Graham Napier hobbled out of his last match at Chelmsford knowing that he had given his all in two decades as a one-club pro

Alan Gardner20-Sep-2016Graham Napier is sitting on a bench by the River Gate at Chelmsford, discussing his 26-year association with Essex County Cricket Club. He has been trying to play down his status as an ECG hero – “Gooch, Irani, Prichard, Law, they’re the legends of Essex” – but when a supporter spots Napier and makes a beeline for a handshake and a fare-thee-well, the esteem in which he is held is immediately clear.”Excuse me, this is important,” says the man, before turning to address Napier. “Thanks for all you’ve done, wish you well in the teaching, going to miss your bowling tremendously.”Asked to sum up Napier’s importance to the club, beyond the obvious all-round attributes, he adds: “He’s an Essex boy through and through and always has been, and that’s why the members appreciate him.”Essex, like Yorkshire, set great store by their own, and in Napier’s final match as a professional, against Glamorgan last week, the XI comprised nine players who came up through the club. Few have as ardent a following as Napier, a crowd favourite whose capacity for blockbuster feats in an Essex shirt was matched, perhaps, only by his modesty. According to his team-mates, he is known as the “King of Colchester” or the “Prince of Chelmsford” and a stroll in his company involves multiple diversions to clasp hands and pose for selfies, though he looks faintly embarrassed by all the attention.”I’m not a celebrity or superstar,” he says. “I’m just a normal bloke who happens to play cricket for a living, and do very normal things. The nicest part about this week has been walking around the ground and members coming up to you, shaking your hand and saying, ‘Thank you for the entertainment.’ We’re in the entertainment business and if I’ve entertained them, it means they’ve been satisfied when they go home.”There is no doubting that Napier entertained. Wielding his Worsop Stebbing like it was Mjölnir and bustling in to deliver magnetic toe-crushers, Napier was one of the most compelling cricketers on the county circuit. Having signalled that this would be his final year, ahead of setting up a cricket academy at the Royal Hospital School in Suffolk, he led the wicket-taking lists for Essex in all three formats and even signed off at Colchester, where he grew up, with the seventh first-class hundred of his career.His feats in the Championship carried the most significance, as Napier’s 63 wickets – with one round of the season to go, no fast bowler in either division has taken more – went a long way towards ensuring Essex would be promoted as Division Two champions. His last appearance at Chelmsford may have been interrupted by one final injury, but as he limped off with another four scalps under his belt (it would have been five but for a dropped catch in the gully), Essex were well on their way to gathering the bonus points they needed to finally return to the top tier after a seven-year absence.

“My bowling action, my mentality and approach is that I have to give it everything, batting, bowling, fielding. The physicality of it all, that’s the reason I can’t keep doing it”

Napier’s calf is strapped up on the final day of the Glamorgan match as he sits and contemplates the possibility of batting one more time. His captain, Ryan ten Doeschate, described him earlier in the match as a player who “writes his own scripts”, and now, with Essex wobbling in pursuit of a target of 264, there is the tantalising prospect of him hobbling out to bludgeon the winning runs. However, after playing in 14 out of 15 matches (and 32 of 40 in all competitions) he is satisfied that he has given all he could to the cause.”The irony is, injuries have plagued my career, but they’ve also kept me going,” he says. “This one, it’s about the eighth time I’ve had this injury in both legs, so it’s just a gentle nudge in the back, saying, this is why you’re retiring, don’t have any other aspirations to keep playing.”I want to go out knowing there’s nothing else to give physically, and that’s the way it’s worked out.”Injuries may have prevented Napier from spending more time on the field – though 9916 runs and 953 wickets across the three formats is no small return for a player signed on a YTS contract after deciding he was too short to pursue a career as a goalkeeper with Ipswich Town – but they also drove him to greater heights. Having a screw inserted into his back after a stress fracture early in his career took away the pain of bowling and allowed him to remodel his action, with the help of Geoff Arnold, in pursuit of the extra pace that gave his late-swinging yorkers such venom.That motivation and commitment to fitness allowed him to be increasingly effective the older he got. In 2013, aged 33, Napier averaged 49.75 with the bat while taking 50 first-class wickets in a season for the first time; the following year he eclipsed that effort with 52 at 15.63. This season, with changes to the toss regulations meaning fewer cheap bags for seamers, he has gone better still.Like the great entertainers, Napier will sign off with Essex fans, in particular, wanting more. But he has earned his rest.”My whole mentality is all or nothing. I couldn’t just run up and try and put the ball on a line and length, it just doesn’t work for me – it has to be all or nothing. My bowling action, my mentality and approach is that I have to give it everything, batting, bowling, fielding. And that’s part of the reason, the physicality of it all, I can’t keep doing that. I can’t wake up in the morning and not make it down the stairs. And at some point, it’s going to do a lot of damage, so in the long run: enjoy the season, have a great year and get out whilst I’m on top.”The top of his game was not quite enough to win Napier an England cap – the closest he came was being an unused member of the 2009 World T20 squad – but he did achieve something far fewer Englishman can lay claim to, after his extraordinary 158 from 58 balls as a pinch-yourself hitter in 2008 helped earn him an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians.”Everyone sets out to play for their country at some point, in my case I got as close as you can – I carried the drinks without actually playing for the team,” he says. “It would have been lovely to have worn the shirt and played for England, but at the time there were players that were better than me, and they picked what they thought was the best team, and sadly for me I never got to play.”But that’s cricket and I don’t regret anything. I’ve given everything to everything I’ve ever done and it’s the one accolade I didn’t achieve that I’d have liked to, but I’m quite content with the way my career’s gone.”Napier will be remembered at Essex for his exploits with bat and ball•Getty ImagesNapier’s quiet satisfaction seems at odds with his tub-thumping exploits – from smashing what was the second-highest individual score in T20, to hitting another sweet 16 sixes in a first-class match (both world records at the time), to taking seven wickets in a 40-over game, including four in four balls and requisitioning Ricky Ponting’s middle stump – but he has always been happiest to let his cricket do the talking.”They’re little highlights in a career. I’m very lucky that I’ve had those moments to cherish. But just playing cricket here at Chelmsford – I think it’s a special place. We’re a small club compared to a lot of others but we’ve got a big heart – supporters and as a side. We get well supported in Championship cricket through to T20, and when you play in front of a good crowd supporting cricket as well as us, it’s fantastic.”There is “huge sadness” at taking his leave, having been involved with the club since the age of ten, but he goes out with a Division Two winners medal to add to the 2008 FP Trophy, and National League titles in 2005 and 2006. “That’s the icing on the cake, the cherry on the top, to win it when only one team goes up and two down,” he says.He also has another nickname, one he is happier to admit to. “Aaron Beard, one of our youngest players coming through, he’s started calling me ‘Dad’ because I moan at him like a dad, trying to just get him fast-tracked as quick as possible, with the knowledge and skills I’ve gained.” Napier’s departure – and that of David Masters, who also announced his retirement on the final day against Glamorgan – means there will be big boots for the next generation of Essex boys to fill.There was, in the end, time for one more innings at Chelmsford, though no fairy-tale finish. Napier’s work was already done. The King has left the building.

