England opener focussed on fightback after grim campaign in Australia

Matt Roller31-Mar-2022It was hard not to be drawn into the romance of Haseeb Hameed’s England recall last year. His rise as a teenager – a thousand-run season, a fifty on Test debut, praise from Virat Kohli – preceded a dramatic fall, which saw him released by his home county, Lancashire, at 22 after his form had vanished.Reinvigorated by a move to Nottinghamshire, he started the 2021 season with twin hundreds against Worcestershire before making 112 for a County Select XI against an India attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. That was enough for him to win back his Test spot and after a false start via a first-baller on his return at Lord’s, he made half-centuries at Leeds and The Oval to earn his place on the winter’s Ashes tour.But the shine soon wore off. Before he had even arrived in Australia there were doubts as to whether Hameed’s game – in particular, his strength against spin, rather than high pace – would be suited to the conditions. He batted for nearly four hours across the first Test in making 25 and 27 but as England’s tour began to disintegrate, so did he: scores of 6, 0, 0, 7, 6 and 9 saw him dropped for the final Test, and then again for the “red-ball reset” trip to the Caribbean.Now, Hameed is back on the outside, looking out on a snowy Trent Bridge from the pavilion long room and reflecting on a tough winter. He only turned 25 in January, but his career has already had more ups and downs than the price of bitcoin.

Broad to miss Notts’ Championship opener

Stuart Broad will not play in Nottinghamshire’s opening game of the County Championship season away at Sussex next week as the club look to manage his return to cricket after a break from the game.
“He certainly won’t start, then we’ll see where we go after that,” Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We’re always careful with bowlers, especially after breaks. He was a real influence for us last year and having Stuart around is always positive for us.”
“I’m very hopeful that we’ll see him for the second or third game and hopefully we’ll have a full squad to pick from,” Steven Mullaney, the club captain, added. “If it was my decision, he’d have been on that tour, but it’s not. It would not surprise me one bit if he’s England’s leading wicket-taker by the end of the summer.”

“I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my short career – and even growing up as a junior I had setbacks – but one thing I’ve always been able to count on, thankfully, is finding a way to get back up from rock bottom,” Hameed says. “I guess this is another opportunity to do that.”Of course, getting dropped out of the team, and not getting selected for this most recent tour is difficult but hopefully I can count on those experiences to come back again. In my head, there is no doubt that, being 25 years old, I have got so much more to give and I’m looking forward to the future.”Hameed’s technique – and specifically his low hands, which appear better suited to low, slow pitches than those found in Australia – came under the scanner as the series wore on. He retreated further and further into his shell, repeatedly edging through to Alex Carey behind the stumps.Mark Ramprakash, who was England’s batting coach when Hameed first broke into the side, hinted in a newspaper column this week that they had picked the wrong horse for the wrong course, saying he was “absolutely convinced he would have been successful in the West Indies – certainly in Antigua and Barbados”. Hameed’s own appraisal is that the pitches in Australia were “extremely challenging”, and that his lean returns should be viewed within that context.”A lot of people speak about games being suited to certain conditions and we saw there were a couple of pretty good wickets – in the first Test matches in particular – in the West Indies,” he says. “Do I feel like I could’ve done well there? I do. As a player, of course you do. But they made that decision and it was not in my control.”I ended up speaking to Mike Hussey [who was working on the series as a broadcaster] when I didn’t play in the last Test match and he was saying he’d never seen conditions like it. I think that’s been neglected a little bit, actually – how challenging the conditions were. It was like being in England, but with an extra 10kph in the wickets… because it was nipping and seaming off the deck quite considerably.Hameed scored 80 runs in eight innings in the Ashes•Getty Images”You’ve got to add a bit of realism to it. That’s not excuses, that’s just pure facts. At the same time, do I feel like I could have done better? Of course. There were a few mistakes made, individually and as a group. We went into our shells a little bit after the first two Test matches and focused a little bit more on surviving or batting time as opposed to looking to score runs. Looking back now, I don’t think that was the right mindset, either for me or for the team.”Peter Moores, head coach at Notts, agrees with Hameed’s assessment. “It was about as tough as it gets. [He was playing on] pitches that had a bit in them for the bowlers, against one of the best attacks that’s been around for a long time, so it was tough to go in first. He learned a huge amount. I’ve said to him that it won’t get much tougher than that.”A lot of the England players, they got exposed in certain ways. No-one will ever question Has’ commitment to want to do well. Often it’s more of a technical thing that they’re getting exposed at that level, and they’ve got to come away and adjust but I’ve been really pleased with his approach. He’s a student of a game and a craftsman. He wants to master the craft of batting and he’s thrown himself right back into it and taken those lessons from that tour.”Related

