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In another closely fought contest, New Zealand were unable to replicate last year’s stunning chase

Danyal Rasool01-Nov-2022What happened at Lord’s in 2019 will likely never be supplanted as the most iconic contest between these two sides. But while that might be easy to compartmentalise as the unrepeatable freak event it was, last year’s T20 World Cup semi-final between England and New Zealand felt far more replicable. This may not have been a semi-final, but for all practical purposes, it was a knockout for England, and, for large parts, New Zealand seemed to be clocking that what worked in Abu Dhabi worked pretty well in Brisbane, too.It was a game of fluctuating quality, some sensational power hitting countered by canny spin bowling, stunning displays of athleticism neutralised by simple dropped chances. There was the cat-and-mouse game around match-ups and data, as each team jostled to gain the slenderest of statistical edges, unsurprising for two modern teams with little disparity in ability to distinguish them. There was enough tactical nous to keep contemporary T20 afficionados interested, enough emotional jeopardy for casual viewers and nervous partisans alike. It was, to stoop to cliché, a fantastic advert for the T20 game.England were arguably the better side in Abu Dhabi, and deservedly got their reward in this game – even if one win out of two might be the least reward they could expect. Even winning the toss felt like a key moment for an England side that have won eight of 10 completed games defending scores this year, and just three of 12 looking to chase.Related

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As it happened – England vs New Zealand in Brisbane

There was nothing fortunate about what followed, though. Opening has been a problem for England this year, but Jos Buttler and Alex Hales had the composure to play themselves into the contest, even as New Zealand cleverly bowled out the bulk of their slower bowlers before England’s vaunted spin-slaying left-handers had found their way to the middle.Mitchell Santner was bowled out by the 11th over, and Ish Sodhi three overs later, the pair having kept Hales and Buttler relatively leashed; their combined figures saw England manage 48 in eight overs. But the fast bowlers until then had gone for 62 off six, and it was Buttler’s assault on Lockie Ferguson that ended up having the more telling impact.The England captain came into the game with a strike rate of 160 against Ferguson, and the eight balls he faced off his first two overs only saw that go north. Ferguson was smashed for 21 runs – a sitter shelled by Daryl Mitchell notwithstanding – prompting Williamson to hold back his final two overs for the 18th and 20th.That wasn’t terrible in itself – Ferguson isn’t the worst death bowler – but it meant bowling Boult out by the 17th. But Boult is statistically New Zealand’s best death bowler since 2021, with an economy rate of 6.70 in the last four overs. On this occasion, he ended up with 0 for 40 in four; identical to his figures in that Abu Dhabi semi-final this threatened to replicate for so long. But it was just the seventh time in the last 24 T20Is he has gone wicketless. England had denied New Zealand’s best bowler wickets, as well as overs at the death. Boult has historically been more expensive against England than any other side, but they were more than making up for their caution against spin with belligerence against pace.Mitchell Santner picked up 1 for 25•Getty ImagesPerhaps, on certain days, there’s nothing you can do about Buttler in top form (other than hold on to catches, of course), but England showed they could deploy spin to useful effect just as well. While New Zealand had held Santner back until the fourth over in the hopes of extracting an early wicket via Boult’s prodigious swing, Moeen Ali was spinning it away from Devon Conway as early as the first over. When the first wicket fell and Kane Williamson walked out, Adil Rashid was called up. It was the first time since November 2021 that both Moeen and Rashid have bowled with fielding restrictions in place, but it made sense: Williamson had scored six boundaries in 157 T20 balls against spin this year.The death by match-ups only intensified, though. Finn Allen, New Zealand’s likeliest outlet for a Buttler-style blitz, was pitted against Sam Curran in the fourth over. The opener has fallen to that type of bowling once every 11 balls; it took just four balls on the night for the tactic to pay off.New Zealand had played their part in turning this contest into a cerebral battle of wits, but finding themselves outflanked, appeared to retreat into the comfort zone of what they knew. Where England had front-loaded with bat and ball at every opportunity, New Zealand treated that Abu Dhabi contest almost as their psychological happy place, and chose to backload heavily again. As Williamson tickled and tapped his way through an innings that at no point seemed to endanger England, the burden on Glenn Phillips, and the lower order to come, continued to accrue.Williamson had lasted just 11 balls in the 2021 semi-final, scoring 5, but here he hung around for a run-a-ball 40. In a lower-scoring game, or with his side ahead of the game, it might have been the anchoring knock New Zealand were after, but the asking rate was nine at the start, and 12 when he was dismissed. It’s the sort of innings that looks like poor batting at first, but in a chase, seemed even more indefensible.England, however, dealt with what had happened in a manic final three overs in Abu Dhabi like the aberration that it was rather than the template New Zealand seemed to treat it as. England are simply too good, too clever, and too disciplined to allow 60-odd runs at the death every time. And in a format where percentage play factors into just about all decision-making, New Zealand – in choosing to follow precedent – paid the price for going for the lowest-percentage option of all.

