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It’s a been a fair few years now since Australia’s formidable Test record at Lord’s has been factored into the Ashes build-up – consecutive thumpings in 2009 and 2013 rather punctured their proud boast of not having lost at the ground since 1934. But on their last visit here in 2015, they atoned for those setbacks with a brutal 405-run victory – with a certain Steven Smith leading the line with 215 from 346 balls.And now they are back at their favourite home from home, with Smith exuding an invincibility on English soil not seen since Graeme Smith’s extraordinary awakening in the summer of 2003, and England – for all the hype and expectation surrounding Jofra Archer – looking as vulnerable in a home Ashes campaign as they have been in a generation.It’s not simply that England are 1-0 down in the series – that’s nothing new for this set of players, as Root was happy to point out on the eve of the contest. They’ve been behind on home soil three times in the last six years, and recovered on each occasion, to beat India in 2014, and draw with Pakistan twice in 2016 and 2018.But this time, the concern is the gulf between hope and expectation that appears to be opening up between the two teams, for all that Root was setting out to be bullish on the eve of the contest.”We’re in English conditions, we really back ourselves to come back strong after last week,” Root said, after it had been pointed out that England have now lost six of their last seven Tests against Australia dating back to 2015, with only a bore-draw in Melbourne for respite. “I’m expecting a big response from the boys. We’ve proven that we do that, time and time again, when we’ve been defeated, especially at home. Last week will have hurt everyone and everyone will be absolutely desperate to go and win this week. And I expect nothing less.”That’s a lot of expectation to shoehorn into one answer. But does Root really expect England to perform better than they did in the crunch moments at Edgbaston, or he is merely hoping that they will? Does he expect their misfiring middle-order to find renewed resolve with the series in the balance, or is he simply hoping that that is the case?Or, to flip the sentiment on its head: Do England really expect Archer – and to a lesser extent, Jack Leach – to add a sting to their attack that Smith in particular so expertly drew in the first Test? Of course they don’t … though they fervently hope that they might. “He’s got a good bouncer and bowls at a good pace consistently, so I’m sure he’ll cause problems on most surfaces,” said Root of Archer. “Hopefully, he can exploit this one.”ALSO READ: ‘More ready than I’ve ever been’ – Archer primed for Test debutInstead, it is Australia who really expects … and that has tended to be a deadly mindset when these two sides have clashed in the past. Whereas England tend to be a danger to themselves whenever they try to be frontrunners in a series, getting on top and staying on top is far more in tune with the Australian psyche, especially one that has been rebooted by a brains trust including both Justin Langer and Steve Waugh.In fact, Australia’s plans are falling so serenely into place that, in resting James Pattinson while tantalising both Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with the carrot of a Lord’s comeback, the management have been able to cast one eye towards next week’s third Test at Headingley, even while ensuring their chosen 12 keep their thoughts firmly fixed in the present.”It’s always nice from a captaincy and a leadership point of view when you’ve got two senior players who are world-class left out and they cop it on the chin, run drinks, and train their backsides off in the lunch hours and tea breaks,” said Australia’s captain, Tim Paine. “It sets a really good example for the rest of our team.”ALSO READ: Pattinson rested, Hazlewood likely to play Lord’s TestIt’s certainly not a policy that guarantees success, but as a mitigation against failure, it seems light-years removed from England’s current suck-it-and-see approach – one which, in the penultimate month of this most exhausting of summers, seems now to be relying more on a Pakistani-style quest for Haal than any actual long-term planning.Jofra Archer is expected to play an impact role based on short spells•Getty Images

And who’s to say, just like Pakistan on any given day – or like Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad on the final day of the Ireland Test last month – a combination of rich talent and faint desperation won’t propel this set of players to extraordinary and series-turning heights. There’s certainly little doubt that, pound for pound and irrespective of fatigue and motivation, a team containing world-class individuals such as Root, Archer, Ben Stokes and Jason Roy ought to be a match for any opponent.But, just as Australia couldn’t be any more at home at Lord’s – moseying around the pavilion as if to the manor born, and with their kids performing cartwheels on the square as they saunter back from the nets – so it is England who most resemble a put-upon touring team.One Test down out of five, and among their fast-bowling stocks, already Mark Wood, Olly Stone and James Anderson are sidelined, with only the latter a realistic chance of being fit before the end of the series. And while Joe Root’s promotion to No. 3 has applied a band-aid to their longstanding top-order flimsiness, the recent absence of Championship cricket makes the sourcing of battle-ready replacements as problematic as it would have been had the series been taking place Down Under.”A big responsibility comes on the players, making sure that they look after themselves and keep themselves as fit as possible,” said Root. “Throughout the rest of this campaign, there are certain things which you can’t control and sometimes you get thrown a bad hand and you have to deal with it. And we’ve certainly responded well to that in the past when that’s happened. And we’ve got to make sure that we do exactly the same this time. We’ve got some very talented players and bowlers that are fully capable of taking 20 wickets this week.”And yet, to riff on a recurring theme of the past month, England have already scaled their Everest for this summer, and in such glorious fashion too, on this very ground. Australia, by contrast, over-achieved in reaching the World Cup semi-finals, but only now are they really beginning to hit their stride. They’ve not won the Ashes in England for 18 years and counting, but much like England in the white-ball campaign just gone, they know they’ll rarely get a better chance to drive home their advantage.

