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The middle-order specialist hopes to play his first T20I since November 2019 on the tour of New Zealand

Alex Malcolm11-Feb-2021Ashton Turner is learning not to judge his performances as harshly while playing the most difficult of T20 roles, as he tries to reclaim a permanent spot in the middle order of Australia’s T20I side.Turner appeared to be the answer to the national side’s long-standing middle-order woes in limited-overs cricket when he played one of the best innings by an Australian at No. 6 in ODIs, against India in Mohali in 2019.That was just his second ODI, having played only five T20Is prior. The era of Australia shoe-horning dominant domestic openers into middle-order roles looked over as Turner was a specialist showing why specialists are needed.But he has played just four ODIs and six T20Is since for his country and has batted only six times in those ten games. Shoulder surgery following a bizarre IPL, a horror run with other injuries and illnesses, a severe dip in domestic form and a lack of opportunity have all conspired to leave him in the international wilderness for over 12 months.Turner’s inclusion in the squad for the T20I tour of New Zealand may have surprised a few given his raw numbers this BBL. But such is the nature of the role he plays at No. 6, that 228 runs at 22.80 with no half-centuries aren’t numbers he can be judged by.Only Jordan Silk made more runs batting at Nos. 5-6 in the BBL and of the four players who scored 200 runs or more, only Daniel Christian had a better strike rate than Turner’s 155.47.Turner, 28, himself is starting to judge his own performances differently as he prepares for a return to international colours.”I think that when I first started playing Big Bash cricket and domestic cricket I probably didn’t know how to judge my performance,” Turner said. “When I first came into the team I was batting at No. 6 in a really strong team for the Perth Scorchers. I was probably a bit harsh on myself. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t scoring as many runs as guys who were opening the batting.”As I’ve got older and a bit wiser and a bit more experienced, I probably have different KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for myself. I hold myself to different standards. Opening batters want to go out and be the leading run-scorers in the tournament. I think for me it’s about doing what the team needs and it’s about trying to have an impact in the game whether it be two balls at the end of the innings or I get to face 20 balls, that can determine how much of an impact I can have.”I don’t train for as long in T20 cricket but it’s at a real intensity”•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

“Guys who are batting in the middle order – 5, 6, 7 – you probably won’t see too many of those guys at the top of the run-scoring charts. But quite often you will see those guys batting in real high-pressure situations with four runs to win off the last ball or situations like that. I probably judge myself more on how I perform in those situations than I do on averages or anything like that.”In Turner’s six international innings since Mohali, he has only been dismissed three times. In his last six T20Is, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he only batted thrice making scores of 1, 22 and 8 without being dismissed, with the last two coming in successful chases as Australia went undefeated in the two series.”I take a lot of confidence out of the times I have played really well for Australia,” Turner said. “I know my best is good enough. The challenge for me is being more consistent with that and being able to replicate my best days again and again. That’s something that I’ve been working really hard at over the last 12 months and hopefully, you can see that on show in this series.”Turner has more experience batting at No.5-6 in all T20 cricket than any of the candidates that Australia are looking to use in the upcoming series. He also has a better strike rate than all bar Josh Philippe, who has only batted in the position 10 times in all T20 cricket compared to Turner’s 61 innings in those spots.That vast array of experience and specialisation in the role has also helped Turner learn to tailor his preparation for it.”Quite often the role of a middle-order batter is to walk out and you might have to try and find a boundary in your first or second ball and that’s something that you don’t prepare for in red-ball cricket and I like to think my training reflects that,” Turner said.”I don’t train for as long in T20 cricket but it’s at a real intensity. It’s certainly a skill to be able to walk out to bat and to be able to not face dot balls, be able to score really quickly, and potentially find the boundary early. But sometimes it’s a skill to be able to get off strike and get your mate who is going really well at the other end on strike and being really adaptable. Sometimes you might be chasing a low target, sometimes you’re chasing a big score and that dictates how you need to play. I like to think that my training reflects all situations but I certainly do prepare really differently for white-ball cricket compared to how I prepare for red-ball cricket.”His bowling will also be significant for his selection chances. Despite bowling just 5.3 overs in the recent BBL, he has fully recovered from his shoulder issues and with Australia having two specialist spinners in Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa, who both predominantly turn the ball away from right-handers, having Turner and Glenn Maxwell’s right-arm offspin in the playing XI provides captain Aaron Finch with a full board of options if specific match-ups demand it.”I’m confident in my bowling,” Turner said. “I’ve had some issues with my body in the past and that has meant that I’ve had a couple of years where I haven’t been able to bowl at all or as much as I would have liked. But that being said, I was probably just a victim of us having a quality bowling line-up in the Big Bash this year.”I’ve been bowling a lot at training and I still feel really confident in my skills.”

