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“Everything that we’re doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup,” says Finch

Alex Malcolm19-Sep-2022With Mitchell Marsh absent with an injury, Steven Smith will bat at No. 3 against India. His role in Australia’s first-choice XI in the lead-up to the men’s T20 World Cup, however, will remain fluid.Australia are missing three of their first-choice players in the top six for the three-match series against India starting in Mohali on Tuesday, with Marsh, David Warner and Marcus Stoinis all back at home. Mitchell Starc is also resting because of a niggle. It means Australia will structure their side differently out of necessity, with just nine matches to go before starting their title defence at home against New Zealand.Related

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Smith has batted at No. 3 in T20Is only once in the last 12 matches he has played across a two-year period. That was also out of necessity, against England in the 2021 T20 World Cup, when Marsh was left out for structural balance as Australia chose a fifth specialist bowler.Since then, Smith has batted no higher than No. 4 regardless of Marsh’s availability or not, with his long-time role as a floating “Mr Fix it”, who would enter early at the loss of wickets in the powerplay, abandoned for a more permanent place in the middle order.But his lack of strike power in the middle order has created questions around his place in Australia’s first-choice XI for the World Cup, particularly after Tim David was added to the squad. In his last 12 games, Smith has only batted eight times, with a strike rate of 107.20, down from his already middling career T20 strike rate of 125.27.Aaron Finch confirmed on Monday that Smith would likely bat at No. 3 in the series against India, and he reiterated Australia’s faith in Smith’s capabilities as a versatile cog in the line-up.”Most likely he’ll bat at three in this series with Mitch Marsh being out,” Finch said. “We know the quality that Steve’s got. He’s one of the best players that has ever played the game over all formats of the game. So we know the skill that he’s got and the game sense and the tactical nous that he’s got.”So we’re really confident that regardless of what role he has to play within the structure of the squad, that he can do that very, very well.”Finch confirmed that Australia would experiment with the structure of their side and their personnel in various positions, with an eye on both the upcoming World Cup in Australia as well as the different conditions that will be presented in the three matches in India.”Every decision that we make, I think, has one eye towards the World Cup and seeing the wicket yesterday [in Mohali], it looked like there was quite a bit of grass on it,” Finch said. “And we know in Mohali, the ball can swing around and it can carry through quite a bit, so I think we will be mindful of not being too narrow-minded in terms of our focus.”What we’ve tried to do over the last sort of six-eight-ten months is make sure that everything that we’re doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup and, for us, it’s about making sure that once we get there that we’ve had plenty of different combinations of teams that we can play. Because the last thing you want to do is have an injury derail your whole campaign because you’re pigeon-holed into playing one style of cricket or one structure of team. So there’ll be a little bit of mixing and matching, but still with that one eye towards the World Cup, to make sure that we’re still as rounded as we can be as a squad.”The loss of two allrounders in Marsh and Stoinis, and a left-arm quick in Starc, will force Australia to structure the bowling differently, which in turn has a direct influence on the top seven they can select.Cameron Green could make his T20I return against India•Getty Images

David looks set to make his Australia debut in the middle order as a direct replacement for Stoinis, after having played 14 T20Is for Singapore. But he only bowls very part-time offspin. Cameron Green, who is not in Australia’s World Cup squad but is on this tour of India, is another who could play if Australia want a pace-bowling allrounder. Green made his T20I debut for Australia on the tour of Pakistan earlier this year, but has only played 14 professional T20s in his career.However, Finch felt Green was capable of being a three-format player after his recent performances in the ODI series’ against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Australia.”I think his ability to bat at five, six, seven in the one-day team has been really impressive,” Finch said. “The fact that such a young guy was able to guide us home in a really tricky run chase, in a great partnership with Alex Carey in the recent series against New Zealand, shows that he’s got all the tricks and the game sense for such a young guy to be super successful in all three formats for Australia.”He’s just such a great kid, someone who continues to impress with everything that he does.”