• Hameed's Notts form gives hope that dark days are behind him

• Notts move lays foundation for Hameed to reinvigorate career

• England's latest Ashes wreck proof of how deep the problems run

• Thorpe: England batters given 'wake-up call' by Ashes mauling

• Notts left snow-blind amid uncertainty over Championship future

England are in transition, looking for a new managing director, head coach (or two) and potentially a captain, too, ahead of their next Test against New Zealand in June. Hameed knows that a strong start to this Championship season is the only way he can present a case for selection, and insists his focus is on the here and now.”The way I see it is that I’ve now had the opportunity to play against India and Australia in their home countries and most people would say it doesn’t get much tougher than that,” he says. “That’s a great experience for me to have in my first ten games. To have seven of those away from home, in the opposition’s backyard, will mean that I can count on those experiences to propel me forward.”There’s a series against New Zealand in June and then India are coming for that one Test they missed last year, and the likelihood is with the new people coming in, there might be a few changes again. But I’m focused now on doing as well as I can for Notts. Keeping things simple is important; you can’t aim to get into teams or put timelines on things.”It’s been good just being back. Of course it was difficult straight after [Australia] with everything that happened but I’m lucky that I’ve got good people around me and I’ve got to a place now where I’m just looking to the immediate future. I can’t think about June right now, even though I’ve obviously got that ambition to be there. I’m just trying to keep everything as simple as I can.”

Fast bowler impresses in game of more than 400 runs by keeping a clear mind amid chaos

Matt Roller10-Jul-2022Few venues in world cricket have as intimidating a reputation for T20 bowlers as Trent Bridge. The pitches are flat, the outfield is scorched and the boundaries are unforgiving: there is one relatively long pocket, where sixes require a 75-metre hit, but the square boundaries barely measure 65 metres.In that context, England’s decision to pick an extra batter in this game – they dropped Sam Curran for Phil Salt – was a gamble, one which was vindicated by their 17-run win. The combination of Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali’s spin, sharing the fifth bowler’s allocation, was hammered, taken for 67 runs in their four overs, but Reece Topley’s spell of 3 for 22 proved decisive.Topley was the only bowler on either side to finish with an economy rate below 7.5 and was rewarded with the player-of-the-match award. ESPNcricinfo’s impact algorithm suggested that Suryakumar Yadav was the best performer by a considerable distance, but also that Topley’s wickets – he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer – were worth considerably more than the scorecard showed.Topley’s method was simple, hitting hard lengths and looking to cramp India’s batters for room. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, only two of his 24 balls were fuller than a good length, with the vast majority bowled into the pitch while varying his speeds. “The batters came off and said that changes of pace into the middle of the wicket were the hardest to face,” he explained.He struck twice in the powerplay, including with his first ball when Pant inside-edged a length ball into his pad and through to Jos Buttler, then with the last ball of his second over as Sharma failed to pick his slower ball and dragged a pull straight down deep midwicket’s throat. At the Ageas Bowl he had bowled three overs in the powerplay but Buttler saved his third for the 12th, when he conceded only five singles.When he returned for his final over, India needed 66 runs off the last 30 balls to seal a series sweep. Yadav was flying, dominating a partnership worth 119 in 10.1 overs with Shreyas. Buttler needed a wicket, and Topley delivered: Shreyas scurried outside leg but Topley followed him with a short ball, cramping him for room and inducing a feather through to Buttler.The rest of his over was just as cagey: he conceded just a single from four balls to Dinesh Karthik, repeatedly foxing him with his hard lengths, and while Suryakumar dabbed his last ball away for four, he had pushed the required rate up past 15 an over, which would prove insurmountable.Some cricketers spend every waking hour thinking about the game but Topley, by his own admission, is not like that. He admitted himself that he is “not a massive cricket-watcher” and was taken aback by Suryakumar’s innings, full of “some amazing shots – shots I haven’t seen before”, but he stuck to his clear plan, seemingly helped by his ability to switch off and “isolate every ball”.Related

