Stevie Eskinazi proved a good foil either side of lunch before playing a poor shot to a wide one from Worrall, which Kieran Noema-Barnett palmed upwards before claiming at the second attempt.It was the beginning of an excellent spell from Australian quick Worrall who ended Gubbins’ hopes of back-to-back Championship centuries when the left-hander gloved a rising delivery to give Roderick a second catch behind the stumps.Sadly, for the visitors, none of Worrall’s team-mates found the same life or bowled with the same control, meaning Malan and Morgan wrestled back the initiative with a century stand. Malan, buoyed by last week’s century against Sussex, was the early aggressor with some stylish off drives, but Morgan caught the mood, hoisting van Buuren for a straight six.Such was the duo’s dominance it was a shock when Malan fell to the second new ball, trapped lbw by Matthew Taylor to a delivery which pitched and rolled along the floor – surely ominous for Gloucestershire whose earlier decision to bowl means they must bat last.Taylor soon struck again when new batsman Hilton Cartwright wafted a catch to slip and departed without scoring, and Morgan fell lbw just before the close to another ball which kept low from former Middlesex allrounder Ryan Higgins.

India’s tour begins on June 27 with T20Is against Ireland, and the Tests against England start on August 1. That’s enough time to acclimatise, say Kohli and Shastri

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2018India are ready to play “difficult” Test cricket. That is the message their captain Virat Kohli has sent out on the eve of their departure for the 81-day long tour of the UK. Kohli has made it clear that what happened on the last tour in 2014, when India lost the Test series 3-1, will have no bearing on the five-match Test series this summer. By the time the Test series starts in the peak of the English summer on August 1, India, according to Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, would be feeling at home, having been in the country for more than the month.India’s tour will begin with two T20Is against Ireland from June 27, before heading to England for more T20Is, an ODI series, and then the Tests. Shastri said playing the shorter formats first will be “ideal” preparation for them, giving them a month to acclimatise to the conditions, and Kohli added that by the time they play the Tests, they will be “so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series”.

India tour of Ireland and England

1st T20I v Ireland: June 27, Dublin
2nd T20I v Ireland: June 29, Dublin
1st T20I v England: July 3, Manchester
2nd T20I v England: July 6, Cardiff
3rd T20I v England: July 8, Bristol
1st ODI v England: July 12, Nottingham
2nd ODI v England: July 14, London
3rd ODI v England: July 17 Leeds
1st Test v England: August 1, Birmingham
2nd Test v England: August 9, Lord’s
3rd Test v England: August 18, Nottingham
4th Test v England: August 30, Southampton
5th Test v England: September 7, The Oval

