‘Relaxing’ in white-ball cricket will help Holder’s Test form, says returning West Indies coach

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2019Returning West Indies coach Phil Simmons has backed his two captains’ ability to get the most of their players, and suggested that Jason Holder will benefit from the decision to hand the white-ball reins to Kieron Pollard.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Simmons said that Pollard – who was appointed captain of the limited-overs teams in September despite not having played an ODI since 2016 – is capable of “leading from the front” with the bat.”It showed in the T20Is with India,” Simmons said. “He took the reins and led in those. That’s what I expect from him: that responsibility of being captain is going to make him want to always be on top of the runs and leading from the front. He is that kind of a leader – even though he asks you to do something, it is not something he wouldn’t do or he wouldn’t want to do.”Pollard was the leading run-scorer in that series with scores of 58, 8* and 49, and Simmons said that he expected that form to continue.”I expect a lot of runs to come from him. Hopefully he doesn’t get to bat where he’s batting much because the top order should be performing now – they have been around for a while in both those two forms.”And Simmons pointed to Pollard’s career as evidence that he stands up whenever he is under pressure.Phil Simmons and Jason Holder won the CPL together with Barbados Tridents•Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / Getty

“A lot of people write him off,” Simmons said. “The pressure always makes him stand up. If you look at his career, every time he’s under pressure he stands up and he shows ‘look, I’ve had a blip, but I’m back’.”His experience in general, and not just the knowledge, but also his ability to involve all the players and his ability to give players challenges but at the same time be on their side – that natural leadership is there. It is something that he will bring a lot to the team.”Pollard takes over as ODI captain after a difficult World Cup, in which Holder’s side won just two matches and finished ninth in the ten-team round-robin group stage. That disappointment led Cricket West Indies to set up a task force to revamp their selection process, which recommended replacing Holder as captain, but Simmons thinks that “relaxing a little bit more” in white-ball cricket will allow him to maintain his impressive Test match form.”It might be [beneficial] but that is something that he has got to answer that question,” he said. “He’s the No. 1 Test allrounder in the world, so he has shown that he has learned a lot in that format, and he is going to continue to lead this team.”Holder was first appointed captain of the Test side back in 2015 at the age of 23, and Simmons said that his experience in the role meant he could now afford to demand performances of his players.Kieron Pollard muscles a slog-sweep•AFP

“With the experience he has now, he should be putting more pressure on a lot of the players to perform. So his role slightly changes, and he gets to relax in the other two formats because sometimes you could see that mind thinking on the field, and then when it comes to batting, the pressure is on.”Now with him relaxing a little bit more in the other two formats, maybe you’ll see a lot more coming from him in the Test matches.”Pollard’s first assignment as permanent skipper is a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in India, followed by three T20Is. Holder will then lead the side in a one-off Test against the same opposition in Lucknow, before they play another white-ball series against India, which comprises three T20Is and three ODIs.

Desai, who has coaching experience of over 12 years, has joined the team on a two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2019West Indies have appointed Monty Desai as the batting coach of the senior men’s team on a two-year contract.Desai, who has held coaching roles with Afghanistan, Nepal, Indian regional teams and IPL teams Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Lions in a career of over 12 years, most recently worked with batsmen from the UAE and Canada.”I am very excited to join a team with such a rich history in the world cricket arena, one that I myself grew up admiring,” Desai said in a Cricket West Indies media statement. “I am very much looking forward to being part of a journey where I can help to create a winning work environment, learn and embrace a new culture, and build a ‘happy dressing room’ tradition alongside other excellent leaders.”I am eager to join forces with head coach Phil Simmons and director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, and our captains, such that I may contribute in every possible way to the success of our team.”Monty Desai at the Wankhede Stadium•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Desai joined head coach Simmons’ set-up, which includes bowling coach Roddy Estwick and fielding coach Rayon Griffith, ahead of the limited-overs series against India, which starts on December 6 in Hyderabad.”I have worked with Monty before and he is an excellent coach,” Simmons said. “He has proven he has the ability to get players to improve on their talent and also to perform better in matches. He has vast knowledge of the game and it is good he is starting here with us in India. I look forward to seeing him work with our batsmen in all formats as we look to get better in all areas.”Desai is the second Indian on the West Indies coaching staff after AR Srikkanth, who has been hired as the team analyst on a two-year deal. Srikkanth is one of the most senior analysts in T20 cricket, having been part of Kolkata Knight Riders for over a decade. He has also been part of teams in the CPL and BPL and is familiar with senior West Indian players who have featured in the IPL and the CPL, where he is the analyst with Trinbago Knight Riders.

