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Ahead of the Ashes, Australia offspinner says Shoaib Bashir, England’s current No. 1 spinner, “has been okay”

Alex Malcolm31-Jul-2025Australia’s greatest ever offspinner Nathan Lyon believes that left-arm spinner Jack Leach is still England’s best spinner, and says offspinner Shoaib Bashir, England’s currently injured No.1 spinner and likely Ashes tourist for 2025-26, “has been okay”.Speaking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney on Thursday, Lyon said former England seamer James Anderson had revealed to him that Bashir had been selected to try and replicate what Lyon does in Australia. But Lyon believes Leach is still the best spinner England has.”I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and they basically said that they’re picking Bashir to do what I do,” Lyon said. “So I took a little bit of pride out of Jimmy respecting a little bit of what I’ve been able to do in my career. But Bashir has been okay.Related

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“Jacob Bethell is playing this Test match [at The Oval against India], and he looks like he’ll take up the spin bowling from Liam Dawson. But in my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner.”Leach, 34, has not played for England since last year’s tour of Pakistan, where he had a modest series compared Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who spun Pakistan to victory in the final two Tests. Leach’s return of 16 wickets at an average of 31.43 and a strike rate of 50.75 in three Tests in that series were still well ahead of Bashir’s nine wickets at 49.55 and 79.44, respectively.England have since committed to Bashir as the No.1 spinner across their last three series – against New Zealand, Zimbabwe and India. When he suffered a series-ending finger injury in the Lord’s Test of the ongoing series against India, Liam Dawson returned as England’s sole spinner for the fourth Test in Manchester after eight years in the Test wilderness. Dawson has since been left out for the fifth and final Test at The Oval, with England picking four fast bowlers as well as Jacob Bethell as a part-time left-arm spin option in place of Dawson.Leach took 6 for 63 in his most recent outing, for Somerset against Durham at Taunton, in what turned out to be a two-day game on a pitch that was described as “appalling” by Ian Botham. Leach is currently the fourth-leading wicket-taker, and the leading spinner, in division one of the County Championship this season, with 39 wickets at 24.76, including two six-wicket hauls.Jack Leach played three Tests on the last Australia tour in 2021-22•Getty Images

Leach played three Tests in Australia on the 2021-22 Ashes tour, taking just six wickets at 53.50, and was left out of the final Test in Hobart. Instead, England picked four seamers in a pink-ball game where Lyon did not bowl a single delivery as Australia won inside three days.Bashir, meanwhile, was sent on the England Lions tour of Australia earlier this year to play three four-day games against Cricket Australia (CA) XI and Australia A, although none of them was played at Test venues.He returned match figures of 2 for 91 and 1 for 109 in the two fixtures against the CA XI in Brisbane. Against Australia A in the unofficial Test at Cricket Central in Sydney, which the Lions lost by an innings, Bashir got 1 for 74 in the only innings he bowled.Lyon himself was left out of Australia’s most recent Test match, against West Indies in Jamaica, as the selectors opted for four quicks in a pink-ball game that ended inside two-and-a-half days. But he believes spinners will have their share of role to play in the Ashes in Australia despite the pitches being very seam-friendly in recent years.”It is a massive role, and it can be a massive challenge for people who haven’t done it in the past in these conditions,” Lyon said. “But I’m not going to let my secrets out so they come out and perform well out here. Our guys know how to play spin really well in this country. That’s probably what helped me produce my skill to where it is at the moment. I know I’ll keep trying getting better, and we’ll see how their spinners go.”

