Category Uncategorized

Trevor Bayliss has called for England to play smarter cricket following the poor end to their tour of South Africa as they turn attentions to the World T20 in India

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has called for the team to play smarter cricket following the poor end to their tour of South Africa as they turn attentions to the World T20 in India. However, he does not want the players to go into their shells after a difficult couple of weeks, saying that the winner in India will be the “boldest” team on show.England ended their stay in South Africa with a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the Wanderers to lose the T20 series 2-0. From a promising position of 157 for 3 – with Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler finding their range – they were well placed for 200, but conspired to lose 7 for 14 and not even play out their overs.They were then belted around the Bullring by AB de Villiers who cartwheeled to 71 off 29 balls as South Africa raced to their target with more than five overs to spare.It led to Bayliss saying it was like “men against boys” and meant that England finished with five defeats on the bounce having been 2-0 up in the one-day series before being let down by poor fielding when they could have sealed it in the Johannesburg ODI. Although the Test series was secured on that heady day at the Wanderers when Stuart Broad blew South Africa away the tour ended on a downbeat note.There is little time to ponder with just a short break at home before departing for India where they will face group matches against West Indies, Sri Lanka, a qualifier and, potentially significantly given recent results, South Africa again in Mumbai on March 18. Faf du Plessis, the South Africa T20 captain, was not shy at suggesting his side could have struck some psychological blows.”I can guarantee you one thing, the team that wins the World Twenty20 will be the boldest team there,” Bayliss said.”If we go out and try to be too nice, or if we give that advantage away or are not as positive and aggressive as we have been when we have played well and won, then we will still not win – because there will be teams out there with the confidence, players and ability to go out and play that way.”The two series defeats in South Africa have zapped some of the feel-good factor that had developed around England’s white-ball teams since their post-World Cup rebuilding which has been forged on an almost breakable desire to be positive and for players to be encouraged to push their own boundaries.Both Bayliss and Morgan have cited the inexperience in the side as a factor as to why the wheels came off somewhat in South Africa and cautioned that more such days cannot be ruled out as players continue to find their feet at international level. But the straight-talking Bayliss knows that platitudes about how good a team could be does not help in the present.”We’ve had some good results, but it’s a reminder to people back home in England that this team is still a developing one,” he said. “We’ve had some good performances, and there’s a lot of potential there.”But potential never won anything … we’ve got some hard work to do. I think the expectation the players have put on themselves is why they are so disappointed when they play badly. It may be that extra pressure they put on themselves that they’ve got to get over.”In the final ODI at Newlands and the first T20 at the same ground, England were criticised for not adjusting quickly enough to conditions and reassessing what a defendable total could be.”We spoke the other night, it is a case of going with the flow of the game,” Bayliss said. “If we get off to a good start, you have to recognise that flow [and think] ‘can we continue to do this’?”If we do happen to lose a few wickets … well, has the flow of the game changed, and do we have to play a little bit differently? I think that will be playing smart cricket, and that is what the good teams will do.”Still, despite the setback, Bayliss believes that England can put on a good show in India which will conclude a long period overseas for the team this winter.”If we play well … we’ll be hard to beat. In the last two games, we haven’t played all that well – and in this game, we’ve been beaten easily. We’re going to have to play a lot better than that.””It’s small margins,” he added. “One catch, and we’d have only lost the last four – and we’d have won the one-day series. That’s as simple as it can get. You win that fourth match, who knows … it might have given the boys enough confidence to go on and win the fifth one. We’ve got to learn from that, and work out how we can get better.”

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has returned home from the A tour to South Africa to assess a lower rib/back injury

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2013Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has returned home from the A tour to South Africa to assess a lower rib/back injury. Cummins played two first-class matches on tour – including one against Zimbabwe Select in Harare – and one match of the one-day tri-series against India A.”Pat reported some left rib/back pain during the Australia A game against India A last week,” Australia A physiotherapist Kevin Sims said. “With only Wednesday’s final remaining in the series, the decision was made for him to return to Australia to assess the injury.”Cummins, 20, has had a history of injuries that have curtailed his participation for Australia in several international series. In June, he toured England with the A team after being sidelined for nine months with a back injury. He had complained of stiffness during the Champions League in South Africa in October last year, where he turned out for Sydney Sixers. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back on his return home.Cummins made his international debut aged just 18 on Australia’s tour of South Africa in October 2011. His first, and to date only, Test at the Wanderers included 6 for 79 in the second innings, earning him the Man-of-the-Match award in a narrow Australian victory.He has also impressed in five ODIs, including playing England at Lord’s last year, and had a successful World T20 in Sri Lanka where he claimed six wickets at 32.83 to help Australia to the semi-final.

