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England’s 2019 reunion ruined despite fighting fifties from Buttler, Stokes, Livingstone, Malan

Andrew Miller08-Sep-2023New Zealand 297 for 2 (Mitchell 118*, Conway 111*) beat England 291 for 6 (Buttler 72, Malan 54, Stokes 52, Livingstone 52) by eight wicketsNew Zealand landed the first blow in their World Cup warm-up series in Cardiff – and were able to rush off the pitch in good time for the All Blacks’ opening fixture of the rugby version in Paris – as England’s “Class of 2019” reunion was gatecrashed by a brace of outstanding, uncompromising centuries from Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell.Set what seemed to be a competitive 292 for victory, after a hard-worked England innings featuring four separate half-centuries, including from Ben Stokes on his return to the ODI format, New Zealand instead inched ahead of the required rate from the outset of the powerplay, and on a pitch that seemed to have eased up in the cooler evening conditions, accelerated with dismissive power through the back-end to land a crushing eight-wicket win with 26 balls left unused.Conway, fittingly, finished the match with his only six of his innings, effortlessly launched back over Liam Livingstone’s head, having set New Zealand’s unflustered tempo throughout an exceptional knock of 111 not out from 121 balls. However, it was Mitchell who applied the muscle, clobbering seven sixes and seven fours in his unbeaten 118 from 91, to provide the lion’s share of an unbeaten 180-run stand for the third wicket.It left England’s earlier efforts looking distinctly huff and puff – rarely has this trend-setting white-ball team been left looking quite so off the pace after batting through their 50 overs. Jos Buttler top-scored with a grafting knock of 72 from 68, after he and Stokes had built on a fluent 54 off 53 from Dawid Malan at the top of the order, while Livingstone’s first fifty in any international since June 2022 – a free-wheeling knock of 52 from 40 balls – had looked like being the difference between the teams, with Conway admitting after the match that their total of 291 for 6 had been “slightly above par”.Instead, Conway took it upon himself to make a mockery of such assessments. By the end of the powerplay, he and Will Young – preferred to Finn Allen at the top of New Zealand’s order after a stellar year in the 50-over format – had put them 11 runs to the good at 61 for 0. Much of that momentum came courtesy of a wayward opening burst from Reece Topley, whose two overs were picked off for 25 runs, while David Willey was relegated from his new-ball role for the first time since his ODI debut, 64 matches and eight years ago.Jos Buttler carves through the off side during his 72 from 68 balls•AFP/Getty Images

