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Wasim Jaffer was proud of having made the semi-final with a team missing so many first-choice players but also felt the toss had an important role to play

Abhishek Purohit at the Holkar Cricket Stadium05-Jan-2012They arrived to play a knockout match without two star batsmen, a key
allrounder and two premier fast bowlers but in the end, Mumbai found
someone to do the job, as they have throughout the season. Not only were
Mumbai missing Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar, their
remaining two important batsmen, Wasim Jaffer and Suryakumar Yadav, also
failed in the quarter-final. They were 60 for 5 in pursuit of 192 on a
pitch that was still doing something on the second morning.But they found a savior in Kaustubh Pawar, who blunted the MP fast bowlers
for eight hours in his debut first-class season. His 160 off 328
deliveries, and later, Ankeet Chavan’s century, were instrumental in
building a big lead for Mumbai. Jaffer was proud of having made the
semi-final with a team missing so many first-choice players but also felt
that the toss had an important role to play. Mumbai were able to make
first use of a fresh wicket to dismiss MP cheaply after which the pitch
eased out for the remainder of the game.Jaffer rated Pawar’s effort as one of the best he had seen in a knockout
match. “Pawar’s innings was tremendous, especially for someone playing in
his debut season. We were in trouble at the end of the first day having
lost five wickets for 60,” Jaffer said. “But to take a massive lead of 242
from that position is a big achievement. If you look at the side we have,
it is creditable that we have come so far [in the tournament].”Mukesh Sahni, the MP coach, said his batsmen had a lot to learn from Pawar’s
unwavering patience and his ability to put away the risky strokes.Jaffer also praised Chavan, saying that he had performed whenever he had
been given the opportunity. Chavan made his maiden first-class hundred
from No. 9, showing the depth in the Mumbai batting line-up. Sulakshan
Kulkarni, the Mumbai coach, said Chavan played like a specialist batsman.
“I do not treat him as a tail-ender. If you see, he was
playing so straight and was comfortable against both pace and spin.”
Chavan’s act has relegated a steady performer like Iqbal Abdulla to the
sidelines for now but Kulkarni said that competition was always healthy
for a side.Whether they are full-strength or not, Mumbai are always expected to win
the Ranji Trophy. Jaffer said that would always be the case and Mumbai
would have to try hard with whatever players were available. “We cannot
sit back and lament that we are missing so many players. The expectations
will always be there. It is up to us to try our best with the squad we
have.”The way his fringe players have been delivering, Jaffer will not be
overly worried ahead of the semi-final against heavyweights Tamil Nadu.

Playing ODIs in South Africa is a unique challenge. The pitches offer good bounce and aid stroke-play, while the outfields are rarely large or slow, but there is enough seam movement

