Brisbane will again host the first Test of the Australian summer, but the ground will need to pull good crowds and have further investment to be assured of that position in the future

Andrew McGlashan07-May-2019The influence of Australia’s players has helped the Gabba reclaim the opening Test of the Australia season, but the ground is under pressure to deliver strong crowds against Pakistan and will need further significant investment if it wants to keep its slot for the marquee fixture.Australia have not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988 and the two times since that the opening Test of the season has not been scheduled in Brisbane are the only occasions Australia have been beaten – 2016 against South Africa in Perth and last season against India. Players and coaches were privately fuming at not getting the chance to start the India series at the Gabba, instead opening in Adelaide on a surface with less threatening pace and carry.After extensive negotiations between Cricket Australia and the Queensland Government, Brisbane will host the opening match of the two-Test series against Pakistan in late November and there will be much focus on how many people come through the turnstiles with another tour by India in 2020-2021 and an Ashes series the following year.ALSO READ: Australia Day fixture goes missing in new schedule“We listen to what the players are after, that’s something with how the schedule is put together,” Belinda Clark, CA’s interim high-performance director, said. “There’s a lot of complex relationships that need to managed and the players are one of those. The players are thrilled that this result has eventuated for this season.”Max Walters, the Queensland Cricket CEO, said: “It’s wonderful news that not only is the international schedule packed to rafters but the spiritual home of the first Test has got the first Test back. A fortress for the Australia, the Gabba is back in November. It’s an outstanding result and fingers crossed in years to come with India coming back and also the Ashes.”Clark was confident of having India return to the Gabba. “There’s a lot of work that goes on in the background to make sure those relationships are strong, but India have played here previously and will play here again, that’s not a problem.”Brisbane’s Test last season was a day-night encounter against Sri Lanka, in the midst of the Big Bash, which was over on the third day and did not really capture the imagination of the public. It is understood that the venue is unlikely to pitch for day-night Tests in the future with Adelaide seen as the natural home for those matches and Perth now also making a strong push having earned a floodlight Test against New Zealand next season.However, while there will be pressure on the Gabba to get healthy crowds for the visit of Pakistan – what figure would class as a pass mark remains to be seen, but it could be around 20,000 per day – it is accepted that the spectator experience also needs to be improved following work to upgrade the player facilities.”We’ve got an expectation that this place is great for fans, great for the team and the endeavor is there to make sure that’s the case,” Clark said. “When you have a stadium in this city and state that people come to watch sport we just need to make sure it’s at the right standard, everything is being done to make sure that’s the case. Front and center is the experience for the fans.”Discussions are well advanced for the sale of the naming rights for the ground and the revenue generated from that will be put back into the stadium. The big long-term project which Queensland Cricket hopes will make a major difference is the construction of a train station opposite the ground and associated work outside the stadium, but that remains a number of years away from completion.”When tickets go on sale I want to encourage every Australian cricket fan to book your ticket to see the return of the first Test at its rightful home of the Gabba,” Queensland sports minister Mick de Brenni said. “Queenslanders and Australians were bitterly disappointed that the first test of last year’s season wasn’t here at the Gabba. Keeping it back here, though, will rely on us continuing to invest at the Gabba to make sure facilities are up to standard, for both players and spectators.”

For Sri Lanka, a succession of starts were wasted, with only Lahiru Thirimanne going past 50

