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Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price has joined Mumbai Indians’ squad in the Indian Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2011Zimbabwe spinner Ray Price has joined the Mumbai Indians squad for the remainder of the 2011 IPL season as a replacement for Australian allrounder Moises Henriques, who did not travel to India after having surgery in March for an adductor muscle injury.Price was unsold at the original IPL player auction in January and Mumbai have now bought him at his reserve price of $50,000. He joined the squad a day before their eight-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium.Price was Zimbabwe’s leading wicket-taker during the World Cup with nine wickets at an average of 18.77 and economy-rate of 3.44. He becomes the second Zimbabwean to be involved with the IPL after Tatenda Taibu, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the first season of the tournament.Price has built a reputation as a canny and bellicose limited-overs bowler and has risen to second place in the ICC’s ODI bowler rankings after his performance at the World Cup. “Obviously you learn more as you get older and I think that has been the case with me and I’m very happy with the way things have been going for me at the moment,” he had told after regaining the No. 2 spot.”When I started playing international cricket, one of my goals was to finish at the top and being ranked No. 2 in the world is nice but my goal now is to move up to No. 1. The busier season ahead will be a good opportunity for us to do well against the top-ranked teams and we have some time to prepare for that.”In addition to Zimbabwe’s upcoming series against Bangladesh, Australia A and Pakistan, Price has an IPL stint in which to hone his skills.

In an intriguingly balanced match on a testing pitch, Hampshire have a platform from which they might just lift their spirits after a woefully poor beginning to the season with a win over the First Division leaders

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-May-2010
Scorecard
In an intriguingly balanced match on a testing pitch, Hampshire have a platform from which they might just lift their spirits after a woefully poor beginning to the season with a win over the First Division leaders. It is an unsteady platform, for sure, represented by a lead of just 35 runs, but after losing four of their first five matches in the Championship, to be in with a chance at the half-way stage in this one must feel like progress.Much will depend, of course, on how they bowl on day three, given that a big target on the last day could be a daunting prospect for a batting line-up lacking Michael Carberry as well as Michael Lumb and Dimitri Mascarenhas. Variable bounce is likely to be a factor on a dry, cracked pitch.They will look again to Jimmy Adams, who missed out by four runs on a first century of the campaign but was the fulcrum nonetheless of a steadfast performance from Hampshire, whose record contrasts with Nottinghamshire’s four wins from four.It could be a good moment, too, for Neil McKenzie, the former South African Test batsman, to properly prove his value to the county after a slow start to his Hampshire career. The way in which he ended a run of low scores with a first half-century in the Championship perhaps signalled a timely return to form.Two partnerships were pivotal on day two, the first of which saw Adams and Chris Benham add 115 after the loss of nightwatchman James Tomlinson left them 39 for 2.At the start of it, Darren Pattinson bowled superbly, maintaining excellent control, finding movement off the pitch as well as through the air and beating the bat repeatedly. He looked a bit like the Pattinson of two years ago, before he earned his solitary and controversial Test call-up. James Whitaker, the England selector, was looking on, as he often was then, although it would be a surprise if he is mentioned in dispatches this time.Charlie Shreck was no less impressive and when he and Pattinson gave way, Andre Adams and Paul Franks kept up the pressure. In an enthralling contest, the Hampshire pair were made to work for their runs.Indeed, their application was impressive, in particular from Jimmy Adams, who grafted for 153 balls to get to 50, although he should have been caught at second slip off his namesake’s bowling on 37, Neil Edwards spilling the chance.Benham, who had a painful blow on the elbow facing Adams the bowler, survived a difficult chance to the wicketkeeper off Pattinson on 20 soon after lunch.Adams at last found an opportunity to attack when Nottinghamshire introduced Samit Patel’s left-arm spin an hour into the afternoon session. His next 46 runs came much more briskly, all bar six of them in boundaries, but Nottinghamshire regained the initiative again when Shreck broke the stand by bowling Benham.Then Franks, who had been turned down in a vigorous appeal for lbw moments earlier, found some extra bounce and movement to Adams, who was caught behind off a thin contact and walked without waiting for the umpire’s verdict.Franks, whose all-round talents saw him accelerated into the England one-day side a decade ago only for a knee injury to blunt his progress, has been in and out of the Nottinghamshire side in recent years but seems to be thriving again now, with Mark Ealham’s retirement offering the chance to forge a permanent place. Full of confidence, he struck again four balls later in the same over, James Vince hitting him straight to Steven Mullaney at midwicket. Vince is a young man who might interest Whitaker and company at some stage, but not on this occasion.With his quick demise, Hampshire were five down and still 102 adrift. Nottinghamshire sensed a chance to take the upper hand decisively.But McKenzie and Nic Pothas had other ideas. Adding 74 in 23 overs, they swung the balance again towards Hampshire before, Pattinson, with the new ball, trapped McKenzie leg before with a fuller delivery.Adams, whose last spell was his best, dismissed Pothas and mopped up the tail to finish with 4 for 56, but not before Sean Ervine had eked out a valuable unbeaten 31 for a lead of 35.

“I think more about the team’s win than about my scores,” he says after scoring second first-class century

Daya Sagar20-Sep-2025Dhruv Jurel, the wicketkeeper-batter, is now a regular in India’s Test squad. But before India A’s ongoing four-day series against Australia A, he had only one first-class century to his name, that too from December 2022, when he scored 249 against Nagaland. And – guess what? – the lack of really big scores doesn’t even bother him.”Honestly, earlier it did matter to me whether my score was 100 or 150. But now I understand that the team’s victory is more important,” Jurel said after scoring 140 in 197 balls in India A’s only innings in the drawn first game in Lucknow. “In first-class cricket, I have seven-eight (he has four) scores in the 90s, which could have been centuries.”One of them was in the Ranchi Test [against England in February 2024], where I became Player of the Match and the team won the match. Cricket is a team game, and we play cricket so that the team wins. Now I think more about the team’s win than about my scores.”Related

• Padikkal and Jurel hit centuries in high-scoring draw

• Pant heads to BCCI's Centre of Excellence to restart training

In Ranchi, playing only his second Test, Jurel batted at No. 7 in India’s first innings and scored 90, before scoring 39 not out in the second as India won by five wickets.Jurel, 24, first got into the India A set-up in December 2023 on the tour of South Africa. There, in the second four-day game in Benoni, he scored 69 in India A’s only innings, and was in the Test squad for India’s next home series against England. Just one-and-a-half months later, he had a Test cap to his name in Rajkot. So far, he has played five Tests – usually when Rishabh Pant hasn’t been around – including in Australia and in England, and has 255 runs and 11 dismissals to show for it.”Staying with or around the [India] team definitely gives you confidence,” he said. “I consider myself very lucky and privileged that I got the chance to play Tests for India and to be with the team. Even if you are not playing, when seniors are around. you learn so many things from them. In a country of billions, how many people get this opportunity?”Curiously, Jurel’s overall numbers with the bat have improved since he started playing Test cricket (he has also played four T20Is). Before his Test debut, Jurel averaged 46 in first-class cricket, and had one century and five half-centuries from 19 innings. Since then, his average has gone up to 54-plus, and he has one century and seven half-centuries in 18 innings. These include valuable innings for India A, and the 93 he scored for Rest of India against Mumbai in last season’s Irani Cup.”Everyone dreams of playing for India. When I got the Test cap, I realised, ‘yes, this can happen’,” Jurel said. “I come from a small city, Agra. It feels really good that I could make my parents and the people there proud. Where I come from, there wasn’t even a proper wicket. I practiced on a cement wicket. So people there should feel that no matter where you come from, you can still make it, as long as you work hard with a true heart.”India will start their home Test season next month, and play two Tests each against West Indies and South Africa. Jurel will most likely be in the squad, whether or not he gets a chance to play, which will be dependent on Pant’s fitness.”I take it one match at a time, and don’t think too far ahead,” he said. “The more you think, the more pressure you put on yourself. Right now, I played a match today, and three days later, the next match [against Australia A] is there. So, I am only thinking about the next match, and only after that will I look further.”

Innings defeat looming as hosts limp to close five-down on chastening day

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-2024Surrey are closing in on an emphatic victory against Kent in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury, after reducing the hosts to 120 for five in their second innings, a deficit of 179.Worrall took three for 18 as the champions rattled through Kent’s top order after declaring on 543 for seven.Matt Parkinson took five wickets for Kent, but they came at a cost of 177 runs, as Surrey hit out during a punishing afternoon session for the home side, to take a first-innings lead of 299, Dom Sibley making 150, Dan Lawrence 112 and Jamie Smith a quickfire 58.Ben Compton and Joey Evison were not out on eight and seven respectively at stumps, but with the forecast for clear skies tomorrow Kent will need something close to a miracle to escape with a draw on day four.For a third successive day this game was played out in a bone-chilling northerly wind and it went as almost everyone in the ground knew it would, with the champions making unmolested progress through the first hour.The landmarks ticked by. Sibley glanced Jas Singh for four through square leg to reach three figures and Lawrence tickled the same bowler for a single to reach his 50.Sibley then flicked Evison for four to put Surrey into the lead and Lawrence drove Jack Leaning through the covers to bring up his century.Kent opted not to take the new ball after 80 overs and Matt Parkinson vindicated the decision when he bowled Lawrence with the very next delivery.The afternoon session was significantly livelier. Sibley had just reached his 150 when he was given out caught and bowled by Parkinson after the umpires checked the ball had carried.Ben Foakes then made a rapid 24 from 20 balls but he was caught behind slashing at George Garrett.Smith was on 37 when he hooked Jas Singh to square leg, but the sub fielder Fred Klaassen couldn’t haul in the catch.Smith responded with a six off Parkinson that flew on to the upper balcony of the Cowdrey stand and he reached 50 when he swept the next delivery for a single, but he fell in Parkinson’s next over, the 99th, caught at long on by Arafat Bhuiyan.Parkinson got his fourth wicket when Ryan Patel drove him to Garrett at midwicket for 30 and despite the grim match situation he till let out a scream of delight when Jordan Clark hit him to Joe Denly at the midwicket boundary, giving him his first five-wicket haul for Kent.Surrey finally declared at tea and with Compton off the field due to a sore neck, Harry Finch opened the batting alongside Zak Crawley.The England opener contributed just four before he edged Worrall behind to become Foakes’ 300th first class victim for Surrey.Worrall then sent Daniel Bell-Drummond’s middle-stump flying for 10 and Finch went for an entertaining but brief 24 when he was lbw to Jordan Clark.Joe Denly made 38 but then prodded Cameron Steel to Smith at mid-wicket, before Worrall had Jack Leaning caught at slip by Sibley for 24.There were ironic cheers when Compton got off the mark after 30 balls, but if anyone can thwart Surrey on the final day it’s a man who values his wicket this dearly.

Three days after beating Sri Lanka 3-0, Rohit Sharma’s men are up against their next opponent

Karthik Krishnaswamy17-Jan-20236:11

Jaffer picks Kishan to bat at No. 4 and Suryakumar at No. 5

Big picture: India dominant in ODIs at home too

It isn’t spoken about as much as their remarkable home record in Test cricket, but India are perhaps just as dominant in ODIs in their own conditions. Since the start of 2010, they’ve played 25 bilateral home series, and won 22 of them.This record takes on extra significance in 2023, given that India are building towards hosting a World Cup. They’ve begun the year in ominous manner, sealing a 3-0 series victory over Sri Lanka with the biggest win in ODI history.They could now be in for a stiffer challenge, though. New Zealand have been among the most competitive ODI sides to visit India of late – their two most recent series here in 2016 and 2017 both went into deciders – and they’re fresh from winning 2-1 in Pakistan.

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But with Kane Williamson and Tim Southee rested for this series and with Trent Boult’s international career in freelance limbo, this New Zealand side is light on experience, particularly in Indian conditions. They are in for quite a task, particularly their bowlers who are up against a batting line-up that has posted totals of 373 and 390 the last two times India have batted first.But New Zealand will know India can be beaten, even in subcontinental conditions, and they might look at Bangladesh – who beat India 2-1 at home just over a month ago – for clues as to how to do so. Quality spin that attacks the stumps could be a key ingredient.Either way, win or lose, New Zealand will want to take away as many insights as they can before they return for the World Cup. A strong performance now could put them in just the right space to mount a serious title challenge in October-November.

Form guide

India WWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)

New Zealand WWLWLTom Latham has tormented India with his various sweeps•Associated Press

In the spotlight: Chance for Kishan to make his case

India have made it clear that their preferred opening combination leading up to the World Cup is Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. It leaves no room in their first-choice XI for Ishan Kishan, whose last ODI innings was the fastest double-hundred in the format. But he gets an opportunity now with KL Rahul missing the series for personal reasons. If he can grab this chance, he won’t just keep putting pressure on multiple batters in India’s ODI line-up but also make a case to be selected ahead of KS Bharat in the first Test against Australia next month.Related

• Latham backs NZ fringe bowlers to fill 'massive hole' in Southee and Boult's absence

• Rohit Sharma in favour of early starts at 2023 World Cup

• Jamieson-like Henry Shipley ready for the big stage

• Michael Bracewell has the World Cup in his sights

• India's questions: The Kishan dilemma, Kuldeep vs Chahal

Tom Latham loves India. He averages 65.07 against them across 17 ODI innings, while striking at 98.93, and he’s tormented their spinners for years at home and away with his array of sweeps. His last innings against India was a match-winning, unbeaten 145 off 104 balls in Auckland in November, and he’ll want to carry on from where he left off especially since he’ll have the extra responsibility of captaincy in Williamson’s absence.

Team news: Iyer out with back injury

Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the series with a back injury, and Rajat Patidar has taken his place in the squad. Iyer’s spot in the XI, however, is likely to go to Suryakumar Yadav, with Kishan taking the keeping gloves and the other middle-order slot from Rahul. Washington Sundar is likely to come in for Axar Patel, who’s also sitting out this series.With Hardik Pandya set to return after being rested for the third ODI against Sri Lanka, India could go two ways with their attack – three specialist quicks plus Hardik, which will leave them having to choose between Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, or three spinners, in which case they can pick both wristspinners.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Kuldeep Yadav/Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Umran Malik.Suryakumar Yadav should get a run in Shreyas Iyer’s absence•Associated Press

New Zealand played a three-spinner attack when they won the last two ODIs on their recent tour of Pakistan, but they won’t be able to stick to that combination in Hyderabad with Ish Sodhi ruled out, having failed to recover in time from an ankle injury he suffered during the third ODI in Karachi. Glenn Phillips, however, has recovered from the virus he suffered on that tour. New Zealand’s main selection decisions are around who fills in for Williamson and Southee.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Mark Chapman/Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 and 10 two out of Henry Shipley, Doug Bracewell and Jacob Duffy, 11 Lockie Ferguson.

Pitch and conditions: Hyderabad pitch likely to aid spin

In six ODIs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, spinners have averaged 38.70 and conceded 4.96 runs per over, both significantly better than the fast bowlers’ corresponding figures (though it must be noted that they bowl more overs in the difficult phases) of 40.84 and 5.74. In the most recent ODI here, in March 2019, India won by six wickets after their spinners – Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav – returned combined figures of 27-0-110-3 to restrict Australia to 236. Expect spin, therefore, to play a significant role on Wednesday. The weather is set to be clear, with a maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan are the joint-fastest India batters to the 1000-run mark in ODIs. Both took 24 innings to get there. Shubman Gill, who currently has 894 runs from 18 innings, has a chance to claim the record during this series.
• The last time New Zealand played an ODI in India without Tim Southee or Trent Boult in their line-up was in December 2010.
• Since the start of 2022, Mohammed Siraj is the leading wicket-taker among bowlers from Full Member teams. He has taken 33 wickets in this period, at an average of 19.87.
• India will become the No. 1-ranked ODI side if they win the series 3-0. If they also win the T20I series, and then beat Australia by a 2-0 or 3-1 scoreline or better in the Test series in February-March, they will become the No. 1 side across formats.

Domestic cricket in South Africa does not take place under strict biosecure bubbles

Firdose Moonda02-Dec-2021CSA has postponed all three Division 2 four-day matches scheduled to start on Thursday after some players were tested positive for Covid-19. The one-day matches due to take place on December 16 have also been pushed back to 2022. This is the first disruption to the domestic cricket season in South Africa since the discovery of the Omicron variant of coronavirus last week and the second major casualty of the pandemic this summer.Last week, the second and third ODIs between South Africa and Netherlands were called off after several countries, including many in the European Union, imposed travel restrictions on southern Africa. The Dutch team remains in a biosecure bubble in the country and will leave later this week.On the contrary, domestic cricket in South Africa does not take place under the same strict measures, and with cases going up countrywide, several of those due to take part in this week’s matches have tested positive.”Activating the precautionary and preventive measures stipulated in the organisation’s Covid-19 protocols to ensure the health, safety and well-being of all involved is a top priority for CSA,” a CSA statement read. “CSA is monitoring the situation closely and a decision regarding the remainder of the fixtures this year will be made in due course as it develops.”Related

• Duanne Olivier returns as South Africa name 21-member squad for India Tests

• India to tour SA for three Tests, three ODIs in rejigged tour; T20Is postponed

• South Africa vs Netherlands: New Covid-19 variant forces postponement of last two ODIs

• India tour of SA: BCCI awaits government go-ahead amid fears of new Covid-19 variant

• Newsfile – New Covid-19 variant threatens South African home summer

As things stand, a full round of Division 1 four-day fixtures is due to be played between December 19 to 22 before the festive break. At this stage, those matches remain on the schedule.The news comes on the heels of South Africa awaiting the Indian government’s permission to allow their men’s team to embark on a three-Test, three-ODI and four-T20I tour from mid-December. The India A team is currently in a bio-bubble in Bloemfontein, where they are playing the second of three unofficial Tests and there is no indication of them leaving earlier than planned.However, it’s understood there are concerns about the senior side’s arrival, not least because South African scientists predict that cases will continue to go up in the next month. On Wednesday, South Africa reported 8561 new cases, up from 4373 the day before.India’s Test captain Virat Kohli expects the team to get clarity on the tour “in a day or two”, while some Indian media are reporting that the BCCI may need more time to decide if the tour will go ahead and has requested to push things back by a week. CSA, though, has not received any communication from the BCCI regarding a change in the schedule. “There hasn’t been such a request or discussion with the BCCI, hence it is purely speculation unless or until they engage us on this. So as of now, CSA is not aware of this,” Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s acting CEO, told ESPNcricinfo.

Western Australia team-mate Ashton Agar has lauded the 20-year-old

Andrew McGlashan19-May-2020Allrounder Cameron Green has been termed a “scary” talent by his Western Australia team-mate Ashton Agar.Green, 20, who has been likened to Andrew Flintoff, is tipped as an international star in the making if he can overcome the back problems which prevented him from bowling for much of the 2019-2020 season.Playing as a specialist batsman, he scored three Sheffield Shield hundreds – joining Doug Walters as the only players to have three Shield centuries and two five-wicket hauls before the age of 21 – including a stand-out match double with undefeated scores of 87 and 121 against Queensland.”Greeny is an incredible player and the scary thing is he didn’t even bowl last year,” Agar said. “For a young guy to come in and handle pressure situations as a standalone batter and make big hundreds and important contributions in big games showed mental ability well beyond his years in cricket. I can only see him getting better and better with the bat and then with the ball.”Alongside averaging 43.84 in his 15-match first-class career, Green has taken 28 wickets at 21.53 which included debut figures of 5 for 24 against Tasmania in 2017, figures he bettered against the same team in 2018 with 6 for 30 in a match haul of 9 for 42.Cameron Green drills one down the ground•Getty Images

“When he’s in full flight, Greeny can bowl over 140kph and swing the new-ball,” Agar said. “He’s two meters tall and to have someone like that in your team, who’s got raw pace and can play as a specialist batter or a specialist bowler, that’s some pretty scary talent.”So, it’s just about him getting his body right, keeping his mind strong for he’s going to be under some pressure when people start talking about him. People already are and he’s handling that really nicely so we’re very proud of him here [at WA] and I think he’s going to continue on a nice path.”Speaking in the first part of last season, shortly before the back injury was confirmed, Green played down the hype that had been building around him including when Ricky Ponting suggested he should be around the Test squad for experience.”I think it’s still way too early to be taking those comments pretty heavily,” he said. “I’ve only played a couple of games as a batsman in the WA squad. I haven’t really got those runs on the board, to be honest. I may have got a couple of good scores out of the way, but I’m definitely a good few years off I’d say.”Australia have long-searched for an allrounder to balance their Test side. Mitchell Marsh was recalled for the final Ashes Test last year and took 5 for 46 at The Oval before breaking his hand punching a dressing room wall in the early part of the summer which ruled him out of contention for the series against Pakistan and New Zealand. However, he returned to the ODI and T20I sides earlier this year and was awarded a CA central contract last momth.

The fast bowler took four of the first five wickets to reduce Tasmania to 5 for 23 and more or less put the result beyond doubt inside 10 overs

The Report by Daniel Brettig23-Mar-2019A shattering spell from Sean Abbott obliterated Tasmania and vaulted New South Wales into their first Sheffield Shield final since 2014, to be played against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne from Thursday.The Blues captain Kurtis Patterson made a tantalising declaration on the final morning at Bellerive Oval, setting the Tigers 270 from a minimum of 112 overs and backing his bowlers to claim the outright points they needed to ensure that Western Australia could not leap them into second place to reach the final.But not even he would have reckoned that Abbott would conjure the kind of destructive burst of inswing that he would subsequently deliver, claiming four of the first five wickets to reduce Tasmania to 5 for 23 and more or less put the result beyond doubt inside 10 overs.As he has done all season, Matthew Wade offered the Tigers’ most substantial resistance, clattering his way to 65 in quick time to finish the season with 1021 runs, joining Marcus Harris as the only two batsmen to pass 1000 runs for the Shield season, the first players to do so since 2015.However, Abbott returned to pouch a return catch from Wade, and finished things off with the final two wickets to return the figures of 7 for 45 and identify himself as a key figure for Victoria to counter in order to win the Shield in a final that, for the first time since its inception, will not automatically award the trophy to the home side in the event of a draw. Instead, the team with the highest first-innings score will be declared the winner if there is no outright result.

“We often want to play with a bit of flair and be aggressive with everything we do with the bat and sometimes conditions don’t allow that. We’re playing some smart cricket, particularly on a variety of surfaces,” said New Zealand’s coach

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2018New Zealand’s versatility, consistency and discipline have made them “very smart” on surfaces that haven’t allowed them to play with their typical flair and aggression, according to coach Mike Hesson. On a slow pitch in Dunedin, New Zealand’s batsmen scratched their way through the middle overs and finished with 257, but bowled Pakistan out for 74 to claim the series with a 183-run win.”We were very smart on surfaces that perhaps haven’t allowed us to play how we’ve wanted to play,” Hesson said. “We often want to play with a bit of flair and be aggressive with everything we do with the bat and sometimes conditions don’t allow that. We’re improving and I think we’re playing some smart cricket, particularly on a variety of surfaces, so that’s very pleasing.”I think perhaps in the past we might have just kept going and reflected on it at the end of the day. But especially in the game the other day, I thought Kane [Williamson] and Martin [Guptill] were exceptional in how they assessed the conditions.”Trent Boult and Tim Southee broke the third ODI open with a terrific spell of swing bowling, leaving Pakistan at 9 for 3 after 10 overs. Hesson said that was the best first 10-overs period he has ever seen.”Last game was pretty close to perfect on a tricky surface. I think the first 10 overs, that’s the best I’ve ever seen. In terms of when you have to bowl into the wind, Tim’s five overs into a howling gale, he never missed the strings, kept hitting the top of the bat, he was exceptional and obviously Trent was relentless from the other end.”New Zealand have now won 10 straight games across formats. How good are they currently? “That’s up for others to judge,” Hesson said. “In the last five years, every side has travelled here. And our record at home is pretty good. We’re very clear how we operate pre-game, one of the keys is we’re very consistent about how we operate, whether we’ve come off a win or a string of losses.”We don’t get too overawed, if we lose a few games, and if we’re on a roll, we don’t drop our guard. We’re relatively new in terms of the kind of roles we’ve given our players. Colin [Munro] is very new at the top of the order, Tom [Latham] and Henry [Nicholls] are very new to that middle-order role. From a bowling point of view, Lockie [Ferguson] is new, we’re playing two spinners, we’re trying a few things this summer and it helps that we’re developing some depth.”

Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India

George Dobell06-Dec-2016Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India.Bayliss, England’s head coach, has generally been happy to leave team talks to the captain, Alastair Cook. But he is concerned by what he sees as England’s passive cricket in the last couple of Tests and is keen to encourage the batsmen to play what he sees as the “positive” cricket they demonstrated at the start of the series.While it would be stretching a point to suggest that minor change of approach indicates a rift with Cook, it does seem fair to conclude that Bayliss wants to make certain the team are in no doubt about the way he wants them to play.England scored at well over three an over in the drawn match Rajkot (3.36 in the first innings and 3.44 in the second). But then, in the second innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, Cook set the tone by taking 50 overs to put on an opening stand of 75 with Haseeb Hameed as England attempted to bat for the best part of five sessions to seal a draw.But Bayliss clearly feels most of the team’s batsmen are at their best when they are given a clear license to attack and suggested that some indecision had led to their failures in the Mohali Test.”The first three innings of this series we had a nice positive approach to the game and with our mental approach,” Bayliss said. “Probably the last three innings we have got away from that a little bit.”If you look at the batters who scored runs in the first three innings of the Test series they were proactive, trying to be positive which means they will defend well. When the opportunity comes we leave and defend well but when opportunity comes along to attack we take them.”In the last three innings we have changed that mindset so it is more along the lines of survival. And when some of our naturally more positive players try to play that way they were in two minds.”I thought in the last innings of the last Test we gifted them some wickets when I thought we looked to be in two minds. We looked like we were trying to go over the top once or twice but did not really go through with it which meant we were in two minds over whether it was right approach or not.”The message to the guys in last two Tests will be to approach it a bit more like we did in the first Test and maybe the first innings of the second Test when Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes got together. That is how they played and it suits the way we played. If you do that it gives you opportunity to put pressure on the opposition. If you don’t do that they put pressure on you, which is what happened in the last two Tests.”Asked whether the captain would be passing that message on to the team, Bayliss replied: “It will be up to me to play a role there. Probably over the last few series Cooky has taken on more of a role there, which has been great. But I think for the coming couple of Tests it is time I stepped up to the mark to just remind them of how we have played when we have played well.”Bayliss also admitted he had never seen Keaton Jennings bat, but will encourage him to play his own way if, as expected, he opens the batting in the fourth Test.”I’ve not seen him bat,” Bayliss said. “I saw Haseeb Hameed bat once, when he got 50, but I have not seen Jennings at all.”It was said the two openers play a defensive role. I don’t see that. To me if they play their natural game they are being positive. If that means they have not got quite as many shots as the other guys that does not mean they are not playing positively. If each individual does that in their own way then it gives you the best opportunity to score runs. The same message will be to Keaton as well. You have been successful playing in a particular way there is no reason to change that.”