“The last time we played [in England], we felt that collectively as a team we didn’t perform consistently in all three skills,” Kohli said in Delhi before departing for the tour. “Because of that, the batsmen feel the extra pressure, or the bowlers feel the pressure because they feel batsmen aren’t doing enough. But when both click together and whether it’s swinging or seaming, bounce or turn, if you have momentum, any conditions feel favourable and if you don’t have the momentum, flat pitches may also feel tough.”But yes, the conditions are going to be different, we will have to respect that. By the time the Tests come, we’ll be so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series. So once you spend time there, you get comfortable and that’s the biggest factor. If you are at ease mentally, it will show in your performances.”Shastri, on the other hand, said India were focusing more on the pitches and the conditions instead of the opposition. He went to the extent of saying they were not even looking at it as an away series.”From the preparation point of view, it is ideal [to start with T20s and ODIs,” Shastri said. “They will get to play T20s first, then ODIs, the Tests will come a month later. The first game against Ireland is on the 27th (June) and the first Test starts on the 1st (August). So there’s a lot of time to acclimatise.”For us there is no away, every game is home game because we don’t play the opponent, we play the pitch. Our job is to conquer the pitch. Wherever we go – it could be Bombay, it could be Delhi, it could be London, it could be Johannesburg. It is 22 yards that we have to try and conquer, and that is the endeavour. The boys know that they will be rated if they adapt to different conditions. So, if the other team has to adapt to those conditions, so do we. It’s not a question of where you’re playing, for us every game has to be a home game. You see those 22 yards, you say, ‘how am I going to take 20 wickets on those 22 yards, and how am I going to score 350-400.’ Keep it simple.”India’s schedule in England is in stark contrast to their most recent tour to South Africa, when they arrived only five days before the first Test. The players even chose to train on their own instead of playing warm-up matches. At the time, Kohli had said they were “very well prepared” but later Shastri admitted that 10 more days of preparation in South Africa would have made a difference. India lost the first two Tests, but won the third and then went on to dominate the ODI (5-1) and T20I (2-1) series.”When we were playing the Test series in South Africa, after a couple of Tests, people really thought we were outplayed. And then we won the third [Test] and won the series that followed,” Kohli said on Friday. “Then people really understood how well we played in that series. We as a team knew internally we had played well and that led to the success in the ODIs and the T20s as well because we took the confidence into it. People on the outside might not be able to see the small things that happened when you’re playing a particular Test match of a series, but the point about teams not travelling well… I think we’re one of the teams who are looking forward to other countries and playing.”I think that makes a massive difference and that showed with the mindset of someone like Jasprit Bumrah bowling 144kph in his last spell of the third Test. And that’s where fitness comes in. When you have people that are hungry, fit and ready, you’re not only competing but you’re winning. That’s the difference between getting emotional and letting go of a policy and holding on to it and actually taking the hard calls and moving ahead with the system. I think all those things have come together really nice and as I said, we’re looking forward to playing difficult cricket. It can be anywhere, even in India, because that is the only way we feel we’ll be able to test ourselves as a team and judge ourselves as players and as a team. It’s a very exciting time for all of us.”Kohli said he is back to peak fitness having spent time off the field post IPL. A neck injury, which he picked up at the back end of the IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore, had denied Kohli a much anticipated county stint with Surrey, a deal which was done at the last minute.Kohli admitted that playing for Surrey, even for just about a month, would have been ideal preparation for him to not just adapt to English conditions but also keep him mentally charged going into the Test series. The last time India played a Test series in England was in 2014, a tour Kohli will not spend too much time thinking about. In 10 innings in that series, Kohli scored 134 runs at an average of 13.40.Kohli said the key thing for him was to enter the Test series fresh and not exhausted, and that not playing county cricket may have helped him in that regard. “In hindsight what has happened was the best thing for me because although, yes, I wanted to go and experience the conditions, that is a place we haven’t played so much. There’s a big gap of four years and you sort of forget how the conditions were when you played the last time.”So I wanted the more difficult phase of those conditions. Now we are going to enter the heatwave. I wanted the damp and the wet conditions, which Puji [Cheteshwar Pujara] played in, Ishant [Sharma] played in and I saw Varun [Aaron] play in as well.”But in hindsight when I look at it now if I was 90% fit in my body and used to the conditions compared to feeling 110 (%) now and going in fresh I would much rather be in this position. Because in hindsight when I thought of it, I thought I need to be fresh for the tour. I need to be looking forward to it rather than thinking ‘oh, I have been in that place for four months now’. And you don’t want that feeling because the Test series is in the latter half [of the English summer].”Since last year Kohli has stressed on managing his workload in order to be match-fit for a longer career. He played in the IPL having skipped the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and then missed out on the Afghanistan Test recuperating from the neck injury, which he said he has completely recovered from.”I am absolutely ready to go, went through the fitness test as well so body is feeling fine. I am actually very excited to get back on to the field which is a very rare thing when you play so much cricket. But these sort of breaks really help as mentally they make you fresh and make you excited to go back on to the pitch again.”Having fought their way back in the closely fought Test series in South Africa, Kohli said his team was now hungry and keen to play the Test series in England. “This is another series as far as I am concerned individually. But for us as a team this is a very exciting time because we are actually looking forward to playing more difficult Test cricket after what happened in South Africa. That I feel is the best thing that can happen to any side. You don’t want to go to England and say ‘oh, the Test series is one month [away]’. We want it to be actually be sooner. It is just a great phase for Indian cricket.”