Mohammad Amir was run out in comical fashion after he assumed his shot would go for six, but it was fielded spectacularly by Roston chase

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2016Don’t ball-watch.Don’t underestimate the fielder.Ground your bat.Dive.Such advice is perhaps stating the obvious to an alert batsman, but Mohammad Amir was anything but switched on during the final ball of the 79th over, despite Pakistan’s precarious position at 192 for 7, ahead by only 136, in their second innings in Sharjah.The delivery began with Amir winding up and lofting Devendra Bishoo towards the long-on boundary. What followed was a comedy of errors. Amir kept his eyes on the soaring ball, possibly admiring his shot, and assumed it would go for six. After a couple of seconds, he strolled down the pitch to greet his partner Wahab Riaz, who may have also assumed it was a boundary because he did not run either.Far away at long-on, Roston Chase kept his eyes on the ball as it began to descend over his head. He flung himself backwards on the edge of the field, caught the ball, and as he began to fall over the boundary he threw it back into play. Chase then got back on his feet and returned the ball towards the non-striker’s end, interrupting the conversation about to take place two-thirds down the pitch near the striker’s end.Chase’s acrobatics jolted Amir back to reality and he began to run all of a sudden, taking Wahab by surprise. Amir had about 15 yards to cover to get to the bowler’s end but he lost his bat and did not dive as Jason Holder rushed in from the leg-side to collect Chase’s accurate throw and run the batsman out. Had they run hard from the moment Amir hit the ball, Pakistan might have got three.

England were facing an uphill task after losing five first-innings wickets and may face a decision on whether to persist with Ben Duckett

George Dobell in Visakhapatnam18-Nov-20162:28

Compton: Duckett doesn’t seem to fit in at No.4

For much of the day it seemed the school girls in the stands in Visakhapatnam were screaming for their heroes in the India team. But as the last session unfolded, with England losing three top-order wickets for eight runs at one stage, the thought occurred that they might have been screaming in horror at England’s prospects in this match. Perhaps the pitch of the screaming had changed or perhaps, after several hours subjected to it, the mentality of those listening had.Or maybe the noise was just the soul of the England team. For England are in desperate trouble in this game. Already, with only two days of the game gone, they need a miracle of biblical proportions to save them. Rain won’t come to their rescue – it’s not due to rain here until January – and, it says much for their predicament, that their best hope of saving this game really might be a plague of locusts. Or, seeing as it is Vizag, dogs.It would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that losing the toss in these circumstances is a substantial disadvantage. India took advantage of the pitch at its best for batting and England were condemned to replying as the deterioration began. Already, some good-length deliveries that batsmen might expect to play at hip height are scuttling along the deck and some deliveries are turning sharply. It will only grow more difficult for batsmen. It is fiendishly tough and any criticism of them has to be tempered by that knowledge.There’s no future in feeling sorry for themselves, though. Such challenges are part of the experience of touring India, just as dealing with green pitches is part of the challenge of touring England. England won the toss in the first Test in Rajkot – albeit not with just such disproportionate consequences – and they may yet win a toss later in the series with similar results.Besides, it would be quite wrong to accept the inevitability of future events from the moment the toss is taken. Had England placed a better fielder for their hook trap and had they placed a gully for the second new ball, it is entirely possible India’s total would be substantially smaller. You have to give the India batsmen credit, too. Virat Kohli has long been established as a great limited-overs player and he is well on the way to proving his class in the longest format. At times, he looks almost impossibly good. You suspect his bat will cause England a lot more pain before this series is done.Most of all, England had the opportunity to bat on the second afternoon when the conditions might be termed tricky rather than impossible. They had the chance to show they had learned from Dhaka, taken confidence from Rajkot and were able to put all that into action.There were some encouraging moments. Haseeb Hameed dealt comfortably with some good pace bowling by India’s seamers – including a few more short balls – and Ben Stokes demonstrated his tighter technique against spin. And there was the sight of Joe Root playing the ball off the back foot with a straight bat to try and adjust to the spin and variable bounce. For a while, he did it very well.

“Wherever in the world you go to, there will always be something different to your home. The best players in the world adapt quickly”Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach

But Test cricket isn’t about batting nicely for a while. It is not about cameos and half-centuries. And Root knows that as well as anyone.His dismissal here – attempting to hit R Ashwin over the top but instead finding the fielder at long-off – probably looked worse than it was. Kohli had just moved long-on to mid-on and the previous ball had spun pretty sharply into Root’ pads. So the shot was just about on and, had it proved successful, we might have praised Root’s positive intent and his refusal to allow Ashwin to settle.Instead, Ashwin persuaded the ball to drift away from the bat (it may have been natural variation, but he is a terrific bowler so let us give him the credit) and Root was only able to make contact with the outside third of his bat. It didn’t look pretty but it wasn’t such an unreasonable ploy. And perhaps we have to remind ourselves that Root is only 25. He will not need telling that the risk-reward ratio was not good. He will not need telling that this was a day for nudges and rotation and defence rather than such counter-attacking.That was exactly the message of Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, at the close of play. “When a high-quality player like Joe gets to fifty and gets out, it is massively disappointing,” Farbrace said. “And it looks a whole lot worse when you get out that way. But if he hit that one bounce for four down the ground then we say ‘great shot’.”But this is a time when Joe will look back and say he could have done things better. He does not need telling.”Nor will Alastair Cook – who was the victim of a magnificent delivery that looked as if it was passing outside off stump, but crept back and beat his forward push – or Moeen Ali, who thought that coming down the pitch would save him from not knowing how much the ball would spin but became the latest victim of a DRS decision that would never have been out a few years ago.There will be more worry about Ben Duckett’s dismissal. For the third time in six Test innings he fell in strikingly similar fashion: placing his front foot on – or even outside – leg stump and nowhere near the pitch of the ball to allow himself the opportunity to hit an offspinner through the off side, he was bowled when the turn took the delivery away and into the top of off stump. He was bowled in similar fashion by Mehedi Hasan in Chittagong and edged to slip off Ashwin in Rajkot.It was always asking a lot of Duckett to cope with the spin on this tour. Spin plays a peripheral part in the lower division of the County Championship – only one spinner in the entire division managed even 25 wickets in 2016 and that was his Northants team-mate, Rob Keogh – and he will never have experienced conditions like this. Or bowlers so adept at exploiting them.But Farbrace was having none of that. Pointing to Stokes as an example of a man who has learned to deal with such challenges, Farbrace insisted Duckett had to “find a way” to cope.Ben Duckett again struggled facing the offspin of R Ashwin•AFP”Wherever in the world you go to, there will always be something different to your home,” Farbrace said. “And the best players in the world adapt quickly. That’s why Root and Cook have runs all around the world. Now Stokes is showing he has got the capacity to adapt and play in different conditions.”Our younger players have got to find a way to adapt cope with the conditions. And of course we would love to have more spinning wickets and more spin bowlers in England. That’s something we are always looking to address. Same as Australians are looking to address the swinging and seaming ball. Every team around the world are always looking at ways to improve the way they are playing.”We are not panicking over Ben but we know, and he knows, that he has to find a way to cope. It is a massive step going from playing for Northants to facing Ashwin on a wicket in India that is turning and bouncing. You have to be able to adapt your game or any chink in your armoury, top players exploit it.”It leaves England facing a tricky decision. Should they replace Duckett for the third Test or stick with him in the hope he can improve his technique during the course of the series? Both actions risk damaging his confidence, but England’s only other options on the tour are Jos Buttler – who has played only one first-class match since he was dropped a year ago – and Gary Ballance, who was dropped in Rajkot after a grim run of form.While recent history would suggest England will give Duckett more opportunities – James Vince, for example, was given seven Tests to prove himself without making a half-century – it is asking a great deal to tinker with his technique during such a condensed Test series. Aged 22, he has the time – and the talent – to reinvent himself. He also has the second innings.”He’s practised extremely hard,” Farbrace said. “He has had long sessions against spin and he has made an adjustment already on this trip. But the danger is you don’t want to be offering too many changes to a young player. You brought him into the side because he is talented, because he has got runs, and you have to trust him to play his way.”He’s also got to trust himself to … have a solid defence so that when you do get a bad ball, you can put it away. Getting 13s, 15s, 20s, 30s are not good enough. He knows that. But he’s got to find a way of improving and keep working on his defensive technique.”Most all, Farbrace made it clear that he would accept no excuses from any of the England side. There are bound to be challenges like this in India. England either learn to deal with them or they settle for a place among the also-rans of world cricket.”There’s no point bleating and making excuses,” he said. “We didn’t show enough fight. Those are times when we need to show a bit more resilience and get stuck in. It was a bad session. We have to find a way to cut that out if we’re serious about being one of the best teams in the world.”

Of all the things South Africa would have expected to find in New Zealand, spin success was unlikely to be among them

Firdose Moonda19-Mar-20173:08

‘I rely on my consistency’ – Maharaj

After two Tests and with the series safe, it’s South Africa’s left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who is the leading wicket-taker after collecting the best figures by a visiting spinner at the Basin Reserve and the second-best overall. And he was not the only slower bowler to make an impact. He shared a dozen wickets with JP Duminy – whose bowling was thought to have regressed – to leave New Zealand’s plans of preparing less seamer-friendly surfaces in disarray and provide reward for South Africa’s years of quiet investment into developing their spinners.After the Wellington victory, South Africa’s spin consultant Claude Henderson spoke about Maharaj’s growth, the role of the spinner in South Africa and the chances of a three-pronged spin attack in Hamilton.Were you surprised to see spinners do well in New Zealand? We knew the wickets were going to be slow. We didn’t know it was going to spin that much. We’ve seen Keshav bowl well on wickets that didn’t turn, go back to Perth, so he’s always going to be in the game. There’s more assistance here – maybe not as much bounce but more turn out of the pitch. He has had great support, good runs on the board and he is improving as a bowler.How does Maharaj understand his role in the team? Is he expected to operate as a containing bowler and regard any wickets as a bonus or does he have a licence to be more aggressive if the situation calls for it? In Test cricket, if you have got the ability to stop the game, it makes you quite an accurate bowler. I believe good spin bowlers can bowl on any deck. He has technically improved a lot over the last 12 months. It’s asking a seamer, look the wicket’s green, now go and take me five wickets, rather than get the ball in the right areas and the rest will happen. You are trying to get them in the right mental state to say let’s just build pressure. If you do that, you will be in the game anyway. There’s never expectation to take wickets, even on day five. I chat to the spinners to take the pressure off them and say if you build pressure on these wickets, with people around the bat, things will happen. Whether it is day one, day three, day five with people around the bat and defensive fields, you’ve still got to stop the game. That’s the simple secret to Test cricket; you’ve got to create pressure. To do that you have to be technically good enough and mentally understand what’s going on. And have a good captain. So far, things have gone our way. There are days when things don’t go your way, then you have to have a plan B and plan C.What does Maharaj offer the South African team that some of the other spinners in the recent past have lacked? All spinners are different. What’s impressed me is his mindset. He is quite mature, he has done his time in the nets growing up as a spinner. He understands what’s needed at certain times, which is important. I’m not saying the others didn’t but he is technically very good. And he is a grinder, he is a fighter. Who would have said when Dale [Steyn] broke down in that gale force wind, he would hold the game for us? You need to be strong to do that but also understand the conditions and have the plan and the ability to do it. I won’t say he is better than the others but I think his arrival is exciting for South African cricket. He has taken his opportunity and he has done really well. You don’t have to always have four or five wickets in the bag to be a good spinner. You can bowl 40 overs, take 1 for 80 and be a good spinner. He has understood the conditions, what the team needs and just come through.Claude Henderson on Maharaj: ‘You can bowl 40 overs, take 1 for 80 and be a good spinner. He has understood the conditions, what the team needs and just come through’•AFPSouth African cricket has produced more quality spinners recently than at any other time and it seems they feel more at home in what has traditionally been a seamer’s environment. Why do you think that is the case? They have changed the policy at youth cricket, to bowl more spin in their competition. T20 has obviously helped as well because we all know in T20, successful teams will have one or two good spinners in the team. Our conditions are sometimes not in favour of spin but we play a lot of ICC tournaments in the subcontinent. We also play a lot of other cricket in the subcontinent. The other point I want to make is that there is no Jacques Kallis and because of that you need somebody in the Test side to be able to hold the game in any conditions – whether its day one at the Wanderers or day four in India – you need somebody to bowl those overs and grow into it. It’s fantastic to see that the spin culture is growing. It’s important that keeps growing and the right messages gets sent to those spinners coming through.South Africa’s last proper dalliance with spin was in the India series at the end of 2015 when they lost a first series away from home in nine years. Given the progress they have made in developing spin bowlers and playing spinners and do you think they would be better equipped for a trip there now? We don’t know. I would love to see Keshav one day go to India. I don’t think he has had a wicket yet that assisted him a lot but the same messages will be there – to stop the game and to build pressure. That trip we had to India was a tough one. I haven’t seen games where there were 20 wickets in three days, twice. It was a good experience for us but I don’t think it’s anything like what we see now in the tours India have hosted against New Zealand and Australia. We’ve always been good players of spin so that was different for me. Our boys play a lot of cricket in the subcontinent now, these boys know how to play spin.With Dane Piedt added to the squad ahead of the Hamilton Test, South Africa could go into the match with three spin options, including JP Duminy. Do you see that happening? The management and selectors thought the last venue would spin as we saw in the one-dayers and New Zealand have got a few left-handers in their team so Dane is just giving us another option. We don’t know if he is going to play or not but it will be nice to have him around. He has done very well for Cobras. We all know he is a good bowler. And then with JP, the nice thing about JP is that he is batting in the top six as well so that helps. The option is there to go in with the two spinners and JP but we will see when we get there.

Never has a cricketer from his community played for the country. Mahinder Pal Singh is looking to change that

Umar Farooq23-Jan-2017Dr Harjeet Singh finally gets it. “Until he [was in the] headlines on TV, no one knew that we also play cricket.” Who is the “he” here, and who are the “we”? Putting Dr Harjeet into context by way of his location, Nankana Sahib, will answer a few questions.The tiny 20,000-strong Sikh community in Pakistan found itself on the sports news pages when the doctor’s son Mahinder Pal Singh, 20, a medium-pacer, was one of 30 players selected for the PCB’s National Cricket Academy training and skills camp in Multan last year in October. Mahinder became the first Sikh in Pakistan’s history to join the mainstream of cricket’s second-largest country.It was the fact of Mahinder’s ethnicity that made the news, belonging as he does to perhaps the smallest minority in Pakistan. Seven non-Muslim cricketers have represented the country in a total of 207 Tests and two ODIs. Among them, from Wallis Mathias to Yousuf Youhana (before he became the cricketer formally known as Mohammad Yousuf) are five Christians and two Hindus, but no Sikhs.Mahinder is only starting out in his career, but he has already been on a fairly long and difficult path to get to where he is. A few like him were well known in club cricket in Pakistan – names like Papinder Singh, Madan Singh and Gulab Singh, of whom the last played two or three grade-two matches but was never seen again.Mahinder’s earliest attempts to break with his community’s conventions and make it into the Pakistan cricket system appeared doomed. “Nobody in our community has gone that far and taken cricket as his ambition,” says the young man, a Waqar Younis fan in his childhood. For many young Sikh men, tape-ball cricket is no more than mere leisure; their careers lie in the textile business, like those of generations before them.”It has been a childhood dream for me to play for Pakistan,” says Mahinder. “I wasn’t allowed until I did my matriculation, [when] I made a deal with my father that I will carry on studies but will also play cricket.”He grew up in the heart of the Sikh community in Pakistan, Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. It is 100km west of Lahore, but far from Mahinder’s family’s original home in Mardan district in Pakistan’s troubled north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).

“Four of our boys tried their luck in the last ten years, but none of them went as far as Mahinder. We have a desire to see our boys in cricket”Balwant Singh, head of Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib

In 2003, Harjeet and his family began to be counted among the country’s Internally Displaced People (IDP), following insurgency in the region. Mahinder was only seven when the family moved to Nankana Sahib, and he grew up playing tennis-ball cricket on its streets and surroundings.In 2013, as a 17-year-old, he decided to sign up at the Abdul Qadir Academy just outside the Gaddafi Stadium. He spent a year there, and Qadir remembers him. “I told him that he needs to work really hard,” he says. “I was being honest with him by telling him that some players aren’t talented enough but this isn’t a problem. It’s the persistence and hard work that will take him to the top.”He unfortunately wasn’t consistent, and he wasted his golden years by not putting the required effort in for the game.”Qadir said he didn’t follow Mahinder’s career after he left the academy, but added, “I am sure if he is working hard wherever he is, he must have improved, because hard work always pays back.”The lack of progress at the Qadir Academy convinced Mahinder that the path into Pakistan’s cricket mainstream didn’t involve the route he had chosen. “For nearly two to three years, I didn’t know how and what is the way to get myself in the system.”From his family’s home base in Nankana Sahib, where his father works as a homeopath, Mahinder has moved to Lahore. There he lives close to another sacred place for his people: his hostel is within the compound of the shrine of Ranjit Singh, who ruled the Sikh empire from Lahore in the early 19th century.Mahinder’s unsuccessful stint at the Qadir academy, he says, nearly broke him. He had expected to play on the Under-19 circuit with the blessings of Qadir, a former chief selector. When the annual U-19 trials took place, he missed them because he was playing in a club match in Lahore.Mahinder (second from right) with his father (first from left) outside the Gaddafi Stadium•Singh StudiosHe then chose to focus on his studies for about five months, before switching clubs, moving from Wahdat Eaglets to the Services Club in northern Lahore, where he is more comfortable and gets enough matches. He travelled to Mardan to take part in open trials at the NCA, where he caught the eye of the academy’s director, Mudassar Nazar, and also of Ali Zia, senior general manager, academies, and of a coach, Ijaz Ahmed. A second round of trials in Multan got him a ticket into the NCA programme.Mahinder is now studying for a professional pharmacist’s degree at Punjab University to fulfil his father’s dream of him becoming a doctor. Cricket is where his heart is, and he continues to play the club game. Harjeet found out about his son’s obsession with cricket when he was in class eight in high school, and disapproved, not believing his son had the “approach” (used here in its uniquely subcontinental interpretation, to mean “clout”) to get through to the highest levels of cricket. When he discovered that medicine wasn’t his son’s passion, father and son arrived at a middle ground.Mahinder says, “I don’t know how far I will go but I want to give it a shot, at least to live my dream.” He believes he will “definitely go somewhere to make my name for my country. But if I lose my way, I have a degree to secure my future. That way I will not go away with a regret that I didn’t try to fulfil my dream.”Any reservations against making a push in professional cricket, or about representing a country where they were a minority community are, according to a Sikh elder, “self-inflicted insecurity”. Balwant Singh, the head of Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib, who teaches the tenets of Sikhism to Sikhs in Pakistan under the age of 35, says Mahinder’s progress is a beacon for the community. “Four of our boys tried their luck in the last ten years, but none of them went as far as Mahinder. They lost their way because there was no guidance, until Mahinder managed to touch down at the NCA. We have a desire to see our boys in cricket.” Speaking of the roles Sikhs play in Pakistan’s public life, he offers examples of those who hold positions in the army, rangers, emergency services, parliament, and on national television.Balwant says, “In our community, we prefer business, and educating our kids is our main priority, but Mahinder finally convinced us that he can take his own way to make his family proud. It will always be great to see our Sikh brother representing Pakistan. Whatever he managed to achieve, our next boy will go further. It is a cycle that has started with Mahinder.”

Stats highlights from the third day’s play in Wellington, where South Africa won by eight wickets

Gaurav Sundararaman18-Mar-20171973 Last instance a visiting spinner took two consecutive five-wicket hauls in a series in New Zealand before Keshav Maharaj. Intikhab Alam took 7 for 52 and 6 for 127 against New Zealand in 1973. The last left-arm spinner to achieve this feat was Derek Underwood, in 1971.6-40 Keshav Maharaj’s figures in this Test – the second-best figures for a South Africa spinner since readmission. It was also the fifth-best figures for a South Africa spinner away from home.2003 The previous instance when a South Africa spinner took two consecutive five-wicket hauls in a Test series. Paul Adams took five wickets in both innings of a Test against Bangladesh.1952 The last time a spinner from South Africa took 13 or more wickets in the first two Tests of a series. Hugh Tayfield took 17 wickets in the first two Tests against Australia.110 Jeet Raval’s strike rate against Morne Morkel. He scored 33 runs from 30 balls. In contrast, Raval was very conservative against the other four bowlers, scoring at a strike rate of 32.6. (47 runs from 144 balls). In the first session, Raval scored seven runs from 35 balls against Kagiso Rabada. Rabada had bowled four maidens from seven overs in his first spell. Raval left 17 and defended 27 balls out of the 57 he faced from Rabada in this Test.

3 Runs scored by Kane Williamson in this Test – the worst match aggregate in his Test career when he has batted twice. Previously, his lowest was six runs, against England at Leeds in 2015.265 Runs added by the last four wickets for South Africa – third highest for them in Tests. The highest for South Africa is the 318 added by the last four wickets against Australia in Melbourne in 2008.0 South Africa have never lost a Test series to New Zealand. With their 1-0 lead, they cannot lose the ongoing series either.25 Wins for South Africa in Tests against New Zealand – their best win-loss ratio against any team, barring Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. South Africa have lost only four matches out of 44 against New Zealand.

Twitter reactions to Kuldeep Yadav’s memorable first day in Test cricket, on which he took 4 for 68

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2017In a series filled with surprises, India sprang another one in Dharmasala by handing a debut to left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. His former state team-mate Mohammad Kaif had no doubt it was the right move.

Prediction – Kuldeep Yadav will have a great debut. Aussies should struggle to read him. Best wishes to Team India.#IndvAus

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 25, 2017

After Australia raced to 131 for 1 at lunch, another expert Aakash Chopra placed his faith in Kuldeep.

Kuldeep is my Man for this innings…hope he starts after lunch and gets an extended spell. #IndvsAus

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 25, 2017

Kuldeep responded in the second session with some ripping deliveries that earned him praise from some of the greats of the game. First he dismissed David Warner to end a rapid century stand with Smith, then he got one to drift away before spinning in to have Peter Handscomb bowled and followed that up with a perfect wrong ‘un to send back Glenn Maxwell.

I am impressed with @imkuldeep18's variations and the way he has started. Keep going strong, this can be your match to shine.

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 25, 2017

This has been a magnificent spell of bowling from the young man Kuldeep

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) March 25, 2017

The uncommon sight of a left-arm wrist spinner showcasing control and an array of variations had many excited.

New mystery guy in the house @imkuldeep18 #Magical. On the other hand brilliant hundred from smith.

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) March 25, 2017

Wonderful beginnings for a debutant.. 2 very good wickets &the way he has bowled.. Way to go.. God bless #KuldeepYadav

— Kartik Murali (@kartikmurali) March 25, 2017

This is a fairy-tale debut for Kuldeep Yadav. Always something extra with the wrist spinner. And he can bat!

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 25, 2017

Superb spell by @imkuldeep18 , emphasises the importance of a wrist spinner on batting tracks. Brilliant

— Deep Dasgupta (@DeepDasgupta7) March 25, 2017

There does not need to be panic from Australia after their semi-final exit, but there are a few areas of concern and chief among them is Meg Lanning’s fitness