Justin Mohamed is at the centre of what the sport is doing to try and correct years of ignoring a vast part of history

Daniel Brettig09-Sep-2020Justin Mohamed remembers feeling somewhat cheated. It was late in Jason Gillespie’s storied career when he discovered, purely by chance, that Glenn McGrath’s greatest fast bowling offsider was, like him, an Aboriginal Australian.”I actually worked with his father [Neil] – and early in Jason’s career I didn’t realise he was Aboriginal,” Mohamed tells ESPNcricinfo. “Then I met his father and thought ‘Gillespie’ and said ‘oh do you know Jason’ and he said ‘yeah, that’s my son’, and I remember thinking ‘wow’, and feeling a little bit ripped off that I couldn’t sit and watch him and feel proud of another Aboriginal person running in to bowl at Lord’s.”Up to that point, most of Mohamed’s role models in cricket had been members of the great West Indian sides of the 1980s and early 1990s, largely because there was a stronger sense of common ground than he shared with Australia’s national team. “Seeing the West Indies out here and seeing people of a similar sort of colour doing their thing, where I grew up in Bundaberg in Queensland, we connected with that team.”Mohamed’s childhood sense of identification with West Indies, and then his belated discovery of shared heritage with Gillespie, speaks volumes for the landscape of cricket that he entered and sought to help change when he became co-chair of Cricket Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cricket Advisory Committee (NATSICAC). If the name of the group is a mouthful, the brief was greater still – finding ways to connect the nation’s Indigenous population to a game that, after some notable early history, more or less ignored them for 80 years.ALSO READ: Dan Christian lifts lid on casual racism in Australian cricketMany have carried the burdens of that willful neglect over numerous generations, not least the West Australian opening batsman John McGuire, whose struggles for first-class recognition in his home state have been well documented. More recently, he asked to have his name removed from a WA under-age trophy because he had tired of what he saw as a lack of substance behind gestures, whether they be trophies, statues, or Welcome To Country ceremonies before matches.Justin Mohamed: ‘The important piece in having an Aboriginal person on the board, it is very clear they’re there for what they bring, who they are, their experience and expertise’•Getty ImagesIn the obvious pain emanating from McGuire’s story, Mohamed sees the key to what he and others have been building on for more than five years now, since the 2015 release of For The Love Of The Game, an often-searing independent report on the history of cricket’s relationship with Aboriginal Australia.”When I heard about that, this is part of the example we see – you can’t just window dress things, and that’s what John was saying,” Mohamed says. “Having my name on a trophy’s fine, but then I look around to the championships and I see very few if any Aboriginal young people coming through, so it’s a bit of window dressing where you’re acknowledging Aboriginal people, but the work that’s done beneath that is not enough to get the involvement that’s needed.”That’s a good example of someone standing up and saying, well, it’s alright to raise the Aboriginal flag, or have a Welcome To Country, but if that’s all you do, that is not going to resolve the imbalance that is happening. John was saying ‘I’m not going to let my name be used to window dress something when there’s not enough happening behind that’. Each state and territory is different in how they’ve acknowledged or seen their champions.”One of the things where I think it is pretty well known is the number of Aboriginal athletes that have come through other team sports compared to cricket. When you see that, you know something’s not right, because the hand eye co-ordinations and reflexes that flow with other sports, knowing when I was younger many of us played cricket, but we never saw it as a pathway. There’s a couple who broke through that, but one or two breaking through doesn’t mean all is working well.”

One of the things where I think it is pretty well known is the number of Aboriginal athletes that have come through other team sports compared to cricket. When you see that, you know something’s not rightJustin Mohamed

Another area touched on by the report, and seen in practice by Mohamed almost as soon as he joined NATSICAC, was that the focus seemed too much about the short-term, a couple of events each year such as the Imparja Cup, and gestures over substance.”I think at my very first meeting, there were these groups and people in states and territories feeding information up to CA, but a lot of it was around activities like the Imparja Cup and getting to tournaments on game day, getting CA to get behind some of the local or state initiatives,” he says. “A lot of the things that were done in the Aboriginal space were once offs and not really part of the strategic plan, which all organisations would have. So there wasn’t a lot of planning, if something important came up there’d be a lot of lobbying and talks about ‘we should do something on this date’ instead of planning it out to say ‘in 2022 we have this coming up and we want to have this focus’.”From early days it was more about getting short or small wins, carnivals, small recognition at particular times of the year, but this approach was saying it needed to be more strategic, it needed to be drawn across all of CA and all that it does. That’s the journey we’re on now. Not just the designated Aboriginal carnival, but all parts of CA. That was from the history of the game through to the elite level and the grassroots.”Early on, Mohamed had a win when he found himself co-chairing NATSICAC with Earl Eddings, who would eventually find himself rising to the position of CA chairman. This offered a sense of gravity to discussions, in the knowledge that this was not just being shared with a CA board member, but one of its most senior directors. Numerous events, from a 2018 tour of England to commemorate the Aboriginal trailblazers of 1868 to a reconciliation match involving the Australian women’s team earlier this year, were given impetus by this avenue.At the same time, players, staff and officials are all on the journey of fully appreciating and acknowledging how cricket missed a chance to keep Indigenous Australia close for nearly a century and must not toss that opportunity away again.”With Aboriginal Australia’s history, sadly in the cricket sense, there was a rich involvement which was never valued at the level it should have been,” Mohamed says. “The value of cricket went back to the Sir Donald Bradman era, whereas the first XI [in 1868] was seen as something which happened, but it was never really spoken about at the level it should have been.”If cricket wants to have an edge over the AFL, rugby league or any other sport, the first ever team to travel and represent Australia is in the form of cricket and an Aboriginal team doing that. But it was a missed opportunity. Once people started seeing this was factual and the amount of activity that happened with Aboriginal Australia in these early days, and the influence that it had on our national game, people like Earl and others said ‘we need to be doing more about an embarrassing situation we’re in’.”Justin Langer addressed the Australian Indigenous Men’s and Women’s team at Lord’s when they met the men’s ODI squad•Getty ImagesSeeing past that embarrassment to deal with the sometimes ugly truth was a pivotal idea behind the decision to set-up a series of panel discussions under the banner of Cricket Connecting Country, in which Dan Christian spoke frankly of his experiences this week. At the same time, members of Australia’s men’s team are working through their own process of education and understanding, helped in some cases by on-on-one meetings with the New South Wales and Brisbane Heat paceman Josh Lalor to talk through the cricket experience of people of colour.Inside CA’s own organisation, its diversity and inclusion manager Adam Cassidy has done an enormous amount of work in helping to build towards greater connection, aided by CA’s Indigenous engagement specialist, Courtney Hagen. For Hagen, the end of the journey is one where any person of colour sees cricket as an enticing and welcoming place to be.”It would show that cricket stands for the rights of human beings and that doesn’t stop when it comes to people of colour in Australia,” she says. “It’s not in a tokenistic way, it’s a real journey, an authentic movement, and by creating this positive environment for conversations to be shared, I think as a prospective cricketer you’d have a lot more respect for the game.