Allrounder unites a USA team defying all odds for their chance on the World Cup stage

Peter Della Penna13-Jan-2023If America can sometimes be seen as a country of extremes, then the USA squad preparing to take part in the maiden Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup is in some ways a microcosm of that, whether by population demographics, culturally or geographically.There are players representing seven states from coast to coast: from New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina in the east, to California and Washington in the Pacific Northwest, to Texas in the south and even two players from Missouri to showcase the Show-Me State in middle America.Culturally, they all share a bond in that every player in the squad is a daughter of at least one parent, and in many cases both, who is a first-generation immigrant from India. But more remarkable is the minor miracle of the sample size they are drawing from.Most casual statistics would deduce that it should not be hard to find 11 quality players in a country of 350 million people, even if the actual number of registered cricketers in the country can range from 25,000 to 100,000 depending on where the data is drawn from. Yet there are only 283 total registered female cricketers of any age group in the USA, less than 1% of the overall amateur player pool, according to data shared during the most recent USA Cricket AGM.Related

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Some of them have been playing cricket for more than half their lives. Others have only started since the Covid pandemic, and in one case, precisely because of it. Some live in cities where there are enough girls to form an entire female team or mini-league to compete against fellow girls. Other players are literally pioneers, the first and in some cases only females of any age group playing in their city or state, forced to join boys’ age-group or men’s teams if they want to get a game.In some sports, the odds would be stacked against not just the individuals but the group making it to this tournament. But these girls will prove to be just one more example of how to live out the American Dream by wearing the red, white and blue when they take the field for their opening Group A match against Sri Lanka in Benoni as part of the first USA cricket team to qualify for any World Cup since 2010, when the U19 boys did it.”The opportunities that we’re getting, it just shows how fast cricket is growing in the US and around the world,” said USA Women’s U19 captain Geetika Kodali.She would know better than most. Just over three years ago, she was making her debut in the USA Women’s senior team at a time when there was no such thing as a USA Women’s U19 team, let alone a Women’s U19 World Cup.But in the time since, she has carved out a name for herself globally, taking part in the Fairbreak T20 in Dubai last May as well as being picked in the Trinbago Knight Riders squad for the inaugural Women’s CPL and 6ixty, where she took a hat-trick that included Hayley Matthews, Britney Cooper and Chloe Tryon.”Women’s cricket has been growing rapidly starting with the new women’s CPL and Fairbreak tournaments,” Kodali said. “It’s an absolutely amazing time to start playing this game now.”

“This team is exactly who America is because America is known for its diversity”Aditi Chudasama