Max Sorensen and Alex Cusack each took four wickets to help Ireland skittle Afghanistan for 84, as their rain-hit Intercontinental Cup match got underway on day three

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2012
ScorecardMax Sorensen celebrates taking one of his four wickets•ICC/Rob O’Connor

Max Sorensen and Alex Cusack each took four wickets to help Ireland skittle Afghanistan for 84, as their rain-hit Intercontinental Cup match finally got underway on day three. By the close, Ireland had built a 42-run lead with eight wickets in hand, giving them the opportunity to try and press for victory on the final day.Trent Johnston also impressed with the ball, taking 2 for 7 off eight overs, as the Afghanistan batsmen struggled against the seaming ball. Only three players reached double figures – Afsar Khan, Samiullah Shenwari and Gulbodin Naib all scoring 13 – as the innings lasted just 29.1 overs.”Once the conditions dried up and it allowed us to get out on the field, I think the bowlers set us off on the right foot,” Ireland captain Kevin O’Brien said. “It was a good all-round performance”It was always going to be if you win the toss you’re going to bowl, I think that was probably the only way we were going to get a win. With the bowlers putting in a performance and now the top four putting us in a hugely strong position, it certainly is on the cards tomorrow. If we can get a full day in, maybe 60 or 70 overs at Afghanistan, we certainly would fancy our chances.”Ireland showed how to play in the conditions, with Cusack adding an unbeaten 34 batting at No. 3, to go with his 4 for 31. Naib and Karim Sadiq made the breakthroughs for Afghanistan but after Paul Stirling fell for 42, Cusack and Surrey’s Gary Wilson added a further 61 runs.

United Arab Emirates bowled Kenya out for 167 in their second innings to register a comprehensive 266-run win at Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2011
Scorecard
United Arab Emirates bowled Kenya out for 167 in their second innings to register a comprehensive 266-run win at Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi and complete their turnaround after conceding a first-innings lead in their Intercontinental Cup match.Kenya began the day on 76 for 4 chasing 433 but victory was never a realistic option for the hosts, who lasted just 36.1 overs on the final day. New captain Collins Obuya made a determined 63 but he received little support, with only Ramesh Mepani, who managed 37 before being run out, going past 20.UAE struck in the second over of the day to remove Mansukh Jasani for a duck before Obuya and Mepani eked out a 37-run stand that was the second highest of the innings, highlighting their failure to build partnerships. Obuya’s fall with the score on 125 effectively ended Kenya’s chances of saving the game, and the last four wickets fell for 42 runs.The wickets were shared between five bowlers, with Mohammad Tauqir, Amjad Javed and Shoaib Sarwar picking up two each.

After going neck and neck for much of the first Test, England and Sri Lanka’s Under-19s continued their close-fought contest into the second day of the second match at Scarborough

Cricinfo staff28-Jul-2010
ScorecardAfter going neck and neck for much of the first Test, England and Sri Lanka’s Under-19s continued their close-fought contest into the second day of the second match at Scarborough. England managed to keep off-field events in the background as they overcame a decidedly shaky start to their innings thanks to some gritty resistance from their lower middle order, finishing the day 94 runs in arrears on 223 for 6 after Sri Lanka were dismissed for 317 in the morning.Charith Jayampathi had battled gamely for his 31, but when he was dismissed by Jacob Ball Sri Lanka’s innings came to a swift end, David Payne castling Nadeera Rajaguru in the following over. The atmosphere in the England camp will have been far from ideal after their captain for the first Test, Azeem Rafiq, was dropped for “inappropriate conduct” and responded with a foul-mouthed rant on Twitter, and when they lost two wickets in an over to slip to 17 for 2 within the first seven overs it appeared a collapse was imminent.But Luke Wells and Ateeq Javid steadied the innings with a 78-run stand, Wells going to his half-century from 106 balls with eight fours. Chathura Peiris, the left-arm seamer whose wickets played an important role in Sri Lanka’s triumph in the first Test, ensured that England never took the upper hand, however, snapping Wells and Javids’ stand and then returning to dismiss Jack Manuel just before stumps after he had launched another fightback with an attacking 57.Paul Best, the Warwickshire left-arm spinner whose 5 for 53 kept Sri Lanka in check on the first day, chipped in with a stubborn unbeaten 27, and if he can find support from England’s lower order then England will continue to challenge Sri Lanka and hold on to hopes of squaring the series.

