ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2016A few of those nerves were calmed when Alyssa Healy chipped one back to Hayley Matthews in the second over•IDI/Getty ImagesElyse Villani and Meg Lanning produced a 77-run stand in quick time, striking 52 each to build pressure on West Indies’ bowlers•AFPLanning anchored the innings after the Powerplay, but West Indies found late wickets to pull things back•AFPDeandra Dottin conceded only one off the final over to keep Australia down to 148 for 5•IDI/Getty ImagesEighteen-year-old Matthews began West Indies’ tough chase in nerveless fashion, finding boundaries at will•Getty ImagesShe was given ideal company by captain and tournament top-scorer Stafanie Taylor, who used power and deft touch to find her runs•Getty Images/ICCMatthews struggled with some cramps in her innings but soldiered on to a 45-ball 66 to dominate the chase as West Indies passed 100 in the 14th over•Getty Images/ICCMatthews picked out midwicket off the bowling of Kristen Beams but Taylor’s fifty took West Indies within touching distance•Getty Images/ICCWest Indies reached the target with three balls to spare, and Deandra Dottin flung her bat away as the celebrations began•AFPMembers of the West Indies men’s team, including Dwayne Bravo, joined in the celebrations•Getty Images/ICCOn the other side of the result, Australia’s captain and top-scorer Meg Lanning was left contemplating some of her decisions•Getty ImagesCaptain and Player of the Series Stafanie Taylor accepted West Indies’ maiden World T20 title•AFPAs soon as the winning runs were scored, the champions had begun their song and dance, and it is unlikely to stop for a while•Getty Images/ICC

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2016While the Lord’s groundstaff cleaned up, England got into the Euro 2016 spirit•AFPAfter a minute’s silence for former TCCB secretary Donald Carr, play got underway in the afternoon•AFPAlex Hales rode his luck after resuming on 41 not out…•AFP…going on to record his third half-century of the series•AFPSteven Finn did not last long as nightwatchman, pinned lbw by Shaminda Eranga•AFPAlastair Cook was fit to bat after a blow to the knee, coming in at No. 7•AFPSri Lanka thought they had removed Hales for 58…•Getty Images…only for Rod Tucker to call a no-ball. Replays suggested the bowler, Nuwan Pradeep, was unlucky•AFPCook unfurled the lesser-spotted reverse-sweep as England built their lead•Getty ImagesWith Hales nearing a maiden Test century, Angelo Mathews came on and trapped him lbw for 94•AFPHales reviewed but his luck had run out and he departed short of the milestone again•Getty ImagesCook hit out after a further rain delay, smashing the 11th six of his Test career•Getty ImagesHe did what? And Cook even brought out the scoop•Getty Images