Rahul Chahar likely to be replacement, while status of Rahul Tewatia – who had also failed fitness tests – is unclear

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Mar-2021Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is set to miss India’s five-match T20I series against England that will take place from March 12 to 20. Chakravarthy is understood to have failed to clear the mandatory fitness tests set by the BCCI. It is likely that the selectors will draft in Rahul Chahar as a replacement, with the legspinner having already been named as one of the net bowlers for the series.Related

• Kohli says 'no space for compromise' when it comes to fitness levels

• New fitness target for Indian players: yo-yo level raised to 17:1, time trial 2k run

• Suryakumar, Tewatia, Kishan called up to India T20 squad

• Doubts over Natarajan's availability for England T20Is

Meanwhile, Rahul Tewatia is currently training with the national squad in Ahmedabad. Tewatia, who received his maiden national call-up for the series, had also failed in his initial fitness test. It is not yet clear whether Tewatia – picked as a bowling allrounder after his exploits for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020 – will get another chance to clear his fitness test or be asked to continue as a net bowler only.For Chakravarthy, 29, it’s the second time he’ll be missing out on an opportunity for a potential India debut, having been initially picked in the T20I squad for the tour of Australia, but ruled out due to a shoulder injury then. Chakravarthy was picked on the back of his IPL 2020 performances, where he emerged as one of the standout uncapped Indian players. However, the shoulder injury meant Chakravarthy never even travelled to Australia, which allowed T Natarajan to make his international debut.Chakravarthy had a lengthy rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, following which the selectors picked him for the England T20Is – subject to everyone being picked clearing their fitness tests, whose targets the BCCI had revised recently.It is understood that to be part of India’s limited-overs squads, clearing the fitness tests is a key selection criteria imposed by the BCCI at the behest of the team management and the selectors. In the new fitness standards, players have the choice to either clear the yo-yo test, whose level has been increased to 17:1, or run two kilometres in 8.15 minutes (for bowlers) and 8.30 minutes (for the rest).It could not be confirmed which of the tests both Chakravarthy and Tewatia had failed to clear. While Tewatia travelled to Ahmedabad from Jaipur after representing Haryana in the league phase of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (the domestic 50-overs competition), Chakravarthy’s whereabouts could not be ascertained.As for Chahar, this will be the second time he will part of the T20I squad after he made his debut in the Caribbean, where he played one T20I and picked up 1 for 27.

The 37-year old ICC Elite Panel umpire says pressure situations bring the best out of him