It took a moment of magic from England’s go-to man Adil Rashid to break the partnership. Introduced straight after the end of the fielding restrictions, the first delivery of his spell was a tossed-up, drifting legbreak, that dipped just back of a length before biting into the off stump, via a thin deflection off the back pad as Young was turned inside-out.That moment gave England a toe-hold, but New Zealand had no reason to change their approach. Henry Nicholls, in theory a placeholder for the injured Kane Williamson at No. 3 but keen to seize his chance to make the position his own, knuckled down for an even-tempoed 26 from 30 in a second-wicket stand of 56, as he negotiated, first, Joe Root’s offbreaks, then an energetic but ineffective maiden ODI spell for the debutant Gus Atkinson, whom he dispatched through backward square and long-off in consecutive overs.Willey did return to dislodge Nicholls with a long-hop, but by then, England’s gameplan had suffered a critical blow. After two brief visits to the dressing-room, Rashid left the field with a wince at the end of the 17th over, with what the ECB later confirmed was cramp. And though he did return to the fray after lengthy treatment, he was not permitted to bowl again until the 37th, by which stage New Zealand’s chase was romping along at 203 for 2.Mitchell, by this stage, had marched his way to a 54-ball fifty – which he had admittedly brought up after cuffing a Livingstone long-hop through the hands of Chris Woakes at short midwicket, but that was about the limit of his false strokes. With two fours and two big sixes already to his name, Mitchell put the hammer down on England’s ailing trump card, and the remainder of the chase was torched.Rashid’s first ball back was planted over long-off for six, his second was finessed through backward square for four. The first ball of Rashid’s next over was pumped through long-on for four more. Conway then flicked Livingstone to midwicket to bring up his century, whereupon Mitchell took it upon himself to lead the celebrations. His next three balls, all from Rashid, were launched for six, four, six, and after rushing through to his own hundred from 84 balls with a nudge to leg off Livingstone, he completed the smackdown with 18 more runs from his final seven balls.England were rather bewildered by the end of it all. Way back at the start of the day, it had seemed that the major talking point would surely revolve around their shock inclusion of Harry Brook as an opener in place of Jason Roy, who suffered a back spasm before the start of play.With Jonny Bairstow also rested in the wake of his shoulder niggle in the fourth T20I, it meant that England’s innings was launched not by a reunion of their 2019 old guard, but by a potential harbinger for the 2023 defence. Despite Malan’s protestations last week that Brook is “4, 5, 6” so they couldn’t possibly be in competition for one spot, there’s no time to stand on ceremony with the World Cup defence looming in less than a month’s time, and so the England management opted to nip that notion in the bud from the get-go.The stage might have been set for a comedic run-out … instead the upshot was a measured opening partnership of 80 in exactly 15 overs, and perhaps contrary to any pre-innings presumptions, it was Malan who made most of that running in another pointedly fighting knock, studded with nine cherry-picked fours, the majority blazed through the covers as he capitalised on New Zealand’s fuller lengths in the powerplay.Related

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It was an innings that looked even better in hindsight, once England’s engine-room had struggled to match his even tempo – most particularly Joe Root, who never looked settled in his torturous knock of 6 from 15 – and after rolling his wrists on a pull through fine leg to bring up a 48-ball fifty, Malan seemed to tap his pad with his bat in an act of self-congratulation, a tacit acknowledgement of the pressure he is currently under.And yet, the doubters will not have been entirely silenced by his display – least of all the manner in which it ended. With a World Cup in India looming, a vulnerability against spin isn’t an ideal Achilles heel. Yet it took just two balls of Rachin Ravindra’s introduction for his start to be picked apart, as he planted his front foot on the line of off stump, and might well have been given out lbw had the ball not ricocheted onto his elbow and down onto his stumps.Nevertheless, in the personal shoot-out stakes, Malan had been quicker on the trigger than his opening partner. Despite a first-ball clip off the pads for four, Brook cut a subdued figure in his first stab as an ODI opener, perhaps unsurprisingly given that this is just his fourth 50-over match of any vintage since before the last World Cup.He was noticeably starved of the strike for much of the powerplay, 24 balls to 48 at one point, which may or may not have been an act of subtle one-upmanship on his team-mate’s part. Nevertheless he struggled to land any telling blows in the course of a 41-ball 25 all told, with just one other boundary – a wristy blap across the line against Kyle Jamieson. And then, just four balls after Malan’s departure, Lockie Ferguson bent his back in a blistering mid-innings spell, to find a perfectly directed bouncer that Brook could only fence meekly to the keeper.And so it was that Root and Stokes, England’s multi-format old firm, were reunited at 80 for 2 without either man having faced a ball. They could have been parted before they’d started too, when Stokes fenced his first ball, another fierce lifter, inches over the head of the sprawling Glenn Phillips at gully. Unlike Root, Stokes recovered his poise to dig England towards what ought to have been a defendable total. After their crushing finish to last week’s T20Is, however, New Zealand’s batters proved once again that they are on one hell of a roll.