The national team’s shortcomings pale in comparison with the gaping flaws in the body entrusted with administering cricket in Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jul-2016At Pallekele, following an embarrassing 48 hours for Sri Lanka’s cricket administrators, Dimuth Karunaratne misses and angled ball, Kusal Mendis misses a straight one, Kaushal Silva edges to slip, and the cricketers themselves are perhaps beginning to feel embarrassed. By lunch, the team is 84 for 5. Soon thereafter, they are 117 all out.The Sri Lanka team has very many faults, but dishonesty is not among them. Several times already this year, Angelo Mathews has described performances as “humiliating”. Others have spoken frankly of their lean scores or unflattering figures. Some have publicly chastised themselves for costly drops.Usually, the team does not offer excuses for its state, except that before this particular game, there was a single point of difference. Asked about the relentless spate of injuries depleting his attack, Mathews called on the Sri Lankan system to raise its game. “The coaches at the back-end have a big job to do,” he said. “If we don’t have bowlers, we have to know how to produce them.”Mathews will know, perhaps, that of the 15 top wicket-takers in this year’s first-class tournament, only one was a seamer. He will have played in plenty of domestic matches where quicks exist simply to take the shine off the ball, modest spinners waiting with twitching fingers for a chance to bowl on the biscuit-powder pitches. He will understand that batsmen coming fresh into his team will have faced little of the quality of fast bowling, or the pressure, international cricket will relentlessly subject them to.And though he himself may face down his flaws and freely admit mistakes, he should know that SLC officials – who have repeatedly shot down the opportunity to reform the domestic system, who this year nixed a plan to take the game meaningfully into the provinces, and who refuse to pay its first-class cricketers a living wage – do not have a track record of reflecting on their own gaping errors, of manfully owning up, or of speaking frankly when their own performances have not been short of humiliating.*****When Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup in 2014, supporters thronged to the open-top bus parade that brought the cricketers and their trophy to Colombo. Two months later, when the winning runs of the World T20 were hit, the capital broke instantly out into euphoric mayhem on a colossal scale.In 2016, the team has won only one match against Test-playing opposition, and passions have cooled. There were fewer fans staying up late to watch the team play in England than in 2014. Criticism has been plentiful, on the web and on the street.In response, SLC has spent money attempting to woo back its public. It has called repeatedly for support on social media. It has held an expensive World T20 farewell event in Colombo. It has devised new slogans, made promises to improve stadium facilities, and streamline ticket sales.Yet, none of this provoked as widespread or passionate a response from Sri Lanka’s fan base as the events preceding the Pallekele Test. When both the sports minister and an SLC official called Muttiah Muralitharan’s ethics into question, Murali launched a rapid counterattack, and hundreds of thousands of supporters joined his anti-establishment tirade. #isupportmurali began to trend on twitter. His interviews ran hot on Facebook, and his humanitarian record – perhaps the best for any recent cricketer – was widely invoked.Within hours, fans had decisively landed on the side of sense and modernity, seen through the establishment’s narrative, and rejected arguments roiled in pettiness and nationalism.*****Not more than three days after Australia arrived in the island, Mathews found himself seated in front of a microphone, metres away from Steven Smith. The pre-series chatter ahead of so many series – particularly those involving Australia – can vary from tense to downright nasty. Yet in his first public interaction with the opposition, Mathews had for Smith a smile and a compliment. “We would like to welcome the mighty Australians,” he said. More plaudits were freely given through the course of the press conference.Two weeks later, Mitchell Starc had charged that Mathews was under pressure after the abysmal tour of England, and still, in the pre-match press conference, Sri Lanka’s captain was sober and generous. “You expect to be targeted when you’re the captain,” he said. Then he went on to praise Australia’s consistency. He drew attention to their No.1 Test ranking.That same morning, about five kilometres away, cricket’s Test mace – which ostensibly should be its premier award – was handed over to Smith in as small a ceremony as possible, upon SLC’s behest. The ICC had flown over its CEO, and had designs to present the mace in a public event. “But a big ceremony for the Australians will deflate our team,” SLC had contended. And so, the presentation of the trophy Smith’s men had reclaimed with skill, poise and resolve, in enthralling home tilts against New Zealand, was debased by the home board’s insecurity, despite the fact that, to a man, Sri Lanka’s players understand they are facing the top-ranked side, and would have in recent weeks been made plenty aware of their opponents’ quality, by coaches and analysts.*****Over the past five years, Sri Lankan cricket has at times been transcendental. There was that incredible start to 2014, and the series win in England. There have been exquisite individual performances, and unforgettable Test finishes, like the one against Pakistan at Galle, when nervous thousands watched from the Fort while apocalyptic black cloud bore down on their fun.But for most of the past five years, Sri Lanka’s cricket administration has been consistently – almost uniformly – abysmal. Nishantha Ranatunga, the former secretary, has recently been in remand on charges of loosely-related fraud. Others in the board have lurched from crisis to crisis. Quality in domestic cricket has dived year-on-year, while almost every senior player recalls the better contests had in their youth, and calls relentlessly for change.Time and again, Sri Lanka Cricket has proved itself unworthy of administering the country’s favourite sport.It has proved itself unworthy of the team that collapsed for 117 at Pallekele.It has proved itself unworthy of the captain with a worsening record.It has proved itself unworthy of all Sri Lanka’s fans, who have tired of the politics, who have been disheartened by losses, who desperately await a reason to fall in love with cricket again.