Fast bowler stars with bravado allround display to put England in unassailable position

George Dobell at the Wanderers25-Jan-2020Mark Wood admits he took a gamble on his fitness to make himself available for the fourth Test at the Wanderers, but is delighted that he did so after starring with bat and ball to put England on course for a memorable 3-1 series win.Wood, who admitted to “soreness” after an energetic display in England’s innings win at Port Elizabeth last week, seemed set to be rested from this game until Jofra Archer pulled out through injury shortly before the toss.And ever since that moment, Wood has been England’s most eye-catching performer (with ball, and less expectedly, bat) to underline both his effectiveness and his fitness. The highlight, in his day-job at least, was a delivery of 94.4mph that claimed the wicket of Pieter Malan, although his personal pick was a cover-driven six during his thrillingly free-wheeling tenth-wicket stand with Stuart Broad that left him “buzzing”.But as well as expressing delight in helping England gain the upper hand in the game, Wood was also thrilled that he had proved he could play back-to-back Tests. For Wood’s career has been blighted by injury and the last time he attempted to play two Tests so close together, against South Africa in 2017, he struggled horribly.”I’ve been through periods when I shouldn’t have played when I did,” said Wood. “At least two Test matches – the Lord’s Ashes Test of 2015 and the Trent Bridge South Africa Test of 2017 – hurt my career and probably took me backwards.””Probably until the morning of this game I wasn’t in the team,” said Wood. “I put a lot of effort into the last game and I was a bit sore after it. I hadn’t played for six or seven months before it. I was just stiff and sore everywhere.”But on the morning of the game I spoke to the captain and the coach and said ‘if you want me, I’m ready to go’. I couldn’t guarantee to them I could bowl 90mph in my fourth or fifth spells but I felt good in the warm-ups and I told Chris Silverwood: ‘I’m not quite sure how it’s going to go, but I’m ready to charge in for you one more time.'”I’m glad I made that decision as it’s gone well.”ALSO READ: Dobell: Time to end the Buttler Test experimentIndeed it has. As well as three of the first six wickets, Wood struck a belligerent and unbeaten 35 to extend England’s innings to 400. It’s the first time since March 2013 that England have made successive scores of 400 in Test cricket, while his 82-run 10th-wicket stand with Broad, who thrashed an equally entertaining 43, was the highest for the wicket ever made in a Test on the ground. Incredible as it sounds, Wood has now hit as many sixes in his Test career – 10 – as David Gower did in the whole of his.Afterwards, Wood credited his wife, Sarah, and his dad, Derek, for the help they had given him with his batting.”I did a lot of work in the Newcastle indoor centre, behind the scenes there on the bowling machine,” Wood said. “Sometimes with my Dad, sometimes with my wife feeding me the balls on the machine.”I knew we were coming here and it was a bit bouncy, so I was working on how I thought they’d attack me, either at the stumps or at my head. My wife hit me [with the ball] a couple of times. She has been laughing, telling me to get in line.”Dad as well is particularly spicy but Silverwood is the worst because he laughs when he hits you. You think the coach would be more supportive but he just laughs. He’s still got a fast bowler in him I think.”I was buzzing with the six I hit over cover-point. Externally you have to act all professional and that, but internally I was like ‘what a shot that was’. I was trying not to look too buzzing.”But it’s the bowling that really marks Wood out as a valuable player for England. And while, in those previous back-to-back Tests his figures have been pretty ugly – he finished with 1 for 131 in the match at Lord’s and 0 for 129 at Trent Bridge – here he has already claimed 3 for 21. Not for the first time, the thought occurred that his statistics should be judged differently since he lengthened his run-up at the end of 2018. Since then, his 12 Test wickets have cost 14.75 apiece.”Since I changed my run-up things seem to click a little easier,” he said. “I’m not forcing it as much and I feel I have better rhythm. Plus, having an iconic stadium and quick pitch gives you extra incentive to impress.”According to CricViz, only Steve Harmison – like Wood, a product of Ashington and Durham – has bowled a quicker wicket-taking delivery for England since speedguns were introduced in Test cricket: a 97mph delivery to dismiss Glenn McGrath at Perth in 2006.”I don’t know if the ball to Malan was the best ball I’ve bowled,” said Wood. “My first-ever wicket – well, it wasn’t technically a wicket – was Martin Guptill at Lord’s. It was a very similar ball but it turned out my foot was just over the line and it was a no-ball. I was pretty close this time but I just got a tiny bit of foot behind it.”Winning this series would mean a hell of a lot to me. I want to affect games of cricket for England. It was nice to get some runs and get some catches in the last game, but I know my main suit is my bowling. To be able to win a series away from home against a quality opposition would be especially pleasing for me after coming through some hard times.”