Marcus Stoinis will be fit to play in Australia’s semi-final against England and Peter Handscomb will be in the XI as a replacement for Usman Khawaja, according to Justin Langer.Stoinis appeared to have recovered from a side strain he sustained in Australia’s loss to South Africa and batted and bowled during Tuesday’s training session at Edgbaston.”He looks good,” said Langer after training. “It was a very good nets session actually, there was a bit of heat in there again and it was very competitive and that always brings the best out in ‘Stoins’, so he did a good job today and he’s fit to go.”Handscomb initially joined the squad as a replacement for Shaun Marsh, who was earlier ruled out of the tournament with a broken forearm. Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh were also called in as cover for Khawaja and Stoinis, but Langer indicated that only Handscomb was likely to come straight into the team.”I’ll tell you the truth. Peter Handscomb will definitely play, 100 percent” said Langer. “He deserves it. He was stiff not to be on this tour, he was so unlucky not to be in the initial squad after what he’d done to get us to that point. He’s in good form, he played well for Australia A, gives us that nice balance in the middle order. He’s got good temperament, he plays spin well, he’s on top of his game, so Pete will definitely play.”Australia’s relaxed air was evident as they prefaced their training session by singing happy birthday to Austin Marsh, son of Shaun. Later in the afternoon, some of the players wrestled with the toddler on the outfield. The previous day the entire squad walked barefoot around the outfield, a practice described by some onlookers as a type of connecting or ‘earthing’, but the notion of any new-age ritual was shot down by Langer, who said it was something he would often do with his opening partner, Mathew Hayden.”What was it called?” asked Langer. “I don’t know what you call it, we just took our shoes and socks off and walked a lap of the oval. It’s a nice thing to do, it’s a nice place to be. Haydos and I used to do it, just as a bit of a ritual before every Test match.”You can walk on the best grounds in the world with your shoes off. So there’s nothing to it. We walked a lap of the oval, we had a tough game against South Africa, it’s just about staying as relaxed as possible.”We know we’re going to be up against it. England are a great team and we’ve got to be at our best, and the best way to be at your best is to be nice and relaxed. It was just walking a lap of the oval with our shoes off. We could’ve done it with our shoes on and nobody would’ve said anything.”There is certainly a far more laid back appearance to this squad than the last time they faced England at Edgbaston. In the only T20I of their 2018 tour, Australia lost by 28 runs before going on to lose all five ODIs of the series. But this Australian squad has a very different look, both in personnel and mental state.”If you go back 12 months ago there wasn’t too much to be relaxed and chilled about in Australian cricket, was there?” Langer said. “And that’s the truth. We went through a major crisis in our cricket. It didn’t just affect our cricket, it affected our country, so there wasn’t too much to be relaxed about. We’ve had to work hard on being more humble in what we do and being focussed on playing good cricket but also being good people as well. And I know there will be some English people who will laugh about that but its actually true. We had to work hard on that and that’s a good bunch of players.”You get more relaxed as you start playing better as an individual or as a team. Maybe we are a bit more relaxed but only on the back of playing good cricket and having had to work hard on that.”While Australia’s squad bears little resemblance to the one that was trounced last summer, Langer said he admires the way England have built a strong squad through continuity.”They’ve been together for four years,” said Langer. “And going back to the question about this being a more relaxed squad, you get to know each other and enjoy each other’s company. They’ve got great continuity, England, and obviously have unbelievable confidence because they have played together for four years.”And they’ve obviously got a good game plan and a lot of very talented cricketers. All those factors combined is why they’re the best team in the world at the moment. And we’re aware of that – it’s going to be a really tough game on Thursday – but looking forward to it as well. It’s always nice, England playing Australia in the Ashes or big games like this. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”I have maintained it from day one, England are going to be really hard to beat in this tournament. They had a couple of little blips, but they fought back really strongly and that’s what we expected to happen.””Regardless of what happens on Thursday – and I’m sure Trevor Bayliss and Eoin (Morgan) are saying the same thing – regardless of what happens Thursday they would very proud of what’s happened in the past four years.”