The bans handed out to four more players by CSA are just the latest step in an ongoing fight against corruption

Firdose Moonda08-Aug-2016A ghost flitted through South African cricket on Monday. The ghost of corruption, of something that is just not cricket. The ghost of match-fixing.None of the five cricketers sanctioned by CSA in 2016 have anywhere near the profile of Hansie Cronje. Gulam Bodi was a spent force by the time he was linked to match-fixing. The same could be said for Thami Tsolekile, who is the only other international in the group, and Ethy Mbhalati, who recently had a benefit year at the end of a career that spanned more than a decade. Pumelela Matshikwe and Jean Symes were not well known but they were promising talents, perhaps with unfulfilled potential. But none were household names.They have also not been dealt the punishment Cronje was. He was banned for life; these players will be kept out of the game for between seven and 20 years, perhaps because their wrongdoing was not deemed as great. Cronje admitted to accepting money to influence the outcome of international matches, the five here have admitted to varying roles in attempting to manipulate domestic cricket. CSA has maintained it have no evidence a fix was actually carried out.In the end, that may not actually matter. The thought was there, some of the steps were taken and while South African cricket may not miss this quintet it will feel the effects of their actions in the following ways.Uncertainty
The first warnings of match-fixing came out 10 months ago, in November 2015 but still the investigation has not reached its conclusion. That leaves the matter open to more speculation, fans unsure of whether their game is clean and players on tenterhooks. Judge Bernard Ngoepe, the chairman of CSA’s Anti-Corruption Unit, explained the reasons for the slow pace of proceedings but gave no indication how much longer it would remain pending.”Some people might have thought the process was too slow,” he said. “If it has to be slow, so be it. We take our work seriously and it must be remembered that we need to have something concrete to trigger an investigation.”We do not engage in witch hunts. Whatever we do, we do it with a purpose. bearing in mind, we are dealing with the future of people, in some instances very young people, and not forgetting our primary responsibility which is to protect the integrity of the sport. We neither rush nor deliberately go slow. Adequate balancing is needed because you might, out of excitement or undue haste, destroy the future of people or harm the very cause you want to promote.”Ngoepe explained it had been difficult to get witnesses to co-operate in the face of increasing attention while Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s chief executive, appealed for discretion in the media.”As is the case with investigations of this nature, be it ordinary malpractices in life, you do find that people are hesitant in coming forward and giving at once and right at the beginning all the new information that you need,” Ngoepe said. “Under those circumstances, you need to know how to deal with people, how to approach them, how to point out the advantages of cleaning up the sport which will be in the interest of everybody, including the people themselves. Despite some malpractices, we must accept that they too love the sport.”Lorgat added: “I would appeal to the media, sometimes part of the reason for the delay is because we are able to coax a potential witness to a point but then the media speculates and you create nervousness or fear among potential witnesses and we lose anything between three and and four weeks to get back to the position we were. Please understand when we say we are not in a position to make further comment.”South Africa’s T20 league
These five players all admitted to attempting to influence aspects of South Africa’s T20 tournament, its highest-profile domestic event. CSA has been trying for years to bring this competition more in line with leagues around the world but has been unable to do so for reasons ranging from scheduling to the weak Rand failing to attract major foreign names. In the 2017-18 season, CSA plans to repackage the Ram Slam as a global T20 tournament, for which it will own the rights. It will do so with the shadow of match-fixing hanging over the event but Lorgat insists it will not sabotage aims to turn it into a showpiece.”CSA is fortunate in that, it’s got a suite of sponsors that are very confident in the way we administer and govern the game. They are aware of the investigation and the way we go about it,” he said. “I’m confident we will be able to reposition our league.”The title sponsor of the competition in its current form, Ram, said it would be reviewing its backing of the event when Bodi was banned. It has not yet indicated what it will do after the latest round of bans. Transformation
In increasingly politicised times in South African sport, it is impossible to ignore that three of the four cricketers banned on Monday were black Africans and two of them – Tsolekile and Mbhalati – seniors at their franchise. With CSA’s focus on transformation, which now includes targets in the national team as well as franchise sides, this is a setback and Lorgat admitted as much.”Any senior player who is lost to the system is one too many,” he said. “The fact that they happen to be black players is probably a particular issue because we are so focused on transformation. It does impact us.”But he was careful to ask that stereotypes are not perpetuated. “I don’t believe that corruption is unique to any race or creed,” he said. “Bookmakers will attempt to corrupt anybody they believe they can get to.”Ngoepe responded to the implication that players from more disadvantaged backgrounds would be more vulnerable to corruption. “On another day your question could have been given their poor background, would they not have been more vulnerable and taken advantage of,” he said. “You can look at me and decide whether I am white or black but I don’t subscribe to the notion that because you come from a poor or disadvantaged background, you should open yourself up to corruption. That should never be justification for being corrupt.”