Australia crumbled to their second-lowest total against India in 32.3 overs on the third day

Sidharth Monga11-Feb-2023India completed the demolition job of Australia inside three days by bowling them out for 91 in 32.3 overs in the second innings. It was their second-lowest score against India.R Ashwin, outbowled by Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings and outbatted by both Axar Patel and Jadeja, led the Australian collapse in the second innings with 5 for 37, his 31st five-wicket haul. Fifteen of the 20 wickets that India took were lbw or bowled, which sums up their expertise at attacking the stumps without getting picked off for runs.It was all the more torturous for Australia because India’s last three wickets lasted the whole first session on a pitch that was turning more and quicker than day two. Australia started the day 144 behind, needing the last three wickets for nothing to give them any hope of staying alive in the Test. They got Jadeja early, but Axar added 52 and 20 with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj to take India’s lead to 223.Axar summed up the challenge for Australia. Coming in at No. 9, he batted much like a proper batter and handled the quick turn on the pitch with little fuss. There was a time when he might even have entertained thoughts of a maiden Test hundred. However, trying to farm the strike with Siraj and looking for a big hit towards the end of an over, Axar lost his off stump on 84. Between them, India’s three spinners aggregated exactly 177, Australia’s first-innings score.Debutant Todd Murphy continued to impress as he ended up with figures of 7 for 124, his first five-for in first-class cricket, his longest shift in first-class cricket. That Murphy looked right at home was the last positive for Australia.New ball, turning pitch, second innings, two left-hand openers, more left-hand batters in the middle order. Even ChatGPT would have thrown the new ball to Ashwin. It took just five balls for the slide to begin. Usman Khawaja thought he had a nice little half-volley to drive at, but it dipped ever so slightly. That was enough for the ball to turn, take the edge and go to slip.Todd Murphy picked 7 for 124 on debut•Getty Images

In the ninth over, it became spin at both ends. Marnus Labuschagne tried to counter by staying deep in the crease and making him bowl full. He earned two drives with it, but on pitches with low bounce this strategy is wrought with risk. Soon one turned away, just enough to be pitching leg and hitting off for the plumbest of lbws.Ashwin sped the slide after that. David Warner, who had been dropped at slip earlier and had done well to not follow the turning balls with his hands, finally fell lbw to one that didn’t turn. To be fair to Warner, this was not the parallel-seam delivery from Ashwin, which usually has high probability of going straight on, but it pitched, disturbed the surface a touch and went on to miss his inside edge and have Warner lbw.Much like Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw was caught back to a fullish ball, beaten by the turn away, and was caught plumb in front. Another classic offbreak from round the wicket turned past the inside edge to have Peter Handscomb lbw too.Much like the first innings, Alex Carey came out sweeping and reverse-sweeping. He nailed two, got one single, and then Ashwin slowed it down, didn’t turn it, and Carey became Ashwin’s fifth wicket and his 100th lbw victim in Tests.Steven Smith looked a level above the other batters as he handled spin. Wickets kept falling around him, but he displayed a sense of calm. At 88 for 9, though, Jadeja went through him for the second time in the Test. This was really unplayable. It was full, on off, and Smith defended the off-stump line. Quite a similar delivery that turned less than expected in the first innings and bowled him. This one, though, actually went further in and bowled hi. Except that it turned out to be a no-ball.Shami, though, ended up with the lbw of Scott Boland with the ball reversing past his inside edge. Smith remained unbeaten on 25.

Tail-end pair delay follow-on then return as nightwatchers to give Worcestershire a boost

