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Wondering if the biggest names correspond to the best picks at this draft? That and more in ESPNcricinfo’s explainer

Andrew McGlashan26-Aug-2022First thing’s first. When does it take place?
August 28, starting at 6.30pm AEST, shortly after the conclusion of Australia’s first ODI against Zimbabwe. In Australia it will be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo. On ESPNcricinfo there will be a live blog bringing you all the updates.How are players categorised?
There are four bands overall: platinum (AU$340,000; US$236,000 approx.), gold (AU$260,000; US$181,000 approx.), silver (AU$175,000; US$121,000 approx.) and bronze (AU$100,000; US$69,000 approx.). Players themselves could pick any of the latter three, and nominate their availability, and CA have selected 12 of the leading names for the top bracket with the additional amount above the gold fee coming from a marketing pool. Overall, 332 players have put their names in. A reminder, too, that BBL clubs have a salary cap of AU$1.9 million (US$1.3m approx.).Related

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• Full BBL overseas player draft list – 332 names confirmed

• Platinum rundown: Livingstone, Boult and du Plessis could be early picks in BBL

• Warner's BBL return confirmed with two-year Thunder deal

• Chris Lynn signs 11-game Adelaide Strikers BBL deal to split time with ILT20

These are the platinum players: Faf du Plessis, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, David Willey, Shadab Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Rashid Khan, Chris Jordan, and Trent Boult.The platinums are also available at gold with the exception of Rashid, Boult, Pollard and Russell. Most players have nominated themselves across gold and silver with some available across all three bands, although Joe Clarke, Sandeep Lamichhane, Obed McCoy and Rilee Rossouw are understood to be gold-only. Likewise, a few who have put themselves as silver who won’t be available in bronze. (More on some potentially value picks below).So who gets first pick?
This was decided by a weighted lottery, based on where teams finished last season, with Melbourne Renegades coming out with the first pick and Hobart Hurricanes No. 8 (so Ricky Ponting could have his work cut out as head of strategy). Teams don’t have to select a platinum player, but they must select a minimum of two and maximum of three names overall on the night – and can only select once from each category. So there will be up to 24 players signed at the draft. Here is the full order:BBL Overseas Draft Order•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

I’ve heard about a retention option, what’s that?
This allows a club to keep a player who was part of their squad last season. It’s been dubbed the “Rashid Khan rule” because Adelaide Strikers are expected to use it to keep hold of Rashid should another club try to get him before Strikes get pick five in the platinum round. In the first group, Rashid aside, Andre Russell (Stars), Chris Jordan (Sixers), Shadab Khan (Sixers) and Sam Billings (Thunder) are eligible for retention. Overall, there are 28 eligible players, including James Vince (Sixers), Alex Hales (Thunder), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Heat), Tom Curran (Sixers), Colin Munro (Scorchers) and Joe Clarke (Stars).Those new leagues in January are a problem, right?
Well, a challenge for sure. The BBL will run from December 13 to February 4, so there is a major overlap with the two new tournaments that are being launched in South Africa and the UAE. Players who have signed for those competitions are likely to be available for the BBL until late December or early January, with exact details still being worked through. Australia’s Test players will fill some of the holes – it’s why David Warner’s deal was so important – but not all of them will disappear.So where could the smart picks be?
Most of the platinum players have restricted availability but would be worth selecting for the impact they could have. However the really interesting part of the draft will be in the lower categories. For example, Mohammad Amir has full availability and, it’s understood, could be snaffled at bronze. The same goes for England legspinner Matt Parkinson. Laurie Evans, who was key to Scorchers’ title last season, is also available at silver/bronze. Other leading players with limited availability but available at silver include England trio Hales, Vince and Curran. Jimmy Neesham, Reece Topley, Ollie Pope and Imran Tahir are among others available at silver but not for the whole tournament. There could be some real value to have in the bronze category.Can teams sign replacements?
Yes, and this could start the day after the draft. Replacement players do not have to be from the same category as the player they are coming in for. Anyone in the draft not picked up on Sunday is eligible as a replacement. This could open up the possibility of players who only have availability towards the end of the tournament getting a gig.

