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Australia are favourites to seal a fourth successive Women’s World T20 title, with their main competition likely to come from the team across the Tasman

Vithushan Ehantharajah14-Mar-2016Antipodean shootout?
It’s hard to look beyond Australia and New Zealand for the title. Australia, sniffing their fourth successive Women’s World T20 trophy, seem to be the frontrunners. The Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) can take some credit for that: the success of the competition in its first year has added plenty of sheen to Australia’s game. Despite Australia breaking new ground domestically, though, they have lost their last three T20I series, the most recent of which came against New Zealand earlier this month. Factor in the loss of Grace Harris – one of the most exciting talents – and you begin to look at the team and wonder who beyond Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry you would file in the “match-winner” category. Then again, you might say the same thing about New Zealand with Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine. The two teams square off in Nagpur on March 21 and it’s hard not to think back to the men’s 2015 World Cup, when New Zealand beat Australia in the group stages, before Australia exacted revenge in the final. England, sitting in Group B, will be the match-up they’d want to save for the final.The outside bets
What’s an international tournament without a dark horse? If there’s a side that has shown the best on-field return on investment in women’s cricket recently, it’s South Africa. October 2013 marked a key moment in their history, as they joined England, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan in offering central contracts to their players. The following year, they made the semi-final of the 2014 World T20, which in hindsight might have been a jump too far as they were blown away by England. But, two years on, they have notched their first T20I win over England, along with their first ever T20I series win over West Indies. Theirs is a team mixing youth, experience and the sort of on-field buzz that sees them capable of defending low scores. The issue with this particular call is that they share Group A with New Zealand and Australia. And while they lack depth beyond their first XI, this is the first time Mignon du Preez has been able to have such a well-rounded attack. It is spearheaded by Shabnim Ismail who, in her ninth year of international cricket, has developed a full set of skills to counter some of the best batsmen in the world.India’s Smriti Mandhana, all of 19, is a player to watch out for•Getty ImagesThe next generation
If you’re keen for a home favourite, then look no further than Smriti Mandhana, a 19-year-old left-hand batsman who can unfurl the sort of square drives that will have you falling in love all over again. Then there is her team-mate Deepti Sharma, an 18-year-old offspinner who had spent the last few weeks tying Sri Lanka in knots.South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk has been around since 2009, but it has only been in the last three years that she has enjoyed sustained success with both bat and ball. Australia’s Jess Jonassen is up there with Mandhana as the most watchable left-handers in the game, while compatriot Lauren Cheatle, just 17, is an exciting left-arm quick who took 18 WBBL wickets at 19.72. West Indies’ Hayley Matthews – also 17 – is another fascinating all-round prospect. Away from your usual suspects, Cath Dalton of Ireland is an interesting case. A former England academy player, Dalton switched allegiances to Ireland to further her international career. While she had looked to make her way as a fast bowling allrounder, it is her batting which has become her strongest suit.(A caveat to this is that, disappointingly, only 13 women’s matches will be broadcast: 10 out of the 20 group matches, the semi-finals and final. Still, this is an improvement on previous editions, when only the semis and final were televised.)Not pitch perfect
An issue that continues to blight women’s cricket. It feels like in the last year playing surfaces have come under more intense scrutiny; pitch curators have been sacked, tosses scrapped, soils imported and heated words exchanged over 22-yards of dirt track. We ask a lot of our groundsmen and women with the sheer volume of cricket in the calendar, but it’s hard not to look at the pitches produced in Nagpur last week for the men’s first round of games and worry what might be in store for the women, who often get the short shrift when it comes to pitch rotation. It’s a shame really: the lower bounce and tackier surface that is prepared – or rather, underprepared – for many women’s fixtures rob us and them of their recently developed skills, such as hitting big down the ground and fizzing one past the ears. Good pitches will give these players the confidence to show just how expansive they can be.More money, less parity
For the third competition in a row, the prize money on offer in the women’s competition has increased. The figure this time around is US $400,000 overall, an increase of 22% from 2014’s figure of $328,000. In 2009 and 2010, that collective sum was only $45,000 with a small increase to $60,000 for 2012. This year’s winners will pocket $70,000 of the kitty, with the runners-up netting $30,000. Losing semi-finalists walk away with $15,000, while a group win is sweetened by $2,500. These figures pale in comparison to what’s on offer in the men’s competition: a collective $5.6 million, split into $1,100,000 for the winners, $550,000 for runners-up, $275,000 for semi-finalists and $40,000 for a group win.