ECB Reporters Network12-Jul-2023Worcestershire 242 (Coad 5-33) and 22 for 0 trail Yorkshire 407 (Bean 135, Lyth 79, Hill 53, Finch 5-100) by 143 runsBen Coad returned his season’s best figures with the ball but Yorkshire’s victory push was held up by stubborn resistance from the Worcestershire last-wicket pair of Adam Finch and Ben Gibbon on day three of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.Coad finished with 5 for 33 from 21 overs – the 11th five wicket haul of his career – and he was well supported by Mark Steketee and Matthew Fisher as Worcestershire were forced to follow on 165 behind.But Finch and Gibbon ate up invaluable time to bolster Worcestershire’s hopes of securing a draw as they batted for 35.3 overs during a last wicket stand of 63 – the highest partnership of the innings.It kept Yorkshire out in the field for two hours and put extra miles into the legs of some of their bowlers when they were itching to have a crack at the Worcestershire top order for a second time.Gibbon’s 41 not out was a career best and Finch followed up his five-wicket haul yesterday by making a defiant 24 before he was last out.Yorkshire are probably sick of the sight of Finch as his three sixes in the final over of the Vitality Blast game at New Road in May off Fisher earned his side an unlikely victory.Coad picked up his second five-wicket haul of the campaign after his 5 for 54 against Sussex at Hove in April and was a constant threat.With just nine overs remaining, Finch and Gibbon went straight back out into the middle in nightwatcher mode to open rather than the established batters.They again proved difficult to dislodge as Worcestershire reached 22 for nought, 143 in arrears heading into the final day.Worcestershire resumed the day on 46 for 2 and Jack Haynes looked in good nick as he collected a trio of boundaries off Coad.He square drove, cover drove and flicked him off his legs to the ropes. But Coad had his revenge with the final ball of the sixth over of the day as Haynes (29) was adjudged lbw.Azhar Ali battled away against some probing bowling but fell victim to Coad after he switched ends. He was squared up by a delivery and provided George Hill with a comfortable catch at first slip.Coad bowled five successive maidens before being rested after morning figures of 8-5-14-2.Steketee came into the attack and he accounted for Ed Pollock who nicked a ball angled away to second slip.Adam Hose needed 26 balls to get off the mark but he then started to score freely with a succession of boundaries against Matthew Fisher and George Hill.But there was further reward for Skeketee as former Yorkshire all-rounder Matthew Waite appeared to edge a delivery onto his pad before the ball ballooned to third slip.Hose was unbeaten on 37 when rain brought about an early lunch but he only added a single after play resumed before being beaten all ends up by Fisher and losing his off stumpJoe Leach and Josh Baker added 31 for the eighth wicket before the latter was caught at cover driving at Coad.Leach made an accomplished 33 off 44 balls but then was undone by a ball which lifted on him and Coad held a head high catch at third slip.Worcestershire were then 179 for nine with 47 overs still remaining in the day. But then Finch and Gibbon joined forces to blunt Yorkshire’s efforts to quickly wrap up the innings.

Silverwood says seam duo are “fit and ready to go” ahead of Adelaide’s pink-ball fixture

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2021Stuart Broad and James Anderson are in line for selection in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, with England head coach Chris Silverwood declaring that the pair are “fit and ready to go”.The omission of the vastly experienced seam-bowling duo from the series opener at the Gabba raised eyebrows even before Australia romped to a nine-wicket victory inside four days, and selection was a predictable focus of the post-match wash-up.And while he did not confirm any selections for the day-night Test starting on Thursday, Silverwood backed Broad’s assertion earlier in the day that they would be well prepared, having started training with the pink ball in the Brisbane nets as soon as their omission from the first Test was apparent.Related

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“Jimmy will be fit and ready to go for the second Test, as will Stuart,” Silverwood said on Sunday ahead of the team’s planned departure from Brisbane on Monday. “They are available. Certainly, from an experience point of view, with the bowlers we’ve got heaps of experience so I’m happy with that.”The guys have already been training with the pink ball behind the scenes. And what we have got is a very skilful set of bowlers. We have talent and we still have two of the best up our sleeve as well.”The decision to leave Anderson out of the first Test emerged on the eve of the match, with the ECB saying it was not injury related but aimed at managing him ahead of the day-night fixture in Adelaide. Broad’s omission was more of a surprise on match-day morning when England opted for spinner Jack Leach instead, a call which came in for more criticism after Leach’s return of 1 for 102 in 13 overs.Broad, who hasn’t played since tearing his calf in August, wrote in his Mail On Sunday column that he believed he would only have been chosen in a five-man seam attack at the Gabba. While disappointed, he believed it would be inappropriate to “kick up a stink” over his non-selection, having publicly questioned his omission for the first Test against West Indies in Southampton in July 2020.”Stuart has been great, to be honest,” Silverwood said. “Obviously he was disappointed not to be playing but he understood that this is a long series.”Everybody will put their hand up to do the hard work out there and he is ready to do that now. We had good conversations with Stuart before any decisions were made and he was 100 per cent on board.”I’ve not told anyone they are playing yet. We will have some sore bodies from this Test and we’ll make decisions from there.”Australia also have some decisions to make at the selection table with Josh Hazlewood flying to Sydney nursing a side strain, although Cricket Australia have said he hasn’t been ruled out of the Adelaide Test yet. David Warner is also being monitored for a rib injury after being struck by a Ben Stokes short ball in Brisbane.Silverwood said his team were looking ahead, rather than dwelling on their disappointing showing in the first Test, which was characterised by twin batting collapses and some sloppy fielding.”We had a good chat in the dressing-room after,” he said. “There are obvious areas we need to improve on, such as holding our catches and building big partnerships.”Obviously they were hurting, but there is belief they can win this series. We have been in this position before. We have gone 1-0 down and then bounced back. We have the players here that can match the Australians. The confidence is there that we can compete with Australia, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.”