Sidharth Monga in Durban11-Jan-2011Durban two weeks ago was a big moment for India. They came here battered from Centurion, and in conditions that VVS Laxman described as “some of the most challenging I have encountered in my career”, managed to win only their second Test in South Africa. And it came during series everyone was talking about, the series everyone seemed to be living for. Fittingly, for once, back home in India, it was the Tests that were the end of the world. Now that the ODIs are upon us, on the eve of the first match, it comes almost as a realisation that India have managed to beat South Africa in South Africa in this format only on one more occasion than they have in Tests. And they have made more attempts, 20 one-dayers as opposed to 15 in Tests.Difficult as it may sound, it is time to put that incredible Test series behind, and start focussing on setting this record right too. South Africa, in comparison, have done much better in India, winning nine and losing 13 to the hosts. If other opposition were to be included, they have won more than they have lost in India, which can’t be said of India in South Africa, despite wins against Namibia, Netherlands and Kenya that boost the number a bit.”We did lose all the games [the last time India played a bilateral one-day series in South Africa],” MS Dhoni said. “There’s only one way to go – you can only go up from there. But as I say it’s not about the past. The Test series was very different from 2006, and as we always say, we have a completely different side. We have quite a few youngsters who are into the grooming phase, which means at the end of the day, it’s a win-win situation for Indian cricket.”Playing ODIs in South Africa is a unique challenge in a way. The pitches offer good bounce and aid stroke-play, while the outfields are rarely large or slow, but there is enough seam movement on most occasions to keep the fast bowlers in the game. From afternoon to night, the weather can easily go from summer to winter at most of the venues.”You have to start respecting the bowlers right from the very start,” Dhoni said of the one-day conditions in South Africa. “The white Kookaburra ball does a bit initially, which means if you see the new ball off, the older ball comes on to the bat nicely, which means you can play your strokes. Most of the grounds are not very big.”It’s good to bat during the day time. It does slightly less compared to the evening session. Under lights the ball does a bit more compared to the afternoon session. The toss becomes a bit crucial. But even after winning the toss you have to do the basics right.”India aren’t ideally placed in terms of their squad strength, with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir out as precautionary measure for the World Cup that will follow this five-match series, and Praveen Kumar returning home after injuring his elbow on the eve of the first match. This has been the case with the India team for a while: they haven’t been able to play a full-strength side since the five-match series in New Zealand in early 2009.”It would have been good to feature the main XI,” Dhoni said. “Since last February, we haven’t played the full XI that maybe featured in the first game of the World Cup. But we are risking injury. We have to save quite a few players. We have a fair amount of niggles. We don’t want to miss any of the key players just before the start of the World Cup. Most of them have missed the whole season. I don’t mind them missing one more series as long as they are available right through the World Cup.”We live in an age where every bilateral limited-overs series is becoming more meaningless than the previous one. This one is not too different, in that it draws its entire context from being a preparatory event for the World Cup. Stuck as it is between an awesome Test series and the World Cup, this series will need the best of India, to survive in isolation.

England’s list of wicketkeeping candidates will increase mid-way through February when Craig Kieswetter completes his four-year qualification period

Cricinfo staff07-Feb-2010England’s list of wicketkeeping candidates will increase mid-way through February when Craig Kieswetter, the South Africa-born gloveman who plays for Somerset, completes his four-year qualification period. Kieswetter is expected to earn international honours in the near future, as much on the strength of his batting as his keeping, despite concerns over the number of South Africans in the team.Kieswetter has flown out to UAE this weekend as part of the England Lions squad and becomes eligible for full honours on February 17 – the day he is likely to play against England in Dubai – and it isn’t out of the question that he will be considered for the ICC World Twenty20 in West Indies at the end of April.He has made his name on the county scene with a string of destructive one-day batting performances alongside Marcus Trescothick at the top of Somerset’s order and some observers believe he could make it as a specialist batsman. Early on England’s tour of South Africa Graeme Smith said he’d like Kieswetter to return home, but the keeper quickly reiterated his desire to play for England and now hopes talk about his roots will disappear”My four years are now up so this is a massive thing for me and I feel as English as anybody else does and I am just happy that is now out of the way, and hopefully people can now concentrate on talking about my cricket rather than my background,” Kieswetter told the Somerset website. “It has been pretty much a roller coaster for me to have reached this level because I am only 22 years old now.”I am really excited about where I am with my game at the moment and comfortable with a lot of the technical side of things as well as trying to balance technique with flair. Pulling on an England shirt and testing myself against international players will be another challenge for me and it will enable to see where I am at the moment.”Kieswetter was part of the England Performance Programme which spent time in Pretoria before Christmas and worked with Bruce French, England’s wicketkeeping coach, who has played a key role in Matt Prior’s improvement.However, towards the end of the South Africa tour Geoff Miller, the national selectors, made it clear that there would need to be a rethink over the use of players born overseas. Kieswetter played for South Africa at the 2005-06 Under-19 World Cup before committing his future to England through county cricket.”We have got to get to the stage where we are very careful on that [the number of South Africans in the England team], and we will be,” Miller said. “I wouldn’t say he’s the last but we will monitor it. But Craig has passed all the criteria required to be an English cricketer. He has proved his worth, that’s why he’s there.”He has developed his game, he’s a strong character so he fits all the bills from an England point of view. South Africa talked to him and he said ‘I’m English, I want to play for England’.”