After another blunt display, James Anderson’s form at this World Cup is becoming a significant problem for England

George Dobell in Wellington01-Mar-2015It’s just as well the England bowlers have names on the back of their shirts: it has become pretty much the only way to tell them apart.All four of their seamers are right-arm, quite quick, quite tall and quite good. In conditions where the ball swings or seams, they are dangerous. In conditions where it doesn’t, they take on a homogenised appearance that provides the captain with no options and the batsmen with no surprises.In theory, they offer different weapons. James Anderson, for example, is meant to offer swing and Steven Finn is meant to offer pace.In practice, Anderson hasn’t swung a ball in this tournament and Finn hasn’t been a fast bowler since England remodelled his action a couple of years ago. Stuart Broad bowled one excellent over but appears to lack the strength to sustain the pace required to excel at this level – if he always bowled as he did in his Ashes clinching spell at Durham, he would have developed into a great – and Chris Woakes seems to have an allergy to the yorker.The previous day, the World Cup had seen two left-arm seamers claim 11 wickets between them in 19 overs. It had seen Mitchell Starc, in particular, succeed by delivering fast yorkers.But England had no such option. It would be disingenuous to suggest that Harry Gurney, the last left-arm seamer England utilised, would have made much difference. It would be disingenuous to suggest that Mark Footitt or Tymal Mills – England’s quickest left-arm bowlers – are ready for ODI cricket. It would be disingenuous to suggest there are quick-fix solutions to England’s problems.James Anderson has only two wickets in four matches at this World Cup•Getty ImagesIn retrospect, the inclusion of James Tredwell might have helped. But whether it would have turned this result is debatable. As is the choice over who would have made way for him.The days when Anderson could be excluded from such debates are gone. After four matches in this World Cup, he has taken just two wickets – both against Scotland – at a cost of 91 apiece and he is conceding his runs at a cost of 6.27 an over.It is a mediocre record. And for an England team that were relying on Anderson’s potency with the new ball, it is disastrous.Anderson’s World Cup record is a major stain on a fine international career. In his fourth World Cup, he has claimed 24 wickets in 23 games at a cost of 42.41. Which sounds pretty modest.But when you exclude his first three games – played in 2003 when he was 20 years old – from the statistics, his record is truly gruesome. He has taken 15 wickets in 20 matches at an average of 61.33 and an economy rate of 5.60. And even then, nine of his wickets have come against Bangladesh or Associate nations. He has not claimed a wicket in his last four World Cup games against Test-playing opposition. A young England side require far better from their senior players.It is the lack of swing that is Anderson’s greatest concern. He moved the new ball consistently in the tri-series, often striking early, and forcing the opposition to proceed with caution. Now, sans swing, Anderson – and England – appear toothless.Other bowlers are still managing to make these Kookaburra balls swing. This game took place at the same ground and on the same pitch on which Tim Southee destroyed England with swing a week ago. Even in this game, Angelo Mathews gained some movement off the seam on the way to bowling his first nine overs for just 30 runs. Starc and Trent Boult found swing in Auckland on Saturday.

England’s plan was to take pace off the ball by hitting the pitch hard and forcing the batsmen to generate power. But that mentality accepts that the bowlers are going to be hit

It will not do to blame the conditions. Not only is it disputed that atmospheric conditions make any difference to the movement of a cricket ball but, if it keeps happening, then the player has to look to their own game.It is not the first time in his career when Anderson has struggled to find swing. On the tour of New Zealand in early 2013 he was unable to gain the movement available to the home bowlers. And in India in 2012 – perhaps his finest Test series – he had to rely on excellent control and a tiny amount of assistance off the pitch.So there was a time when Anderson had the tools to compensate for days when the ball did not swing. There was a time when he had the pace or the seam movement or the yorker to keep batsmen honest.But here he maintained an average of 83.4mph, with a top speed of 88.2mph. About half his deliveries to the left-handers failed to reach 80 mph. On flat pitches, without horizontal movement, that is medium-pace.His length was intriguing, too. He attempted only one yorker – it turned into a full toss – and hardly another full delivery. Generally he aimed for a back-of-a-length method that minimised the opportunity to drive him. But bowlers like Anderson are meant to encourage the drive and look for the edge. If he does not have the confidence to pitch the ball up, it is hard to see his worth in the side. Only five out of the 48 deliveries he bowled would have hit the stumps.England’s plan – as much as there was one – was to take pace off the ball by hitting the pitch hard and forcing the batsmen to generate power. But the whole mentality of such a plan is poor. It accepts, for a start, that the bowlers are on the defensive and that they are going to be hit. It just tried to limit the extent of the damage.It is unthinkable that Australia or New Zealand would take such a defeatist and sophistic approach. Instead they would seek wickets. They would look for their swing bowlers to move the ball and their fast bowlers to either unsettle the batsmen with the short ball or defeat them with the full. England’s plans, as much as their skills, remain off the pace at this level. Either way, they do not reflect well on the bowling coach, David Saker. Has any bowler in his charge not deteriorated?Ravi Bopara’s inclusion might have made a difference. Not only did England miss another option – albeit another right-arm seamer – but they missed Bopara’s ability to work on the ball.Bopara has a reputation as a man who can “make the ball talk”. With him in the side, England and Essex have managed to gain extravagant movement. Just as telling, they have often struggled to replicate that movement when Bopara is absent.That is not to suggest that Bopara is doing anything untoward with the ball. With the number of cameras trained on international cricketers these days, it is hard to imagine any player could get away with ball tampering. But it does seem uncanny how much more the ball appears to move when he is in the side.Either way, if the ball does not swing, Anderson appears to have few weapons. And without his bite, England are not so much in the field as out at sea.

Vernon Philander stresses the importance of working on your skills, but he’s not a big fan of being called the new McGrath

Interview by Jack Wilson17-Aug-2013The start of your Test career was immense. You took 50 wickets in your first seven matches – the second-fastest ever. That’s some record, isn’t it?
It came down to the hard work prior to that. In the end the hard work pays off. You go through a lot in the years leading up to playing for your country. If you put it in, you get your rewards. Success isn’t guaranteed. Put in the hard yards and that’s what comes.Is that the secret – hard work?
Yes, hard work pays off. You have to spend time getting your skills up to standard. Hard work makes me appreciate things I achieve a lot more. The more and more I achieve the better it makes me feel. I want to keep making things happen, going forward too.Are you someone who’s into their stats?
I’m not into stats, no.So if I asked you how many Test wickets you’d taken, would you know?
I just take each game at a time. I play each time to try and take the team across the line – that’s what I’m worried about.What’s the strangest game you’ve ever played in?
We bowled New Zealand out for 45 on the first day of a Test, which was crazy, but my debut – the win over Australia – was the most bizarre. To bowl them out for 47 in the second innings and then knock off the runs was a good game to be a part of.Last year Allan Donald said the bowling attack – with you in it – was the best ever. How did that make you feel?
(Laughs) It was great to hear that, especially coming from him. As far as we’re concerned, as a bowling unit we just try and take 20 wickets a game. The more we do it, the more people may rave about us. Getting teams out is our job and we take pride in doing so.You’ve been dubbed “the new Glenn McGrath” by some. That’s high praise.

I’ve heard some people say that, but I’m not too concerned what people call me. I just focus on my game, and as long as I go out and produce the goods, I’m happy. Personally I don’t like it but it’s not a bad compliment.If you could go back in time and bowl at one batsman from the past, who would it be?
Jeez, that’s tough. I’d say my school mates. A few were highly rated at school level and for me it’s important to be humble and remember where you came from.Who’s the messiest player in the South Africa dressing room?
The boys are generally pretty good. The bowlers – me, Dale Steyn and Morne [Morkel] – tend to unpack all our kit. It’s not untidy, though. It’s all together.And the funniest?
Morne Morkel tells lots of old-time stories and jokes, I’ll give it to him.Who hits the ball the furthest?
There are a few strikers in that team, huh? I’d say, from the Test side, it’s AB [de Villiers]. He can hit it pretty clean and pretty far.If I gave you a ball and you had six balls to bowl at one stump, how many times would you hit?
Probably none! (Laughs) Seriously, well, it depends on the conditions. I’ve got to back myself. I’d say I’d hit it two out of six times.How do you spend your time away from cricket?
I’ll be on the golf course most of the time. That’s where I like to go. The golf course or a wildlife park.What’s your handicap?
I play off a horrible five.Where’s the best place to play cricket in the world?
There’s only one place, isn’t there? Cape Town. There’s no better setting than that. Although I enjoy it wherever I go. It’s always a different experience playing against different players and seeing people from different cultures. It’s special to travel the world.What’s the first piece of advice you’d give to a young fast bowler?
I’d say to the young guns out there: try and enhance your skills to a level in which you understand them. Once you understand your action and once you understand what you are trying to do with the ball, you can showcase it to the world. Go out there and put in the hard yards.Favourite shot?
Pull shot.Does cricket ever pop up in your dreams?
No, not really, although I had one prior to my debut.

The side’s inspirational captain looks at the possibility of a potential breakaway from the West Indies

Interview by Abhishek Purohit27-Sep-2011Daren Ganga has been content to fly Trinidad & Tobago’s flag since he last played for West Indies in 2008•Stanford 20/20Do you think the WICB has over-reached itself in its handling of player issues?
Given the state of our cricket, there needs to be a certain amount of checks and balances, in terms of the governance of the game in the Caribbean. Whether that balance is carried out or not in the right spirit is another issue. But if you look at all the successful countries, you’ll realise their players’ body and their administrative body work very closely together. They have established a very cordial and respectful manner in which they go about doing things. You look at the Australian Cricketers’ Association and how they operate with Cricket Australia. We’re still stuck somewhere in between, and the faster we can get around that and move forward, the more positively it will impact on cricket.Do you think there has been too much player power [in West Indian cricket]?
I think the board does need to have a certain amount of control. They are the governing body for the game so they need to ensure that it is well protected and guided in the right direction. Globally Twenty20 is influencing the game. Our governing bodies need to be strong enough to ensure there is balance in terms of Test and 50-over cricket. And there needs to be a certain amount of authority for doing those things. You must have people who have that sort of influence, but if the head is not in the right place, that is an issue.Sometimes, they have got to recognise themselves as providing a service to the game rather than the cricket being all about them.Has that attitude been lacking? How flexible do you think the board needs to be?
There needs to be a certain amount of flexibility. What is complicated in the WICB is that it comprises members of each individual territory. It’s a very cumbersome structure that does not allow efficiency and easy decision-making. There is always an insular thought or an insular comment. What is left to be seen is whether we can be mature enough to get past that and see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is that the best decisions are made in the interests of our cricket. That is where all the Caribbean nations need to come together and make sure that the game and its quality in the West Indies are protected.During the 2009 Champions League you said that if things didn’t improve, there would be a day when the individual [national] boards would want to go their separate ways. Has the situation deteriorated or improved since then?
I think it’s closer in that direction [deterioration]. That is what you hear from the people who support you. The common man on the ground… you read sometimes in the editorials and you listen to comments. It’s not always about the people who make the decision. There is a certain amount of influence by the masses. If a certain player is not selected and doing well, public pressure will ask the selectors to get that player in the set-up.I speak from the T&T perspective. There is a lot of discussion about the positives of going in that direction and about certain players who are not being given the opportunity. At the moment, I can’t really say what the other territories are saying. You see the controversies with Chris Gayle not being in the set-up. You are seeing a heavy influence from the Windward Islands in terms of players being selected because of the people who are in power now. Historically, it’s been like that. Whether that changes, we do not know.With the advent of all these third-party competitions [like the Champions League], where individual countries are getting an opportunity, it may fragment the West Indies federation and the West Indies cricket team, which is the only sporting body that allows all the territories to play as one.

“When you play for your country, the country that you were born in and brought up in, and you sing your national anthem, it brings a different individual spirit to you. Saying that you are West Indian, yes, there is a certain amount of patriotism, but there is no West Indian anthem, there is not that sort of closeness”

How long can nebulous concepts like the West Indies legacy – which is now decades old – sustain this unity?
You hear pros and cons for the West Indies federation. How with the advent of global trade and technology, individual countries can sustain. We are seeing in different sports that countries are playing as individual nations. We had the T&T football team that qualified for the World Cup [2006]. We have Jamaica, who are doing very well in athletics. We have a lot of athletes who compete in the Olympics as citizens of individual countries. The more that happens and the more global exposure that each country gets, the more that is going to impact negatively on our collective West Indian effort.Can you foresee a time frame before public opinion in T&T turns irrefutably in favour of going solo?
I definitely think the performance of our team will push that discussion in either direction. If we go on to do well on a global stage such as the Champions League, you are going to have public pressure being applied, where they think that a T&T team can fend on its own and has the opportunity to qualify on its own in the 50-over or the 20-over World Cup. When you do well in a global competition, there is talk that T&T should go on their own. “It will allow so many opportunities for young players. We have the financial backing. Why don’t we do that in terms of positive benefits for the country? The amount of money that we spend on conventions and heads-of-government summits, we could channel that into sport.”Leaving aside the legacy and emotion, do you think it is practically feasible to do that, given that larger countries have struggled?
I think there is an opportunity to head in that direction. The ICC allows a country to apply and go through the process of getting in that member set-up. Whether anyone has the confidence and bravery to go in that direction and to run the risk of breaking that legacy is to be seen. But we all know that it is possible in today’s world.Do you think T&T will take the lead some day? You have always loved that flag, haven’t you?
If you speak to any West Indies player, you will hear them talking about this special affiliation to their country. When you play for your country, the country that you were born in and brought up in, and you sing your national anthem, it brings a different individual spirit to you.
Saying that you are West Indian, yes, there is a certain amount of patriotism, but there is no West Indian anthem, there is not that sort of closeness. Yes, historically we have achieved great things and when you travel across the world, you hear people talking about our legacy. But to be close to it, feel it and interact directly with it on a daily basis, no, it is not present. In the Caribbean we are talking about the CSME [CARICOM Single Market and Economy], which is establishing a common economic market, and still we have had a lot of challenges in getting it on stream. So that in itself is sending a strong message in terms of us collectively as a Caribbean federation.So will it ultimately come down to a pull between the legacy of the past and, say, the love of the T&T flag?
Not really. I think they both go hand in hand. T&T cricket is a subset of West Indies cricket. If you want to effect a change in West Indies cricket, it must come from the subsets, which are the individual territories. We are still not grasping that concept. We are still looking at things from the top and not realising that the change needs to come from our subsets. If I could change that, then it would help and contribute positively to West Indies cricket.”The advent of all these third-party competitions, where individual countries are getting an opportunity, it may fragment the West Indies federation”•Global Cricket Ventures-BCCIComing to leadership, Darren Sammy said that it is overrated. What do you have to say on that?
I don’t think so. There is a lot that a captain can do. But a captain must have the full support of the administration. That confidence has not been
there in the West Indies. Even someone like Brian Lara was placed on probation. While all of us want results, but you cannot put a gun to a guy’s head. A lot more freedom could have been given in terms of selections and choice of support staff. If you ask me, I would have taken it up only if such things were put in place.I’ll bring Sammy again into this. Your batting record has gone against you in the past. Do you think standards have not been applied consistently when it comes to deciding on the captaincy?
I don’t like to comment too much on guys who are given the opportunity to lead, because I don’t know the premise of the board in terms of decision-making and what their intentions are. We can see there is a seeking out of younger players and building a young team. That is what you gather from the decisions of the selectors.But could those same standards have been applied earlier?
It is baffling to me that there was a guy like Ramnaresh Sarwan who was always playing second fiddle as vice-captain and yet he was never given a fair chance to lead West Indies. I can recall him playing under Carl Hooper and Brian Lara and being vice-captain for years. He hasn’t been given that opportunity to lead even in two or three consecutive series. There is no structured manner and clear philosophy and guideline in terms of selecting a captain and players.Players having one good first-class season are thrust into the international arena, while there are players who dominate the first-class scene day in and day out and don’t even get that opportunity. For the last four years I haven’t played for West Indies. This year I am not far behind Marlon Samuels in terms of runs, and I am not involved in any West Indian representative team. Yet I am doing so well for T&T. Marlon was out of cricket for two years. He had one good season and he is playing all versions of the game.Forty-eight Tests spread over almost a decade. You think you were handed a raw deal?
Probably. I am not too sure. There are selectors and powers-that-be who make those decisions. As a player I can only control my performance. For T&T, for the past four-five years, I have been enjoying a great time as a captain and as a batsman. I started playing this game because I love it and not because I want to play for West Indies. It is a great honour to play for West Indies and represent the collective Caribbean. But at the same time, I get my fulfillment from playing the game in the best manner that I can. And as a captain it is not just about winning matches. There is a certain fulfillment you get from being influential in terms of selecting and helping young players and seeing them move on to play and do well in international cricket.How much of a motivation is leadership, and how much of a role does having a solid grounding in education play in leadership?
A lot of leadership has to do with communication and having a certain amount of openness and integrity in terms of your decision-making. Those are the things I stand very close to when leading cricket teams – and anything in life, as a matter of fact. In this T&T set-up all the young players know that they can come and speak to me about anything. They know when they are left out that they can come to me and get a reason. There are always cricketing reasons behind it. The minute you step away from cricketing reasons, you find yourself in hot water.All the players are aware that not everyone can be selected. We try not to take any shortcuts as players, as we know that there is a certain effort and preparation that goes into getting results. We have built that attitude that you have got to work to get the results. That has brought us success as a team.

“This year I am not far behind Marlon Samuels in terms of runs, and I am not involved in any West Indian representative team. Yet I am doing so well for T&T. Marlon was out of cricket for two years. He had one good season and he is playing all versions of the game”

It is probably a touch early to ask you this, but any regrets so far, as a batsman and as a leader?
As a batsman, I think if I had the experience of playing a certain amount of cricket before I got the opportunity to play international cricket, I would have been a lot more mature. I would have been better prepared to think of my responsibilities. My entry to international cricket was very premature. I had just played three of four first-class matches and I was on my first tour with West Indies to South Africa in 1998. Initially I was told by Brian [Lara] and the selectors that it was a learning tour for me and I would be playing most of the practice matches to help my development. I ended up playing in three of the five Tests on that dreaded tour.The experience made me stronger. It built my character as a cricketer. But as a batsman it scarred me very early in my career. I have had to learn my game at the international level, which has been without a lot of success. I always wanted to hone my skills at the first-class level, where you can try and make mistakes and get away with it. In international cricket you make one mistake and you are out. That is my one major regret as a batsman. On the flip side, having had that experience and going through those things has shaped me as a person and built a certain resolve.Do you think that is required as a leader?
Of course. They say that in order for you to enjoy success as a leader and probably as a person, you have to go through great periods of failure and misery. I have gone through mine. That is why I think, over the years, I have enjoyed success. I can also allude to Steve Waugh, if you look at his career and how things went for him. It makes it great in the end because you can see all the trials and tribulations that you have gone through.You would have wanted to do better as a batsman but would you have taken all this to be the leader that you are today?
Yeah, I would. As I said, I have no regrets [on that front]. I am still playing, I can still make that difference, I still believe in my ability. A lot of people in the West Indies do have that belief in me as well. They want to see a change in West Indies cricket. If I could make my difference to a certain period of West Indies cricket, then I would have played my part.We don’t know where it will head. The cricketing landscape globally is changing and we don’t know how it will be in the next 10 years. I just
want to play my part as a cricketer and as a leader, and hopefully look back on a fulfilling career.

Tony Cozier on West Indies’ fielding lapses during the first day of the second Test against Australia

Tony Cozier31-May-2008
Runako Morton lets one through on a below-par effort in the field for West Indies © Getty Images
It was a day in which West Indies needed to be as sharp and flawless in the field. While their bowlers plugged away with much of their newly-discovered discipline, they lacked the support they enjoyed during the first Test, which was even more essential here to counteract the disadvantage of the conditions.The usually sure-handed Runako Morton put down a chance at point when the dogged Simon Katich square-cut Fidel Edwards straight to him, still ten runs short of his eventual century. He would have backed himself to take that catch ten times out of ten.Denesh Ramdin couldn’t gather a leaping leg-side catch when Michael Hussey was on 4. The prolific left-hander only added another six but it was a rare mistake by the ‘keeper, on which epitomised the decline in West Indies’ fielding standards.Misses, fumbles and deflections on the ground probably cost as many as 20 runs and often eased the pressure of a sequence of scoreless deliveries. Ramnaresh Sarwan, once again standing in for the injured Chris Gayle, and Jerome Taylor, seemingly conscious of the back strain that kept him out of the first Test, were the main culprits.At Sabina Park, there were only two no-balls and not a single wide in Australia’s first innings, during which West Indies bowled 126.5 overs. Here, in 82 overs, there were seven no-balls and a wide from Dwayne Bravo that passed a few feet away from Ramdin on its way to the boundary.It emphasised the point about consistency made by Australia’s coach, Tim Nielsen, prior to the match, and, no doubt, by his West Indies counterpart, and fellow Australian, John Dyson. The difference between the teams at present, Nielsen noted, is the ability to execute their skills and reproduce them “over and over again”.The position is not dissimilar to that of the first Test. On a friendlier batting pitch, West Indies will find it harder here to restrict Australia to under 500, a situation which will place heavy demands on their batting. But, in the continuing absence of Gayle, there is yet another opening combination to start things off against one of the most potent new ball attacks in the game.If the strange make-up of the final eleven was predicated on the announcement of the overall squad, the inclusion of Xavier Marshall was a choice as bewildering as any ever made by our often bewildering selection panels.When he was head coach, Bennett King was so seduced by Marshall’s potential that he pitchforked him into the VB Series in Australia and the Test series in Sri Lanka in 2005. He was 18 and clearly not ready.Since then, his appearances for Jamaica have been spasmodic and unconvincing. He was not even in the playing XI for their Carib Beer Challenge final against Trinidad and Tobago last month. His first-class average is 25, and he is yet to score a hundred.Still only 22, Marshall may yet become a worthy Test opener. At present, he is no more ready to take the leap to the highest level than he was four years ago.

The Australia captain believes the team can learn a lot from losses such as the ones against South Africa

Andrew McGlashan09-Feb-2024Australia captain Alyssa Healy believes losses like the one they suffered against South Africa can be good for a team that has gone through some significant changes, but has backed them as still “a really good cricket side” as the multi-format series gets set for a potentially grandstand finish.South Africa’s historic first ODI win over the home side on Wednesday followed their first-ever victory over Australia across formats in the T20I series. If they win again on Saturday and take the ODI series, the multi-format scoreline would be 6-6 heading into next week’s Test at the WACA.Australia have now lost three matches across formats this season after also being turned over by West Indies in a T20I at North Sydney Oval when Hayley Matthews produced one of the all-time great innings in a record chase.Related

• Kapp's stunning all-round show secures SA another famous win

• Kapp on Sydney win: 'Proud moment for South African cricket'

In Wednesday’s ODI they crashed to 71 for 8 on a pitch spiced up by a steady drizzle – having earlier dropped five chances in the field – although Healy insisted they still believed they could win from that position.”It’s plain and simple: you can’t afford to be sloppy and not adapt as quickly as we needed to,” Healy said. “We’ve proven that over the summer, that when we’ve let ourselves down, even a little bit, in all three facets we are getting punished. Tomorrow’s a great opportunity to come out here and be really clinical and perform the way we know we can.”We are still a really good cricket side, we showed in Adelaide how good we can be, just got to turn up tomorrow and do the same thing then do it repeatedly for long periods of time.”South Africa, who missed the chance of a series win in the T20Is, are hopeful of taking their opportunity this time.”It is definitely not done,” allrounder Eliz-Mari Marx said. “There’s one game to play and I think it’s all to play for. If we as a team can stick to what we did the previous match, we can go and win the series.”Australia have undergone significant personnel changes in the last 18 months with Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes retiring and coach Matthew Mott moving on to take the England men’s white-ball job.Plenty of success has continued to follow with the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and another T20 World Cup title in South Africa last year. They retained the Ashes in England, though they had to settle for a points draw across the three formats as they lost both the ODI and T20I series.Despite the shock T20I loss they took both series against West Indies and prevailed in the two white-ball formats on the recent tour of India after losing the Test.”I’ve spoken quite openly about the changes we’ve seen,” Healy, who officially took on the full-time captaincy last December, said. “Yes, we’ve kept winning, we’ve kept being successful, but we’ve had a lot of significant change in and around our group over the last 18 months.The second ODI was really about Australia being beaten by Marizanne Kapp•Getty Images

“So think it’s great for our group, you tend to learn a lot more about yourself individually but also as a team when you lose and lose well, like we did [on Wednesday], so even today the conversations have been had about what will take place tomorrow is already a step in the right direction. Think they are really positive signs.”Healy has also been playing long enough to have gone through previous times when Australia’s dominance has been called into question.”There was a period of time where cricket was really challenging for this group,” Healy said. “We’ve had a lot of success over the last five or six years, yes, but there’s been plenty of times within that that this group has been challenged.”Meanwhile, Healy was hopeful that key allrounder Ash Gardner would be available for the deciding ODI after pulling up with hamstring soreness in the second match although there remains a chance she will be rested with an eye on the Test. Ellyse Perry is recovering well from the illness that struck her during the week.

The Bianconeri were on track for three points until a 96th minute equalizer from Lazio forced them to settle for a point

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• Juventus draw Lazio 1-1
• USMNT's McKennie notched assist on Juve's lone goal
• hit a roadblock in race for UCL next season

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  U.S. international Weston McKennie recorded a crucial assist as Juventus drew Lazio 1-1 in Serie A action on Saturday. Three points were on the verge for as the final whistle neared, but a 96th-minute equalizer from Lazio forced them to settle for a point on the day.

  France international Randal Kolo-Muani scored Juventus' lone goal, with McKennie looping in a pinpoint cross for the striker to head home into the back of the net. A needless straight red card was issued to defender Pierre Kalulu in the 60th minute, which put them in a defensive position for the final 30-plus minutes of the match.They caved with seconds to spare as Matias Vecino tapped home to secure Lazio a draw.

  A clash between the top six in Italy, both clubs now sit level on 64 points with two games left in the Serie A campaign – and the fourth and final UCL spot in the 2025-26 season up for grabs.

  Fellow USMNT regular Tim Weah started the match for Juve as well, with both Americans playing 90 minutes throughout the contest.

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  With just a point on the day, Juventus maintain their fourth place spot in Serie A on 64 points – with Lazio moving into fifth, but level with the at 64. Sixth-place Roma, who have a game in hand over both teams, sit on 63 points.

  With two matches remaining on the calendar, the fourth and final UCL spot in Serie A will come down to the wire, with three teams rightly in the mix for the spot – and two others, seventh-place Bologna and eighth-place Milan – not far behind.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR JUVENTUS?

  The are back in action next weekend against Udinese, in the penultimate match of the Serie A campaign. With the draw on Saturday, they're now in a must-win position over the final two weeks if they want to secure UCL soccer in the 2025-26 season.

Manchester United’s sweeping revolution under Sir Jim Ratcliffe has taken another bold step, with the club confirming the appointment of Stephen Torpey as their new academy director. The highly respected coach, who has built a reputation for shaping some of England’s brightest young stars, joins from Brentford but is best known for his near-decade of service at Manchester City.

Torpey joins as new academy chiefINEOS continue major Old Trafford overhaulYouth focus central to United’s revivalFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Torpey is no stranger to United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, who worked alongside him closely during their shared time at the Etihad. The pair played central roles in building City’s much-admired youth system, which has regularly supplied Pep Guardiola with first-team-ready talent.

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This latest move continues United’s growing habit of prising key figures away from the blue half of Manchester, as INEOS seeks to rewire the club’s foundations from top to bottom. They have already snapped up chief executive Omar Berrada, performance director Sam Erith, and chief communications officer Toby Craig, all with City backgrounds.

WHAT WILCOX & TORPEY SAID

Wilcox hailed the appointment, describing Torpey as a man with a proven track record in developing elite-level footballers.

“After an extensive recruitment process, we are delighted to have appointed Stephen at such an exciting time for our academy," he said. “Stephen’s record of youth development is outstanding; throughout his career he has played a significant role in the development of some of the most talented players in the country. We will work closely together to ensure that the academy continues to foster the right environment to nurture our young players individually while developing the best talent ready to excel in our first team.”

Torpey himself was brimming with enthusiasm after sealing the switch to Old Trafford.

“I am really proud to have this opportunity to lead Manchester United’s academy," he said. "It is obviously a great time to be joining as the club enters an exciting new era; I can’t wait to play my role in continuing the incredible tradition of youth development here. After spending time with the leadership team, it is clear that the academy will always remain key to the identity of Manchester United, with our primary aim being to produce players ready to support a first team capable of challenging for the biggest honours.”

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DID YOU KNOW?

Torpey is being lined up as the official successor to Nick Cox, who is set to depart after a successful spell guiding the academy. Cox will stay in position during Torpey’s period of gardening leave, ensuring a seamless handover before he leaves to take up his new job as Everton’s technical director.

Middlesex 138 for 1 (Stoneman 62*) trail Glamorgan 620 for 3 dec (Northeast 335*, Ingram 132*, Carlson 77, Root 67) by 482 runsGreed is good, as Sam Northeast proved on the second day of the English season at Lord’s. After ransacking Middlesex’s bowlers to the tune of 186 not out on day one, Glamorgan’s captain had insisted that was just the base-camp of his ambitions. For 412 balls across eight-and-three-quarter hours of formidable record-wrecking accumulation, he was utterly true to his word.By the time he marched off in mid-afternoon with 335 not out to his name, out of Glamorgan’s towering total of 620 for 3 declared, Northeast had gone higher than any batter at the equivalent stage of any previous county season, and further into Lord’s own ancient record-books than any man in more than 200 years of precedent.No player had ever scored a Championship triple-hundred at an earlier date than April 6 – the Somerset pairing of Justin Langer in 2007 and James Hildreth in 2009 are the only other players even to have achieved the feat in this cruellest of months. But it was the nudged single through midwicket 34 runs after that milestone that resonated longest and loudest with a knowledgeable Lord’s crowd, as Northeast toppled Graham Gooch’s iconic 333 against India as the highest first-class score at cricket’s most-famous ground.More than 2800 first-class fixtures have taken place at Lord’s since July 1814, when MCC – having twice moved home in their previous 27 years of existence – christened their ultimate venue with a local derby against St John’s Wood, in which neither team made as much as 200 across four innings.Even allowing for a conservative estimate of 25 wickets per first-class match since, that amounts to some 70,000 individual innings in the ground’s history (to date, the equivalent figure across 2537 Tests is 78578 completed innings). Only five of those had previously produced a triple-century, most recently Mark Wagh (sic, of Warwickshire not Australia), in 2001. None, though, have been higher than Northeast’s latest opus.It’s only his latest, of course, because this was not even the highest score of Northeast’s first-class career. That came at Grace Road two seasons ago, against Leicestershire, when he made the ninth-highest individual innings in all of first-class cricket, a mighty (and match-winning) 410 not out against Leicestershire.Sam Northeast takes the plaudits from Colin Ingram after making 335 not out, the highest first-class score at Lord’s•Andrew Miller/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

At the age of 34, and having – like the aforementioned Hildreth – come to be regarded as the best batter of his generation not to have earned an England call-up, this performance is unlikely to change anything on that front. And by the close, it might not count for a whole lot more than Glamorgan’s handy haul of four batting points. Craig Miles’ dismissal of Sam Robson for 43 in the 30th over of Middlesex’s reply turned out to be the only wicket that fell all day, as Mark Stoneman’s doughty half-century confirmed that the Kookaburra ball would prove to be every bit as truculent for the visitors.That scarcely detracted from the quality of Northeast’s performance, however. The day was only four overs old when a punched single into the covers secured him his first ambition, a second career double-hundred, but it was the moment of his 250, secured with a thumped drive over long-off off Ryan Higgins in the final half-hour of the morning, that truly ignited his mood.By then, Northeast had survived a second costly miss at backward point – on 239 this time, compared to 11 on the first morning – but there was no question of treating the moment as a cautionary tale. Each his six sixes poured forth thereafter, three off Higgins as he strayed too full in his arc, and three more off the toiling spinner Josh De Caires, including a monstrous mow across the line and over the extra-long Grandstand boundary, some 80 yards up the hill.De Caires – whose father Mike Atherton had been watching the rain fall at Old Trafford on day one before driving his own parents down to witness their grandson in action – eventually retreated with the bruised figures of 28-0-147-0, including a leg-side long-hop that allowed Northeast to roll his wrists through a pull through backward square and rush on through to that triple-hundred. By then, however, De Caires (and his grandparents) should have had something to cheer with Northeast on 291, only for Jack Davies behind the stumps to make a hash of a regulation stumping.That wasn’t the only lapse as Middlesex’s discipline deserted them amid the onslaught. As the understudy in a hefty fourth-wicket stand of 299, Colin Ingram’s own century was almost as overshadowed as Keith Piper’s at Edgbaston in June 1994, and clean though most of his boundaries were, his late volley of four sixes in 12 balls included a gruesome fumble over the ropes from Henry Brookes at deep third.None of it ultimately mattered, however. As, indeed, might also be said of the remaining two days of a bat-dominant game – though tell that to Stoneman and Max Holden, whose own quests for a statement innings are only just beginning.”It’s a privilege to play here and to break a record like that is just beyond my wildest dreams, to be honest,” Northeast said at the close. “It blew my mind. I got pretty nervous out there at the end, when I was nearing it.”I didn’t really think about it until I was on about 330. A member told me as I was walking out and I sort of forgot about it [the record] – then when I got near, I started thinking about it again.”It’s a special day. The game situation was what I was thinking about at that stage but then a personal milestone like that – I had to make sure I got it.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O técnico Luís Castro expôs seu lamento com a derrota por 3 a 0 do Botafogo para o Athletico-PR, neste domingo (13). Em entrevista coletiva, o comandante reconheceu que o Alvinegro foi envolvido pelo Furacão e não soube voltar a se impor.

RelacionadasBotafogoAtletas e torcedores do Botafogo aplaudem uns aos outros após duelo com Athletico-PRBotafogo13/11/2022BrasileirãoNo ‘adeus’ de Felipão, Athletico-PR goleia o Botafogo e confirma vaga na Libertadores; Alvinegro está foraBrasileirão13/11/2022

– Os primeiros 20 minutos foram bons, controlamos o jogo, mas depois não conseguimos mais achar oportunidades de gols. Até os 20 minutos a gente tinha uma boa união entre Jeffinho, Tiquinho e Marçal, estávamos conseguindo criar o jogo por ali, mas o (Athletico) Paranaense se fechou, começaram a nos bloquear, e começaram a ganhar bolas que nos fizeram ficar desequilibrados no momento ofensivo deles – declarou.

+ Quanto de premiação vale cada posição do Brasileirão 2022? Veja os valores que seu time vai levar

O treinador apontou outros fatores que pesaram para a equipe ser derrotada.

-Penso que ficamos com receio de continuar fazendo o que estávamos fazendo, e então ficamos sem saídas pelos lados. Nosso lado direito não estava conseguindo criar, e o Athletico Paranaense tomou conta do jogo. Não soubemos lidar com a pressão de ter que fazer dois gols em um ambiente como esse. O Athletico em geral foi melhor, temos que dar os parabéns e saber que eles foram melhores – disse.

Castro fez um balanço sobre a temporada de 2022 do Alvinegro.

-Criança cai e se levanta, e fomos caminhando assim até que ganhamos maturidade e fizemos uma segunda rodada em que as coisas foram mais homogêneas. Aí podem dizer: se não tivéssemos empatado com o Juventude ou o Goianiense em casa, times que acabaram de cair. Mas podemos pensar, se não tivéssemos ganhado o Flamengo ou o Atlético-MG fora. Neste momento, falhamos em um objetivo e conquistamos dois. O objetivo de permanecer na Série A e chegar na Sul-Americana foram conseguidos. Falhamos na última rodada – afirmou.

Em seguida, apontou qual sentimento fica do desempenho no Brasileiro.

–Não vou dizer que é um excelente balanço, mas é aceitável e dignifica os jogadores e a instituição. Gostaríamos de dar mais à torcida – destacou.