“We thought it was going to turn, and not really nip,” Rabada said of the pitch where 16 wickets fell on the opening day

Mohammad Isam21-Oct-2024Kagiso Rabada said he didn’t have his 300th Test wicket on his mind when the first Test against Bangladesh started on Monday, but was “really surprised at how the wicket played out” – 16 wickets fell on the day – and once the ball started seaming, he knew he was in business.”We thought it was going to turn, and not really nip, but with the new ball, there was a bit of movement,” Rabada said after the day’s play. “Not really much swing, but off the wicket, there was quite a bit of seam movement.”To be fair, that’s actually how it played in the nets. Generally, what you get in the nets is what you’ll get similarly in the middle. It’s turning for the spinners and seaming for the seamers too. We found that quite surprising. We don’t prepare the pitches, but that’s what was prepared, and it’s as simple as that.”Related

• Verreynne on his 114: 'Definitely the best and most rewarding innings of my career'

• Taijul's light shines bright even as Shakib shadow looms large

• Taijul Islam's five-for headlines 16-wicket opening day

Wiaan Mulder started things off with a burst of three wickets, preying on the Bangladesh top-order batters’ expansive strokes. Rabada got among the wickets in his second spell at around the hour-mark, and also reached a special milestone – his 300th Test wicket, and he became the fastest to the landmark in all these years of Test cricket, beating Waqar Younis’ 24-year-old record.Before he bowled a ball, however, Rabada was worried about how South Africa were going to force the issue, having been asked to bowl first at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, a ground with a reputation of producing raging turners. But between them, Mulder and Rabada had the home side at 45 for 5 in the 20th over.When Mushfiqur Rahim became the fourth batter to fall, Rabada had his landmark wicket. And it was a special delivery that did it, swinging enough and nipping in slightly to take out both the off and middle stumps.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“When I came on to bowl this morning, I wasn’t really thinking about that final wicket,” Rabada said. “I was more focused on how we were going to win this Test, especially after losing the toss and bowling first. But when it happened, it was just a relief. Everyone plays for milestones, but it was a relief. The way my team-mates support me, we support each other, and that felt really good.”It’s a special moment. As for the record, I didn’t know about it, but I guess it motivates me to do even better.”Rabada became the sixth South Africa bowler to 300 Test wickets after Dale Steyn (439), Shaun Pollock (421), Makhaya Ntini (390), Allan Donald (330) and Morne Morkel (309).The early damage, however, had been done by Mulder, who picked up the first three wickets to leave Bangladesh at 21 for 3.”He bowled unbelievably. He’s looked good ever since our camp back in South Africa. Credit to him – he’s worked really hard, and it shows,” Rabada said. “He didn’t really have to adjust much because he’s been bowling like this since the camp. I’m not surprised by the reward he got this morning. He was phenomenal, and I’m really happy for him.”South Africa, responding to Bangladesh’s 106 all out, ended the day on 140 for 6, with Taijul Islam picking up five wickets. So spin after seam. To the inevitable question about whether this type of pitch was good for Test cricket, Rabada smiled before choosing the diplomatic route.”I think there needs to be a balance in Test cricket. You want a fair contest between bat and ball. That’s the type of wicket you want,” he said. “You could argue that a bowling unit hasn’t bowled well or a batting unit hasn’t performed, and that’s the balance you’re always trying to weigh.”But with 16 wickets on day one, I’d say it’s leaning towards the bowlers. Test cricket should offer a fair contest between bat and ball, where bowlers get something if they bowl well, and batters can score if they apply themselves.”