Selection meetings, scouting, sorting contracts – there’s a lot on the plate of Kent’s captain but he has taken it all in his stride

Will Macpherson17-Aug-2016It has been an odd season at Kent CCC. They could not make it past the group stages in the competition they were tipped to fare best in, the T20 Blast, but are right in the mix for promotion to Division One in the County Championship, and are preparing for a home quarter-final – against Yorkshire on Thursday – in the Royal London Cup.Equally, their players continue to reach for higher honours and the area’s deep well of talent shows no signs of drying: Sam Billings has been to the IPL and with England, while Daniel Bell-Drummond shone for the Lions.And yet, there’s been a quiet but constant state of turbulence at Canterbury.On April 18, Kent legend Robert Key returned from India, having taken to broadcasting like a duck to water during the World T20, and decided the hunger to reach 60 first-class centuries had dipped. The 54 he had, a bit of telly and a bucketload of golf would do just fine. His team-mates were shocked, and the beating heart of the dressing room and 18 seasons of experience (nine as captain) were gone, taking a roomful of laughs with it.Then, on May 23, Kent’s high performance director (and former wicketkeeper), Simon Willis, left to take up a similar role with Sri Lanka, under former Kent coach Graham Ford. Willis, as director of Kent’s newly-formed academy from 2003, had overseen the development of a charmingly homespun young squad, and six internationals. Off went another lynchpin.To top things off, on June 27, bowler Matt Coles’ behaviour during a trip to Cardiff was investigated by the club. He would not play for a month as he – not for the first time – addressed his relationship with alcohol. Were the first and third events linked? Certainly Key had been Coles’ mentor, and the man known for keeping him in check.At the eye of the storm sits Sam Northeast, Kent’s new captain, top run-scorer and full-time busybody. Batsman Joe Denly describes Northeast as “first in the nets, last to leave. Sam’s always trying to be better.” When arranging this interview, there are three delays. First, because Northeast is in a selection meeting; then he’s travelling to Hampshire to watch Kent’s second team; finally he’s looking at his squad’s contract situation for next season. Only James Vince is a younger county captain – Northeast is 26 – but few can be more hands-on.Such is life at a club like Kent, where the resources are stretched and the staff small. “We don’t…” he says, pausing, “have the luxury of millions of backroom staff and scouts and whatever. It’s a big effort from a small group of people, we pull together and from the academy, the youth structure, everyone. There can be benefits to this – everyone knows each other, it’s a family environment, and that helps. We have to put in a big shift. All of us.”

“I have a lot of sympathy for Alastair Cook when he does it. That’s pretty extraordinary. I look back and can’t believe I ever opened. It’s mad”On moving to the middle order

Northeast is as Kentish as Key; it’s where he grew up and his name is one that has been whispered since he scored 19 hundreds in a term at Wellesley House prep school aged 13. He played plenty for England Under-19, and his success leading Kent’s limited-overs sides last season meant his elevation to the top job, in time, seemed a given.”I’m learning on the job, just like anyone else. I took a lot from Keysy, both tactically and in work ethic. He was a great mentor, as well as having a pretty serious cricket brain, and all those runs. He pretty much ran Kent cricket for all those years…It’s been very different not having him around, for all of us. People look to you for inspiration and leadership because he did that for so long, and maybe we took that for granted. I only noticed when I stepped into the role how much of a big hole was left when he moved on.”What of those tough patches? “It’s been an interesting season, certainly,” he says, whilst swiftly citing the support of senior players like Denly, Darren Stevens and James Tredwell, plus Billings’ itinerant experience. Willis, he says, is a huge loss – not just a vital, visible cog at the club, with his pawprints all over the squad, but a key player in Northeast’s own development as a hands-off coach who never imposed himself on his charges.Denly has been mighty impressed. “He hasn’t let the pressure of captaincy bother his batting, and his on-field persona is very calm. He can be a bit fiery when he gets out, but who isn’t? He’s dealt with distractions well, and he has good people around him with lots of experience, and the powers that be at Kent are in pretty good shape.”Despite their losses, Kent in pretty good shape. Last year they earned headlines for not being able to afford an overseas player, but this year – one way or another – Tom Latham and Kagiso Rabada were recruited. Denly has signed a new deal and Northeast is confident they will not lose young stars and can, in Willis’ absence, with Min Patel at the helm, continue to produce talent.For the first team, starting against Yorkshire, it is business time. “We go in as underdogs,” says Northeast. “The pressure isn’t on us, they will have all the internationals which is great. It would be awesome to get a sellout, the club deserves a big day like this, and hopefully we get out on top. We are up there in Division Two because we have been pretty solid all season, but I think we are well suited – especially the bowlers, Treddy, Stevo – to 50-over stuff. But every game is massive now. We’re young, so inconsistent, but are learning fast.”Sam Northeast hopes the club enjoys a memorable day in the Royal London Cup quarter-final•Getty ImagesNortheast’s own form – not least 995 Championship runs, including four massive hundreds (the smallest being 166) – has been a vital factor in Kent’s rise. After some mixed seasons opening, he is settled in the middle order, and knows his game: “I have found a spot where I like to bat, especially with the captaincy, after however long in the field, it’s quite nice to have that little period where you don’t have to strap the pads on. I have a lot of sympathy for Alastair Cook when he does it. That’s pretty extraordinary. I look back and can’t believe I ever opened. It’s mad.”He uses former Kent team-mate Martin van Jaarsveld as inspiration because “he was a guy who just never settled and never stopped trying to improve.” Ahead of the 2015 season, he and Willis worked on making him a more adaptable batsman, particularly in the shorter forms, so he did not just hit to cow corner. The results were instant, as only two players scored more T20 Blast runs than him, and his century famously trumped Chris Gayle’s as Kent won a thriller in Taunton.Another run glut, this time against red balls, has flowed lately. “Across my career, I’m a guy who tends to make the most of my form. I’ve felt great recently, and when you feel a millions dollars it’s key to capitalise. Unfortunately I’ve been stuck in the nervous 190s lately.”Those big centuries have caught the eye, and Northeast is unashamedly ambitious, making no bones about being desperate for England recognition, having – surprisingly – never even made a Lions squad. He is aware, too, that “playing in Division Two naturally does hold you back in people’s perceptions, and there is a gap.” In the past, particularly in 2013, there were questions about whether he might leave, but he has remained loyal, even as the more eye-catching – but no less effective – talents of Billings and Bell-Drummond have created more headlines.So is he – as captain of a promising squad, building something (and sometimes holding things together), at his home club, team – left in a quandary?”At the moment, I wouldn’t leave to further my England case, no,” he says. “But can you ever say never? My heart is very much in Kent cricket and wanting to achieve something here. I want to play for England through Kent, and I want to get Kent into Division One and back up there as a force, one of the leading counties in England. It’s been an ambition of mine to captain Kent and take the club as far as possible. I’m very lucky.”So, you sense, are Kent.

After Bangladesh’s spectacular collapse of 6 for 17, we take a look at similar instances

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2016Team: Sri Lanka
Match: v Pakistan, Sharjah, November 2011
Target: 201
At one stage: 155 for 3
The collapse: 7 for 19•AFPTeam: Pakistan
Match: v South Africa, Lahore, October 2007
Target: 234
At one stage: 199 for 4
The collapse: 6 for 20•Gallo ImagesTeam: South Africa
Match: v India, Johannesburg, January 2011
Target: 191
At one stage: 152 for 4
The collapse: 6 for 37•Associated PressTeam: Netherlands
Match: v Ireland, Amstelveen, July 2010
Target: 178
At one stage: 132 for 4
The collapse: 6 for 6•Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2016Tom Latham also looked good and began to score freely after a testing initial period•BCCIThe openers put on New Zealand’s first century opening stand of the series•BCCIThe 118-run stand ended when R Ashwin had Latham caught and bowled for 53•BCCIGuptill went into lunch unbeaten on 59, with captain Kane Williamson for company•BCCIWilliamson was the first to go after lunch, chopping an Ashwin delivery onto his stumps•BCCIAshwin then dismissed Ross Taylor and Luke Ronchi for ducks – and ran Guptill out at the non-striker’s end – to leave New Zealand tottering at 148 for 5•BCCIBJ Watling and James Neesham then shared a 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket…•BCCI…before Ravindra Jadeja had Watling caught by Ajinkya Rahane at slip•BCCIAnother half-century stand followed, this time between Neesham and Mitchell Santner, before Jadeja struck again, dismissing Santner for 22•BCCINeesham kept attacking, hitting a 115-ball 71, but he was the eighth wicket to fall, adjudged lbw to give Ashwin his 20th five-wicket haul in Tests•BCCIWhen Trent Boult holed out to Cheteshwar Pujara, New Zealand were dismissed for 299•BCCIGautam Gambhir retired hurt after aggravating a right shoulder injury he had picked up while fielding, but M Vijay and Pujara saw India safely through to stumps with 18 runs on the board•BCCI

As Sri Lanka begin a major overseas assignment, a clutch of young players have been tasked with making the side a force in international cricket again. We profile four of them

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Dec-20161:27

‘I want to get to 10,000 runs’

Kusal MendisAge: 21
714 runs at 34 in 11 TestsSmall, unassuming and quiet, but possessed of a monster talent, Mendis, a product of Sri Lanka’s school cricket system, may be the premier batsman in his age group. Having earned a scholarship to Moratuwa’s Prince of Wales College early in life, Mendis went on to captain the school, and quickly rose to acclaim as one of the nation’s most prolific teenaged players. He won the Schoolboy Cricketer of theYear award in 2013, and captained Sri Lanka’s Under-19 side at the Youth World Cup the following year. Mendis had shown glimmers of ability on away tours to New Zealand and England, but it is against Australia at home, that he played an innings that commanded the world’s attention. With his side facing an 86-run first-innings deficit, he struck a poised and positive 176 in a match where no other batsman mustered more than 55. That innings turned Sri Lanka’s series fortunes. Mendis top-scored in the next Test, in Galle, as well.1:24

For the love of Steyn

Dushmantha ChameeraAge: 24
21 wickets at 27.28 in five TestsIt wasn’t until he was in his early twenties that Dushmantha Chameera developed his searing pace, but when he did, coaches and national selectors took immediate notice. Slim and tall, Chameera’s primary weapon is the bouncer, with which he claimed figures of 5 for 47 and 4 for 68 in a Test in Hamilton last year. He has had reverse swing at home, but it the pace he generates, rather than the lateral movement he gleans, that makes him a threat.Chameera returns to the Test squad now following a seven-month layoff due to a stress fracture in his back. The most promising Sri Lanka quick in recent years, it is hoped he can avoid the injuries that have consumed other fast bowlers’ careers.1:09

De Silva’s double-ton dream

Dhananjaya de SilvaAge: 25
550 runs at 61.11 in five TestsDe Silva is a languid presence at the batting crease, but so far in his career, has been a high-impact player, hitting a six to collect his first Test runs, and top-scoring in his maiden series, against Australia. He is an opener by trade, but has been charged with batting in the lower middle order for Sri Lanka. His best innings came at the SSC, where he strode to the crease with the score at 26 for 5, and went on to hit a fuss-free 129 against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. De Silva comes into the South Africa series with the best run of form from among his teammates: having made 129, 65*, 64 and 127 in his last three Tests.He is also an improving offspin bowler, and a good fielder, often deployed at backward point.1:15

“Dale Steyn is my favourite”

Lahiru KumaraAge: 19
4 wickets at 59.25 in two TestsThe youngest player in the squad, Kumara played in the Youth World Cup earlier this year, but it was in the Under-19 team’s tour of England that he really impressed. In a youth Test in Northampton, Kumara claimed 7 for 82 and 4 for 52 with his bustling right-arm pace aided by outswing. That performance, and another 4 for 56 in a Chelmsford Youth ODI, saw him promoted to the national team.He made his Test debut in Harare.

He might not be the most talked about or attractive batsman in Pakistan’s line up, but Azhar Ali has proven himself to be equal to the best when it comes to scoring Test runs

Osman Samiuddin27-Dec-2016Sami Aslam has an interesting backstory. Discovered in a talent hunt – and, admit it, you thought they only threw up fast bowlers – he has worked his way up to this level by scoring runs in the kind of quantities that it is impossible to ignore.He is preternaturally calm, with a face that may as well have been made of stone, so little does it change come rain, hail or hellfire. He could be the opener Pakistan have yearned for – or, at least, Misbah’s Pakistan – for years.Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.Babar Azam is the next big thing, even if he is from the House of Akmal. That should make compulsory an accompanying warning to guard against heightened expectations. But it also means that he has a cover drive you never want to miss. His languid energy at the crease stands in sharp contrast to his cousins’, and Pakistan hope desperately that his career progresses as contrastingly.Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.Younis Khan – ah, now, there’s a story in almost everything he does at the crease and in almost everything he does away from the field. These days, there is a greater urgency about it all. Is he Pakistan’s greatest Test batsman? Will he get to 10,000 Test runs? Why does he crouch so low? Are his best days gone? Will his eventual exit go off smoothly?Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.Misbah-ul-Haq is playing Test cricket at the age of 42 and if there are more remarkable stories in cricket, even international sport, then they’re probably not true. These days, each time he comes out to bat is an event, almost like the farewell tour of an outgoing US President. You can’t help but get sentimental, and want to be there, to be able to say that you were. He’s in a bit of a trough at the moment too, so everything he does – practice longer than the others, tinker with his stance and balance – is a national conversation.Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.Asad Shafiq is having his moment in the sun just now – not before time, mind you. He is, it can be said without fear of dissent, the best pure batsman in the side currently. And now the talk is of how and when that status needs to be properly recognised. They’ve made a little bit of a mess of his inevitable move up the order, but he has quietly gone back down and scored one of Pakistan’s most heroic hundreds.Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.You see what’s happening here, right? Someone or some issue or some point is always more interesting than Azhar, but lately, nobody is actually doing better than he what they are meant to be doing; that is, scoring runs.This is a year in which he is now the fifth leading run-scorer in the world, mingling with the likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Virat Kohli (though, at a party, you sense he might gravitate towards the fourth man ahead of him, Alastair Cook). It is a year in which he has scored a triple hundred, in which he has scored a hundred in England, and now this, the big one: a hundred in Australia, in the Boxing Day Test no less. Credentials are rarely established more emphatically.Azhar Ali has not let the debate around his ODI captaincy affect his Test batting•AFPIn some ways, it is difficult to believe he has done all this; that he has an average currently creeping towards 47. Think back to those first appearances in Test cricket in that summer in England when it swung more than an Andy Warhol bash in the ’60s. He struggled, oh how he struggled, and yet… and yet, he toughed it out, in a way that said he wasn’t, perhaps, born to bat. And it is true that he did not begin life as a batsman: he batted at No. 9 in his first-class debut and at eight for a few games thereafter. Not until his eighth game did he move to five, nearly four years after his debut. And five years after his debut, ten matches in, he first played at one down; nominally, he was a legspinner, but he didn’t bowl much those days.Those first international runs in England, Misbah said the other day, were the making of him as a batsman. Those early innings also remain the template of his batsmanship because watching him at times is to be reminded of Shane Warne’s observation of Monty Panesar: that he hadn’t played 33 Tests but one Test 33 times. Warne’s was a more cutting comment, aimed at Panesar’s lack of evolution. That is not true of Azhar, but, some days, you could walk into an Azhar innings on 111 and believe, mistakenly, that he is on 11 on debut. Waqar Younis, twice his coach for Pakistan, has a tangentially related theory. He believes Azhar absorbs the presence of whoever he is batting with at the time and then begins to mirror it – so that if his partner is struggling, Azhar begins to look like he is as well, or if the partner is rotating the strike well, then Azhar perks up too.It is an interesting observation, from a man who has watched much of Azhar’s international career at close quarters. But it doesn’t mask the fact that he grown as a batsman, even if he can still eke out an almighty struggle in a way that Shafiq never might.Look at the way he has developed his limited-overs game, even if there might be sniping that it is still some way behind what modern ODI batting is. It is a long distance between where he was at the start of his ODI career and where he is now. Look at the hundred that powered the Sharjah chase. And look even at his hundred in this Test. There was a period at the start of the England tour earlier this year when it looked as if England had him condemned, targeting his pads early and exploiting a tendency to fall over as he attempted to play through leg. Three times in the first four innings of that series, he was lbw.He went away, worked on his balance at the crease and scored a hundred at Edgbaston. Yesterday and today, the full fruits of that work were evident in five straight-driven boundaries, which represent, surely, the most pristine driving of his career. Until a little while ago, you could have reasonably expected him to clip some of those deliveries through midwicket.Not least impressive is that he has done this even as the prickly issue of his ODI captaincy rumbles along. He was actively booed by some sections of the crowd in the ODI series against West Indies in the UAE this year. It would have been reasonable if the uncertainty there had an impact on his Test batting, but it hasn’t. That ODI conversation is a valid one, and it will happen in another place, on another day.Meanwhile, Azhar Ali.

The Twitter world rose up to applaud Yuvraj Singh’s hundred, in his second game since being recalled to India’s ODI squad

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2017Playing only his second ODI since 2013, Yuvraj Singh got a career-best score of 150, his first hundred in international cricket since the 2011 World Cup and the first since his recovery from a rare form of germ cell cancer in 2012.

This man has defeated Cancer.
Today,he only defeated the English bowlers.Everyone can learn not to give up.
Proud of @YUVSTRONG12 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/1wdBhpKEAa

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 19, 2017

Incredible story and comeback @YUVSTRONG12 … To Beat the Dreaded 'C' is remarkable but to then score an international 100 .. !!! #Strong

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 19, 2017

I love @YUVSTRONG12! Well done my buddy! All the love coming from Melbourne!

— KP (@KP24) January 19, 2017

What a phenomenal achievement from Yuvraj!! Constantly overcoming adversity!! Brilliant! #TakeABow #INDvENG #YuvrajSingh

— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) January 19, 2017

U certainly know how to comeback with a bang @YUVSTRONG12 , loved every moment , vintage knock #IndvEng #Yuvi150Strong pic.twitter.com/TUEhmhffIV

— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) January 19, 2017

What a player!!!what an inning!!!good things happen to good people…salute to @YUVSTRONG12

— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) January 19, 2017

Well played @YUVSTRONG12 Loved ur approach &positivity esp when the team was under pressureProud of you mate #INDvENG @BCCI

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 19, 2017

Great to see @YUVSTRONG12 back and in form , tough competitor https://t.co/kWlO4tbSmz

— andrew flintoff (@flintoff11) January 19, 2017

Well done my brother @YUVSTRONG12 too good..Superb knock..No one can stop a champion

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 19, 2017

Well done Yuvi pa @YUVSTRONG12 Class is permanent! #INDvsENG #Yuvi

— Karun Nair (@karun126) January 19, 2017

Cricket is not just about sixes and fours. The triumph of the human spirit is what it's really about. @YUVSTRONG12 What a journey!#INDvENG

— Boman Irani (@bomanirani) January 19, 2017

Yuvi is strong @YUVSTRONG12 How Good was that hundred… needed to be strong to fight battles he has had #INDvENG Well done buddy !!!

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) January 19, 2017

Yuvraj's making us believe in fairytales. Never give up. Well played, Yuvraj 'Dhamakedaar' Singh. #IndvEng

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 19, 2017

Giving Yuvraj company was MS Dhoni, who also scored a hundred. The two put on 256 in 38.2 overs after India had been reduced to 25 for 3.

Nostalgic to watch this partnership of Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni again. The 2011 winning moment partnership.#INDvENG

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 19, 2017

What an amazing partnership between a superstar and a rockstar!! We enjoyed the show 🙂 @YUVSTRONG12 @msdhoni #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/mU8o3iJfZi

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 19, 2017

@YUVSTRONG12 and @msdhoni lovely to watch!! The experienced fellas of a young Indian team.#INDvENG #awesomestuff

— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) January 19, 2017

Dhoni hit six sixes in his innings, becoming the fifth to reach 200 sixes – the 200th was a massive hit over the long-on boundary.

OMG when @msdhoni hits a six like that, it should be worth 10! #INDvENG

— Alan Wilkins (@alanwilkins22) January 19, 2017