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“Bowling these days is a bit of a thankless task but you’ve just got to put your hand up and be brave,” he said. “One day it doesn’t go your way and you’re the villain and you have to get yourself up for the next game to try and be the hero. Bowlers nowadays have almost got more to learn mentally about T20 cricket – perhaps more than the skills.”There’s other games where things don’t fall your way and you get 1 for 40, or whatever. You’ve got to ride the high when things fall your way because the game is pretty fickle and there’s a lot of days where it doesn’t.”Topley did not feature for England at last year’s T20 World Cup but has taken the opportunities that have come his way this year: first in Barbados against West Indies and now against India: he has seven wickets in six T20Is this year, with an excellent economy rate of exactly seven an over.He is part of the squad that will play next week’s ODIs against India and is now certain to win further chances against South Africa. He bowls in the mid-80s mph (130s kph) and generates steep bounce thanks to his height, which could be an asset in all phases of an innings in Australia come this year’s World Cup.”Since the start of this year, I think I’ve taken all the opportunities that have come my way,” he said. “But [with a] new coach and a new captain, there’s new people to try and impress. In my head, it’s back to square one – try to impress the right people. But ultimately it’s about getting wins as a team and trying, with every game, to work out how we’re getting one step closer to trying to win the World Cup in October.”

The Canterbury wicketkeeper-batter has ground it out for close to a decade in domestic cricket and believes he’s finally ready for his Test cap

Deivarayan Muthu27-May-20223:33

“I loved wicketkeeping and I had quite good hands, but it became pretty clear that in the modern day you need to be able to bat as well”

Nine years after he made his debut for Northern Districts, Canterbury wicketkeeper-batter Cam Fletcher has been called up as part of the New Zealand squad to England, his second Test call-up after the South Africa tour earlier this year, but this time he’s hoping for his maiden Test cap.Fletcher was raised in Auckland and went to Kelson Boys’ High School, one of the top rugby schools in New Zealand, but then moved to Northern Districts and then to Canterbury to build a cricketing career. After grinding it out in domestic cricket for almost a decade, he’s now also on the radar of New Zealand’s white-ball sides.Fletcher, now 29, made his first-class debut for Northern Districts in 2013, but only had a peripheral role, with BJ Watling being the frontline keeper there. Gary Stead, the then-Canterbury coach, invited him to shift south to Canterbury the next season, which turned out to be a career-defining move for Fletcher. Eight years later, he now finds himself in the New Zealand side, once again coached by Stead.Related

