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Chris Silverwood has admitted England were “obviously not good enough” as they stumbled to the brink of defeat in the LV=Insurance Test series against New Zealand.On a blameless batting track, England were 122 for 9 at stumps on day three of the Test. That gave them a lead of just 37 runs with one wicket in hand. New Zealand, who have not won a Test series in England since 1999, therefore look certain to inflict upon England their first home Test series defeat since 2014.It left Silverwood, the England head coach, acknowledging the batters would be “disappointed” in the performance and that his side would “need to improve” if they were to challenge the top sides in world cricket.”It’s obviously not good enough,” Silverwood said. “We need to improve, there’s no doubt about that. There are things to work on without a shadow of a doubt. No-one is going to hide from that or deny it.”I’m not going to lie: I thought it was a great opportunity for some of the younger lads to come in and stamp their mark on the game. I’m sure one or two will be disappointed they haven’t been able to do that.”When do we stop talking and start delivering? I think we need to start seeing starts turned into big scores now. That’s one thing we’re looking for: people pushing on and being greedy when they get in.”Related

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Silverwood did ask for perspective, though. He pointed out that this England line-up was missing Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler from its first choice top seven and that, in their absence, the batting line-up was one of the youngest in the side’s history.”Let’s have a little bit of perspective,” he said. “We have got a very young batting line-up with limited experience. Joe Root is the one guy you would say has a heap of experience in that top seven.”Getting the experience of Buttler and Stokes back will help the young players, as well. We’ve seen in the past that, if you put the inexperienced players in between the experienced ones, it helps them learn. That’s what I’m hoping will happen in the India series.”We need to get that batting line-up more solid and start playing the game plan we’re aiming for. That’s big first-innings runs, big partnerships and big individual scores.”He dismissed the suggestion that the furore over historic social media posts had in any way distracted his players and expressed a hope they could learn from the skill and commitment of the New Zealand side.”I don’t think it has [been a disruption],” he said. “We’ve tried very hard to make sure that the noise on the outside has been quietened down to try and concentrate on cricket. Obviously, it’s not easy, but that’s what we’ve had to try and do because we had a Test match to try and compete in.”There were plenty of lessons out there to learn from. It’s a case of watching and learning what we can from how the New Zealand players go about their business, the methods they use and the way they apply themselves.”He conceded, however, that he would be keeping an open mind towards changes in selection, with Dawid Malan one name tipped for a recall.”I’ll be keeping my mind wide open, that is for definite,” Silverwood said. “So, if people are getting runs, I’ll be taking notice.”

James Tredwell has asked Kent for permission to talk to other counties having become frustrated by his lack of first team opportunities.Tredwell, England’s Test spinner as recently as April 2015, has been limited to just 32.4 overs so far in the Championship season as a combination of unhelpful surfaces and selection issues have minimised his opportunities.The final straw appears to have come with the signing of Pakistan legspinner Yasir Shah as Kent’s overseas player for four matches in mid-season. While Yasir’s pedigree is undoubted – he was the second fastest bowler in Test history to claim 100 wickets – so is Tredwell’s frustration. Having played five early-season Championship matches on unresponsive surfaces, the 35-year-old Tredwell could be forgiven for looking forward to playing in more helpful conditions in mid-season.Tredwell, who has been granted a benefit season this year, is out of contract with Kent in October. The club have another highly-rated offspinner, Adam Riley, on their staff. He has yet to play a first team game this season.Their fortunes could be used to illustrate the plight of the contemporary spinner in English cricket. With much of the Championship campaign played in early-season conditions where seamers are expected to do the bulk of the bowling, the opportunities for spin bowling in red ball cricket are diminishing by the year.Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Billings are also out of contract with Kent the end of the season. While Bell-Drummond is understood to have held talks with Warwickshire, who have made approaches to several players, Kent remain quietly confident of retaining his services. Not only do they have at least as good a chance of Warwickshire of playing Division One cricket next year, but Bell-Drummond emerged through the Kent system alongside the likes of Billings, Riley, Adam Ball and Sam Northeast and is immersed in the culture of the club.Kent have not ruled out the possibility of offering Tredwell a new contract.