Fleming is now the head coach at all three CSK teams, in the IPL, at the SA20, and at the MLC

ESPNcricinfo staff and PTI22-Mar-2023Stephen Fleming will be the head coach of Dallas-based Major League Cricket (MLC) team Texas Super Kings (TSK), who have a partnership with IPL side Chennai Super Kings.Fleming has been the long-serving head coach at CSK, and has guided the team to four IPL titles. He was also the head coach at Joburg Super Kings, a team owned by the same owners as CSK, for the inaugural season of the SA20 league in South Africa.Super Kings joined Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians to make it four out of six MLC teams to have owners connected with the IPL – the tournament is scheduled to begin on July 13.Related

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The six MLC teams are San Francisco Unicorns, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington DC. Capitals, co-owned by GMR Group, are partnering with Seattle Orcas.All six MLC teams completed the domestic player draft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they selected nine players each from more than 100 eligible to represent the “US cricket community”. The rest of the players are going to be filled later.”Cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world with a global fan base of around 2.5 billion followers, but there has not been an opportunity for the sport to grow in the US,” Anurag Jain, co-owner of TSK, said. “We look forward to having a professional team in Texas for the passionate local cricket community to root for and to introduce the sport to new fans across the country.”

Jalal Yunus, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, non-committal about Tamim’s future as Bangladesh ODI captain

Mohammad Isam11-Jul-2023Tamim Iqbal will be travelling to Dubai and the United Kingdom later this month to have his back injury checked, BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus has confirmed. Tamim, whose retirement-unretirement drama hogged headlines in Bangladesh over the past few days, has been given a six-week break to recover from the injury. His back injury is now thought to be more of a serious concern, as he is seeking medical advice from overseas.”Tamim will be going to Dubai. He will then travel to the UK on July 25 or 26. He has two appointments in London. He will update me from there. We have to name the primary squad of 25-26 players [for the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup] soon, so we need to know his situation. Everyone else will be resting till July 30. Some will go to play abroad. We will restart with a conditioning camp,” Yunus told reporters after the third ODI against Afghanistan in Chattogram on Tuesday.Yunus, however, was non-committal on the captaincy issue – Tamim was the ODI captain before the goings-on over the past few days. “Let him come back first. We will discuss it with him. There’s a matter of his fitness. He said he will talk to us after he returns to the country.”Related

• Tamim reverses decision after meeting Bangladesh PM

• Did BCB chief's comments precipitate Tamim's retirement?

• How Tamim Iqbal's un-retirement saga unfolded

Some of the developments around Tamim were connected to BCB president Nazmul Hassan questioning Tamim’s professionalism in a newspaper interview on July 5, where Hassan had also said that head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe had been dissatisfied with the lack of clarity around Tamim’s injury.Did Hathurusinghe overstep his mark by going to Hassan?”I don’t think so,” Yunus said. “We all have discussions. We talk about a lot of things. In his capacity, he can speak to the president at any point. We discuss things regularly. He informs Shahriar Nafees, the cricket operations manager, and the board president and I are in the loop.”Yunus also said that the BCB is open to discussing Mashrafe Mortaza’s role as a team mentor during the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup, something Tamim reportedly suggested to prime minister Sheikh Hasina during their meeting on Friday. “The board will decide. He [Mashrafe] is a member of parliament. He is a former captain. He is a good leader. If he comes to us officially, we will discuss it,” Yunus said.

All three will be available for the T20Is; Dwaine Pretorius returns after recovering from Covid-19

Firdose Moonda12-Aug-2021Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Lungi Ngidi will miss South Africa’s ODI series in Sri Lanka next month, but are expected to return for the T20Is that follow. Dwaine Pretorius returns to both squads after missing South Africa’s winter tours as he recovered from Covid-19.de Kock has been rested from the 50-over matches, Miller is nursing a hamstring injury, and Ngidi, who also recently withdrew from the Hundred, has been given time off for personal reasons. That means Temba Bavuma leads a slightly weakened ODI side as South Africa seek to make up for dropping points in Ireland in July. They shared the series 1-1 after a washout and a first-ever defeat against the opponents, and lie tenth on the World Cup Super League table with 24 points from six matches. The only new addition to the squad from the Ireland series is seamer Junior Dala, who last played an ODI for South in Sri Lanka, in August 2018.Related

• 'I trust our team's strength' – Dasun Shanaka backs Sri Lanka's spinners to come good against South Africa