India vs Pakistan in the World Cup in front of a capacity crowd at Old Trafford. One cricket writer exulted that he felt at the centre of the sporting world. Ajinkya Rahane often imagined he would share in the most overwrought occasion that cricket can deliver. Instead, he was making do in a County Championship match at Chelmsford.It would have taken a world record to provide much consolation for Rahane because there is nothing more certain to fire the imagination of an India cricketer than a match-up with Pakistan. Instead, a second-ball duck afforded no release and by the time he entered the Hampshire dressing room he was probably wondering how he could catch up with India’s innings without it appearing that his priorities lay elsewhere. He was 225 miles away from Old Trafford; it must have felt like a million.Rahane survived the first ball from Jamie Porter in routine fashion, defending a rising ball into his body. An over to reflect at the non-striker’s end and he faced Porter again. A full ball was eminently driveable – not to have driven it in a World Cup tie would have sent India’s selectors into emergency session – but he pushed forward warily and Adam Wheater, back behind the stumps after injury, took the catch. He was part of Hampshire’s slump to 8 for 3 in the first 5.3 overs, a position from which they never recovered.His #SaturdayThoughts on Twitter had told his 5.41m followers “for positivity in life, you need to have a positive mind!” It wasn’t sure if the message was to himself or to India, but if it was to himself it didn’t work out too well. For his Sunday thought, he played safe and stuck to #Father’s Day and didn’t even chide his Dad for not perfecting his off drive.The last of Rahane’s 96 ODIs was against South Africa in Centurion 16 months ago. He averaged 35 over five matches but his strike rate was only 76.92, a touch below his career average. Even England in the bad old days scored faster than that. There were no vacancies at the top of the order and India wanted more destructiveness in the middle. He was dropped, but even in February he was striving for optimism, saying that “playing the World Cup is a dream that every cricketer cherishes”.Rahane made a century on debut for Hampshire against Nottinghamshire, replacing Aiden Markram, but as he enters his fourth Championship match the sense is of a waning Hampshire title challenge. They lie 26 points behind Somerset, but England’s summoning of James Vince and Liam Dawson for the World Cup squad (both as yet unused) will test their resources.On the opening day against Essex they were feeble. They already trail and were blown aside for 118 in 34 overs on a Chelmsford pitch that offered hope to the new-ball attack and to the offspinner Simon Harmer, who finds purchase on most surfaces, and who collected 5 for 23 in 11 overs with embarrassing ease. He now has 35 Championship wickets at 19.4, the most in the Division alongside Warwickshire’s Jeetan Patel and Somerset’s Lewis Gregory. Essex had rested Peter Siddle because of a few niggles and his replacement, Aaron Beard, never got a go.All five of Harmer’s wickets came after lunch in an hour and a quarter of growing resignation. Short leg was set from the outset and was soon joined by a second. Three were lbw to balls that turned – Keith Barker, the left-hander, could regard his decision as a marginal – another left-hander, Rilee Rossouw, was stumped having a swipe and James Fuller was caught at short leg.It is questionable whether they should even have been batting. Hampshire had opted for a toss and chosen to bat first, in defiance of a showery morning. By doing so, they avoided facing Harmer in the fourth innings, but the first innings turned out to be disastrous enough. Adi Birrell, Hampshire’s coach, insisted: “The stats were the reason we batted first. We can’t get away from the fact we didn’t bat well.”Rossouw’s 34 from 32 balls represented Hampshire’s chief resistance, but he is an explosive cricketer and when his furtive edge sneaked past first slip for four, the need to dominate welled up inside him. Harmer tossed the next higher and closer to leg stump and the ball turned sharply past a flailing bat as he failed to launch him towards the thumping sounds emanating from Essex Pride across the river.Essex closed the first day at 147 for 3, 29 ahead, and although they had the benefit of a sunlit evening they still put the pitch into perspective. Nick Browne and Alastair Cook raised 50 before both were lbw in successive overs and Tom Westley missed a work to leg, confounded by the angle of the left-armer Barker around the wicket. Barker was the most insistent of the Hampshire attack.That left Ravi Bopara to make a relaxed half-century. On a pitch where Harmer had prospered, Hampshire’s legspinner, Mason Crane, bled four overs for 30. Bopara’s dismissive yet somehow kindly straight six with four overs remaining took Essex into the lead and encapsulated a final hour that shifted the game firmly into Essex’s favour.