The wicketkeeper-batter has signed a three-year deal and will be available for the entirety of every season

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2024England wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings has become the first player to sign for the BBL under the new multi-year contract option with a three-season deal for Sydney Thunder, committing to the competition ahead of rival T20 leagues in the UAE and South Africa.Billings previously played two seasons for the Thunder in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before spending the next two campaigns with Brisbane Heat. He was one of a group of overseas players to leave the tournament early last season to take up a deal with the ILT20 and the BBL’s new multi-year option is an attempt to secure players for the duration by offering them security.Related

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The SA20 will again significantly overlap with the BBL when it starts in early January, while the ILT20 begins earlier next season so it creates an even greater clash.In return, under terms of signing a three-year deal, a player must commit to the entire BBL including the finals from the 2025-26 season, but Billings has gone a step further and will also be available throughout next season’s edition.”I love Sydney and in particular Western Sydney and the chance to come back to a family club that is so connected to their members and fans and the people from the area was too good an opportunity to ignore,” Billings said.”On the field we are pulling together a really good squad and the chance to work with such an accomplished coach as Trevor Bayliss again was very appealing.”The BBL is in such a great place these days, it’s well run, well supported and definitely the best tournament in the world staged at that time of the year. That’s why I have committed long term and to be here right until the end of the tournament each year.”Thunder finished bottom in last season’s BBL with just one win in 10 matches so are attempting to rebuild under new general manager Trent Copeland and former England coach Trevor Bayliss who recently signed a one-year extension.”The beauty of bringing a player the calibre of Sam Billings to the club is not just the elite skillset he brings to every facet of the game but also his leadership on and off the field,” Copeland said.Billings is the second Thunder signing confirmed in two days after the club secured highly-rated young batter Sam Konstas on a two-year deal. Konstas, 18, who made his New South Wales debut last season, was part of Thunder’s squad last summer but did not feature before heading to the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa where he helped Australia to the title.The WBBL has the same multi-year contract mechanism with New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr the first signed under the agreement as she moved to Sydney Sixers from Heat.Sydney Thunder BBL squad 2024-25: Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Sam Billings, Oliver Davies, Matt Gilkes, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, William Salzmann, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha

SLC also believes they have enough power-hitters in the team “capable of meeting any challenge”

Madushka Balasuriya13-May-2024While the ongoing IPL may be a certifiable run-fest, the current school of thought surrounding the upcoming T20 World Cup is that conditions in the USA and Caribbean might be a little less batter-friendly. At least, that’s the working assumption Sri Lanka’s selectors were going on when they named their 15-man squad for the tournament.”If you look at the conditions in America and the West Indies, most of it is pointing towards the wickets there being quite slow,” chief selector Upul Tharanga said at a media briefing on Monday.”The Major League tournament was played in Dallas with drop-in pitches. If you look at those, even though they’re being brought down from Australia they are still quite uneven and a little slow. This could of course change, so it’s a little hard to predict.”Related

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It’s this line of thinking that has seen them stock their squad with spin-bowling options. While Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana will lead the line, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Dunith Wellalage all offer all-round options, while Vijayakanth Viyaskanth is among the travelling reserves.

Dhananjaya, Wellalage show versatility is key

Among the main beneficiaries of Sri Lanka’s focus on spin have been Dhananjaya and Wellalage.A lack of power-hitting pedigree has seen the 32-year-old Dhananjaya struggle to become a mainstay of the T20 side, while his position in the batting line-up has also yo-yoed. Over the past four years, he’s batted in each of the top seven positions, though primarily in the middle order, and of Sri Lanka’s nine T20Is this year he’s only played in four of them. As for Wellalage, he is yet to debut for Sri Lanka in T20Is, though he has 21 ODIs and a solitary Test to his name.But despite this lack of game time, both have been included in Sri Lanka’s squad, and Tharanga explained that it was their versatility that cemented their inclusion.”There could be a chance that we play three spinners sometimes. Looking at that is why we picked Dunith, particularly his batting, because sometimes we could go with him ahead of a fast-bowling allrounder.”As for Dhananjaya, we value his bowling. And with regard to power-hitting, we think we can get that from elsewhere in the side. In terms of his all-round input, and taking into consideration the conditions, he was a better option.”Tharanga also revealed that the uncapped Viyaskanth, who had impressed in the LPL in recent seasons as well as the ILT20 earlier this year, had been picked as a travelling reserve ahead of the likes of Jeffrey Vandersay and Akila Dananjaya owing to him being more suited to the conditions.”Viyaskanth is taller and has a higher arm action, and because of that we thought he would suit the West Indian conditions better. Along with Viyaskanth, we looked at Akila Dananjaya and Jeffrey Vandersay, and compared to them Viyaskanth has bowled more in franchise cricket, and so we think he’s best suited to fill in in the case of any injury.”Matheesha Pathirana has been in sensational form for CSK, but Sri Lanka will have to wait on a final medical report before they can clear him for return•BCCI

Concerns over power-hitting?

The build-up to the World Cup – in the shadow of the IPL – has brought with it a certain degree of uncertainty over what the scoring will be like at the tournament, with ground averages perhaps no longer a reliable indicator of scoring patterns considering the kind of uber aggressive batting seen in the IPL so far.In this vein, there were questions over the selection of Dhananjaya over more explosive options like Kusal Janith Perera and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (travelling reserve). The selectors, though, were confident that the team selected has the firepower needed to go deep in the tournament.”If you look at scores in the West Indies historically, as well as the US, average scores are around 160. But until we play on them we won’t know how such wickets behave. But I do believe that this a team capable of meeting any challenge.”Speaking further on Perera’s axing, Tharanga said it was down to his recent lack of form, while he added that Bhanuka had been kept as a reserve as there were enough power hitters in the side already.”From the 15 players we’ve selected I think we have the necessary power in the side in terms of batters. In the opening slots we have Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka, then we have Kamindu Mendis, Charith [Asalanka], there’s Wanindu and Dasun Shanaka. So we have faith that we can cover the power side of the game with those players.”

Special request for Liyanage

Janith Liyanage was not part of the initial 25-man shortlist the selectors had identified as potential candidates for their final squad, but such has been the strength of his performances in ODIs – he has scored three fifties and a century in six innings since debuting in March of this year – they had been urged to reconsider his role in shortest format.As such, Liyanage, despite having played the last of his three T20Is back in February 2022, has been named one for four travelling reserves.”He wasn’t selected in the initial 25-man list because we thought we could go forward with those selections. But in the games following that decision, Janith performed very well,” Tharanga explained.”This meant that some of the seniors and coaches in the side asked again if it was possible to take Janith for the tournament.”

Sri Lanka wait on Pathirana injury

Matheesha Pathirana had impressed in his second IPL campaign, picking up 13 wickets for Chennai Super Kings in six games before being sidelined with a hamstring strain. According to Tharanga, they are hopeful of the slinger being fit for the start of the tournament but will have to wait on the final medical report before identifying a clear timeline for his return.He is one of five seamers Sri Lanka will be taking to the US, alongside fellow slinger Nuwan Thushara, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera and travelling reserve Asitha Fernando.In those, Tharanga believes there is enough to trouble opposition batters in all phases of play.”We have players to bowl at the death, but it’s in the powerplay that we need to focus on picking up wickets. So for that we have Madushanka and then as travelling reserve we have Asitha.”If we take our side, Thushara, Pathirana they can bowl in the death overs. But we needed someone that could come in if we needed a wicket-taking option with the new ball, which is why we went with Asitha [as a reserve over Binura Fernando].”