Press Trust of India02-Apr-2021Umpire Nitin Menon, who officiated in matches across formats in the recently-concluded India-England series, has said that pressure situations bring the best out of him, and feels form matters for umpires as much as it does for players.The 37-year-old was inducted into the ICC Elite Panel of umpires in June last year but had to wait till this February for his first major assignment. With the pandemic forcing the ICC to appoint local umpires in a bilateral series, Menon officiated in all four Tests besides three of the five T20s and all three ODIs. Menon was lauded for his consistency in his decision-making during the Test series: he had a success rate of 83.87% for on-field decisions, with 26 of 31 reviews against him struck down.”The last two months have been great,” Menon was quoted as saying by PTI. “It gives one great satisfaction when people notice and appreciate your good work. This series was always going to be a very challenging one because of the hype associated with it – a place in the World Test Championship final at stake, both teams coming back from impressive overseas wins, challenging pitches to officiate on.”As for the white-ball series, it was between the two top-ranked teams in the world. Taking all these factors into consideration, I am pleased that we did well as an umpiring team,” he said.In a normal scenario, Menon won’t get to officiate in back-to-back games over two months. So, how did he cope up with high pressure scenarios match after match? “I believe umpiring is all about mental toughness,” he said. “More the pressure better is the focus. If we can give our best performances when we are under pressure, that is the true reflection of how strong we are mentally. It’s not new for me to officiate in back-to-back matches, thanks to the amount of domestic cricket organised in India. On an average, we do eight four-day first-class games on the trot in Ranji Trophy, with travel in between from one venue to another.”Even in the IPL, we do around 14-16 games without a break, so all this experience has really helped me in this series. Like players, umpires also have form. I always feel that when in good form, I should do the maximum number of games without any break.”After two months of non-stop umpiring, Menon got only a couple of days at home before he left for Chennai ahead of the IPL. The bubble life has been tough on the players and Menon said it is equally challenging for the match officials.”It is very challenging. It is tougher on off days because we cannot go out of the hotel. This is where having a good team atmosphere becomes crucial. We are like a family in the bubble. We have to look after each other, make sure our colleagues are in the right frame of mind, help them out, meet as often as possible and spend time together.”

Test hopeful takes 13 for the match in eight-wicket win over Glamorgan

ECB Reporters Network18-Apr-2021Ollie Robinson continued his push for England recognition with career best bowling figures of 9 for 78 as Sussex wrapped up an eight-wicket victory against Glamorgan in the LV=Insurance County Championship.Glamorgan started the day 62 runs in front with Kiran Carlson and Callum Taylor well set and they managed to get to lunch for the loss of just one wicket.That changed after the interval with Robinson claiming four victims in the space of four overs to set up victory in a match where he took 13 wickets and made 67 with the bat.Related

• Ollie Robinson senses Test cap is close

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• Simon Harmer delivers on final-day threat to hand Essex stunning turnaround against Durham

• All-round dominance hands Hampshire second big win of the season

• David Willey five-wicket haul steers Yorkshire to 200-run victory over Kent

Sussex needed 154 for victory, a total they reached with few alarms with Aaron Thomason top scoring with 78 not out.Sussex didn’t have to wait long for their first breakthrough, Robinson claiming his fifth wicket when Carlson edged him to Thomason in the slips for 132. With Carlson dismissed for the first time in this match Sussex had a chance to wrap up the Glamorgan innings quickly but Taylor and Dan Douthwaite stood firm.Taylor went past his fifty from 132 balls, an innings that was a stark contrast to his lightning quick hundred on debut last season. Glamorgan reached the lunch break at 336 for 6 with the chances of a drawn match increasing.As was the case throughout this match, it was Robinson who made the difference on the final day. He was back into the attack for the start of the afternoon session and had Douthwaite dismissed lbw for 26. He repeated this feat with the very next ball, James Weighell trapped in front to bag a pair on Glamorgan debut.Robinson picked up the last two Glamorgan wickets, returning the best first-class figures by an England-qualified player since Chris Woakes took 9 for 36 against Durham in 2016. The last man out was Taylor for 84 from 251 balls.Glamorgan started well in the final innings with Michael Hogan getting Tom Haines caught at first slip by Andy Balbirnie for two. The only other success for Glamorgan came when first-innings centurion Stiaan van Zyl edged David Lloyd to Chris Cooke for 12.From there it was all Sussex as Thomason made his second fifty of the match with Tom Clark finishing on 54 not out in a partnership that was worth 112.