Despite being just 18, Kodali is not just seen as a captain, but an inspiration and a role model by a number of her team-mates. Prior to her debut and that of Maryland native Lisa Ramjit, both at the age of 14 in the same T20 World Cup Regional Qualifier series against Canada, it was practically unheard of for an American-raised and developed player to be in the USA Women’s national team.”Geets and Lisa, them getting into the team, there was like a spark across a lot of the girls in the country because their eyes opened up, of their families and them,” said USA Women’s U19 vice-captain and fellow senior team player Anika Kolan, who grew up playing junior cricket with Kodali in the East Bay of northern California.”These girls, even though they’re young, they were getting somewhere, they’re doing things. When I started, a lot of the uncles thought it was just a waste of time. But both of them getting in, especially being the younger ones to get in, definitely inspired a lot of us to keep on pushing and try to reach that goal to represent a national team like they did.”The only other American-born players in the team at the time, in May 2019, were field hockey convert Erica Rendler from California and Shebani Bhaskar, who was born in Illinois but had travelled the world for most of her life as the daughter of a US diplomat. But in the USA Women’s squad that took part in the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE this past September, 11 of the 15 players were teenagers. All but one of them would double up as part of the squad at the U19 World Cup, and all but two are American born.In Kodali’s first two tours with the USA Women in 2019, she played two matches and mostly rode the bench as a reserve with raw but unrefined fast-bowling talent. But Kodali’s stature has rocketed since then, to the point that she was named vice-captain for the senior team in Abu Dhabi, not to mention U19 captain for the World Cup.”In the past year or so with the experiences and opportunities she’s been getting, it’s amazing how she’s starting to understand her game better,” said USA Women’s senior national team captain Sindhu Sriharsha. “At Fairbreak we did speak a little bit about how she should be using this opportunity for herself and she was loving it.”She spent every minute she could with Shabnim Ismail. She’s definitely looking up to Shabnim as her role model and after she came back from Fairbreak, she was a different bowler altogether.”She was trying to work on different variations and trying to think about the batter, how to play the batter and manipulate the batter. I think she has grown as a person and having that leadership role with the Under-19s, all of the girls really look up to her.”We’ve been working on this for a year because we identified quite quickly that she would be a leader going forward. I don’t think we noticed it growing up, but the way she has developed confidence in herself has come up in the last couple of years.”Kodali has also been someone who has the unique perspective of being part of the cricket culture on both coasts, aiding her ability to bond with many of the players and help form a more cohesive national team. Though she grew up in Fremont, California, her family moved to North Carolina not long after her senior national team debut to access better playing facilities and coaching from former West Indies opener Alvin Kallicharran, who was active in junior cricket initiatives in the Raleigh area. She has been a successful captain of the Eastern Conference team now that she’s based in North Carolina, and wound up leading them to the USA Cricket Women’s national title this year over the Western Conference team captained by Sriharsha.But that’s not the only feather in Kodali’s leadership cap. The USA Women’s U19 squad was invited to participate this past summer in the Cricket West Indies Women’s U19 Rising Stars Regional tournament and went undefeated to win the title, including a resounding victory over Trinidad & Tobago in the de facto final. The successful tour coincided with former West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s appointment as USA Women’s senior and U19 head coach to guide the team on their journey to South Africa. To show that this result was not a fluke, USA hosted a full West Indies Women’s U19 side a month later for a five-match T20 series in Florida and won it 4-1 with captain Kodali ending as one of USA’s key performers with bat and ball.Aditi Chudasama receives the Best Batter Award at the 2022 USA Cricket Women’s National Championship from Shivnarine Chanderpaul•Peter Della Penna”I think that and with the experience that she’s gotten now with Fairbreak and the opportunity at the CPL, she’s very commanding with the players,” Sriharsha said. “I saw it at USA nationals. Isu [Vaghela] and I came out to bat together after a wicket and she’s telling the girls in the huddle, ‘These are the top two batters of the West. If we get these two out, they’re finished and we win the championship. This is when I need the best from you all.’ I was like, ‘Oh wow.’ I even told her, ‘Geets, that was good.’ And she was like, ‘I know, we’re gonna get you!'”She has a never-give-up kind of an attitude. And she also speaks the language of the teenager, which helps me a little bit as well. So she is a true vice-captain for me in such a young team.”But Kodali is not the only leading light in the U19 team. Ritu Singh and Pooja Ganesh were the first two females playing in St. Louis, Missouri. Both of them have risen through the adverse circumstance of non-existent dedicated female cricket opportunities in their state to make it to South Africa. Singh’s journey is especially remarkable because she has done it while juggling Olympic gymnastics ambitions, having competed at a high level nationally in her age group in trampoline.Allrounder Ritu Singh drives over mid-off during USA’s tour of the UAE•Peter Della PennaJivana Aras is the first female to play competitive league cricket in Seattle. Born and raised in the suburb of Bellevue, Aras only started playing organised cricket because the club soccer season – her primary sport at the time – was cancelled in 2020 due to local Covid restrictions. Cricket was one of the few sports that was sanctioned for outdoor activity and Aras joined the same club team as her dad, Yatin. Less than three years later, she’s playing for USA and hopes she is not the only player from Seattle who plays for the country in future.”It’s been an honor to represent the USA, and specifically Seattle and Bellevue in Washington,” Aras said. “I’m really looking forward to helping younger girls come into the sport and not be scared of playing with the boys and being discriminated [against] in a way.”Speaking of discrimination, the U19 World Cup squad caused a stir on the internet when it was unveiled on the USA Cricket social media account in December. A graphic featuring headshots of each player was included, sparking derisive comments mainly from sections of the cricket community outside of the USA who zeroed in on the ethnic background of the entire squad and labelled them, ‘The India B side’.But the players just shrug it off, eager to talk up their pride in wearing the Stars & Stripes as they hope to beat the odds against the Test nation competition they’ll face through January.”These people are saying things because they’re not in our shoes,” said New Jersey native Aditi Chudasama. “I think this team is exactly who America is because America is known for its diversity. We’re known for its culture and inclusiveness. If you look at this team, we’re just that. We’re diverse and we come from different parts of the country. I don’t think that’s anything out of the American norm.”Any cricketer who grows up wanting to play professionally, they all want to have their last name on their back, have the country’s flag on their chest. It’s no different for me. I’ve always wanted to play for the country. I think it’s an honor to be a part of history to play in the first U19 World Cup.”

