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England spinner hopes to play big role in Somerset’s relaunch, as thoughts turn to Heather Knight’s successor

Valkerie Baynes27-Mar-2025Heather Knight’s departure as England Women’s captain last week inevitably sent a set of names fluttering around with absolutely no conviction as her replacement and all carried more arguments against than for.But there is a name, spoken more quietly than the others – much like herself, which is perhaps why she hasn’t gained more traction in the debate: Charlie Dean.A 24-year-old offspinning allrounder with 82 England caps, Dean is a new recruit for Somerset in Tier 1 of the rebuilt women’s domestic structure, a competition which has among its chief functions producing and nurturing national-team players.She has bought a house in the area, becoming what she describes as a “real adult” in the process, after coming up through the ranks at Hampshire Women and Southern Vipers.”This is a very young team and the set-up down here is brilliant,” Dean told ESPNcricinfo at Somerset’s pre-season media day. “That really brought me in to potentially play a role with bat and ball and hopefully have some match-winning contributions. Changing to the county system, it was almost the perfect time for that transition.”Sophie Luff is captain at Somerset, where Knight will also play, which limits Dean’s opportunities to further develop her leadership skills.There is also a question over whether England can pin the captaincy on their second-choice spinner. Dean forms part of a three-pronged spin attack with Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn which was expected to do great things at the T20 World Cup but, along with other departments – including fielding in particular – fell short as England were knocked out in the group stage.”It’s nice to be held in high regard in that way,” Dean said of talk about her taking on the England captaincy. “If I’m learning and getting better and growing into leadership roles when the opportunity comes, I encourage that. Whether I’m ready for that yet, I’m not sure, but it’s nice to be held in those conversations. I think I’ve still got a bit of growth to go.”Dean was part of England’s grim campaigns at the T20 World Cup and the Ashes•Getty ImagesLet’s look at the names already out there.Nat Sciver-Brunt, the current vice-captain, has expressed predictable willing when asked but didn’t fully grasp the role in England’s time of need when Knight went down with a calf injury during their T20 World Cup exit, and was also found wanting when, with Knight again injured, the side fell short of a medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.Amy Jones, thrust into the role when Knight was injured and Sciver-Brunt was taking a mental wellbeing break later in that 2022 season, said at the time that on-field leadership was “definitely not something that comes naturally to me”.Ecclestone, also part of the team’s leadership group under Knight, shoulders huge responsibility in the bowling attack and might need to polish her technique in interviews – when she gives them. Her apparent refusal to talk to former team-mate turned commentator Alex Hartley during the ill-fated Ashes tour has been frowned upon by the management.Related

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Grace Scrivens, the former England Under-19 and Sunrisers captain, is set to lead Essex in the new era of domestic cricket. Earlier this week, she captained England A to victory in the first T20I in Australia, but is just 21 and hasn’t played a senior game for her country. Without massive buy-in from all of the above, what hope does she have to exert influence and control on a team buckling under what senior bowler Kate Cross described recently as “cultural” issues?Tammy Beaumont, the hugely experienced opening batter, would be an excellent choice but realistically only for a limited time at the age of 34. It doesn’t help that she has hasn’t managed to regain her place in the T20I line-up.And yet, while Dean is adding her voice to those not jumping at the England captaincy, and hasn’t spoken to anyone at the ECB about the prospect, her quiet, thoughtful manner has a knack of encouraging people to listen.Dean and Sophie Ecclestone are part of England’s vaunted spin attack•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesPlus, she has some experience, having captained London Spirit during the same Knight absence that thrust Jones into the England role briefly, and she has also led the England A side.Dean said she was shocked by Knight’s removal as England skipper in the wake of the 16-0 Ashes drubbing after nine years in the role.While the pair will be team-mates at Somerset, there is a further line of symmetry – through her long association with Southern Vipers and Hampshire – with Charlotte Edwards, the favourite to replace England head coach Jon Lewis, who lost his job the day before Knight.The ECB haven’t given a timeline for naming a replacement captain or coach but, in the meantime, there is a chance for candidates to make their cases.”There’s probably been statements that there are no other natural leaders in our team,” Dean said. “I think everyone leads in their own way. It’s now a great opportunity for those people to come through and hold their hands up.”Everyone’s had their specific role with Heather – Nat as vice-captain and Amy and Sophie Ecclestone all had their roles on the pitch. We’re not shy of those characters, but it’s almost giving more opportunities for them to, I guess, flourish in roles that maybe aren’t as natural.”It came as a bit of a shock to me. So it’ll be interesting how this next year goes.”And Dean, part of England’s ill-fated Ashes campaign, admits there’s only one acceptable direction of travel.”Well, the only way’s up isn’t it, in terms of performances? It’s just a sense of excitement and feel that there’s maybe a new era coming,” she said. “Impressing the new head coach is probably the way you go about it.”Cricket’s always full of up and downs, isn’t it? You can score a hundred one week and then get a duck the next. So it’s always humbling. We’ve maybe been humbled a bit more than we wanted to be this winter, which is disappointing, and you can’t look past that.”We didn’t perform as well as we wanted to, but I think that also brings in a sense of refreshment and renewal. You can draw a line under that and look towards putting in some good performances for your county before the England international stuff picks up again. It’s a great opportunity to assess where you’re at with domestic talent in this country, and put a line in the sand and just concentrate on getting better and performing.”

