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Leach injury less than a fortnight from the Ashes has thrown England’s planning up in the air

Andrew Miller04-Jun-2023Joe Root (and an all-seam attack)It’s probably the obvious option given how short-notice this injury is, plus the clear concerns over Stokes’ knee, which had already left Leach’s role looking vulnerable within a four-man attack. Root’s attacking offies, habitually delivered from round the wicket with a flat trajectory and an emphasis on overspin, have already claimed 54 wickets in the course of his career, and he’s deeply familiar with England’s bowling plans, having turned his arm over in all but two of England’s 13 Tests since Stokes became captain. His presence would allow England to recall each of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood without a complete clear-out of the seam attack that did the needful at Lord’s.Rehan AhmedEngland surely wouldn’t be that crazy, would they? Hold my Bazbeer! Rehan doesn’t turn 19 until August, when the Ashes will have been and gone, and for all that holding roles aren’t really Stokes’ thing, the control that Leach offers with his slow left-arm is a distinctly different skill to the magic and madness of red-raw legspin. And yet, there Rehan was in Karachi in December, claiming seven wickets in a fairytale debut, and even emerging as the first official “Nighthawk” in England’s gleeful romp to victory. His time will surely come, but once again, the doubts over Stokes rather undermine his credentials. Unless he plays as an allrounder, of course…Rehan Ahmed enjoyed a successful Test debut in Pakistan•Getty ImagesWill JacksEngland’s other debutant spinning success of the Pakistan tour. Jacks hadn’t expected his call-up until the eternally luckless Ben Foakes keeled over with the sickness bug that almost delayed the Rawalpindi Test, and within three days, he’d picked off a first-innings six-for. He might not have bowled so many overs had his fellow debutant Liam Livingstone not limped out with a knee injury, but he fulfilled his brief admirably, albeit with some of the most optimistically flighted deliveries you could hope to witness. That diet of ‘hit me’ balls served a purpose on one of the most lifeless pitches in world cricket, but it might not prove quite so successful against Smith, Labuschagne et al at Edgbaston. Last season for Surrey – effectively his first as an allrounder after head coach Gareth Batty encouraged him to add the string to his bow – he claimed the workmanlike figures there of 1 for 93 in 36 overs.Matt ParkinsonThe man in possession … sort of. At least, when it comes to replacing Leach at short notice. This time last year, Parkinson was plucked off his sofa to make his Test debut, on the opening day of the Lord’s Test against New Zealand, after Leach hurtled after a straight drive in front of the pavilion, and concussed himself as he tried to save a boundary. He was the first concussion sub in England’s Test history, and though Stokes and Brendon McCullum deserved full marks for the clarity of their decision-making, Parkinson’s performance was somewhat underwhelming. He did at least claim his first Test wicket with the last ball of New Zealand’s innings, but not only has he never been picked again, he’s slipped so far out of favour at Lancashire that he was last month loaned out to Durham in a bid for some Championship action.Matt Parkinson bowls on his Test debut•Getty ImagesDom BessAll aboard the Bess Bus? We can only wait and see. Here’s another man who has benefitted from Leach’s prior misfortune, in this case the broken thumb in 2018 than earned his then-Somerset spin-twin Bess a maiden Test cap at the age of 20, and he showed his ticker from the outset, albeit more visibly with the bat, with a battling fifty in England’s defeat to Pakistan at Lord’s, and a further 49 as a nightwatcher one match later. There’s little doubt that he’d make an outstanding Bazballer – and when England turned their fortunes around in South Africa in 2019-20 with a team of greenhorns including a young Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley, Bess was in the thick of it claiming five of the top six in the first innings at Port Elizabeth. His form and fortunes crumbled during Covid, and he was virtually unselectable on the tour of India, but in a dressing-room that’s overflowing with positive vibes, there’s reason to believe he could thrive once again.Jack CarsonIf Josh Tongue’s surprise call-up for Lord’s is any indication, then Sussex’s young spinner Carson ought not to leave his phone on silent in the coming days. Tongue’s modest haul of 11 wickets in four Championship games for Worcestershire this summer didn’t deter the selectors, most particularly Rob Key, who had witnessed his exploits for England Lions in Sri Lanka, including a five-for in the unofficial Test in Galle. And Carson, likewise, was in the wickets on that trip, claiming 4 for 94 in a spirited Bazball-style attempt to set up a run-chase (that proved a touch too ambitious in the end). He’s been in the wickets this summer too, including five first-innings scalps against Yorkshire at Hove last month. Liam Patterson-White was also in the Lions mix, but has since picked up a solitary scalp in five matches for Nottinghamshire.Liam DawsonHampshire’s ever-ready bench-warmer, a man possessing of one of the weirdest England careers of all time. The last of his three Test appearances came against South Africa way back in 2017, and he was picked for three 50-over caps against Australia in November having most-recently played the format in October 2018. Yet he still collected a World Cup winner’s medal in 2019 after being drafted in as a Mr Dependable back-up, and was also a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup last winter too, after a similarly lengthy time in the wilderness. He seems utterly unperturbed at his lot in life, and would come into the Test set-up with some impressive red-ball form. His most recent outing for Hampshire in May reaped second-innings figures of 6 for 61, as Northants were routed by an innings.Moeen Ali last played Test cricket in 2021•AFP/Getty ImagesMoeen AliIs this the moment for Mo? Though he officially retired from Test cricket last year, Moeen Ali was clearly tempted by the prospect of a comeback for last winter’s Pakistan tour, after being courted by McCullum in the early weeks of his tenure as coach. In the end, his white-ball commitments made it all too much of a hassle, but if ever there was a window to dip back in, it is now. After all, the Hundred doesn’t begin until the day after the Ashes are over, and having just won the IPL with Chennai Super Kings despite barely lifting a finger in the competition’s closing stages, he might conceivably be itching to get stuck in. That said, Australia has never been a favourite opponent of Moeen’s. In 11 previous Ashes Tests, his 20 wickets have come at a costly 64.65, and though he’s only five away from the 200 mark, he may well decide – rather like his fellow white-ball stalwart, Jos Buttler – that that ship has sailed.