Sri Lanka fast bowler to be reunited with former national coach Mickey Arthur

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2022Suranga Lakmal has signed a two-year deal with Derbyshire, where he will be reunited with his former national coach Mickey Arthur, after announcing that he will be retiring from all forms of international cricket following Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of India.Lakmal, the 34-year old fast bowler, did his best work in Test cricket, having so far picked up 168 wickets from 68 matches. One-hundred-and-thirty of them came away from home.”I’m indebted to Sri Lanka Cricket for giving me this astonishing opportunity and having faith in me to bring my motherland honour, as it has been [an] absolute pleasure to be associated with the board that shaped my professional life and also enriched my personal development,” he said in his retirement letter submitted to Sri Lanka Cricket.Arthur, who joined Derbyshire as director of cricket late last year, praised Lakmal’s attributes as a bowler and a leader in welcoming him to the club.”Suranga is among Sri Lanka’s all-time greats with the ball and it’s brilliant to be able to bring him to Derbyshire for the next two seasons,” he said. “We have big ambitions for the project at Derbyshire, and Suranga’s decision to retire from international cricket and commit to the club shows he’s as excited about those plans as the other players and coaches.”He knows my standards and can set the example for our young players on and off the field, and to add his quality to our ranks gives us a whole new dimension with the ball.”Lakmal added: “Experiencing county cricket is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and the chance to work with Mickey again was something I couldn’t turn down.”I’ve loved every second of my international career, and I would like to thank Sri Lanka for giving me the opportunity to live my dream. Hopefully I can bring that experience into this new challenge, to help the young bowlers, who are already making an impact at Derbyshire.”The spin-friendly conditions in Sri Lanka often pushed him into the sidelines, but on tour, Lakmal’s ability to hold a line and length over long periods of time and his knack for moving the ball both off the pitch and in the air made him an important asset. So far, he has a five-for in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies. His away average, accordingly, is an entire 15 points lower than his home average, even though his record in five Tests in England, 12 wickets at 51.83 between 2011 and 2016, bucks that trend.Lakmal has also captained Sri Lanka in five Tests, winning three of them – two against South Africa during the home series in 2018.In the last six years, Lakmal has been Sri Lanka’s seam-bowling spearhead. He has contributed to several excellent results during that time, taking 4 for 39 in the second innings to set up victory in Port Elizabeth in 2019, 3 for 25 in the second innings to fashion a win in Bridgetown the previous year, and a match haul of 7 for 119 as Sri Lanka struggled late to draw a rain-affected match in Kolkata in 2017. Since 2018, he has been especially consistent, taking 72 wickets and averaging overall 24.73 across the next four years, and 22.61 away from home.However, he departs without a real successor in place. Dushmantha Chameera has been good in limited-overs cricket, but has not been a regular member of the Test squad partly owing to fitness concerns. Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando have also only made sporadic appearances in the Test team.Lakmal made his debut for Sri Lanka in December 2009 and largely performed a holding role in limited-overs cricket, picking up 109 wickets from 86 ODIs and eight wickets from 11 T20Is.

She plays pinch-hitter to perfection before taking a wicket in four miserly overs