Melinda Farrell22-Jul-2017It seems ridiculous that anything less than a trophy would be seen as abject failure but anyone who saw the faces of the Australian players after their loss to India in the Women’s World Cup semi-final was left in no doubt how much this hurt. Australia’s women have been so dominant in the sport that the thought of them not being in a final seems almost inconceivable. They must now return home to the doubly grim prospect of a Pat Howard-led dissection of their performance and unemployment, thanks to the ongoing MoU dispute with Cricket Australia (although that does beg the question of how a performance review happens without an employer).England will arrive for the Ashes series – comprising of one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is – in October, possibly as World Champions. Assuming the pay dispute is resolved in time for the series to take place there are a several questions Australia will perhaps look to consider before a home campaign they will be desperate to win.Lanning injuryThere have been a number of brilliant performances by players from other countries but few would argue that Meg Lanning isn’t the best female batsman in the world. Her average of 54.52 in ODIs at a strike-rate of 95.97 is far ahead of the competition. Her shoulder injury cost her two matches in the World Cup and while Australia still won both of them, against Pakistan and South Africa, her absence left a hole that stronger teams may have been able to exploit. There have been times in the field and when batting – notably her dismissals by England spinner Alex Hartley and India seamer Jhulan Goswami – when her movement may have been somewhat hampered. How to handle Lanning’s shoulder injury in the months leading into the Ashes could be hugely significant. Does she undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation, possibly even surgery? Or push through until after the series and risk making the injury worse? Lanning at 80% fitness is still probably better than most but to ask her to get through a four-day Test with such an injury followed by another six days of match play should be carefully considered.Lack of bowling optionsThe fact Elyse Villani was called on to bowl several times throughout the World Cup including an over in the semi-final – in which she took one wicket but went for 19 runs in the second Powerplay – must be a concern for Australia. Villani is a part-time medium pacer at best. Australia’s bowling line up has simply not contained the same combination of punch and stinginess as previous attacks. Without Rene Farrell and Sarah Coyte there was a lack of international experience in the seam-bowling stocks. Sarah Aley was probably unlucky to be overlooked and, with the spinners being brutalized by Harmanpreet Kaur, Lanning only had limited overs to use from Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt. Perry has bowled well in this tournament, is a huge asset in any judge’s estimation and would undoubtedly get into the side based purely on her bowling, but she is continuing on the trajectory of becoming more of a batting allrounder (she finished the semi-final as the tournament’s highest run-scorer) than the strike bowler. In the last World Cup she took three wickets bowling virtually on one leg to set up Australia’s victory. In the semi-final loss to India, she took none. The best batsmen in the world are perhaps learning how to face her. The make-up of Australia’s attack across all three formats is bound to be high up on the list of topics in Howard’s review.Ellyse Perry remains an excellent bowler but is there enough seam support?•Getty ImagesFlexibility in the batting line upAustralia bat deep. That is the mantra. And there is no doubt any side containing Ashleigh Gardner – who bats at No. 3 for the Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League – coming in as low as No. 9 has the ability to score big at the back end. This was evident when Australia were chasing England’s total of 259 in their three-run loss in the group stage. But, perhaps because of a culture in which players have to earn their stripes, Gardner wasn’t pushed up the order. A similar observation could be made about the semi-final. Villani has opened many times for Australia and is in the side for her quick scoring and powerful hitting. Incumbent openers Beth Mooney and Nicole Bolton have generally given Australia solid but somewhat conservative starts. That’s often served them well, particularly when Lanning has come in and accelerated, but in the semi-final they were faced with a target of 282 in 42 overs. If ever a faster start would have served them, it was when chasing their highest target against India. But the noted fast ODI scorers are kept in reserve below Lanning. And scoreboard pressure took its toll.Lanning-Perry partnershipIt could be argued that it’s turning a positive into a negative to bring up Lanning and Perry’s incredibly consistent partnership. They give a solidity to Australia’s batting line up that would be the envy of any other team. They are also complementary. Lanning generally scores quickly from ball one, is aggressive and innovative, and can convert good starts to big scores with startling regularity. Perry often starts conservatively, likes to play with traditionally good technique and score in the V, collects a half-century and increases her run-rate as her innings progresses. They also follow two openers, in Mooney and Bolton, who tend to build slowly. Mithali Raj pointed out after India’s semi-final victory that if you break open Australia’s top order, it can expose a potential fragility if they need to chase a big score, and there is a growing feeling among those that watch the game closely that the Lanning-Perry partnership papers over potential cracks. If you get two wickets early you’re half a chance, if you get three – and break that partnership – then you’ve given yourself a real tilt at getting through the batting line up. Perhaps Australia need more batsmen spending more time at the crease – how you go about that is another problem.Australia’s spinners were impressive before the semi-final•ICC/Getty ImagesAdapting to adversity and changing conditionsThere were warning signs before Australia’s World Cup exit. One of them screamed for attention: when Chamari Atapattu took apart Australia’s bowling attack in the group game in Bristol. It was a brutal display comparable to Kaur’s destructive semi-final show. The difference was that Atappatu had hardly any partners who could back up her scoring or a bowling line up to make the most of runs on the board and apply pressure. Add to that Lanning played an outstanding innings in response, scoring an unbeaten 152 (with Perry at the other end unbeaten on 39, to emphasise the earlier point) to seal victory for Australia. But when Kaur let loose in Derby, Australia had no answer; they are so used to success that plan B is rarely required, let alone plan C or D. And it could be argued that there was no reason to doubt their spinners could contain any threat. Until the semi-finals Australia’s three spinners had collectively taken 27 wickets at an average of 25 and gone at 3.75 runs per over. But they were rattled and couldn’t recover – “turned to custard”, according to coach, Matthew Mott. When Kristen Beams lost control and wildly bowled a no-ball that landed nowhere near the pitch Kaur launched the free hit for an enormous six and pulled the following delivery menacingly for four. Australia are rarely challenged so forcefully or dominated so completely. They simply had no idea how to counterattack. England were watching and will be planning how to do the same in October.Mind the gapAll of these questions, of course, need to be put into context. Since Australia started playing ODIs they have won an astonishing 77%. The closest team to them is England, with 59%. Such dominance is rarely seen in sport and has led to a belief – by fans as well as the administration and players – that Australia will always make the finals and Australia will nearly always win. That is a huge burden of expectation. Australia has led the way with the introduction of professionalism, the WBBL and the resources allocated to its female players. But other countries are catching up. And players from other countries, playing in the WBBL, are learning how to counter the players Australia would normally bank on to win games. Lanning lamented that Australia had failed to put their complete game together throughout the tournament. In the past that may not have mattered so much.This is no crisis. At the end of a tournament Australia lost one game to one finalist by three runs and a second to the other finalist thanks to one of the finest ODI innings seen in the women’s game. “A bloody good team,” as Mott said. With a player in “red-hot form”. There are more of them out there.The gap is closing and the challenge for Australia to stay ahead of the pack is a significant one.