A superb 50-over player, he will leave a big hole to fill as Australia build towards the 2027 World Cup

Alex Malcolm06-Mar-20252:29

Manjrekar: We will see an even better version of Smith in Tests now

In 2024, Cricket Australia held a fan poll to rename their One-Day domestic competition after one of it’s greatest 50-over players.Criteria included performances both domestically and internationally. As a current player, Steven Smith wasn’t eligible in the vote (Dean Jones was the worthy winner) but upon Smith’s retirement from the format, it is worth reflecting on a formidable 50-over record that has sometimes slipped under the radar.It is appropriate, whether by design or otherwise, that Smith has bowed out of ODI cricket while still being committed to playing Tests. It allows people to both notice and appreciate how good his one-day career was, given his 50-over record lives in the shadows of one of the most extraordinary Test careers of the modern age. He was pivotal to two World Cup wins. He was twice Australia’s ODI player of the year. His standing among Australia’s best in the format is undersold.Related

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His ODI career was only one year shorter in length than Ricky Ponting’s, yet he played 204 fewer ODIs, which speaks to the proliferation of T20I cricket post 2010 at the expense of the 50-over game and the format’s lesser relevance outside of global events.Purely by average, Smith ranks as Australia’s greatest ODI No. 3. He is also in fine company globally among just six men to average more than 50 at No. 3 in ODI cricket, alongside Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Viv Richards, Faf du Plessis and Kane Williamson.It was no surprise, then, to read the reactions of some of his team-mates on social media to his sudden exit from the 50-over game. David Warner, a fellow Australia ODI great, said Smith is the “best player I’ve played alongside in my career” without any format caveats.Shane Watson, whose ODI batting record is almost the equal of Smith’s, wrote of how “effortless” Smith made difficult ODI batting look, highlighting the 2015 World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan, when Watson was being “absolutely peppered” by the quickest bowling he’d ever faced, from Wahab Riaz. Smith looked like Neo in at the other end, making Wahab’s bullets stand still as he cruised to a match-winning 64.Two-time ODI World Cup winners – Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner, and Mitchell Marsh – strike a pose with the trophy•ICC/Getty ImagesWatson also referenced Smith’s next innings, in the semi-final against India, where he scorched 105 off 93 balls to help set Australia on a path to a home title.Those two innings perhaps best encapsulate Smith’s ODI batting. There is an assumption that his short-form method is just an extension of his Test-match brilliance. He has long been the insurance policy to a poor start, using his technical skill and savant-like game awareness to sum up the conditions, accumulate with minimal risk and set up the innings for others to finish.

High-class No. 3 and 4 batters are like gold dust in ODI cricket. T20 specialists have time and again proven inadequate to handle the range of scenarios those batters face in the medium-length version of the game

But Smith’s ability to move through the gears is underappreciated. He could step on the accelerator when needed and had a greater ability than raise the pace against the opposition’s best bowlers.In that semi-final innings, he dragged Aaron Finch along in a 182-run stand, of which Smith scored 105, as Finch crawled at a strike rate of just 69.82. Australia posted 328 for 7, which proved 95 too many. Smith’s record in ODI World Cup knockout matches is unrivalled. That golden three-match run in 2015 finished with him hitting the winning runs at the MCG.His last three ODI hundreds also showcased his extraordinary range. He plundered back-to-back centuries off 62 balls against India in 2020. In 2022, on an incredibly tricky pitch in Cairns, he made 105 off 131 to help Australia defeat New Zealand in a game where no other player passed 52.Steven Smith was superb at being able to change gears•Getty ImagesHis impact wasn’t just with the bat. Smith’s name does not come front of mind when a list of Australia’s greatest ODI fielders is called for. You couldn’t compile an hour-long highlights package of all his direct hits, like former YouTuber Rob Moody once did for Ponting. But some of Smith’s catching was otherworldly. He was Glenn Phillips before Glenn Phillips at backward point, taking one-handed grabs at full stretch like they were routine.All this from a player who was initially selected as a legspinning allrounder and did not bat in 11 of his first 36 ODIs before his first innings at No. 3. He only bowled 11 times in his last 134 matches thereafter.As captain, his tactical nous was often on display, right up to his final match as he tried to marshal an inexperienced attack against India’s batting behemoths, but a defining moment eluded him. Smith led Australia in 64 ODIs from 2015 to 2025. Only Ponting, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and Michael Clarke have done so on more occasions. All five of those captained Australia to a World Cup final and four secured seven titles between them. Smith was the only one to not lead his country in a World Cup. The leadership ban imposed after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal meant he was ineligible for the 2019 edition, and by 2023 Pat Cummins had taken over.Steven Smith made two 62-ball hundreds in three days against India in 2020•Getty ImagesHis ODI retirement can be viewed one of two ways. Optimists are hoping it will extend his Test career. Pessimists would suggest this an indicator that the end is closer than Australia would hope. Smith referenced being committed to the home Ashes at the end of this year but nothing beyond that, despite saying “I feel I still have a lot to contribute on that stage.”The task of replacing him in the ODI side is hard enough without contemplating the cavernous hole he will leave in the Test side. Australia haven’t been able to replace Warner adequately yet in any format. It took two years for Smith to emerge as Ponting’s heir at No. 3 in ODI cricket. Australia only have two years to complete another such search before the next World Cup.High-class No. 3 and 4 batters are like gold dust in ODI cricket. T20 specialists have time and again proven inadequate to handle the range of scenarios those batters face in the medium-length version of the game.Smith was Australia’s ODI Swiss Army knife. Reliable and adaptable. They never went anywhere or succeeded in anything without him. He might never have a 50-over trophy named after him, but it will be very difficult for Australia to win their next one without him.

Australia thumped 13 sixes to two against South Africa despite slumping to 75 for 6 after batting first for the first time in their new power-based era

Alex Malcolm11-Aug-2025

Tim David launched eight sixes in his 83•AFP

. It hasn’t been an edict that has been formally declared either internally or publicly by Australia’s T20I team, but the actions of their batters are speaking loudly at the moment. No matter the scenario, no matter the number in the wickets column, Australia’s batters are trying to hit their way to victory with spectacular results so far.On Sunday in Darwin, Australia’s foot-to-the-floor method was put to its sternest test to date, having not batted first in any of the games in the Caribbean.Mitchell Marsh, with a moon shot that might as well have been a bat signal, launched the first ball of the match for six over mid-off to set the agenda for the night.When they lost two wickets in three balls across the second and third overs, Marsh kept going. When Marsh fell to leave Australia 30 for 3 after 3.1 overs, Cameron Green and Tim David showed no sign of slowing. David skipped down the track to his second ball from Kagiso Rabada and lofted him straight for six. Green smashed four fours and three sixes in a 13-ball 35. When he skied one, Australia were 70 for 4 after 5.5 overs.Related

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Mitch Owen tried to launch his fourth ball out of Darwin. Glenn Maxwell tried to do the same with his fifth. Australia were 75 for 6 in the eighth over and in danger of being bowled out for under 100.David got a little more selective as the lone specialist batter left standing when he was joined by Ben Dwarshuis. But with Dwarshuis good enough to feed him the strike with minimal risk, David was able pick his match-ups and club eight sixes in total to score 83 from 52 and help Australia post a match-winning total of 178.”It’s obviously not the team plan to be four down within six overs, but that happens at times,” David said post-game. “We’ve got what we believe is a great calibre of batters in our batting order, and we back each guy to make the right decisions.”We’ve been playing together as a group now for a while, so there’s not a great deal of instruction from the coaches. They trust the players. We trust ourselves to go out there and we understand the game situation and we make decisions on the fly, because that’s the nature of T20 cricket.”I think if you’d watched our guys bat over the last period, wherever they bat around the world and when they play for the Australian team, it’s close to all guns blazing. So, yeah, you can probably expect to see that a little bit from our team. That’s how we think we play best.”Start as you mean to go on: Mitchell Marsh hit the first ball of the match for six•Getty ImagesThe sight of David turning down singles with plenty of balls left in the innings, and a capable batter at the other end just as he had done in the Caribbean, might have looked odd at the time. But there is a clear method to it. David believes that even two sixes, three dots and a single off the last ball in an over where he faces all six deliveries is a better use of his talent and a better mathematical outcome than five singles and one six in the over.Australia struck 13 sixes in total to South Africa’s two on Sunday. And while South Africa faced 13 fewer dot balls during their chase – 46 to Australia’s 59 – the net outcome was a 17-run win to the home side. In the Caribbean, they hit 64 sixes to West Indies’ 53 across the series to win 5-0. They hit more sixes in three of the five games, were level in one and one short in another, but also never faced the full allotment of overs compared to West Indies given they chased in every game.This is not a new method of playing T20 cricket. Australia aren’t proclaiming to have reinvented the wheel. But it is a different method for a team that has been traditionally quite conservative in the shortest form and it’s led them to nine-straight T20I wins, a record for Australia in the format.They took lessons from the most recent T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, where the batting fell well short of the mark. The retirement of David Warner, who had become a T20 anchor in his latter years, and the non-selection of Steven Smith have led to a clear shift in method. There was once a desire to have a left-hander, like the retired Matthew Wade, permanently positioned in the middle-order for fear of being exposed by a legspinner or a left-arm orthodox, and that conservative thinking has also been shelved.Cameron Green has shown his power in the middle order•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty ImagesPacking the middle order with long levers and brute power to the point where Maxwell was listed at No. 7 on Sunday has been eye-opening. Green’s intent at No. 4 has been jaw-dropping. David has made his two highest T20I scores for Australia in his last three matches since moving to No. 5, including a 37-ball century and facing the most balls he ever has in a T20 game against South Africa. Owen has applied his successful powerplay hitting from the BBL into a new role at No. 6 without changing a thing.It is no coincidence too that the style is similar to what Sunrisers Hyderabad have done in the two recent IPLs, given Australia’s bowling coach Daniel Vettori is Sunrisers head coach, Pat Cummins is their captain and Head is their opening batter. Vettori is not with Australia in this series as he is coaching Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred, another team that has pushed to be a higher boundary percentage batting unit than their opponents at various stages in recent years.If the coming T20 World Cup were to be played on Australia’s bouncy pitches and huge boundaries, it might be a method that could leave them vulnerable more often as it did last night. But Australia are looking at the conditions in India and believing this is a method that will bring them the success they crave. The 2021 T20 World Cup title currently sits as a one-off. Australia did not advance beyond the group stage or the Super Eights in the two editions since.The major question, as it was with Sunrisers and Phoenix in 2024, is can it stand up in knock-out finals? The other question that Australia are keen to find an answer to is whether it translates to lower-scoring spinning surfaces in Sri Lanka, given they could be drawn to play there more often in the World Cup compared to some of the pristine batting surfaces in India.They’ll find out at some point. In the meantime, it’s all guns blazing.

With India’s next WTC fixture slated for August 2026, here are five ways they can bounce back after the bruising at the hands of SA, and earlier, NZ

Karthik Krishnaswamy28-Nov-20251:38

What are the remedial steps for team India?

Bin the rank turner

What is the ideal home pitch for India? What is the best type of surface to heighten their relative strengths over their opposition? This debate has made India go back and forth between square turners and true batting surfaces multiple times over the last decade, and the two pitches against South Africa, in Kolkata and Guwahati, only showed that neither kind can neutralise the threat of a strong opposition.Two things must be noted, though. South Africa’s victory came on the back of all-timer performances by a visiting fast bowler (Marco Jansen) and a visiting spinner (Simon Harmer) in India. Not too many touring teams can call on attacks that good; most times, India are likely to have the better attack for Indian conditions. It remains in their interests, notwithstanding what happened in Guwahati, to broaden rather than narrow that gap in skill and depth between their attack and the visiting attack. This, as this in-depth study from the analyst Himanish Ganjoo shows, is best achieved on pitches with balance between bat and ball.Related

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There will be losses to good teams, and times when losing the toss hurt India. But those things can happen on sharp turners too.More importantly, good batting pitches with true bounce are better for India’s long-term development. They incentivise the team to pick batters who have the all-round game to score hundreds against good bowling, and fast bowlers and spinners who aren’t just putting the ball on a spot and expecting the pitch to do the rest.On these pitches, players can believe that good processes will beget good outcomes in the long run. This is particularly important for batters; it becomes extremely difficult to trust your processes if you are doing everything right and averaging 20 over a season because the pitches are treacherous. Selection also tends to become more reactionary in these situations.6:22

‘Gambhir took the blame because he felt curators should not be blamed’

For a team in transition, selection will need to be anything but reactionary. India need to pick their best players and give them time to prove themselves. This is definitely a more straightforward process when pitches allow you to judge players properly.

Ensure allrounders tick the primary-skill box

Axar Patel’s selection in Kolkata made a lot of sense in theory. A fast, accurate left-arm spinner on a turning pitch against a team full of right-hand batters. An excellent lower-order batter with multiple gears, particularly against spin.India starting day three of the match with Axar and Ravindra Jadeja in tandem also made sense in theory.But watching Corbin Bosch play out Axar comfortably, and watching Axar struggle to test the right-handers’ outside edge right through that spell, showed that theory can only go so far. This was clearly a bowler who had played his last Test match in February 2024, and his only first-class match since then in September 2024. This was clearly a bowler who hadn’t taken more than two wickets in a first-class innings since December 2022.

If Axar is too valuable a white-ball asset to give him time to develop his red-ball game, India should perhaps not pick him for Tests

Axar is a fine cricketer, but he hasn’t been a genuine Test bowler for a while. He gets into India’s home squads because he’s never expected to be the lead spinner, because he usually only plays as a third spinner — in Kolkata he was one of four — and is picked as much, or more, for his batting than his bowling.Being able to call on three spin-bowling allrounders in Jadeja, Axar and Washington Sundar at home can be a luxury. The batting depth provided by R Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar proved to be a cheat code for India during their 2023 home series against Australia, rescuing them from a number of hairy situations.Axar barely bowled during that series, though, even though the pitches were extremely spin-friendly. Even on those pitches, the gaps in his bowling were clear when you watched what Ashwin and Jadeja did from their ends.Axar only played four first-class matches between that series and this one against South Africa. It’s not his fault, because he’s a white-ball regular, but India will have to figure out what to do about this situation. If he’s too valuable a white-ball asset to give him time to develop his red-ball game, India should perhaps not pick him for Tests.1:07

What’s the verdict on Washington Sundar at No. 3?

Washington presents a different case. He has had an extremely unusual early-career trajectory — batter at junior level, new-ball spinner when he broke through in the IPL, white-ball specialist who hadn’t played a first-class match in three-and-a-half years when he made his accidental Test debut at the Gabba in January 2021 — which is now mirrored by his shifting role from Test match to Test match. He batted only once in the two Tests against West Indies, and batted at No. 3 in his very next Test match, in Kolkata. He bowled just the one over in that game, followed by 48 in Guwahati.The thing about Washington is that he is capable of doing everything he’s asked to do, and do it competently. He is a cricketer of frightening ability. Whether it’s the match-saving century at Old Trafford, the crucial wickets in England or the long hours of high-control batting in Kolkata, the things he’s done are impressive but never surprising.But sometimes he can look like an offspinner who’s only taken 99 wickets in 46 first-class matches. He goes through a fair share of tidy but unthreatening spells, and spends long hours out of the attack when two right-handers are at the crease — imagine that ever happening to Ashwin. He often looks like the third spinner in a three-spinner attack, and in Kolkata like the fourth spinner in a four-spinner attack.3:45

Did India pick one spinner too many at Eden Gardens?

What do India do about a player like him? Perhaps the obvious answer is what they did in Kolkata. Washington has the game to bat in the top order, so India may be best served picking him as a batter, and using his bowling regularly but not counting him among their bowlers when they pick their XIs. This would ensure they don’t look short of wicket-taking options in conditions that don’t suit him, but always have his offspin around should they need it.The third young — or youngish; Axar is in his early 30s now — allrounder in India’s squad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, presents the most straightforward case. After two series of batting behind the other allrounders and barely bowling at all, it must be clear to India that he does not merit selection in home Tests — not yet anyway. And while he certainly has the potential to be a Test allrounder in the future, are India really developing that potential by playing him in home Tests, and not using him, when he could be getting innings and overs under the belt in domestic cricket?

Develop genuine spinners

Anyone bowling in the same match as Harmer in Kolkata and Guwahati was at a disadvantage. Even spinners as good as Jadeja and Keshav Maharaj looked inadequate in comparison.For India, though, Harmer was a reminder of a bowler who had been an ever-present in home Tests until this season, Ashwin, a fingerspinner who could take wickets in a variety of ways across a variety of conditions, with old ball and new, by bowling quick and attacking the stumps on turning pitches, by beating batters with drift and dip on flatter tracks.The predominant trend of square turners in Ashwin’s final years possibly led to India losing sight of the difference between him and Jadeja on the one hand and Washington and Axar on the other. Ashwin and Jadeja, as good as they were with the bat, were automatic picks in India’s home XIs even purely as bowlers.2:55

‘Harmer in India better than Lyon, Swann’

This is not the case with Axar and Washington, and it becomes clearer when they bowl on flatter tracks.Who are India’s best genuine red-ball spinners after Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav?Running through the list of spinners who have played for India A in recent years presents a slightly concerning picture, with all three non-Test spinners selected this year — Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar — falling under the allrounder category.These may well be the best domestic spinners India have, but if not, Harmer’s displays should make the selectors ask themselves whether they are prioritising utility or all-conditions wicket-taking skills.

Identify the best middle-order candidates, and stick with them

It was no accident that Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma took over India’s middle order from Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. Even two or three years before the old guard began to exit the Test stage, these were the younger names tipped to take over by most seasoned watchers of Indian cricket.Now, with all of Pujara, Kohli, Rahane and Rohit (who finished as an opener) done with Test cricket, there is no obvious next generation of specialist middle-order batters, barring Shubman Gill at No. 4. Shreyas Iyer, whose back issues have put his red-ball career at an impasse for the moment, was perhaps the last batter other than Gill who was widely tipped to have a long stint in India’s middle order.Since Iyer’s debut in 2021-22, India’s middle-order debutants have been Suryakumar Yadav, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal and B Sai Sudharsan. Sarfaraz is the only one of the five to average above 50 in first-class cricket.4:14

Are India selecting Test players based on their white-ball performances?

This is a complete breakaway from the history of selection in Indian cricket. While there has always been the odd exception, an eye-catching first-class record over a decent sample size has generally been a prerequisite for Test selection.There are reasons for the departure from this long-established norm. With the increase of teams in the Ranji Trophy and a possible dilution of talent in consequence, and with pitches often tailored to home teams’ needs at a given point in a season, the selectors have come to view runs and wickets in this tournament as a less reliable barometer for selection than performances for India A.And with the IPL and even state-run T20 leagues pulling the best raw talent in the country towards honing their white-ball rather than red-ball skills, the selectors perhaps also feel the batters best equipped to handle pace and spin bowling at Test level — the ones with the best judgment of length, above all, who give the illusion of having more time — may not have particularly good first-class records or even play that much first-class cricket.Because of this, though, and because India have multi-skilled players such as Jadeja, Washington and Dhruv Jurel who are good enough to bat in the top six, the selectors have ended up having to answer some uncomfortable questions.4:37

Karim: ‘You need specialists to do well in Test cricket’

As good as Washington is, would he be batting at No. 3 ahead of a specialist in a previous era? As good as Jurel is, and as irresistible as his form may be, would he be playing ahead of the specialist middle-order reserve in an India squad from a previous era? And how good is that specialist middle-order reserve if he is getting left out for a lower-order batter simply because he bats left-handed?Having gone through these questions, if the selectors still feel Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal are the best middle-order batters in India other than Gill, this is the time to stick with them. That might, in itself, be the hardest call to make.But beyond the next Test selection, there are broader questions to address. If the selectors and team management feel the Ranji Trophy isn’t a good-enough indicator of player quality, it might be time for the BCCI to turn it into the best tournament it could be. This could mean changing the tournament format, or setting stringent standards for pitches, or – here’s a radical thought – increasing match fees to a point where the best talent in the country is clamouring to be part of it.