Isaac Mohammed, the 17-year-old nephew of Moeen Ali, scores maiden half-century

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Aug-2025Isaac Mohammed evoked the spirit of his uncle, the England allrounder Moeen Ali, with a maiden half-century to get Worcestershire’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign off the ground with victory at Chelmsford.The 17-year-old opener, who only made his first-team debut in the Vitality Blast less than two months ago, played enterprisingly in laying the foundations for Worcestershire’s 60-run win against Essex with 28 balls to spare.Worcestershire’s 340 for 9 was built around four big-hitting half-centuries from top-order batters, who shared 11 of 12 sixes in the innings with Mohammed landing four of them. His 63 from 75 balls was the appetiser before Kashif Ali (80 from 73) and Jake Libby (70 from 63) put on 110 in 17 overs. That preceded Ethan Brookes exploding on to the scene to take the game away from the still winless hosts.Brookes was at the crease for 27 minutes while hammering four sixes and six fours in a 25-ball 56. His stand of 80 with Libby encompassed just six overs.In response, Essex opener Robin Das took his tally to 147 runs in three innings with back-to-back fifties. But while others got in, they just as quickly got out and the target was never seriously threatened. Brookes made sure of that with 3 for 52.It was not all rosy for Worcestershire, though. Rob Jones had declared himself unfit to play earlier in the morning but was named in the XI at the toss in what was later described as an ‘administrative error’. He came out at the fall of the ninth wicket, faced two balls, scored five not out and was not seen again.The visitors recovered from an underwhelming 33 without loss in the 10-over powerplay, to add 117 in 15 overs between the halfway mark and the 40th over before six wickets went down in the last half-dozen overs as they chased late runs.Worcestershire’s openers put on 60 before Nick Browne snaffled a leading-edge skier in the covers to dismiss Brett D’Oliveira.Mohammed, meanwhile, had looked in trouble early on as Shane Snater benefited from the extra grass left on the wicket to gain lift and carry that had the youngster groping outside off-stump. It did not last long as the left-hander took control and reached his maiden half-century in 67 balls. His four sixes were equally distributed between long-off and square leg.He departed when he misjudged a ball of fuller length from Tom Westley that beat his tentative forward prod and rapped him on the pad.Kashif and Libby’s second successive century stand was less thrilling than Mohammed’s innings, but with lots of nudging and nurdling they kept the scoreboard ticking along.Kashif reached his fifty by punching Luc Benkenstein through the covers. However, he had earlier been hit on his right hip, and when he reached 58, called for the aid of a runner. Re-enter Mohammed. Despite his mobility being severely restricted, Kashif still managed to launch his next ball over midwicket for six. His evident discomfort was ended, though, when he lofted Benkenstein to long leg.Brookes was a whirlwind of hyper-activity with four sixes in his 23-minute fifty, reached with a delicate leg glance for his fifth four. He departed at 297 for 4 when caught at short third. The late wickets were largely self-inflicted.Ben Allison ended his former team-mates’ opening stand of 71 when Matt Critchley stepped aside to give himself room and was bowled. Das reached fifty from 49 balls but next ball was caught just inside the midwicket boundary.Charlie Allison dug in for a 46-run stand with Westley before he was bowled off his pads by Fateh Singh and Benkenstein’s belligerent 23 from 17 balls was ended when he drove D’Oliveira to extra cover.Westley also fell stepping away from his wicket against Singh for 43; Simon Fernandes chipped to short midwicket and Noah Thain was caught-and-bowled by Brookes as Essex’s reply spluttered and died.

Controversy flares between the two sides yet again as Sri Lanka celebrate series win with players pointing to their watches

Mohammad Isam09-Mar-2024Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has asked Sri Lanka to move on from the timed-out incident at the 2023 World Cup. Shanto’s comments came after Sri Lanka’s win in the third T20I in Sylhet, where the visitors had sealed the series 2-1 and, while celebrating with the trophy, made a collective gesture – players pointing to their watches – that originates from that incident. Later, Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz played things down, saying players from both sides are “very friendly outside the boundary line”.Angelo Mathews, who became the first player ever timed out in international cricket during the World Cup after an appeal from Shakib Al Hasan, was the first to use the pointing-at-watch gesture in question. Mathews did it later in that same World Cup game, when he dismissed Shakib. After the game, Mathews had roundly criticised Shakib for his decision to appeal.Shoriful Islam brought back the gesture in the first T20I of this series, on March 3, after he took Sri Lanka’s first wicket.Related

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Today, the Sri Lanka fielders took aim at Towhid Hridoy after his dismissal; he was bowled by a peach from Nuwan Thushara to leave Bangladesh 15 for 3 and, as he walked off, someone in the Sri Lanka huddle said something to him leading to an angry exchange. Hridoy had to be dragged away by umpire Tanvir Islam, the type of scene not wholly uncommon at a Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka game in recent times as a feisty rivalry has developed.Asked if he would like to tone down the rivalry from his end, Shanto said: “It is not about aggressive handling or anything like that. They showed the timed-out gesture, right? They haven’t moved on from the timed-out incident.”I think they should get out of it. They should stay in the present. We were within the rules [with the timed out dismissal]. They are in a frenzy about it. I am not too worried about it.”Shoriful Islam had revived the time-out celebration second ball of this series, while celebrating Avishka Fernando’s wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Kusal Mendis, who made a career-high 86 in the match, also had to field questions on the topic. Speaking about his side’s celebrations, Kusal said: “Someone was doing the timed-out celebrations. I don’t know why. We can celebrate our own things. I think we celebrated because we are happy.”When there were more questions on the same lines, Nawaz took over. “I think we have moved on from that [timed-out incident]. I think it was a celebration which was misunderstood at that time. It was during the heat of the game. Both teams should forget about it.”Nawaz said that the two teams get along fine off the field. “I think both teams play really hard. The atmosphere is really nice. They all give their 100%. Sometimes emotions come into the middle. The players are all very friendly outside the boundary line. They fight really hard once they are inside the ground.”I think that’s what the game is all about. As long as you maintain discipline in the middle and play really hard, and then cross the boundary line and be good to each other, that’s what both teams are expected to do.”Asked whether Sri Lanka felt vindicated winning the series following the controversial overturning of Soumya Sarkar’s dismissal in the previous game which Bangladesh won, Mendis said that wasn’t the case. “I think the umpire made a mistake. Everyone can make a mistake. Our team isn’t thinking about it too much. It is part of the game.”

His 6 for 49 hands Essex a 47-run win as Jack White’s six-for goes in vain

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2022Simon Harmer claimed six wickets for 49 to spin Essex to a 47-run victory over Northamptonshire at Wantage Road and finish as leading wicket-taker in this year’s LV= County Championship Division One.Harmer extracted prodigious turn to run through Northamptonshire’s middle and lower order after Sam Cook set up the win with three wickets in two overs to shatter Northamptonshire’s hopes of chasing 211.A breezy 30 from Ricardo Vascconcelos boosted the hopes of the home fans before six wickets fell for 29 runs. Despite a belligerent 39 from Gareth Berg, Northamptonshire’s highest individual score in the match, the hosts were bowled out for 163, meaning they finish in sixth place in the Championship – their highest in 27 years.Harmer finished with 58 wickets for the season, one ahead of Kyle Abbott of Hampshire while Cook passed 50 for the season at an average of just 16.1.The result meant Jack White’s career-best bowling figures were in vain. White took 6 for 38 to skittle Essex for 110 as the visitors lost their last five wickets for 47 runs in the morning session and set up a tantalising run chase.Essex had resumed on 63 for 5 in the morning, in perfect overcast bowling conditions with White taking full advantage and obtaining plenty of movement outside off-stump.He struck early when Michael Pepper edged a low catch to Emilio Gay at second slip and Gay was in action again when Harmer (16), who had played a few lusty blows, played a wild slash and edged White into the cordon.White claimed his second career five-fer when he trapped Shane Snater lbw and then recorded his best figures when the ball flew once more to Gay who took a tumbling catch to dismiss Matt Critchley (20). White’s figures eclipsed his previous best of 5 for 14 achieved against Lancashire in July. Tom Taylor then wrapped things up when he nipped in to claim the wicket of Cook.In the run chase, Snater and Cook bowled a probing spell with the new ball before lunch, making an early breakthrough when Gay prodded at one outside off-stump from Snater and edged behind.Vasconcelos got off the mark with a streaky four down to third but found the boundary off consecutive balls from Snater in the over before lunch including a glorious drive through the covers.Northamptonshire began the afternoon session with a flurry of boundaries with Vasconcelos crunching the ball through extra cover and finding the ropes three times in one expensive over from Cook.Will Young was soon into his work and greeted Harmer by hitting him over his head for another boundary. Harmer had his revenge later in the over though when he got one to turn sharply out of the rough. Young shaped to pad it up only for the ball to spin past his legs and smash into leg stump.That wicket sparked a Steelbacks collapse. Vasconcelos attempted to pull Cook but the ball did not bounce as much as he expected and hit the top of his off-stump. Rob Keogh left Cook’s next delivery which nipped back and trapped him lbw. Northamptonshire had lost three wickets in four balls.Wickets continued to fall with Cook striking again in his next over when Luke Procter edged behind to leave Northamptonshire’s hopes in tatters.James Sales was the next to go, adjudged lbw to Harmer to a ball which looked like it would have gone over the stumps. Saif Zaib struck three boundaries before he was next to go, leaving a ball from Harmer which spun back and hit the stumps with the Steelbacks reeling on 93 for 7.Berg took the offensive approach, clubbing Harmer through the covers for two boundaries and hitting a six all off one over and he continued to take the attack to the spinner as he was joined in a partnership of 49 with Taylor who also looked to be positive during his 26. Taylor eventually departed after coming down the wicket to Harmer and giving Nick Browne an easy catch at short-leg.Berg then fell in similar fashion with Browne taking an excellent diving catch before White was the last batter to go, trapped lbw by Harmer.