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“It is [coming full circle]. I’ve talked about it a couple of times recently [with Stead],” Fletcher tells ESPNcricinfo. “It’s quite funny (). When I first moved down to Canterbury, Gary didn’t really know me that well and he hadn’t seen me play much. I had only played a handful of first-class games at that point, but he gave me that opportunity and that’s something I’m extremely grateful for.”Someone like Gary now understands quite well what I do, but also I had to work to get on his good side. For him to be able to tap me on the shoulder and be like ‘this is your opportunity’, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”It has been an eventful few weeks for Fletcher on the personal front as well. He married his partner Isabelle in April, at the end of New Zealand’s domestic home summer.”It was a long summer back home in New Zealand and there was plenty that happened. By the back end of the season I knew that I was getting up to the wedding and I was pretty excited for that,” Fletcher recalls. “And all of a sudden this [tour of England] came up as well and I was like: ‘Man! It’s pretty incredible'”Getting married to my wife was probably the best day of my life, and then to be able to experience something that I always wanted to do [be part of the New Zealand side] is incredible really.”Fletcher had scored 364 runs in 12 innings at an average of 40.44 in the Plunket Shield and was the fourth highest run scorer in the 2021-22 Super Smash. Although Canterbury lost to Northern Districts in the final, Fletcher’s middle-order power-hitting in the tournament – he struck a chart-topping 23 sixes – was impossible to ignore.Fletcher on his Test call-up: “All the preparation isn’t just the last week, it’s the last ten years of your career”•Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesWhen he started out, Fletcher was primarily a wicketkeeper who could bat a bit, but he has now transformed himself into a dynamic batter who does the tough job of finishing an innings. He puts his recent success down to his improved fitness and gym work. He was so passionate about his fitness he even did a stint as strength and conditioning co-coach at North Harbour Cricket in Auckland.”When I was younger I tried to bowl a bit, tried to bat a bit, but not that well,” Fletcher says. “I loved wicketkeeping and it became the thing that was unique – only one person could become the keeper. I had quite good hands and that really worked for me. I really enjoyed being in the game, being able to move around, and take catches and stumpings.”As I got more opportunities to play, it became pretty clear that in the modern day you need to be able to bat as well. It took me a long time really to figure out the kind of player I wanted to be and the skills that were required, especially in first-class cricket.”[Gym] helped me with that mental side of my game but also the confidence – I felt that if I was able to be fast and strong, I would be confident in taking that out to the middle. Whether at training or at the game, I could hit boundaries or clear the rope. It’s a great feeling when you do that, especially when the field is on the boundary and you know if you get this off the middle, it’s going over. I think gym helped me with that from a mental point of view as well as the physical side.”New Zealand already have Devon Conway, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen in their white-ball keepers’ mix, but Fletcher hopes to break into the team in a T20 World Cup year.”At the moment, I’m pretty grateful to be here [in England] and to be playing, but, it’s definitely a goal of mine to keep pushing for that [T20] kind of cricket,” Fletcher says. “I’ve really enjoyed T20 cricket in the last few years, my kind of role in the middle order – try to hit the ball as hard as I can, see if I can finish games, or help the team in some way. I feel that when the time is right, I can bat anywhere in the order, but I’ve enjoyed batting in that middle-order position for Canterbury in the last few years. If opportunities are there, you always want to take them.”Apart from Stead, current Canterbury head coach Peter Fulton has had a big influence on Fletcher’s game and Canterbury’s overall. Under Fulton, Canterbury won the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy in 2020-21 and then finished runners-up in Plunket Shield and Super Smash next season. Having also played alongside Fulton in his early years, Fletcher was all praise for his tactical sharpness.Fletcher