“Just the badge has changed,” says the former South Africa Under-19 captain who is set to make his debut for New Zealand

Deivarayan Muthu23-Mar-20234:59

Chad Bowes: ‘Not the script I was going to write for my career’

In 2012, Chad Bowes captained the South Africa Under-19 team, which included the likes of Quinton de Kock and Theunis de Bruyn, to a third-place finish in the World Cup, beating New Zealand by eight wickets. More than a decade later, Bowes is set to make his international debut for New Zealand in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Eden Park on Saturday.Along with Devon Conway, Bowes was among the most talented schoolboy cricketers back in the day in South Africa. They would often be pitted against each other in age-group cricket in South Africa and, as fate would have it, their career paths crossed again in New Zealand. Much like Conway, Bowes couldn’t quite make much of an impression in fairly limited opportunities in top-tier domestic cricket and his dreams of playing international cricket for South Africa hit a snag.That’s when Bowes decided to leave his family – and comfort zone – behind in South Africa and pursue a cricketing career in New Zealand. Three years after leading South Africa in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, he arrived in Christchurch on his own and with some help from Stephen Fleming, he joined the Sydenham cricket club and began building his new career and life in New Zealand.Related

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With Conway now with Fleming at Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2023 in India, Bowes has been lined up to open the batting for New Zealand in the absence of Conway. Who woulda thunk it?”Probably not that script that I thought I was going to write for my career, but it has been a hell of a journey from South Africa to New Zealand,” Bowes tells ESPNcricinfo. “Lots of tough and challenging periods and a lot of highs along the way as well. Obviously, the big decision to move countries and create a new life from scratch is the foundation of my last six-seven years of my career. So, a lot of learning has taken place – not just on the field, but in life in general.”I’ve come over here with my wife Chloe and we just had a baby girl here who has a New Zealand passport. But we’re still waiting for one for ourselves (laughs). But it has been an incredible journey – obviously one that was unexpected, but incredibly valuable in terms of me learning about myself and about the world and just about what it takes to actually thrive and not just survive in different kinds of environments. So, it has been a learning curve that will carry on going. The dream of playing international cricket has been in my blood for 20 years and it still remains in my blood. The only difference is that the badge has changed.”Being away from family in a new country invited a whole lot of challenges, but New Zealand’s overall landscape and cricketing landscape pushed Bowes to keep pursuing his dream of becoming a Black Cap. Bowes has had to deal with multiple concussions after suffering blows on his head, on the field, and mental-health struggles off it along the way, but he refuses to give up.Chad Bowes played a number of attacking shots in the powerplay during the 2022-23 Super Smash•Getty Images”I felt there was a window period in my mid-20s there where I could shift my career path and my life path, so it wasn’t purely based on cricket, but more of a holistic decision of where is our future and where do we want that to be – not just for me, but for my family, children and the rest of our lives. So, from a career standpoint, New Zealand had the kind of environment that I wanted to pursue from a professional point of view and from a life point of view, and it had enough for us to raise a family and have opportunities for us and our children.”Obviously, a very emotional choice because my parents and family and Chloe’s parents and family remain behind. So that took a while to digest and made it incredibly tough and it’s still been tough since that day. The emotions come and go. Covid-19 resulted in that emotion being more intense – not being able to connect with family for so long. There have certainly been moments where I felt the challenges have been overwhelming and we’ve questioned if this is the right choice for us. But every time we fall back on the answer of this is the right thing, we’ve found a way to manage ourselves and manage our emotions.”