The 19-year-old Trinidad & Tobago quick could make his Test debut despite having played just one first-class match

Sruthi Ravindranath09-Jun-2021Jayden Seales has played just one first-class match, but the 19-year-old quick has impressed the West Indies selectors enough to be drafted into the 13-man shortlist for the first Test against South Africa. It’s already “a dream come true” for Seales, and he is hoping for more.”Firstly, it’s a dream come true being in the set-up. Being in the final 13 obviously was a goal of mine,” he said in a press interaction. “Just a matter of me now hoping that I get to play the first Test match and do my best for the team.”The Trinidad & Tobago bowler made his first-class debut last December, turning out for West Indies A in New Zealand, where he picked up one wicket.Related

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More recently, he took 4 for 40 playing for Team Hamilton in a four-day intra-squad game against Team Blackwood. He had also picked three wickets in the first innings during an intra-squad tour match ahead of the series against Sri Lanka in March.In all, he has played only ten games at the senior level across formats.”I didn’t play much first-class cricket but I think being in the set-up and training with the team from New Zealand to now I think I’ve put in a lot of hard work and my body is ready,” he said. “Now I’ve to go out there and perform for the team.”As far as chief selector Roger Harper is concerned, the lack of experience at the senior level should not be a hindrance for Seales.”I saw a young bowler perform in games where Test players and the best of our best of our regional first-class players were playing and he performed exceedingly well,” Harper said. “Better than a number of players who have been playing first-class cricket for a number of years. The thing is the match wasn’t classified as first-class match but those were played by the best of our first-class players.”I would like to think that if he can perform well in those games against those players, he has the potential to transfer that onto the Test scene.”Seales had attracted attention at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa last year, taking ten wickets in six matches with an average of 18.30 and an economy rate of 3.89. That helped him secure a CPL deal with the Trinbago Knight Riders for the 2020 season, and he picked up eight wickets in six matches then. He has been retained by the franchise for the new season, and while he isn’t looking for idols he is learning from watching his team-mates closely.”Honestly, I never really try to adapt from any other bowlers,” he said. “It just came naturally. I’ve been told I have an action similar to [Kagiso] Rabada. In terms of internationals, I look at old West Indian bowlers and now in the set-up I look at Jason [Holder], Roachy [Kemar Roach] and Shannon [Gabriel] closely. I try to hear as much from them, learn as much from them and take it under my game.”With Gabriel missing out on selection because of an injury, Seales is happy to take his cues from Roach. “There has been no conversation whether I would take the new ball,” he said. “For me, if selected, if given a new ball, follow Roachy. If Roachy is bowling good areas it’s just my job to do the same and try and get the early wicket for the team.”