The Report by Daniel Brettig27-May-2019David Warner was rested due to leg soreness and Steven Smith did all his batting in the nets, as Australia’s other big names Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc revved into rhythm and form in a comprehensive defeat of Sri Lanka in the World Cup warm-up match at the Hampshire Bowl.Usman Khawaja compiled an attractive 89 to press his case for the No. 3 batting spot, given intense competition for places that see him effectively duelling with Shaun Marsh for one spot, guiding Australia most of the way to victory with 31 balls to spare.Using their pace and bounce to good effect, Cummins and Starc conceded a mere 19 runs from the final four overs of Sri Lanka’s innings to restrict Dimuth Karunaratne’s team to a mere 239 for 8, after they struggled to build momentum against Australia’s varied bowling attack on a slow and wearing pitch – the same one used for Australia’s earlier win over England on Saturday.Combined figures of 2 for 61 from 17 overs left Starc (still recovering from a throat ailment) and Cummins in decent fettle ahead of their tournament opener against Afghanistan, their speed nicely complemented by the spin of Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell and Smith. Marcus Stoinis, too, showed signs of value, swinging the ball enough to discomfort set batsmen.For the Sri Lankans, a succession of starts were wasted, only Lahiru Thirimanne going past 50, and just one half-century stand being raised, by Dhananjaya de Silva and Thisara Perera. They managed 38 in three overs bowled by Lyon and Kane Richardson, before the returns of Starc and Cummins put a definitive clamp on the innings.On a fine, cool morning in Southampton, Karunaratne won the toss to bat first, but found boundaries hard to come by in the face of Australia’s discipline. Richardson’s bouncer extracted the first wicket, Dimuth not pulling out of a hook shot in time to avoid a thin edge behind that was missed by the umpire Nigel Llong but picked up via the DRS.Kusal Perera was pinned lbw by Maxwell, the over after the allrounder had spun a delivery sharply with artful variation, and Thirimanne’s elegant innings, punctuated by several aristocratic glides through the off side field off the back foot, was ended when Lyon skidded an off-break bowled down the seam into his off stump.While the remainder of Sri Lanka’s batting order all managed to get to double figures, there was never a sense that they were getting away from the Australians, a conclusion backed up by the serene progress of the chase engineered by Aaron Finch’s team.If there was any concern for the Australians it arrived in the form of Nuwan Pradeep’s nip-backer to get Finch lbw, in exactly the sort of fashion most teams will be looking to dismiss him as per the successes of Jasprit Bumrah for India during the Australian summer.Every other member of the top six looked at home, batting around Khawaja’s spinal innings, though there may have been some annoyance at how Marsh (lofting to long on), Maxwell and Stoinis (both tugging catches to deep midwicket) rather gave their innings away. Khawaja was given out stumped when the third umpire deduced his foot was on the crease but not behind it, leaving Cummins to collect the remaining runs in the company of Alex Carey.Nevertheless, Australia have won all three of their warm-up matches in England – they are clearly eager for the main event to start. Sri Lanka appear to have a few more problems on their hands, but all will be forgotten should they win their opener against New Zealand.

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2019Glamorgan 449 and 137 for 1 (Labuschagne 90*) lead Worcestershire 370 (D’Oliveira 103) by 216 runsMarnus Labuschagne saw off (in Glamorgan’s eyes at least) rival claims on behalf of Warwickshire’s Dom Sibley in the race to reach 1,000 first-class runs this season, so becoming the first Glamorgan batsman to achieve that particular feat since Steve James in 1997.His achievements this season were duly rewarded when he was presented with his county cap by Glamorgan stalwart Alan Jones during the lunch interval.Sibley’s record included runs in the season’s curtain-raiser betweern MCC and the Champion County which was traditionally played at Lord’s but which this season took place in the UAE.Brett D’Oliveira summoned a dogged century in a rare Championship appearance to lead Worcestershire’s resistance but Division Two leaders Glamorgan took an overall lead of 216 to set up an exciting final day of their Specsavers County Championship clash in Cardiff.Glamorgan will begin the final day on 137 for 1 in their second innings, with the prolific Australian Marnus Labuschagne 90 not out,after they had gained a first innings lead for the first time this season.He built a second wicket partnership in excess of a hundred with Nick Selman to take his side a step closer to the win, and himself closer to a fifth first-class hundred this season. But the innings had begun poorly, when Owen Morgan was caught behind off Joe Leach from just the sixth delivery.Earlier in the day, having resumed their first innings on 191 for 5, Charlie Morris and Ed Barnard looked to reduce Worcestershire’s deficit from the outset. However, they got off to a calamitous start as Morris, attempting a quick single, was run out by Billy Root in the seventh over.Barnard reached his half-century from 93 deliveries, bringing up the milestone with successive boundaries after Glamorgan’s Lukas Carey had taken the new ball. But he was dismissed, leg before wicket to Michael Hogan for 56.The visitors had obtained a second batting point shortly before Ben Cox edged Dan Douthwaite to wicket-keeper Tom Cullen, who picked up his third catch of the innings.They gained a third batting point early in the afternoon session, but they soon lost Joe Leach when he was caught behind off Michael Hogan, as Tom Cullen claimed his fourth catch and Glamorgan claimed full bonus points for the match.D’Oliveira reached his half-century from 70 deliveries, including five fours. A patient Adam Finch, who had got off the mark from his fifteenth delivery, took until his 36th to score again, when he drove Michael Hogan through the off-side for four.D’Oliveira, who prior to this innings had had a lean season with scores of 31 and 0 in red ball cricket, faced 154 balls and had struck 12 fours before he was caught and bowled by Michael Hogan for 103 from the final delivery before tea, with the bowler finishing with five wickets for 62.

Australian opener sets platform and spinner takes 3 for 16 as Derbyshire falls seven runs short

ECB Reporters Network09-Aug-2019Liam Trevaskis and D’Arcy Short delivered match-winning performances as Durham edged out the Derbyshire Falcons by seven runs in a rain-affected North Group match at Derby.Short top scored with 68 from 48 balls, sharing an opening stand of 114 with Scott Steel as Durham made 160 for 5 with Matt Critchley claiming 2 for 22. Trevaskis then turned the game with 3 for 16 and although Fynn Hudson-Prentice scored an unbeaten 31 from 24 balls, the Falcons came up short on 153 for 7.Durham looked set for a bigger total after Short and Steel gave them a solid base but the Falcons kept them in check in the closing overs through disciplined bowling and keen fielding.A strong wind meant hitting the ball in the air carried an element of risk and a slow pitch also made it difficult to accelerate as Durham discovered when they tried to raise the tempo.Short drove Logan van Beek for consecutive fours as 50 came from the Powerplay but he should have been dismissed on 35 when a top-edged cut at Boyd Rankin was put down by wicketkeeper Daryn Smit at the second attempt.It threatened to be costly as Short lifted van Beek over wide long-on for what was to be the only six of the innings and then pulled the next ball for four. But when he tried to hit Critchley over the top, he skied a catch to Smit and Alex Lees went in the next over when van Beek took a well judged catch at long-on.Scott’s attempt to reverse-sweep Critchley ended in the hands of backward square and as Durham lost momentum, the innings was in danger of stalling until Peter Handscomb managed to drive Hudson-Prentice over cover to the boundary off the penultimate ball.Billy Godleman launched the chase with two boundaries from Brydon Carse and after a brief rain delay, he savaged the third over from Matty Potts. The third ball was driven for six, the next two carved to the third man boundary before Godleman dispatched the sixth over long-off for another maximum.Former Falcons seamer Nathan Rimmington responded by conceding only four from the next over and after Luis Reece was well caught by Jack Burnham at deep midwicket, Godleman was bowled charging Rimmington for 39 off 20 balls.Wayne Madsen reverse-swept Short for six and drove and swept Steel for two more fours but Trevaskis gave Durham the initiative with three wickets in two overs. After Leus du Plooy failed to clear long-off, Trevaskis held a fierce return catch to remove Madsen for 30 and then had Alex Hughes stumped.Critchley was well caught at long-on and after a 20-minute rain delay, Durham held their nerve to close the game out despite some defiant blows from van Beek and Hudson-Prentice.

England captain unbeaten on 75, Joe Denly reaches fifty with hosts chasing another 203 runs at Headingley

The Report by Valkerie Baynes24-Aug-2019Josh Hazlewood beat Joe Root’s bat by a lick of paint with a ball that buzzed outside off stump just inside the last hour of yet another dramatic day of this Ashes series. The hint of a smile at the corners of Root’s mouth spread into a nonchalant grin as he eyeballed the fast bowler who was following up his leather-bound assault with a little verbal one.The pair were locked in battle, just as their respective sides were, playing out a scene that had seemed so very unlikely just hours earlier at the start of play on day three of the third Test at Headingly and certainly after the lunch break.Root and Joe Denly – two England batsmen needing big scores as much as any – had dug in and turned the match on its head, a recurring theme in a series that has seen momentum swings , twists and turns throughout. The pair put on a 126-run partnership, Denly reaching his second Test fifty, and Root unbeaten on 75 at the close.The 67 all out England coughed up in their first innings had heaped more pressure on England’s batting line-up and these two hadn’t escaped – far from it. Questions swirled over the influence Root’s role as captain and his move one place up the order to No. 3 was having on his batting performance and Denly was struggling to establish himself as a Test player in his sixth match.But the pair came together after England had stumbled again to 15 for 2 in their second innings chasing a lofty target of 359, set when Australia resumed on 171 for 6 and Marnus Labuschagne, who was not out on 53, proceeded to reach 80 and top score for the tourists for the third time in as many innings as he guided them 246 all out.In reply, England lost their openers cheaply, Rory Burns to a Hazlewood delivery he should have left but which he prodded to David Warner at first slip and Jason Roy to a gem from Pat Cummins which zeroed in on off stump. It looked like Australia, who lead the series 1-0, would have retained the Ashes by the end of the day.But some dogged batting from Root and Denly frustrated Australia’s bowlers, as demonstrated in that exchange between Hazlewood and Root, which didn’t end there. Hazlewood followed up immediately with another ball that beat Root’s bat moving away slightly off the seam, and then a length ball that had the batsman shouldering arms and copping another earful.It was an intense and important spell from Hazlewood, who had taken 5 for 30 in England’s first innings. Nathan Lyon kept Denly on his toes in the next over, with a big appeal for a catch at short leg which came off the pads, an appeal to the DRS for leg-before, which was sliding down, and an attempted run out – all of which Denly survived.Hazlewood struck on the third ball of his next over though, pummelling Denly with a short ball that hit the glove and looped to Tim Paine behind the stumps. Denly had faced 134 balls for his 50 and 21 more without adding to his score but he had produced an innings sure to boost his confidence and secure his place for now, his delicious pull through midwicket off Hazlewood for four midway through the second session one for the highlights reel.Likewise, Root went a long way towards answering his critics after scoring consecutive ducks in his previous two innings with his 57 at Edgbaston his only knock of note in this series before now. He is still far from Mark Butcher’s unbeaten 173 which allowed England to chase down 315 against Australia at Headingley in 2001, but the England captain will have his sights set on producing something special at his home ground.Denly’s exit brought in Ben Stokes, who scored fifty in the first Test and was Man of the Match with an unbeaten 115 in the second, bolstering England’s hopes this time around.Australian skipper Paine, trying to keep his troops pumped up late on the third day, yelled from behind the stumps: “We’ll get two more tonight boys, two more in the morning”. They didn’t get the former. They will need the latter and more. But, with the second new ball due after eight overs on day four, they will fancy their chances every bit as much as Root and Stokes. With England’s first innings hardly erased from memory – despite the best efforts of Root and Denly – probably even more so.

The two middle-order batsmen went on a six-hitting spree in the final overs, one that Zimbabwe were powerless to stop

The Report by Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2019Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi belted seven sixes in seven balls as Afghanistan demolished Zimbabwe by 28 runs in Mirpur. The win ensured 11 consecutive T20Is without a defeat for Afghanistan – incredibly it’s the second time they’ve hit that number and only Australia have gone better (12).Zimbabwe have now played eight matches against Afghanistan and they have lost all of them. The bowling looked rather listless under fire the batting couldn’t get anywhere close to the target of 198 leaving the team in danger of early elimination.Seven sixes in a rowNajibullah and Nabi added 107 runs in just 6.4 overs, the second-fastest 100-plus partnership in T20Is, as well as the second-highest fifth-wicket stand in the format. Afghanistan also combined to hit 15 sixes, the most at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.Najibullah switched into a higher gear the moment Asghar Afghan got out in the 14th over. He went after debutant Ainsley Ndlovu and Kyle Jarvis before Nabi struck Chatara for four consecutive sixes – twice over deep midwicket, one straight down the ground and the last one biffed over cover.That ended a 26-run over but the carnage continued as Najibullah struck Neville Madziva for three sixes from the other end, making it seven in a row. He went twice over midwicket and once behind square on the off side before swatting Jarvis over extra cover in the 19th over for the last of his six sixes. He finished 69 not out off 30 balls while Nabi, who fell on the last ball of the innings, made an 18-ball 38.Gurbaz’s flying startAfghanistan had already got off to a sound start thanks to debutant Rahmanullah Gurbaz who struck five fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 43. Gurbaz added 57 for the opening stand with Hazratullah Zazai but the pair fell within nine balls of each other. Zimbabwe must have thought they were back in the game when they picked up the wickets of Najeeb Tarakai and Afghan, but then came that flurry of sixes that even now has to be hard to for the team to take.Zimbabwe crash before RashidAfter Hamilton Masakadza’s run-out in the third over of the chase, left-arm quick Fareed Ahmad removed Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams in the space of three balls. It took out the steam from Zimbabwe’s chase before Craig Ervine’s wicket in the seventh over reduced them to 44 for 4.All of this happened before Rashid Khan, on his T20I captaincy debut, brought himself into the attack. He had Tinotenda Mutombodzi caught at midwicket for 20, before removing Ryan Burl, who made a fifty in the previous game against Bangladesh, for a run-a-ball 25.A very late resistanceMadziva and Regis Chakabva tried to push Zimbabwe towards the target with their 45-run seventh-wicket stand after they were reduced to 96 for 6 in the 14th over. Madziva struck two sixes in his 11-ball 15, while Chakabva top-scored with an unbeaten 42 off 22 balls with three fours and two sixes. But it came far too late and only reduced the margin of defeat.

Becomes first Pakistan woman to sign up with an overseas T20 team

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2019Nida Dar has become the first Pakistan woman to sign a deal with an international cricket league, and is on track to take the field for Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League later this year.The 32-year-old Pakistan stalwart has played 96 T20Is and 71 ODIs, most recently in a T20I series against South Africa, where she took five wickets and scored 192 runs in five matches.”It is the very first time a woman from Pakistan has come to play in the WBBL,” she said. “I know people from Pakistan will be very proud. I know the people who have come from Pakistan to settle in Sydney will follow me, and that’s very exciting.””I have dreamt that I would one day play in this amazing league, and now I have the opportunity to play for Sydney Thunder. This is a great thing for me, it is a great achievement to play in the WBBL.”Nida is one of Pakistan’s most experienced players, having made her debut for the national side in a T20I in 2010, and has remained a fixture in the international team for much of the last decade. No Pakistan player has taken more T20I wickets than her 88, and she ranks fourth on the ODI list with 66 wickets – only Sana Mir, Sadia Yousuf and Asmavia Iqbal are ahead of her.Her batting, particularly in T20 cricket, has been potent too, with her strike rate of 96.27 higher than any Pakistan player to have padded up in at least five innings.

The sentence is of two years, with one year suspended

Mohammad Isam and Nagraj Gollapudi29-Oct-2019Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s Test and T20I captain, has been banned by the ICC from all cricket for two years, with one year of that sentence suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC anti-corruption code.

What rule did Shakib violate?

The most basic form of offence for failing the report an approach is covered under 2.4.4 of the ACU code. It says: “Failing to disclose to the ACU (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.”
The reason behind reporting any approach promptly and quickly is because any delay can hamper investigations.
“It is acknowledged that the assessment of whether there had been ‘unnecessary delay’ in each case will depend on its own circumstances, but it is always unacceptable (and will therefore constitute ‘unnecessary delay’) for a Participant to wait until after the match in respect of which he/she was invited to engage in Corrupt Conduct before reporting that approach to the ACU,” the ICC code says.
What is the sanction?
A minimum of six months and a maximum of five years.

His offences related to two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in January, also involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and one match in the IPL, where he was a player with Sunrisers Hyderabad.Shakib, 32, is Bangladesh’s leading current cricketer and among their all-time greats. He is currently at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC allrounders’ rankings for Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively, and is also a valuable member of the various T20 franchises he is part of across the world.He will be free to resume international cricket on October 29, 2020, subject to his satisfying the conditions in respect of the suspended part of the sanction. He is likely to miss most – or all – of next year’s headline event, the World T20 in Australia, which runs from October 18 to November 15.ALSO READ – ‘Do we work in this or I wait til the IPL’ – Bookie to Shakib
The ICC charged Shakib under Article 2.4.4, for failure to report two approaches to engage in corrupt conduct during the tri-series and for failure to disclose full details of any approaches or invitations he received to engage in corrupt conduct in relation to the Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab match in IPL 2018 on April 26, 2018.In order to avoid the one-year suspended sentence coming into effect, Shakib must not commit any offence under the ACU code during the initial one-year suspension, and participate regularly in anti-corruption education and/or rehabilitation programmes.The ICC’s case revolved around a series of messages exchanged between Shakib and the alleged corruptor Deepak Aggarwal, and Shakib’s failure to report “not one but three approaches” – as the ICC put it – by him. Those approaches, and Shakib’s failures to report, occurred over a period of several months.The approaches made to Shakib were “clear in their content and intent”, the ICC said; it was clear to Shakib that Aggarwal’s intention was to obtain inside information to use for betting purposes. It also noted that Shakib was an experienced international cricketer fully aware of his responsibilities under the ICC’s code of conduct and, additionally, he was captain of his national side.The ICC said that Shakib had accepted the charges and agreed to the sanction in lieu of an anti-corruption tribunal hearing.”I am obviously extremely sad to have been banned from the game I love, but I completely accept my sanction for not reporting the approaches,” an ICC statement quoted him as saying. “The ICC ACU is reliant on players to play a central part in the fight against corruption and I didn’t do my duty in this instance.”Alex Marshall, ICC’s general manager – integrity, said, “Shakib Al Hasan is a highly experienced international cricketer. He has attended many education sessions and knows his obligations under the Code. He should have reported each of these approaches. Shakib has accepted his errors and cooperated fully with the investigation.”BCB President Nazmul Hassan said Shakib first told him about the case two or three days ago, after the players’ strike was withdrawn, and informed the board about the punishment this evening.The board, he said, was “shocked and extremely disappointed that an experienced player like Shakib” had failed to report corrupt approach on three occasions. “We hope he will come back as a better and wiser cricketer and serve Bangladesh for many more years” when his sanction ends.”I also want to make it clear that BCB had nothing to do with it, neither did any of us know. The ACSU, which did this investigation since January, was done independently of the ICC. We only knew that they contacted Shakib, so we just heard the verdict.”The Shakib development has come at a time of huge upheaval in the BCB. Only a week ago, Shakib had led a players’ strike in Bangladesh, which came to an end last Wednesday after the BCB ceded to all the demands.The news also comes on the eve of Bangladesh’s tour of India, which starts on November 3. Shakib was meant to leave with the Bangladesh T20I squad on Wednesday for the tour, which comprises three T20Is and two Test matches.

Captain made only 13 runs in first Test, but claims he is ‘not far away’ from his best

George Dobell in Hamilton27-Nov-2019Joe Root believes he is “not far away” from recovering his best form with the bat.The England captain has slipped outside the top 10 of the ICC’s Test batting rankings – with 697 rankings points, it’s his lowest ranking for more than five years – and admits he “played two horrendous shots” in the first Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.But he says his batting has “just clicked” in training and feels a return to form is “round the corner.””I’m not far away,” Root said as he came out of the nets in Hamilton on Wednesday. “I’m feeling really good in practice. I know I played two horrendous shots in the last game but, in many ways, the fact that I’m getting myself out and not being got out, means I can deal with that. So long as it’s not too frequently, anyway.”I’m moving well. I’m hitting the ball well. I’ve just got to keep my feet moving, stay busy and go about my business the way I have for four or five years.”It’s felt much better this last week or so; it feels like it’s just clicked in. We’ve all been in situations before where it just takes one boundary, or negotiating one delivery and everything just slips back in and you feel you’ve batting for four or five hours. I’ve generally been quite consistent. And even if things have not felt right, I’ve managed to score runs. I’ve got to trust that that’s going to come. I’m not far away.”Whatever his recent struggles, Root’s enthusiasm for batting – and the captaincy – is undiminished. He has reiterated that he has no intention of giving up any format of the game and says he is as committed to the captaincy as ever.ALSO READ: Who could take over from Root?“Regardless of whatever the schedule is, I will always continue to keep working on my batting,” he said. “I love it. One of the perks of playing cricket for a living is you get to do one of your favourite things.”I have no plans to quit any format of cricket. I want to keep playing as much as I can. I know that there’ll be a day when my back’s gone, or I wake up and I physically can’t do it anymore. So I want to make the most of it when I can. I’m very fortunate to be in the position where I captain England and play for England. It’s the best job in the world in so many ways.”Root’s decline in the rankings has been dramatic. From a high point of No. 1 in 2015, he has declined to the point where he is not only no longer in the top 10, but a couple of places behind Ben Stokes at No. 9. But his focus, he says, is not on personal achievement.”I think the rankings are there for you guys in the media to talk about,” he says. “My focus, as a batter and a captain, is winning Test matches. That’s what matters. I’d take a pair for a win. But we’re more likely to win if I score a double-hundred.”England have an optional training session on Thursday afternoon in Hamilton; the second Test starts on Friday.

Surrey youngster delivers on his promise with key role in memorable 3-1 victory in SA

Andrew Miller28-Jan-2020Ollie Pope has said he is ready for the step-up in scrutiny following his breakthrough series in South Africa, and believes that the positive influence of Joe Root and Ben Stokes will help him to translate his impressive form in South Africa on to the slower, spinning decks of Sri Lanka in March.In a series studded with crucial contributions from a variety of England players, established and new, Pope’s haul of 266 runs in three Tests at 88.66 was instrumental in their 3-1 victory.He bounced back from missing the first Test through illness to record a matchwinning maiden Test hundred in the innings win at Port Elizabeth, and confirmed his reputation, at the age of 22, as one of the best young batsman in the world.ALSO READ: Marks out of 10 – Stokes, Wood, Pope shine for England“It’s an amazing feeling,” Pope said, after England had wrapped up the series with a 191-run win at the Wanderers. “I went through all the emotions on that final day. They got a few good partnerships early on but we trusted our bowlers to go on and take the wickets, and it happened pretty quickly at the end.”However, with England’s next Test challenges looming large in Galle and Colombo, Pope knows that he and the squad will not be able to rest on their laurels – but nor will they be allowed to, thanks to the drive for constant improvement that he said has been instilled by the captain and vice-captain.”Looking at the guys around you, you definitely never stand still,” he said. “You’re learning from Rooty and Stokesy – they set a benchmark from a batting point of view. They’re always looking ahead, always thinking about that next series coming up and how they can prepare themselves best for that. That’s definitely what I’ll be learning to do from now on as well.”Pope has already shown he is a fast learner in the course of his brief career. Less than three years have elapsed since he made his first-class debut for Surrey, at the age of 19, while his Test debut followed a year later, against India at Lord’s in August 2018.He finished his first full season of Championship cricket with 986 runs at 70.42, including four hundreds, and even managed to improve on that average in his five appearances for Surrey in 2019 (561 at 80.14), despite missing the bulk of the season after dislocating his shoulder in a fielding accident.And with all that in mind, Pope insisted he will have no qualms about the heightened expectations that come with his efforts in South Africa.Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes added 203 for the fifth wicket•Stu Forster/Getty Images

“I think you go through that whatever level you play at,” he said. “It happens in county cricket. When you’re first starting out, no one knows what you do, they might bowl to your strengths then they realise what your strengths are and bowl differently. But if I just keep working on my technique and my temperament at the crease, and whatever flaws I have got, if I can brush them out of the way then I’ll be ready to cope with whatever comes my way.”Pope’s range of experiences made be limited, but he will at least be travelling to Sri Lanka with some prior knowledge, having been an initial member of the squad that completed a 3-0 whitewash on their last tour of the country in November 2018.On that occasion, he proved surplus to requirements and decamped to join the Lions tour in the UAE, but he saw enough from his team-mates to know what type of approach could succeed, not least from his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes, who was named Player of the Series after scoring a century on Test debut in Galle.”It’s going to be completely different cricket to what it is out here from a batting point of view,” Pope said. “We play on pretty quick wickets out here and you might not face many overs of spin. In Sri Lanka, they might open with spin.”But from that time out there, I learned that you can go about scoring runs in different ways. I saw how Foakesy went about his innings, he batted time and backed his defence and picked off bad balls. He had a lot of success, then Jos [Buttler] had a lot of success as well. He probably took the more positive option – a lot of sweeping and you look at the scoreboard and he’d be 30 off 20 before you knew it.”There’s two different ways to go about it. I chat to people like Rooty who’ve done very well out there, and I bat in a similar tempo to him, and try to pick his brain a little bit and take that into that first Test if I do get picked out there.”In the latter stages of his Port Elizabeth hundred, however, Pope showed he is not simply a Root clone, with a remarkable array of one-day-influenced strokes, including a ramp over fine leg off an Anrich Nortje bouncer, and a full-blooded reverse-pull off Kagiso Rabada. And when the pair came together in their century partnership at the Wanderers, it was the younger man teaching the old dog some new tricks.ALSO READ: Dobell: Young England embrace old-fashioned virtues“It’s quite funny,” Pope said. “Rooty been one of my favourite players as I’ve been growing up over the last 10 years – watching him play has been awesome. He hit a shot – one of those ramps – and said ‘I learned that one off you!’ That’s a big compliment from one of my favourite players growing up.”But I learn a lot off him and that’s just the way batting works. Sometimes I’ll be bogged down and grafting a bit more and other times it will come a bit easier. That morning for me, I was just moving well and it’s a shame not to go on and make a bigger one [Pope made 56] but I really enjoyed batting with him.”My dream is to play all three formats for England,” he added. “I see myself as a white-ball player as well but our team is pretty established at the moment. They’ve got a great batting line-up, a great middle order, so if I want to get in that white-ball side I’ve got to bide my time, score my runs in county cricket and hopefully keep scoring some Test runs and that’ll look after itself.”Pope wasn’t the only young player to make his mark in South Africa. Dom Sibley also scored his maiden Test hundred in Cape Town, while Zak Crawley seized his chance to impress after Rory Burns’ ankle injury with a series of key innings at the top of the order.”The way this series has gone it’s been nice for Sibbers, Crawley and myself to get some game-time and get some runs as well, which has been really good for all of us going forward,” Pope said. “Obviously we’re still young guys and I think that’s what we needed – a few scores under our belts to give you the confidence to know you can do it at this level. Definitely doing it in a winning cause makes all the difference as well, from a personal point of view.”And after a stuttering start in New Zealand, where England were ground down on slow pitches to succumb to a 1-0 series loss, the confidence in a new-look squad is tangible.”I think it’s massive,” Pope said. “At the start of the New Zealand series we realised we’ve got a young group of players together as a team, and we knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. Our target was to go and win this series out here.”It’s been an amazing experience to do that. But we also realise, hopefully, it’s just the start. Looking ahead it’s been nice to get some games under our belt, and a series win and now it’s massive taking that into Sri Lanka.”