and Gary Stead at Canterbury in 2016-17: “Gary now understands me quite well in what I do, but also I had to work to get on his good side”•Getty Images”He seems like quite an intimidating guy at the start – big, tall guy – but he’s quite traditional with the way he does things. I’m a keeper and a bit chirpy. Having him at first slip, I’ve looked at a lot of him over the years – how to keep my game and not overcomplicate things too much. I definitely did that during some points of my career, but over the last two seasons especially, since Fulton has come back in as head coach, he has definitely simplified Canterbury’s cricket.”He’s big on the tactical side of things – game-awareness and game plans – but he’s also allowed players time to focus on things outside of cricket. There’s an expectation when you come back into the environment, cricket is No. 1, but when you leave training and the game, that’s your time. He’s been massive for my game, definitely, in the last couple of years.”Over in England, Fletcher could come up against Ben Stokes, his one-time team-mate at Canterbury and now England’s new captain. Fletcher played six white-ball games alongside Stokes in 2017, when the allrounder had originally arrived to visit family.”He’s world-class, and for us first-class cricketers at that point, it was awesome to have his presence around,” Fletcher says of Stokes. “He was extremely gifted and was quite firm when he needed to be. There were a couple of games where we didn’t perform well and he had a few words, saying we should’ve done better, and it was quite cool to hear that.”Fletcher is also looking forward to reuniting with his mates at Sandwich Town, a club he represented in the Kent Premier League in 2019. He was lined up for a return to the club in 2020 before the pandemic intervened. Fletcher reckons that the spell with Sandwich Town helped him rekindle his enthusiasm for cricket and maintain a healthy work-life balance.”I’d finished my university and with my wife, I went to experience English club cricket and also travel a bit,” Fletcher recalls. “It took time for me [to adapt] – the wickets were a lot lower and the Dukes ball did a bit. Over the course of the season, you’re always learning, though you’re not playing as much cricket as you’re used to [in New Zealand].Fletcher and Canterbury team-mate Blake Coburn (left) caught the 2019 Ashes Edgbaston Test after Marnus Labuschagne passed them tickets for it•Cam Fletcher”I enjoyed the cricket for what it was. It’s a game and it’s not just [about] performance in those environments; people want to come together and enjoy playing cricket after working all week. I used to be quite serious and performance-driven, so it was a nice opportunity to push it to the side and have a lot of fun. It helped me move forward in my game as well.”At Sandwich Town, Fletcher caught up with Marnus Labuschagne, who had turned out for the club in the northern summer of 2014. Labuschagne even gave Fletcher tickets to the 2019 Edgbaston Test.”The atmosphere was incredible,” Fletcher said of his first experience of watching the Ashes live. “You kind of visualise yourself out in the middle one day… the thought of being out there [at international level] and experiencing it is hard to explain.”Marnus played a number of years before I did for Sandwich Town. He developed big friendships at the club, something that I did as well. He has a great network of people – it’s actually a family kind of environment at Sandwich. He even came back for a friend’s wedding during that period. I got to meet him and have a few chats with him. That’s how he ended up passing tickets for the Edgbaston Test.”Ian Smith, the former New Zealand keeper and now commentator, recently reminded Fletcher of Smith’s own debut, when they spoke on the podcast, and urged Fletcher to be ready. The incumbent Warren Lees hurt his hamstring during warm-ups, ahead of the Gabba Test in 1980 and Smith had 40 minutes’ notice to prepare for his Test debut. Fletcher says he’s well prepared if he gets the job at some point on tour.”I’ve played for a long time, and it [playing for New Zealand] is something I want to do. All the preparation isn’t just the last week, it’s the last ten years of your career. The ups and downs and the not-so-good days give you the best chance to go out there and contribute for your team. I hope the opportunity comes at some point and if it’s on this tour, I want to go out there and give it everything. There’s no guarantee for performance, but I will put everything out there for the team.”