Sloppy performance by the West Indians on the field makes Pakistan’s job easier

The Report by Sruthi Ravindranath26-Feb-2020Pakistan opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a comprehensive win against a sloppy West Indies at Manuka Oval in Canberra, only their second win over the opponents in the format. Diana Baig and Nida Dar did the job first up, rattling the West Indies’ line-up to restrict them to 124 for 7. It was then chased down with ten balls to spare as Javeria Khan and Bismah Maroof hits 30s.Pakistan got off to a flying start in their chase with Javeria and Muneeba Ali knocking off nearly half the runs within the first eight overs. But a couple of quick wickets and a slowdown in the middle made it seem like we were in for a close finish, but captain Bismah and Nida, with the help of some poor West Indies fielding, took Pakistan over the line with enough to spare. The win also means that four out of the five teams in Group B are now tied at two points with one win each.Slow and steady wins the day for Pakistan
Openers Javeria Khan and Muneeba Ali made 48 in the powerplay, scoring at eight an over at that stage, and it looked like it would be a quick and easy finish. Stafanie Taylor introduced herself in the eighth over and immediately made an impact, striking Javeria, who was attempting a sweep, on the pads. The wicket led to Pakistan slowing down a bit, with Bismah and Muneeba avoiding any risky shots and taking to a more cautious approach, but not quite hitting the panic button.Muneeba’s wicket saw Nida joining Bismah at the crease, and the two seamlessly rotated the strike from then on, finding boundaries occasionally as they kept a watch on the asking rate. From needing a run a ball at the end of 14 overs, they brought down the equation to six runs needed off three overs, bringing West Indies’ hopes to a halt. The 18th over, which saw a dropped catch off Nida at the boundary and a missed run-out chance, further underscored West Indies’ woeful day on the field. Bismah ensured the opponents did not get any more of those chances, hitting a boundary in the second ball of the 19th over and sealing it for Pakistan.Shakera Selman reacts on the field•Getty Images