Seeing some of the Australian one-day players seeing the Aboriginal teams’ shirts and saying ‘we should have some of those designs on our uniforms’, it was a really good moment

“You’re probably more likely wanting to engage more in the sport itself, because you know that in the environments you’re going to be in, you’re culturally safe and that you’re welcome. You won’t be put in situations where you’re going to suffer harassment or racism in the game, because we’ve moved so far forward, and that cricket as an organisation will look after you.”Mohamed’s best illustration of what he is aiming for is to ask people to think of something they value, and why. “There’s definitely no one thing that can make it happen, it’s a combination of things, but really the way I like to look at it is you’ve got to create a space where people can value something,” he says. “The only way you value something is you need to be knowledgeable about what that is. You do your research, or you’ve been brought up and told something, or you have a hands-on experience and put it into your life and it becomes something to value.”Once you value something then you want to look after it and you also want to show that to other people, you’re proud of it. We’ve seen enough stories of where people leave their chosen sport, not so much because they’ve lost their love of the game, they just haven’t felt welcome in the space. That’s the challenge for cricket from the junior to the elite level, and it is important that there are familiar things within that.”This is not to say that Mohamed, Cassidy and Hagen haven’t experienced moments of the connection they are striving for. One in particular stands out. “When we went over to England to do the 150th anniversary and follow the footsteps of that tour [in 2018], there was a moment at Lord’s where the Australian one-day side was there, Justin Langer was the coach and our women’s and men’s teams went to look at Lord’s. Justin wanted to bring the two teams together, which was a great thing for our players.”Justin made an effort to get the two teams together in the change rooms, and he got up and spoke and I felt it was a very special moment. Justin said these words, ‘not very often you get three national teams in the one room’. So, he classed our women’s and men’s Indigenous sides as equal to the Australian one-day team. I just think that was a really good moment to say here we are, we’ve all got the green and gold on, and we’re all representing the same country, and really showing the value of all that.”Seeing some of the Australian one-day players seeing the Aboriginal teams’ shirts and saying ‘we should have some of those designs on our uniforms’, it was a really good moment. That’s what we’re talking about, and that’s what cricket should be able to do.”Among the decisions made at the most recent CA Board meeting was to formally expand NATSICAC’s advisory role to the whole of the organisation, not just community cricket. In many ways, change is afoot.

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is thought to be on the verge of yet another summer transfer deal, following what has been a hectic last few weeks.

Arteta's top Arsenal striker target is "now" expected to stay at his club

He was the Spaniard’s “first choice”.

3 ByEmilio Galantini Jul 12, 2025

Mikel Arteta has already welcomed Spanish international duo Kepa Arrizabalaga and Martin Zubimendi to N5, with the pair reinforcing his goalkeeping department and engine room, while former Brentford captain Christian Norgaard has also been announced as Thomas Partey’s replacement.

This trio of signings has set Arsenal back around £75 million, not including add-ons, but Berta is poised to splash even more cash in the slow build up to deadline day on September 1.

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£81.5m

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£900k

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£156.8m

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£1.8m

22/23 – summer

£121.5m

22/23 – winter

£59m

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£208m

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£0

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£101.5m

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£75m

Arsenal remain in ongoing talks over a deal for Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres, and the prolific hitman has now gone on to strike. He’s actively refusing to return for pre-season training as Gyokeres attempts to force through a move to the Emirates, but the two sides are currently still apart in valuation.

Arsenal are also still in pursuit of Crystal Palace playmaker Eberechi Eze. The England international won’t be leaving Palace for less than his £68 million release clause, according to reports, with the Eagles determined to hold out for his full asking price, even if Arsenal have held positive discussions with Eze’s camp (ESPN).

However, while Berta is no closer to striking a potential deal for the 27-year-old as things stand, he is about to make his fourth signing of the summer through another London-based attacker – Chelsea winger Noni Madueke.

News emerged on Thursday evening that Arsenal have reached a full agreement to sign Madueke for around £50 million, including add-ons, and Enzo Maresca has since confirmed that the 23-year-old is leaving Stamford Bridge.

Noni Madueke set for imminent Arsenal medical with agreement sealed

Sharing a further update on the situation, reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has shared that Madueke is set to undergo his Arsenal medical this weekend – so it won’t be long before he’s announced as a new Gunners player.

Given their links to Real Madrid star Rodrygo, who is now unlikely to join the club, some Arsenal supporters are dissatisfied with Berta’s decision to go for Madueke instead – especially considering he performed much better on the right-hand side for Chelsea last term as opposed to the left.

According to a poll conducted by Sky Sports, out of 35,000 fans, 70 per cent of them feel that Madueke would be a bad signing for Arteta – but there is reason to believe he could eventually thrive at Arsenal.

Madueke has been revered for his strength and burst of pace by members of the media, with his ability to play on either flank also proving useful. The former PSV Eindhoven star is also still young with plenty of Premier League experience already, and has the potential to get even better under Arteta’s guidance.

Arsenal supporters are desperate to see new faces come through the door this summer and Fabrizio Romano has delivered an update on their latest pursuit.

Arsenal look to find title-winning formula in transfer window

The Gunners have plenty to be optimistic about heading into the new season as they finally look to claim the Premier League title for the first time in over 20 years.