As he stands on the brink of 100 Tests, we look at where New Zealand’s jack of all trades ranks in his country’s pantheon

David Leggat25-Mar-2010There’s an advertisement running on New Zealand sports channels at the moment featuring Dan Vettori.He is watching television when several of his New Zealand team-mates turn up, wanting to switch channels. Argument ensues. To cut to the chase, it finishes with Vettori putting his head in his hands and slowly shaking it.It might not have been the intention, but when you consider his importance to the New Zealand cause, and the half-baked efforts of others in the team at various points this summer, it is amusingly appropriate.In this week’s second Test against Australia, starting in Hamilton on Saturday, Vettori brings up his 99th or 100th Test, depending on how you view the ill-starred World XI game against Australia in 2005. Include it, and Vettori’s bringing up his ton this week; treat the relevant mark as nation against nation, it will happen in Bangladesh in a few months’ time. Either way it’s a remarkable achievement for the bespectacled allrounder, who joins the man he replaced as captain, Stephen Fleming, as New Zealand’s only 100-Test cricketer.There are statistics that bear testimony to his influence within the New Zealand game. Consider just one: Vettori’s Test batting average is 30.9; in the period he has taken over the captaincy, 26 Tests beginning in November 2007, that number is 44.07. His bowling average is also fractionally superior in that shorter period. Therefore it is a short hop to contend that the 31-year-old seems to be thriving, in personal terms, with the leadership.Recently a sports commentator posed the question: Is Vettori New Zealand’s finest cricketer?These sort of subjective topics are great for whiling away idle hours, but if there are firm and conflicting viewpoints, you usually don’t get far. In this instance, the answer is no. Here’s a handful of names to ponder, in rough chronological order: Bert Sutcliffe, John R Reid, Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe. You’ll find any number of supporters to argue each of those players has credentials superior to Vettori’s.How does he sit among the finest spinners New Zealand has produced? Now we’re talking.The answer is, head and shoulders clear of the rest.New Zealand does not have an especially rich tradition of spin bowlers. Only one other has got to 100 Test wickets, offspinner John Bracewell, who was an immensely competitive, combative player. In his prime, a team of Bracewells wouldn’t lose many matches, but there would be plenty of trips to the match referee’s room.There have been three other left-arm orthodox slow men of note: Tom Burtt, burly and gifted, but a liability in the field, in the years after the Second World War; Hedley Howarth, who churned through a mountain of overs in exhausting conditions in the late 1960s and early 1970s on the subcontinent and in the West Indies; and Stephen Boock, a thoroughly competitive and humorous man, who once kissed the Eden Park pitch en route to one for a bucketload against Javed Miandad and his chums 21 years ago.Vettori is not among the biggest turners of a ball. His strengths include flight and variations, accumulated wisdom gleaned from 13 years in the big time. He is a treat to watch at work. One of his strongest attributes is best seen in side-on replays of an over. He uses changes of pace, with no noticeable change in action, and to excellent effect. As they stretch out, or advance down the pitch, batsmen find they are not quite there.At times Vettori has had to be more defensive than he might wish – a case of necessity rather than preference. Rarely has he marked out his run with 450 or more runs to work with.

One of Vettori’s strongest attributes is best seen in side-on replays of an over. He uses changes of pace, with no noticeable change in action, and to excellent effect. As they stretch out, or advance down the pitch, batsmen find they are not quite there