Diana, Nida keep West Indies quiet
It was a start to forget for West Indies after they opted to bat first. Hayley Matthews was given lbw first ball and didn’t review before the DRS timer expired, and it was later confirmed that the ball indeed was pitching outside leg. Her opening partner, Lee Ann Kirby was able to find the gaps a few times in the next three overs but then hit one straight to cover point in the first ball of the fourth over to give Diana her second wicket. Their powerplay score read 28 for 2, and Deandra Dottin’s entry would not turn it much for them as she departing for 1 after giving away a simple catch off Nida to Iram Javed at long-on.It was captain Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle who ensured West Indies avoided a below-par total, but the rest of the line-up collapsed around them to a disciplined Pakistan bowling performance.But Pakistan, too, had a few lapses in the field – Aiman Anwer dropped Kirby and a missed run-out chance let Taylor off when she was on 23.Taylor, Campbelle the only bright spots
With little to no help from the rest of the batters, Taylor and Campbelle took on the task of putting up a decent total on board after a dim start. The two were cautious most of the time in the middle, even avoiding using their feet against Bismah’s slow-tossed legbreaks.The first big hit of the match came in the 15th over with Campbelle charged down the track to hit Nida over midwicket, and she would go on to hit another six and a four in the next over off Diana. But in the next over, she fell for a 36-ball 43, lbw to Anam Amin trying a reverse sweep. Taylor smote two sixes in the next few overs before holing out on a 47-ball 43. They were the only bright spots on the day when everything seemed to be going wrong for West Indies.

Offspinner opens up on battling depression and anxiety in interview with The Sun

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2020Dom Bess, the Somerset and England offspinner, has opened up about his mental health battle, which came to a head in a County Championship match last year when he broke down crying to the club’s psychologist while waiting to bat.In an interview with the , Bess said that he suffered from anxiety and depression while preparing for exams in sixth form, taking him to his “lowest point, really struggling mentally”.Within two years, he had become an important part of the Somerset side, and was a left-field pick in Ed Smith’s first England squad in 2018, when he took three wickets and made determined scores of 57 and 49 against Pakistan across his first two Tests.ALSO READ: ‘Lost a lot of confidence’ after falling off Test radar – BessBut he remained behind Jack Leach in the Somerset pecking order, and after falling out of the England side with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali preferred for the series against India, Bess struggled with the fact he was playing second-team cricket months after impressing as an international player.”I went from playing for England to not even getting in the Somerset side,” Bess said. “I’d been struggling at the end of the 2018 season and spoke to Tres [Marcus Trescothick] about things.”Then last year I went back on loan to Yorkshire. I loved my time there but I wasn’t ever really at home because I’d been away in the winter of 2018-19 with the England Lions. So I’d reached the point where I was working hard but not getting games, or having to go elsewhere for games.”It was the build-up over several years, trying to get better, putting everything into it. I’d played for England but now couldn’t see where I was going.”Back in the Somerset team, Bess opened up to the club’s psychologist while waiting to bat against Yorkshire, and recalled breaking down crying.”Everything had got on top of me. I’d been struggling for a long time, bottling it up, and it had started affecting my personal life.”I was chatting to him for a long time. It felt like five minutes but it was probably more than an hour. I was in a state, unleashing everything, talking about my struggles, getting into the spiral.”All of a sudden we were four down and I had to strap on my pads. It all came out in that game. I was playing but wasn’t really in it because of my head.”Bess also revealed that he had thought long and hard over whether or not to take up an offer to go on an ECB-led spin-bowling camp in Mumbai, eventually deciding to do so.Immediately after the camp, Leach’s illness meant he was handed a late call-up to join the Test squad in South Africa, where he took eight wickets and won plaudits for his performance in a holding role.”I came back in a much better place and my motivation has been high ever since,” he said. “Depression is quite a strong word and I don’t think it will ever go away, it will always be with me. At times, I’ve really struggled outside cricket as well. Understanding it and managing it is the key.”