However, Sporting Clube de Portugal president Frederico Varandas has hit out at Arsenal and Manchester United regarding the bidding process for star striker Viktor Gyokeres, making his feelings clear on the way negotiations will be handled.

He stated: “I see the agent in the press releasing information. I want to make one thing clear: Sporting has common sense and keeps its word. Gyokeres scored 63 goals and 10 assists. Fantastic performance. Certainly one of the best players to have ever stepped onto Portuguese turf. And Sporting will not demand the clause.

“Now, blackmail and insults, Sporting will not accept. One thing is certain: Sporting will not accept 60 million plus 10. As of today, Sporting has not received any proposal for Gyokeres.”

Of course, Gyokeres isn’t the only target Mikel Arteta has identified to bring to North London; the Gunners’ pursuit of RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko is still very much on the agenda.

Arsenal set to bid for £40m star who has heart set on move to Emirates

The Gunners could land a long-term target…

BySean Markus Clifford Jun 16, 2025

Real Madrid star Rodrygo is also being pursued by the Gunners, albeit bringing the Brazilian to the club would be a tall order in light of the financial details needed to make that happen.

The La Liga giants have been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal in the past. Nevertheless, Arteta may need to concede defeat for another target following recent reports.

Romano: Arsenal target Brahim Diaz set to pen new Real Madrid terms

Recently, reports in Spain suggested that Arsenal were willing to offer roughly £42.6 million to sign Brahim Diaz from Real Madrid having made an approach to tempt the Morocco international to the English capital.

However, despite being seen as a cheaper alternative to Rodrygo, Romano has now confirmed that he is set to sign a new deal at the Santiago Bernabéu, quashing any rumours of a switch to North London.

Diaz has already said ‘yes’ to new terms in Madrid, and finding an agreement is set to be nothing more than a formality, which may leave one or two Gunners fans feeling frustrated.

The man himself registered six goals and seven assists in 52 appearances across all competitions last term and is now involved with Real Madrid at the Club World Cup, so it may have taken Arsenal a while to get their hands on him anyway.

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP, with the Swedish international set to wear the iconic No.14 previously worn by legends such as Thierry Henry.

Arsenal sign Sweden internationalStriker signs long-term contractWill wear the No.14 shirtFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Gyokeres from Sporting CP, with the Sweden international signing a long-term contract at the Emirates. The Gunners have confirmed that he will wear the iconic No.14 shirt made famous by Thierry Henry.

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The Gunners can breathe a sigh of relief after capturing their top transfer candidate for the summer. After a drawn out transfer saga, which saw Arsenal reportedly withdraw their interest following the war between Gyokeres and Sporting CP president Frederico Varandas, the club will be happy to finally a natural striker and find the missing piece of the jigsaw under Mikel Arteta. Arsenal have paid £64 million (€74m/$86m) to Sporting CP, including bonuses related to appearances and goals/assists. The details regarding the length of his contract are unknown, although Arsenal did state in their official announcement that Gyokeres has signed a "long-term contract."

WHAT MIKEL ARTETA SAID

Speaking after the completion of Gyokeres' signing, head coach Arteta provided his thoughts on the transfer. He said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Viktor Gyokeres to the club. The consistency he has shown in his performances and availability have been outstanding, and his goal contributions speak for themselves.

“Viktor has so many qualities. He is a quick and powerful presence up front, with incredible goalscoring numbers at club and international levels. He brings a clinical edge with a high conversion rate of chances into goals, with his intelligent movement in the box making him a constant threat.

“We’re excited about what Viktor brings to our squad and are looking forward to start working with him. We welcome Viktor and his family to Arsenal.”

(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

The 27-year-old will join Arsenal on their pre-season tour to Asia, and is expected to make his unofficial debut for the club against Tottenham Hotspur on July 31.

Wells was released by Sussex and did not play a game in the Bob Willis Trophy this summer

Matt Roller18-Nov-2020Luke Wells’ association with Sussex spans far longer than his 10 years on the club’s books as a professional. He played for their age-group teams since he was a boy, while his father Alan and uncle Colin scored nearly 30,000 first-class runs for the county between them.As such, it is no surprise that it is still yet to sink in that he is now a Lancashire player. “In 2019, we played them and they completely killed Sussex,” he recalls via Zoom, before tailing off and correcting himself. “I need to get used to saying ‘we’. completely killed Sussex.” It may be some time before that becomes second nature.It can only be hoped that the nature of his exit will not ruin Wells’ memories of his time at Hove. He scored 18 first-class hundreds in a Sussex shirt, all of them in first-class cricket. While the runs dried up somewhat in his final years at the club, it is only so long since he was being talked up as a potential England opener.”I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the manner in which it ended,” he admits. “I know the financial situation was difficult and tough decisions had to be made [but] it potentially could have been handled a bit better. But look, I’ve been associated with the club since forever. I’ll always have a connection with this place, and I’ll always remember the good times.”ALSO READ: Luke Wells signs for Lancashire on two-year deal after Sussex releaseIf the response on social media was anything to go by, then Wells’ release came as a surprise to many. “Surely someone must sign Luke Wells,” tweeted Rob Key. “Proper player,” noted Jofra Archer, “and can bowl too.”