So try this question for size: How important a figure has Vettori become to New Zealand cricket?Tom Lowry and Walter Hadlee were the early giants of the game. Reid was captain on the occasion of New Zealand’s first Test win, against West Indies at Eden Park in 1956; he added Test wins No. 2 and 3 in South Africa six summers later to his resume, and was a colossus of the game.
Among his claims to a place at the game’s top table in New Zealand was his longevity as a national selector. He wanted a say in who he was leading through the gate and got it.Now Vettori is in the same situation: captain and selector. It is not a double role for which he has received universal support. His fellow selectors are coach Mark Greatbatch and former captain and batting champion Glenn Turner. One advocate in his corner is Reid, who knows why Vettori wanted the extra responsibility, and supports his right to a strong say in who walks onto the field behind him.It is an old argument: should there be a clear line between the occupiers of the dressing room and those who put them there? How do players view their captain when they know he is one of those who hold the key to their immediate place in the side? Vettori has maintained he will make hard calls when required.At this moment he is his team’s best bowler, possesses among their safest pair of hands in the field, and is perhaps their most reliable source of runs. Throw in the captaincy and selectorial roles and he has a full plate. Remember, he was also doubling up as de facto coach during the gap between the departure of Andy Moles and the appointment of Greatbatch, although he didn’t much care for the terminology and didn’t feel he was doing anything differently in his handling of the team.Vettori’s significance to his country’s game can be traced back to his debut, against England in 1997. There was no gentle introduction, no bedding-in period for New Zealand’s youngest Test player, at 18 years 10 days. He bowled more overs than anyone else in England’s only innings, at the Basin Reserve, during a hefty innings loss (and he batted No. 11, below Simon Doull and Geoff Allott, which on reflection is a hoot).A few days later he was asked to square the series in the final Test in Christchurch. Chasing 305, England won by four wickets. Of the 146.4 overs it took, Vettori wheeled through 57, more than double anyone else. It was a ludicrous load on slender shoulders.So, being an integral part of New Zealand cricket is nothing new for Vettori.New Zealand’s finest cricketer? A matter of opinion, so no. Their most influential? Right up there.

Covid-19, and the surfeit of cricket, has led to India fielding a record number of players. We have the details here

ESPNcricinfo stats team, Mathew Varghese, Illustration by Kshiraja K10-Aug-2022Forty-eight players turned out for the India men’s team in 2021. In 2022, so far, the number is 39. India have made the most of their strength in depth in the Covid-19 era, with 54 players finding a place in their first XIs across 74 international matches since the start of 2021. And there have been a fair few captains too. Who has played the most, and which format has seen the most players used? This cool graphic tells you.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Between the two teams, England have changed a lot more since the fourth Test last year, and India will recognise the giddiness around that

Osman Samiuddin29-Jun-2022If the Indian captain had gone down with Covid a week before a Test last summer in England, imagine the calamity. He didn’t, but an outbreak among the support staff caused enough panic for the BCCI to have the Test called off.A lot of it was to do with where the world was with the pandemic. The UK was leading a new, post-vaccine laissez-faire response by easing restrictions throughout society, but sport hadn’t caught up. Players were still in bubbles; they underwent regular PCR tests; close contacts were still being identified and told to isolate; travel was a nightmare.But some of it would also have been because the captain last summer was Virat Kohli. And such is the frenzy that accompanies Kohli, it’s quite possible that if only he had gotten Covid and no one else, the Old Trafford Test might have been cancelled anyway.Related

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• Four selection puzzles for India at Edgbaston

It’s a measure of how much has changed that Rohit Sharma got Covid this week and there’s no question of the Test being in danger: the only question is who replaces him, if he doesn’t recover in time. We’ve just seen the end of a series where a number of New Zealand players or staff got Covid, the England wicketkeeper got it during a Test and nobody really cared. Last summer was a different world, though it also doesn’t feel that long ago; one side effect of Covid, regardless of whether you’ve had it or not, is a distorted sense of time.Also, this is Rohit. Great batter, fine captain but not that stratosphere. He doesn’t hold the fate of entire ecosystems in his hands. He does not appear on Forbes rich lists. He is not hanging with the LeBrons, the CR7s or the Messis on a global sporting icon list. In fact, one of the most interesting things about Rohit’s appointment is that for the first time in well over a decade, an Indian captain is not obviously the biggest, most significant figure in the sport.No team is really built in the image of one man alone, but that this was in some way, until very recently, Kohli’s India is difficult to argue against. Now? There is a new coach to consider as well, a man who, albeit in a diametrically opposite way to Ravi Shastri, brings serious presence.Ordinarily, this would all be considered serious change. And it is, except it doesn’t come across that way. If Shastri brought the yang to Kohli’s yang then, instinctively, Rahul Dravid brings the yin to Rohit’s yin: two men attuned to the details and not just a big picture. Shastri, meanwhile, will end the series as a blustering, cheerleading commentator, having begun it as a blustering, cheerleading coach.1:45

Who opens and captains if Rohit Sharma can’t play at Edgbaston?