He admits New Zealand’s ODI tour to Bangladesh will be early for comeback but is working towards the small milestones

Ashish Pant11-Aug-2023Kane Williamson has admitted that making it to the ODI World Cup in India in October remains a “tough goal” for him. But Williamson is cautiously optimistic as he continues “to tick off the small milestones” on his road to recovery, having undergone surgery for a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] in his right knee in April.”To be at the World Cup is always special. It’s still just guesswork at the moment in terms of when the day is or how it’s tracking at the time,” Williamson told reporters at the Bay Oval about where he stands with regard to a potential comeback.”There’s a lot of work to do. I am just really following the programme, with the professionals for physio, the support staff and New Zealand Cricket. And it’s tough, because you do have some good days, and then you have a few variable ones.Related

• Duffy replaces Tickner in NZ squad for UAE T20Is

• If not fit to play, Williamson could be a NZ team mentor at the ODI WC

• Williamson's World Cup return not yet ruled out

When asked what he thought his recovery chances for the World Cup were when he got injured back in March, he said: “Yeah, obviously slim, and still, you know, a tough goal. However, something like that [World Cup] in the back of your mind is obviously motivating and you want to keep seeing those improvements.”The New Zealand white-ball captain was speaking for the first time since posting a video on social media on August 1, where he was seen taking throwdowns in the nets. Williamson hasn’t started facing bowling in the nets yet but he will join the national side in England during the T20Is and ODIs to continue his rehab. He suggested that there was “definitely more movement” in the knee but also made certain that he wasn’t looking too far ahead of himself.”Yeah, good, just kind of on that same journey path really where there’s been some nice little progressions and working through some of those little milestones and return to the running phase, which I am in at the moment,” Williamson said of his recovery.”It has been nice to get back on the feet a little bit more and sort of get more into the net sessions and get slightly more involved as well. [There is] definitely more movement. I suppose that’s almost the name of the game…let’s get the strength and the movement to improve throughout. It is obviously a bit of a slow journey, as a number of others are experiencing.”Kane Williamson has started taking throwdowns in the nets•Gujarat Titans

While Williamson was unable to give a timeline about a possible return, he did suggest that making it to New Zealand’s tour of Bangladesh for the three ODIs in late September in the lead-up to the World Cup would “probably be a bit early”.”It’s a tricky one – you start entertaining a few earlier targets,” he said. “It is a lot about the healing element as well. You can have the strength work, the movement, the confidence, but the actual healing is what has to happen and there are a lot of things to really assess before that time. So, that [Bangladesh] series, by all accounts, is too early.”Williamson was also hopeful he was not far away from taking on the bowlers in the nets too.”Yeah, still, throws and things, working through some of those positions. I never really had to break it down so much ever in terms of some of the spin work, the variation and links, all these sorts of things that you never thought too much about,” he said.”Now, you’re really trying to exaggerate some of the movements and get them better prepared for the higher intensity stuff. But you know, it is progressing nicely, and hopefully not too far away, really from both.”Williamson said he was “really looking forward” to joining the squad in England, where New Zealand will play two T20 warm-ups on August 25 and 27, before the T20Is from August 30 to September 5 followed by the ODIs from September 8 to 15.”The team hasn’t spent that much time together anyway, but obviously being off the grid a little bit, it’s nice to be hitting over there and connecting with the group. One of the last tours that one and the Bangladesh one before obviously the World Cup, so it will be nice to spend some time with the team and do a bit of training and rehab with the group as well,” he said.