There is, however, substantial doubt if the tournament will go ahead as planned

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Umar Farooq12-Jun-2020If the men’s Asia Cup goes ahead this year, it will likely take place in Sri Lanka. The hope is that the tournament will be played in September.Although it is technically Pakistan’s turn to host the Asia Cup this year, the PCB offered SLC to swap hosting years at an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting earlier this week, with SLC handing over hosting rights for the 2022 Asia Cup. With India-Pakistan relations being frosty at present, the PCB cannot feasibly host a tournament involving India. Additionally, Sri Lanka appears to have the Covid-19 pandemic under the most control out of the potential host nations.There is, however, substantial doubt if the tournament will go ahead as planned, largely due to the restrictions and logistical hurdles posed by the pandemic. Hosting a multi-team tournament would clearly require an exponentially greater level of medical arrangements, to say nothing of the travel restrictions that each team will face. At present, SLC has been trying desperately, but has been unable to even confirm bilateral home series against India and Bangladesh that had been slated for the middle of the year. An Asia Cup, which generally sees at least six teams competing, seems far off.Sri Lanka has not hosted an Asia Cup since 2010, but will relish the opportunity to showcase the country as a safe place to play, to a regional audience. The ACC’s executive council has not approved the swap of host nations yet, but is expected to confirm hosting plans before the end of the month.

What is real success, and is there something such as too much intensity? Rahul Dravid explains

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-20206:09

Rahul Dravid: Fringe players more secure with increase in India A tours

One of the defining characteristics of India’s former captain and current National Cricket Academy director of cricket Rahul Dravid was his intense focus. Can such powers of concentrations be developed? Can you also overdo it? How do you learn to switch off? What is success really for a cricketer? These are some of the questions Dravid answers on , a podcast hosted by former India batsman WV Raman. Here are edited bits of the pair’s conversation.On developing powers of concentration: ‘Do it whenever you have the opportunity in the middle’
Dravid: “I certainly think that it can be developed and worked on, and it must be worked on if you want to be a successful cricketer – or successful at anything. The ability to be focused, stay in the moment, to play that one ball at a time is a very, very important skill.”I must admit that I was a little bit lucky in that inherently my nature’s such that I’ve had the ability to concentrate. I’ve not been that extroverted person; even growing up as a kid, I was a bit introverted, I wasn’t one of those hyperactive kind of kids, so I had that ability to stay calm and stay balanced.”Over the years, playing the game and watching other people play the game, you sort of realise that you got to be able to work on it and develop it and be able to have confidence in it under extreme pressure. It’s one thing to be able to do it when you’re sitting down or lying down in the comfort of an air-conditioned room, but being able to trust it and execute it under pressure when the heat is on in the middle of game, [when] you’re facing expectations and a really challenging spell of bowling… To be able to switch back on and keep that focus and do those simple routines requires practice.”It’s something that over the years I kind of learnt at the nets, dedicating a bit of time to do it in the nets. Someone gave me very good advice as a youngster: the best way to be able to concentrate or bat for a long time is to do it whenever you have the opportunity in the middle. So don’t throw your opportunity away when you are in the middle, [thinking] ‘oh I’ve got a hundred, I’ve got a big score now, I’m set for the next few games and I don’t need to worry about them’. Instead, use it as a good opportunity to learn how to concentrate or bat for long periods of time. That’s something that’ll help you as you go on.”On how too much intensity can be detrimental: ‘Worrying all day just drains you’
“Sometimes you can become too intense, there’s no doubt about it. I fell into that trap myself as a young boy. Focus and concentration, especially in a thing like batting, doesn’t mean you have to be switched on all the time. The ability to switch on and switch off – between balls and when you’re playing and also off the field – is a very important skill.”If you’re switched on or too intense all the time, it drains you off a lot of mental energy and when you need that to play, you won’t have any of it because you’d already be so tired mentally.”Being able to switch off is really something I had to learn because, like a lot of young people, I was an intense person, desperate and very keen to do well and, for a long time, sort of didn’t learn that worrying off the field about a bad day I may have had on it was not going to help my cricket. Learning from what happened on the day is something – you can spend time reflecting and learning, and you must do that if you’re constantly looking to learn and do better. But worrying about it all day or keeping it in your head just drains you. So when you go out to bat the next day or the next match, it’s just all built up and you don’t have that energy [left in you].”I learnt through my own experiences and a big experience for me was playing county cricket. I was about 26 and had played a bit of international cricket when I played county cricket in Kent in 2000. Just being in a different dressing room and environment taught me a lot. I looked around and saw my young colleagues in England, guys who played with me and were in the Kent dressing room. I really admired the way they were able to switch off after their innings or after the game. They’d go out to the pub, have a drink, and socialise – things I was never doing as a Ranji Trophy player because I’d just go back and still keep thinking about cricket.”When I saw that, I sort of realised that this was a much, much better way and a much more relaxed way to play the game. I think that experience really helped me because from then on, for the next seven-eight-nine years, I had probably the best years of my career. A large part of that was learning this ability to kind of switch off.”On what is true success: ‘Be the best you can be’