The 2019 rugby side led by Kolisi was the first truly representative national side to achieve something great. This cricket team could be the second

Firdose Moonda25-Feb-20234:01

Moonda: A World Cup win for South Africa at home will lift the nation

There’s magic in the air in Cape Town and it’s coming from the cricket stadium.At 11am on Saturday morning, a queue of people wound down Campground Road to buy tickets for the T20 World Cup final. Never before has a senior South African cricket team reached a World Cup final, never mind on home soil. Less than three hours later, ‘sold out’ signs had been stuck on the windows outside the Newlands ticket office windows. Never before has a ground reached capacity for a women’s sporting event in this country.In fact, most of the interest in World Cups is reserved for the Springboks, the national rugby team, who have reached three finals and won them all. Their most recent successful captain, Siya Kolisi, is an ambassador for this Women’s T20 World Cup and was in attendance on Friday, sprinkling his stardust at the semi-final. He’ll be back as supporter No.1 on Sunday and doing his best to stay in the shadows of a South African team who have become superstars in their own right.Related

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Take Tazmin Brits. She was due to represent South Africa at the 2012 Olympic Games as a javelin thrower but she thought her sporting career ended when she momentarily glanced at her cell phone while driving, misjudged a bend in the road and rolled her car. She wasn’t wearing a safety belt, which resulted in her being flung out of the vehicle, probably a far better outcome than if she was trapped inside, as it collided into a tree which fell on top of the car. Brits was spared a broken neck but her pelvis was fractured in five places, her bladder burst, her colon was torn and she needed two weeks in ICU and two months in hospital before she could train again. She was 19 years old and never made it to the Games. Instead, she took up cricket.Brits made her debut in May 2018 and though she’d scored three fifties in 17 innings before the 2020 T20 World Cup, she didn’t make the squad. She was a late inclusion into their Commonwealth Games playing group and contemplated changing careers out of sport entirely.

Followers in the US can watch the Women’s T20 World Cup final LIVE on ESPN+

“When people leave you at home more often you kind of think maybe I should save the nation and go to become a teacher or something different,” she said after the semi-final. Lizelle Lee’s retirement has opened up a more permanent spot for her and she’s seized her chance at this tournament, with successive half-centuries in crucial games and four stunning catches in the semi-final – a record for an outfielder and a testament to the athleticism that never went away.Brits has the Olympic Rings tattooed on her right bicep, a reminder of a dream deferred. After her Player-of-the-match performance in the semi-final against England, she joked that she would add the Protea badge to it, if the team won. Maybe even if they don’t. A reminder, regardless of the result, of a dream come true. And she’s not the only one who will already feel that way.This South African women’s team and Siya Kolisi’s Springboks have a lot in common•ICC/Getty ImagesShabnim Ismail, who worked a job as a credit-card machine technician because cricket wasn’t a career choice for her when she started playing, 16 years ago, expressed the same sentiments of achievement. She emerged from what fellow international and neighbour Beuran Hendricks described to ESPNcricinfo as a “fairly rough,” neighbourhood in a suburb called Cravenby, an area in the Cape that is known for its high crime rate. Young adults can easily “go down the wrong path,” Hendricks said.Her mother nurtured her interest in sport and supported her decision to keep playing cricket, which has seen Ismail become the fastest bowler in the women’s game. She was in attendance when Ismail delivered the 128kph fireball that took England’s batters by surprise and played a key role in changing the tempo of a run-chase that was getting away from South Africa. Ismail maintained a calm that