Imad Wasim, Asif Ali, Dwaine Pretorius, Evin Lewis and Dewald Brevis headline the overseas signings

Madushka Balasuriya06-Jul-2022

Jaffna Kings

Who to start with than Jaffna Kings? Formerly Stallions, they are two in two in the LPL finals and are no doubt the team to beat. If you were to pinpoint the reason for their success, though, you would boil it down to shrewd team building, which has left the other franchises playing catch-up.Their captain Thisara Perera, Avishka Fernando, Shoaib Malik, Suranga Lakmal and Wanindu Hasaranga formed the spine of the side that won the first LPL, and were integral parts of last year’s campaign as well. Last season, Kings also identifed exciting young overseas as well as local talent in the likes of Jayden Seales, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Maheesh Theekshana.Avishka Fernando is out with a knee injury•ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images

But all good things must come to an end, and this season will certainly put Kings’ think tank to the test, first and foremost in navigating the losses of Hasaranga, Avishka and Lakmal. Hasaranga has been signed by Kandy Falcons, Avishka is out long-term with a knee injury and Lakmal has retired.Still, Kings focused on rebuilding their core of the last two years as much as possible and picked Thisara (Ruby), Malik (Sapphire), and Theekshana (Diamond A) pre-draft and Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the draft.Big-hitting West Indies opener Evin Lewis (Ruby) and South African quick Hardus Viljoen (Sapphire) were their two pre-draft signings as overseas players. The remaining overseas slots were taken by 23-year-old Pakistan quick Shahnawaz Dahani (Diamond B) and 21-year-old South African wicketkeeper-batter Tristan Stubbs.Their fans will also be excited by the inclusion of allrounders Dhananjaya de Silva (Sapphire) and Dunith Wellalage (Diamond B), their captain at the U-19 World Cup earlier this year. Both were signed pre-draft as direct local signings.Squad: Evin Lewis, Thisara Perera, Hardus Viljoen, Dhananjaya de Silva, Shoaib Malik, Shahnawaz Dahani, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Tristan Stubbs, Praveen Jayawickrama, Suminda Lakshan, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilshan Madushanka, Nipun Dananjaya, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Theesan Vidushan, Theivendiram Dinoshan, Ashan Randika

Galle Gladiators

Twice Gladiators have made the title round, and twice they have lost. The second defeat might have hurt more than the first, not necessarily for the nature of it, but because leading up to the final, they seemed to have had Kings’ number. But if they are to go all the way this time around, they will have to do it without their skipper from last season, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who has been signed by Dambulla Giants.While that loss will likely hurt, Gladiators managed to retain the services of Danushka Gunathilaka (Ruby) and Kusal Mendis (Diamond A) – the respective top scorers in the past two editions of the tournament. The rest of the side has a much fresher look about it, with Pakistan allrounders Imad Wasim (Ruby) and Faheem Ashraf (Sapphire) brought in as direct pre-draft overseas signings.Gladiators picked Imad Wasim as one of their direct pre-draft overseas signings•ICC via Getty

Much like Kings, a large part of Gladiators’ squad-building was done pre-draft, with fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera (Sapphire) and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan (Diamond B) drafted as direct local signings.The big signing from the main draft for them was South Africa’s top-order batter Janneman Malan (Diamond A). Afghanistan legspinner Qais Ahmad (Diamond B) and Pakistani batters Azam Khan (Diamond B) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Platinum) rounded up the overseas picks.Squad: Imad Wasim, Danushka Gunathilaka, Faheem Ashraf, Dushmantha Chameera, Janneman Malan, Sherfane Rutherford, Azam Khan, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Thushara, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pulina Tharanga, Nuwanidu Fernando, Nimesh Vimukthi, Movin Subasinhga, Nipun Malinga, Sachindu Colombage, Lakshan Gamage, Tharindu Kaushal, Sammu Ashan

Colombo Stars

If Gladiators are disappointed at falling short twice in a row, spare a thought for Colombo Stars. In the inaugural edition, they were the standout side in the group stages, winning six out of eight games, before losing in the semi-final to a Galle side that had snuck through with just two wins.The last edition, though, was admittedly a write-off, where despite having one of the more impressive squads on paper, they lacked consistency.Seekkuge Prasanna was one of the many players Stars managed to buy back•LPL