“I felt quite helpless and stuck. It was challenging, there’s no doubt about it. My fiancée and I have got a little boy who will be three in February, and there’s mortgages and all the normal stuff”Luke Wells didn’t play a game for Sussex in the Bob Willis Trophy

In fact, he had seen it coming a long way off. At the start of lockdown, Wells had raised his concerns to this website about the possibility of the whole season being lost, knowing that after two lean years, he was not guaranteed a contract extension. “Normally it’s black and white: you’re judged on performance, runs and wickets are your currency,” he said. “But if we play no red-ball cricket whatsoever, what happens?”Three months later, in the days before Sussex’s first Bob Willis Trophy game, he was asked to come into training earlier than usual. “I had a sit-down meeting on the square with Ben Brown, Jason Gillespie, Jason Swift and James Kirtley,” he recalls. “I was basically told I wasn’t playing and the numerous reasons why – technical, and all sorts of other things.”That was only for the first game, but there was no second-team cricket this year. I was coming to the last year of my contract and hadn’t gone that well previously, so I needed an opportunity to prove myself. I asked: ‘What can I do to get back into the team? Am I in your plans?’ I was told: ‘Unfortunately, with such a short season, we’re unlikely to change the team’.”I felt quite helpless and stuck. It was challenging, there’s no doubt about it. My fiancée and I have got a little boy who will be three in February, and there’s mortgages and all the normal stuff [to worry about]. The lack of control and not knowing what would happen was the most difficult thing. You’re planning for when it ends, but when your career is potentially cut in half in the midst of the economic situation we’re in now, it’s scary and stressful.”Luke Wells shovels into the leg side•MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWells is studying for a history degree at the Open University and doing his coaching badges, but had not banked on the prospect of finding himself without a club at the age of 29. Various counties were interested in signing him before Lancashire ramped up their pursuit, but there were stumbling blocks due to the obvious financial uncertainty.”I was staring down the barrel of having played my last game, given the situation with Covid, all the uncertainty, finances, budgets… A lot of counties were coming back to me saying: ‘We’d love to have you, but finances [are the problem]. After staring the reality of not playing again in the face, I’m so excited now to be able to continue doing what I love for a living.”Wells would normally be playing grade cricket in Melbourne at this time of year, but has instead been packing boxes ahead of his move up north at the end of this week. His first day in pre-season training is on Monday, and after signing a two-year deal, he has some level of security at the club.He will have something to prove when he pulls on the red rose for the first time. After piling on over 1,200 Championship runs in 2017, Wells averaged in the mid-20s in both of the following two seasons, and admits that his performances “haven’t been at the level I would expect of myself”.He recalls a “eureka moment” in the nets while out of the Sussex side this summer, when he worked out that a technical flaw had crept in, and insists he can get back to his best after becoming “potentially a bit stale, without really realising it”. Following two seasons without a white-ball appearance, Wells’ cause may be helped by the anticipated absence of several Lancashire players during the One-Day Cup next season due to their involvement in the Hundred, and his legspin could come in useful, too.But for now, he is simply looking forward to playing the game again. “I don’t usually say stuff like ‘things happen for a reason’ – I’m not that type of guy. But I suppose going through something like this will, hopefully, give me a fresh lease of life and a challenge to embrace at Lancashire.”It’s very doubtful that I could come across a more stressful year than what this one has been, so I’m just going to try and enjoy every moment: the ups and the downs.”

He underwent scans after reporting soreness following the third ODI, where he bowled a spell of sustained short balls

Andrew McGlashan27-Sep-2024Australia face a nervous wait on the fitness of allrounder Cameron Green after he was ruled out of the final two ODIs against England with a back injury.Green underwent scans after reporting soreness following the third ODI in Durham, where he bowled a spell of sustained short balls, and will undergo further assessment on returning home to understand the full extent of the injury. He has already left the tour.”Cameron Green has sustained a back injury and will play no further part in the ODI tour of England,” a Cricket Australia statement said. “Scans in London overnight revealed the injury after Green reported soreness following the third ODI against England in Durham. He will return home for further assessment where his return to play management plan will be determined.”Green has previously suffered stress fractures of the back as he was coming through the domestic system and again in 2019, the year before he made his Test debut.”Obviously disappointing for him,” Travis Head said after the Lord’s ODI. “He’ll go home and get things sorted. I don’t know a hell of a lot of details but he’s been through these things before, Cam, it’s disappointing but he’ll know the way to get back.”While no timeline has yet been laid out for any potential layoff, if Green was sidelined for an extended period, it would have various knock-on effects to Australia’s planning for their home summer, and particularly the Test series against India, beyond the fact Green was appearing to re-establish himself in the Test side after the 174 not out in Wellington.Related

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He is currently a key figure amid the debate about the structure of Australia’s top order and where Steven Smith bats. If Green wasn’t available there would be a middle-order vacancy which would allow Smith back to No. 4 and the potential of a specialist opener coming in alongside Usman Khawaja.Earlier this month, head coach Andrew McDonald said the incumbent top six of Australia’s Test side would, barring injury, be the players who start the series against India but whether Smith will open was up for debate.If there was a need to bring in a player from outside that group it would open the door for the likes of Cameron Bancroft, Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris. Renshaw was the reserve batter during the series against West Indies and New Zealand earlier this year following David Warner’s retirement.Then there would be the loss of Green’s overs. Last month Pat Cummins talked about his expectations that Green and Mitchell Marsh would have a vital role to play in sharing the workload with Australia’s frontline attack during the Tests. If it was only bowling that proved an issue for Green there would be the option of playing him as a specialist batter.”We know with Cameron Green, he has had stress fractures in his back in the past. Let’s hope it’s not that,” Ricky Ponting said on . “They still have the option of playing him as a batsman if it’s not too bad.”Without Green’s bowling it would put the spotlight back on Marsh’s role. He had not bowled since picking up an injury during the IPL until taking the ball at Lord’s where he removed Will Jacks in his second over. Marsh’s lack of recent bowling had not been a significant concern for the limited-overs teams with a number of pace-bowling allrounders available.Green had been expected to feature in at least one Sheffield Shield match in October before the start of Australia’s home international season. Pakistan visit for T20Is and ODIs ahead of the Tests against India which start on November 22 in Perth.

Win or lose, hundreds or ducks, Virat Kohli will be the centrepiece of this Australia season. Before the summer of Kohli, here is a look at the making of Kohli

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide04-Dec-20181:17

Throwdowns and majestic pulls: Kohli hits the Adelaide nets

It is unlikely Virat Kohli will go for a pilgrimage to the WACA Stadium when India go to Perth for the second Test of this series. They will be playing at the new stadium instead. Chances are even more remote he remembers WACA Ground’s leaky basement gym that often doubled up as the press conference room. Or, actually, he probably does. We will come back to that.On a bleak day for India, on a proper Western Australian stinker of a day, Kohli revealed perhaps his truest self in a press conference under the dripping pipes in that gym back in 2011-12. Perth can do that to you. Sap you all over, rid you of all mental energy, leave you too exhausted to keep up a pretence.No video or transcription might be able to tell you this, but those present at the press conference detected a lump in his throat. This was a rookie under extreme pressure, part of a legendary but floundering batting line-up, with the leadership and pundits too scared to question the legends. Captain MS Dhoni didn’t want to drop one of the legends, but he also didn’t want to damage a young career. Amid calls to drop Kohli for Rohit Sharma, Dhoni persisted with Kohli, who scored 44 out of India’s 161 all out in the furnace.Kohli was sent out to the press conference, the statesmen missing in action again. “I don’t know why people were after me even after the first game,” he said. “I had scored two fifties before that in the match against West Indies [in Mumbai], and suddenly I was on the verge of being dropped after one match.”Scoring eight hundreds in one-day internationals can’t be a fluke. It’s international cricket as well. I don’t know why people have been questioning my technique or temperament so much. I have been playing at No. 3 in one-dayers, and I have not gone in to bat in very good situations in all of the 70 [odd] matches I have played. All of this is a learning curve for me. I am playing on difficult wickets, in Australia.”

“There has rarely ever been an Indian cricketer who loves the bull’s eye on his back this much. In fact he is among the few that don’t run away from it. You can question his decisions, but not the intent.”

This was raw emotion. Not corporate platitudes that he often speaks these days, which by the way might be necessary given the propensity of the media to stretch every word to its extreme limit for its newsworthiness. This was Kohli rallying against an unfair world, crying out for some patience, revealing a vulnerability. He had flipped the bird to the abusive SCG crowd in the Test before. A rookie was doing what the team’s elderly statesmen should have done for him: get the predators off his back.

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Kohli will surely go to Adelaide Oval. He went to Adelaide Oval a week after that emotional press conference, and scored India’s only century of the tour, no thanks to Zaheer Khan, who slogged wildly first ball, leaving No. 10 Ishant Sharma to see Kohli through to the mark. Kohli went to Adelaide Oval again four years later, and scored twin centuries in an emotion-filled match. He will go back to Adelaide Oval this week with the current best batsman in the world.1:40

Virat Kohli’s evolution as a Test batsman in 2018

He will also go back as one of the most recognisable faces in world cricket, and in Australia too. Before the recent G20, the German chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly needed a cheat sheet on Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. No Australian needs a cheat sheet on Kohli. Through tabloids they know whether Kohli flew to Adelaide with the rest of the team or not, and if his wife is here or not. On more serious medium, Ryan Harris, Jason Gillespie, Ricky Ponting, John Buchanan, Brett Lee, every current Australian player or part of team management at every press conference, anybody with anything to do with any cricket has been asked about how to keep Kohli quiet in the last week or so.It is a minor miracle they haven’t tried to find out his spiritual guru or his beard trimmer or soy milk supplier just yet. Well if he gets going, it could be a long summer, so don’t say you weren’t warned.

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Two days from this Adelaide Oval Test, India’s fast bowlers are putting the batsmen through their paces in the nets. This is a particularly intense session. The pitches are spicier than usual. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma are all in rhythm. They are perhaps bowling big no-balls; it is hard to tell from behind the nets, but they are real fast.KL Rahul is struggling for timing, M Vijay has been hit on the helmet by Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara is repeatedly getting hit high on the bat. Bumrah bowls to Kohli, who has looked the most comfortable of the lot. The three are about an hour into this bowling session, but the intensity is up. Bumrah gets one to squeeze underneath Kohli’s bat. He is caught on the back foot to a ball that stays only a touch low.”This was the old ball, maybe that’s why it stayed low,” Bumrah tells Kohli.”Should I have been forward?” asks Kohli.”No, it just stayed low.””If you see anything like that, please point it out. Don’t just say it stayed low.”Kohli is aware of all the attention on him. Moments earlier the cameras all perked up when he walked in to the net. The intensity picked up everywhere. Kohli knows of the elevated status that comes with this attention. Perhaps he hasn’t always been, but now he seems conscious of that. He is telling bowlers to be honest to him in their feedback.

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Many a journalist has made the mistake of judging a player’s character by his interactions with them. Yet, in Kohli’s case, his interactions are instructive. Kohli doesn’t cease being a competitor at press conferences, which by now should be a mundane activity for him. He speaks self-aggrandising PR, but it is easy to rile him up. He remembers who asked him tough questions when he lost, and gets back at them when he wins. It is like he can’t help himself get into a sledging contest even with the media.Imagine the man on the field. He must be a nightmare to compete against. He never forgets anything. He takes offence at the drop of a hat even if it doesn’t involve him. Joe Root will know that after Kohli’s response to the “bat drop”. He is the worst person to lose to. Which is why you can be under extra pressure when playing against him. Because it doesn’t end at losing. He will never be sheepish if you drop him. He will rub it in when he gets that hundred or that run-out or that win.Getty ImagesNobody in cricket today has as much bastard in him as Kohli. Root is embarrassed at celebrations. Kohli is never embarrassed at anything. He is a ruthless and remorseless competitor. He doesn’t regret making decisions. You can make bad selections – and he has made a few – but you can’t let it affect your performance on the field once you realise it.There has rarely ever been an Indian cricketer who loves the bull’s eye on his back this much. In fact he is among the few that don’t run away from it. You can question his decisions, but not the intent. He genuinely believes what he is doing is for the good of Indian cricket. With that righteousness comes anger at those who question him from the outside.Each one of his questionable decisions, meanwhile, has made the bull’s eye on his back brighter. By treating a legend of Indian cricket, Anil Kumble, the way he did, by dropping Ajinkya Rahane in the first Test in South Africa, by becoming the most openly powerful Indian captain, Kohli has to know he has made himself more than a few enemies. He would be extremely naïve to not know he gets what he wants because if or when India lose, he will be blamed. A sample of it was the convenient leak during the England series that Ravi Shastri, the coach who replaced Kumble, has been asked for explanation.This Australia tour and the World Cup next year remain his two biggest assignments. If India win neither this Test series against a severely depleted Australia nor the World Cup, leaks about Kohli will begin. Kohli still remains convinced about what he is doing. Convinced enough to keep taking that risk.

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All this also means Kohli is spending a lot of mental energy on even mundane things. He, though, thrives on it. He loves being in that heightened state of mind. He lives every ball, be it while he is batting, at the non-striker’s end or in the field. Mental energy is, of course, finite, but he knows mental energy comes down to physical energy and fitness.This is where you see how Kohli recognises he was born with a god-given skill, a talent, and that doesn’t make him special. Anybody could have been born with that quick eye and the co-ordination to go with it. It is what you do with that skill that makes you. What difference you make. How much better you get than the last generation. For that he pushes himself to the extreme limits to stay fully fit to compete for longer than others.Getty ImagesAll his yo-yo tests and special diets came good in the monumental Edgbaston hundred. More than anything, that innings was a testament to his reserves. With the ball seaming and swinging so much, with so much history between him and James Anderson, with another hellish spell from Anderson to survive in which he had to face 43 balls for just six runs, Kohli had to be exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally by the time he started to take control of the innings with just the tail for company.

“To be so detached from the result after having been so intense with the process and the execution is probably Kohli’s biggest achievement.”

Everybody gets reprieves, everybody enjoys some luck, but the really good ones are fit enough, alert enough, remorseless enough to take advantage of it. Don’t let your mind wander and think if you really deserve those runs after the drop. Stay there, live every ball, and make up for the earlier struggles. Out of the 92 runs that Kohli scored with Nos 10 and 11, his partners scored only six. This period of play involved sharp singles to manipulate the strike. Often he pushed the fifth ball of the over straight to mid-off and mocked them by finishing the single. This was an innings of a supremely fit cricketer, who made the most of the luck he had.

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There was a lot of analysis of Kohli’s luck during the England series. And he, as a batsman, had a fair amount of it; as a captain he lost five tosses. At one point, in the middle of the third Test, Anderson had drawn 53 false shots from Kohli without dismissing him, which is an incredible streak. To put it in perspective, that series produced a wicket for England every 10.41 times an Indian batsman was not in control. Then again, four years previously, Kohli was not in control only 54 times, but that was enough to dismiss him 10 times in that series.That series was one that left him at his lowest ebb. Such a series can make batsmen go crazy. They can make drastic technical changes and lose their own game. They can wallow in self-doubt. Kohli did nothing of that sort. He knew his game was good enough for flatter conditions, and he wasn’t due to face England-like conditions for the next three years. If his defensive poke to wide deliveries is his weakness, it also gives him the confidence to be able to cover-drive later, a shot that brings him tons of runs.When it came to the tougher conditions at the start of this year, Kohli still didn’t put away that shot. He found a way to score runs without dropping that defensive shot and the subsequent cover drives. He concentrated on making his strengths so strong that the bowlers were always under pressure. When you know the cost of missing your length is going to be huge, you are likelier to commit that mistake. There is also realisation in Kohli’s game of the part luck plays in sport. His last two England tours are examples.Athletes talk about making your own luck. It probably means you always be at your physical, mental and emotional best to capitalise on the luck when it does come your way. And don’t wallow when you are unlucky. Getting himself to a state where he is philosophical about failure must have been the toughest part for a man as intense as Kohli, but he seems to have mastered it now. To be so detached from the result after having been so intense with the process and the execution is probably Kohli’s biggest achievement. Not being so is not an option. Many a batsman has destroyed himself by fixating over the results. Kohli won’t.

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Two days to go to one of his two most significant challenges as captain – after having lost series in South Africa and England – Kohli is a relaxed man. The focus of the world sits easy with him. He is spending more time talking to the bowlers than on his batting in the nets. There are so many things that can go wrong. He can run into wretched luck, his bowlers can return to old form in Australia, his batting partners can fail, and if any of that happens that philosophical outlook can change because the enemies are growing and the rope is shortening.His team selections, his power in the board, his field placements, they are all under the scanner. The Australian media is going to try to drive the screw in if India don’t win the first Test. Amid all this he has to maintain his batting form. As a colleague of his, Krunal Pandya, put it, he has to keep competing against law of averages.That brings us back to what Kohli said seven years ago in the leaky WACA Ground gym. Surely he remembers it? Surely, he knew something about the future?”This is not the end of the world, this is not the last series that is ever going to be played. I have still got to be positive. I have still got to keep working hard and not think about if I am going to get dropped or if someone else is going to play in my place. I really have no control over that. I can only go out and bat. That’s all I am going to do.”