• Enoch Nkwe resigns as South Africa's assistant coach

• SA bowling coach Charl Langeveldt and seamer Junior Dala to miss SL tour

• Kusal Perera tests positive for Covid-19, to isolate for at least ten days

• SA to tour SL for ODIs and T20Is in September

While Dala is not part of the T20I group, de Kock, Miller and Ngidi are set to return for those matches, which will be South Africa’s last in the format before the T20 World Cup. Despite beating West Indies 3-2 and Ireland 3-0 in recent matches, South Africa remain unsure about their best XI, with questions over the length of the batting line-up, whether to include a seam- or spin-bowling allrounder, or both, and who to task with their death bowling.The series may be an opportunity for Sisanda Magala, who left South Africa’s trip to the Caribbean and Ireland early with an ankle injury but has a reputation for being effective at the end of innings, to stake a claim for the T20 World Cup. Left-armer Beuran Hendricks, who replaced Magala in the white-ball squad for the Ireland matches, has kept his place in both squads, but Andile Phehlukwayo has dropped out of the T20I squad, suggesting his chances of playing in the T20 World Cup are slim. Instead, Pretorius and Wiaan Mulder will compete for the seam-bowling allrounder’s spot while the squad includes four spinners: Bjorn Fortuin, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde and Tabraiz Shamsi.South Africa have also stuck with their handful of opening batters across both white-ball formats. Bavuma, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks are all in the T20I squad, while Malan drops out for the T20Is and de Kock returns, giving them plenty of options at the top of the order.South Africa play three ODIs and three T20Is in Colombo between September 2 and 14.ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Junior Dala, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Janneman Malan, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad WilliamsT20I squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams

In a letter to the board, he says “past greats of SL have shown 2nd half of the career is where greater performances are made”

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Jul-2021Sri Lanka batter Dinesh Chandimal has asked SLC and its technical committee for clarity about his future in the national team.In a letter addressed to the head of the technical committee Aravinda de Silva, which also has several SLC officials copied, Chandimal asked for “an opportunity to meet with you and the respected committees to discuss my future, in playing cricket for Sri Lanka”. This letter comes in the wake of news that Angelo Mathews is considering retirement, and only months after Thisara Perera announced his own retirement.Essentially, this is more of a fallout from the recent contracts saga. SLC’s technical committee – which comprises de Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Roshan Mahanama – had been instrumental in devising a new contracts scheme, which proved to be unpopular with the senior players in particular. After a long contracts stand-off, though, SLC withdrew the annual contracts they had offered basically as a punishment for rejecting the contracts in the first place, which means that cricketers who mostly play Tests – such as Chandimal or Dimuth Karunaratne – would be left without income from the board for the majority of this year.Related

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• SL players 'not in agreement to sign unfair contracts'

They are also not contractually bound to the board at present, and several of those uncontracted players are understood to be considering opportunities overseas.In his letter, Chandimal outlined his playing statistics across all three formats, and compared his numbers with those of former greats before the age of 30, though he is himself 31. He then made the point that “the past greats of Sri Lanka cricket have shown that 2nd half of the career is where greater performances are made”, before asking “why are those very people not seeing the value at this juncture, in me?””My performance statistics and my health statistics indicate I am more than capable of performing at the highest level at the moment,” the letter said.At present, Chandimal’s place in any of Sri Lanka’s XIs is not assured. Under Mickey Arthur, Sri Lanka have tended not to pick him for limited-overs cricket due to his modest strike rate. His overall Test numbers are better than most of his team-mates’, but even in that format he had been dropped from the XI for Sri Lanka’s most recent series against Bangladesh. Chandimal last made a Test century in mid-2018, and has averaged 22.43 across 25 innings since.Excerpts from Chandimal’s letter:

Hosts consider playing Mosaddek Hossain as third spinner; visitors remain uncertain about availability of Vishwa Fernando

Mohammad Isam22-May-2022As was the case when Sri Lanka last played a Test match in Dhaka, they have a secret weapon up their sleeve this time too.Back in 2018, it was Chandika Hathurusingha, who switched jobs from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka head coach barely months before the tour. This time, it is Naveed Nawaz, the assistant coach of the touring side, who is in his first job in the senior circuit after serving as Bangladesh’s Under-19 coach for four years. In fact, he was one of the architects of Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2020.Chris Silverwood, Sri Lanka’s new head coach, has leant on Nawaz to give him intel on the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch, coincidentally curated by Gamini Silva, the former Sri Lankan umpire who is often maligned in the Bangladesh media for dishing out only raging turners.Related