ScorecardThese are worrying times for Warwickshire skipper Ian Bell•Getty Images

Sean Ervine collected a double century and joined Jimmy Adams, another century maker, in the highest stand in the Championship this season before inflicting more misery on Warwickshire as they collapsed in the final session.Ervine moved from 140 overnight to a sublime 200 to hand his side a first innings total of 515.But Hampshire domination on the game didn’t stop there as they left Warwickshire floundering on 49 for 6 – still 316 behind the follow on.With blue skies overhead and on the same dry track as the first day, Warwickshire toiled in their reply.Ian Westwood summed up their frustrating game so far with a running mix-up as he was well short of his ground after good work from Michael Carberry.Matt Salisbury began his Hampshire debut with a pearler to get rid of Sam Hain, as the ball came in and then nicked away to catch his edge behind.Ian Bell followed two balls later when he was lbw to a huge inswinger.Tim Ambrose handed Ian Holland his maiden Championship wicket with a brilliant inducker which fooled the wicket keeper.Mason Crane took a five-for against Somerset last week and followed up with two late-evening scalps.First he had Rikki Clarke leg before with a big turner, before with the last ball of the day a beauty saw Andrew Umeed edge behind.Earlier, Ervine and Adams continued exactly how they left day one as their record fourth wicket stand looked unstoppable.The pair batted through the morning session in serene style, only playing shots when they had to with no mandate to score runs quickly.Their records included the highest fourth wicket stand for Hampshire of all time and the top stand of any wicket in Division One this season.The afternoon session saw the game progress at a decent pace as the epic stand was finally broken and Sunny Singh started to chip away with his left arm spin.Adams was the first to depart for a scrappy yet completely chanceless 166 having batted for 502 minutes and 386 balls.A rare attacking shot from Adams was flicked off his legs to midwicket – the colossal stand ending on 367.Ervine completed his stunning double century, his second for Hampshire and the third of his career, but was out just three runs later.The Zimbabwean attempting a reverse paddle but missed Singh’s low slow bounce.The light for Warwickshire was quickly dimmed again as debutant Ian Holland added 61 for the seventh wicket with Lewis McManus, with the hosts still yet to accelerate.McManus did club a massive six over square leg before Holland was lbw and he was caught at first slip while attempting to slog.Crane was yorked first ball handing Singh his maiden professional five wicket haul.Singh picked up a sixth when Gareth Berg clubbed to the long on boundary, before Andrew Usmeed grabbed his first career scalp to wrap up the innings.But after their evening heroics, Hampshire look in a great position to win back-to-back for the first time this seasons.

Likely first-choice XI

Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Aaron Finch, Suresh Raina (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ishan Kishan, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Shadab Jakati, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Kaushik

Reserves

Batsmen – Jason Roy, Chirag Suri, Jaydev Shah, Pratham SinghBowlers – Andrew Tye, Manpreet Gony, Munaf Patel, Pradeep Sangwan, Nathu Singh, Basil Thampi, Shelley Shaurya, Tejas BarokaAllrounders – Dwayne Bravo, Shubham Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshdeep Nath

Strengths

A robust top order. Gujarat Lions were the only team last year to score 70 or more in the Powerplay – a feat they achieved four times. Five of their batsmen – Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith – aggregated more than 300 runs; no other team had more than three.Lions also have an effective new-ball pair in Dhawal Kulkarni and Praveen Kumar. Kulkarni’s 14 wickets in the Powerplay were the most for any bowler in 2016, and it went well with the miserliness of Praveen, who has the second-best economy rate (6.27) for an Indian in Powerplays over the last five years.

Weaknesses

Their lower-middle order has underwhelmed. Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner, who would be expected to finish innings off, have not been up to the mark over their last two seasons in the IPL. Bravo averaged 21 with a strike-rate of 125, and Faulkner’s corresponding figures were 14 and 120.Lions also lack bench strength, which may hurt them upfront as Bravo is out injured early on and Ravindra Jadeja will sit out of the first few games after a long Test season. They will be wary of batting first as well, having lost five out of six matches doing so, including two Qualifiers.

Where they finished in 2016, and what’s different this year?

Table-toppers at the end of the league stage, Lions finished third after defeats in the two Qualifiers to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.Lions let go of eight players, but the core group largely remained intact. The injured Dale Steyn was the only overseas talent they released.After their bowling caved in clutch moments last year, Lions made concerted investments in experienced IPL campaigners like Munaf Patel and Manpreet Gony, apart from fresh recruits Nathu Singh and Basil Thampi – the Kerala quick who has a reputation of hitting 140 kph.They also retained left-arm wristspinner Shivil Kaushik, who had a stint with Hull County Cricket Club in England following the IPL last year.Lions will kickstart their season without Ravindra Jadeja, who has been in imperious form recently•BCCI

What have their players been up to?

• Jadeja had unflattering returns of eight wickets from 40.1 overs in the IPL last year. But his form during India’s home season still makes him an integral member of the side. Jadeja bagged 71 wickets in 13 home Tests – the third-highest ever in a season – and scored 556 runs. However, he will miss the first couple of weeks, having been advised rest by the BCCI medical staff.
• Dinesh Karthik was the driving force behind Tamil Nadu clinching the Vijay Hazare and Deodhar Trophy titles. Karthik amassed 854 runs in 12 innings – the fourth-highest in a List A season in India. He notched up match-winning centuries in both finals, in addition to four half-centuries in his last nine 50-over games. Earlier, his 704 runs in ten matches steered Tamil Nadu to the Ranji Trophy semi-final.
• With improved rhythm and added pace, Kulkarni took a hat-trick for India B in the Deodhar Trophy opener against India A. He then ran through Tamil Nadu’s top order in the final with a five-for and topped the tournament’s bowling charts with 11 wickets in three games.
• Aaron Finch, Lions’ second-highest run-scorer in their debut season, has been prolific both at the international and domestic levels. He was second on the batting charts in the latest Big Bash League, with 354 runs in eight games. He then churned out 108 runs in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. His purple patch extended into first-class cricket, too, with 581 runs in the Sheffield Shield, including a second-innings 83 in the final that propelled Victoria to their third consecutive title.

Overseas-player availability

Bravo’s hamstring injury, sustained in the BBL last year, will keep him out for the first few matches. Chirag Suri, IPL’s first recruit from the UAE, is likely to be available throughout, including Lions’ first two fixtures, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, despite UAE’s Intercontinental Cup match against Papua New Guinea, beginning on April 7. Jason Roy will leave on May 1 as England tour Ireland for an ODI series.

Home and away record in 2016

With five victories in seven matches, Lions had a marginally better away record than at home, where they won four in seven. While they earned six wins from their first seven matches, their form took a hit with back-to-back losses in Rajkot – their original home – against Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils. Successive wins after shifting base to Kanpur gave them a top-two finish.

Poll

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Morne van Wyk has stepped down as captain of the Dolphins franchise, making way for middle-order batsman Khaya Zondo to take over. Van Wyk will continue playing for the franchise, who have recently had to say goodbye to senior batsman Daryn Smit, who is relocating to the UK.Van Wyk took over at the Dolphins in the 2013-14 summer, when he moved to Durban from Bloemfontein. He led them to their first standalone cup of the franchise era, when they won the domestic T20 competition that season but has also overseen a period of transition which started when Lance Klusener’s contract was not renewed last year. Klusener’s departure also saw Dolphins lose two of their premier international players. Kyle Abbott moved to Warriors – and has since gone Kolpak – while David Miller went to Knights, as Dolphins began this season with a depleted squad and a new coach in Grant Morgan.They have not had any real success – finishing fifth in the T20 challenge and fourth in the first-class competition – but several players are putting in strong individual performances. Keshav Maharaj has earned promotion to South Africa’s Test squad, and Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Zondo were second and third on the first-class batting charts. With one competition, the domestic one-day cup, still to come, they have high hopes of changing their fortunes.Van Wyk believes they have what it takes to win trophies, especially under a new leader. “I have been so privileged to captain the side for four years. I have seen some tremendous growth from players on and off the field over the past four seasons and I think that the timing is right,” he said. “Khaya has really come into his own and taken on the responsibility that he has been given this season well and I am excited to see him grow as a leader.”Zondo captained the Dolphins in their last two first-class matches of the season, something van Wyk said has been brewing since he joined the franchise. “I spoke to Khaya about the captaincy just four months after I arrived here so it is something that I think has been in the making for a number of years,” he said. It’s not a surprise then that van Wyk has offered Zondo his full support.”I am hopefully going to be around for another two or three seasons so I am here to offer Khaya support and guidance if he needs it,” van Wyk said. “I’m not going to be looking over his shoulder all the time, in fact I am actually going to take a step back. If he needs advice I will be a shoulder to lean on but it’s his ship to run now.”

Irfan Pathan’s three-wicket burst set up West Zone‘s eight-wicket win over North Zone with 7.2 overs to spare.Needing only 108 for a win, captain Parthiv Patel, who scored a 35-ball 56, and Shreyas Iyer (30) blasted away with an eye on their net run-rate, which is no longer in the red. They added 80 for the first wicket in nine overs before Iyer charged out of the crease to offspinner Parvez Rasool and missed the ball to be trapped lbw. In the 12th over, Parthiv, attempting to back away and slog, was bowled by Mohit Sharma, but Aditya Tare sewed up the game in the next over with a flurry of boundaries.North Zone, in contrast, limped to 31 for 4 in the Powerplay after they were inserted in the morning. Irfan first dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, who had made a half-century on Sunday, in the third over. In his next over, he accounted for Rishabh Pant and Yuvraj Singh, who was out for a first-ball duck, off successive deliveries, with Deepak Hooda taking both the catches. He gave away only 10 runs in his four-over spell.That North Zone managed a three-digit total was entirely due to Gautam Gambhir (60 off 58 balls), who scored his second fifty in as many matches. With only two other batsmen scoring 10 or above, Gambhir waged a lone battle till the final over. His pull shot against Shardul Thakur off the penultimate delivery didn’t clear Pravin Tambe at square leg. Seamers Thakur (1 for 29) and Ishwar Chaudhary (1 for 23) complemented Irfan with tidy spells.File photo – Ishan Kishan struck his maiden T20 half-century•Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan’s 36-ball 67 ensured East Zone began their campaign with a seven-wicket win over Central Zone at the Wankhede Stadium. After the bowlers restricted Central Zone to 151, Kishan hit seven sixes during his maiden T20 half-century, helping East Zone chase down the target with seven wickets and 17 balls to spare.Ishank Jaggi provided the other major contribution in East Zone’s pursuit with an unbeaten 51 off 37 balls. He and Kishan added 71 runs off 41 balls for the second wicket after Shrivats Goswami was run-out backing up too far at the non-striker’s end when Kishan’s drive deflected off bowler Karn Sharma’s hands on to the stumps.Eighteen-year-old Kishan made Central Zone pay dearly after he was dropped on 10 off Aniket Choudhary’s bowling in the fourth over. He was severe on the spinners, particularly legspinner Karn and left-armer Mahipal Lomror, and carted them repeatedly in the arc between long-on and deep midwicket. In the 13th over, Ishan smashed Lomror for two sixes off successive deliveries and attempted a third. Lomror saw the batsman jump out of the crease and fired it wide, and Kishan could only manage a top-edged a slash to backward point. Jaggi, though, stayed till the end and saw the team home.Earlier in the afternoon, East Zone captain Manoj Tiwary won the toss and did what other teams have been doing in the tournament – bowl first and restrict the batting side to a moderate total. Central Zone slumped to 2 for 2 in the first over – first Lomror was run out following a collision with captain Naman Ojha and then Ambati Rayudu edged behind an expansive drive.Ojha (51 off 48 balls) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (48 off 43), who scored a half-century on Sunday, stitched together a 76-run stand in 71 balls. The scoring rate never received a significant boost and Ojha continued to struggle after Bhatia’s dismissal in the 13th over. When Ojha was out off the last ball of the innings, Central Zone had nudged their total past 150, thanks largely to Mahesh Rawat’s late hitting. It, however, was not enough.

Brisbane Heat captain Brendon McCullum has been given a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over rate in the match against the Perth Scorchers on Wednesday, and will miss the side’s next match on January 17. Joe Burns will take over as captain against the Melbourne Stars.The Heat were found to be six minutes behind the prescribed 90 minutes they had to bowl 20 overs, after time allowances were considered. This was also their second over-rate offence this season. They were also fined $1000 per player, which was later reduced to $500 as they did not appeal against the ruling.McCullum didn’t seem too impressed with the decision when he spoke to .”I think we were a little bit late today with it but it’s pretty difficult, you kind of get penalised for taking wickets,” McCullum said.”Overall, you’ve got 35,000 people turning up to every game, ultimately the product is going outstanding and we finished [the match] ten minutes early anyway.”Let’s see what happens. Hopefully I’ll be right for next game. I think there were some inconsistencies in that [the first over-rate penalty] but let’s wait and see. If you do get suspended, you get suspended, and that’s how it is.”Queensland Cricket’s chief executive officer, Max Walters, told the Big Bash League website, “It is a shame but we accept those are the competition rules we are playing under and [it] reminds us that we can continue to improve in all facets of the game. We’re sure Brendon and the team will rebound from this setback and finish the competition strongly.”

Kolkata Knight Riders have named former Indian seamer L Balaji as their new bowling coach for the 2017 IPL. He replaces Wasim Akram, who said “professional commitments and time constraints” had prevented him from being with the team this year.Balaji, who represented Knight Riders between 2011 and 2013, is currently in his first season as a full-time bowling coach with his former state side, Tamil Nadu. “I had thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a player for KKR,” he said, “And I am delighted to be back to the franchise that I have admired.”Knight Riders chief Venky Mysore was pleased to have one of his old team members back. “It is great to welcome Bala back to the KKR family. He was an integral part of our team and played a key role in helping us win the championship in 2012.”The 2017 IPL is set to begin on April 5 with the final scheduled for May 21.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Ahmed Shehzad hit five fours in his unbeaten 56-ball 61•Raton Gomes/BCB

Ahmed Shehzad’s half-century helped Comilla Victorians beat Barisal Bulls to record their second win in nine matches this season.For a change, Comilla started well in chase of 143, with openers Imrul Kayes and Shehzad adding 93. But by the time he was caught down the leg side by Mushfiqur Rahim for a 56-ball 61, Comilla were within 23 runs of victory.Imrul was equally destructive at the other end, hitting six fours and a six in his 35-ball 43. The formalities were completed with six balls left, with Marlon Samuels and Khalid Latif seeing them hope.Earlier Mushfiqur and Jeevan Mendis made 29 and 28 respectively in an otherwise disappointing batting performance from Barisal that resulted in them slipping to 92 for 7 in the 16th over.Enamul Haque ensured that they had a good finish with his 15-ball unbeaten 20 that had a four and a six, along with small contributions from tailenders Abu Hider and Taijul Islam. Left-arm spinner Nabil Samad took three wickets while Rashid Khan picked up two wickets.

Trevor Bayliss believes Ben Stokes could develop into one of the “all-time best allrounders” following his Man-of-the-Match performance in Chittagong.Bayliss, the England coach, made the comments after Stokes helped seal victory with 103 runs and six wickets in the match. Bayliss was particularly impressed with Stokes’ improvement against spin bowling on the sort of low, slow pitches on which he has struggled in the past.Coming to the crease in the second innings with England precariously placed on 46 for 4, Stokes compiled 85 in just over three hours with his trademark power complemented by some tight defence and mature rotation of the strike. He also gained reverse swing and generated impressive pace on a sluggish surface.”He could be right up there with some of the all-time best allrounders,” Bayliss said. “He’s young into his career and that’s going to be easier to judge the longer he goes. Only time will tell.”But the strides he’s made on the subcontinent playing spin have been top class. It wasn’t all that long ago we were wondering how he might go on spin-friendly wickets, but he’s a guy that works extremely hard in the nets.

How does Stokes’ performance compare?

Ben Stokes scored 103 runs and took six wickets in Chittagong. Here are what some of the game’s finest ever allrounders managed in Asia.