India don’t do crisis or panic, now they merely move along unperturbed. KL Rahul, second-highest run-scorer in the series, is not here. No problem, here is Mayank Agarwal, who Rahul had replaced in the first place as opener at the start of this series last year after Agarwal sustained a concussion.Many countries might bungle transitions involving their second-most prolific Test fast bowler ever, when he is still only 33. Ishant Sharma might have played his last Test and nobody appears overly concerned, or sentimental. Why would they when Mohammed Siraj is already so well established? Or when next man in could be Prasidh Krishna: tall and gangly like Ishant but quicker and bouncier, averaging less than 17 in ODIs and less than 18 in first-class cricket? R Ashwin is arguably India’s greatest spinner but will probably not play this series. And India won’t lose it. Ashwin not playing would simply underline how little has changed for India. With Rohit leading (assuming he plays), India could field as many as eight from the XI that took the series lead at The Oval.But this Test isn’t really about India, which itself is an unusual position for India to be in. This is about England. Usually, England are just some shade of England: a great orthodox batter, a charismatic allrounder, a couple of grand old seamers and seven others. They win at home, but never dominate. They don’t win that much abroad. There is always angst, about some player, about techniques, about county cricket, about the health of Tests. Boring is not the right word for it. Familiar, oddly comforting, reassuringly there, might be.The best thing about this Test is that this is not usual England. This is not another shade, it’s already half a painting. England too have a different captain and coach since the last Test of this series. They will only play four from the XI that played at The Oval. That says that a lot has changed but it doesn’t even begin to capture a fraction of it – or the speed at which it has happened.Less than a month ago they were still that England. Now they are this England and even if we can get our heads around the Covid time warp, we might struggle to explain that three months ago, seven of this England side scored 324 runs across two innings in 154 overs. In doing so, they lost by 10 wickets.If they were simply waiting to be told that this is a way to play the game, then it’s a nice reminder that words retain power, that they are consequential, especially when coming from Brendon McCullum. But without Ben Stokes’ actions, they might still have meant a lot less. Stokes has been good as captain – a revelation, even, particularly with his handling of Jack Leach – but his two dismissals in Trent Bridge and Headingley now appear as the precise moments of revelation, when The Word became The Deed.It can easily be argued they were reckless dismissals: England were still 148 behind in Trent Bridge when he fell and he left them 55 for 5 at Headingley. They probably were. But they also epitomised precisely what, presumably, he and McCullum had been instructing England to do. Run into the fear, not away from it. And if the captain was doing it, there was no excuse for others not to.India could field as many as eight of their last Test XI that appeared in England last year•Getty ImagesThe most vivid illustration of this emboldened mood is Jonny Bairstow. Last summer, at The Oval, as he was bowled – a calling card that dismissal – by Jasprit Bumrah for a four-ball duck, it was possible to ask where his Test career was going. He was in his ninth year as a Test cricketer, with decent periods but he was averaging 23 in the three years until the end of that Test. Shunted around through the middle order in that time, half his Tests as wicketkeeper-batter, half as batter, he wasn’t this, he wasn’t that, so what was he?Batting is a feeling, Kumar Sangakkara said during a recent Sky Masterclass, inadvertently landing upon the truth of Bairstow in this last month. Bairstow already had two Test hundreds this year but his last three innings (369 runs, twice out, 293 balls, 46 fours and ten sixes) means even he might struggle to remember those two.He has best understood batting as a feeling, not chained by strictures of technique or batting order or situation or even format. “Sometimes your own thoughts sabotage your ability to see the ball,” McCullum said once, years ago, articulating a purity of state athletes strive for, only knowing that the more they strive, the further away it gets and that it is attained generally by accident, not design. Rarely can Bairstow’s place in the Test side have made more sense.Jonny Bairstow has turned Test batting on its head under Mccullum and Stokes•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesJonny solved, not even county cricket seems such an intractable problem. All it needs, it turns out, is for county cricketers to start playing like England’s Test cricketers. Not the scheduling, or the pitches, or the number of counties, or the quality of the ball: just a sprinkle of this ethos from up above. Trickle-down economics has never made this much sense (to be fair, it did happen with Eoin Morgan’s white-ball revolution, but that is a different beast).India will recognise some of this giddiness. They are much further down the arc of this seismic change. Typically, they traversed it in a more considered way, but it was no less radical. Kohli did change the way India approached games, and those fundamentals are firmly established by now. They bat as we have known Test batting this century (rather than this last month). Cheteshwar Pujara is not going to reverse scoop anyone, though Rishabh Pant is a born Baz-baller.Their eureka moment happened to their bowling – and hasn’t stopped happening (Hi Umran Malik); in having a battery of strong, quick and durable bowlers; in being more capable of attack than ever before; in picking five of them. That will be the half of this contest with all the sexy in it: England’s batting against India’s bowling (and I don’t think England will let Ravindra Jadeja bowl 30-11-50-2 like he did last time).There’s probably something to be said about the contrast in coaches though nothing beyond the superficial. Suffice to say, Dravid is fully aware of the sudden, whirlwind impact of Baz-ball: he was the captain caught in the headlights all those years ago of McCullum’s era-defining 158 in the IPL opener.There is probably also a little lament to be made: last year’s series never got the end that it deserved. And this Test won’t get the series it deserves.