• Dhananjaya de Silva: SL knew Chattogram Test would end in draw

• Nayeem Hasan to miss Dhaka Test because of finger injury

“I haven’t seen this wicket, but I do have someone who you all know is in my coaching staff, who knows these conditions,” Silverwood said ahead of their training session on the eve of the second Test.”I will speak to my assistant coach so that we fully understand how this wicket will play. We will be using his knowledge from his time in Bangladesh, and the statistics of this ground to make sure the captain has the best possible bowling attack to exploit the conditions.”Sri Lanka hired Nawaz ahead of this tour, having even briefly considered him as head coach; such has his reputation grown from being a development coach since retiring from his playing days.The Dhaka pitch’s characteristics make it a hot topic of discussion ahead of every Test. What has become apparent is that the home side have been beaten by their own strategy of preparing turning pitches in the last 12 months. West Indies in 2021, and Pakistan late last year beat Bangladesh with the help of spin and patient batting, ideas which Sri Lanka will definitely try to apply this week.Silverwood said that the two teams fought a close contest in Chattogram last week – closer than the result showed – but the game will have a faster pace in Dhaka, for which they will have to be prepared to react quickly.”I don’t think this is going to be an easy game at all. Both teams want to win this game,” he said. “I think the last game was a close-fought contest. The momentum swung both ways; rapidly at times. Bangladesh had us on the ropes at times.”We had to fight back hard to make sure that we got back into the game. I think this will be similar. The game will go forward at a quicker pace. We have to be ready for that. I am looking forward to some exciting cricket.”Considered a batting allrounder in red-ball cricket, Mosaddek Hossain may feature in Bangladesh’s XI in Dhaka•Associated Press

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque has a lot on his plate. Apart from his own poor batting form and attempt to revive his captaincy, he has to pick a bowling attack that is ravaged by injuries to Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.And while Mominul has two frontline spinners in Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, Bangladesh have traditionally picked three specialist spinners in Dhaka.Mominul suggested that Mosaddek Hossain, considered a batting allrounder in red-ball cricket, is likely to feature in the XI. However, he also hinted that they might go in with three seamers.”Looking at our spin department, Taijul has been doing well in the last one or two years,” Mominul said. “Shakib bowled well in the last match. If Mosaddek plays, he will have a different role. We have to use him intelligently. But I am confident that with Taijul and Shakib alongside me [as a part-time spinner], we will get over this situation.”I don’t know if I have ever led with one pacer. I don’t think we will just have one seamer. There might be three seamers. Taskin was bowling well, while Shoriful was contributing to the Test team. It is a huge opportunity for those who will replace them. We can have a look at them as well. As a captain, I want a big group of fast bowlers who have healthy competition among them.”Meanwhile, Vishwa Fernando’s availability for Sri Lanka remains uncertain after he missed most of the Chattogram Test due to a blow to the head while batting, giving Sri Lanka a selection headache of their own ahead of the game.Sri Lanka have all the cards close to their chest, but Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando gave a great account of themselves by bowling all-out, hostile spells in the back-end of the Bangladesh innings in Chattogram.”I thought Kasun and Asitha were excellent. I thought the way that they continued, the heart and fight that they showed – in what was a flat wicket – was exceptional,” Silverwood said. “Kasun bowled well. He got movement on a flat deck. He held his line and length beautifully. He got rewarded too. I was really pleased with how the seamers bowled. I thought we got better in all departments as time went on.”There is [the possibility of changing the XI from Chattogram]. Looking at the statistics, we will select a squad that gives us all the options whether that’s picking one seamer or whichever way we decide to go. We will make sure there are plenty of options for the captain in that squad for tomorrow morning.”