WIn sealed with 16 balls to spare as fifth-wicket pairing make hay at Bristol

ECB Reporters' Network11-Jun-2021Phil Salt and George Garton gunned down a target of 178 with 16 balls to spare to get Sussex off to a winning start in the Vitality Blast with a five-wicket win at Gloucestershire.3,600 were admitted into Nevil Road, with all tickets sold in advance, but the fans were sent home disappointed by a flat-out chase.Salt, in his first appearance of the season for Sussex, made 77 not out from 49 balls and Garton, who had only made 103 runs in 23 T20s before this, made 46 from only 25 balls as Sussex waltzed home.The chase was initially under pressure as David Payne held Travis Head, for 2, at short-third man before taking Ravi Bopara caught and bowled first ball. Josh Shaw then took out David Wiese’s off stump for only 11 and Delray Rawlings lazily clubbed Graeme van Buuren to long-on to leave Sussex 57 for 4 after the Powerplay.But Sussex kept the pedal down. Salt lifted two sixes over long-on and whipped Matt Taylor behind square for four. He slapped Shaw for two further boundaries and with Garton slog-sweeping two sixes to the short side, the chase was in control at 102 for 4 by halfway and they never relinquished their position.It rendered Gloucestershire’s 177 for 7 well short having been sent in. Glenn Phillips made 42 from 27 balls but he and the rest of the order threatened greater damage before Sussex took regular wickets to keep their hosts in check.Sussex handed a debut to 16-year-old Archie Lenham, who became the second-youngest player in Blast history after Hamidullah Qadri for Derbyshire in 2017, and he enjoyed a fine debut with 1 for 34.A legspinner who plays club cricket for Eastbourne, Lenham was handed the seventh over and bowled with confidence, using his change-ups, bowling quickly and flat with a large leg-side boundary for comfort. He conceded five from his first over and then forced Taylor to hole out to long-on, drawing a heart-warming joyful leap of celebration.A third over saw him heaved twice over deep midwicket by Phillips but was trusted with a final over that conceded only seven.Garton’s career-best effort with the bat followed a fine performance with the ball where he claimed 3 for 19, including just three from two overs in the Powerplay.

“It was about using it as an opportunity to be a bit more disciplined as a batting group”

George Dobell06-Jun-2021Joe Root has defended England’s approach on the final day of the first LV= Insurance Test against New Zealand. England were set 273 off 75 overs on the final day but, by the time hands were shaken on a draw with five scheduled overs remaining, they were still more than 100 runs from their target.Dom Sibley, who finished unbeaten on 60 from 207 balls, reached his half-century in 161 balls. That is the equal-seventh slowest half-century by an England opener this century. But while there was some frustration from those watching in the ground or on TV, Root, the England captain, suggested there wasn’t a “realistic opportunity” of victory on a demanding surface providing uneven bounce and against an excellent seam bowling attack.Instead, he was content to his see his young side – the top seven in this match, without the likes of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, was the youngest England has ever fielded in a home Test – spend some time at the crease after a modest first-innings effort.”Having played on that wicket for a few days, we knew it wasn’t going to be as straightforward as it looked,” Root said. “If you look at the run rate throughout the game, it was hard to score above three an over even when the pitch was at its absolute best.”We wanted to lay ourselves a foundation but, once we got through the initial phase, it just didn’t feel like there was a realistic opportunity for us to win the game. So it was about using it as an opportunity to be a bit more disciplined as a batting group. At times in the first innings we showed a little bit of ill discipline. This was a chance to put that right and take a bit of confidence going into the rest of the series.”The last two times we’ve played in New Zealand we’ve been hammered in the first game and pretty much out the series. But going to Edgbaston, this series is very much alive. We’ve got a chance to win it and we can take confidence from some very good individual performances in this game.”Related

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• England hold out for draw with Dom Sibley's unbeaten fifty

• Ollie Robinson suspended from all international cricket

Root expressed particular satisfaction in the performance of Sibley, who came into this match having not made a double-figure score in his six most recent Test innings.”He showed great resilience and character out there,” Root said. “He really did trust his defence and show that he has the mental capacity for Test cricket. Sometimes you learn a lot about players in those situations.”On a surface like that, where the ball was going up and down, when guys respond in that manner, it tells you a lot about them. I’m really pleased for him and it will give him a lot of confidence.”But Root did admit that the side’s young middle-order batters were going to have to “learn very quickly” after a first-innings performance which saw five of them contribute just 24-runs between them.”I think there were a number of dismissals that weren’t good enough for Test cricket in the first innings,” he said. “We are better than that as a side. They’re going to have to learn very quickly in this environment. But you know they have the right attitude and the right temperament. When they have made mistakes in the past, they have responded well.”Today was an opportunity to show that we can be a little bit more resilient and harder to get out. The guys fronted up and I think they did it very well.”

Authorities await ICC accreditation for the venue ahead of IPL 2021 and T20 World Cup

Shamya Dasgupta05-Jul-2021Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium has been busier than usual since the resumption of cricket after the Covid-19 hiatus around the middle of last year. It has hosted 81 ICC-approved games in the last 11 months, including franchise T10s and T20s, and there is a lot more lined up.It’s a lot of pressure on one cricket facility. As a result, Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) has had to expand, and has thrown open Tolerance Oval, a floodlit, broadcast-ready stadium, with five playing surfaces. The ICC accreditation isn’t there yet, but the authorities expect everything to be in place soon, in time for some of the 31 remaining matches of IPL 2021 in September-October, and then matches of the men’s T20 World Cup between October 17 and November 14.Related

• IPL 2020: No schedule yet but 'airbridge facility' in place for Abu Dhabi practice sessions

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“If you speak to the best groundsmen in the world, they wouldn’t want more than five international matches on each of their surfaces. Our main stadium is now broadcast-ready for seven strips, and the Tolerance Oval is broadcast-ready as well with five strips. So we have 12 broadcast-ready strips, that’s 60 games,” Matt Boucher, ADC chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “Tolerance Oval is another international venue in the Emirates. It’s not a 20-25,000 capacity ground. We have modelled it on the English county grounds and the Hagley Oval [in Christchurch]; we have grass banks around the perimeter, so 12,000 people at the most.”At the moment, the UAE has the three main international venues, including the Dubai and Sharjah stadia. That aside, there is the ICC Academy ground, which, however, is not a night-playing alternative. Which makes Tolerance Oval, if approved by the ICC, the fourth night- and broadcast-ready ground in the region.”I can’t speak on behalf of the ICC, but from our perspective, we wanted to increase our infrastructure. Our business was very different two years ago. We were hosting a lot of junior sport, junior football and junior rugby, in our outer ovals. We made a dedicated decision at the beginning of this year that we wanted all our cricket facilities to return to cricket and be fully focussed on cricket,” Boucher said. “So we have overhauled everything, and it should be ready by the end of August.”It’s not with an event in mind, but for Abu Dhabi to offer a higher class of playing surfaces and dedicated cricket surfaces for the domestic community here and the international community too.”As such, Abu Dhabi has played its part well. No one venue has hosted more ICC-approved games than it has since June 2020 – though Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium has been marginally busier, having also been the primary venue for Bangladesh’s domestic matches.Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted 81 ICC-approved matches in the last 11 months•BCCI

“It has been an incredibly busy season since August last year. It’s all moved pretty smoothly, approvals have come in quickly, the ground has been in great shape, and yeah, it’s gone pretty well for us,” Boucher said. “Hopefully some more big months coming up with the remainder of the IPL and then the men’s T20 World Cup and then the Abu Dhabi T10 again. It’s been an exciting period.”Obviously, without the pandemic, we wouldn’t be hosting many of the events we just discussed. Around 18 months ago, we were generating our own events and conceptualising products with public and private stakeholders, because we were not reliant on the international events coming in. That sort of flipped on its head because of the pandemic, and all the international events we have hosted, in the most stringent and secure atmosphere we possibly can.”It will be interesting to see next year, how the bilateral season works at the end of the men’s T20 World Cup, there are a lot of countries, even a lot of Associate countries, who need to catch up on their cricket, who are behind on their FTP.”Tolerance Oval is not new to cricket. It has hosted a variety of cricket, and cricketers, but mainly as a training facility, for the UAE national team, English counties on their pre-season travels, as well as ‘A’ matches featuring Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, etc. It’s got a facelift now, but that doesn’t count as guarantee for anything when it comes to the ICC. It might continue to be a training facility for the teams playing in the IPL or the T20 World Cup, in terms of the immediate future, while games of the Abu Dhabi T10 league could well be played there.”We will wait for the lights to go in, probably some lights’ testing, probably some dimensions’ testing… and hopefully in six weeks’ time we will have the accreditation for that oval, and then it’s over to the decision-makers if they want to use it for any upcoming tournaments or whether we use it for practice,” Boucher said. “Either way, it’s a brilliant new facility. And just to have it for IPL practice and T20 World Cup practice alleviates some space on our other surfaces.”

Unbeaten 156-run stand puts total out of reach of visitors in 87-run victory

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2021Durham 327 for 6 (Dickson 103*, Doneathy 69, Bedingham 60, Lees 59) beat Lancashire 240 (Jones 65, Bohannon 52, Doneathy 4-36) by 87 runsAn unbeaten century from Sean Dickson and career-best performances with bat and ball from Luke Doneathy provided a winning platform for Durham to beat Lancashire by 87 runs in their Royal London Cup contest at Gosforth.Dickson and Doneathy combined for a partnership of 156, lifting the hosts from 171 for 6 to a total of 327 from their 50 overs. Dickson took centre stage as he scored his first List A century, although Doneathy more than played his part with a career-best knock of 69.Rob Jones and Josh Bohannon notched in-vain half-centuries for Lancashire. However, Doneathy was the visitors’ bane once more with the ball as he claimed four wickets to allow Durham to claim their third win in five matches to lift them above Lancashire in Group A into second place.Lancashire won the toss and inserted the home side, whose solid start to the contest was stymied as Graham Clark, Scott Borthwick and Cameron Bancroft were all dismissed cheaply. David Bedingham announced his arrival with a crisp straight drive down the ground to the fence.He and Alex Lees allowed Durham to regain their footing amid the clatter of wickets. Lees reached his 14th List A half-century in the process from 62 balls, continuing his impressive one-day form. Bedingham’s aggression allowed him to reach his second fifty of the competition in only 40 balls. However, Morley had his revenge to dismiss Lees, who missed a straight ball and was out lbw for 59.Hurt then produced a fine piece of bowling and fielding to prise out Bedingham for 60, leaving Durham in trouble at 155 for five. Dickson and Doneathy responded with controlled aggression.The two players put on a unbeaten stand of 156 for the seventh wicket, propelling Durham into a position of strength at the end of the innings and a total of 327. Dickson led the way his maiden List A century from 75 balls, smashing Danny Lamb to the fence in the final over. Doneathy played his role to perfection clearing the rope, and on occasions the ground, five times with a career-best 69.Lancashire made a steady start, although regular boundaries eluded Luke Wells and Bohannon. Wells attempted to cut loose, but he was caught by Clark off the bowling of Salisbury. The Durham man then notched his second wicket to remove Steven Croft, ensuring there was no repeat of his 99 at South North two years previously.Bohannon made a brisk half-century from 55 balls to end a lean time at the crease. His attempts to push on were ended when Doneathy produced a fine return catch to dismiss the right-hander for 52, forcing the visitors to regroup.Jones and George Lavelle countered with a partnership of 89 keeping Lancashire in touch with the run-rate. Jones notched his second fifty in a row from 50 balls, playing the anchor role for his team.Lavelle hit three sixes, but another lofty blow resulted in his wicket as Salisbury claimed a good catch over his shoulder. Paul van Meekeren dealt a massive blow to the visitors when he bowled Jones, who played onto his own stumps.The Netherlands international then removed George Balderson to allow the hosts to close in on victory. Doneathy surged through the tail with figures of 4 for 36 to secure a dominant win for Durham in their bid to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.