ECB Reporters Network18-May-2022Issy Wong starred with bat and ball as Central Sparks beat holders South East Stars by 34 runs in the Charlotte Edwards Cup at Guildford.Wong, renowned for her quick bowling, excelled in the role of pinch-hitter with 45 in 28 balls and was well supported by England wicketkeeper Amy Jones with 40 as Sparks rattled up 170 for 6 after being invited to bat, Alice Davidson-Richards the pick of the host’s attack with 2 for 27.Chelsea-born speedster Wong returned to the day job, taking 1 for 14, including three frugal overs at the top of the Stars’ innings. She was ably assisted by Sparks’ spin twins Hannah Baker, who took 2 for 19, and Sarah Glenn (2 for 22), while Grace Potts added 4 for 36 mopping up the tail, meaning that despite 41 from skipper Bryony Smith, Stars finished well short on 136 all out.From the moment Wong clubbed Alice Capsey over the scoreboard at mid-wicket in the first over, Sparks were on the charge.Wong treated Tash Farrant’s bowling with similar disdain and with fellow opener Eve Jones taking a heavy toll on Freya Davies at the other end, the 50-stand came off 30 balls.Davidson-Richards made the breakthrough when Eve Jones top edged to mid-on, but the bowler was out of luck when new batter Amy Jones hoisted her to Emma Jones at deep mid-on only for the fielder to grass the chance.Emma Jones would partially atone when she caught Wong at cover, but the drop proved costly as Amy Jones forged on, driving powerfully to hit six fours before Smith had her caught at cover.Smith and the impressive Davidson-Richards kept some level of control, but impressive cameos from Ami Campbell and Gwen Davies saw Sparks post an imposing target.Smith got the chase off to a rattling start with three boundaries off the first over from Potts and Saturday’s half-centurion Aylish Cranstone caught the mood almost hitting an Emily Arlott delivery into the road.Wong gave Smith a life on 19 when she shelled a catch on the square leg boundary, Arlott the aggrieved bowler, but the boot was on the other foot in the following over when she too dropped Smith off Wong. Wong though wouldn’t be denied, removing Cranstone via a top edge bagged by Amy Jones as Sparks reached 44 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.The fielding lapses continued, Abi Freeborn dropping Capsey off an attempted reverse sweep. However, Baker struck twice in four balls as first Smith skied a catch behind and then Amy Jones stumped Capsey, who had given the bowler the charge.Glenn followed up with two in two to despatch Farrant and Emma Jones before Potts cleaned up.

An exemplary fielding performance and a perfectly executed 19th over help Australia eke out a narrow win

Valkerie Baynes24-Feb-20232:45

Baynes: Australia’s death bowling the difference

India needed 18 runs off nine balls when Ellyse Perry sprinted to her right from deep-backward square leg, threw herself into the air and flicked the ball back before tumbling over the boundary rope to save two runs. That moment epitomised what makes Australia tick. Every piece of effort is given at 100% and forms part of the whole juggernaut, which even when pushed by India in the T20 World Cup semi-final prevails by five runs.At the time, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen – who hadn’t played since their opening match as Australia opted for legspinner Alana King for the next three games – was in the middle of executing the perfect 19th over, conceding just four runs when India needed 20 from 12 balls, and pegging Sneh Rana’s leg stump back with the last ball.With India left to get 16 off the last over, the eventual Player of the Match Ashleigh Gardner gave away only ten and claimed her second wicket as Perry again held her nerve and settled under a skier, by Radha Yadav, at long-on to allow Australia to snatch a berth in their seventh successive T20 World Cup final.Related

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After the win, Gardner said the victory ranked “pretty high” on Australia’s unmatched list of triumphs.”I think at the ten-over mark in India’s batting innings, everyone had probably written us off, but I think that just shows our character within our side and that’s why the best teams win in those types of positions,” she said.”What we speak about is when our backs are up against the wall, we always try and find a way, and today we probably had no right to win at one point there. They were cruising and then we found a way to get some wickets and ultimately came out on top.”It was similar to last year’s Commonwealth Games gold-medal match, which Australia had won by nine runs. That, combined with Thursday’s performance at Newlands, suggests the gap might be closing somewhat compared to the 85-run thumping they had dished out to India in the final of the T20 World Cup back in 2020.India, on the other hand, squandered their chances with crucial drops of Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning, Australia’s two biggest run-scorers on this occasion, as well as leaking runs through numerous misfields and overthrows.”We showed our class today in the field and we always speak about as a group being the best fielding team in the world, and I think today really showed that,” Gardner said. “Ellyse Perry was elite on the boundary. Whether it’s dropped catches, [or] missed opportunities in the field, those ultimately add up to quite a lot of runs and I think we took those moments when we really needed to.Player-of-the-Match Gardner contributed 31 off 18 balls with the bat and followed that with two wickets•ICC/Getty Images