The allrounder’s workload across formats, the highest among Bangladesh players since his debut in 2006, might have led to his request for a rest from Test cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2017Shakib Al Hasan has been playing international cricket since August 2006 and has missed only seven of Bangladesh’s 58 Tests since his debut. One of the complaints Bangladesh fans often have is that their side plays far fewer Tests than other teams, which makes Shakib’s decision to take a break from the format surprising. But it is his workload across formats, the highest among Bangladesh players since his debut, that has probably led to his request for a rest. Apart from his international commitments, he is a much sought-after player in franchise T20 cricket and has plied his trade for as many as eight sides across six competitions. Also, he is a genuine allrounder who bats high up the order and bowls a large percentage of overs.How does Shakib’s workload compare with top allrounders since his debut?Since his Test debut, Shakib has played more than 750 days of top-flight cricket across formats. Among allrounders current playing international cricket across all three formats, only Angelo Mathews and Moeen Ali have played more days of top-level cricket. If the criteria is narrowed down to international cricket, only Mathews has played more. A number of other cricketers, such as MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers, Kumar Sangakkara, James Anderson and Alastair Cook have been on the field for much longer, but they have all since given up on from one format or the other, or, in Sangakkara’s case, retired from the international game.If we widen our filter to include all active international cricketers – allrounders or otherwise – playing all formats, Hashim Amla, Virat Kohli and David Warner have all played more than Shakib. The soon-to-return de Villiers, who, like the most of the others on this list, is a highly sought after T20 batsman, has also played nearly 50 days of competitive cricket more than Shakib since the Bangladesh allrounder’s debut.
ESPNcricinfo LtdIs Shakib Bangladesh’s most overworked cricketer?Yes, there is a definite case to say so. Apart from being their only allrounder to regularly play all three formats for over a decade, Shakib’s T20 commitments increase his workload in contrast to the other two senior players in the side – Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim. Mushfiqur, whose workload has included keeping wicket for the best part of his career, comes a close second, with over 720 days of top-level cricket since Shakib’s debut.

Class of 2006 and their current workload

• Alastair Cook: Not played ODIs since 2014

• Stuart Broad: Not played ODIs since Feb 2016

• Ross Taylor: Not played ODIs since Mar 2016

• Mushfiqur Rahim: Playing all three formats

• Chamara Kapugedera: Last played Tests in 2009

• Upul Tharanga: Taking a six-month break from Tests

How has Shakib’s recent workload been?Since 2015, Shakib has represented as many as seven franchise T20 sides, across five different competitions. Among the world’s top five allrounders, his franchise T20 workload has been the highest, having played as many as 73 matches across these competitions. While he has played each of Bangladesh’s 14 Tests in this period, that is by far the lowest in the field and is just over a third of Moeen’s 37 Tests. Among players who made their debut around the time Shakib burst on to the international scene, Shakib, along with captain Mushfiqur, remains among the rare ones to still be playing all three formats.

Dropped after scoring tough runs on tough tours, Sami Aslam is back, and in his comeback innings scored a half-century that highlighted both his strengths and his puzzling inability to convert his starts

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi30-Sep-2017Here is the ballad of a Pakistani opener. In his 12th Test he was playing with his third different opening partner. After 11 Tests he had six fifties, which included two nineties and an eighty. In 2016, his first proper year of Test cricket, he was Pakistan’s fourth-highest run-scorer. As Azhar Ali, his opening partner in most of those, was top-scorer, it meant Pakistan had a workable opening pair. Also, he didn’t really have any easy Tests in 2016. He played in England, New Zealand and Australia.After 11 Tests, though, he was dropped, four innings after a 91 in Hamilton on a tour in which that innings – and one more from Babar Azam – were literally the only batting highlights. He was replaced by a man who is now banned, having been found guilty of corruption. He was then replaced by a man better known for taking selfies. And, finally, he was replaced by the man who is his partner in this Test, whom he has never partnered before. And if he fails now, by the way, the selectors seem inclined to replace him with a guy who only recently finished a five-year ban for corruption.Hello, Sami Aslam. Meet Pakistan, who have tried 16 different opening combinations in the last five years of Test cricket, the most by any nation. England, you may think you have issues too (with 14 different pairings) but at least you have Alastair Cook.This was not the innings that made a mockery of Aslam’s dropping and vindicated his return. Fifty-one is useful only as a statistical landmark – otherwise, in nearly all circumstances, it is a waste of a start. And not converting fifties into hundreds, as Aslam hasn’t, is precisely the kind of problem that can be held against a batsman if it lingers.His commitment to fitness was also said to be an issue around the time he was dropped and this regime at least seems to be serious in implementing these standards.Still, being dropped when he was, with what he had done that year behind him, must have stung. It did a little, though much in the vein of modern-player parlance. “In 2016, in 9 Tests, I scored 600-plus runs so I think it was a good performance,” he reasoned. “The tours were tough as well. When you are dropped you feel it a bit, but I’ve taken that positively.”I have worked hard. I got better results in my fitness tests than before. It wasn’t an issue before, but in domestic cricket, I did well. I am feeling better about myself now, so I utilised that time well.”But he is back for now and making light of unfamiliarity with Shan Masood, with whom he was opening for the first time at any level. Together the pair gave Pakistan the kind of start that makes it difficult – but not improbable – for them to lose.”If you have an understanding with the other partner, then it [being unused to a new partner] doesn’t make a difference,” Aslam said. “At the start it could be an issue, but in practice matches in Lahore, we became familiar. After that, in your calling and stuff, you become familiar, you develop an understanding and it’s not that difficult.”He was unfortunate with his dismissal, Dilruwan Perera trapping him with one that crept through low. It was another missed opportunity to break through to a maiden hundred, though it isn’t the kind of thing that occupies Aslam unduly.He gives the impression of a man who knows it will come, which, given his first-class record and hundred-scoring capacities seen at U-19 level, is not outlandish.”It is in my mind that I have to score a hundred,” he said. “As an opener, or anywhere you play, you want to score big runs for the team. I’m trying, but you saw what happened today – I was done by a ball that kept low and I played it wrong as well.”No, it’s nothing like that [getting nervous as he nears the landmark]. I am used to it. But I think each time the situation has been such. Once I was run out, then once, the team was going for runs and I got out hitting out. It’s nothing like that – I’m hoping I’ll get there soon.”