The result of a warm-up match might not matter hugely, but India, who beat Bangladesh by 95 runs in what was the final preparatory fixture for either side, came away with more answers than questions – quite ideal a couple of days before the start of the World Cup. KL Rahul first scored a classy century to all but firm up the No. 4 slot for himself, and Kuldeep Yadav, out of form and under pressure, then put up a heartening performance with the ball, claiming 3 for 47.For the record, in a 14 v 14 encounter – Bangladesh left out Tamim Iqbal and India Kedar Jadhav, though the latter did come out to field briefly – India batted first and put up 359 for 7, Rahul’s 99-ball 108 from No. 4 and MS Dhoni’s thoroughly dominant 78-ball 113 the highlights of their innings. Bangladesh looked on course when Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim were batting together, but with Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal getting among the wickets, they ended on 264, with three balls left in the innings.Who will win the World Cup? Play Cricket Picks and win bigIt was a strange sort of batting effort from the Indians, easily broken up into a few segments.Shikhar Dhawan fell in the third over, and Rohit Sharma in the 14th, and by the end of the 15th over, India had only reached 58. Virat Kohli had stepped in and settled down by then, and while Dhawan and Rohit scored at 11.11 and 45.23 respectively, Kohli quickly passed the run-a-ball mark.It wasn’t easy going for him, though. Mustafizur Rahman, who bowled beautifully, hitting the perfect length and getting the ball to move in the air and off the pitch, got Kohli to nick one between the wicketkeeper and a very wide slip, and Rubel Hossain also caught the India captain’s edge once. But Kohli was in good touch outside of those blips, and looked set for at least a half-century when Mohammad Saifuddin had his number. Saifuddin bowls usually in the 125kph range, and it really was a case of Kohli giving the bowler the charge and yorking himself in the process than any expertise on Saifuddin’s part, though his celebrations belied that, while also making for some fun viewing.But from 102 for 4 after 22 overs, when Rubel had Vijay Shankar caught behind, it was all India. Slow till that point, India rode on Rahul’s class and Dhoni’s belligerence to move to 150 by 30 overs, then 199 after 35, and 243 by 40. Rahul played the pulls and cuts especially well, while Dhoni smashed it around, particularly against the spinners, with disdain.Rahul’s century coupled with Vijay’s failure, might have effectively finished off the No. 4 debate for India, but maybe the Indians missed a trick by not giving the likes of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik some batting time once Rahul and Dhoni had had their fun. Oh, Dhoni certainly had fun, targeting the shorter boundaries and sending the ball over the ropes seven times, including the one he hit to bring up his century.After the abject performance with the bat against New Zealand, where they rolled over for 179 in 39.2 overs before going down by six wickets, this was a heartening performance from the Indian point of view. The performance of the star opening pair, however, remains a cause for concern.MS Dhoni goes for a big shot•AFP