The West Indies allrounder sees a lot of promise in his team-mates in the Test arena

Firdose Moonda09-Mar-2023Jason Holder believes the West Indies Test side will improve if they can stick together and get more game time.West Indies are currently playing their sixth Test this season and Holder’s unbeaten 81 has put them in a position to challenge for a second victory. With batting collapses becoming a familiar feature of their scorecards, there is a growing sense that they will continue to lag behind teams in the top half of the World Test Championship (WTC) table, something that Holder thinks can only change with more game time and more backing.”We have been a little bit slow, we’ve been a little bit inconsistent but I think we just need to support people,” Holder said. “You see the talent that we have in the dressing room. We’ve got Test hundreds from No. 1 down to down to No. 8, with the exception of Raymon [Reifer], who has just come in.”We’ve got to have that patience and build a strong core group of players. The more we chop and change in cricket, the worse results we will probably get because we need to give people opportunity. The urge for me and everybody else within the group is just to keep getting the opportunities and taking them with both hands.”Last week, after Holder became the second West Indies player to take 150 Test wickets and score 2500 runs, he lamented the dearth of fixtures for West Indies in the Future Tours Programme, a topic which the MCC has also expressed concerns over. From July-August this year, they will play 26 Test matches until 2027, fewer than South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Australia, India and England, which will not give them as much opportunity to gel a unit as Holder would like.Despite that, he hopes this group of players can continue taking the field and growing together. “I love playing cricket with this group and I think we’ve got the talent in the dressing room to produce [results]. We will have some slow days but we are only day two of this Test match and I have no doubt our players can come in and show their worth and class in the second innings.”Related

• Holder: Every team apart from big three barely playing any Tests

• Mathews says SL not getting enough Tests, especially this year

• Full Members to play more internationals in ICC's 2023-27 FTP

• FTP takeaways: Bangladesh the busiest, and T20 windows aplenty

On a pitch that both teams expect will start to take more turn as the match wears on, Holder believes that batting last “you can easily get 300-plus” but acknowledged “it won’t be easy”. As things stand he admitted South Africa have the advantage but “more often than not, we tend to play well coming from behind”. That much was evident at SuperSport Park, where West Indies dismissed South Africa for 116 in the second innings to set themselves a gettable target of 247.Kagiso Rabada’s six-for played a big role in them not being able to get there but two of the other three South Africa bowlers who were part of that defence are not in this Test. Anrich Nortje was ruled out through injury and Marco Jansen was rested in favour of allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who was tasked with sharing the new ball and put in a solid but not outstanding effort to take 1 for 40. Asked about the advice he could give to Mulder, who is his team-mate at Durban’s Super Giants, Holder reiterated his rhetoric about giving players time to settle into the international arena and a decent run in a team.”Test cricket is a massive step up from first-class cricket. I think any individual needs time. We tend to critique people very quickly, which is fair, but people need an opportunity and people need time and support,” he said. “Once you have the support and good people around you then you will get the results. Sometimes we just get too critical, too fast, of people and we don’t give them enough time to actually show what they’re made of. It’s hard in losing sides and sides that haven’t had success. But more often than not, I think you need to stick behind your players, keep a strong pool of players together and back them.”South Africa’s new red-ball coach Shukri Conrad intends to do exactly that. He has used all 15 squad members in this two-match series and said he hopes to use a lean winter for South Africa to work with a core group of players who will all be part of the next WTC cycle. After this match, South Africa will not play Tests until December but they are aiming to find what Conrad called “content” in terms of A-team cricket in order to put together their strongest squad to host India at the end of the year.While South Africa’s lack of Tests is a cause for concern for their players, they also see the unplanned hiatus as a way to do what Holder suggested and develop players in the same way they have one with someone like Gerald Coetzee. The 22-year-old quick travelled as a reserve bowler to Australia, where he observed the intensity of international training sessions and readied himself to make a debut, as he did last week.He was South Africa’s second-change bowler in a four-strong seam attack there and is now the third-prong in an inexperienced pace pack, and he has enjoyed the challenge. “What you learn is you still want to bowl the best ball possible. If you bowl one that isn’t your best but still get a wicket, it’s always a bonus. It does happen and it can happen at any moment because there is pressure over a long time. Suddenly there’s a release shot, which might go to the boundary but might also lead to a wicket because he hasn’t received a bad ball for a while,” Coetzee said. “However, at this level, the more you ‘miss’, the better you are. If you look at the best bowlers in the world, they can do the same thing over and over. That’s what we all strive for.”