Gary Sobers WI v Ind, Mumbai, 1966
50, 53*, 3-56, 2-79
Tony Greig Eng v Pak, Lahore, 1973
41, 72, 4-86, 2-28
Ian Botham Eng v Ind, Mumbai, 1980
114, 6-58, 7-48
Kapil Dev Ind v Pak, Chennai, 1980
84, 4-90, 7-56
Imran Khan Pak v Ind, Faisalabad, 1983
117, 6-98, 5-82
Richard Hadlee NZ v SL, Colombo, 1987
151*, 4-102
Jacques Kallis SA v SL, Kandy, 2000
16, 87, 2-18, 1-25
Andrew Flintoff Eng v Ind, Mumbai, 2006
50, 50, 1-68, 3-14

“It’s his defence to spin that has improved out of sight. We know that if he gets a bad ball he can hit anything over the fence, but you’ve got to be there to get that loose ball. In the past he probably hasn’t had a lot of footwork, has played from the crease and backed his eye and his hands. But as we’ve seen on this tour, in the one-dayers and this Test, he’s defended really well off the front foot, got right out and smothered the ball before it had a chance to spin and jump past the outside edge.”It is not the first time Stokes has won high praise from an international coach. During England’s tour of the Caribbean in 2015, the then West Indies coach, Phil Simmons, remarked that Stokes was “in the mould of Jacques Kallis” and wished “I had him at No. 6…. That’s the kind of cricketer you need.”There will be those who scoff at such comments. They will point out that Bangladesh are rated the ninth-best team in the ICC’s rankings and suggest that conclusions over Stokes’ worth be postponed until he has achieved success more consistently and against higher-ranked sides. But a reflection on some of the great allrounders’ best performances in Asia over the last half-century (see sidebar) underlines the impression that Stokes’ performance in Chittagong is worthy of some respect. Perhaps the next few weeks in India will define Stokes’ reputation in such conditions.There may also be an element of psychology in Bayliss’ comments; hearing such praise from his coach can do Stokes’ confidence no harm. But there can be little arguing with the allrounder’s value to the team. So much so that, while England are considering rotating other players, Bayliss feels it is likely that Stokes will, fitness permitting, play all seven Tests before Christmas. Moeen Ali is viewed similarly by the management.”Stokes is very important,” Bayliss said. “He allows us to play that extra spinner and the third pace bowler. Mo batting at No. 5 plays a similar role to us, especially here in the subcontinent, and the way he played in the first innings, he is suited to playing spin bowling.”We don’t want to get halfway through the India series and have one or two guys injured and definitely out. And we also want to give those guys who will probably play at some stage some game time.”But it would be a brave man to bet against Stokes playing all seven Tests. I’m not sure we’d be game enough to drop him anyway; we might get a thump in the head. He’s a very resilient person, let alone cricketer, and he just keeps on keeping on. We’ve just got to watch what he does between the Tests to make sure he is available for all the matches.”While other players might be equally reluctant to miss a Test – “you would expect no less from a professional cricketer,” Bayliss said – it does seem England are committed to changes ahead of the second Test in Dhaka. Steven Finn, who has impressed with his rhythm and pace in training, could well come in for Stuart Broad or perhaps Chris Woakes, and Zafar Ansari may come in for Gareth Batty or perhaps Adil Rashid.England are keen to reiterate no-one is being dropped – Broad bowled an especially impressive spell towards the end of the first Test, including nine consecutive overs at the end of the fourth day – but may feel that Rashid, who was not at his best in Chittagong, would benefit from another bowl ahead of the India series.Ultimately, the decision over who plays in Dhaka may come down to the England management’s view of the pitch: if it looks like it will turn sharply, Rashid may be left out on the basis that the other bowlers will gain enough purchase. But if it looks flat, he will play as he can gain turn on surfaces they cannot. Bayliss, like Cook, is reluctant to field a fourth spinner and is not considering changing the batsmen.”It’s a bit like playing five pace bowlers on a green seamer,” he reasoned. “If three or four can’t do the job… Remember, we’ve got Joe Root who can bowl decent spinners as well.”I don’t think there’s any reason to change the top six at this stage. The top four guys found it very difficult against the new ball facing the spinners. That was very difficult facing good spin bowlers on a wicket which sometimes bounced up around your shoulder and sometimes skidded straight through. I’m sure all the batters will be better for it.”