Don’t take the eye off the red ball

Between now and their next WTC Test in August, India have a T20 World Cup to prepare for and defend. They have ODIs to play, involving Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. There is an IPL season too.White-ball cricket will dominate the domestic scene for a while too, with the Ranji Trophy taking a mid-season break until mid-January.India next play a Test in Sri Lanka and that’s a while away•BCCIIndia have the same coaching staff and the same selectors for white-ball and red-ball cricket, and all of them will have a lot of white-ball cricket to keep their minds on in this period. But they will have reviewed the defeats to South Africa, and identified areas of concern they will want to address by the time India play their next Test. The addressing will have to begin as soon as possible.It could mean finding ways for the best red-ball players in the country to keep playing matches even outside the Ranji Trophy windows. It could mean arranging A tours after the Ranji final in late February, and between the IPL and the Sri Lanka tour.Whatever India do, they will not want to be caught off-guard by a better-prepared and better-equipped Sri Lanka – who might well have brighter prospects of making the WTC final at that stage – when they begin that tour.

Pakistan brought in Hussain Talat and Faheem Ashraf for Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2025Toss India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to field in the Asia Cup Super Fours match against Pakistan keeping in mind the dew in Dubai. He said there was a lot of dew around when India trained on the eve of the match.India went back to their first-choice XI, bringing back Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy. Out went Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh, who played against Oman once India had ensured their qualification for the Super Fours stage. As expected, Axar Patel was fit for the match after he went off the field with a blow to the head during the game against Oman.Pakistan, who had chosen to bat first in historically bowl-first conditions in their group game against India last Sunday, were looking to correct themselves had they won the toss, but didn’t get the opportunity to make that choice. Pakistan made two changes themselves, bringing in Hussain Talat and Faheem Ashraf for Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah. That meant Haris Rauf stayed in the XI. Both Talat and Ashraf are seam-bowling allrounders.The captains didn’t shake hands with each other or match referee Andy Pycroft at the toss.Pakistan: 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Mohammad Haris (wk), 6 Hussain Talat, 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Mohammad Nawaz, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed.India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Everton are reportedly exploring a move to sign James Ward-Prowse, who has been frozen out at West Ham United ever since the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Toffees are making a habit of offering transfer lifelines, having welcomed Jack Grealish on loan from Manchester City in the summer and since been linked with Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee.

Their decision to sign Grealish on loan in the summer has so far gone as well as they could have wished. The Premier League winner has been back to his very best form for the most part and is likely to play a crucial part in the outcome of Everton’s season.

Full of praise for his summer arrival, Everton boss David Moyes recently told talkSPORT: “Jack’s been really good. He’s helped us maintain the ball more, we’re up on numbers in terms of possession.

“His goals have been huge, I’m sort of driving home to him that it’s good being an assist maker but it’s even better being a goalscorer. He’s given us a real strength in how he plays.

“He and Iliman Ndiaye have played really, really well and probably changed the way we are, we wanted to evolve and become better and both those players give us that opportunity.

Everton hatch striker plan as Moyes moves for star with 18 goals this season

The Toffees’ strikers have struggled to convert and they now have a clinical star in their sights.

By
Sean Markus Clifford

Nov 9, 2025

“He’s an incredible character, loves his football, watches and listens, which a lot of the modern players don’t so much, but Jack loves his football and Tuchel’s got a really difficult job [picking the squad].”

With Zirkzee already linked with a similar move from Man United and now Ward-Prowse emerging as a target, 2026 could be all about the revival of impressive players in Merseyside.

Everton now exploring Ward-Prowse move

As reported by TeamTalk’s Dean Jones, Everton are now exploring a move to sign Ward-Prowse in January. The midfielder has been given the cold shoulder by Nuno ever since the manager arrived at West Ham and is now almost “certain” to move on from the London club.

A reunion with Moyes could, therefore, be on the cards. Ward-Prowse played 51 games under the Scot during their time together at West Ham, scoring seven goals and assisting another 11 in an impressive run. Now frozen out in London, his former manager could hand him a much-needed lifeline.

It’s easy to forget the quality that the former Southampton star can offer these days, but it’s worth remembering that Ward-Prowse is only one free-kick goal away from equalling David Beckham’s Premier League record of 18 direct goals. That’s the unique quality that he could offer Everton, who would suddenly take their set-pieces to a whole new level.

Moyes knows all about Ward-Prowse’s specialty, having been full of praise for the midfielder at West Ham – telling reporters in 2023: “We could have scored four or five from corner kicks.

“We’ve been a decent side from set pieces, maybe without the word “specialist”, but I think we’ve got a specialist now in Ward-Prowse. He’s contributing to us and our results at the moment.”