On the plus side, they successfully retained the services of many of their key players in Angelo Mathews (Ruby), Dinesh Chandimal (Diamond B), Seekkuge Prasanna (Platinum) and Jeffrey Vandersay (Platinum), while also adding two exciting left-hand batters in Charith Asalanka (Sapphire) and Niroshan Dickwella (Diamond A).However, they lost both Chameera and Dhananjaya to rival sides, and there is no Kusal Perera either this year as he is recovering from an injury.In their rebuild, Stars have this year chosen to cast their net a little wider. The addition of Dwaine Pretorius (Ruby) as their premier overseas signing hints at an overarching strategy of bringing in more players with all-round skills. Then there is Dhananjaya Lakshan (Diamond B), who was pivotal in Galle’s run to the final in 2020, Ishan Jayaratne (Platinum) and young Afghanistan seam-bowling allrounder Karim Janat (Platinum).Janat is one of three Afghanistan fast bowlers in the squad, alongside Fazalhaq Farooqi (Diamond B) and Naveen-ul-Haq. West Indies’ Dominic Drakes (Diamond A) offers another all-round option.In the batting department, Stars are mostly set, and the signing of Pakistan’s Asif Ali (Sapphire) will provide further heft to an already robust line-up.Squad: Dwaine Pretorius, Angelo Mathews, Asif Ali, Charith Asalanka, Dominic Drakes, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Karim Janat, Seekkuge Prasanna, Jeffrey Vandersay, Ishan Jayaratne, Muditha Lakshan, Lakshitha Manasinghe, Kevin Koththigoda, Chathuranga Kumara, Navod Paranavithana, Chamod Battage

Dambulla Giants

Led by Dasun Shanaka, the national T20I captain, the franchise from Dambulla has flattered to deceive in the two LPL outings, going from impressive performances to mediocre ones. If they were to find some consistency, one gets the sense they could be a match for any side, but striking the necessary balance has proved elusive – though the signing of Rajapaksa (Sapphire) is certainly a step in the right direction.Rajapaksa, the former Galle Gladiators skipper, has been a consistent performer in the LPL, and his addition gives the middle order some much-needed bite. Especially after last season’s campaign had run almost exclusively on the form of the opening pair of Phil Salt and Dickwella – both of whom are no longer part of the squad.Bhanuka Rajapaksa will turn up for Dambulla Giants in LPL 2022•AFP/Getty Images

The lack of big-hitters has been further addressed through the signings of Australian allrounders D’Arcy Short (Ruby) and Ben Cutting (Sapphire), while New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert and Pakistan batter Haider Ali – both in the Diamond B category – further bolster Giants’ middle order.Short’s wristspin is likely to prove useful on Sri Lankan pitches, though it’s another wristspinner, Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane (Diamond A), who is likely to get top billing on that front. Lamichhane has been a regular in the BBL, picking up 34 wickets across the last three seasons. It will be intriguing to see the impact he can have in the LPL, considering how influential spinners have been in previous seasons.Chaturanga de Silva, the elder brother of Hasaranga, has also been signed from the Diamond A category along with West Indies’ left-arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell (Diamond B). Giants have also retained the services of spin-bowling allrounder Ramesh Mendis (Diamond B) and fast-bowler Nuwan Pradeep (Diamond B).Squad: D’Arcy Short, Dasun Shanaka, Ben Cutting, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sandeep Lamichhane, Tim Seifert, Haider Ali, Chaturanga de Silva, Ramesh Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Sheldon Cottrell, Tharindu Ratnayake, Pramod Madushan, Lasith Croospulle, Kalana Perera, Dilum Sudeera, Sachitha Jayathilake, Dushan Hemantha, Sacha De Alwis, Ravindu Fernando

Kandy Falcons

It has been three changes of ownership (and names) in three seasons for Falcons (formerly Warriors and Tuskers), and they will certainly be hoping to be third time lucky.The first edition saw them struggle to even register a win. They didn’t fare much better last season either, registering just two victories across the tournament. But this season, they have made as clear a statement of intent as possible, signing Sri Lanka’s premier spinner Hasaranga (Ruby) as their top-most priority signing pre-draft.Kandy Warriors (now Falcons) finished last in each of the last two seasons•AFP/Getty Images

Hasaranga has been without a doubt the LPL’s most destructive bowler, taking 28 wickets across two editions, while he is also capable of hefty blows with the bat. Not only does his addition strengthen Falcons, it also significantly weakens the defending champions Kings, from whom they nicked him.Another player nicked from Kings is Pakistan’s Usman Shinwari (Platinum), who will lead a fairly light-looking pace attack consisting of 19-year-old Matheesha Pathirana (Diamond B) and seam-bowling allrounders Carlos Brathwaite (Ruby), Chamika Karunaratne (Sapphire) and Isuru Udana (Diamond A) – all three of whom will add power-hitting options lower down the order.Brathwaite isn’t the only West Indian in the side, with spin-bowling allrounder Fabian Allen (Sapphire) and top-order batter Andre Fletcher (Diamond A) picked up in the main draft.South Africa’s Dewald Brevis (Diamond B) and Australia’s Chris Green (Diamond B) round up the overseas draft picks. Brevis most recently had an impressive showing in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, while Green has shown his utility with both bat and ball in the BBL and T20 Blast.Squad: Carlos Brathwaite, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fabian Allen, Chamika Karunaratne, Andre Fletcher, Dewald Brevis, Chris Green, Isuru Udana, Matheesha Pathirana, Ashen Bandara, Usman Shinwari, Kamindu Mendis, Ashan Priyanjan, Minod Bhanuka, Avishka Perera, Ashian Daniel, Malinda Pushpakumara, Janith Liyanage, Lasith Abeyratne, Kavin Bandara

The Australia captain is going through a barren run in T20 with a World Cup later in the year

Andrew McGlashan26-Feb-2021Aaron Finch has been here before, not too long ago: struggling for runs and Australia trying to build for a World Cup.Two years ago, with eyes on the 50-over World Cup, the limited-overs squad was on tour in India and the trip started with a continuation of a barren spell for Finch both in international and BBL colours.This time, in early 2021, the T20I squad finds itself in New Zealand looking to fine-tune plans and tactics ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled for October with a captain short of runs.In 2019, things changed for Finch during an innings of 37 in an ODI in Nagpur which was followed by 93 in the next game as Australia came from 2-0 down to win the series 3-2 (something they need to repeat in New Zealand). From there he filled his boots against Pakistan in Sharjah before an impressive World Cup in England. Since that return to form he has averaged 59.60 in ODIs.The current malaise has a bit more of a single-format focus about it. While he churned out the runs in the ODIs against India late last year, his last 29 T20 innings across the IPL, BBL and now this tour have brought a top score of 52 with 495 runs at 17.06.Ahead of the 50-over World Cup, Australia were still rebuilding in the wake of Newlands and there was no appetite for further changes to the captaincy. Not that anyone to see a captain disposed, but this time there is not that element to the debate. However, the broader point is that Finch has been through this and came out the other side. Can he do it again?Related

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“What he’s done before, he’s come out of these things,” Kane Richardson, also a team-mate at the Melbourne Renegades, said. “Everyone goes through this at some point. He’ll work it out. He’s a gun. I’m sure his mental strength will get him through this. This kind of game, T20, it could be one shot he gets right that flows on.”He hasn’t changed at all in terms of how he is around the group or on the field as captain. That’s a massive tick for him, to not let his own form come into how he is away from cricket or on the field trying to marshal us. We just want to see him make some runs for himself, we all know how tough the game can be when the game can be when you aren’t getting the output you want.”Before the series against New Zealand he spoke about having worked closely with Andrew McDonald, Australia’s coach on this tour, and a person he has gone to before when his batting has been a rut.The early stages of this series have continued the frustrations: a square drive hammered off the middle but straight to point and an innings of 12 off 14 balls in Dunedin when runs were being scored at more than 10 an over. The next three innings are important for Finch, if only to stop any murmurings from being a dominant theme during what could be a quiet winter for Australia before the T20 World Cup – quieter still for Finch after he went unsold at the IPL auction having been released after a disappointing 2020 tournament.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