South African players in pressure situations are not known for and she passed it on to Nadine de Klerk, whom she mentored through tough middle overs in the semi-final.Ismail is a leader without a title, the oldest and most experienced in the South African side and a key counsel for Sune Luus, who took over the captaincy in temporary capacity in 2019.Almost four years later, Luus was still a stand-in as South Africa continued to wait on Dane van Niekerk’s availability, and started to get restless. She admitted that she had been unable to stamp her own signature on the side because she considered herself a placeholder, rather than the permanent captain. Before this tournament, she was confirmed as what she says is the “official captain,” and is now confident enough to articulate that she believes she is the one who can take this side forward.”The role of captaincy hasn’t been easy over the last couple of years – being a stand-in captain for however long. It was always going to be difficult, filling the shoes of Dane,” she said. “The way the game’s going and with the team we have at the moment – it’s a very young squad and it was very exciting to see talent and players coming in. It’s leading a new generation. Players have come and gone and we’re just looking forward.”Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail thank the fans after the semi-final win•Getty ImagesHilton Moreeng, South Africa’s coach for the last decade, will know that too. From being taught to play cricket by a woman to being at the helm of the national women’s team’s progression from amateur to professional and all the way to a World Cup final, Moreeng has come full circle. Even if South Africa win the World Cup, it’s difficult to see him continuing in this job with nothing left to achieved, but he should be in line for many others as he keeps setting the bar higher.Moreeng is not only South Africa’s most successful limited-overs coach but is also the first black African head coach of a national team. He has also overseen what appears to have been a mostly organic transformation of the national women’s team, something that continues to cause angst among the men. Where the women’s team differs is that they do not source the bulk of their players from the small, elite schools’ pool, like the men do, but from development programs – proof that investment into grassroots sport works.The best example of that is Ayabonga Khaka. She is from the rural village of Middledrift in the Eastern Cape, also home to fast bowler Mfuneko Ngam. Khaka is a product of his academy, established at the University of Fort Hare, where she was also studying Human Movement Sciences. From the same province, but a completely different part of it, is Marizanne Kapp, who went to school at Hoerskool DF Malherbe. She is their most accomplished alumnus.In Kapp, Khaka, and Ismail lies a small part of the story of this South African women’s team. They are diverse in race, class and culture. For a country that has always been divided along those lines, that is a massive inspiration and fosters a sense of hope that only the Springboks have otherwise conjured. The 2019 rugby side led by Kolisi and coached by Rassie Erasmus, was the first truly representative national side to achieve something great. This South African cricket team could be the second.On one hand, it’s an enormous burden to carry; on the other, it’s the only way a South African team can embody the spirit on which its democracy was founded, the spirit of Ubuntu. Explained literally it means “I am because you are,” but the words don’t do justice to the feeling.Ubuntu is the way two South Africans’ eyes meet in an airport hall when one has heard the other saying they are boarding “now-now.” It’s the three-part handshake of grip, swing palm, grip and snap that is effortless to South Africans and impossible for most others. It’s the collective groans and cheers every time a rolling blackout starts and stops and the many times they have “made a plan,” no matter how difficult the situation. Ubuntu is what you experience at a Sunday afternoon braai and this Sunday, it will be what we will experience at what could be the biggest party the country has ever hosted.