The visitors finished the day at 258 for 4, with the former captain 114 not out

Mohammad Isam15-May-2022Stumps Angelo Mathews’ 12th Test century headlined Sri Lanka’s fine first day against Bangladesh in Chattogram. His century, and 92-run stand for the third wicket with Kusal Mendis, revived Sri Lanka in the second session before keeping things locked in their favour till the end of the day. Bangladesh would rue dropping Mathews on 69, but it was an otherwise tight contest for the Sri Lanka batters against the steady home spinners.After the big stand with Mendis, Mathews added another 75 for the unbroken fifth wicket with Dinesh Chandimal, who was unbeaten on 34 at stumps. Mathews was on 114, using all of his experience to hit his first century against Bangladesh. Only the Bangladesh spinners took wickets, with Nayeem Hasan taking two and Taijul Islam and Shakib Al Hasan one each.Mathews’ most fruitful zone was in front of the wicket, mostly driving straight on a pitch that had low bounce but was good for batting from the second session. Between extra cover and midwicket, he struck 11 boundaries and hit a straight six too. The rest of Mathews’ boundaries were hit towards fine-leg.When he was on 69, in the 65th over, Mahmudul Hasan Joy dropped Mathews at slip off Taijul, and although Mahmudul made it up with a good grab in the next over to get rid of Dhananjaya de Silva, it proved to be a costly drop.The third session started poorly for Sri Lanka, when Mendis pulled Taijul’s long-hop to Nayeem at short midwicket. They had earlier gone wicketless throughout the second session as Mathews and Mendis bedded in for the long haul.Mendis batted quite conservatively, only hitting a couple of cover drives and another boundary through midwicket, as he allowed Mathews to thrive. They had come together late in the first session after Nayeem had taken two wickets. The offspinner, playing his first Test in more than a year, removed Dimuth Karunaratne in his first over, before getting Oshada Fernando caught behind. Bangladesh, though, lost two of their reviews with ordinary lbw appeals.

The England batsman found career-best form during the home season, but for a variety of reasons has not played much since

Alex Malcolm29-Dec-2020You’re not going to lose it in three weeks. That is the attitude Sam Billings is carrying into his first BBL match for the Sydney Thunder after 14 days quarantine in an Australian hotel room.Billings could be forgiven for showing some frustration at the Covid cricket world where isolation and bio-secure bubbles are the new norm.He is in the best form of his career having established himself in England’s ODI team thanks to a superb home series against Australia. But an embarrassment of riches in the England T20I team and a Covid outbreak in South Africa meant he did not play a single game on England’s tour before heading straight to Australia where he spent two weeks, including Christmas, stuck in a hotel room as part of the Australian government’s strict border requirements on international travellers entering the country.Rather than wallow in what might have been, Billings is going with the flow.”You’re not going to have everything aligned perfectly at times,” Billings told ESPNcricinfo. “But you have a really good idea of what you need going into a game to be mentally ready.”It’s like riding a bike. You’re not going to lose it in three weeks. It’s just about getting your mind right. Two really good training sessions and I feel in a really good place.”Quarantine hubs have made life difficult for international cricketers. Billings’ England team-mates Tom Banton and Tom Curran both withdrew from the BBL citing bubble fatigue.Related

• Billings back with Bayliss and Hales at Sydney Thunder

• Marcus Stoinis' near-century, gravity-defying Andre Fletcher script Melbourne Stars victory

• Sam Billings becomes latest Englishman at BBL after signing for Sydney Thunder

• Sam Billings: 'This is one of the hardest sports teams to get into in the world at the moment'