“I certainly think Pez is probably the blueprint for our side going forward – certainly on the boundary. At the end of the day, that could have been the difference between us and them.”Gardner, who had also contributed an excellent 31 off 18 balls with the bat, revealed it was no accident that Australia are so strong in the field.”We have KPIs and there are markers that show us whether we’re positive or negative in the field,” she said. “So there’s a pretty clear indication of how we’ve fielded. We just know how to push each other. In our training sessions, there are always really high-pressure situations, and as athletes, we all push each other – whether it’s on the field or off the field, whether it’s in the gym, running.”That’s something we really pride ourselves on is being fit, being strong, and ultimately that’s one of the things that has an impact in the field.”India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who overcame illness to put her side in a winning position before being run out when her bat got stuck in the pitch, acknowledged that the difference in fielding was the key.”The Australian side, they always field very well; and from our side, we made some mistakes,” Harmanpreet said. “But again, we have to just learn [from] whatever mistakes we have made. But obviously, the Australian side is better than us. They always field well, and today also, after I got out, their body language completely changed. The way they stopped two-three boundaries, that also made a huge difference.”Jemimah Rodrigues, India’s second-highest run-scorer on the day, agreed: “When you lose, you always find a lot of reasons. You can blame anything… but yeah, that is one aspect. As an Indian team, we know that we need to improve our fielding and our running between wickets. Today the running between was really good but I think there’s so much to learn from.”Gardner, Jonassen and Mooney all said that competing under pressure in franchise tournaments such as their own WBBL and England’s much-newer Hundred had contributed to Australia’s strength, which is encouraging for India ahead of their inaugural WPL season, which starts next month.”It probably comes back to the exposure of those sorts of situations,” Jonassen said. “Having such a quality domestic set-up, having the WBBL, having some of the best international players coming over every year – that plays a significant part. Then we’re almost primed for those same situations on the international stage.”We’ve had a few young players making debuts in different formats this season as well that have come from those competitions, and we’re always looking to try and improve, and try and push each other to that next level and try and get the most out of each and every person because ultimately we know if we can gain an extra one or two percent individually, then the team’s collectively going to be better off.”And such is Australia’s depth that Jonassen jokingly revealed her disbelief when head coach Shelley Nitschke told her after training on match eve that she was back in the side.”I had to get her to repeat it because I had walked about ten laps after training yesterday, sort of getting my head around how I would mentally deal with if I missed out again,” Jonassen said. “I’ve got my partner and my mum who have flown over, so I was pretty disappointed up until today that I wasn’t able to play a game in front of them. Hopefully one more and it’s another successful one.”One more will mean a contest for the trophy against either hosts South Africa or England. Besides India at this World Cup, only England have looked capable of threatening Australia. Whoever it is will need to do more than just threaten, as India found out.

The allrounder has not recovered from the calf tightness he picked up in the last Sheffield Shield match

Alex Malcolm23-Feb-2024Western Australia have suffered a blow to their hopes of a hat-trick of 50-over domestic titles with Australia allrounder Aaron Hardie has been ruled out of the Marsh Cup final against New South Wales due to his calf injury.Hardie suffered calf tightness during WA’s last Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania. He only bowled four overs in the second innings of the game and did not field for the entirety of day three. Scans did clear him of any major damage but he was withdrawn from Australia’s T20I tour of New Zealand as he was set to fly in on Monday to replace the injured Marcus Stoinis.Related

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WA were hopeful Hardie might be fit to play in Sunday’s final at Cricket Central in Sydney but he has not been passed fit to travel.WA do welcome back four players into their 13-man squad with Jason Behrendorff returning from Australia duty after missing their Marsh Cup win over Tasmania. Joel Paris has been included having not played a single Marsh Cup game all season and could play alongside Behrendorff as a dual left-arm new ball pairing. Paris has played just six Marsh Cup games in the last five seasons with WA preferring to rest him for Sheffield Shield games given they have Behrendorff and Andrew Tye contracted as white-ball specialists.WA have also named Australia Under-19 World Cup final player of the match Mahli Beardman in the squad for the final. Beardman made his Marsh Cup debut against New South Wales back in November but has not played since. Spin bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly also returns to the squad having not played since the BBL due to a quad strain.WA is playing in their fifth consecutive Marsh Cup final and is aiming to become the first side to win a hat-trick of titles since NSW did it between 2001-2003. WA are also gunning for their fifth title in seven years.NSW have picked a settled squad having won their last four matches in a row including beating WA twice.New South Wales squad: Jackson Bird, Joel Davies, Ollie Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques (capt), Daniel Hughes, Blake Macdonald, Jack Nisbet, William Salzmann, Tanveer SanghaWestern Australia squad: Sam Whiteman (capt), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Mahli Beardman, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Gannon, Nick Hobson, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, D’Arcy Short, Andrew Tye

Left-hander will start the season coaching Yorkshire’s batters after quitting red-ball cricket

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Apr-2024It speaks of the crossroads at which Dawid Malan finds himself that he will start the 2024 season moonlighting as a batting coach for Yorkshire.Even with the T20 World Cup two months away, Malan, the ICC’s No.11-ranked T20I batter – Phil Salt (second) and Jos Buttler (ninth) are the only Englishmen sitting higher – seems unlikely to make the squad for the 2022 title defence. Despite being halfway through his year-long ECB central contract, he is already looking at what comes after.Malan will turn 37 in September and announced during the 50-over World Cup in November that he would be parking first-class cricket to prolong his white-ball career, which includes the T20 Blast this summer. Though he was left out of the white-ball tour of the Caribbean at the end of last year, stints at the SA20 and PSL kept him busy in a winter that began with the 50-over World Cup in India.He returned from Pakistan two weeks ago and, at present, has no plans to hit balls again until the start of May. In the meantime, Yorkshire batters now have an extra sounding board at Headingley, with over 100 caps and centuries in all three international formats. For Malan, it will show him whether coaching is an avenue he would like to pursue once he decides to call it a day.”It’s quite exciting,” said Malan. “I’m going to do a bit of coaching in my off time and help the boys out two or three days a week. I’ll work with the firsts and seconds, whoever is around. I’ll see if I can share some of my knowledge, if anyone wants it, and if it’s something I enjoy for after cricket.”I still feel I’ve got two or three years of playing if things go well and I can still perform, but I want to give back as much as I can now. It’s exciting to be back and give myself a different kind of challenge for this time of year than I usually have.”It’s an unofficial capacity. Whoever is at home, be it first team or second team, I’ll throw some balls and speak to whoever wants to speak to me about batting without treading on any of the coaches’ toes.”Related

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• Malan dropped for England's Caribbean tour

• Stokes opts out of England's T20 World Cup defence

Malan pitched the role to head coach Ottis Gibson last week, who was surprised. Gibson was in for a further shock on Wednesday when Malan also revealed he could U-turn on his first-class retirement this summer if “that itch” comes back, or his summer is limited to just the Blast and the Hundred, in which he was picked up by defending champions Oval Invincibles in last month’s draft after his release by Trent Rockets.”At first I was a little bit surprised because I was thinking: ‘Is he thinking retirement already?'” Gibson said on the initial conversation, before adding: “And then you tell me that he wants to play red-ball cricket, so I’m like, ‘Wow, where is he going with this?'”Nevertheless, Gibson would welcome Malan back into the Championship fold. He has only played 17 first-class matches for Yorkshire since moving north from Middlesex in 2020, but boasts an impressive average of 55.93 from 1,622 runs, with five centuries. Anything resembling that output will go far in helping a young squad surer of their footing – and no longer weighed down by a 48-point deduction – in their push to return to Division One. Ultimately, the caveat to all the above is Malan’s schedule.At this juncture, international commitments look unlikely. Despite top-scoring for England at the 50-over World Cup with 404 runs at 44.88, Malan was left out of Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler’s squads for the Caribbean. Other high-profile batters missed out to preserve them for the Test tour of India at the start of 2024. Malan’s absence, however, felt like moving on outright.Malan was in and out of the Multan Sultans’ XI in the PSL•PSL

Ben Stokes’ decision to pull out of contention for the World Cup could yet open the door for a recall, with Malan fulfilling a similar role as a left-handed anchor. But Rob Key pointed to his recent output in T20Is when explaining his omission from the squads that faced West Indies and his form was middling over the winter.”I’d like to be,” Malan said, when asked if he was in consideration to defend the T20 title he contributed to two years ago. “I wouldn’t say performance would have anything to do with it. In 2023, I had a pretty good year in 50-over cricket and I wouldn’t say I’m old, considering Jimmy [Anderson] is 42 or something like that! I can’t see it being an age thing, and there’s a tournament in a few months’ time.”Obviously I know they might want to go in a different direction. That’s absolutely fine. They’re entitled to do whatever they need to do that they think is the best way to move English cricket in the right direction. I still feel I’m good enough and young enough to do it. That’s out of my control, selection-wise.”Malan was coy about why his time might be up as an international cricketer. He had a conversation with the management following the conclusion of England’s dire ODI campaign in India, but was unwilling to divulge what exactly was said. A meeting with Key in the next fortnight will give him clarity on where his future lies.”I have no idea what they are thinking at the moment,” he said. “We have got appraisals in 12 or 14 days so I’ll probably find out a bit more then. I will just take it as it comes. I am not looking too far ahead or wanting something that might not be there.”If it is, it is; if it isn’t, it isn’t. I have made peace with that. I have a different path that I am looking at at the moment in terms of the last two or three years in my career and if things pop up, they pop up. And if they don’t, they don’t. It’ll be interesting to see where things are and, yeah, it’ll be good to have a good chat with Keysy.”