The visitors lost 6 for 37 but a target of 369 would mean breaking records for New Zealand

Tristan Lavalette02-Mar-20242:48

Malcolm: Lyon looms as the big threat for New Zealand

Nathan Lyon outfoxed Kane Williamson and menaced on a sharp turning Basin Reserve surface as Australia remained in the box seat for a first Test victory despite a stirring fightback from New Zealand on day three.Chasing 369, New Zealand reached stumps at 111 for 3 with Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell weathering challenging conditions in an unbroken half-century partnership. They defied Lyon, who was the predictable danger bowler and took 2 for 27 from 16 overs.Related

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Ravindra mixed defence with proactiveness like when he clobbered the offspin of Travis Head for a towering six late in the day’s play. He reached his fifty off 77 balls by whacking a short delivery from Mitchell Starc to the leg-side boundary.Ravindra did endure several anxious moments, including an lbw appeal from Lyon that Australia unsuccessfully reviewed, but made it through to give New Zealand hope of conjuring a remarkable victory. Given the difficult situation, Mitchell curtailed his innate aggressiveness to finish 12 not out from 63 balls.New Zealand will need to rewrite the record books if they are to take the lead in this series, with the highest ever run chase at Basin Reserve being 277 for 3 by Pakistan in 2003.Glenn Phillips went all out with his five-for celebrations•Getty Images

New Zealand’s comeback started when Australia lost 6 for 37 as Glenn Phillips became the first New Zealand spinner to claim five wickets at home since Jeetan Patel in 2008. He finished with 5 for 45 from 16 overs as Australia was bowled out for 164 in their sixth lowest total against New Zealand in Test cricket.But New Zealand’s chase started poorly when opener Tom Latham gifted Lyon a wicket when he nicked off a short and wide delivery on the stroke of tea. Lyon, who entered the attack in the sixth over, had a huge caught behind appeal turned down on Williamson’s first delivery and Australia unsuccessfully reviewed.The riveting battle continued after the interval with Williamson, who made three hundreds in four innings against South Africa, determined to make amends after his horrendous run out for a duck in New Zealand’s first innings.Williamson made a statement by climbing into a couple of rare short deliveries from Lyon, who reverted to around the wicket and was armed with a leg slip. Williamson fell in the trap, unable to get on top of a Lyon delivery that pitched on middle and straightened as he inside edged into the safe hands of Steven Smith at leg slip.After a rare double failure, Williamson was visibly annoyed with himself as his modest career mark against Australia fell to 37.26 compared to 55.25 overall.With spin spitting off the surface, skipper Pat Cummins turned to Head and it proved an inspired decision with his third delivery accounting for opener Will Young, who played needlessly and edged to slip where Smith completed a stunning one-handed catch. It moved Smith past Mark Waugh’s tally of 181 Test catches and into sixth spot on the all-time list.Rachin Ravindra took the fight to Australia•Getty Images

Lyon’s performance had Australia remaining confident despite a collapse in the middle session that loosened their stranglehold.As they seek a rare Test victory over Australia, New Zealand have seemingly been overawed at times in the series-opener. But Phillips has been a standout after he top-scored for New Zealand with a defiant 71 off 70 in their disappointing first innings of 179.He has also stood up with the ball after frontline spinner Mitchell Santner was overlooked for this match. Having had Usman Khawaja stumped in the first session, Phillips provided New Zealand with a much needed spark shortly after lunch with the wickets of Head and in-form Mitchell Marsh on consecutive deliveries.Head, who had made just one run in his last three innings, raced to 29 off 36 balls before holing out to long-off. Marsh was dismissed for a golden duck after being caught at short-leg with Phillips equalling his career best of four wickets in an innings.Phillips soon captured his fifth after Cameron Green, backing up from his masterful unbeaten 174 in the first innings, poked to short-leg to end his 80-ball 34 with Young taking a very sharp catch.Phillips was denied a sixth when Cummins was dropped twice, but Matt Henry claimed the last two wickets – finishing with eight for the match – to complete New Zealand’s fightback.Having never taken a five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, Phillips became the first New Zealand spinner to reach the feat at Basin Reserve since 2006 when Daniel Vettori, who is now part of Australia’s coaching staff, claimed 7 for 130 against Sri Lanka.A New Zealand rally looked unlikely when Lyon, the nightwatcher, dominated the first 30 minutes of play. Having scored the most runs in Test history without a half-century, with a highest score of 47, Lyon fell short after making a breezy 41 off 46 balls in the top score of the innings.Lyon’s milestone bid ended after whipping Henry to a leaping Young at midwicket, but he was back in the thick of the action later in the day’s play.

