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Mooney also took the T20I player of the year title while Rachael Haynes took the ODI title

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2021Beth Mooney, who was player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup last year, has been named the Belinda Clark Medalist at the Australia Cricket Awards.Mooney (60 votes) narrowly pipped captain Meg Lanning (58 votes) to the top award and it is the first time since 2013 that the medal has not gone to one of Lanning, Alyssa Healy, or Ellyse Perry.”We’ve certainly got some players in the Australia side at the moment that will be remembered for a long time as some of the best we’ve ever produced,” she said. “To be playing alongside them let alone being up on an honour roll next to them, winning this award, is a pretty surreal thing.”It’s named after Belinda Clark who is an absolute pioneer of our game and women’s sport in this country, so think it will take a bit of time to sink in. It’s definitely something that’s crossed my mind, I feel like just an ordinary human who has picked up a bat and got a few runs here and there.”To be able sit at the end of the season and win this award, which has been voted [on] by my peers, some of the [best] players in the world, is certainly something I won’t take for granted and something I’m very grateful for.”Mooney, who was the leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup with 259 at 64.75 and top-scored in the final against India, was the runaway winner of the T20 player of the year title having also made an unbeaten 71 in the tri-series final against India before the World Cup.At the start of this season, Mooney reflected on the work she had put into the mental side of her game but believes there is more to come.”Think there’s always room for environment, but over the last couple of years I certainly feel a lot more relaxed when I’m out there and I can except that sometimes it’s your day and sometimes it’s not,” she said. “Fortunately enough in the last 12-18 months I’ve had a few days when I’ve felt I’ve been able to contribute to a winning side, whether it’s with Australia or Perth Scorchers or Queensland.”I certainly think there’s still scope for me to get better and evolve as a player and a human and that’s something I’m always looking to do. The next 12 months will be a really exciting challenge for the Australian team and for me to keep getting better and continually contribute to winning matches.”Overall in the voting period, which included last season’s tri-series, the T20 World Cup and the series against New Zealand earlier this season, Mooney made 555 runs – 99 more than he closest rival Rachael Haynes.The leading wicket-takers were Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt with 27 apiece although it was legspinning allrounder Georgia Wareham who came in third in the Belinda Clarke Medal voting.Due to the Covid-19 pandemic only three ODIs were played in the voting period, the series against New Zealand last October, with Haynes taking the award by one vote from Lanning.

Spinners likely to get help from the pitch as early as the first day

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Feb-2021After toiling on a slow and flat surface in the first Test, Indian spinners are likely to get more purchase in the second Test, starting on Saturday, as the pitch is expected to take turn as early as the first day.The key difference between the two surfaces is the nature of the soil. The pitch for the first Test comprised purely of red soil and it did not break until late in the match. However, the surface for the second Test will have a base comprising red soil and a top layer comprising black cotton soil. It is understood that if the conditions are dry, the top layer, primarily made of black clay, will start to disintegrate faster.The red soil in Chennai is different from the Mumbai variant. The Mumbai one stays true through the match, while in Chennai, it usually crumbles quickly if underprepared. However, the pitch was well-bound ahead of the first Test to ensure the match stretched to the fifth day.On the eve of the first Test, Chepauk head groundsman V Ramesh Kumar had told ESPNcricinfo that he would make a surface with an “English look”, to suit all bowlers. But by the time of the toss, Chepauk pitch had been shorn of any grass. Consequently, the pitch was slow.The new ball lost its shine quickly and the leather softened early too, thus hurting India’s fast-bowling duo Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma. Sharma highlighted the bland nature of the pitch across the opening two days, by saying it resembled a “road”.Even R Ashwin, India’s premier spinner, who is closing in on 400 Test wickets, struggled to find purchase from the surface over the first two days. England took advantage of the bald, hard, flat surface as Joe Root made a double-century and England amassed 578 in the first innings.The one factor in favour of the bowlers still was the bounce, which remained consistent mostly throughout the five days. Gradually, the surface became abrasive and it helped both spinners and fast bowlers, the latter making an impact with the reverse swing as James Anderson showed in a memorable spell on the fifth morning.What India might have a desired in the first Test – a quick turner where they can dominate England batsmen – they are likely to get this weekend.Usually, groundsmen stop watering the pitch two days before the Test match to allow the moisture to be retained. When England arrived for training on Thursday morning, the pitch was left uncovered. Later, it was covered with the hessian cloth to protect against the high temperature, which is in the mid-30-degree Celsius.Another significant difference in the second Test could be the low bounce, as a consequence of the dry pitch. It remains to be seen how much grass is left on Saturday morning.The turning nature of the surface is likely to influence the final XI for India, who face difficult questions regarding their second line of spinners to assist Ashwin. India captain Virat Kohli has already spoken about the lack of contribution from Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar in the first Test.Axar Patel is likely to make his Test debut having recovered from the knee injury he picked on the eve of the first Test. In case Patel plays, the Indian team management will need to figure out whether they go with Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner.