“I think I’ve gained a lot of clarity over the years on my method of scoring runs and how I want to play, especially as an opener”Chad Bowes

Bowes has been a consistently high-performing batter for Canterbury in the recent past, but this season, in particular, he has found a higher gear. In the 20-over Super Smash, where Canterbury finished runners-up to Northern Districts, Bowes repeatedly gave his side rapid starts. His powerplay strike rate of 154.48 was the best among all batters who had faced at least 50 balls in the tournament during the first six overs. In all, Bowes rattled off 241 of his 359 runs in the powerplay off just 156 balls. He then put Canterbury in the 50-over Ford Trophy final as well, with 126 off 108 balls against Otago, and Bazball’d his way to another hundred against the same opposition in the first session of a four-day Plunket Shield game.”I think I’ve gained a lot of clarity over the years on my method of scoring runs and how I want to play, especially as an opener, and that’s endorsed by my coach [Peter Fulton] and my team-mates, so I guess I’ve had a few years to develop my method and my style of play and my attacking options,” Bowes says. “I’ve found a space where I’m confident in my abilities and my method to score from that attacking mindset and with a freedom of mind to go out there and put pressure on the opposition, knowing that it’s not going to come off every time, but if it does come off, then my team is going to be in a strong position and that’s the role that I’m having to take on.”The formats are obviously different, but the principle for me remains the same – if I can get my team off to a good start and set a platform, then it sets up the rest of the line-up for success and if I happen to carry on through the innings, it’s kind of a bonus.”Bowes is usually strong against pace, and he has now added another string to his bow by fine-tuning his batting against spin on a New Zealand A tour to India last year. The lessons learned during that tour could potentially come in handy against Sri Lanka’s premier spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.Chad Bowes captained South Africa in the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia•Getty Images”It was my first A tour, and it was obviously a privilege to represent New Zealand in that capacity,” Bowes recalls. “It was just a great cricket and life experience. India is a unique country – both on and off the field. So, that was eye-opening and a really good challenge, particularly on the field when it came to testing my skills against those bowlers over there who are obviously very high-class in their conditions.”From a personal point of view, I probably didn’t get the result that I’d have hoped for and as a collective, we were put under the pump quite a bit, but it was a great experience. Obviously, Rob Walter was our coach there and he was great in keeping the guys together and just having a collective buy-in around why we are there and the privilege to be in the position that we were.”Bowes has had greater exposure outside of New Zealand, having played four seasons of league cricket in the UK and having had a taste of Minor League Cricket in the USA.After having travelled all around the world, Bowes is finally on the verge of playing international cricket for New Zealand in New Zealand, a place he now calls home. But Bowes understands that there is life outside of cricket as well. Recently, he set up his own coffee business, ‘The Conscious Coffee Project.’His tagline is ‘Your mindful moment in a cup’ and that extends to the cricket field too. “There is no place on earth that I’m more mindful or present than when I’m about to face a bowler chucking a ball down at 140kph,” Bowes says. “For me, it’s something where I become completely immersed in the moment and it’s something I try and add to the rest of my life because it’s not only beneficial for my mental well-being but also for the people around me.”

Never mind the skyscraping run rates, England under Stokes-McCullum are intent on taking 20 wickets

Alan Gardner15-Jun-2023The ankle injury that befell James McCollum at Lord’s a fortnight ago was unfortunate for a number of reasons – depriving the Ireland opener of valuable Test experience, as well as leaving No. 8 Andy McBrine stranded in sight of a maiden hundred and a place on the honours board. Less significantly, because England still went on to complete a comfortable win, it meant that for the first time under Ben Stokes the bowlers had failed to take all ten wickets in an innings.Ireland were all out, of course, which is the statistic that matters. But McCollum retiring hurt ended a run of 24 innings across 13 Tests in which England had rounded up ten wickets; the only time they hadn’t taken 20 in a match coincidentally also came at Lord’s in an innings defeat to South Africa last August. This century, only South Africa had managed a longer streak (25 consecutive innings between 2017 and 2018).If skyscraping run rates have been the most arresting feature of England’s approach under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, no less important has been a hitherto-lacking cutting edge with the ball – a commitment to wicket-taking that has seen them find a way everywhere from Mount Maunganui to Multan.Related

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In batting, the old adage says, “It’s not about how, but how many.” England have subverted that with their bowling plans. The “how many” is non-negotiable – 20 wickets to win a Test – but the “how” is the crux of the matter. Whether it is through stacking the slips, introducing spin inside the first hour or switching to a short-ball bombardment, Stokes has refused to let games drift in a manner that England captains past have been guilty of.Old guard, new approach
Under Stokes, England’s three most successful bowlers have been James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jack Leach. Given they have close to 1300 Test wickets between them, those first two names are not hugely surprising – but it should be remembered neither was involved in the series prior to Stokes taking over as captain, a 1-0 defeat in the Caribbean.Stokes has himself taken 20 wickets – but only two since the end of last summer, amid questions about whether he is still a viable all-round option. And although Mark Wood has only played twice, his extra pace contributed to victories in Multan and Karachi as England maintained their threat in some of the most inhospitable bowling conditions imaginable.Problems still to solve
England’s new Test blueprint, of fast-forward batting and front-foot bowling on true surfaces, arguably moves them away from what has been a position of strength at home – where touring sides, including Australia over the last two decades, have struggled to cope in seaming conditions. Stokes has been public in his request for “fast, flat pitches” but, as Josh Hazlewood pointed out this week, Australia will be confident of tilting that to their advantage.There is also the small matter of Australia being able to deploy the top three Test batters in the world, according to the updated ICC rankings. Travis Head has limited experience in England at the highest level, but comes into the series on the back of a scintillating – and Bazball-esque – innings of 163 in the World Test Championship final, while Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are old foes. Ollie Pope has hinted that England might have some “quirky” plans for Smith, in particular, but they have attempted to funk with his head before, with little success (in 2019, they had him caught in the leg trap at The Oval, in his final innings – having seemingly been trying for the dismissal all series).Over the course of the next six-and-a-half weeks, Stokes and his bowlers will be looking to maintain their immaculate record and bowl Australia out ten times. Such is the strength of Australia’s attack, even that might not be enough to guarantee reclaiming the Ashes – but it’s not a bad place to start.With stats inputs from Shiva Jayaraman

They have dominated almost all other passages of play, but bowling in the death has been the one aspect of this team that has gone largely untested

Firdose Moonda26-Oct-2023Before you continue, this is a disclaimer: what you’re about to read is not criticism, but observation; the kind of thing someone tells a gifted student who can get better and become exceptional. And that’s one of the qualities the team that ultimately wins the World Cup will have.With that in mind and the knowledge that South Africa have won four out of their five matches and their batting line-up is shaping up as among the best in the tournament, let’s touch on an area of concern for them: death-bowling.South Africa have conceded a significantly higher amount of runs against lower order batters than any other team: 588 runs for wickets seven to 10 in their five group matches so far. It’s worth reiterating that these runs came with games all but won.Related