Allrounder says he “wants to be part” of next winter’s Test tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2020Moeen Ali has restated his desire to return to Test cricket in the future, saying he has “huge ambitions” to prove himself in the format. Moeen did not make himself available for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka but said he was keen to be involved in next winter’s five-match World Test Championship trip to India.Moeen’s last Test appearance was in August, for the opening encounter of the 2019 Ashes. He subsequently took time away from the game to deal with burnout, making his England return in the third ODI against South Africa last week.He was named Player of the Match in Durban on Friday as England levelled the T20I series, and spoke afterwards about his plans for a Test return.ALSO READ: Tom Curran holds nerve as England level series“I do want to be part of that [tour to India] for sure,” Moeen told the BBC. “I still have huge ambitions for Test cricket. It is still the best form of the game and the hardest. I want prove to myself and to other people that I am not a bad Test player.”England play two Tests in Sri Lanka in March, before taking on West Indies and Pakistan during their home summer.Moeen, who lost his central contract in October but could have been obliged by the ECB to make himself available for Sri Lanka as part of his white-ball deal, will next head to the Pakistan Super League, where he has been signed by Multan Sultans.”I am going to give myself a bit more time,” he said of his break from Test cricket. “I want to make sure when I come back I am ready and fresh.”I want to keep enjoying my cricket and get that hunger back because I feel I lost that completely. I had no interest in my batting and bowling and when you are in that situation there is no point playing.”I definitely feel like I am getting there and not far [away]. I want to give myself extra time and know when I come back I will have to fight for my place.”Moeen played once during the ODI series against South Africa, taking 1 for 41 and then hitting the winning runs in Johannesburg. He showed signs of getting back to his free-scoring best in the second T20I, cracking a whirlwind 39 off 11 balls to fire England to a score they narrowly managed to defend in a dramatic final-over finish.”It was amazing to contribute and finally feel like I am back for England,” he said. “I will not take it for granted.”

Mark Robinson, England women’s coach, admitted too many of their batsmen had struggled for rhythm after rain affected the start of the tournament

Alan Gardner25-Nov-2018Mark Robinson, England women’s coach, admitted the team felt they had been “playing catch-up” throughout the Women’s World T20, due to rain affecting the early part of their tournament, as a rusty batting line-up failed to fire in the final against Australia. Despite an eight-wicket defeat ending their hopes of adding the 20-over title to the 50-over World Cup they lifted last year, Robinson was pleased with the squad’s overall development.England first warm-up game – also against Australia in Antigua – was abandoned, as was their opening Group-A fixture, against Sri Lanka in St Lucia. Two victories followed, chasing targets of 78 against Bangladesh and 86 South Africa, but the only time the whole of the top order got to bat came in the defeat to West Indies, when No. 7 Sophia Dunkley, in her third match, top-scored.Although Amy Jones and Nat Sciver found some form with unbeaten fifties in the semi-final win over India, England came unstuck on a slow pitch at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium, dismissed by Australia for 105 in 19.4 overs. Tammy Beaumont, Player of the Tournament during last year’s World Cup, managed just 54 runs at 10.80 in the Caribbean, while Lauren Winfield, England’s No. 6, only batted twice, making six runs.”There were a lot of girls who hadn’t quite got into rhythm,” Robinson told Sky Sports. “We felt we’d got Nats away the other night, and Amy… We felt all this tournament we’ve been playing catch-up, we started okay and then we hit the rains in the last warm-up game and then St Lucia.”But that’s sport, that happens – there was a Champions Trophy [in 2017] when the Aussie men only played one game and went home. It’s just sometimes you’ve got to cope, and overall we’ve coped really, really well but it cost us today. There were just too many mistakes, from the umpires, from us, from the fielders, and it was quite a strange first half, but you’re not going to win defending 105.”There’s some really disappointed, upset girls [in the dressing room]. We’d have liked to perform a bit better especially in that first half of the game. Look, 105 you’re not going to win a game like that, especially when you’re going to have to bowl with a wet ball on a wicket that’s actually quite good. It did grip a bit but with all the dew it skidded on.”We were just 30 runs too light, it was a shame because the Aussies were jittery, they made quite a lot of mistakes in the field but we just couldn’t capitalise and were a bit careless. But it’s not for lack of effort, lack of preparation, sometimes those things happen on the day.”One clear positive for England through the tournament was the performances of the new players to the set-up. Kirstie Gordon, one of three to debut during the group stage, finished as England’s leading wicket-taker, while Dunkley and Linsey Smith also made encouraging starts to their international careers, having been called upon the strength of performances in the Kia Super League.Robinson, who has given T20I caps to six players in 2018 – more than in the previous four years combined – said that increasing competition within the women’s set-up was key to making further improvements.Sophie Ecclestone is mobbed by her team-mates•ICC/Getty