“It didn’t put any more pressure on me at all, being the only black player in the team; that would’ve been torture”

Firdose Moonda30-Jul-2024If Kagiso Rabada had kept thinking that he was the only black African player in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad, he would have gone through “torture” through the tournament. He said bearing that burden “didn’t put any more pressure on me at all”. Instead, Rabada embraced his role and encouraged a broader discussion on issues of transformation.”I’m a black player, yes. If I don’t feel like I should have been there on merit and if people don’t feel that way, then it’s fine. I’m not invincible. I can be dropped as well but I believe in myself,” Rabada said from Trinidad, where South Africa are preparing for a two-Test series against West Indies.Asked whether he was aware of the focus being put on the numbers of players in the squad – and in particular the black African contingent – and whether that created more expectation on him, Rabada said, “It didn’t put any more pressure on me at all. It would be such a heavy thought, during a World Cup, thinking about yourself being the only black player in a team. That seems like torture for me. That just takes away from focus.”Related

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If there’s one thing South Africa were at the tournament, it was focused. They enjoyed their most successful men’s World Cup and went on an unbeaten eight-match run to reach their first final. They lost, narrowly, to India but earned praise for their progress. However, they also faced criticism from various political and administrative quarters over the composition of the squad, which was also a major discussion point at CSA’s recent Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Indaba (DEI conference).CSA has acknowledged the failure of its policies to produce sufficient black African players, in particular, for the national squad, and has promised to respond to white-ball coach Rob Walter’s plea for the domestic system to “up the ante” ahead of the home World Cup in 2027. But the board also recognises the need to keep the current transformation numbers at an acceptable level for the sports ministry to be happy and has had to answer questions over why its T20 World Cup 2024 squad included only one black African player. So Rabada understands why he is in the spotlight.”These are certain challenges [we face] and you ask a valid question because you wonder how players must have felt in the past, how players in the future might feel. And these are things we need to address,” he said. “For me, it was just about winning [the World Cup]. But for other players, you never know how it feels. And also, what the media has to say about the situation can really mess up the players’ psychology or psyche. Those are certain things that we have to make peace with in South Africa because there’s a very unique landscape. And this whole transformation thing, it always seems to bubble up when we’re at World Cups for some reason.”A quick history lesson: South Africa have had transformation targets in place since 1999, seven years after readmission, which means the impetus to change has existed for 25 years. Initially, the national team was required to field four players of colour (any players who were not white) in every XI but since 2016, the target has become more specific but less rigid. Now, the national men’s team is required to field, on average over the course of a season, six players of colour of which at least two must be black African.The calculation of the target as an average means that the numbers do not apply to individual games, which meant they could go into the T20 World Cup with only six players of colour in the squad, and just one black African, but make up the target elsewhere in the season. This was the first time since 2016 that a South African World Cup squad only had six players of colour and the first time since 2015 that they have only had one black African player.Kagiso Rabada and South Africa fell at the final hurdle at the T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty Images

It was in fact, the 2015 ODI World Cup that caused a rethink, after Aaron Phangiso – the only black African player in that squad – went through the tournament without playing. It was also the 2015 World Cup where the transformation agenda resulted in interference in selection when then CEO Haroon Lorgat called coach Russell Domingo the night before the semi-final to remind him of the commitment to fielding four players of colour in each XI. Vernon Philander was then picked ahead of Kyle Abbott for the match against New Zealand.At this T20 World Cup, South Africa only ever fielded four players of colour per XI, and only one black African – Rabada. Although it was never explicitly stated that Rabada would be expected to play every game, had South Africa gone into a match without him, they would have had no black Africans in the side. He ended as their second-highest wicket-taker behind Anrich Nortje.The inclusion of Rabada, as a South African all-time great, in XIs is hardly ever up for debate but he explained there may be instances in which players of colour have cause to question themselves.”You ask yourself, what are some of these factors that might make a player feel that way [that they are only included because of their colour], and it’s factors such as we lost because of transformation or because we had to include players of colour or black Africans. And that always happens in World Cups,” he said. “When we’re winning series and we’re winning or losing other games, it’s not so much of an issue, so that’s where it might be a bit inconsistent. And if you ask yourself truthfully, looking back in the past, have we not won a World Cup because of transformation? You know, I mean, like, really? So sometimes things can get blown out of proportion.”Looking at 2015, it cannot be argued that South Africa lost because of transformation. The selection interference came in the semi-final, and there’s no knowing how they would have played against Australia in a final in Melbourne.The 2022 T20 World Cup was different, where South Africa committed to picking an underperforming Temba Bavuma, because he was the captain. But they had little chance of lifting the trophy in any case. They were eliminated in the group stage after losing to Netherlands in one of their worst World Cup shows.So Rabada, and CSA DEI Mudutambi Ravele, who last week asked whether the 2024 T20 World Cup squad did well “because they didn’t have black players” are right: South Africa have not lost a World Cup because of transformation. But there are still discussions to be had about how best to manage the issue of redress and a player like Rabada, who carries the current baton for black cricketing excellence, understands that.”It’s a unique system and a lot of people have different opinions on it because of where our country comes from,” he said. “And it’s not a system that is particularly easy to just understand and move on from. It’s something that has to be looked at in context.”And he is also able to separate those thoughts from the idea of celebrating achievement in whatever colour it comes. Asked to respond to South African swimmer Tatjana Smith winning the Olympic Games gold in the 100-metre breaststroke in Paris, Rabada did not miss a beat in celebrating her while identifying the similarities and differences between them.”She’s been making us proud. She’s phenomenal and really inspiring. When I look at that as an athlete, it makes me want to achieve the same feat,” he said. “She’s a white swimmer and I’m a black man, but as an athlete and as someone who wants to aspire to be better and better, I think she’s done a remarkable job. And people are watching. And they want to emulate that. Whatever field that they’re in, they just want to do the same things that these people are doing, representing us all over the world.”

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ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2018