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Sri Lanka were 233 for 7 chasing 429 when their last three wickets put on 93, England were 84 for 7 chasing 400 and reached 170 and Bangladesh were 81 for 6 in the 22nd over, chasing 383, and ended up batting until the 47th over and made 233.As a result, it is entirely plausible and even understandable that by that stage South Africa’s bowlers had lost some interest and allowed things to drift until the inevitable conclusion was reached. Except that in the Bangladesh game, that’s not what South Africa were doing at all.According to stand-in captain Aiden Markram, his bowlers opted to “go death,” to Mahmudullah who “got in and batted exceptionally well” he said at the post-match presentation afterwards. He indicated they were using that game to experiment with their tactics, “not that you are practicing, because you are never practicing in a match but we thought we would go death to him and there were some good signs. But there were one or two that we missed that went but that is death bowling ultimately. If you get it wrong, it tends to disappear.”ESPNcricinfo LtdSo, what exactly do South Africa consider “going death” and who does it? From what we can see in the first five games, Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee are their primary death bowlers and their intention is to send down a mixture of yorkers and slower balls.Coetzee tried both against Bangladesh, without much success. One came out as a full toss which Mahmudullah pulled to mid-wicket and would have probably been out if it was not a waist-high no-ball. The second one was read out of the hand and driven over long-off for six and the third was simply too full. Rabada also struggled to execute the yorker and ended up delivering juicy full tosses.In total, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, South Africa have sent down 16 full tosses, which is only half as many as Sri Lanka, who have the most in the tournament, but still puts them in the top five. New Zealand, as a measure of contrast, have bowled only three. On the other side of that fine margin, South Africa have bowled 13 yorkers, which is between two and three a game, while India, widely regarded as the best attack at the tournament, have nailed the delivery 33 times.The other option for many attacks at the death has been to take pace off the ball but the data shows that South Africa have only bowled only 20 slower balls in 43 overs. Even accounting for errors in the capturing system, simply watching them reveals that it isn’t something they go to instinctively. And the coach who stressed the importance of variation, Charl Langeveldt, is no longer part of the support staff, though they do have Eric Simons in the bowling consultant role and he would know better than most what the strategy should be.Lungi Ngidi has bowled just one over in the back end, largely due to his success upfront•Associated PressIt also does not help that South Africa’s death-bowling specialist Sisanda Magala was ruled out of the tournament with a knee niggle before the squad traveled to India. Magala has since played two games for his provincial side, the Lions, albeit none in more than three weeks, which vindicates South Africa’s concerns about his conditioning. What they did not want to risk was bringing him to India and then losing him for some matches, as has clearly been the case for the Lions. But that does not mean they can’t find someone else who can do a similar job.Lungi Ngidi, who missed the Bangladesh game, also with a knee concern, is expected to be back soon and, with an array of slower balls to offer, could be an option. So far, he has only bowled once in the last 10 overs which may be a consequence of using him to open the bowling and the success that South Africa are having early on.No team has been fewer than eight wickets down against South Africa going into the 41st over, which means they haven’t batted a full 50 overs against them. All that said, putting the spotlight on death-bowling can seem hypercritical of a team that is in control for most of the other passages of play so far but, with more challenging opposition on the way and the knockouts in their peripheral version, it’s an area of the game South Africa will want to get right.

In the wake of a spectacular opening Test in India, Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller, Matt Roller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to look back on the action

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2024Bazball hits a new high in Hyderabad, as England land the first blow in their five-Test tour of India, and in staggeringly unlikely circumstances, from Ollie Pope’s world-class 196 to Tom Hartley’s zero-to-hero seven-for in the fourth innings. In this week’s pod, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller, Matt Roller and Vithushan Ehantharajah, on location in India, to recap a contest that has blown all pre-series conceptions to smithereens. Plus, Carl Crowe gives us the lowdown on Hartley’s rise from obscurity at Lancashire to a place in English spin folklore. The team also ask where India go from here, and cast a glance at West Indies’ stunning victory over Australia at the Gabba. Can such a famous result help change the narrative about the oldest form of the game?