Joshua Zirkzee now a priority target for Everton as Arsenal refuse Gabriel Jesus sale

Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal has declared his ambition to win "everything," including the World Cup, Champions League, and Ballon d'Or, after receiving the Di Stéfano Award for the best player of the 2024-25 season by Marca. The 18-year-old star, who recently returned to partial training after a pubalgia issue, also expressed his excitement for Barcelona's historic return to Camp Nou against Athletic Club.

• Yamal eyes historic treble and Ballon d'Or

  Despite being only 18, the Barcelona winger has already begun amassing individual accolades, surpassing established stars like Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr., as well as teammates Pedri and Raphinha, for the award.

  When asked about his goals for the upcoming 2026 season, which includes challenges with Barcelona in La Liga and the Champions League, and with the Spanish national team at the World Cup, Yamal did not mince words. "I want it all. I hope I achieve it all, and as long as we can play, it's possible," he stated to , confirming his target to win the league, Champions League, World Cup, and the Ballon d'Or.

  Reflecting on his individual success, Yamal emphasised the importance of collective effort, adding: “All the individual titles indicate that it has been a great season for the team. For me, it brings me happiness and pride. Accumulating awards at my age is very positive. I'm going to keep working and fighting to achieve things like this."

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  Camp Nou return: 'History will be written'

  Yamal also expressed his excitement about Barcelona's imminent return to the iconic Camp Nou stadium after more than 900 days away. The club's temporary move to the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic is about to end, with their match against Athletic Club marking the first fixture in the partially renovated Camp Nou, which has been cleared to host 45,401 fans.

  Yamal has been actively building anticipation for the return on social media. He changed his Instagram profile picture to an image of himself clutching the Barca badge and added the caption: “Montjuic was the beginning. Camp Nou is where history will be written.”

  He highlighted the significance of the return for the team. “The fans mean a lot. We've been playing in a stadium that wasn't ours. Montjuic was fine, but it wasn't what we wanted. Camp Nou will be a huge support for everyone and will be a big boost for the rest of the season.” 

  For many players in the current squad, including Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Dani Olmo, and Pau Cubarsi, the match against Athletic Club will be their first-team debut at the historic venue.

• Injury update: Yamal targets Chelsea return

  Despite his ambitions and the excitement surrounding the Camp Nou return, Yamal is currently navigating a tricky recovery from pubalgia, a chronic groin injury that forced him to withdraw from Spain’s recent World Cup qualifiers. Barcelona have implemented a detailed two-phase treatment plan, involving invasive radiofrequency therapy and a meticulous rehabilitation schedule.

  According to , the club's priority is to have Yamal fully fit for the crucial Champions League clash against Chelsea. While a cameo appearance against Athletic Club has not been ruled out, his involvement will likely be minimal. Yamal returned to partial group training on Wednesday, marking a significant step in his recovery.

  Club doctors have warned that mishandling the injury could lead to months on the sidelines, describing it as "tricky." Yamal has reportedly responded with full commitment to his rehabilitation, reducing media appearances and focusing exclusively on his recovery. Barcelona brought in a renowned Belgian specialist for evaluation, and surgery was ruled out in favour of the conservative treatment plan.

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  What next for Lamine Yamal and Barcelona?

  Barcelona face a critical period with their return to the Camp Nou against Athletic Club in La Liga on Saturday. Yamal's participation in this historic match remains uncertain and will likely be limited if he features at all. The main objective is his full availability for the high-stakes Champions League encounter against Chelsea, a match vital for Barcelona's hopes of securing a top-eight finish in the league phase. The club will continue to monitor his progress closely over the coming days, alternating between individual work and controlled group sessions to ensure his recovery continues without setbacks.

The 18-year-old batter has impressed the likes of Viv Richards, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Curtly Ambrose with his skill and maturity

Deivarayan Muthu02-Jan-2025At 17, Jewel Andrew became the youngest player to feature in the CPL and then the youngest to debut for West Indies in ODI cricket. In October 2024 in Sri Lanka, he received his maiden cap from fellow Antiguan Alzarri Joseph and played under Shai Hope, whose shots he has copied from childhood.Andrew was earmarked as a future West Indies star right from his age-group days, but not many expected him to make the step up to international cricket in his teens. Things have been happening rather quickly for him. He recently celebrated his 18th birthday in Chennai, at a two-week camp for West Indies’ brightest young talents at the Chennai Super Kings Academy.Andrew has all the shots in the book, including the reverse sweep, which disrupted the local spinners in a two-day game in Chennai.”I’ve been trying the sweeps and reverse, which is a good option against spinners,” Andrew says. “In that two-day game, I actually scored 30 [runs] off reverse sweeps, so it’s working for me. I’ve been working on this type of stuff at this camp.”Related