Batting coach Justin Sammons is working on adjusting his squad’s weight transfer into the ball and alignment at the crease

Firdose Moonda22-Dec-2022Weight transfer into the ball and alignment at the crease are the two key technical areas South Africa’s batters are focusing on as they seek to end a stretch of six successive sub-200 totals in Test cricket.The squad traveled to Melbourne from Brisbane on Thursday. They trained together on what would have been the fifth day of the Gabba Test and have two more full net sessions scheduled before the Boxing Day match. As discussed in our examination of the batting here at least three of South Africa’s top six – Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen and Kyle Verreynne – do not appear to be moving well in the middle.Related

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Smith: Gabba pitch 'most difficult in Australia'

Inexperience and injuries underpin South Africa's batting troubles

Erwee has been caught behind the stumps nine times in his 15 innings, often while driving loosely. Verreynne has been dismissed eight times in his last 11 innings playing away from the body with minimal footwork. Van der Dussen, too, has not been getting forward properly, a mistake that has led to his wicket five times in his last nine innings. South Africa’s batting coach Justin Sammons did not want to discuss them individually but gave ESPNcricinfo some broad-based observations of the things he has been working on.”Generally speaking, when a batter gets out on the drive it can be due to his weight transfer and not being able to stay on top of the ball or control his contact point. It can also often be caused by an error in judgment: playing the drive to a ball that is not quite there in length or line especially when there is lateral movement on offer,” he said.Asked whether the issue is technical or mental, Sammons said both. “Footwork is obviously important, alignment and weight transfer are the key. The front shoulder dipping or rotating and head moving ideally leads the movement and moving forward allows you to create a stable base from which weight can be transferred. Weight transfer can either be aided or made more difficult by the batter’s position at point of delivery or their mindset – whether they are decisive or not.”Rassie van der Dussen has been dismissed five times in his last nine innings failing to get forward•Associated PressThe one player in South Africa’s line-up who has looked positive at the crease is vice-captain Temba Bavuma. Not only was he their top-scorer at the Gabba but he spent more than three-and-a-half hours batting across two innings, absorbing the pressure and even transferring a little back onto the bowlers.”Temba has been playing really well over the last few years in the Test arena. He understands what approach and tempo is going to give him, and importantly the team, the best chance for success,” Sammons said.While Bavuma is known for starting his innings slowly – it took him nine balls to get a run in the first innings and 15 in the second – Sammons believes he has shown the kind of enterprise the rest can learn from as well as providing South Africa with someone to bat around. “His approach has been positive; he is looking to score and put the bowlers under pressure within his strengths. It showed, on a difficult pitch at the Gabba, where he displayed a sense of calm and awareness of scoring opportunities whether in attack or defence,” Sammons said. “He was proactive in many subtle ways which I believe is important.”Bavuma’s form is particularly good news for South Africa as it comes off the back of a torrid T20 World Cup, where he struggled for runs, and an elbow injury that kept him out of South Africa’s tour to England in the winter. South Africa also have two reserve batters – Theunis de Bruyn and Heinrich Klaasen – in the squad and may consider adding one of them, at the expense of a quick for the second Test.

Generally overshadowed by Dhoni-mania this season, he reminded the fans on Tuesday why he is a superstar in his own right

Deivarayan Muthu24-May-2023. If I bat higher, then the crowd will wait for me to get out.”This was Ravindra Jadeja after winning the Player-of-the-Match award against Delhi Capitals at Chepauk earlier this month. His work often gets overshadowed, and others profit from it. Like the Chepauk DJ, who cued up (Will you forgive me?) from actor Silambarasan TR’s movie in CSK’s next game at Chepauk, against Kolkata Knight Riders, when Jadeja walked out to bat. Chepauk thought it was clever and laughed.Over the season, Dhoni has elicited iconic numbers of superstar Rajinikanth, for his entry to the crease, which have gone viral on social media. Even away from Chepauk, CSK’s fans have given Jadeja the cold shoulder. For instance, in the reverse fixture against Capitals in Delhi, the crowd screamed: “Single! Single! Single!” because they were desperate to see Dhoni take the strike.Related

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In the first qualifier against defending champions Gujarat Titans on Tuesday, Jadeja had the Chepauk crowd chanting his name for the time this IPL. His 16-ball 22 and 2 for 18 in four overs, including the vital wicket of David Miller, helped put CSK in their tenth IPL final. Nearly two months after joining CSK in Chennai, Jadeja finally got some yellove from the fans.When Jadeja had walked out to bat, ahead of Dhoni, there was a sense of restlessness among the Chennai crowd once again. They had turned up to see their smash sixes in what might be his last game in the city. Dhoni fell for 1, but Jadeja roused the crowd when he manufactured swinging room and carted Mohit Sharma’s 101kph slower ball over extra-cover. The crowd was right behind Jadeja once again when he whipped a full toss from Mohammed Shami over midwicket for four more in the last over of CSK’s innings.Earlier this season, Jadeja’s wicket was celebrated by Chepauk because it would bring Dhoni to the crease. On Tuesday, they sent Jadeja off with generous applause.Jadeja wasn’t done yet. He produced his most telling contribution with the ball on a helpful surface to put Titans’ chase of 173 beyond their reach. He let it rip by extracting quick turn and relentlessly attacking the stumps. Dasun Shanaka aimed to manufacture a reverse sweep from the stumps, but Jadeja found a hint of extra bounce to have him splicing it to short third.

Upstox knows but..some fans don’t pic.twitter.com/6vKVBri8IH

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) May 23, 2023