“I think we’ve done it since we’ve come in, under Heather, we don’t want things to stand still,” he said. “We’ve got to get competition for places and we’ve got to keep moving forward. We thought we caught Australia cold in 2017 but they’ve moved their game on now, so we’ve got to keep doing that – even if you can’t do it in the short term, you’ve got to be looking for the long term.”People like Sophia Dunkley are going to have long futures, she’s not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination, she’s an academy player but she’s come in here and didn’t impact today, but that innings against West Indies showed she has a chance.”All the bowlers have done well, we hope that was a breakthrough for Amy Jones in T20 cricket, Kirstie Gordon’s done really well on some helpful wickets. Sophie Ecclestone was outstanding tonight. Our bowling’s made a move but we haven’t had enough batters into form when we need it.”As for the success of the tournament as a whole, Robinson suggested improving the surfaces for women’s cricket should be a priority – although he praised the groundsmen in St Lucia and Antigua for their efforts to produce good pitches in spite of heavy recent rainfall on the islands – and called for greater efforts to develop the playing pool in countries other than England and Australia, who have now contested three of the last four Women’s World T20 finals.”Probably some of the cricket hasn’t been what you want due to the surfaces, but the people of the West Indies have got behind it, been absolutely fantastic,” Robinson said. “You’ve probably helped grow women’s cricket in the West Indies, due to how it’s caught the imagination and the home team doing quite well. Surfaces weren’t what we want but it wasn’t through lack of effort, the groundsmen did their best but sometimes through rain or circumstance you can’t do it. This game’s on the way up but it does need the best surfaces to play on.”It’s going in the right direction. You always want more, you always want to be impatient. It needs the respect, from everybody, from the groundsmen. It’s getting there, the amount of publicity, worldwide we need all the counties to support the girls. We need lots of good domestic leagues, infrastructure, we need the whole stage to be growing not just England-Australia.”

The latest developments in the Ben Stokes case don’t necessarily mean he will take part in the Ashes

David Hopps28-Oct-2017I see witnesses have come forward to defend Ben Stokes. That’s great. So he can play in the Ashes then?Well hold on a minute. Somerset and Avon Police are still investigating the incident and the ECB has suspended him indefinitely as it awaits developments.The guy’s a hero. If Stokes had saved me from a beating, I’d have been down the nick in no time. What took these guys so long?Cricket’s not their thing apparently and they had no idea who he was until a policeman knocked on the door. But according to the they regard Stokes as “a real gentleman”.That’s good. So now Stokes has an alibi, why not just get the first taxi to Heathrow?It’s not an alibi. The footage still shows someone who looks very much like him throwing punches. As far as that goes, nothing has changed.It was self-defence, we all know that.An argument of self-defence would certainly help his case. But a court might still be asked to decide whether the level of force used was reasonable based on the circumstances as Stokes genuinely believed them.So if he is going to be charged, get on with it and find him not guilty. The first Test in Brisbane is less than a month away…“Slow but sure moves the might of the Gods,” as Euripides had it.Eh?The wheels of justice turn slowly.How slowly?Government figures suggest it takes an average of 24 weeks between the offence and the case being concludedBut that’s the end of the Ashes. And some.The middle of March. And the same figures indicate Bristol Crown Court can take twice as longSurely sometimes famous people deserve special treatment? This affects the enjoyment of millions of people.All right, you’ve convinced me. Get him on the plane.