“Success is being the best you can be. For me that’s it. Personally, at least, at the end of the day success is not about a lot of runs or wickets or things like that. If you are able to sit back and [look back] on your career and say, ‘Hey, I gave it my best shot, I tried my very best’… Sometimes you might play a lot of cricket, sometimes you play less cricket. Or whatever it is that you do in life. And you need a bit of luck as well for things to fall in place. You can’t escape that.”You can’t compare yourself with other people – at the end of the day it’s your journey, so just be the best that you can be.”In cricket you fail a lot more than you succeed. In batting, in general, you fail a lot more. If you consider a fifty as a success point, you don’t cross fifty in the majority of your innings, so you do learn to fail a lot in cricket, and a guy who has an average of 50 in international cricket has failed a lot more times than he has succeeded.”On bringing the perspective into junior cricket that it’s about long-term goals and not just immediate results: ‘Credit should also go to the selectors’
“I’m the figurehead of it, but credit should also go to the selectors. A lot of the senior selectors and the junior selection committees that I worked with, whether it be the MSK-led [MSK Prasad] and Aashish Kapoor’s team and Venky [Venkatesh Prasad] before that. I think all of them have bought into that [idea]. It’s not easy for the selectors as well because they’re sometimes looking for results immediately and sometimes they’re under pressure for the teams they pick. They’ve really bought into this and they respect it and, sometimes, even if results don’t go their way, they’re happy to see the bigger picture which is really great.”On removing insecurity by rotating players for India A: ‘Vihari, Iyer, Saini, Thakur have used that opportunity’
“It does give people a lot of opportunities. Going on a tour they know that they are guaranteed some games, that they’re going to get some opportunities. We try and have at least three, if not four, India A tours in a year. In that case, all these boys know that when they perform they’re going to get a fair opportunity to push for [a place] in the India team.”When you’re doing well and are given more opportunities, who knows where that can take you. And you’ve seen that in the recent results: someone like a Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and even some of the bowlers like [Mohammad] Siraj, [Navdeep] Saini, [Shardul] Thakur, and a lot of these boys coming through have had that opportunity and have been able to show the selectors, ‘hey, look, pick us, we are here and we can perform at this level’.”

The allrounder has not played competitive cricket for almost a year due to a back injury

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2020He has had injuries to contend with in the recent past, multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings squad have tested positive for the coronavirus, and for the first time the IPL is likely to be played without crowds. However, despite all of those concerns, Mumbai Indians and India allrounder Hardik Pandya remained unfazed and looked forward to returning to action after a lengthy break.”More excited than nervous, because [for] a good ten months I have been training and looking forward to play, so the portion where the nervousness comes or the pressure comes has gone away,” Pandya told . “I am just more excited to be on the field and implement what I have worked on with regards to my training part, the practice sessions.”During India’s Asia Cup match against Pakistan in September 2018, Pandya was stretchered off after sustaining a back injury. After being in and out of India’s side due to the troublesome back, Pandya underwent surgery last year and didn’t recover in time for the New Zealand tour in early 2020.