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Andrew had also showed off his reverse sweep on his CPL debut in August last year. He picked up a Tabraiz Shamsi stock ball from the stumps and audaciously flipped it over short third during his unbeaten 50 off 30 balls for Antigua and Barbuda Falcons against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. In the lead-up to his debut, Andrew visualised nailing the shot off Shamsi.”My plan against Shamsi was to take him on,” Andrew says. “I actually planned it because he’s an experienced bowler. It was a crazy shot (laughs). I felt if I could get a boundary off him, it would be a highlight.”Andrew also nervelessly took on other internationals like Anrich Nortje and Dominic Drakes that day. He had started playing cricket from when he was four years old and was used to competing against the big boys.”I try to forget about nerves when I’m playing,” he says. “It’s just something that grew with me throughout my career so far. I try to let go of nerves and just play what I normally play because I just feel it’s another opportunity to showcase my talent. I keep playing and keep being me, and it’s working for me so far.”Andrew is still a teenager, but his temperament and maturity have impressed a number of West Indies greats, including Viv Richards and his Falcons coaches Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Curtly Ambrose. When the young batter brought up his fifty on CPL debut, Ian Bishop exclaimed on commentary: “Jewel really is a precious commodity. He could end up being one of the more valuable young players in the history of the game in the region!”ESPNcricinfo LtdRichards’ opinion of him, Andrew said made him feel good about himself. “He’s a legend of the game. They’re all legends. Hearing them speak about me is special for someone like me coming up. But the information I’ve gathered from them so far is [mostly] what I know already. In terms of just being patient and picking the right deliveries, because I have all the shots. It’s for me to pick the right one and try to extend my game and learn as much as I can, because I’m here to learn.”In his first stint with the West Indies team, Andrew learnt to balance his emotions. He initially felt that he wasn’t ready for international cricket, but a chat with Hope helped him ease into the set-up.”I told Shai I felt I didn’t belong here because it seems a bit rushed, I was nervous being in Sri Lanka” Andrew says. “He was talking to me about emotions and time management. Shai is big on time management and I’m just keen to learn more from him.”Andrew first met Hope in 2023, when he was a flag bearer for the start of the home ODI series between West Indies and England. His ultimate goal is to emulate Hope and have a long, decorated West Indies career, just like his hero.”Just talking to Shai makes me feel good. I watched him growing up,” he says. “Just sharing the dressing room with him is a special feeling. I don’t want to be a player who is around for just one or two tours; I want to be playing for West Indies for a long time and hopefully average 50 like Shai.”

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Boult’s success – wickets and the economy rate – in the death overs this season has transformed a side that looked down and out not even a month ago

Sidharth Monga23-Apr-20251:43

Is Rohit Sharma well and truly back?

We know Trent Boult is the all-time leading wicket-taker in the first over in IPL history. He is now also only 11 behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 77 wickets in IPL powerplays, getting to 66 with the wickets of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma in Mumbai Indians’ (MI) fourth straight win, which made it only four powerplay wickets for him in IPL 2025.However, there is another development that MI will be pleased about. Boult has never taken more than nine wickets at the death in a single IPL season. He already has six this year. Then again, wickets should not ideally be the yardstick at the death because batters are just swinging, as we saw with his dismissals of Abhinav Manohar and Pat Cummins in the last over. The real yardstick should be the economy. Boult has never finished an IPL with a better economy at the death than his 9.37 this year so far.It is all the more striking because in his years at Rajasthan Royals (RR), Boult was hardly ever seen as an option to bowl at the death. In his three years with RR, Boult bowled at the death in only 20 matches out of 41. And never more than an over. This year, he has bowled an over at the death in eight out of the nine matches he has played. It makes him a bit of a specialist in the slog overs.Related

• Knight: 'Klaasen is batting far too low. Six overs or a tick over, get him out there'

• 'There are times when you have to rejig your attitude' but SRH haven't done that

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• Wasn't the IPL supposed to have been much longer by now?

Fourteen bowlers have bowled more than six overs at the death this IPL. Four have a better economy than Boult’s. One of them is Jasprit Bumrah, who usually bowls two per game at the death unless MI desperately need a wicket earlier. Bumrah is going at 7.75 an over at the death this IPL. MI are not anywhere near the best bowling team at the death this IPL but that’s because Bumrah was not available sooner. Since Bumrah’s return, they are bowling three death overs for 25 on an average.”You just need to be prepared for any role anytime,” Boult said in the press conference after the match. “At Rajasthan, I was prepared to bowl at any stage of the match. I’ve been lucky enough to play ten IPL seasons where it hasn’t always been the same recipe every time.”The first thing is you have to always want the ball. This tournament’s such a big tournament, you’re coming up against the best players, and it’s always a big desire for me to take on the best players. Having that mindset of wanting the ball, and wanting to take on the big players, is always a good start.”With complete bowlers such as Bumrah and Boult, it is not about being more suited for one phase over the other. They will find ways to be effective in any phase. Of course, you want Boult to be there when the swing has to be maximised – which is perhaps why RR used him more at the top – but if you ask him to bowl at the death, he is good enough to bowl well there too. And since MI have Deepak Chahar to use the new ball, they can afford to keep Boult back for one quality over at the death as well.Boult and Bumrah also happen to be the two bowlers on whom MI’s last IPL triumph was built, back in 2020. Since the two have come together this year, MI have won four out of five matches. Is this the sauce they have been looking for?