One of factors that is heightening the debate is that there is a clamour for spots at the top of Australia’s T20I batting order. David Warner and Steven Smith aren’t on this tour, Josh Philippe is and tipped for a long international career, Matthew Wade appears the frontrunner to be the World Cup wicketkeeper and needs to bat in the top three as well. Having an out-of-form captain in one of those slots could be awkward.Then there’s the ‘Australian way’ of generations past whereby the adage was to pick the team first and then the captain. In other words, an captain should be judged as a batsman. It was a point brought up by Mark Waugh, while commentating for Fox Sports, during the second T20 which undersold the importance of the captaincy but highlighted that it will be becoming more of a talking point if runs don’t come.”His job is to score runs. It doesn’t matter, there’s a lot of players who can captain. There’s Matthew Wade, there’s Mitch Marsh, there’s Moises Henriques,” Waugh said. “His primary job is to score runs, particularly when you’re opening. That’s a key position in T20 cricket and we’ve got a lot of good players on the periphery to open.”He’ll know it. No batsman is immune from being dropped when you’re not scoring runs. Doesn’t matter if you’re captain or not. I’m not saying it will happen but no one’s irreplaceable. There’s no way the selectors will want to drop him but his destiny is in his own hands.”Unsurprisingly, the tone from the team is one of complete support. McDonald, who is standing in for Justin Langer, saw no reason why Finch would not be in position for the World Cup in India when asked before the Dunedin match.”I’ve got a bloody great job,” Finch said in a Cricket Monthly interview before the season while acknowledging the bad days that can come with it. There’s been a few of those of late. Two years ago it was in early March that the runs started flowing again for the captain. A repeat in New Zealand would be timely.

Lynn said that the whole of Australia would be behind Maxwell as he steps away from the game indefinitely

Andrew McGlashan31-Oct-2019Shivers went down Chris Lynn’s spine when he heard the news that his close friend Glenn Maxwell would be taking time away from the game for his mental health.Lynn, who only became aware of the development when he left the field at the end of the Cricket Australia XI match against Pakistan at Bankstown Oval, spoke of his shock and added that the entire country would be behind Maxwell.”It sends shivers down my spine when you hear something like this, Glenn’s a close mate of mine,” he said after the match. “When one man goes the whole team feels it; but I think the whole of Australia feels it. What he’s got to realise is that, as men, we don’t speak up enough about it, so I’m really proud that he’s really come out and assessed that cricket isn’t for him right now.”He has to realise there are 25 million people from Australia behind him and that’s the main thing. Whatever we can do, whether it’s more or less, we’ll be there. I wish him all the best, if he needs me I’ll be there. I feel for the bloke and just hope he can bounce back because over the last week, we’ve seen how good he is. Cricket will have a big dent with him sat on the sidelines, but I don’t want him to rush at all.”As Justin Langer did when speaking in Melbourne, Lynn talked about the pressures faced by professional cricketers and that what is on public display may only be a fraction of what is going on for a player.”A lot of people think it’s a gravy train, play for Australia and get to travel the world but there’s a lot of hard work beneath the water that people don’t see and the mental toughness that a lot of cricketers have to show is next level,” Lynn said. “It’s a good thing for cricket he has spoken up, there are organisations who can help out. I’ve no doubt his friends and family will be most important right now.”We are seeing a number of people taking a break from the game, but as I said it’s not all gravy, it’s a big iceberg and sometime we only see the tip of it.”