It wasn’t a bad start for Bangladesh as they chased a big target, but Jasprit Bumrah pegged them back with a double-strike, sending back Soumya Sarkar and Shakib Al Hasan with consecutive balls. Liton and Mushfiqur, however, took control of the chase – the Indians did not bring back their frontline pacers at any stage – with a 120-run stand. They kept the required rate within reach and settled in nicely, till another two-in-two brought India back into the contest. This time, it was Chahal, who had Liton stumped and Mohammad Mithun lbw with a wrong’un to leave Bangladesh at 169 for 4 in the 32nd over.But Mushfiqur, perhaps Bangladesh’s most dependable batsman in the last couple of years – an average of 50.88 as against a career average of 34.95 – was still out there, and was playing a little gem. After settling down in Liton’s company, Mushfiqur turned it on with a series of drives – off back foot and front – and some cracking slog-sweeps, a shot he has mastered.Then Kuldeep led a turnaround. He was out of sorts during the IPL and then out of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, broken and battered, but after a wicketless warm-up against New Zealand, he finally struck when he beat Mahmudullah’s hoick to hit timber. His expression changed, his body language improved, and he suddenly seemed to rediscover his flight and loop, and was getting both the legbreak and the wrong’un going. How much that meant to the team was also evident in the celebrations.The third two-in-two of the innings came courtesy Kuldeep too, when he bowled Mushfiqur for a well-made 94-ball 90 and, off the next ball, had Mosaddek Hossain stumped with one that went the other way. From there to the end was only a matter of time.It’s serious stuff now. Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign starts first, on June 2, against South Africa at The Oval, and India then play South Africa in their first game on June 5, in Southampton.

Steven Smith boarded the flight to the World Cup with questions over his form significantly eased as he struck an unbeaten 91 at Allan Border Field to help Australian XI secure a five-wicket victory over New Zealand XI, although there was momentary scare around his recovering right elbow.On 63, Smith ran his bat in as he completed a single – which wasn’t as tight as he thought – and the bat jarred in the crease. He dropped it and immediately started flexing the elbow on which he had undergone surgery in January and which has been a focal point over the last few months. At the drinks break, he was examined by the physio, but by the end of the chase he appeared to shake off any pain that might have been there.If there was just short-term discomfort and no long-term problem, Smith’s week in Brisbane would get a significant tick, with this innings following his unbeaten 89 in the second match. He was on track for a century but, with the over-rate slower than in previous games, the light faded too much and when a Smith straight drive hammered into Jimmy Neesham, the umpires decided it was too dark.It was a testing chase for the Australians when they slipped to 4 for 137 with David Warner having fallen caught behind for 2 much to his frustration, as it followed the duck he scored in the second match.However, Glenn Maxwell provided the impetus needed with a 37-ball half-century full of power and invention, bringing out a reverse pull for six shortly after passing fifty. For all the focus on Smith and Warner, so much about Australia’s batting order at the World Cup rests on Maxwell.The other dominant innings of the day came from the player of the week Will Young with his second hundred in three days. It took his tally for the three matches to 301 to highlight how unlucky he is to not already be capped by New Zealand. That will now have to wait until the end of the year as he faces shoulder surgery on his return home.As in the successful run chase two days ago, it was Young’s stand with George Worker which laid the platform as the pair added 82 for the second wicket. Worker completed his second half-century of the week before top-edging Adam Zampa to short third-man. The legspinner also trapped captain Tom Latham lbw.Young and Neesham then upped the tempo in a stand of 67 during which Young reached a hundred filled with high-class strokeplay that continued to mark him out as an international cricketer in waiting.When both set batsmen fell – Young yorked by Marcus Stoinis and Neesham finding mid-off against Mitchell Starc – the innings slipped with Pat Cummins taking his haul to four wickets to reinforce his standing as the in-form bowler in Australia’s attack. Although Zampa claimed two wickets, he was taken for more than eight over, being particularly harshly treated by Neesham, while Stoinis’ brace also came at significant cost.Starc increased his workload after just five overs in the second match – his first outing for three months – with eight overs across three spells.

Mitchell Starc is taking legal action against an insurance company in an attempt to recoup A$ 1.53 million of his IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders, which he was unable to take up last year due to injury. reported that paperwork has been lodged with the Victorian County Court against a syndicate of Lloyds of London, after Starc took a specialist insurance for his IPL deal, which was worth A$ 1.8 million, but was then told he was not eligible for a payout after missing the 2018 edition of the tournament.Starc was injured during the Test series against South Africa, which preceded the IPL – and became best-remembered for the ball-tampering scandal – after picking up a stress fracture in his right leg which began in Port Elizabeth before worsening in Cape Town. He was ruled out of the final Test in Johannesburg.”The parties have exchanged correspondence about the plaintiff’s claim which culminated in a final response from the defendant’s representative in the form of an email sent on 22 November 2018,” the writ said. “That email confirmed the defendant’s contention that the plaintiff is not entitled to the total disablement benefit.”

Moeen Ali says he was “hit hard” by comments from the national selector, Ed Smith, suggesting he was neither England’s first-choice spinner nor suitable to overseas conditions.Smith, appointed as England’s national selector last April, could not find space for Moeen in his first Test squad for the series against Pakistan, which started in May. Instead, Dom Bess was selected with Smith making it clear Jack Leach would have played had he been fit.”Moeen had a difficult winter,” Smith said at the time. “We know he can be a very productive player in English conditions. But the role of first-choice spinner might not be best suited to him. His best way might be as second spinner.”But while Moeen says those comments were “disappointing”, he also believes they “spurred” him to win a recall. That happened for the fourth Test of the series against India, when he won the man-of-the-match award after out-bowling Ravi Ashwin and picking up nine series-sealing wickets.And now, having finished both winter tours as England’s highest wicket-taker (he and Jack Leach both claimed 18 wickets in Sri Lanka, while Moeen claimed another 14 in the Caribbean) he has both responded eloquently to Smith’s challenge and re-established himself as the side’s No. 1 spinner.”It hit me hard,” Moeen said. “It was disappointing. I felt like they were looking for someone else.”But it spurred me on. I did need that break at the time. Maybe if I’d been picked versus Pakistan I wouldn’t have bowled well. But I came back against India fresh, scoring runs and taking wickets and I felt at the top of my game.”I still had the belief. So to get back in the side and prove I can do the job is… [pleasing].”Moeen had endured a grim 2017-18 Ashes. He failed to pass 40 with the bat and claimed only five wickets at a cost of 115 each with the ball. After another wicketless Test in Auckland, he was dropped for the final Test of England’s winter.There were mitigating factors. With England having picked only two spinners in their touring squad – one of which was 20-year-old legspinner Mason Crane – Moeen was obliged to go into the first Test carrying a finger injury that compromised his performance. England had been reluctant to throw Crane into the hostile environment of an Ashes Test in Brisbane on debut as the only spinner. While Moeen’s injury had healed by the back end of the series, his confidence had dipped and he was unable to compensate with his batting.That seems a long time ago now. This year, Moeen has continued to rise up the tally of England’s leading wicket-takers and is currently tied with Angus Fraser on 177. Only 17 men have claimed more Test wickets for England; only four (Derek Underwood, Graeme Swann, Jim Laker and Sydney Barnes, whose categorisation is not straightforward) are spinners.And while his average – 36.37 – is higher than all those above him, his strike-rate – 60.4 – compares well even with England’s two most prolific Test spinners: Underwood’s 297 wickets came at a strike-rate of 73.6, while Swann’s 255 came at 60.1. Over recent weeks, Moeen has surpassed the wicket totals of such respected spinners as Tony Lock, Monty Panesar, Fred Titmus and John Emburey. On every occasion, he has done having bowled far fewer – sometimes several thousand fewer – deliveries.”I’ve done better than I thought I ever would,” Moeen admits. “I must have done okay to get that many wickets. I remember reaching 50 and thinking that was a massive achievement. Someone said ‘maybe 100?’ and I thought no chance.”But when you go past some of the greats, you think ‘maybe I am a good spinner?'”I feel like I belong. People might think I don’t because they think I’m not a proper spinner. There will always be good days and bad days but I am improving. I think I can get into the side as a bowler now, even if I didn’t bat.”There have been times this winter when that has probably been just as well. While he top-scored in the Antigua Test, that innings of 60 was his only half-century of the winter. In 11 innings, he only reached 35 once. As a result, he admits he has work to do on his batting, though he now – for perhaps the first time – appears to see himself as a bowling all-rounder.”It needs working on,” he says. “But I feel set. I will stay at No. 8 and I know it. I have got my head around that and it feels natural now. Being a bowler: I’m very happy with that. Even if I do well people may say I should move up. But I’m happy.”Having experienced such ups and down, Moeen is well qualified to offer some hope to Adil Rashid who was dropped after the Barbados Test and could face an uphill journey to win a recall. But, at least as far as Moeen is concerned, Rashid requires a bit more understanding and “backing”.”Things can change quickly,” Moeen said. “We didn’t expect him to play Tests a year ago. He bowled better than me in the first innings in Barbados. Both of our beliefs is that people can plan or say things, but God’s plans are different.”He’s got so much skill maybe sometimes he confuses himself. His role is to take wickets. He will go for runs. As players, supporters, media, we have to realise that.”No one will be Shane Warne. But a mystery guy like Rash will pick up wickets given the right time, backing and mindset.”I hope it’s not the end. We know what he can do. If we can manage him right, we can get so much more out of him. I still feel he can be one of the best in the world at Test cricket.”

For the first time since the 2011 World Cup, India will not meet Pakistan in the group stage of an ICC event. The two teams have faced each other in five ICC tournaments since 2011 – and will meet again in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales – but cricket’s traditional rivalry will not be on show in the group stages of 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.This is a result of the present T20I rankings, where Pakistan and India occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots respectively, necessitating the two teams to be placed in different groups for the tournament.

The Groups

Group A: Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2
Group B: India, England, South Africa, Afghanistan, Qualifier 3, Qualifier 4

England and Australia aren’t guaranteed to meet each other either. While England are placed in Group B alongside India, Australia are in Group A alongside Pakistan.ALSO READ: Champions Australia to start women’s T20 World Cup against IndiaThe top-eight teams have automatically qualified for the tournament, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – ninth and tenth in the rankings respectively – will contest six other sides in the qualifying tournament in Geelong and Hobart for the remaining four spots in the Super 12s stage.Pakistan will open the Super 12s against hosts Australia at the SCG on a double-header Saturday on October 24. India will take on South Africa at the new Perth Stadium in the second match of the day. Defending champions West Indies will open their campaign against New Zealand at the MCG the next day.The SCG and the Adelaide Oval will host the semi-finals on November 11 and 12 respectively, while the final will be held at the MCG on November 15. The women’s final, which will also take place at the MCG earlier in the year, is hoping for a record crowd for a women’s sporting event at the venue.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts said the late call-up of Kurtis Patterson for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane showed “common sense” on the part of the selectors at a time of lean batting resources.Patterson was brought in three days before the Test following twin centuries in the tour match in Hobart and was then preferred in the final XI to Will Pucovski, who had been in the original squad that had been named in advance of the Cricket Australia XI contest.Jhye Richardson was also elevated above a long-term squad member in Peter Siddle to win his maiden Test cap and claimed 3 for 26 on the opening day at the Gabba.”They responded with flexibility and common sense to include Kurtis Patterson,” Roberts told SEN radio. “Not everyone will agree, but in these times it was really fair and expressed common sense to make that addition.”It’s a very hard job being a selector right now. In years gone by, let’s be open, we have had more batters putting their hands up in previous decades. We haven’t had that upward pressure recently and as much as we may have 25 million selectors in Australia, it’s a very difficult job for the three charged with that responsibility.””Going forward, it will be really interesting to sit down with the selectors and hear their thoughts about the longer-term future. That’s where we need to be more involved with the selectors, in terms of what is our longer-term selection philosophy and strategy.”Balancing the