Have West Ham United reinvested the money that they gained from selling Declan Rice to Arsenal in 2023 well? They made over £100m from that sale, and whilst they have signed plenty of big-name players since then, including the now-departed Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta, they have yet to have a better season than when Rice was in their midfield.

Of course, losing your captain to a London rival is never going to be an easy pill to swallow. However, they have spent money on two midfielders since his departure, namely Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, and signed Guido Rodriguez for free and Kalvin Phillips on a brief loan.

Yet, there still feels like a Rice-shaped hole in the midfield for the Hammers. Perhaps that will change this summer.

West Ham’s latest midfield target

It has certainly been a frustrating time for the Hammers when it comes to replacing their captain, and an England starter. Rice’s influence in the middle of the park has certainly been missed as they slowly slide down the table.

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However, a report from Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via Sport Witness, suggests that the Hammers may have found the man to finally replace Rice, in the form of Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz. The report states that the Hammers have actually made a loan bid with an option to buy the Brazilian.

Indeed, the option to buy the 27-year-old could become obligatory if certain conditions are met. Luiz, who earns £138k-per-week according to Capology, would cost the Hammers £8.6m ahead of the loan.

They’d then need to pay a further £26m if he ends up moving to the London Stadium permanently.

Why Luiz would be a good signing

Despite a tough campaign for Juve in the 2024/25 season, with the midfielder constantly out of favour under a couple of managers, his quality is undeniable. He has already had success in the Premier League with Aston Villa.

His single season playing for the Old Lady so far certainly did not go to plan. He only made 27 appearances last term in all competitions, without scoring or assisting. The former Villa star notched up just 877 minutes, the equivalent of only 9.7 full 90-minute games.

Despite the outrageously low number of minutes played for Juve to date, Luiz certainly has the mettle to play in the Premier League. He racked up 204 Villa appearances, scoring 22 goals and registering 24 assists in that time. Statman Dave described him as a midfield “engine”, which is certainly what the Hammers are looking for.

Stepping into the shoes of Rice at the London Stadium will not be an easy task for Luiz. Let’s not forget just how much of an iconic figure the former Hammers captain is at the club.

He lifted the Conference League as captain in 2022/23, just weeks before he left.

In total, the London-born midfielder played 245 times for the East Londoners, scoring 15 goals, including this solo effort in their run to the Conference League final. Chelsea and England legend John Terry described him as “the best in his position in world football” back in 2021.

So, for former winger turned pundit Jermaine Pennant to claim that Luiz “can do everything that Rice can do and better” shows just how good of a midfielder he is. Indeed, there are stats which back up this bold claim from the former Liverpool winger.

Looking at numbers on FBref from 2023/24, Luiz’s last season in the Premier League, there are some standout stats. For example, that season he averaged 5.53 ball recoveries per 90 minutes, compared to 4.97 each game from Rice, while providing more of an impact in terms of goal contributions.

Signing Luiz on a loan deal with an option to buy him could be the dream move for West Ham. He is proven in the Premier League, and perhaps better, whisper it quietly, than Rice, a player they have struggled to replace over the last two years.

This relatively risk-free move could be ideal for the Hammers to help strengthen in midfield and climb back up the table.

Dream Kudus replacement: West Ham open talks to sign "special" £30m star

West Ham United can soften the blow of Mohammed Kudus leaving by signing this £30m star.

By
Kelan Sarson

Jul 15, 2025