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ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2015Ben Wheeler, making his international debut, had Hales caught at slip in the sixth over. Tim Southee nipped one in to disturb Roy’s stumps in the next over as both openers were removed in the space of three balls•Getty ImagesBen Stokes played an enterprising knock, smashing a stroke-filled 68 which included seven fours and two sixes•PA PhotosEngland lost wickets in a bunch to collapse from 288 for 5 in the 42nd over to 302 all out, thereby failing to bat 28 balls in their innings•Getty ImagesDefending a target much lower than expected, England got off to a good start as David Willey trapped Martin Guptill in front of his stumps in the second over of the innings•PA PhotosBrendon McCullum and Kane Williamson steadied the innings for a while before McCullum was lbw of the bowling of Mark Wood for 11•PA PhotosWilliamson got into his element quickly, keeping the required run-rate in check. He and Ross Taylor added 206 for the third wicket – New Zealand’s highest third-wicket partnership in ODIs – in just 184 balls•Getty ImagesWilliamson made a fluent 118, his seventh ODI century, which included 12 fours and a six•PA PhotosTaylor made his second consecutive century to take New Zealand within touching distance of the 303 target•AFPNew Zealand lost four wickets after Williamson’s dismissal but held on to win by three wickets and took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series•Getty Images

Also: bowling and batting before lunch, four lefty openers, and Pakistan-born Ashes players

Steven Lynch11-Aug-2015Has anyone other than Jim Laker bettered Stuart Broad’s bowling figures in the Ashes? asked Melanie Hodgson from England
The England offspinner Jim Laker famously took 19 for 90 in the match – 9 for 37 and 10 for 53 – for England against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956. But the only other figures statistically better than Stuart Broad’s 8 for 15 in Nottingham the other day were even longer ago: in Melbourne in 1920-21, the Australian legspinner Arthur Mailey took 9 for 121 in England’s second innings. Broad’s remarkable performance was the 20th eight-for in Ashes cricket – England’s first since Bob Willis’ 8 for 43 in that famous match at Headingley in 1981 – but the other 19 all cost more. For the full list of the best Ashes bowling figures, click here.How often has the team that bowled first batted before lunch on the first day of a Test? asked David Charlton from England
England’s achievement in bowling Australia out before lunch on the first day in Nottingham, and having a bat themselves, has happened only three times previously in Test matches. At Lord’s in 1896, England bowled Australia out for 53, and started their own first innings before lunch. Wisden reported that “the Australians failed in a fashion that has seldom been seen on a dry, true pitch, being all got rid of in an hour and a quarter. The bowlers did wonders, but lack of nerve on the part of the Australians must have been largely answerable for such an astounding collapse”. The two more recent instances were both inflicted by South Africa. In Ahmedabad in 2007-08 they shot India out for 76 in 20 overs, Dale Steyn taking 5 for 23; then in Cape Town in 2012-13 South Africa mowed New Zealand down in 19.2 overs for 45, Vernon Philander grabbing 5 for 7 (and Steyn 2 for 18).Ian Bell was out for 1 at Nottingham, for the sixth time this year. Has anyone been out more often for 1? asked Paul Carlton from Australia
No one has been out more often this year for 1 in Tests, if that’s what you mean: after Bell’s six, next in 2015 is actually his team-mate Joe Root, with three dismissals for a single. Overall, Bell has now been out for 1 on 12 occasions in his Test career. Another current England player, James Anderson, leads the way here with 14, ahead of Harbhajan Singh on 13. Both Glenn McGrath and Javagal Srinath were also out a dozen times for 1. Bell is now the leading specialist batsman on this list, having eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar, one of four men with 11 (the others are Curtly Ambrose, Rod Marsh and Courtney Walsh).Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer made up one pair of left-handed openers in the Ashes in 2005 and 2006-07•Getty ImagesFawad Ahmed is in the Australian squad for this Ashes series, but hasn’t played a match yet. Is Usman Khawaja the only Pakistani-born cricketer to play in the Ashes? asked Danish Syed from Pakistan
Usman Khawaja, who was born in Islamabad, has played four Tests against England so far: he made his debut in Sydney in 2010-11, and also appeared in three matches in the 2013 series in England. The only other Pakistan-born player to feature in the Ashes is another Usman – the Rawalpindi-born Usman Afzaal, who made his debut for England at Edgbaston in 2001, and played in two further matches in that series, which constituted his entire Test career. Owais Shah was also born in Pakistan (in Karachi): he appeared in six Tests for England, but none of them were against Australia.The four openers in the current Ashes series are all left-handers. When was the last time that this happened in the Ashes, or all Test cricket? asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
All four openers being left-handers had never happened in any Ashes series until 2005 – but it’s happened quite a bit since then. Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer opened in all five Tests in 2005, and Hayden, Langer, Strauss and Alastair Cook throughout the 2006-07 series. Cook, Strauss, Phillip Hughes and Simon Katich opened in the first two Tests of the 2009 Ashes (whereupon Hughes was dropped), while Cook, Michael Carberry, Chris Rogers and David Warner opened in all five Tests of 2013-14. So the 2015 series (Rogers, Warner, Cook and Adam Lyth) has really only continued that left-handed trend. It also happened in the Bangladesh-South Africa Tests that took place during this Ashes series. In all there have been 79 Tests now that featured four left-handed openers (some of them thanks to changes of batting order in the second innings), all but one of them since 1996. The only one before that was in Mumbai in 1961-62, when Peter Richardson opened with Geoff Pullar in England’s first innings, and Bob Barber in the second; Nari Contractor opened (with the right-handed ML Jaisimha) for India. The first one to feature just four left-handed openers was the third Test between Australia (Hayden and Langer) and Pakistan (Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar) in Sharjah in 2002-03.There were three centuries in the second ODI between Zimbabwe and New Zealand, but only 471 runs overall. Was this a record? asked Saurav Jain from India
That’s a good spot: there were three centuries – by Sikandar Raza, Martin Guptill and Tom Latham – but only 471 runs in that match in Harare on August 4. And no other one-day international containing three hundreds has had so few runs: the previous mark was 501 by Australia (250 for 3) and India (251 for 3) in Jaipur in 1986-87. Geoff Marsh (104) and David Boon (111) put on 212 for Australia’s first wicket in that game – an ODI record at the time – but they were trumped by Kris Srikkanth’s 102.

How do England mask their flaws and make the most of their assets in the make-or-break third Test? ESPNcricinfo assesses the options

Andrew McGlashan in Sharjah28-Oct-2015Jos Buttler is set to be dropped for the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah which would mean Jonny Bairstow taking the gloves and James Taylor being recalled. That may be the only change for England as they aim to level the series, but what other options do they have? Here are some of the permutations, in no particular order of likelihood. You are welcome to offer your own in the comments section below.New selections in bold, positional changes in italics1. Hail Alex?Getty ImagesAlastair Cook, Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James AndersonThis team would involve Alex Hales making his Test debut to become Alastair Cook’s eighth opening partner since Andrew Strauss retired. He would come into the XI in place of Jos Buttler, with Bairstow keeping wicket and Taylor missing out again. A greater reshuffle of the batting order would also involve Moeen slipping down to the middle order. It would be tough for Hales, he has had just one brief innings on tour, but he is at least a specialist opening batsman.2. Back to the summerCook, Hales, Bell, Root, James Taylor, Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Moeen, Broad, Wood, AndersonThe model is the same balance which reclaimed the Ashes for England last summer. Adil Rashid misses out as the junior spinner, Hales fills Adam Lyth’s role as a specialist opener, Moeen returns to No. 8 where he prospered throughout the English season while Bairstow moves to No. 7 with the gloves. It wasn’t broke, but they tried to fix it.3. Hit them hardMark Butcher: Moeen is wasted as an opener

“Moeen Ali is an asset to England. In English conditions he provides – in that rather dismissive phrase – a “spin option” and gives the opposition kittens when they think they are through the batting line-up. However, in Asian conditions, he is so much more. A potential match-winner if his bowling is in top order and, as an excellent player of spin, a “horses for courses” option at No. 5, leaving room for a second spinner in the process.

By opening with Moeen, an asset has been turned into a liability. Given a truly specialist role at No. 2 (on top of the one as main spinner that he already has) his bowling has suffered. Not only that, he has not been able to reassure the middle order with his expertise against the spinners; because he has been nailed by the new ball, tired and befuddled after bowling and fielding in extreme heat for hundreds of overs.

There has been much to admire about England’s performances in the UAE so far and, with a little luck, they might even be 1-0 up. But their experiment with Moeen could also have a knock-on effect because, while he’s been doing the role, a specialist opener has been denied the chance to get his feet under the table on flat tracks ahead of a tough tour of South Africa later this year.”

Cook, Moeen, Bell, Root, Taylor, Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Broad, Liam Plunkett, Wood, AndersonEngland’s strength is not in spin, that is abundantly clear, but they do have a strong stable of quick bowlers. So why not deploy arguably the quickest of them? It was an idea put forward by the ‘s Mike Selvey and would involve one of the spinners making way. If we presume that Taylor replaces Buttler, then Rashid would have to sit this one out so that Moeen could continue to open. Liam Plunkett would then come in as a battering-ram of a fast bowler to ensure there is rarely a time when Pakistan aren’t facing pace from both ends.4. Do three spinners equal one?Cook, Moeen, Bell, Root, Taylor, Samit Patel, Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Rashid, Wood, AndersonTrevor Bayliss said that England had put some serious thought before the series started to playing three spinners in Sharjah – something New Zealand did last year when Daniel Vettori was recalled for a one-off Test and they won. And that would mean a Test recall for Samit Patel, three years after his last appearance on the tour of India in 2012-13. This option is now highly unlikely given the success of England’s quicks, but if one were to be left out, in terms of wickets taken, Stuart Broad would be the unlucky man.5. Bell tolls?Cook, Hales, Root, Taylor, Moeen, Stokes, Bairstow (wk), Rashid, Broad, Wood, AndersonHas time taken its toll of Ian Bell? The selectors don’t yet think so, but his numbers are not adding up. He has averaged 20.94 since his hundred in Antigua and, though he looked more confident in his second-innings 46 in Dubai, scores of 40 and 50 aren’t really sufficient for a player of his experience. In this option, both Hales and Taylor come in at the expense of Bell and Buttler, with Moeen relocating to the middle order. Joe Root, the world’s No. 1-ranked batsman, is more than capable of batting at No. 36. The 1990s answerCook, Hales, Root, Taylor, Patel, Bairstow (wk), Rashid, Chris Jordan, Plunkett, Wood, AndersonWhat would Ted Dexter, England’s chairman of selectors during an era where consistency was not a buzzword, have done? It would never happen – not these days, at least – but, just for fun, here’s an XI featuring all five squad players who haven’t featured yet. Four quicks, two spinners. Rashid and Moeen could be interchangeable – as they doubtless would have been, 20 years ago.

Mohammad Hafeez believes that James Anderson and Stuart Broad produced the best spell of reverse-swing bowling that he has encountered in his career

Umar Farooq in Sharjah04-Nov-2015They call him Professor, not because he is associated with any educational institution, but because he talks a lot, argues a lot and thinks a lot. He has an unorthodox, analytical mind and isn’t a quiet person. He has theories; he has ideas, he has suggestions and he has a temperament that disagrees with everything in order to forge and put his own case. He is Mohammad Hafeez.Hafeez’s ninth Test hundred was also his first against England, a landmark he had threatened on three previous occasions, dating back to his 95 at The Oval in the infamous abandoned Test of 2006. He made 98 at Abu Dhabi earlier in this series, and so, when he resumed on 97 overnight, he could perhaps be forgiven for lacking the fluency he had shown on the third evening. Despite two tight shouts for lbw, one dropped catch and a missed stumping off the second ball of the morning, his 151 was quite possibly his finest Test innings yet.”I was nervous, if I am honest, because I didn’t want to miss a hundred against England [again],” he said. “I wanted to take my time and make sure I can do it this time. So it happened and I am glad I managed to cross the mark. This is a different pitch in Sharjah and the previous experience here at the venue helped me and gave me confidence in building this innings.”Hafeez targets victory

Mohammad Hafeez is confident that Pakistan will wrap up a 2-0 series win on tomorrow’s fifth and final day in Sharjah, after his 151 helped to carry his team to what he believes to be an unassailable lead. England will resume on 46 for 2 with three sessions left to bat, and a tough target of 284 still a long way off.

“We had a plan in our mind to keep it simple because we know any total above 200 will be difficult to chase in the fourth innings on the fifth day,” Hafeez said. “Since I have a natural way of attacking, from which I took most of the success, I continued with it and didn’t miss the scoring opportunities. At the end of the day we all contributed and collected a total which was required.

“We were actually looking to have something like 220, 225 but Sarfraz [Ahmed] and Asad [Shafiq] took us to 280. And now with two wickets we are even more confident. The way our spinners are bowling the level of confidence is growing. The pitch is assisting the spinners and they are using it very well. Tomorrow we will manage to win the series 2-0.”

Hafeez’s greatest attribute was the way in which he shifted the pressure back to the bowlers, finding the right attacking stroke at the right moments. His attractive cover-drives were sizzling, elegance with little effort from his wrists. Either side of the nervous nineties, he played with full control and batted with authority, even if his innings ended with a somewhat reckless slap to long-on, where Ian Bell was on hand to end 380 minutes of match-seizing dominance.Hafeez’s career record states that he has been the best of Pakistan’s openers since his debut in 2003, for all that the competition for that accolade has been thin on the ground. He has endured while at least a dozen others have come and faded away. On Asian pitches, he is a master – or a professor you might say – with 2809 runs at 50.16, and eight of his nine hundreds, coming in such conditions. Elsewhere he has mustered 541 at 20.80. His true ability as Test player has always been a talking point but his sprinting starts in matches such as these have always provided Pakistan a reason to keep coming back to him.”It was a fine innings, I can say, because it wasn’t easy to bat on this sort of pitch,” said Hafeez. “I had to take calculated risks and, as a batsman, it was frustrating because you were not able to pick up runs on such [a slow] outfield, even though hitting with full strength. But I am happy I am able to contribute and achieve exactly what we had to as a team.”Hafeez was particularly proud of the way he stood up to two quality reverse-swing bowlers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad. He has previously struggled against quick bowling – Dale Steyn has dismissed him a remarkable 15 times in all internationals – but Hafeez was adamant that he had never encountered bowling quite like he faced today.”In my 13 years of career I have never played that much reverse swing,” he said. “I used to see Wasim and Waqar doing reverse in the old days but these two have both got something special, maybe the art, and I am surprised to see that much reverse swing in the game.”At the age of 35, Hafeez had faced a struggle to regain the selectors’ faith after his offspin bowling was banned by the ICC for an illegal action. The general perception, up until then, was that his selection had been based on both disciplines equally, and so when Shoaib Malik was recalled after a five-year absence to fulfil that offspinning allrounder’s role, a sense of competition existed in the team. Hafeez’s only means of staying in the side appeared to be to produce big scores, even if Malik’s surprise retirement from Tests has now eased the pressure a touch.”I always consider myself a batsman. But bowling has been a plus,” he said. “It played a vital role for me and for my team to make a good combination. So I am definitely disappointed at losing it but I will make a comeback. Without it, my fatigue has been decreased and now I am more concentrated on my batting and it’s working well.”That was very natural to me as I started my career like that. I always enjoyed going in with both batting and bowling but, while I am banned, I have to wait to get cleared. But now all my concentration is towards my batting and contributing with big runs every time I go in.”

Since their return to Test cricket, South Africa have lost only to Australia in Cape Town. Against other teams, their win-loss record is 17-0

Shiva Jayaraman31-Dec-201519-4 South Africa’s win-loss record at Newlands since 1992. All four Tests they have lost at this venue have been to Australia. Against other teams, their win-loss record is 17-0. South Africa’s overall win-loss ratio of 4.75 at Newlands is their third best among venues where they have played at least five Tests since 1992.1957 Last time the hosts lost a Test to England at Newlands. Since then, the teams have played five Tests here and the hosts have won three of them, all of which have been since South Africa’s readmission. The last Test played between the teams at this venue in 2009-10 ended in a draw. Since 1992, Newlands is the only home venue where South Africa haven’t lost to England.0 Number of Tests that have ended in a draw at Newlands since 2012. Among ten venues that have hosted at least five Tests since 2012, Newlands is one of three that hasn’t hosted a draw.1-13 Overseas teams’ win-loss record batting first in 15 Tests in Cape Town since 1992. The only time an overseas team has won here batting first was in 2014, when Australia beat the hosts by 245 runs. Apart from that instance, the only time a visiting team avoided defeat batting first was in 2006, when a high-scoring affair involving New Zealand ended in a draw. In ten of the 13 defeats, visiting teams have opted to bat first after winning the toss.1972 The last time England lost an away series after winning the first Test, against India. On that occasion, England lost the five-match series 2-1. In completed away series since then, England have won nine out of ten when they have been victorious in the first Test. The exception was the 2001-02 Test series in New Zealand, which ended in a draw. Two of these wins came in Bangladesh, one in the West Indies and one in South Africa, in 2004-05.0 Number of hundreds England batsmen have made in their last four Tests at Newlands. The last England batsman to make a hundred at this venue was Mike Smith in 1964-65. Since then four Tests between the teams at Newlands – all since 1992 – have seen a highest score of 78 from an England batsman, which was made by Ian Bell in 2009-10. Newlands is the only venue where England batsmen haven’t made a hundred from four or more Tests in the last 20 years. In the current England squad though, only three players – Alastair Cook, James Anderson and Stuart Broad – have played a Test at Newlands before. Cook got fifties in both innings of the Cape Town Test in 2009-10.9 Number of consecutive innings in Tests South Africa have been bowled out for totals of less than 250 runs. The last time South Africa went through a leaner patch than this was in the period from February 1958 to July 1960 when they had a run of 11 such innings. However, in Cape Town, excluding one instance against Australia in 2011-12 when they were skittled out for just 96, they have not been bowled out for a total of less than 250 since 2009. During this period, they have made totals of over 300 eight times, four of which have been over 400 and two over 550.65 Wickets Dale Steyn has taken at Newlands – the most he has taken at any venue in Tests and the most any bowler has taken at this venue. However, Steyn is unlikely to play in this match, due to shoulder injury. South Africa will also miss the services of Vernon Philander, who has taken 31 wickets in just six Tests at Newlands including three five-wicket hauls, which equals the most any bowler has taken at this venue. Morne Morkel has 29 wickets at this ground at 30.48 from eight Tests.8-161 James Anderson’s bowling figures in the previous Test between the teams at Newlands – his best bowling figures in a Test outside England. Anderson took 5 for 63 in South Africa’s first innings in that Test, which are his second-best bowling figures in an innings in an away Test, one of only four five-wicket hauls. Stuart Broad, though, has not taken a wicket from the last 152 deliveries that he has bowled at Newlands. Broad bowled 41 overs and took just one wicket conceding 134 runs in return in the 2009-10 Cape Town Test.1029 Runs AB de Villiers has scored in Tests in Cape Town. Newlands is one of the two venues where he has accumulated at least 1000 runs. He has three centuries here, including one in his last innings at this venue, at the start of 2015 against West Indies. He is also the highest run-scorer at this ground from either squad. Hashim Amla is the other batsman with 1000 runs at this venue. Amla has made 1007 runs at 43.78 at Newlands.

Saeed Ajmal talks about learning offspin afresh, how he plots dismissals with his remodelled action, and how ready he is for a Pakistan recall

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi17-Feb-2016We heard that you were getting Andre Russell and Shane Watson out for fun in the nets. Reportedly, you dictated the sequence of events and the script worked to the dot. Is that true?
Usually in training I bowl a lot to guys who go for big hits. The thing I learn from them is how far their reach is, how far they step out to go for those hits, how far they will step out to pick up the ball. In the process, I get hit for sixes in the nets, but those experiences help me in the match.So if he or a similar batsman faces me in a match, then how far is he picking up the ball from. Does he have a long handle? What I also learn is how to vary the pace in my variations, how to rip it more with the fingers or stretch my hand based on how quickly he brings down his bat.When Russell faced me in the Islamabad nets [during the ongoing Pakistan Super League], the first ball I bowled to him, he played a jerky shot. So I said he will play only two or three balls and I can get him out. Someone asked me how I would go about doing that. I said first I would bowl an offbreak on his legs, he would feel settled, and then on the same length I would bowl the doosra and he would go for a slog-sweep, so maybe I can get him out there. He did exactly that. I pitched it a little further out, it was actually a topspinner. He went for the shot, and the top edge went straight towards short third man.Have you done this in a match ever, telling somebody that you will get a batsman out?
In the last qualifying round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Shahid Yousuf was standing at slip. I told him to stay focused as the batsman would give him a catch or he would get out bowled. I told him I would bowl the doosra on middle stump. If the batsman misses it he would get bowled, but if it hits the bat, the ball will come into your hands. He got out bowled. This was the last qualifying round in the Quaid-e-Azam, Grade II.Was the Russell delivery a doosra?
It was a topspinner. Mishits happen when there is a little extra bounce. If the ball is flat, straight, then there is no mishit. When it comes onto the bat, he is beaten.Are you enjoying being back on the field? The other day [against Karachi Kings] you won the Man-of-the-Match award.
By the grace of Allah, after a long time there is a feeling inside me that I am trying to bring back the set-up which was there earlier. The last T20 match I played was a county match last year. Here in the PSL, in the first match, there was a bit of pressure, but my bowling was good. In the last match, whatever I desired, whatever ball I bowled, it happened. I am getting my confidence back and the variations I am trying are happening now.How long did it take you to feel comfortable with your new action, which is little high and round arm?
Even with the round-arm action I have learned some variations. In the round arm if I do this to my finger, it goes out that way [drifts out], if I do it this way, inside, it goes like this and spins in. That minor – half a foot in and out. The bat is half a foot wide, that is what you have to deceive. If he gets deceived, it will hit the pad – like when I bowled a little quicker to James Vince, he went on the back foot. That spun just a tiny bit and he was deceived.

“I watch my videos after every match to check if I have bowled any balls that are suspect. Ninety per cent of my deliveries are good”

Can we say in the last one and a half years you have had to learn offspin totally afresh?
I have relearned everything. Even with my body, I have had to start new exercises. Then I followed that up by bowling with a heavy ball. Everyone knows my right wrist is broken [in a bus accident]. The wrist bone protrudes out and my whole arm flexes. To get this under control, because it is already ten degrees, I have learnt to bowl with a heavy ball. To keep the wrist taut, my biomechanist, Dr Paul Hurrion, suggested I bowl with a heavy ball. I worked really hard. I bowled 12,000 deliveries during the rehab before coming back. I am developing those muscles. Initially I didn’t have the pace, but thankfully my pace is up to 90kph.From the time my action was called and till it was cleared, I have bowled at least 100 balls a day. When I had to clear my action I did a lot of bowling in that time. My body weight would fall on one side, my left leg would come up during the delivery stride. To avoid doing that, I strapped weights to my ankles so that the foot doesn’t rise and come down flat upon landing.Have you learnt new things about offspin that you didn’t know before?
Definitely. I learnt a lot of things. I learnt that you can bring everything from your fingers if you are willing to work hard. At 38 I have learnt something that I probably never did in my 15 years as a cricketer. I had to become a child – like the first time I went into the academy as a ten-year-old. So I had to look at it like that again over the last year.Bowling with a remodelled action during a match against Kenya in December 2014, a few months after he was banned•AFPAfter you were banned, Saqlain Mushtaq was appointed by the PCB to work with you. Do you recollect the first delivery in the nets? Did you have to show Saqlain your action?
He knew what my action was before. Working along with Saqlain , I changed my action eight times. Initially he would like the action for a while, say for a month, but then he would change it. After ten days he would be impressed with a different action, but then say it is not proving to be effective. He would keep liking it but was not totally convinced. It reached a stage where one day, I just said I would leave it [bowling]. But Saqlain said, “.” [Don’t lose hope.] One day it will come.I kept doing it. Then I started bowling well and gained confidence. I am not saying I have become [great] once again. But with the matches I am getting to play, the crowds are coming, I am enjoying bowling under pressure, and one day I will be available to play for Pakistan.How difficult is it to unlearn something you have known all your life?
I was bowling with my earlier action for 22 years. Even now, when I see videos of my old matches, different things come to mind. Batsmen’s legs used to shake, every batsman used to think twice before stepping out to hit me, lest the ball bounces or turns. I can’t forget those memories. Now when a batsman stares back at me I get angry. I think: till last year he used to cry, but why is he staring back now? To bring that back I have worked hard in the last six months to make my action effective and get back my pace. Now my pace is really good. Also my doosra, even though it is not as big as it used to be, is still there. There is topspin and it moves out a little bit. I am happy that I’m bringing that back.Do you ever feel in a situation, physically, that your action might go back to the old one? You have played county cricket, bowled long spells. An old action is a habit.
No way. I will leave cricket with this [new] action. If I am not effective, I will step aside and leave. What I have done, I am happy with. I have been bowling about 90% with the new action. The odd ball might have exceeded 20 degrees, but I work hard immediately to rectify that. I watch every video of my matches. Ninety-nine per cent of my deliveries are under control. Since I have not played international cricket I will need to continue to work on how I bowl under pressure. I also need to work on how I bowl when I am relaxed.I will be back, and that day is not far. I have spent a lot of time outside and it hurts me when Pakistan loses.What I have learnt is that to learn anything new you have to believe in yourself and believe your Allah. There is nothing in this world that man can’t learn. I learnt the doosra by myself. All I did was watch videos of Saqlain Mushtaq and in one month I had learnt it. I wanted to try it out in the next domestic season and I did.To come back to international cricket, I need new variations, so I should be able to spin from the side, from down here, from the top, so I can deceive the batsman and let him know that I am now here.

“Fingerspinners can’t survive in international cricket, especially in limited-overs. You have to have variations and for that you have to work hard”

Your weapons have changed. Now you don’t do big spin, for instance.
In the last six months I have played 100-plus club matches [back in Pakistan] where I was also hit for many sixes. I was starting to understand at what pace the batsman was hitting me. I played club tournaments, local tournaments, a few outside. Slowly my confidence was coming back. In my mind I started thinking, “Now I am delivering my hand in the correct fashion.” Earlier I had doubts, it was in my mind that I was chucking. It took me nearly a year after the ban to get rid of the fear and [dread]. Now it is out and if you noticed my bowling in the last domestic T20 tournament in Pakistan and now in this, there is a big difference.Has there been a difference in your mental approach towards a batsman with the new action?
My ability against the batsman has remained the same. I am mature enough to understand how to play the batsman. I understand where the ball will go if I press this finger and this finger []. I have taken a year just to master these fingers, only to get my confidence back so that one day when I return to the Pakistan team I don’t want to feel that I am finished or that I have come on somebody’s [recommendation]. I don’t want to feel like a liability. If I feel I am finished, I will retire.Are the variations the same as you used to have?
There is a little bit of change. Earlier my deliveries used to have a lot of bounce. Now I have killed the bounce somewhat. Because of the high arm, my hand used to drop, so to stop the wrist from falling, I have now locked that wrist, so the spin is less. Earlier my right wrist used to fall away due to the bone injury. Now I have locked the wrist at the time of delivery. Consequently, the spin and bounce have reduced. But my variations remain the same. I have also learned to deliver with a low bounce against a tall batsman who stands and hits, or moves back to hit. In these matches, you will see a better version slowly.”Working with Saqlain , I changed my action eight times”•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo you still bowl the doosra?
Definitely. I have cleared the doosra during the ICC testing process. Even against Karachi Kings I got Saifullah Bangash with a doosra. I bowled a few to Iftikhar Ahmed. Out of 18 deliveries I bowled six doosras. Once again, with the doosra, there has been no difference in pace. The only difference has been with the spin and bounce when I deliver the doosra and the topspinner. I still rely on the doosra. I know it is a weapon that unnerves a batsman. With time my hand speed will get faster, as it was before. Then the doosra will become more effective.Of the deliveries that were banned, which is the most difficult to change?
The offspin. My wrist used to drop, and as soon as it used to drop – for the doosra it is fine – for offspin I had to lock the wrist and when I let it go, it did not break. Because the wrist remains locked now. So I found it really difficult to spin the ball. People think it is very easy, but for me it is really hard because my wrist bone is broken. I always need to ensure that the wrist does not fall. Now the ball has started breaking, and as an example I got James Vince lbw [against Karachi] with the offspinner.Did you ever think about your bowling as much as you have done in the last year?
The biomechanist Paul Hurrion has really helped me. To control the wrist it took a lot of time. I never thought about it. Earlier I would think, “This is Chris Gayle, or Pietersen, no problem.” Now I have to think about where to pitch it, how to get the batsman out. Earlier the batsmen would be scared to face me. Now there is a [contest].Muscle memory is an important constituent of any learning process. It can’t be built in a year. How do you deal with that challenge?
I agree. But muscle memory is built when you start as a youngster. I am a mature spinner. It didn’t take me that much time again because I know how to put the ball in. I already had the memory of where to bowl to what batsman and from where to deliver. My focus was just to clear my action. I cleared it very soon. I am very happy that I have developed the memory so quickly. I had almost lost hope. But I have this belief inside. I believe that everything I can put my head to, I can achieve.

“Earlier my right wrist used to fall away due to my bone injury. Now I have locked the wrist at the time of delivery. So the spin and bounce have reduced. But my variations remain the same”

You said you put some weights on your ankles. Can you talk about that? And also bowling with a heavy ball?
Saqlain would strap my wrists with 1kg bands on both wrists. He did not want my front arm staying to the side and the bowling wrist high and locked. I also strapped 2.5kg weights on my [left] leg to make sure it did not go high and the head did not fall down sideways. The head needed to be straight and relaxed. I would then deliver with a heavy ball. It took me three months just to get used to it, to develop muscle.Do you reckon it is difficult for bowlers to innovate within the numerous stringent restrictions imposed by the ICC, as opposed to batsmen, who have the freedom to keep innovating and improvising?
Perhaps it is easier for the fast bowlers, considering they have two new balls in ODIs. It has become very difficult for spinners. Why did the spinners start chucking, bowling faster? Heavy, broad, big bats, a mishit would go for a six; Powerplays, four fielders outside the circle, five inside in the ODIs. Pitches have changed. What can spinners do in such a setting? Spinners had to learn something new, and so started bowling faster. Earlier if you flighted the ball, you would get respect. . [Now if you toss it up in the air, it disappears into the air.] With the playing conditions changing, spinners started to learn to bowl fast and the chucking issue became prominent.Fingerspinners can’t survive in international cricket, especially in ODIs and T20 cricket. The guy who does not have variety will be hit. You have to have variations, and for that you have to work hard, otherwise you are out.”I have this belief inside. I believe that everything I can put my head to, I can achieve”•Getty ImagesCan you succeed as a spinner without throwing?
I have already given reasons as to why chucking started. There is nothing for the spinners. The ICC should allow spinners some relaxation. I said it to the ICC but it didn’t make a difference.Can you talk about examples where you enjoyed bowling after your action was cleared?
Last county season, I was playing for Worcestershire in a home one-day match against Leicestershire. Former England left-arm spinner Richard Illingworth, who played for Worcestershire, was the umpire. He asked me how I was going to get the batsman out. I told him I would bowl a whole over of offspin. He would push me to the leg side. Next over I would bowl the doosra and he would get caught at slip. So I bowled only offspin in the first over and the batsman played me to short midwicket. Next over, first ball, I bowled the doosra and he played it to the slips. Illingworth was astounded. I told him, this is cricket. I looked at what he was trying to do, and if he wins, it’s fine. But what I was doing to him, that is in my control. I was making him play on my terms, not his.So one thing that has not changed is how you out-think the batsman?That cannot change. Against Karachi, bowling to Iftikhar Ahmed, I knew he plays to midwicket. So I was playing with him. First up, I bowled him a doosra. It was a little outside off stump. I know he does not step out, and he was beaten. I bowled him another doosra which pitched on the same spot. He went for a big hit and was beaten. I then bowled offspin from the very same spot. He was beaten again and he stared back at me.I look for cues in a batsman. Kamran Akmal straightens his left leg to hit over midwicket. Sarfraz [Ahmed], if his shoulders are bending low, he is going to play the sweep. If he is standing normal and straight, he will not sweep. I have to pick this. Kevin Pietersen can hit a six by stepping out or by standing inside the crease. So I know to bowl it wide, so even if he hits, it might go high up in the air. I have learnt all this by playing for long, by playing with the batsman’s mind, by learning to watch what the batsman is doing. You need to do your homework. You need to read the pitch, to understand how much bounce there is on the pitch. So you will need to figure out whether to flight it or not and such stuff.How far away are you from playing international cricket?
I am ready. There is a big difference from the time when I played in the Bangladesh series last year after I was cleared. At that point I had the fear on the inside. Now I have removed that fear by working hard.

Virat Kohli went through the gears to record his maiden T20 hundred but it was not quite enough to inspire his side to victory

Arun Venugopal24-Apr-20162:51

Cullinan: Kohli is on a mission

Virat Kohli hasn’t batted a lot without AB de Villiers at the other end this IPL. They have had three 100-plus partnerships for the second wicket in their previous four matches, with their lowest tally being 59 against Mumbai Indians where their exit in the same over resulted in a diminished total. Against Gujarat Lions, Kohli and de Villiers completed their customary 50-run stand, but added only one more run as Pravin Tambe snipped de Villiers with a flatter legbreak that constricted his inside-out scoop. Their partnership lasted six overs, their shortest alliance so far in terms of number of balls faced.Prior to this innings, Kohli had played only 41 balls and scored 63 without de Villiers’ company, as opposed to 203 off 171 with him present at the other end. It wasn’t exactly Green Lantern minus his power ring, but the most synchronised partners of this IPL were now separated. With Shane Watson opening the innings and being dismissed early there wasn’t much middle order muscle either. You could argue they still had Sarfaraz Khan, Kedhar Jadhav and Stuart Binny but, without de Villiers, Kohli had to be the pace-setter, especially after he had opted to bat first.Giving Kohli company was KL Rahul, who wasn’t even supposed to be playing in the first place. His name was penciled into the side after Mandeep Singh injured himself at the last moment. Rahul’s previous contributions amounted to 30 off 24 balls from two innings. Meanwhile, Kohli had already launched into a dash, and as repetitive as it might seem, his gap-finding ability couldn’t be overstated. In the fifth over, Tambe bowled with a cluster of fielders on the off side with a big gap between cover point and extra cover. Kohli drilled a pair of successive drives smack bang into the gap – he moved slightly inside the line on the first occasion and then punch-drove the second off a good length.But, after de Villiers departed Kohli had to contend with a lull from overs eight to 12, where Royal Challengers scored only 25 runs. He had started to cramp up as well – Kohli later said he had slightly sprained his ankle while pushing for a quick double – and needed Rahul, who was on 12 off 15 balls, to back him up. Rahul amped up his innings at the right time, and scored at least one boundary in four of the next five overs.The force was decisively multiplied in the 16th over after Rahul played out three dot balls to Dhawal Kulkarni, getting beaten on two of those. Kohli, on 62 off 46 balls, walked up to him and, going by his gesticulation, appeared to tell him where he could target. The next two balls were pulled and carted over deep midwicket and long-off respectively. Royal Challengers ransacked 65 runs off the last five overs as Kohli switched from marathon to sprint mode. He moved from 75 off 53 to 85 off 58 and finally 100 off 63 – his maiden T20 century. The crowd, when Kohli was batting, had no issues in switching loyalities. His runs were not gained from easy put-aways to short boundaries.Kohli ran at full tilt despite his niggle and, in a fascinating piece of play, clipped Bravo to Ravindra Jadeja at deep midwicket and hared back for the second run. Jadeja hurtled in like a man possessed and launched a flat throw right next to the stumps, but Kohli still had enough in his tank to get home. Rahul, while not de Villiers, had proven himself to be a worthy partner as they raised what was seemed a competitive total.Kohli probably knew that questions would be asked of his team’s bowling, but tactically there weren’t many more buttons he could have pushed. He did well to mix up spin and pace in the first six overs, but 72 runs – the highest Powerplay score in this year’s IPL – had left them with little wiggle room later. Tabraiz Shamsi had another successful outing but Kohli afterwards rued too many hittable deliveries from the rest of his attack, along with nine wides and two no-balls. Royal Challengers, through Yuzvendra Chahal and Watson, hit Lions with whatever they had towards the end, but couldn’t really muster that little extra when required. To get there, they needn’t look beyond their captain for inspiration.

ESPNcricinfo picks eight talking points from DPL 2016

Mohammad Isam23-Jun-2016The tightest title race in decades
There is little doubt that Dhaka Premier League is Bangladesh’s most competitive domestic tournament, but over the years it had been two to three clubs vying for the title till the very end. This year, however, all six Super League teams had a fair shot, something that had not happened in this league for the last two decades.Victoria Sporting Club were highly impressive throughout the campaign, in spite of being dogged by player payment issues. Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club and Legends of Rupganj were always in the hunt with their experienced teams. Even when it was clear that Abahani Limited and Rupganj were the top contenders in the final week, Doleshwar kept pegging away and ended up as runners-up while Abahani became champions.Ill umpires halt match
Umpires Tanvir Ahmed and Gazi Sohel walked out of the Abahani-Doleshwar Super League game on June 12, citing illness, and the game wasn’t played on the reserve day, June 13. Nine days later, the BCB decided to award both teams a point each and declare the match a no-result.The umpires had got into a heated exchange with Tamim Iqbal, Abahani’s captain, after Tanvir turned down his side’s stumping appeal. While the umpires’ walkout was unprecedented in Bangladesh’s domestic cricket, it was just the tip of the iceberg of umpire-related controversies in the DPL.The umpiring, generally, was poor this season, with elementary mistakes like forgetting to use two balls from both ends, and getting confused with Powerplay regulations, being committed. Both these incidents happened in the same match. There were many controversial run-out, stumping and no-ball decisions too. Questions were also raised of BCB’s umpires committee, who appointed low-graded umpires for important matches.Allegations of unfairness
There were also allegations of unfairness levelled at the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, the BCB committee that runs the league. The Abahani-Doleshwar first-phase game was shifted to the BKSP-3 ground from Mirpur on short notice. Abahani played eight of their 16 matches at that venue.The BCB will investigate allegations that the BKSP-3 groundsmen didn’t cover the pitch properly ahead of the Brothers Union-Rupganj game that was eventually abandoned. They will also investigate the CCDM’s changing the date of the Gazi Group Cricketers-Victoria Sporting Club match.New helmets need to be adopted
Suhrawadi Shuvo’s blow to the back of his neck was a reminder to Bangladeshi batsmen to be more aware about adequate protection. Newly designed helmets with stem-guards are the need of the hour, and many players who are not centrally contracted by the BCB are now looking to buy one. Comfort is certainly an issue but as Tamim said on the day Shuvo got hit, comfort is a small price to pay for being safe.Suhrawadi Shuvo’s blow to the back of his neck served as a reminder about player safety•BCBThe Mashrafe show
Mashrafe Mortaza might be one of Bangladesh’s best captains in the modern era, and despite the fact that he has lifted several domestic trophies, clubs this time were reluctant to pick him in the draft. Kalabagan Krira Chakra did so towards the end and Mashrafe produced a stellar performance. He finished with 22 wickets at an average of 20.22 and claimed a six-wicket haul against Rupganj. He also struck a 50-ball century against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.The rise of the offspinning allrounder
Bangladesh has produced several left-arm spinners over the years, but this season a few right-arm offspinners made their case. While Bangladesh allrounder Mahmudullah lived up to the billing of the draft’s No 1 pick with 21 wickets in 11 matches, the likes of Mosaddek Hossain, Nahidul Islam and Habibur Rahman were among the offspin-bowling all-rounders to have made a mark.Mosaddek led Abahani’s charge to their 18th title by scoring 622 runs at an average of 77.75 and claiming 15 wickets in 16 matches. Rupganj’s Nahidul showed his flexibility by regularly changing his position in the batting order, and was willing to bowl at any time of the innings. Habibur didn’t sparkle with the bat, but he took important wickets and even opened the bowling with his offspin.Player-payment issues
Victoria’s players had threatened to meet the BCB after their scheduled payment wasn’t made by club officials. They were promised 60% pay during the Super League, which they did not receive. The players wanted to go to the BCB again but that plan had to change after Shuvo got struck in the back of the neck against Abahani in Mirpur. Players from two other clubs have also complained of not being paid on time.Earlier this week, the BCB gave the clubs 72 hours to pay up or they would face action. Unpaid players would be paid by the BCB, the board confirmed.Slow to catch reported bowlers
BCB had laid a out plans of catching bowlers with suspected actions but it took them two months, almost the entire length of the league, to form the bowling action review committee.In the league’s first week, as many as seven bowlers were reported with Gazi Group’s Mustafizur Rahman reported twice. The final number couldn’t be determined but all these reported bowlers kept playing the matches.

Younis Khan’s batting antics had drawn cricket fans into new descriptive heights in this series. But at The Oval he reminded them that he has been one of Pakistan’s most gifted batsmen

Jarrod Kimber12-Aug-2016It is calm, there is no bunny hop, no bucking bronco, the cat is not on a hot tin roof, and the goat has left the trampoline. Younis Khan looks like Younis Khan again. Younis Khan, the Pakistani batting legend.Earlier in the tour it hasn’t been like this, it has been a horror comedy. At times it was as if gremlins were biting him, he was hopping across a road dressed as an elf, he had fallen off the back of a truck, a man who has forgotten how gravity works. He has five limbs, his left and right feet are in an eternal dance off against each other, and he’s auditioning to play the plastic bag in the American Beauty reboot. That’s what Twitter thought. Batting coaches and cricket analysts probably just combusted upon watching it.In one shot his back foot was dragging towards square leg as his front foot went forward and across in the other direction; his bat was in the middle of this, missing the ball. There were leg glances that even if he had middled the ball he had jumped so far across the wicket he could have middled them onto his stumps. A simple forward defence turned into a weird dance move with a kicking back leg. Another delivery and his hands are thrusting out as if he is trying to punch the ball, not hit it, and his feet go backwards. Another leg glance ends with him using his bat as a crutch so he doesn’t fall over.And that is just a taste of how bad Younis had got. At Lord’s, even his leaves were an extraordinary dramatic contemporary dance move that conveyed emotions of worry and doubt. It was a trigger movement that was squat, charge and hope.Either Younis Khan, the Pakistani batting legend, had been replaced by some eager frightened replica, or Younis Khan, the Pakistani batting legend, had convinced himself that this was a batting method that could somehow work. Both didn’t make sense. Younis found it hard to play his regular shots as he propelled himself at the ball like he was a secret service agent and the ball was a bullet.33, 25, 1, 18, 31 and 4 were all he had to show for it on what have been tracks that several other Pakistani batsmen have been good on.Was he over thinking it, trying to get in line so much that he was jumping there? Were the pitches outside Asia getting to a man who didn’t have young reflexes? Had no one in the changeroom taken him aside and said: “Um, Younis, dude, what’s going on?” Was this the end, how the great man would go, launching himself to his own doom?At Younis’ age, the slightest sign of weakness is seen as the end. This wasn’t a subtle sign; it was a massive jumping neon one. But every Test Younis had been paring back his kangaroo technique a little. By the time he got to Edgbaston, he might not have been making runs, but at least he was trying to get there.Today he got there. There was still the Younis squat, but there wasn’t the Khan thrust. He stood in his crease, waited for the ball, his legs usually stayed where he wanted them, and when the ball came he played a Younis appropriate shot to them. He might have still gone across his crease, but he did it with his head screwed on and his feet often (as much as he ever does) touching the ground.It was a batsman of balance, patience and skill, making runs when the conditions were in his favour and his team needed a lot of them. He played all his classics, strike rotated, spinner milked, and quicks handled. He held his batting partner’s hand as he got nervous and went about building a total that Pakistan would need to win the game.Younis’ form was so good and off-putting to England that they reviewed a ball he middled. And compared to every other day in this series he middled a lot. A sweep off Moeen was so muscular it had its own throbbing bicep and a six went further than a 40-plus man should be able to hit anything.When he brought up his 50 it was a shot the Younis of Lord’s would have struggled to play. It was short and wide from Anderson, Younis waited and pounced, instead of pouncing and hoping. The ball disappeared through point. It was a shot so Younis, the Pakistani batting legend, it was practically autographed.Later he would play another, even better. As the ball cracked through backward point you couldn’t help but wonder where this calm, skilful, and patient batting had been all series. Pakistan have been so close to winning this series, what they really needed was this Younis, the Pakistani batting legend, to arrive.Asad Shafiq made being on 99 look like a Japanese horror film; Younis made it look like a Sunday afternoon walk. This despite a new ball for England that was moving. The wicket of his captain Misbah. And the gift from Iftikhar. Younis was on 99 for all of it. And yet at his end, it was serene. When Stuart Broad bowled a searching ball in and around off stump, Younis moved smoothly into the line, dropped his hands softly, middled the ball and wandered up the pitch like he was checking on his azaleas.Even when he celebrated his hundred there was no leap of joy. The leaping had gone, this was just batting. His team needed him, so he made a hundred. It was no different to the other 31 Test hundreds he has made. It was just number 32 for the Pakistani batting legend.

Hayley Matthews, the teenage sensation of West Indies’ world-beating women’s team, is relishing the chance to make a career of the sport she loves

Adam Collins11-Oct-2016Carlos Brathwaite’s final-over whirl will forever define the the 2016 World T20, aided by Ian Bishop’s compelling, word-perfect call. “Remember the name!” But in less hectic surrounds five hours earlier, Hayley Matthews, another Barbadian, made a name for herself on one of cricket’s biggest stages.In the women’s final, she flummoxed Australia’s bowlers with 66 from 45 balls, opening the innings and hunting down their 148. After she popped Megan Schutt over the fence and deep midwicket, and Ellyse Perry back over her head early in the chase, the three-times women’s champions never recovered.At the start of the tournament, Matthews was 17 going on 18; by its conclusion she was the Player of the Final. “To this day I still am trying to find words for it,” Matthews tells ESPNcricinfo in a discussion of her Kolkata heroics and her story to date.Four decades ago Janis Ian sang of the pitfalls of the awkward ages – of solitude, despair and expectations routinely failing to meet reality. But Matthews’ experience of those testing years strays from that narrative. Self-assured and ambitious, considered and calm, she’s as impressive in conversation as she is in the middle.”A lot of people take so long to get something like that in their lifetime,” Matthews reflects. “That I could be part of that at such a young age really means a lot to me.”She’s right. These are heights that few scale on the very best day. But so young, with so much of the journey yet to be even conceived? “It is surreal,” Matthews continues. “I saw one article (on ESPNcricinfo) saying that I started the tournament as a 17-year-old and I finished at 18 covered in a bottle of champagne I couldn’t have drunk when it began.” That’s another way of looking at it.She has paused her formal schooling for cricket, pledging to return when she has the time. But between national duty, and the new domestic circuit for women – commitments to Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League in the Australian summer, and Lancashire Thunder in the Kia Super League in England – time is a particularly scarce commodity.The privilege, though, isn’t lost upon her; following the sun, making a living exclusively from the game – Matthews is of the first generation of women who can legitimately do that.She gets home to the beach, “to parties with my friends, what normal teenagers do,” but since that breathtaking performance in March, that has changed too. “They tease me quite a bit, saying that they are walking around with a legend and a celebrity.”Home is the enduring and quintessential hotbed of Caribbean cricket talent: Barbados. Matthews grew up playing with the boys at her father’s club – a familiar story – before dominating a regional girls’ tournament at age 15. The path to a West Indies cap and central contract followed; her ODI and T20 international debuts both came when she was 16.Brathwaite, who shared so much with her on that special night in Kolkata, remains her closest friend in the men’s game as a former team-mate of her father. “When we won the game, all the guys came running on the field and I jumped into his arms and he spun me around.” His company is also her equipment sponsor – she is the only woman in the game to use the Brathwaite bats.Carlos Brathwaite gives Matthews a hug after West Indies’ victory in the Women’s World T20•IDI/Getty ImagesWhen asked to consider why Carlos and Co. have managed to prosper in white-ball cricket after such a distressing decline in Test cricket over the past two decades, Matthews has well-thought-out views and isn’t shy about expressing them.”The competition for Test match cricket in the region isn’t as high as you’d see in a lot of other countries,” she says. “For example, in Australia where you see a lot of first-class cricketers having about ten hundreds before they get a chance, whereas back home we tend to make teams a lot easier. I reckon it is just that the standard needs to be raised a bit, and professionalism needs to be raised a bit in the four-day cricket back home as a whole.”The conversation, conducted in August when she was playing in the inaugural edition of the Kia Super League, returns to the main subject – Matthews. It’s in these tournaments that she is especially hot property and where she is destined to be a permanent fixture for a generation. In Australia, clubs were actively hunting for her signature as a player around whom a club could be built, directly approaching her through the southern winter in unsuccessful attempts to entice her away from Hobart Hurricanes, who defied expectations to contest a semi-final in season one. Matthews’ affection for the Tasmanian capital is clear; and she notes the standard for the WBBL is “very high”.”Spending a couple of months there at the end of the year is not any harm for me at all,” she notes with a broad smile. “It is a great place; I absolutely love it.”As for the chance to participate from day one in both the WBBL and the KSL, Matthews calls it an honour, as it is for her to be already a vital member of the West Indies outfit who yesterday drew level with England in their five-match ODI series in Jamaica.But casting forward, she relishes more: to be the best in the world. “I want to be,” she simply says.For that to be the case, dependability will soon need to follow talent. Matthews is the first to admit she blew hot and cold in the WBBL and then the KSL. For Hurricanes she made fewer than 200 runs in 14 innings, and with Thunder she had a nightmare with the bat, offset by a team-leading eight wickets with her effective and efficient offspin.”I don’t think it’s any technical flaws, it’s a mind thing for me,” she explains of this consistency predicament. “Sometimes I over-pressure myself a bit, but I’ve been really working on that and I hope it works.”For all of her gifts within the game, Matthews’ opportunities don’t stop there. She can launch a javelin a long way; far enough that she has represented her nation – and won medals – at the CARIFTA Games at age-group level. It’s a discipline she admits she seldom has the time to train for, yet can still excel at: handy attributes for a second career. Surely the Olympic Games tempt?”Sometimes I wish I could be at the Olympics, but if I made the choice to go with track then I wouldn’t have won the World Cup,” Matthews says. “You have got to give up something to get something and I hope I made the right choice.”Logistical considerations aside, she isn’t closing the door: “I guess it would be hard to find time, but if I do find the time I definitely would go back to training and see.”With cricket’s entry to the 2024 Olympics looking at least a puncher’s chance – when Matthews will still be very much at her physical peak…”Hopefully the two events don’t clash.”The audacity of youth.