short and longer-term objectives remained a challenge, with Roberts acknowledging that the team had not been winning as often as would be ideal, but he had full confidence in the direction coach Justin Langer was taking the side.”He’s in a really, really challenging position rebuilding this team, making sure everyone around the team is living the players’ pact,” Roberts said. “Our goal will always be to win, but our non-negotiable expectation is to compete with respect. Are we winning as frequently as we’d like to just now? No. But Justin is doing a really good job in challenging circumstances. We owe Justin a lot of support.”Langer will soon have a new figure overseeing his role, with Roberts confirming progress was being made in finding the replacement for Pat Howard as high performance manager.Jhye Richardson picked up three wickets in the Sri Lanka first innings•Getty Images

That role will be filled after the new chief operating officer is confirmed, and despite criticism of Howard’s non-cricket-playing background, Roberts indicated the job would not go to a former player.”What we need is the best possible person to lead the national performance system,” he said. “It’s easy to get caught up in a bit of mystique around these roles but at the end of the day it’s about developing teams in the short term and long term.”On the domestic front, Roberts admitted the pitches at this year’s expanded Big Bash League had been a concern, but was not worried about the lower average attendances, instead citing increased TV viewership for the competition, which won’t finish until mid-February.”The bigger challenge in the Big Bash this season has been the pitches and we’ve seen less matches early in the season where you have 175 playing 170. The playing conditions are very important. Fans want high scoring close matches,” he explained.”I’m really happy we’ve taken the game to the people, that does come with reduced crowds. And when you expand a season, you can’t expect to retain the average. Importantly our viewership is up per match. It’s not without its challenges but we’ll work through that and learn as we go.”One of the challenges has been recruiting and retaining big-name overseas players with a number opting for the shorter and more lucrative Bangladesh Premier League. Roberts said the BBL salary cap would be discussed, but added that any increase for the league would need to see a trade-off elsewhere.”It’s certainly something we’ll keep an eye on over time. We need to be competitive in terms of player payments and really ensure we cement the BBL in the top two domestic league in the world and the WBBL as the best women’s domestic league,” he said.”Player pay, it’s a challenging topic, there are people on different sides of the debate, because if you are paying the players more in one format, you need to reduce it in another typically. That’s all very delicate.”

Three seasons after his first go at captaincy in the Big Bash League, Chris Lynn will take up the mantle again. His team, the Brisbane Heat, made the announcement on Monday, ahead of their season opener against the defending champions Adelaide Strikers on December 19, and the opening batsman welcomed the extra responsibility on his big-hitting shoulders.Lynn had led the Heat in the 2015-16 edition of the Big Bash when he finished Player of the Tournament but the team ended up bottom of the table. He had also been at the helm of Queensland’s campaign in the JLT one-day cup earlier this season, when they made it to the semi-finals.”I really enjoyed the experience I had as Heat captain previously and likewise with Queensland. Leadership is something I have enjoyed since I was a young bloke starting out and I’m confident I am ready to handle it in the BBL.”We have got a settled squad with talent to burn and I can’t wait to get into the season and have a go.”Lynn is the top run-getter for the Heat with a tally of 1560 and the only man with more than 100 sixes in the BBL. The 28-year old is also highly sought-after in T20 teams around the world having most recently played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Lahore Qalandars in the PSL and Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL.”Having Lynny as captain is right on the money,” Brendon McCullum, who led the Heat in 2017, said. “He’s a senior player with lots of expertise and has been part of winning teams and successful clubs all over the world.”I have enjoyed being able to tap into his thinking when I was captain and I know he is more than ready as skipper to enable us to play exciting, fearless cricket again this summer.”Head coach Daniel Vettori said the appointment had been in the works for a while. “The timeline is pretty much as we mapped out when we all came together a few years back to do some planning around succession and future recruiting.”The Heat will play an intra-squad game on Wednesday in the Gold Coast as practice leading up to the new season of the BBL, which starts on December 19.