“There’s a lot of good that can come from it if guys have the right attitude,” says former England captain

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-May-2024Joe Root has backed the use of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship, believing it can help upskill domestic cricketers and bridge the gap to Test cricket.The Australian-made ball was used for the first two rounds of the Championship season, in which there were 17 draws across 18 matches. Though a large part of that was down to rain – Durham vs Hampshire and Derbyshire vs Gloucestershire were abandoned without a ball bowled – players complained the flatter seam was ineffective on damp, soft pitches and that the ball lost its shape quickly, compared to the regular Dukes.Those first two sets of fixtures saw a wicket fall every 73.7 balls, compared to 54.9 balls in the first two rounds of 2023. Among a large volume of runs was more playing time for spinners, with Surrey legspinner Cameron Steel topping the wicket-taker charts. The Kookaburra will return for another two rounds in August and September, when better weather should help produce firmer surfaces and lend itself to a fairer assessment.Related

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The Kookaburra trial, one of the recommendations from Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review to encourage fast bowlers and spinners, began in 2023. While panned in some quarters – Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart regards the experiment as “the worst decision ever” – England men’s managing director Rob Key has suggested the Kookaburra could replace the Dukes as the domestic ball of choice.Root, who recently completed a five-game stint with Yorkshire – his first County Championship appearances since 2022 – has plenty of experience with the Kookaburra overseas, particularly in Australia, and sees the benefit of its use in England, not just for the Test side.”I don’t think it’s all about being able to use the Kookaburra ball when you go to Australia or South Africa,” Root said. “I think it’s about finding ways of taking wickets when nothing’s in your favour – and that’s a great skill.””I guess you could look at it and think: ‘there’s been a load of draws’ but also you could think: ‘well, this is an opportunity to upskill’ as well. ‘How am I going to take wickets with this ball in this format on these kinds of pitches? How can I become better?'”I think there’s a lot of good that can come from it if guys have the right attitude.”Root cited England’s progression in limited-overs cricket since 2015 as something that could be replicated by regular use of the Kookaburra. The evolution under Eoin Morgan, which saw ODI and T20I World Cup success in 2019 and 2022 respectively, trickled down and has resulted in a pool of high-calibre white-ball cricketers, many of whom missed out on selection for next month’s T20 World Cup.”Look at the progression and the development in white-ball cricket in this country over a five-year period. Look at the amount of players that we’ve got that can do special things. Look how quickly that transition has been made through the mindset shift in white-ball cricket in our country. I think the same thing can happen in red-ball cricket.”You’ve got to be open minded enough and understand that you might have to go through a little bit of pain to get there.”If we want to keep upskilling and getting the standard as close to Test cricket as we can, it’s not going to happen overnight. But in five, six, seven years’ time, if we can bridge that gap then that transition for guys coming into Test cricket will be a lot smaller.”

Uncapped Kamran Ghulam has been called up to replace Azhar Ali, who retired after Pakistan’s last Test

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2022Pakistan have recalled fast bowler Hasan Ali and picked uncapped middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand at home. Shaheen Shah Afridi continues to miss out as he recovers from a knee injury he picked up in the 2022 T20 World Cup final.Naseem Shah, who missed the last two Tests against England with a shoulder injury, has also returned to the squad after being declared fit. But Haris Rauf, who had also picked up an injury on debut in the first Test against England and did not play in the next two matches, is still recovering, and has been left out.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ghulam, 27, had also been picked for the Bangladesh Test series a year ago but didn’t get a game then. He has played 44 first-class matches and averages 47.36, having struck 10 centuries and 18 half-centuries for his 3268 runs. He replaces Azhar Ali in the squad after the senior batter’s retirement. Ghulam had scored a record 1249 runs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2020-21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the victorious side in the same tournament last season. He is in fine form these days as well, having scored 92, 0, 123* and 98* in the one-day format in the Pakistan Cup this month. In the QeA Trophy before that, he scored 597 runs from 14 innings to average 42.64.Hasan returns to the squad after being dropped for the series against England, which the visitors swept 3-0. His last Test was against Sri Lanka in Galle in July.Fast bowler Mohammad Ali and bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf, who were in the squad for the England Tests, have both been excluded for the upcoming series and advised to participate in the ongoing Pakistan Cup, the PCB said in its statement.The series will start on December 26 in Karachi and then move to Multan for the second game starting January 3. That will be followed by three day-night ODIs back in Karachi from January 10 to 14.Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood