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Cricket in Finland? It’s over 150 years old and it’s multicultural

Tom Jeffreys17-Sep-2016At first, the 18th-century fortress island of Suomenlinna, just off the coast of Helsinki, Finland, seems an unlikely location for a cricket match. Certainly, the tourists are baffled, as they look down upon us from the grass-covered battlements above. So too do the army cadets doing laps of our makeshift ground. However, it was the presence of fortifications such as Suomenlinna that first brought Finland to the attention of the British navy. And where the navy went, cricket came too.I moved to Finland in 2014, and found, to my surprise, that cricket was thriving. Most cricketers here come originally from India or Pakistan but there are players from every Test-playing nation, as well as from many others, including Switzerland, Germany, Afghanistan, Nepal, and, of course, Finland. Empire Cricket Club, who I’ve been playing for regularly, contains an especially diverse mix. Members include students and software developers, researchers and scientists, a restaurateur, a theatre producer, and a former Navy commander with a passion for contemporary dance.Recently, Nicholas Hogg wrote beautifully about how cricket can provide a home for the homeless, a new family for refugees. That is certainly true in Finland. One player here – who asked not to be named – left his native Pakistan due to death threats following his campaigns for women’s rights. After 20 days in Russia and three months in a refugee camp, he is once again relishing the chance to bowl fast and drill near yorkers over long-on. “I was not aware there was such a great cricket community here,” he told me. “I’ve been able to meet people from so many different cultures.”Members of Empire CC•Jo Hadley”The game does more than just the game,” explains Jo Hadley, chairman of Empire CC. It was this that first drew Hadley, a retired UK policeman, to cricket. He had never been interested in any sport until moving to Finland in 2002 to complete a doctorate in sociology. He is now one of those selflessly dedicated figures at the heart of so many small cricket clubs. “Somewhere in a Finnish suburb are these people dressed in white playing a quintessentially English game,” he says. “I was attracted to that poetry.”Hadley contrasts cricket to the example of pesäpallo, a Finnish version of baseball invented by eugenics-championing fascist Lauri Pihkala, and promoted from above after the right’s victory in Finland’s 1918 civil war. Cricket’s growth, by contrast, has been an organic one fuelled by immigration – a journey from the periphery towards the centre. “I see cricket as the sporting expression of multicultural Finland,” says Hadley.But both pesäpallo and cricket have been encouraged by the military at various times. The Suomenlinna match, known as the Viapori Cup, is a legacy of a time when a few cricket-mad Finnish naval officers organised cricket games to build team spirit among cadets. Contested since the early 2000s, the Viapori Cup is now a very relaxed affair.The national cricket ground in Kerava•Finnish Cricket AssociationMuch of the cricket played here is far more competitive. Credit for its organisation should go to the Finnish Cricket Association (FCA), founded by Andrew Armitage in 1999 and approved by the ICC the following year. “I wanted to see cricket here develop into something more than just the occasional match,” says Armitage, a former banker who moved here with his Finnish wife in 1988. “I wanted us to get better organised – it was something I was passionate about.”The FCA has certainly succeeded. Today, there are 30 registered clubs, mostly in the south of the country, and around 600 licenced players. Cricket here is sponsored by Hardy’s Wine (just like the England cricket team) and the FCA has kit deals with MKK-Newbery. In the summer, there are leagues for both 40-over cricket and Twenty20. In Finland’s long, dark winters, cricket moves indoors. Outside of the FCA structure, there are popular tape-ball leagues as well as one-off games like the Viapori Cup or Cinders – an annual two-innings contest between Empire and Stadin Krikettikerho (SKK).The FCA’s major triumph has been the opening of a new purpose-built cricket ground in Kerava, 25 minutes north of Helsinki. The ground was officially opened in June 2014, in the presence of Mike Brearley, Lord Mervyn King, and various Finnish dignitaries. Given that most matches in Finland are played on gravel outfields (many of Finland’s sports grounds are converted into ice rinks come winter), playing on the grass at Kerava feels like a serious luxury. This summer, the ground played host to the first Nordic-Baltic tournament between Finland, Sweden and Estonia.The Finland national team•Finnish Cricket AssociationBut how did cricket get here in the first place? In 2015, ‘s short overview of cricket in Finland includes no mention of anything before 1952, when a visiting team from the , a Royal Navy destroyer, decided that a spot of cricket at Helsinki’s new stadium would be a perfect way to mark the Olympic Games. But there is evidence that cricket was played in Finland almost 100 years earlier. Tony Lurcock’s delightful – the second of a three-volume compendium – contains several accounts of cricket played here as far back as the 1850s.It was during this period that Britain and France united against Russia in the Crimean War. In the UK at least, the Crimean is now best known for the charge of Light Brigade, and the “Baltic theatre” has been largely forgotten. Not so here. Finland had been taken from Sweden by Russia in 1809 and remained a Grand Duchy when the British navy sailed into the Baltic Sea. But with the Russian navy sheltering in their base at Kronstadt, there wasn’t much fighting to be done. So when the British sailors were not raiding Finnish coastal settlements (many seemed unable to grasp the fact that Finland was not the enemy but effectively an occupied nation), they contented themselves with playing cricket on the islands. Lurcock finds examples of cricket in the writings of William Gerard Don, a ship’s doctor, and Rev Robert Edgar Hughes, both of whom were in the Baltic in 1854-55. “Picnic and cricket parties were frequent,” writes Hughes, “and the lonely rocks were made to ring with the sound of French and English laughter.”There is one further cricket-related oddity. In August 1854, under public pressure to be seen to be doing something, the British fleet did destroy the fortress of Bomarsund on the Åland islands between Sweden and Finland. Lurcock notes that the bombardment gave its name, rather bizarrely, to a village in Northumberland. In 1974, Bomarsund won the UK’s National Village Cricket Championship.A summer camp in Kerava•Jo HadleyAfter unsuccessfully bombarding Suomenlinna (I’m tempted to draw a comparison with my own, ahem, explosive legbreaks) the British fleet returned home. Thereafter, incidences of cricket matches in Finland are sporadic. Lurcock tells of Edward Rae, “a wealthy London stockbroker”, who organised a cricket match against an all-Lapland XI in 1873. They were all out for 0 in their second innings. But Rae was just over the border in Russia at the time.It was not until the 1960s that cricket began to be played in Finland more frequently. Matches took place between the British Embassy and a team of Finnish admen calling themselves the Kingdom of Palmerston (it was Lord Palmerston, a cabinet member during the Crimean War, who advocated the return of Finland from Russia to Sweden). Most of the stories from this period focus more on boozy journeys to Stockholm than on the cricket itself.In 1972, a group of cricketers decided to break away from the British Embassy and form the Helsinki Cricket Club, Finland’s first. Their belief was that the sport would be better served in the hands of permanent residents than transient diplomats. They were right. One of their number – a Jamaican fast bowler by the name of Ira Ebanks – has become a legendary figure in Finnish cricket. He is still a regular presence at the boundary edge, groaning at yet another Empire batting collapse.Fans turn out to watch a match in Kerava•Finnish Cricket AssociationEmpire itself was founded in 2003 following a period of rapid expansion for cricket in Finland. The Nokia boom years of the 1990s saw the influx of a new, tech-savvy workforce, many of whom came from India and Pakistan. They brought their love of cricket with them, and clubs formed in the cities of Turku, Tampere, and Vantaa. Although Nokia collapsed in 2013 and Finland’s economy remains shaky, Helsinki’s tech and start-up scenes continue to provide a major draw. So does the country’s excellent education system and free university tuition (although fees for overseas students will be introduced from 2017).So what does the future hold for cricket in Finland? While the earliest cricket matches here involved the English, today the sport feels untouched by colonial traces. It is not an expat game but, as Hadley has said, a reflection of a complex multicultural experience. The FCA’s aim is to further integrate cricket into Finland’s sporting structures. “Finns tend to like quirky things,” says Maija Scamans, formerly captain of Finland’s first women’s cricket team, now the FCA’s Operations Director. “Cricket is an individual game within a team context. I think that appeals to the Finnish psyche.”The FCA has been holding cricket summer camps and coaching in schools since 2004. This year, for the first time, cricket is to be a part of the curriculum for the whole school year across ten different schools in Kerava. “Our aim is to become an integral part of the Finnish sporting community,” says Armitage, “not just a strange, marginal activity.”

This series will be Steven Smith’s first major captaincy challenge at home, while Faf du Plessis leads a group that has no experience of losing a series in Australia.

Daniel Brettig in Perth02-Nov-20161:51

‘Smith will be great Test captain’ – Haddin

Not a single South African player knows what it is to lose a Test series in Australia. Not a single Australian player knows what it is to win a home series against South Africa. For a pair of transitional teams, that is a significant fact.Add to it another: Australia have been clean swept in their most recent Test series in Sri Lanka, then swept again – by the Proteas no less – in an ODI series in South Africa. Throw in a pair of underdone Australian pacemen, a porous middle order and a fielding side far less formidable than many who went before them, and the picture is clear: this is not going to be easy for the hosts.South Africa, of course, are not the side they were. For the first time in more than a decade they are not being led to Australia by the commanding figure of Graeme Smith. AB de Villiers isn’t here, and Morne Morkel is not yet 100% fit. But there is a sense of regeneration about the side, of setting new goals and forming a new identity. In junior years Faf du Plessis was often captain of the same teams de Villiers played in. Having gained his chance through injury, du Plessis, first seen by Australians with his serenely dead bat in Adelaide four years ago, now looks a natural leader.For Steven Smith, this is the series in which he faces a first major test at home. Well as he and his teams have performed against India, New Zealand and the West Indies, those sides boasted not a single series win down under between them over the past 23 years. South Africa’s methods are suited to Australia, much as the reverse is true on the other side of the Indian Ocean. Smith has taken solace in a wider record of home success – unbeaten since the Proteas’ last visit in 2012.”Traditionally we have played well at home and it’s about us knowing what we do well here,” he said. “We have scored big first innings runs and that is going to be crucial for us this year again.”Bowling aggressively to the tail, not being afraid to get it up there and intimidate them a little bit. To the top order consistently bowl good areas and challenge them on wickets that traditionally bounce a bit more than they are used to. It is important for us to do that this summer.”Obviously we haven’t come off the back of much great cricket, South Africa was disappointing and Sri Lanka was as well, that’s gone, we’ve left that behind and we are focusing on what we have can control now and that is this summer.”Much talk has centred upon the mental battle, whether it be Dale Steyn’s familiar refrain about “cutting the head off the snake” in reference to Smith, or David Warner hoping to see the visitors’ pacemen losing their collective rag with a flurry of short balls at the WACA Ground. Smith has reiterated his desire to see his men strut around the middle like they own the place, not retreating into themselves as happened in Sri Lanka.”It’s about making sure that each individual can get the best out of themselves and have a presence about them,” Smith said. “Everyone does it differently, for someone it might be about getting into a verbal contest with a bowler to get themselves going. Or with a batter as a bowler.”For me I don’t like to say a great deal it’s more about making sure that my body language is right and I’m puffing my chest out and looking like I’m out there and I own the place. It’s about each individual knowing what gets them going, and when they do that it’s going to be best for the team as well.”For well over a decade, that approach tended to unnerve the South Africans in Australia. Both sides knew who had the edge when matches reached their pointy end, and it was the team of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. But du Plessis leads a generation unfamiliar with that kind of mental block: as uncomfortable as the Australians will try to make things for the visitors, they will know how to push back effectively.Steven Smith knows Mitchell Starc will be his key weapon in this series; Faf du Plessis knows his batsmen will have avoided a big threat if they can stop Starc’s short and sharp spells producing wickets•Getty Images”We are a team that respects the opposition, no matter where we go in the world,” du Plessis said. “If its gets to a tough stage in the game, which is what Test cricket is all about, and it gets a bit loud out there in the middle, it’s just about soaking it in and understanding that you have to work your way to get the momentum on your side again.”That’s Test cricket, that’s normal for me. I think that’s more the thing people forget to focus on, that Test cricket is like that. It’s up and down. Then you are on top, then you are under pressure and you just got to soak it up and ride the wave until it gets on your side to put some pressure on the opposition.”But the most pivotal factor in this series, and its opening match at the WACA, will be Mitchell Starc. Starc knows it, South Africa know it and Australia most certainly know it. Still nursing a deep cut to the left leg from a training mishap, Starc will push through some discomfort to try to be near his best and fastest. Smith said he will likely be using his most explosive asset in short bursts a la Mitchell Johnson.”I’d say there is a good chance of that,” Smith said. “He has traditionally done pretty well here at the WACA, I thought he bowled beautifully last year on a slow benign wicket, I would prefer this one to have some more pace and bounce to assist him out there.”The Proteas are braced for impact, knowing that the ability to see out his spells will more than likely tell the tale. “He is a fantastic bowler,” du Plessis said. “A guy that swings the ball and bowls quick, any captain would say that’s something they would want in their team. It’s important for us to make sure he doesn’t get his tail up and doesn’t get wickets. That would mean we put a big threat for Australia aside.”It’s important how we play him. If we’re going to win this series it’s going to be how well we’ve played him in those short bursts. He’s a wicket-taker so he needs to come on and get wickets. We as a team understand that. We need to make sure we get through those periods.”Happy history down under should make a difference to the Proteas, and recent failures will trouble Australia. It remains to be seen how much all that will matter in the fraction of a second it takes for Starc’s missiles to reach the other end of the pitch.

It appeared like Pakistan had a good squad, led by a strong captain, before they came to Australia. But it all unravelled very quickly

Osman Samiuddin at the SCG07-Jan-20171:21

Pakistan’s 12, India’s 9, England’s 17

Whitewashes can usually be seen coming a mile away, or at least that is the case with Pakistan, and even if you don’t see them, it all makes sense very soon after they’ve gone. A template, set on the 1962 tour to England, has more or less stood firm over the years, despite cricket being unrecognisable now from what it must have been then. Technically that tour wasn’t a whitewash, but Pakistan would have lost the fourth Test had over ten hours not been lost to rain, so essentially it was.The outcome was obvious even before the first Test began in Birmingham. Pakistan had appointed a young, inexperienced man as captain. They had no bowling attack. The one gun they had – Haseeb Ahsan – was sent home under controversial circumstances (Official line: Injury. Innuendo: Chucking). Senior players were unhappy, fading stars were fishing for opportunities from the outside and the management was missing only the ‘mis’ as prefix.With only minor variations, that series set in tone how Pakistan whitewashes would forever unspool. Sometimes the opposition was just better than them. Other times, Pakistan were enough for themselves, on the field in their poor disciplines and off the field in even poorer disciplines.It wasn’t entirely obvious that Pakistan would be clean-swept on their last tour to Australia. They had a good new-ball attack, an exciting batting talent, an opener who had runs in Australia and one of their greatest batsmen as captain.After the tour it became obvious that only a fool – this correspondent included – could have missed the signs. Mohammad Yousuf should never have been captain. Nobody wanted him to be, least of all himself. The players didn’t get on, but they weren’t really a team either. The core, of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir, Kamran Akmal and Danish Kaneria, was rotten and only a few knew. The management missed all signs of the dysfunction; that, or they were incapable of handling it.So in a way, as we sit here, another whitewash so fresh in our minds, it is testament to the enduring impossibility of putting Misbah-ul-Haq into any kind of conventional box a Pakistani would recognise, that he has suffered an unparalleled whitewash. Testament is not quite the right word is it? But then, how else to explain this one?Fade to black: Pakistan got worse as the series progressed•Getty ImagesOf all the modern Pakistan teams that have toured Australia, this really looked the least likely to endure such a fate. This was the least Australian of the Australian sides who have bullied Pakistan – in fact beaten them – before they even got on the field. More relevantly, this was the best-equipped Pakistan side to not be whitewashed.Their last away tour was a triumph. They had batsmen coming of age, a bowling attack that provided all kinds of angles to attack. They had been together on this ride for a while, and were stable; as stable as they have ever been. The captain was in charge. Nobody disputed his authority, and even the fiercest critics of his style had begun to come around. Even three defeats in a row hadn’t properly taken the sheen off.Most of all, until almost exactly the halfway mark of this series, the third afternoon in Melbourne – what days they were remember? – the idea of Pakistan losing 3-0 was preposterous. The reality of it even now, after it has happened, still sounds preposterous.This truly is a whitewash that didn’t conform to type. Only Bazid Khan, who offers his occasional insights on these pages and is, in a weird, unresolved way, a member of this Misbah era, thought Pakistan might struggle as they have done (don’t be mistaken: plenty gave them no chance but none of them did so rationally). He saw a captain on the downside of a crest, a legspinner who would struggle with the truer bounce of Australian surfaces and, above all, a pace attack many thought to be better than it actually was – or at least less tired than it was.It was the bowling that delivered this one, or at least left the lasting imprints on the magnitude of Pakistan’s defeats: an innings – in three days’ play and having declared – at the MCG and 220 runs at the SCG. These are hefty, hefty losses. Collectively, this was the worst bowling performance, in terms of the average runs per wicket conceded, by a Pakistan side ever in a three-Test series. It is the second-worst over any duration of three or more. The first, or rather, the worst? Javed Burki’s side in that 1962 series, although he had an excuse – those years were as dry and barren as a desert as far as Pakistani bowling went and resources were very, very thin.Pakistan kept falling over themselves on this tour•AFPRight from the mode in which Yasir Shah began in Brisbane, to giving away the hand in Melbourne on that third afternoon, and through to the total meltdown during Australia’s second innings in Sydney, this was, in the vogue parlance, an epic fail. The fourth day here, when Australia went at over seven an over through the innings, was possibly the worst bowling performance in Misbah’s time.Throughout an inherent distrust was apparent, in how Yasir was deployed, in how rarely the pacemen bowled together beyond the new ball, in any number of ways. It hardly matters now how the trust was lost in the first place, by deed of the bowlers, or by caution of the captain.The plans, if the management is to be believed, were fine; the execution not so much. If the right lengths were found, it wasn’t for long enough. Ditto the right lines, not that they were ever right for Yasir. If at one end, a bowler was in the middle of a good spell, at the other, inevitably, his partner was bowling dross. As has been a running theme, it took all of them time to work out how best to bowl where, but by the time they had, the game was gone.All year outside of the UAE, this four-man attack has looked on the verge of cracking open and finally, painfully, in Australia, the band-aid holding them together was no longer enough. The toll on Amir and Yasir began to tell; Sohail Khan’s fitness was exposed; the cost of stunting Imran Khan’s development over the last 15 months in which he only played three Tests and four first-class matches became clear. But still – to take only 33 of a possible 60 wickets? For a group of bowlers that had won two Tests in England six months ago?Some people – Misbah included – might argue the team that came here in 1999-00 was the one least expected to lose all three Tests. Much of that hype emanated from the fact that the two teams had contested – a loose interpretation of that word – the World Cup final months previously. That side, though, was on a downward curve, an aging and ailing one, the dying of an iridescent flame that had, by turn, lit up the 90s as well as burnt it. The board was in a mess, Qayyum was underway and Australia were becoming Great Australia.No, that clean sweep could be foretold. This was the one. This really was the one. Until now, when it wasn’t.

For the third time this home season, the team took the lead after its opposition put up 400 batting first but the Ranchi effort was special

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Ranchi19-Mar-20171:39

Chappell: Pujara didn’t look like tiring

Nathan Lyon had already bowled 29 overs in India’s innings when he came on to bowl his first over of day four. His first ball was just a touch short, and Wriddhiman Saha went on the back foot and punched him for a couple between cover and mid-off. Three balls later, slightly short again, Saha whisked him away through midwicket for a single.Lyon wasn’t bowling long-hops – he wasn’t being pulled or cut – but his length was marginally off, just short enough for the batsman to step back towards leg stump, wait, and push gently into the covers, or go back and across and work him to deep backward square leg. That sort of thing. He bowled nine overs in his first spell on Sunday, conceded 29 runs, had one lbw shout upheld and then turned down following a successful review from Cheteshwar Pujara. This wasn’t Lyon’s greatest spell, but it wasn’t a particularly poor one by anyone’s standards.It was also, perhaps, the least testing spell Pujara and Saha had faced since they came together on the third evening in Ranchi. When Lyon was brought back, they had already put on 65 in 28.2 overs – 28.2 overs of unrelenting Australian pressure.Australia began bowling to India in the middle session of the second day. India declared in the last session of the fourth day, after batting out 210 overs. They ground Australia down, drained them of energy and spark and ideas, and at various points left them wondering when their next wicket would come. But they never had it easy.Barring the second session of day three and the last session of day four, when India were in the lead and Ravindra Jadeja decided to have some fun, there was almost no let-up in Australia’s intensity. Lyon, probably the worst of the four specialist bowlers, finished with 1 for 163 in 46 overs. The other three combined for 160 overs, taking eight wickets and conceding 2.55 runs per over.It was the third time in their 2016-17 home season that India had scored 600-plus in reply to their opposition batting first and scoring more than 400. In Mumbai, England made 400 and India 631. In Chennai, it was 477 and 759. This was the same sort of thing, but it was also entirely different. This was the hardest they had been made to work.Nathan Lyon didn’t have much success against the Indians in Ranchi•Associated PressChennai was possibly the flattest of the three pitches, and India were playing a team that was already 3-0 down and out of the series. England’s bowling figures in that match paint a fairly obvious picture of how they had been dominated – three bowlers conceded more than four an over while sending down at least 20 overs – while two Indian batsmen made big hundreds at 60-plus strike rates. Over the course of 190.4 overs, India scored at nearly four an over.Things were slightly different in Mumbai. England were still in the series at that point, and like Australia in Ranchi, seemed in with a chance of taking a fairly substantial lead at one point. India were six down and behind by 93, then seven down and 36 adrift. But a top-order double-centurion – Virat Kohli – combined with a lower-order centurion – Jayant Yadav – to lift India into a dominant position. The same thing played out against Australia. Only the batsmen were different.Overall, India scored their runs at 3.45 per over at the Wankhede. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, who between them bowled nearly 60% of England’s total overs – finished with combined figures of 6 for 366 with a combined economy rate of 3.37. It doesn’t look terrible but that was largely down to the fields England set, with sweepers on both square boundaries almost all the way through.Those fielders at deep point and deep square leg were absolute musts: according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data from the match, India’s batsmen cut Rashid and Moeen 29 times and pulled them 13 times. That’s a cut or a pull every two-and-a-half overs.In Ranchi, Lyon and Steve O’Keefe bowled 123 overs, and were cut 15 times and pulled four times. That’s a cut or pull every six-and-a-half overs. It was this control of length that allowed Australia to keep their fields in and stem the flow of singles. It was this control of length that allowed O’Keefe to bowl maiden after maiden from left-arm over to Pujara when he was already past the century mark.Wriddhiman Saha battled his way through some good bowling to make his third Test century•Associated PressA spinner who turns the ball away from the batsman cannot afford to bowl short with a leg-side dominant field, even while pitching the ball a long way outside leg stump. Rashid may have turned the ball further than O’Keefe did had he been in Ranchi, attacking the rough outside Pujara’s leg stump, but he might also have offered a steady diet of slaps and punches either side of deep point.For long periods of time, O’Keefe’s defensive line kept Pujara, India’s immovable object, away from Pat Cummins, Australia’s irresistible force. Cummins harried India with a Swiss-army-knife-full of cutting-edge tools – pace, bounce, cutters, reverse-swing – and took four wickets while remaining accurate enough to concede less than three an over. England’s pace attack in Mumbai had no one remotely as penetrative.None of them even managed to do the job Josh Hazlewood did. He bowled 44 overs, took one wicket, and finished with an economy rate of 2.34. James Anderson, England’s most-used fast bowler in Mumbai, sent down only 20 overs, and Jake Ball, who was the only one of their four quicks to concede less than three an over, bowled only 18. All this meant India were never under the sort of ceaseless pressure that they were to experience in Ranchi.In Mumbai, Kohli and Jayant added 241 in 58.4 overs. In Ranchi, Pujara and Saha added 199 in 77.4 overs. Both partnerships were exactly what India needed in their respective circumstances. But where Mumbai was the familiar tale of an Indian team overwhelming what was clearly, in those conditions, a lesser opponent, Ranchi was something new. The series was 1-1, Australia’s attack had no genuine weak link, and they made India work for every run.Having done all that hard work, India will start day five as overwhelming favourites to go 2-1 up. Should they win as expected, their batting performance is likely to be hailed as one of their finest in recent years. That should remain the case even if they somehow fail to do so.

England face an obviously encouraged West Indies side and the realisation that they will go to Australia unsure of several positions in their first-choice XI

George Dobell at Lord's06-Sep-20171:22

Roland-Jones ready for ‘special feeling’ of Lord’s Test

In an ideal world England would have a settled team by now.And, in an ideal world (for them, at least), they would have wrapped up this series and gone into the final Test resting key players and mumbling platitudes about the decline of Caribbean cricket.But it’s not that way at all. Instead they face an obviously encouraged West Indies side and the realisation that they will go to Australia unsure of several positions within their top five, needing to improve their bowling and a little short of the firepower required on flat pitches when the ball will not swing.For all the entertaining cricket they have played, and for all the credit they deserve for winning the South Africa series, it is not at all obvious that England have made much progress as a Test side this English summer. Yes, James Anderson has proved he is still a force. And yes, Toby Roland-Jones has added to the seam-bowling stocks. But we knew Joe Root and Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes were fine players. What England really needed to see was for three or four other players to prove their worth alongside the settled seven or eight.And now they go into a final Test on a surface that may well help seamers – and therefore one on which a session or two could define the result – with the burden of expectation weighing heavily upon them. Win and it is nothing more than what was anticipated. But lose? It is not the sort of history this team wants to be making.It’s odd that England are such heavy favourites, really. While West Indies’ away record is modest – and the word ‘away’ could easily have been omitted from that sentence – they have beaten England in two of the three most recent Tests the sides have contested. And, for all West Indies’ frailties, England are consistently inconsistent. Since Trevor Bayliss took over as coach before the Ashes in July 2015 they have lost as many matches (14) as they have won.They also remain over-reliant on a few key players. With the bat, in particular, they have leaned heavily upon Root’s consistency. His record of reaching fifty in 12 consecutive Tests is exceptional (nobody has done it more often in succession), but it has also masked holes. If West Indies get him early – and he was dropped on 8 in the first innings in Leeds – they may expose that dangerous middle-order against a newer ball and fresher bowlers. Root, as ever, holds the key.In some way, it is remarkable what success England have enjoyed in recent times. To win Ashes series, to beat South Africa home and away, to go within a victory of reaching the No. 1 Test ranking is extraordinary for a team still seeking a regular opening partner, a settled No. 3 and another batsman in the top five. It points not only to the excellence of several other players, but the potential they retain if they can fill the remaining holes.Root remains reluctant to return to the No. 3 spot. While it’s easy to make a strong argument for him to move back to the position, his rebuttal – “No.4 is where I feel most comfortable” – is even more persuasive. Such is his importance to the side, it makes sense for him to bat where he is most comfortable. To move him, while tempting, might also be considered weakening a strength.Mark Stoneman may well have done enough to earn the Ashes tour already. One Test half-century isn’t enough to suggest the search for an opener is over but there is something in his equanimity that bodes well. And it’s not as if he has a host of rivals clamouring for the place.The same cannot quite be said for Tom Westley or Dawid Malan. While Westley started nicely, showing time to play the ball and some lovely timing, he has started to look a little more rattled as the scrutiny and pressure have grown. Whether it’s fair or not, he is probably playing for his future at Lord’s.Malan has had almost the opposite experience. After a brutal start, he has ground out two half-centuries. It has not been pretty and it has not been entirely convincing. But ultimately runs are the currency that counts and, back on his home ground, he has another chance to establish himself. A failure, however, could see the likes of Alex Hales or Gary Ballance displace him in the Ashes squad.Joe Root, Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace watch on during England nets•Getty ImagesWith so much hanging on this game personally, it seems unlikely the likes of Malan and Westley will be able to heed Root’s words to see the game “as an opportunity to do something very special”.There is some logic in the decision to play Roland-Jones. Quite apart from being a good all-round cricketer, as a Middlesex player he knows this Lord’s surface well and should have few issues adapting to the slope. It might be remembered, though, that Chris Woakes took an 11-wicket haul the last time he played a Test here.It seems there was little thought given to dropping one of the batsmen and playing both seamers. Or including the legspinner Mason Crane.”You don’t want too many options,” Root said. “And you want to make sure the guys go out there and get rhythm. You look at the conditions and it looks as if seamers will be more productive on this wicket.”But with Woakes a more-than-proficient batsman and several of the bowlers carrying a few miles in their legs, the option of another seamer might be worth revisiting. Especially in Australia where flat pitches and warm weather could test Jimmy Anderson’s shoulder, Ben Stokes’ knee and Stuart Broad’s feet to the limit.Either way, it suggests the decision to recall Woakes (and drop Roland-Jones) for Leeds was premature. He had not had sufficient bowling – just 20 first-class overs – since returning from a serious injury at the start of June and had only played one first-class game since returning from India at the end of 2016. It was asking too much of him to expect a return to the level of consistency he demonstrated last year. He would have been better served playing a couple more Championship matches.The same might be said for Crane. Settling into the England set-up – and benefiting from their coaching – in no doubt beneficial. But he is 20 years old and has played only five Championship matches (and taken 16 wickets at a cost of 40 apiece) this season. If he is to be ready for an Ashes tour, the decision to omit him from the limited-overs squads is therefore sensible.The optimistic way to look upon this series decider is to conclude that the added pressure will be a welcome gauge of how some of these players can adapt to the demands that may await in Australia. And that, for Test cricket as a whole and West Indies in particular, such a decider can only be positive.But that it has come to this for England is a reminder of how reliant they are upon Root and how many holes his excellence has masked. If West Indies can account for him early at Lord’s, they will have a great opportunity to create history.

South Africa pull one back finally, and our correspondent is there to watch – while practising a bit of yoga on the side

Firdose Moonda19-Jul-2017July 2

What should be a straightforward short commute from London to Leicester turns into a three-hour trip via Bedford because they are working on the train lines and there is a replacement bus to take us most of the journey. It means I arrive late in Leicester. So late that I miss seeing South Africa bowl West Indies out for 48 and arrive in time to watch them knock off the runs inside seven overs. It’s not really a day to talk to a batsman but I take the chance to interview Laura Wolvaardt, the young opener in her final year of school, who is deciding between a career in cricket and a medical degree. That she even has that choice is a victory for the women’s game.July 3

Back to the men in London, where Russell Domingo has returned to the team camp and confirms he has reapplied for the coach job. The team are in good spirits and many of them have their families with them. Faf du Plessis is at home with his and news comes through that mother and baby are doing well. After interviews, I walk through (you guessed it) Hyde Park, where Morne Morkel, his wife Roz and son Ari are enjoying an evening picnic. Ari has a bat and ball with him and is keen to face some fast bowling, but because his dad is managing his workload, I take the ball. After a loosener, I find my length and with my second delivery, I beat the bat to dismiss an international cricketer’s son. He has not yet turned two, but I’m claiming it.July 4

The trip just keeps getting better for me because today I get a raise. In the form of a plastic step. After almost a decade working in cricket, I will finally be tall enough to see eye to eye with my interviewees, and taller than some of my colleagues.I take a walking tour of London in the evening, exploring the history of European immigration in Soho. The French were particularly prevalent in the area and Charles de Gaulle formed the Free French Front at a pub on Dean Street. They were also waves of Dutch, Hungarian and German residents – including Karl Marx.Is that fair play in a height contest?•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfoJuly 5

Dean Elgar becomes the 12th South African since readmission to deliver a captain’s pre-match press conference and he is awfully nervous about the whole thing. Far from the bullish opener we have come to know over the last five or so years, Elgar is softer-spoken today. His father, one of his high-school teachers, and his best friend will all be in attendance at the match: all of them had promised him they would make a special effort to get to Lord’s if he ever played a Test there, so this is as big an occasion for them as it is for him. He doesn’t reveal too much else, except that he probably won’t bowl himself.July 6

And at first it seems he may not need to. South Africa enjoy a good morning session even though they drop two catches. Elgar seems to have things under control – until Joe Root takes it away from him. I have the chance to chat to Vince van der Bijl about a charity project he has involved the MCC in, in Masiphumelele, a township outside Cape Town. Van der Bijl is passionate about doing good and contributing to making a meaningful change to South Africa, especially as a member of the privileged class.July 7

England get far ahead of South Africa. Temba Bavuma and Theunis de Bruyn are given a chance to bowl, neither with any success. And then the new opening pair also fail. South Africa knew it would be tough, but this tough… perhaps not.July 8

The final Test in the series between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions, who are locked at one-all, is being played this morning. I saw pubs packed early in the morning for the previous two, and I decide to try and get to one for the third match. The one I try, closest to my guesthouse and the tube station, is so full, I can’t even squeeze in, so I go to Lord’s instead. I join a throng of people huddled around a small screen in one of the shops. We see a Lions penalty that makes it 15-all and that’s the way it stays. “What happens now?” one bewildered fan asks. “Does it just stay a draw?” I tell him it does. “What an anti-climax.” I agree. See, it’s not just cricket where things happen for days only for there not to be a winner.Soho: a magnet for European immigration over the decades•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfoJuly 9