Buttler has remodelled his thinking after watching other players

Matt Roller09-Mar-2021What should be at the forefront of a batsman’s mind during a T20 run chase?Conventional wisdom would suggest that the answer is the required run-rate, but for the world’s best players, that might not be the case anymore. Instead, batsmen are now thinking in terms of the boundary equation: how many balls do I have left, and how many boundaries do I need to hit off them?It was a method embraced by the West Indies side that won World T20 titles in 2012 and 2016: while their opponents fretted over minimising dot balls and their speed between the wickets, West Indies focused on clearing the ropes, recognising that the risk was merited by the pay-off. Across the three tournaments between 2012 and 2016, West Indies hit 121 sixes; no other team managed 90.And while West Indies’ own focus on six-hitting has continued, epitomised by Kieron Pollard’s six sixes in an over off Akila Dananjaya last week, other teams and players have wised up. Jos Buttler, renowned as one of the world’s best batsmen in limited-overs chases, revealed his own mindset shift during England’s T20I series in South Africa last year.”I’ve almost changed the way I look at T20 batting a bit from the last IPL, watching the West Indian guys who back their six-hitting a lot,” Buttler said. “So if I’m getting a bit stuck, [I’m now] looking at my score and thinking if I hit the next two balls for six, suddenly I’ll jump into a different position.”Related

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Three days out from England’s T20I series in India – which he sees as a “vital” chance to take on a team who are favourites for a T20 World Cup in their own conditions – Buttler elaborated on his approach, explaining that the shift in his mentality was about “continuously learning: looking at other players and how they set up their own innings chasing targets down”.”For me, I’ve always wanted to operate around a run-rate and try to make sure I’m up with the rate [when I’m] chasing,” he said. “I would feel like I would force the issue sometimes and sit in the dressing room and think I’ve tried maybe to force it a bit earlier [than I needed to].”Having watched other players in the IPL and in other international games, they seem to maintain a calm look on it and see chasing as ‘we need to hit seven sixes in the remaining five overs’. I’ve never really myself thought of it like that before.”[I’m] actually just trying to bring that a bit more into my game and into my mathematics of chasing scores down – not looking at runs per ball or runs an over that’s required, actually saying if we hit X sixes, that will win us the game. It’s just a change of mindset and [a case of] continually learning.”Jos Buttler has changed his way of thinking about run chases after watching other players•Getty Images

The change may seem subtle, but it typifies the improvements that top batsmen are making to their T20 method as they look to minimise risk while maximising opportunities to score. Increasingly, that involves targeting favourable match-ups and shorter boundaries, meaning that players like Buttler are comfortable going through brief lulls in the knowledge that they will be able to hit several boundaries in a single over when the situation suits them.The shift has been apparent in a number of Buttler’s recent innings. In the English summer, he nudged his way to 25 off 24 balls in a chase of 158 against Australia before adding 52 off his next 30, targeting the spinners as the game wore on. In the IPL, he was happy to soak up pressure when facing Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians’ spinners during run chases and instead took down Piyush Chawla, Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya, who he saw as the bowlers to take down as the game wore on.It was particularly clear in England’s most recent T20I, against South Africa in Cape Town.At the start of the 11th over, England were 85 for 1 with Buttler on 23 off 24 balls, and 107 runs required off the final 10 overs. With the inexperienced Lutho Sipamla bowling to a short leg-side boundary, Buttler thrashed consecutive sixes over long-on, and added another four for good measure to take the required rate below the current one in the space of an over. It was a calculated assault: he was watchful against Lungi Ngidi and George Linde, the bowlers he saw as a threat, but brutal against the perceived weak link.”There are a number of guys who seem to look at the game like that – I’m probably a bit embarrassed that I hadn’t picked up on that sooner to be honest,” Buttler said. “I’ve always been someone who, when chasing, likes to be in and around the rate, but there’s other guys who seem to allow that rate to get larger but backing their six-hitting. It’s more about me backing my six-hitting availability and feeling that I can rely on it if I need it.”The result has been a rich vein of form in T20 run chases. Since the start of 2020, Buttler averages 47.09 in run chases, with a strike rate of 153.25, all while navigating a shift into the middle order for Rajasthan Royals and shifting back up to open for England.If he can maintain that sort of record over the next 12 months, England will fancy their chances of becoming the first men’s team to hold both World Cup trophies simultaneously.

Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar star with the ball after fifties from Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya

Valkerie Baynes28-Mar-20211:52

Manjrekar: Curran’s intent and belief something to marvel at

Sam Curran’s gutsy innings took England to the verge of an unlikely win before T Natarajan held his nerve to ultimately deliver India victory in Pune, in a tense and fitting finale to the ODI series that went 2-1 to the hosts.India were out of the blocks well with bat and ball, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan laying the foundation before Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya provided middle-order muscle when captain Virat Kohli lost the toss for the third time in the series and was asked to bat first.But it was the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur that allowed them to defend what looked like being a below-par total, especially in the face of some woeful Indian fielding, keeping England’s run chase in check for the most part until Curran’s fightback.Curran, whose previous highest score from seven ODIs was 15, was dropped on 22 by Hardik. He made India pay – and sweat – with a stunning 95 not out off 83 balls from No. 8 under huge pressure as England went into the final over needing 14 to win.Natarajan, known for his ability to nail his yorkers and bowl at the death, came into the side in what Kohli described at the toss as a “tactical” move to replace spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Playing just his second ODI, Natarajan conceded just six runs when his captain threw him the ball for the final over as the hosts claimed victory by seven runs.Half-centuries to Rishabh Pant, Dhawan and Hardik had India looking strong at times as the momentum swung more than once in their innings. Having managed 39 for 0 and 41 for 2 in their previous two batting powerplays, India’s openers began with greater intent and aggression to reach 65 without loss after 10 overs. Sharma and Dhawan had managed just 16 off the first four overs but then Curran conceded 15 runs off the fifth and they took 17 off the eighth, bowled by Reece Topley, to accelerate their cause.The hosts lost four wickets in the first 25 overs, and four in the last 20 balls as they were bowled out with 10 balls remaining. That left England needing seven runs fewer than they had managed to chase down with ease in levelling the series 1-1 on Friday.But when Kumar struck in an extraordinary first over of England’s reply in which Jason Roy crashed 14 runs but fell on the last ball, bowled through the gate by a gem, and then had Jonny Bairstow out lbw, India couldn’t have hoped for better. Kumar should have had a third wicket from as many overs when Ben Stokes, on 15, skied the ball to mid-off, where Hardik put down a sitter.England steadied to reach 66 for 2 after 10 overs, but then Stokes advanced on a full toss from Natarajan that was, fortunately for the bowler, dipping from near waist-height by the time the batsman swiped it straight to Dhawan at square leg.With plenty of batting depth to come in acting captain Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone – the latter two having come into the side after Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings were injured in the first match – it was a three-wicket run by Thakur that put India within grasp of adding an ODI series victory to their Test and T20I triumphs from England’s tour.Thakur trapped Buttler lbw in his second over after India overturned the on-field umpire’s not-out decision on review and while Malan and Livingstone resisted with a 60-run partnership, Thakur accounted for both as England fell to 168 for 6.Livingstone, playing only his second ODI, was particularly impressive, skipping down the pitch to whip Thakur through midwicket for a confident single on the first ball he faced and helping himself to consecutive fours off Thakur then Prasidh Krishna, before coming down the pitch to Krunal Pandya and depositing him over long-on.After 23 overs, England were 152 for 4 compared to India’s 151 for 3 but then Livingstone spooned a Thakur full toss tamely back for a return catch and Malan brought up his maiden ODI fifty pulling Thakur for four only to fall two balls later, pulling a Thakur short ball to Sharma at midwicket.Still only needing a little over six an over at the halfway point, it was wickets in hand that were the worry for England, despite Moeen Ali showing some fine touch to reach 29. But again Kumar – who had proved a vital difference when India won the fifth T20I to clinch that series 3-2 – delivered when he had Ali out driving to mid-off where Hardik made amends for his earlier blunder to take a low catch. Thakur claimed his fourth wicket when Kohli took a spectacular catch in the covers to dismiss Adil Rashid.Hardik was the culprit again when Curran picked him out in front of the sightscreen while lofting Prasidh down the ground and the ball went to the boundary in a costly let-off when England were 218 for 7.Curran plundered 18 runs off the 47th over, bowled by Thakur, and Kohli threw the ball to Kumar for his 10th. The move looked to have netted a crucial wicket when Wood was given out lbw, struck high on his front pad, but England’s review overturned the decision when the ball was shown to be going over.Thakur dropped an easy catch at midwicket off Hardik that would have removed Wood in the penultimate over and Natarajan put Curran down next ball running to third man.Wood was run out on the first ball of the final over, thanks to an excellent throw from Hardik at long-on to Pant. That left England needing 13 off five balls with Topley on strike and he managed a single to get Curran facing. But the two dot balls that followed meant that even when Curran managed to get a four away through the covers, eight runs were still needed off the final delivery; England would need a wide or a no-ball. Natarajan kept his cool and delivered a dot as Curran sent the ball towards long-on.Related

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Earlier it had been England’s spinners who made inroads, breaking a 103-run opening stand between Sharma and Dhawan and removing Kohli before Wood, who appeared to be battling illness, claimed three wickets at the end to restrict India to a total that the tourists would have regarded as attainable, given that they chased down 337 with 39 balls up their sleeves in their previous encounter.Rashid struck in his second over with a googly that beat Sharma’s inside edge and crashed into the top of off stump, then dismissed Dhawan with a sharp caught-and-bowled in his next over. When Ali had Kohli out cheaply, shaping to smash him through extra cover only to miss and see the ball jag back to take out leg stump, India were 121 for 3.Livingstone claimed a wicket with his second ball in ODIs, a hip-high full toss on leg stump which KL Rahul swiped behind square where Ali took the catch leaping to his left.Hardik went after Ali with three sixes in the next over as he and Pant wrested back control, illustrating the fluctuating nature of the contest. Curran ended Pant’s knock with a full delivery that found the outside edge and Buttler’s glove, thrust out to his left a lightning speed behind the stumps. Pant had shared a 99-run stand with Hardik, who brought up his fifty off 36 balls and was eventually bowled round his legs by Stokes.Thakur offered a neat cameo of 30 from 21 balls and Krunal, playing his third ODI after a half-century on debut in the first match of this series, managed 25 before holing out to Roy off Wood. They were among four wickets to fall in quick succession as India managed just 11 runs off the last 20 balls of the innings but in the end, it all proved to be enough.

Head coach could not confirm if Trent Boult would be available for second Test of England tour

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2021The New Zealand players who left India after the IPL was suspended, and are currently undergoing quarantine in Maldives, may travel to England for their next assignment this weekend. So said their head coach Gary Stead. New Zealand will play a two-match Test series against England starting on June 2 at Lord’s, followed by the World Test Championship final against India from June 18 in Southampton.Stead also said that it is not clear if there will be any form of quarantine for those players upon arrival in England. The Maldives will be on the UK government’s travel “red list” from 4am local time on May 12, meaning no direct flights between the countries and that residents returning have to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.”I don’t know all the details right now,” Stead said. “My understanding is that they are looking to leave [Maldives] somewhere around the time that we leave – May 15, 16 or 17 – in that time frame. My understanding is that England board is still working through the final details of what it means to come through the Maldives as supposed to New Zealand.”Related

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The Maldives group which includes Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Kyle Jamieson, and physio Tommy Simsek were initially told that the quarantine would be only for three or four days, but it has been extended by a week. Though there are no training facilities in the island nation, Stead conceded that “sometimes, a break from cricket can freshen their mind as well.””They can still work on their fitness. So I don’t see it as a bad thing. It’s an adapting world and I think that’s just something we’ve got to keep doing,” Stead said.Trent Boult chose to return home after his IPL commitments and will be missing the first Test against England. It is possible he will be doubtful for the second one too given his bowling workloads. But Stead is confident he will have his left-arm fast bowler back well in time for the World Test Championship final.”Everyone has got their reasons around it,” Stead said. “India changed very, very quickly, over the space of two or three days, and there were options put in front of the guys and he [Boult] felt for him and his mental health, the best thing he could do was get home for a while.”He is a professional, he has been there in the international circuit for a long time now. He will be ready. We are working through what build-up looks like to him and his readiness for the World Test Championship final when he comes back to us.”Tim Seifert, who was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad at the curtailed 2021 IPL, had tested positive for Covid-19 in India•Getty Images

Meanwhile, it is unclear when the wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert, who had tested positive for Covid-19 in India, can get back home. Seifert had failed both his pre-departure PCR tests and has been undergoing isolation in Chennai. He had joined the Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for the injured USA bowler Ali Khan during IPL 2020.”He’s in that difficult situation of being over there and sort of isolated a little bit as well.” Stead said. “Obviously, it was distressing early on to get that news but I think he’s in a much better space now that there is a plan around him.”

Afridi was ruled out with a back injury, while a Covid-19 violation cost Naseem Shah his involvement in the league

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2021Multan Sultans allrounder Shahid Afridi will not play any part in the remainder of the Pakistan Super League after being sidelined with a lower-back injury. The Sultans announced he felt pain in his lower back while training for the resumption of the league, with the doctor advising complete rest.Afridi will be replaced by left-arm spinner Asif Afridi, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With Shahid Afridi’s absent, the Sultans lose out on one of the competition’s most experienced players. Shahid Afridi has participated in 50 PSL matches throughout his career, with Mohammad Nawaz the only spinner to have taken more wickets than his 44. He has also scored 465 runs at a strike rate in excess of 150 in a career that has also seen him play for Peshawar Zalmi and the Karachi Kings.