Konstas thought Kohli bumping into him was an accident but he said he enjoyed India coming at him: “It got heated at times, just feel like that brings the best out of me”

Alex Malcolm26-Dec-20241:51

Manjrekar explains how Konstas took down Bumrah

The naivety of youth. That’s the secret to reverse scooping Jasprit Bumrah for six, according to Sam Konstas.Not many 19-year-olds are conscious of how naive they are. But Konstas appears to be. He reverse scooped Bumrah twice to the boundary, and lap scooped him once, in his astonishing debut innings at the MCG, despite having nearly got out to the reverse scoop twice in the first three overs.Konstas had no fear of what might have been said had he got out to that shot, opting to focus on the scoring possibility rather than the consequences of an error.”I think it probably will look silly if I did get out,” Konstas said at the end of a day when 87,242 fans came to the MCG. “But I’ve worked pretty hard on that shot, and I feel like it’s probably a safe shot for me really. But I think that’s the beauty about being young and maybe a bit naive. I’m just trying to put pressure back on the bowler in the best way I think is, and it was good to get a few runs today.”Related

• Konstas taking on Bumrah 'no surprise' to his coach Tahmid Islam

• Kohli fined 20% of match fees after heated altercation with Konstas at MCG

• Konstas arrives at the Test arena like a supernova

• Konstas' debut, Bumrah's riposte highlight Boxing Day

Konstas showed the value of playing the ball and not the man. Bumrah had tormented Australia’s batters through the first three Test matches and tormented them again after Konstas was out by picking up three scalps – Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh – to drag India back into the game.He threatened to torture Konstas as well, having beaten him four times in the opening over and seven times in his first three, which included the two failed reverse scoops. But Konstas was completely unflustered.”I think I was just getting used to the wicket, first time facing him, getting used to his action,” Konstas said. “Obviously, he beat my bat quite a few times, and [I] was lucky enough to get a few away. But it was a great contest.”He’s a legend of the game, obviously, so I was trying to put a bit of pressure on him, and it paid off today. But obviously, he took three wickets and he changed the momentum. But I think I’m always challenging myself, trying to bring the best out of myself, so just getting that contest with him and trying to take his lines away.”He took more than his lines away. He did something no one had done to Bumrah in his Test career. Bumrah conceded 18 runs in an over for the first time. He conceded 38 in a six-over spell for the first time. He got hit for six for the first time in nearly four years and conceded two sixes to an individual for just the second time.Konstas explained that his reverse scoop was premeditated and designed to get the field changes that India ended up granting him.”Yeah, definitely premeditated, especially with the pace,” Konstas said. “[I was] just trying to keep my head still and just watch it as hard onto my bat. But yeah, got a few away today and changed the field, which was good, and then trying to [get them to] bowl in my zones.”Sam Konstas took on Jasprit Bumrah with high-risk reverse scoops•Getty Images

It is something former Australia captain Mark Taylor, the man who presented Konstas his baggy green at the start of the day, would have never dreamed of doing during his era. But Konstas is grateful to playing in a generation where he is allowed to express himself.”Yeah, definitely,” Konstas said. “I reckon maybe 20-30 years ago people were probably saying, defend a lot, just bat all day. But I think the new generation, new shots, it’s exciting for me. Obviously, I like doing that, putting pressure back on the bowlers, and hopefully it pays off for the next innings.”India also got baited into trying to intimidate him and paid an enormous price for it. Mohammed Siraj sledged him verbally and got dispatched to the boundary next ball.Virat Kohli deliberately bumped into him to spark a verbal argument which Konstas didn’t back down from. Konstas thought the bump was an accident but he said he enjoyed India coming at him.”I was just doing my gloves and I think he accidentally bumped me,” Konstas said. “But I think that’s just cricket, just the tension.”I was just trying to get in the contest and whoever I was facing, just trying to bring the best version of myself. Obviously, it got heated at times, which was good for me. Just feel like that brings the best out of me.”