At Lord’s, there will definitely be a winner. England make a mess of South Africa as returning captain du Plessis looks on. He joins Elgar for the post-match press conference and Elgar jokingly returns an imaginary armband to him.In more sombre news, Domingo has had to leave the tour again. His mother, who had recovered from a car accident she was in two weeks ago, enough to be discharged from hospital before the first Test, has suffered a setback, been put on life support, and passes away later that night. Suddenly the South African camp really is about life and death. Just a week ago, du Plessis welcomed a daughter into the world; now Domingo will bury his mother.July 10

What should have been the fifth day is now a day spent analysing the defeat. I decide to do my work at the Monocle Café in Chiltern Street, a creative hub I really enjoy. Back home, I am an avid listener to Monocle Radio and in this café, they even play it in the toilet. In the evening, there’s time for a stroll through Marylebone, which is a good way to say goodbye to London for now.July 11

Nottingham is a new stop for me and I am excited to head there. was the first play I performed in when I was at school. I was in second grade and I don’t remember my character, but I’m fairly sure it wasn’t Maid Marian. I’ve been told this is a city of students but also a good way to experience some old England, and my first look around does not disappoint. Cobbled streets and gorgeous churches greet me. So does the rain.Soaking in some of old England in Nottingham•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfoJuly 12

Gunn & Moore have invited Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Duanne Olivier, Aiden Markram and some media to their factory to see how bats are made. It’s a fascinating and intricate process that involves pressing the blade and shaping it to individual preferences. Some of the staff at the factory have worked there for decades – one, Kevin Stimpson, for 43 years – and are well versed in what several international players want. Olivier meanders along somewhat aimlessly and admits he doesn’t have all that much use for bats, while Markram muses about when he might go home. I suspect it will be fairly soon, but it will also not be long before he plays Test cricket.July 13

“I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the world but I was in the top one,” Brain Clough, the former Nottingham Forest coach once said. His was a story of triumph over adversity, much like South Africa’s will have to be if they are to square the series. A statue of Clough looms over the city’s main square, about a mile from the Trent River.July 14

On a cloudy morning, at a venue where England bowled Australia out for 60 in a Test, du Plessis chooses to bat first. At best, it seems brave. South Africa were skittled for 119 the last time they faced this attack, remember? But moving de Kock to No. 4 works a charm and South Africa are much more convincing. I sense the makings of an epic comeback.July 15

Qamar Ahmed, who will turn 80 later this year and is covering his 427th Test, has invited a bunch of us to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which claims to be the oldest inn in England. It opened its doors in 1178. Qamar assures us he was not there on opening night, but regales us with tales of India in the 1940s, London in the 1970s, and everything in between. I’ve seen a lot of Qamar on the road and I always enjoy spending time with him. He promises to take me to Curry Mile in Manchester and I’m going to hold him to it.Brian Clough – an inspiration for the touring South Africans?•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfoJuly 16

I have picked up a second yoga student. The ‘s Jonathan Liew joins my morning class before play, which has now evolved into a full 45-minute session. I put the boys through sun salutations, lunges, and some basic back bends. I try to keep it slow and gentle, much like South Africa’s batting. Hashim Amla and Elgar tick over and South Africa build a big lead, big enough to stick England in just before the close.July 17

A third yogi joins the group. This time, it’s Nick Hoult. Like me, he is a runner, so we have a lot of the same aches and pains – but not as many as England. Far from putting up the fight South Africa are expecting, England collapse. South Africa dedicate the win to Domingo, who should be back in a week’s time, ahead of the third Test. The squad will have a few days off but I will go to Bristol, where the South African women’s team are playing England in the semi-final. By the time I see the men again, du Plessis hopes he can pick up a few tips on how to win knockout matches from Dane van Niekerk, and there will be a decision on the coaching position. There are some big things happening for South African cricket in the next three weeks.

Willow monstered leather like never before with five of the eight teams making their highest-ever scores in week one of the 2017-18 WBBL

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins13-Dec-2017We’ve got everything. The biggest numbers

The first two Women’s Big Bash League were based on a tight balance between ball and bat. More often than not, six per over was competitive. Not so in the explosive opening weekend to season three, where willow monstered leather like never before. The six fixtures totalled a staggering 2023 runs, with five of the eight teams making their highest-ever scores.The party started at North Sydney, when Sydney Thunder plundered 200 for 6. The highest total in the tournament’s history lasted all of three hours.For 12 months, Ashleigh Gardner has threatened to do something ridiculous if given the leash. When Melbourne Stars invited Sydney Sixers to bat first, the leash was off. Combining raw power with a peerless eye, the No. 3 hit 10 sixes on her way to the fastest WBBL century, donging multiple bombs off the corrugated iron of grandstand roofs.Gardner’s 47-ball ton became 114 from 52 by the time she was out in the 14th over. She might have bettered Thunder’s mark on her own had she batted through the innings. Added to Ellyse Perry’s unbeaten 91 in 49 balls, the score was 242 for 4 when the onslaught was over, higher than anything in either the men’s or women’s Big Bash.Adelaide Strikers also tallied their two best scores, at home, taking Hobart Hurricanes for 183 for 3 then 176 for 6. Suzie Bates, their new captain, was up to her neck in it, tallying a 65-ball century that looked sedate compared to the scenes in Sydney. The bowling was equally glittering, with star leg-spinner Amanda Wellington returning figures of 3 for 9 off four overs in one game.Perhaps the South Australian franchise finally have their act together, after finishing last in both campaigns so far. The news is less positive for Stars and Hurricanes, beaten badly in both their games and a long way from sharing in the boom. Don’t be surprised if recession follows.The fastest fifties

When you have teams breaking records willy nilly, it’s logical that individual ones would be part of it. Those fell thick and fast too. Gardner unsurprisingly set the fastest WBBL fifty on her way to her hundred, getting there in 22 balls. But in the chase, South Africa’s Lizelle Lee briefly gave the Stars hope of an impossible result, matching Gardner’s record for fifty before eventually falling for a 36-ball 64.But neither of those would likely have been the record, had Nicola Carey got another ball or two to face. The diminutive seamer, picked in the first two seasons for her bowling, flayed ball after ball to the boundary in Thunder’s opening innings. With two balls left in the innings, she did the team thing to take every run available and lost the strike. The end result? A knock of 47 not out from just 17 balls.Getty ImagesThe biggest crowds

The burst at the batting crease was match by an eruption in onlookers. Close to 9000 people came through the gates at North Sydney Oval for the four games there, comfortably eclipsing the substantial Women’s Ashes attendances at the venue earlier this season.When Gardner was lighting it up, televisions were switched on around the nation. At its peak, the audience reached a massive 629,000 on free-to-air broadcaster Network Ten. Taken as a whole, television audiences over the weekend were 59 per cent up on the average of last year. Proof once again that if you screen it, they will stay at home.The worst mistakes?

Of all the people watching television, it turned out the third umpire was paying least attention. Jess Duffin, who has played 117 games for Australia earlier in her career under her maiden name of Jess Cameron, was on fire for the Renegades against Thunder. But what could have been an all-time classic win was derailed by a shocker of a decision.Chasing 200 set up by Carey, Renegade openers Sophie Molineux and Chamari Atapattu battered 67 between them to get things moving. Enter Duffin: by the time she’d laced the boundaries for 81 from 46 balls, Melbourne needed 28 off 17 balls.At that point, Duffin reverse-swept Bates, and Lisa Griffith at short third man dived forward to catch. The fielder’s appeal was unconvinced, and replays clearly showed that while there may have been a finger under the ball, there was no doubt it touched the ground as the catcher reeled it in.The fielders went back to their marks, the batter prepared to resume, and then the big screen flashed up “OUT!” A mystifying decision, as wrong as one can be, and one that let Thunder close out a game that could have had a grandstand finish. We’re still mad.And we’ve got more to come.

The WBBL carnival hits four capitals cities in the week ahead, starting on Friday December 15 when the Heat host Scorchers in a replay of last year’s semi-final. Back then, Perth bolted it in by nine wickets, so the Brisbane side will require little incentive to turn the tables.In western Sydney, Thunder take on Stars on Saturday before meeting their crosstown rivals for the first time this season on the opening night of the Men’s Big Bash on Tuesday.Over the weekend in Adelaide, the Strikers have a chance to consolidate at home against Renegades, while Hurricanes need to arrest their dreadful start back home in Hobart against the rampaging Sixers on Sunday.

After getting trolled on social media, being criticised over picking too many 30-plus players, losing out on home advantage and more, CSK have made it to yet another IPL final

Deivarayan Muthu26-May-20181:05

CSK’s journey studded with individual brilliance

First they were trolled on social media for picking a squad with an average age of 33 after the first day of the auction. Then they surprised everyone by scooping eight uncapped players on the second day. Then they had their home advantage snatched away. Then their slow-moving legs came into the spotlight. Two of their key players – Mitchell Santner and Kedar Jadhav – were then sidelined from the tournament. How did Chennai Super Kings even make the final of IPL 2018? ESPNcricinfo looks at the key factors behind their rather unexpected surge this season.Dad’s Army, really?Having picked 11 players over 30 in their roster, fielding was always going to be a bugbear for CSK. In their first match of the season against Mumbai Indians, they posted Mark Wood at backward point and later in the qualifier they had Harbhajan Singh at that position. CSK’s ground fielding was full of bloopers, but they have tried to cover up for that with their catching. Having taken 82.7% of catches in the league stage, CSK are among the best catching sides this season. Only Mumbai have fared better.

They’re 35-36, not 55-56. A massive amount has been made of it. I’m here to win the competition for the franchise. And that’s why we value experience because we think it gives us the best chance… Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson and MS Dhoni all these guys still have a lot of cricket left to playStephen Fleming on CSK’s ageing squad

CSK have managed to hang on to the pressure catches. For example, when Sunrisers Hyderabad needed 33 off 13 balls in Hyderabad, CSK’s gun fielder Ravindra Jadeja swooped in from long-on, dived forward, and dismissed Kane Williamson for 84 to tilt the match in CSK’s favour. More recently in the qualifier, Dwayne Bravo tumbled in his follow through to pluck a spectacular return catch and remove Yusuf Pathan. And the experienced players have also rolled out clutch performances with the bat.Rayudu’s hot streak
Setting the pace at the top: check. Anchoring the innings in the middle: check. Teeing off at the end: check. Having his CSK team-mate Wood and the Durham dressing room singing, “I just can’t get enough of Du Du Du Du Du Du…Ambati Rayudu”: check.Do you remember that Rayudu was Suresh Raina’s captain in the Under-19 World Cup in 2004? Raina then went on to play two senior World Cups and established himself as CSK’s MVP. Fourteen years later, Rayudu has become the new MVP for the franchise with his most prolific IPL season: 586 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 153. What has been special about Rayudu is that he has converted even good balls into boundary balls with his nifty footwork. He has stepped down the track to 50 balls this season and has hit 133 runs without being dismissed.

I rate him very highly as he can play fast bowlers and spinners very well. He is someone who doesn’t look like a big hitter but almost clears the field every time he plays the big shot.MS Dhoni endorses Ambati Rayudu’s big hitting

Watson’s second wind
In Shane Watson’s own words: “2017 was his worst IPL” and he wasn’t quite sure if he would be back in 2018. Sure, he found some form in the Big Bash League (331 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 139.07) and the subsequent Pakistan Super League (319 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 135.16), but there were still questions over whether he still had it. Stephen Fleming, however, relentlessly kept bidding for the Australian allrounder at the auction and ultimately bought him for four times his base price of INR 1 crore. And Watson has repaid the faith, featuring in all but one match for CSK this season, scoring 438 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 145.03. He had single-handedly won the game for CSK against his former franchise Rajasthan Royals in Pune with a 51-ball century.Signs of vintage Dhoni?
In 2017, MS Dhoni had a dot-ball percentage of 46.4; this season it has dropped to 36.4. More importantly, he’s the top-scorer in the death overs this season with 297 runs off 148 balls, including 24 sixes and 16 fours, at an average of nearly 100. The power game that seemed to be fading resurfaced against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where Dhoni helped CSK pillage 71 off the last five overs. Having made 455 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 150.66, Dhoni is now just seven runs away from his most prolific IPL season.

We haven’t seen it [Dhoni at his best] as much, the gaps between [such] innings have been bigger, but in this IPL his batting has been excellent, and the innings was one of the best ones I’ve ever seen.Fleming on Dhoni’s unbeaten 70 off 34 balls in Bengaluru

Chahar: swinging ’em with ball and bat
Who’d have thought Deepak Chahar would start the season ahead of an India international in Shardul Thakur? Who’d have thought Chahar would become Dhoni’s go-to bowler? Who’d have thought Chahar would be the second-highest wicket-taker in Powerplays with 10 wickets at an economy rate of 7.33? If not for a hamstring injury, Chahar could have caught up with Umesh Yadav’s chart-topping tally of 14 wickets in the first six overs. Who’d have thought Chahar’s batting contribution would help CSK secure a top-two finish in the league phase?With his ability to swing the ball both ways and often get it to skid off the pitch, Chahar has grown to become the leader of the CSK pack. His smooth swings with the bat, meanwhile, have added more depth to a line-up that is yet to be bowled out this season.

Deepak Chahar is not a slogger like most think. He is a talented batsman capable of surprising the best of the bowlers in the #IPL18.Chahar’s first Ranji Trophy captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar on his batting, on Twitter

‘The luxury spot’
At the auction, CSK packed their side with spin and were ready to unleash them at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Their plans were later thwarted when they were forced to shift base to the MCA Stadium in Pune, which does not offer as much assistance to spin. So, one spot became a “luxury”, as Dhoni puts it.

There is a luxury spot in this team, sometimes on good day a bowler bowls three overs and if possible four, sometimes he doesn’t bowl. We have Bravo at the end [overs] but he doesn’t need to bowl four overs always as wellDhoni on the ‘luxury spot’

Ravindra Jadeja had bowled just 24 balls in CSK’s first four games put together. Some even joked that he was playing as a specialist fielder. Karn Sharma did not bowl against Delhi Daredevils in Pune and bowled only one over each against Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. In CSK’s most recent game against Sunrisers, Harbhajan did not bowl a ball at the Wankhade Stadium. A surfeit of options offered CSK a safety net and allowed them to identify their best combination ahead of the playoffs.

And which batsman made 50 in his first Test with a dozen fours?

Steven Lynch30-Oct-2018I know that Virat Kohli reached 10,000 runs in ODIs quicker than anyone else. Who was the next fastest? asked Ghulam Karmarkar from India

Virat Kohli scorched past 10,000 runs in one-day internationals during his unbeaten 157 in the tied match against West Indies in Visakhapatnam last week. That was his 205th innings, in his 213th ODI. The next fastest to 10,000 was Sachin Tendulkar, who got there in his 259th innings (266th match). That means that Kohli could make ducks in his next 50 innings, and still have the most runs at that stage of an ODI career.Of the others in the select band of batsmen who have scored 10,000 ODI runs, Sourav Ganguly needed 263 innings (272 matches) to get there, Ricky Ponting 266 (272), Jacques Kallis 272 (286), MS Dhoni 273 (320), Brian Lara 278 (287), Rahul Dravid 287 (309), Tillakaratne Dilshan 293 (319), Kumar Sangakkara 296 (315), Inzamam-ul-Haq 299 (322), Sanath Jayasuriya 328 (337) and Mahela Jayawardene 333 (355).Among current players, the only one threatening Kohli’s marks is Hashim Amla, who has so far scored 7696 runs in 166 innings (169 matches); at the same point, Kohli had 7460 runs. Since then Kohli has increased his average from 52.90 to a giddying 59.90, so Amla – who is more than five years older – will do well to keep up.Tom and Sam Curran both played for England in one of the ODIs in Sri Lanka. When was the last time England fielded brothers in the same team? asked Kenneth Day from England

I suppose it was only a matter of time before Tom and Sam Curran played in the same England team – they had racked up 24 international appearances between them before finally doing so, in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo last week. The last pair of brothers to appear in the same ODI for England were Adam and Ben Hollioake, against Sri Lanka in Sydney in 1998-99.The Hollioakes also played a Test together – their joint debut, against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1997. That was the first time England had fielded brothers in the same Test team for 40 years, since Peter and Dick Richardson both played against West Indies, also at Trent Bridge, in 1957.Aaron Finch scored nine centuries in ODIs before making his Test debut. Has anyone made more than this? asked Kade McNamara from Australia

Aaron Finch and Ireland’s William Porterfield made 11* one-day international hundreds before making their Test debuts; Paul Stirling made seven and Ed Joyce six. Virat Kohli made five, while Ahmed Shehzad of Pakistan, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma all made four.But Porterfield leads the way for ODI runs before Test debut – he piled up 3692, in 119 matches. Finch is second with 3361 from 93. Stirling made 3295, Kevin O’Brien 3126 and Rohit 3049. The current player with the most runs in ODIs without having appeared in a Test is South Africa’s David Miller with 2588, just ahead of England’s Jason Roy (2536). Among non-Test players, Calum Macleod has made seven ODI centuries, Roy six, Ryan ten Doeschate five, Miller and Kyle Coetzer four.Aaron Finch made nine ODI hundreds before getting his Test debut•Getty ImagesWe had this question in a recent quiz, and it floored everyone – what’s the answer please! What do Gerry Alexander, Chandrakant Pandit, Wally Grout and Tim Zoehrer uniquely have in common? asked M Rajneesh from India

Well, all four of them are wicketkeepers – but they do share something more specific than that. Alexander and Grout were keepers in the first tied Test, between Australia and West Indies in Brisbane in 1960-61, and Pandit and Zoehrer featured** in the second tied Test, between India and Australia in Madras (now Chennai) in 1986-87.Who reached 50 in his first Test innings by hitting 12 fours? asked Mukul Ahmed from India

I think the answer here is Shikhar Dhawan, who raced to 50 on debut, with a dozen fours for India against Australia in Mohali in 2012-13. His eventual 187 – from just 174 balls – contained 33 fours and two sixes.When New Zealand’s Tim Southee walloped an unbeaten 77 in the second innings of his first Test, against England in Napier in 2007-08, his half-century included 50 in boundaries. He hurtled to 53 (from 29 balls) with his seventh six, and also hit two fours. Southee ended up with four fours and nine sixes – and hasn’t yet bettered that debut score in 59 further Tests.*Oct 31: This answer was revised completely. It previously had out-of-date informationUse our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The 19 runs scored by Australia in the first Powerplay was their fewest in an ODI at home

Gaurav Sundararaman04-Nov-20187 – Consecutive losses for Australia in ODIs – their worst streak ever, beating their six successive losses between September 7 and November 3, 1996. The current streak started against England at the Perth Stadium earlier this year. Australia lost five games to England in England and now have one loss against South Africa.3 – Bowlers to have got to 150 ODI wickets in fewer matches than Imran Tahir. He equals the South Africa record of 87 matches to the milestone. Allan Donald and Morne Morkel also reached this mark in 87 matches. Saqlain Mushtaq (78 matches), Brett Lee (82) and Ajanta Mendis (84) are the bowlers who reached there quicker.8 – Wins for South Africa in Perth. This city has been a happy hunting ground for South Africa; they’ve lost just two games across formats here.124 – Balls remaining for South Africa when they achieved their target – their fourth-largest victory against Australia in terms of balls remaining. Incidentally, three of the top four games have taken place in Perth.1 – Number of totals smaller than the 152 that Australia scored here, while batting first. This is Australia’s fifth-lowest first-innings score at home.19 – Runs scored by Australia in the first Powerplay – the lowest at home and the second lowest since 2001 while batting first. The previous lowest was when they had scored 15 runs against England in 2012. This was also the first instance in which Australia did not score a boundary in the first 10 overs while batting first and third instance overall since 2001.Graphic: Australia got off to a dreadful start in the first ODI against South Africa•ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 – Matches in which Mitchell Starc has not taken the new ball for Australia. The previous such instance was in 2014 in Zimbabwe, and this is the first instance at home since 2012.10 – Losses for Australia in 2018 from 11 matches – the worst year for Australia in ODIs. Even if they win the next two matches, this will still be the worst year for them. In their last 21 ODIs, Australia have won only two matches.