• How England came to dominate the Big Bash League's overseas pool

Billings was well aware of what he signed up for. He was full of praise to Cricket Australia for setting the travelling England players up with two-bedroom apartments, a treadmill, and an exercise bike, to keep the legs ticking over while cooped inside.Billings believes the key to not letting the walls close on him was his attitude, however, he was also extremely sympathetic to those who had opted out.”The most important thing was getting into a really good routine,” he said. “Kind of having a purpose for each day and the first hour of the day was all about setting it up in terms of what I wanted to get out of it and having some organisation to it.”I think that’s the real key. Not just letting the days drift and feel as if you’re not getting too much out of it. I was very lucky with the support I had around me and had a kind of plan to embrace it and look at it from a positive point of view as opposed to a negative mindset.”I think as well as a player, we’re going to have to used to these kinds of things, and constantly learn and evolve on the back of them. At times it’s hugely challenging for some individuals, and it’s so individual. If guys are really struggling, it’s absolutely no judgement.”Billings, 29, credits the toughest year of his career for his discernible shift in mindset. A freak shoulder dislocation cost him a chance to be part of England’s magical 2019 World Cup. Rather than regressing, it has propelled him to greater heights in terms of his preparation and his mental strength. The results were obvious for all to see when he made his maiden international century against Australia at Old Trafford in September.”I think the whole process is natural,” Billings said. “As you get older and more experienced it’s something that develops. Missing the World Cup through injury the year before, it was a pretty steep learning curve in terms of what I needed to get done.”I had to reflect on things I needed to get done and things I needed to improve. For a really bad experience which I wouldn’t wish on anyone, actually what came out of it was a really positive summer. Probably my best summer in an England shirt. It was only through the back of the changes I made through being injured, that I developed. I saw it as, obviously a negative experience, but a huge positive that really helped me develop as a bloke but also as a cricketer as well.”Some continuity in selection has also helped. England’s limited-overs teams have been among the most difficult to break into in recent times and an extended run certainly added his progress.”For me, it’s all about, and it’s so cliché, focusing on the process as opposed to trying so hard to perform well,” Billings said. “Certainly at times for England I would play one game and do well and be out of the side because it’s such a hard side to get into. But this summer was so nice to play a consistent run of games. Not worrying about not playing the next game has just allowed me to play and play my own way.’If you hit a boundary an over and then you’re running people ragged out to the sweepers, that’s when you put people under pressure at relatively low risk’•Getty Images

“I know that when I’m on, when I’m playing well, when I’m comfortable in the environment, I know that I add value to any side that I play in. Hopefully, I just continue to do everything I can to give myself the best chance and that’s all I can do really. Hopefully, I can add some value to the Thunder.”This will be Billings’ third stint in the BBL after playing 11 games over two seasons, from 2016 to 2018, for cross-town rivals the Sydney Sixers. But Billings was keen to join the Thunder due to a connection with Sydney’s western suburbs. He experienced a life-changing summer at Penrith Cricket Club in 2013-14 playing Sydney grade cricket alongside Pat Cummins. Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, and Joe Root have also represented the Thunder in recent times but Billings’ friendship with Shane Watson, through their experiences at Chennai Super Kings was the clincher.”I’m pretty close to Shane Watson through my time at Chennai, I spent a lot of time with him,” Billings said. “I’m very thankful for all the help he’s given me. He had nothing but positive things to say about the Thunder. It was a pretty easy decision.”The biggest thing for me was that I was their guy that they wanted from day one and that goes a long way for any player. Straight away it was that loyalty both ways. I really enjoyed that. I’m really fired up to do well and give back to these guys.”He joins a Thunder team in red-hot form. He will slot in nicely into the middle order and is looking forward to a rare opportunity to keep wicket.”It will be great to get the gloves back on, hopefully, there are not too many cobwebs,” he said. “And obviously in the middle order, that’s something that I really want to make my own if I’m honest. In terms of internationally but also around the world as well. Not many players want to bat in the middle order. Obviously, it’s a pretty challenging position against spin with the field out.”He explained it can also be a different challenge in Australia compared to other parts of the world. Australia have struggled to produce world-class middle order T20 players with the style of play required on the bigger grounds with the field spread asking for slightly different skills.”I think with these big grounds it’s obviously about being positive, backing your options,” Billings said. “You can kind of run people ragged with these big pockets. I like my running between the wickets so I think that’s a huge part of it.”That’s kind of how you can go at low risk 10-an-over against spin. If you hit a boundary an over and then you’re running people ragged out to the sweepers, that’s when you put people under pressure at relatively low risk. There will be different challenges. Obviously, a lot of pace bowlers go into the pitch [with shorter lengths] because of big square boundaries.”It’s coming up with different game plans and hitting gaps. It’s not necessarily all about hitting sixes. You hit the ball hard along the ground over here. The outfields are generally so quick that you get value. It’s just playing smart cricket on these big grounds.”