Allrounder hits 85 and builds vital stand with Harry Finch to peg back Somerset

ECB Reporters Network06-Apr-2024Kent were bowled out for 284 by Somerset on a fluctuating second day in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury. Joey Evison hit 85 and Harry Finch 54 as the hosts recovered from 114 for 5.Somerset captain Lewis Gregory’s first over went for 20, but he rallied to take 4 for 66, including the key wicket of Evison, but bad light stopped play before Somerset had the chance to reply, with 23 scheduled overs remaining.The weather had wiped out the first day at the Spitfire Ground and conditions were still so blustery on Saturday morning that the advertising hoardings had to be stacked safely away from the boundary.Somerset, who left out the England spinner Shoaib Bashir, chose to bowl and produced a torrid opening spell. Kent scored just 17 off the first ten overs from Josh Davey and Jake Ball, but when Gregory came on from the Nackington Road End the batters were initially able to cut loose.Tawanda Muyeye took 24 balls and 39 minutes to get off the mark, but once the opening pair had been seen off he hit 33 from 55 balls before Gregory bowled him. Gregory struck again in his next over when he had Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond caught at second slip by Kasey Aldridge and Jack Leaning then went for a golden duck, caught behind down the leg side by James Rew off Ned Leonard.Matt Renshaw had Joe Denly caught by Gregory for 19 with the final ball of the session to leave Kent on 110 for 4 at lunch.The normally staid Compton tried to hook Gregory and was caught on the boundary by Leonard for 32 but Kent responded with a partnership of 93, Evison joining Finch to take the hosts past the 200 mark.Aldridge then tilted the equation back in Somerset’s favour with two wickets in the 53rd over. Finch drove him to Tom Banton at midwicket and he then had Wes Agar caught for a duck in the slips by Gregory.Sensing he might run out of partners, Evison went on the attack, swiping Renshaw for six over cow corner. He was dropped by Tom Lammonby, off Aldridge, on 51, but Goldsworthy then claimed his first ever first-class wicket when he bowled Nathan Gilchrist for just 2, leaving Kent on 235 for 8 at tea.The hosts countered with a stand of 61 for the ninth wicket which was only broken when Evison tried to drive Goldsworthy, who deflected the ball on to the stumps at the non-strikers end and ran out Matt Parkinson for 25. Evison then fell on the deep square leg boundary when he tried to hook Gregory and was caught by Goldsworthy.Somerset’s openers Lammonby and Sean Dickson made it as far as the middle when the umpires took a light reading and suspended play. With no improvement looking likely, the evening session was abandoned at 6.05pm.

Starc has struggled this series, with his best being just a few outstanding spells across the four matches

Daniel Brettig18-Jan-2021Mitchell Starc grabbed at his right hamstring during his only over of India’s second innings at the Gabba before rain curtailed the penultimate day of the Border-Gavaskar series. That meant Australia were left with another headache entering a final day where they must win in order to keep on top of their ambitions to reach the World Test Championship final.Starc had begun strongly in the series opener at the Adelaide Oval but has since struggled to find his best, with his best bowling limited to just a few outstanding spells across the four matches. His obvious discomfort in the closing passage of play raised concerns that the mental fatigue of the series had a physical equivalent for one of the home side’s fast men right at the pivotal point of the decider.”I saw the same thing walking back – he was grabbing at his right hamstring I think it was, so I’m sure he’ll get assessed by the medical staff,” Steven Smith said of Starc. “One thing I know about Mitchell is he’s tough and he’s played through some injuries before and got the job done, so he’ll be hopefully good to go tomorrow.”Related

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As talks around the looming tour of South Africa continue, Tim Paine’s team finds itself under concerted pressure to force a result, even as the Brisbane weather forecast indicated that another hefty chunk of overs will likely be lost on the final day with India still having all ten wickets in hand in a notional chase of 328 for victory.While India’s major injury toll has forced the tourists to shuffle through an enormous number of players – particularly their bowlers – ending the series with an attack no one could have predicted when the contest began in Adelaide, the hosts have stuck with the same bowling attack in spite of the tight schedule.Concerns about the volume of overs the bowlers could potentially be bowling once again – after sending down 131 overs in the fourth innings of the first of back-to-back Tests at the SCG – appeared one of the factors in the thinking of the Australians. That may have been a reason for them to bat all the way down to Nos. 10 and 11 at the Gabba, defying the inevitable arrival of rain.”It’s hard to know. Obviously with the rain coming, we’re certainly not weathermen and don’t know it’s coming, so you have to play the game as you see it as well,” Smith said. “I think the game’s in a nice place for us. The wicket’s started to play a few tricks today, a couple of balls shot up. So tomorrow I think it’s just going to be about bowling good areas and letting the natural variation of the day five wicket do its work and hopefully we can hold on to all the chances.”The Indian players have batted well. In Sydney we bowled 130 overs – obviously a different wicket to that [Brisbane] – but for us, it is just about being patient, not searching too much, bowling good areas and just letting it happen. I think the more you go searching for it on these kinds of tracks, then you probably don’t get the rewards. So it’s about hitting good areas consistently and letting the natural variation of the wicket take its course.”Asked directly about the “conservative” approach of the team, Smith made it abundantly clear he was not part of leadership discussions. “I’m not too sure, I wasn’t involved in those conversations,” Smith said of Australia’s declaration. “I think the wicket’s certainly different to what it is in Sydney. There’s a bit more happening here. We saw a few balls hoot up today, a couple kept a bit low, [and] a couple went off cracks, which is always playing on the batters’ mind. So for us it’s about hitting really good areas and being nice and patient.That said, he held out hope that Nathan Lyon might be able to figure on the last day of a series in which he has struggled for traction and has been outbowled by both R Ashwin and Washington Sundar.”There’s a nice crack forming outside the right-hander’s off stump that [Lyon] will probably be looking to aim at I assume, that’s a nice line. If he hits good areas consistently tomorrow, there’s certainly no reason why he can’t create some chances on a day-five wicket.”

Ryan Sidebottom has been added to Warwickshire’s list of injured pace bowlers and that threatens to disrupt their attempts to return to Division One at the first attempt

ECB Reporters Network03-May-2018
ScorecardWayne Madsen unfurled a century of high skill and courage as Warwickshire and Derbyshire swapped blows on an engrossing opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Edgbaston.In a clash of Division Two’s early-season front-runners, Derbyshire chose to bat and made 318, to which Warwickshire replied with 32 for 1 by the close.The visitors’ linchpin was Madsen who steered his side away from early trouble with a classy 144 from 203 balls, his 27th first-class century. It was completed despite a painful blow on the head from a Henry Brookes bouncer when the batsman had 82. After a seven-minutes-and-20-seconds delay for treatment, Madsen carried on with resolve undiminished to at least partially vindicate Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman’s decision to bat first.At 84 for 4 and 209 for 6, that decision looked dubious, but Madsen led determined resistance against a Warwickshire side which suffered another injury blow to its seam-bowling department during the day. Already without Olly Stone and Keith Barker, the Bears lost Ryan Sidebottom who suffered a side-strain midway through his tenth over in mid-afternoon.Having chosen to bat, Derbyshire did so unevenly in the first session. Ben Slater looked set to continue his vibrant early-season form when he moved crisply to 16 but he top-edged a pull at Chris Wright to mid-on.Warwickshire captain Jeetan Patel then took two wickets in his first 13 balls. Luis Reece offered a return catch then Alex Hughes top-edged a sweep and was brilliantly caught by Will Rhodes running back from square leg.When Henry Brookes hit Godleman’s leg-stump, Derbyshire were 84 for 4 and needed some shoring up. Madsen, dropped on 13 and 87, obliged with valuable support from Gary Wilson and Matt Critchley. After Wilson edged Wright to slip, Critchley batted positively until he fell lbw to Patel who soon collected his fourth wicket when Hardus Viljoen nicked behind.Hamidullah Qadri edged Brooks to second slip but then it was the turn of Duanne Olivier (40, 72 balls) to dig in alongside Madsen. The ninth-wicket pair added 67 in 16 overs before Brooks bowled Madsen and Mark Footitt in five balls. Eighteen-year-old Brooks finished with a career-best 4 for 63 and Patel 4 for 94.Warwickshire were left with 12 awkward overs batting as the floodlights fought the increasing gloom and lost Dominic Sibley who fell to an exceptional catch by Critchley at fourth slip off Olivier.

England will go into a Lord’s Test with two spinners for the first time in almost a quarter of a century on Thursday

George Dobell at Lord's04-Jul-2017England will go into a Lord’s Test with two spinners for the first time in almost a quarter of a century on Thursday.Ahead of his first Test as captain, Joe Root confirmed that Liam Dawson will form a two-pronged spin attack with Moeen Ali in the first Test of the series against South Africa. It will be the first time England have fielded two specialist spinners in a Lord’s Test since 1993. On that occasion, they conceded 632 for 4 in the first innings on their way to an innings defeat.Some might dispute that neither Dawson nor Moeen is a specialist spinner. Neither has a first-class bowling average under 36 (Moeen’s is 41.89 and Dawson’s 36.86) and it is true that neither would have enjoyed the careers they have without the batting ability that renders them more valuable to each team they represent. They are allrounders by most reasonable definitions.It is Dawson’s inclusion that is most intriguing. Or, as he termed it, “a bit unexpected”. Halfway through the India tour, Adil Rashid looked as if he had gone a long way to establishing himself as England’s first-choice spinner. He claimed 23 wickets in the series.But his star faded as the series progressed. And Dawson, making his debut in Chennai, not only offered England some control with the ball (he conceded three an over in that Test while Rashid went at 5.15) but struck an unbeaten 66 in England’s first innings. Rashid, to be fair, also scored 60 but Dawson emerged as a man the England management felt they could rely upon in all situations. He’s not necessarily a match-winner, but he can keep an end tight and provide late-order acceleration or rebuilding as required with the bat.While that might not, at first glance, appear to fit with the bold talk of positivity that surrounded Root’s elevation to the captaincy, it’s worth remembering that England lost eight Tests in 2016. A team containing the likes of Root and Ben Stokes and Moeen doesn’t necessarily require more flair but more solidity. Dawson looked calm amid the storm in Chennai and while it is hard to see him pulling off spectacular individual performance, it is a team game and he can contribute a supporting role in all departments.It means that Toby Roland-Jones again has to wait for his chance. Even with all the other seamers coming into this Test with something to prove as regards their fitness and even on a surface that just might prove uncharacteristically green, five frontline seamers could have been excessive. Not since 2003 have England fielded five seamers in a Test.When all options are fit, Roland-Jones remains behind Chris Woakes and Jake Ball in the hierarchy, too. With the likes of Jamie Overton, the Curran brothers and Tom Helm also developing, time is probably running out for the 29-year-old Roland-Jones.There have been a couple of other notable faces at Lord’s over the last couple of days. Gary Palmer, the freelance batting coach, had a long session with Alastair Cook that started at 7am on Monday morning (Palmer has been working with Cook regularly over recent months with some success but has found his requests to work with other Test candidates falling on deaf ears), while Chris Taylor, the fielding coach, was also involved in training on Tuesday. Taylor has, on the whole, been used in white-ball sessions, so it is fair to interpret his presence as an attempt to increase the emphasis on fielding. Saqlain Mushtaq, the spin-bowling consultant, and Andy Hurry, head of the ECB’s cricket development programme, were also among the coaching team.Root also confirmed that Gary Ballance would return to the side at No. 3 with the captain dropping to No. 4. Both would, you sense, prefer No. 4 to No. 3, but Root – having fought for the selection of his old friend, flatmate and colleague – is the boss and may well require Ballance to take responsibility for the higher position.Might it have made more sense to pick a specialist for such a position? Mark Stoneman, in particular, can probably count himself unfortunate. Even for England Lions at the weekend, Ballance batted at No. 4.Either way, a recall to No. 3 is a huge ask for a man enjoying his third – and potentially final – incarnation as an England player. But a few months ago it seemed Ballance had almost no way back as a Test player. This is a great opportunity for him.

Ross Taylor has declared himself 85-90% fit and should be available to play the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-2017It’s only March but Ross Taylor has come up with a resolution for next year – or maybe just next season – already. “I think I am going to start [keeping count of] how many games I can play without getting injured,” Taylor joked during a stint on the , SkyTV’s daily tea-time interview slot, during the fourth day’s play between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton. “Calf, hammies, side-strains, fingers, bones. It’s just disappointing that it’s South Africa I have missed a few times.”Taylor has missed some part of the last three series against South Africa, the first in the aftermath of the captaincy debacle in 2012-13, the second a limited-overs series in 2015 following surgery after a groin injury sustained in Zimbabwe, and now the last two Tests in this series, after tearing a calf in the first.Although Taylor admitted that not having to front up to “Morkel and Rabada is probably not a bad thing,” he said he would like to play as much as he can in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, which is being touted as the swansong of his career. His most recent injury has served to spur him on to ensure he gets there. “I just need motivation when things aren’t going well, when you get a bit tired of day-in, day-out cricket, just a nice little reminder to say why you play this game. Hopefully I can get through that.”For now, Taylor has declared himself 85-90% fit and should be available to play the Champions Trophy and the triangular tournament in Ireland, also featuring Bangladesh, which precedes the ICC event. New Zealand will be without their IPL players for that tri-series, which will make Taylor’s presence even more important and he hopes he can play a role in mentoring some of the younger players. “You want to expose young players to get the depth in the squad that we are comfortable with,” he said. “[So] we have 20 players at any time that can be very competitive against any side in the world.”One thing he may not be teaching them is to copy his signature celebration of sticking his tongue out on reaching a century. “I did it when I was youngster growing up – I got a cheeky hundred, I was dropped a couple of times and then I got a cheeky hundred so I did it. When my daughter was growing up, she was 2 or 3, she said, ‘Daddy, can you get a hundred for me and poke your tongue out?’ So that’s what I do now,” he said.Taylor has had the chance to do that in two ODIs and a Test this summer, which is not his best tally but has contributed to what he regards as an overall period of good progress for the team. “It has been a great summer,” he said. “Regardless of what happens [in this Test], it has been a successful summer. We retained the Chappell-Hadlee and got some convincing results against Pakistan and Bangladesh. We could finish off the summer really well with a Test victory here and we’ve seen some young players coming through and some veterans stepping up.”The highlight, though, has been the way Kane Williamson has stepped up to the captaincy. Since taking on the job in July last year, Williamson has scored 1079 runs at an average of 59.94 which includes four Test hundreds. He has also become the fastest New Zealander to 5,000 runs and equalled Martin Crowe’s century haul, and Taylor believes there’s no limit to what he can achieve.”He is only 26. He is in fantastic form and he scored a great hundred here. Add into it how the team played in Wellington, going into a must-win match and having to step up at a crucial time, to get a century here – every one starts talking about how many he is going to get,” Taylor said. “He could go down as our best batsman.”

Niroshan Dickwella, who scored his second Test half-century and spent 46 overs keeping wicket, said that the Galle surface had slowed down since the first day, but was not yet the raging turner it can become

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle08-Mar-2017Niroshan Dickwella, who scored his second Test half-century and spent 46 overs keeping wicket, said that the Galle surface had slowed down since the first day, but was not yet the raging turner it can often become. There appeared to be little assistance for bowlers of any description in the four sessions between lunch on day one and tea on day two. Though there was some turn for left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan late in the day, this was largely slow turn, rather than the fizzing variety that may often be seen at Galle.Sri Lanka’s previous match at this venue, against Australia, lasted less than seven sessions. Three full innings had been completed by the end of day two on that occasion.”It usually turns a bit more here,” Dickwella said. “I played in a Test here against Pakistan in 2014, which we won, and last time Sri Lanka played here, they won against Australia as well. Both those pitches were turning tracks – even on the first day. This one is a bit better for the batsmen – and you can see that in the way we managed to get 490-odd.”It was a good batting track yesterday, and it’s becoming really slow at the moment. Today, it was getting slow and the turn is slow. I think it will start to properly turn in the third evening.”In his own innings, Dickwella had adopted a characteristically positive approach, hitting 75 off 76 balls, though he did also fall to an aggressive stroke. Most of his runs were scored in the company of Kusal Mendis, with whom he mounted 110 to propel Sri Lanka to a formidable position.”Attacking is part of my normal game, and I don’t want to change the way I play,” he said. “It was a flat track as well. I didn’t think too much and my normal game helped me to score runs.”Dickwella has also impressed in ODI and T20 cricket in recent months, where he has often brought impetus to the top of Sri Lanka’s innings.”It’s different in Tests, because in T20s and one-dayers, I open the batting, and that’s a different ball game with the Powerplays and all,” he said. “In Test cricket, it’s a totally different game with the slips and fielders in the circle most of the time. The opposition bowls more to a plan as well. But I also like keeping wickets and batting in the middle order. I want to be a better wicketkeeper, so it’s a good role.”

MS Dhoni attributed India’s six-wicket win to the consistency of the top order, but said lack of muscle lower down the order and the absence of a settled bowling group was still a concern

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2016India somewhat made amends for the botched Canberra chase on Saturday at the SCG by becoming the first team to chase down a 300-plus target against Australia in Australia. Along the way, they also halted Australia’s record 18-match winning streak at home.The man who played a monumental role in handing Australia a six-wicket loss was Manish Pandey, who struck an enterprising unbeaten 104 after the stiff chase of 330 was set up courtesy a 123-run opening stand in just 18.2 overs between Shikhar Dhawan (78) and Rohit Sharma (99).”I got the chance to bat at No.4 because Ajju (Rahane) was injured. Seeing the way the wickets have been behaving, with 300 being scored each game, it’s tough to get a chance at No. 6, so I thought I should make use of my chance at four,” Pandey said. “It was good to bat with the captain. His encouraging words helped.”MS Dhoni, far from his destructive best in his 42-ball 34, attributed the win to consistency of the top order. “Last time, we spoke about our batsmen being young and how they will be successful over time across all conditions if persisted with,” he said. “This is a result of sustaining with the same set of players.”The top order has been together for a long time now. They are all experienced. Especially in this series, considering all the matches have produced 300-plus totals, you needed that, and so the experience counts. Where we have been hurt is our lower-order batting, that’s where Manish did really well today.”As happy as he was with the batting, Dhoni hinted at a strong show with the ball towards the death that helped India save precious runs. India conceded just 28 off the last four overs to round off a mixed show, where Jasprit Bumrah, the debutant, was the pick of the lot with figures of 2 for 40 off his ten overs.”The first four games were quite close but we didn’t close it out well, which is important in the ODI format,” he said. “Every over matters in a high-scoring game. If you bowl two or three overs that go for 15-20 runs it really puts a lot of pressure when you’re chasing. It makes it easy for the opposition.”Dhoni felt the absence of a settled bowling group also played its part in the overall series score of 4-1 in Australia’s favour. “We wanted to pick bowlers who hit the deck hard, we decided even if they go for runs, you still have guys who bowl fast,” he explained. “This is perhaps the only time where our set of bowlers was faster than Australia’s. That’s the positive. But at the same time, you can’t only rely on pace. You need to close down overs well. You can’t keep giving away 15 or 20-run overs.”Looking ahead to the T20s, Dhoni said his biggest challenge was in managing some of the older players, albeit in a cryptic manner. “We have to improve our fielding slightly,” he said. “A few of the experienced players will be joining us. The grounds here are big, and if you don’t have a good shoulder, there will be a lot of pressure. That’s what is crucial in conditions like these. If we manage that well, we will have an exciting T20 series.”