Candid allrounder accepts lifestyle fell short of standards during tough year, but is itching to make up lost ground

Daniel Brettig at The Oval12-Sep-2019A candid Mitchell Marsh has revealed the extent of his spiral out of the Australian set-up last summer and also his path back to playing the fifth and final Ashes Test, despite what he readily acknowledges is a fractious relationship with many of those who follow the game Down Under.”Yeah, most of Australia hate me,” he said with amusing resignation. “Australians are very passionate, they love their cricket, they want people to do well. There’s no doubt I’ve had a lot of opportunity at Test level and I haven’t quite nailed it, but hopefully they can respect me for the fact I keep coming back and I love playing for Australia, I love the baggy green cap and I’ll keep trying and hopefully I’ll win them over one day.”Named one of two Test team vice-captains ahead of the 2018-19 season, Marsh was initially a central part of plans being drawn up by the Australian coach Justin Langer, but a poor tour of the UAE against Pakistan and then a brief and unproductive stint at home against India left him not only out of the Test side but removed from World Cup calculations and also losing his Cricket Australia contract.Marsh said that personal issues, including the suicide of a close friend late last year, combined with underperformance and fitness issues to leave him a long way from enjoying the game. It took extensive work on his fitness, technical elements of his game and also his mentality with the Western Australia sports psychologist Matt Burgin to put him into the place where he was able to squeeze onto the Ashes tour. At The Oval he was given permission by Langer to attack with the ball, resulting in arguably his finest Test bowling display so far.”I wasn’t making runs – if you bat No. 4 for Australia you need to make runs,” Marsh said. “Last year was a range of stuff, a few things in my personal life. I lost a close friend to suicide at the start of the summer and when things like that happen, I didn’t handle it as well as I could have and that transitioned into my cricket at times as well. I understand everyone goes through tough periods in their life but I certainly didn’t handle it as best I could.”But to have gone through that and got through the summer the way I did and finished with WA, I knew I still had love for the game. It was a tough summer last year. I tried to put it behind me as quickly as possible and here I am. It took me until probably March, the last three Shield games of the year for WA. When you play cricket or you do anything and you want to do well badly and it doesn’t work out, it’s very easy to get down on yourself.”I was certainly at that stage, so I did a lot of work with our sports psych Matt Burgin at WA just about detaching myself from the outcome, working as hard as I can, getting as fit as I can, preparing well and it sort of started from there. I’ve hardly played any cricket since then but that’s what I’ve been doing.”At the same time, Marsh’s physical fitness had measured up poorly against the likes of Ben Stokes, forcing him to make numerous lifestyle and diet changes in order to do better. “As a professional athlete when you have setbacks you always think the worst, you think you might not play again after a summer I had last year,” he said. “There’s been no secret recipe, I’ve just worked my arse off for the last five months hoping to get another opportunity.”I wanted to come here and have a positive influence on this group, i think I’ve done that running the drinks and I just waited for my opportunity. I don’t necessarily eat that bad, I’m just a big eater, so I probably cut down my portion sizes a fair bit. There’s no secret JL’s certainly challenged me from a fitness perspective, he wanted me to get fitter and stronger and over the last six months I’ve put everything I’ve had into it.”I’ve certainly changed my lifestyle a little bit, I’m waking up every day trying to be the best cricketer I can be, and today was good reward for that but it’s one day of a Test match. It wasn’t terrible [but] my body likes to put on weight easily and my mum loves to feed me, so I haven’t had as many roasts at home the last six months, but it hasn’t been that hard. I love playing for Australia, I just love it, and I want to keep doing it, so I’ll keep working my arse off.”Marsh’s contribution at The Oval was very welcome for the Test team at the end of a draining series, and he hoped it would be the start of a far more productive run in the team. “I think in the past my role as a bowler has been to hold an end,” he said. “JL came up to me before the start of play and at lunch time and he just said ‘go for it, attack, bowl the way you want to bowl’, and I was a little bit, not shocked, but it gave me the confidence to go out there and give it everything I had.”Maybe a change of mentality allowed me to bowl a bit more attackingly as a player and it was fun. I want to be the best I can be at both batting and bowling, I don’t really want to pigeonhole one of them. No doubt as an allrounder at times you certainly hit them better than you’re bowling or vice versa but that’s just something that happens in cricket I guess as an allrounder. I want to be the best allrounder I can be in both facets of the game.”