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West Ham United were heavily linked with Club Brugge midfielder Hans Vanaken throughout the summer transfer window, and the Belgium international could have been a big upgrade on Manuel Lanzini in David Moyes’ squad.

The Hammers submitted a number of bids for Vanaken, who was reportedly keen on a move to the London Stadium, but a deal could not be done before the deadline, with the 30-year-old remaining at Club Brugge.

Lucas Paqueta instead joined the Irons in a club-record deal from Lyon and the Brazilian could be a quality addition if he continues his form from France into the Premier League, having contributed nine goals and six assists last season.

However, the arrival of Vanaken could have paved the way for Lanzini to leave the London Stadium, and it now seems as if the Argentine will be paid £70k per week to sit on the bench for much of the season, potentially until his contract expires next summer.

Last season saw Vanaken manage 11 goals and nine assists in 39 league appearances for Club Brugge in earning a 7.25 WhoScored rating, while he also impressed for Belgium in World Cup qualifying.

He netted three goals and four assists in just five appearances in that campaign for his national team and earned a 7.91 WhoScored rating, which emphasises his ability to play at the top level with world-class players such as Kevin De Bruyne.

According to WhoScored, he excels at through balls, key passes, dribbling and passing, which are all desirable attributes for an attacking midfielder. Also, at 6 foot 5 he can provide a big threat in the air, which has been a big part of West Ham’s success in recent campaigns, with 14 goals scored from set pieces last season.

Club Brugge manager Carl Hoefkens spoke about Vanaken’s influence amid West Ham’s interest during the summer, saying: “Hans is an incredible player who has already done a lot for this club. He also has a big influence on our way of playing football.”

By comparison, Lanzini contributed just five goals and three assists in 30 Premier League appearances for Moyes’ side in 2021/22, averaging a disappointing 6.64 rating from WhoScored.

Therefore, it is a shame that West Ham couldn’t agree on a deal with the Belgian champions for Vanaken, as he could have been a much better fit in Moyes’ team than the Argentine.

The Test against Ireland has posed some familiar questions for Pakistan which they need to answer before facing England

Melinda Farrell at Malahide14-May-20181:03

‘I’m a human being, not a machine’ – Amir

Amir’s fitness (just get the correct knee)The most scrutinised body part at Malahide from late on the third day was undoubtedly Mohammad Amir’s knee. Once we had established which knee, that is. Originally, the official word was that it was the left knee requiring treatment for a chronic knee problem but, unless there was referred pain, the PCB soon confirmed it was the right. On television commentary it was described as patella tendinitis. Whatever it’s called, it seemed to get worse.Amir looked fine when he bowled, moved the ball dangerously and took wickets (including his 100th Test scalp), but in between overs he flexed his knee, gingerly tested it, left the field for periods and his limp became ever more pronounced. The first Test against England is just ten days away and Pakistan need their precious weapon locked and loaded.There is growing discussion about his workload management and his durability across three formats. Pakistan want him leading the attack in Tests but this tour may be the one that forces a decision, one way or another. Not an easy one either, with a World Cup just one year away for the current Champions Trophy holders. The good news? It’s only a two-Test series. The bad news? At times, Amir walked as though his right – yes, right – knee had been replaced by a meringue.Pace-bowling depthAmir’s fitness is even more crucial when you consider the rest of Pakistan’s fast bowling options. Mohammad Abbas has emerged as a genuine Test strike bowler with a remarkable economy rate. He’s taken more wickets than Amir in the period since he received his cap and his economy rate is also superior. The Mohammads form a formidable new-ball partnership but the third seamer role is not so clear cut. When playing on spin-friendly pitches in the UAE, Pakistan often don’t need three fast bowlers.Other bowlers to have filled that role on tour in the past couple of years – Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan and Sohail Khan – were not wanted. Of the two men in the current squad, Hasan Ali has just two Tests to his name while Rahat Ali has hardly been convincing in Malahide. Perhaps that’s partly to do with rustiness: he hadn’t played a first-class match since December 2016 before this tour, which raises the question of what form – and in which format – was he selected on.Pakistan may give Hasan a run in their warm-up match against Leicester, or rest Amir and set up a bowl-off with an appearance at Lord’s the prize. One thing in Pakistan’s favour is that Faheem Ashraf’s bowling has emerged as an unexpected bonus – even if he can pull off a holding role, the rare presence of a seaming allrounder gives them more flexibility than they have had in quite some time.Rahat Ali toiled•Getty ImagesCatch them if you canIt’s hardly a new or earth-shattering observation that, at times, Pakistan’s fielding leaves much to be desired. After enforcing the follow-on they held open the door and ushered Ireland back into the game by dropping both the openers and in the process denied Amir two wickets, something to which he has become wearily accustomed. While there have been some bright moments – think Faheem’s direct hit to dismiss Ed Joyce – there have also been outfield fumbles that allowed the ball to trickle over the boundary rope, catches put down in the slips, a run-out gone begging and, most drearily, one ball fumbled twice.But perhaps the most worrying aspect has been the three catches put down by Sarfraz Ahmed. One was a difficult chance, diving low to his left, but Pakistan fans won’t want to be reminded of his predecessor, Kamran Akmal, who had a horror tour of England in 2006 and a forgettable one in 2010. Sarfraz’s role as captain and the absence a back-up wicketkeeper in the Pakistan squad means his form with the gloves is of huge importance. It’s worth noting that this will be Steve Rixon’s final tour as Pakistan’s fielding coach. The Australian’s contract is coming to an end and, after successfully overseeing Pakistan’s improvement in fifty-over fielding, he will want to leave the red ball fielding in safe… errr… hands.Top order wobblesOne of the most interesting match ups in the upcoming series against England is the battle of the tottery top orders. England’s well chronicled search for an opening partner for Alastair Cook following Andrew Strauss’ retirement and assorted other departures have led to a carousel of batsmen in recent years. Pakistan no longer have their press-up talismen Misbah-ul-haq and Younis Khan and their quest for an opening partnership that can withstand the Dukes ball on a cloudy English morning almost predates the one for the Holy Grail. Both sides lose their first three wickets before passing 100 approximately 60%of the time.But consider this: the last time Pakistan had an opening partnership of more than one hundred runs in England was in the second Test of the 1996 series, when Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar put on 106 for the first wicket at The Oval. In the ensuing 22 years and 32 Test innings in Old Blighty, Pakistan’s opening partnership has passed 35 on just four occasions. With so little experience in the top five, this would be an opportune moment for Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq to lead the way.Running between the wicketsThe first ball of this Test said it all. Bearing in mind the previous point, Pakistan’s opening partnerships are fragile enough without the two batsmen haring off for a, frankly, bonkers single that ended with Imam-ul-Haq flat on his back after he tangled with Tyrone Kane and then slammed his head on Niall O’Brien’s hip. So it’s fair to assume his hip bone bruised Imam almost as much as the inevitable comparisons to Uncle Inzi. You’d think the lesson would have been learned by ball two but there were more hairy moments of misjudgment to come. Ireland were sometimes scrappy in the field which saved a few blushes and meant there were no run out dismissals on Pakistan’s scorecard but a little calm will go a long way when the likes of Ben Stokes are prowling in the circle.

With the BCCI allowing their players in List-A tournaments abroad, the DPL could once again become a profitable destination for Indian players

Mohammad Isam and Shashank Kishore26-Jun-2016Overseas interest in the Dhaka Premier League began to rise in 2013-14, when the tournament was granted List A status. That season attracted 82 players from outside Bangladesh, including Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Jacob Oram and Ryan ten Doeschate. The BCB had allowed two overseas players per team then. That limit was set at one in 2014-15 and still there were plenty of players from Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, England and Afghanistan participating.Indian players in DPL 2016

Rajat Bhatia (Abahani) 105 runs and 2 wickets in 2 matches

Dinesh Karthik (Abahani) 179 runs in 4 matches

Uday Kaul (Abahani) 169 runs in 4 matches

Manoj Tiwary (Abahani) 40 runs in 1 match

Yusuf Pathan (Abahani) 68 runs in 2 matches

Manvinder Bisla (Abahani) 50 runs in 2 matches

Yashpal Singh (Abahani) 9 runs in 1 match

Milind Kumar (Brothers Union) 49 runs and 4 wickets in 4 matches

Puneet Bisht (Gazi Group) 86 runs in 1 match

Gurkeerat Singh (Gazi Group) 22 runs and 2 wickets in 2 matches

Jatin Saxena (KCA) 279 runs and 7 wickets in 7 matches

Paras Dogra (Kalabagan) 23 runs in 2 matches

Rohan Prem (Kalabagan) 34 runs in 2 matches

Pawan Negi (Rupganj) 184 runs and 6 wickets in 5 matches

Jalaj Saxena (Rupganj) 52 runs in 2 matches

Ishank Jaggi (Rupganj) 39 runs in 3 matches

Bipul Sharma (MSC) 134 runs and 4 wickets in 2 matches

Mithun Manhas (MSC) 37 runs in 2 matches

Sachin Rana (Prime Bank) 75 runs and 4 wickets in 2 matches

Unmukt Chand (Prime Bank) 197 runs and 3 wickets in 6 matches

Sachin Baby (Doleshwar) 127 runs and 1 wicket in 5 matches

Ashok Menaria (Doleshwar) 75 runs and 4 wickets in 4 matches

Over the years, DPL teams have preferred to have Pakistani players. But that changed in 2013 when the PCB stopped issuing No-objection certificates to play in Bangladesh. The ban was lifted last year.This season Indians were the hot property. There were 22 of them in a total of 36 overseas players. Next in terms of number were the Sri Lankans (10). BCB director Jalal Yunus believed this was because the best available players were from those two countries.”The BCCI allowed them to play overseas, only in List-A format, after a number of years,” he said. “So, most of the clubs went for Indian and Sri Lankan players this season. Pakistani players were not called up this year because many of their top names were busy in various competitions.”Uday Kaul was the first Indian signed up this DPL; he appeared in Abahani Limited’s opening game on April 22. Abahani recruited six more of his countrymen, including Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and Rajat Bhatia, who has played in previous seasons.Legends of Rupganj picked up three Indians – Jalaj Saxena, Ishank Jaggi and Pawan Negi, who stayed with them the longest.Jalaj’s elder brother, Jatin Saxena was the highest run-getter and wicket-taker among the 22 Indian players. He finished with 279 runs and seven wickets from the seven matches he played for Kalabagan Cricket Academy.His team was one of two to be demoted from the premier to the first division, but Jatin made the most of his opportunity and strengthened his chances of playing for a new team in the forthcoming Indian domestic season after obtaining an NOC from his current side Madhya Pradesh.Jatin made his debut for MP in 2008, but managed to play just 50 matches across formats in eight years. “Lack of opportunities at Madhya Pradesh was a little tough, so I wanted to look for avenues,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I was in touch with clubs in UAE, but given the proximity and the standard of cricket, I thought Bangladesh was my best option.”Jalaj helped Jatin get in touch with Kalabagan. But the level of performance required from an overseas player to consistently feature in the XI had originally made him nervous.”It was a challenge playing there, especially because I was going there on the back of just training sessions here, and not matches,” Jatin said. “Given the competitive nature of the tournament, there is onus on you to perform, because two bad games, and there are chances that you would be replaced by another professional. So that way, there was pressure.”Jatin’s gains weren’t restricted to the field either. “As a professional, I learned about managing myself, going out of my way to interact with your team-mates. Language was a barrier, but we did just fine. The local players there were as eager to welcome me as much as I was looking forward to it. I made a lot of friends there. They were very inquisitive about club culture in India, our leagues, our domestic format. So, apart from cricket, there was healthy exchange of ideas.”While Jatin came, performed and left quietly, there was much frenzy in the media about the arrival of Tiwary. Ironically, he could only play one match in Dhaka and had to return to Kolkata to play the Super League, a club tournament – the final of which was the first match played in India with the pink ball.Tiwary said his interest in the DPL came via Shakib Al Hasan, his former team-mate at Kolkata Knight Riders. “Shakib and I forged a good friendship during my time with KKR, and he’s been talking about the DPL for a while now, and kept asking me if I was interested for the last two-three years. But because I was playing in the IPL, I wanted to use the little time we get after that to recover and gear up for our own season.”But this time, my summer was free since I wasn’t part of the IPL. So I thought it was good to get some match time in Bangladesh. But because this time the CAB [Cricket Association of Bengal] organised two more local tournaments, including the Super League, I could just play one game.”Tiwary didn’t get to play with Shakib, though both of them were in the same team but felt it had been a good experience to play with the other top Bangladeshi players in Abahani.”I played with Tamim [Iqbal], Taskin [Ahmed], Liton Das, so in a way it was the cream of the crop,” he said. “Net sessions were good, I thought it was extremely competitive. Bangladesh has improved in the limited-overs format, and that improvement, I feel, is a result of having competitive tournaments like these.”There was a time when players such as Raman Lamba, Ashok Malhotra and Arun Lal regularly played the DPL but the availability of Pakistani and Sri Lankan talent slowly took Indians out of the equation. Now, with the BCCI allowing their players in List A tournaments abroad, the DPL could once again become a profitable destination for Indian players.

Yuzvendra Chahal hasn’t been a one-season wonder in the IPL. He has done better this year, both in terms of striking when required as well as preventing a scoring spree in the middle stages

Arun Venugopal21-May-2015Yuzvendra Chahal’s simple approach to bowling is perhaps best conveyed through his glitch-free action: a brisk, short run that culminates in a rapid rotation of the arms – fluid from start to finish. Chahal is by no means endowed with an overflowing bag of tricks. But he is good at what he does. Good enough to earn 21 wickets and stand on top of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s wicket-takers’ list, ahead of spearhead Mitchell Starc.His economy rate of 9.03 runs per over doesn’t entirely reflect the suffocating effect he has on batsmen at times. In pursuit of a release, they try to go boom against him, but end up going bust. Ashwini Kumar, coach of Haryana, the team for which Chahal plays in the domestic circuit, said his “lower trajectory” bowling makes him very hard to hit.”If you look minutely at his bowling action, Chahal never gets the ball to bounce over knee height,” Ashwini told ESPNcricinfo. “For the batsman to be in his comfort zone while hitting a long ball he needs good bounce. For a tall batsman, Chahal’s ball reaches the toe end of the bat. You can hit him only when he bowls short, otherwise it’s difficult. That is a very important reason for his success in T20s.”It’s difficult to approximate how much Chahal’s background as a chess player – he has represented the country at the age-group level in the sport before giving it up for cricket in his teens – influences his thinking. However, his ability to roll with the punches and swiftly stand up to strike back is right out of blitz chess.During the rained-out Delhi Daredevils game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium last Sunday, Chahal was hit for three sixes in an over, by JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh. His first delivery to Duminy was liberally tossed up. He followed that up with a flatter one.Yuvraj, for his part, jumped out of the crease and hit him with the spin over deep midwicket. Chris Gayle, from short third man, gestured to Chahal that he kept the next ball outside off. Chahal appeared to be thinking on similar lines. He slowed the pace, flighted it well and Yuvraj’s punt wasn’t good enough to clear long-off.Chahal acknowledged the support he received from his team whenever he went for runs. “Virat [Kohli] and [Daniel] Vettori sir have given me a lot of confidence in that regards,” Chahal said.”Vettori sir tells us not to think about the ball you’ve been hit for. Forget about it and concentrate on the next ball. That really helps in a T20 game. Virat always tells me not to worry about being hit for sixes. He backs me to bowl whatever I want to bowl and keep a big heart.”Haryana coach Ashwini Kumar: “You can hit him only when he bowls short, otherwise it’s difficult. That is a very important reason for his success in T20s”•BCCIChahal hasn’t been a one-season wonder in the IPL. After moving from Mumbai Indians to Royal Challengers in 2014, he did well to claim 12 wickets at a creditable economy rate of 7.01. He has done better this year, both in terms of striking when required as well as preventing a scoring spree in the middle stages. Along with Starc and Harshal Patel, he has considerably strengthened what was once a not-so-robust bowling line-up.But, for all his success in the IPL, his returns in Ranji Trophy have been meagre. Chahal, 24, has played only 17 first-class matches for 32 wickets, since his debut in 2009. In the 2014-15 Ranji season, he played only two matches and picked up as many wickets. He turned out in two games only in the previous season as well, for three wickets.In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 tournament, too, he didn’t do a great deal this season, claiming two wickets from four games. Ashwini believed his underwhelming showing was a combination of factors.”You know that Amit Mishra is also part of the Haryana team, and from a team-composition point of view, there can’t be two legspinners unless one of them is an allrounder.”Amit has done well with the bat in the Ranji Trophy. Yuzvendra doesn’t bat that well. Also, Yuzvendra needs to mature further in the longer format.”Ashwini said Chahal’s strengths in T20 cricket went against him in the four-day format. “He doesn’t flight the ball much, which is why he is successful in T20s and not so much in four-day cricket. When you play T20, you have to bowl dot balls. This is the most-discussed thing. In four-day games, you need to play on the batsmen’s patience, lalchaana padta hai (you need to tempt them). You can’t attempt the dot-ball formula in four-day cricket.”Ashwin also felt Chahal didn’t appear very interested in the longer format, but said the fact that he received fewer opportunities might have been a factor. “He could probably be thinking about establishing his place in the side in the shorter formats, as he doesn’t get a regular run in the Ranji matches. Also the Lahli wicket [Haryana’s home ground] is pacer-friendly. So there are lots of factors.”He said Chahal’s success in the IPL, however, will rub on to other formats he plays. “He is a keen learner and picks up things quickly. He will mature with time and we want to make good use of him.”

Stats highlights from the Bangladesh v Pakistan Asia Cup match in Mirpur

Shiva Jayaraman04-Mar-2014

• This was Pakistan’s highest successful run chase in ODIs, beating their previous-highest chase of 322 runs against India in Mohali in 2007. This is the first time Pakistan have successfully chased a target of 300 or more against a team other than India. Pakistan had chased such targets successfully only four times in ODIs before this.
• Shahid Afridi muscled Pakistan to a win, yet again, with an 25-ball 59. His fifty in this innings came off just 18 deliveries – the second-fastest in ODIs. This is the third time Afridi has scored an ODI fifty in 18 deliveries. Sanath Jayasuirya holds the record for hitting the fastest ODI fifty – he took 17 deliveries to hit a fifty against Pakistan in 1996.
• Afridi was declared the Man of the Match for his performance – his 32nd such award in ODIs. He has equalled Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis at No. 3 in the list of players to have won the most such awards in ODIs. He is four clear of the next Pakistan player in the list – Saeed Anwar, who won 28 Man-of-the-Match awards in his career.
• Bangladesh’s score of 326 was their highest in ODIs and only the sixth time they scored 300-plus in an ODI. Their previous highest was 320, against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2009.
• Afridi scored his runs at a strike of 236 – the seventh-fastest fifty-plus score in a chase. The fastest fifty-plus innings in a chase also belongs to Afridi. He hit an unbeaten 18-ball 55 against Netherlands in Colombo in 2002.
• 232 runs were scored in the last ten overs of this match (both innings combined) – that’s the highest such aggregate in an ODI since 2000. The previous highest was the 229 runs scored in the famous ODI between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg in 2006.
• All the top four Bangladesh batsmen got fifty-plus scores in this match. This is the first such instance for Bangladesh in ODIs. Overall, there have been only 12 such instances in ODIs.
• Anamul Haque hit his second ODI century in this match and only the 13th by a Bangladesh opener. The last Bangladesh opener to hit an ODI hundred was Tamim Iqbal, who hit 112 against Sri Lanka in Hambantota last year.
• Shakib Al Hasan took 16 balls to hit 44 runs to finish Bangladesh’s innings on a high. His strike rate in this innings equalled the fastest innings of 20 or more runs by a Bangladesh batsman. Mashrafe Mortaza also had a similar score batting against Kenya in an ODI in 2006.
• The 150-run partnership between Imrul Kayes and Haque was Bangladesh’s first century opening stand in 32 innings against Pakistan. Their previous highest against Pakistan was an 88 run-stand between Javed Omar and Mehrab Hossain in Dhaka in 2002.
• This partnership was Bangladesh’s second-highest opening partnership in ODIs and only their second partnership of 150 or more for the first wicket. Mehrab Hossain and Shahriar Hossain added 170 runs against Zimbabwe in Dhaka in 1999, which is the highest opening partnership for them. Including this one, Bangladesh have had only eight 150-plus partnerships in ODIs.
• Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad’s century in this match was his fifth in ODIs and the first by a Pakistan batsman against Bangladesh in a chase. Shehzad has scored 223 runs in this Asia Cup at 55.75, already his second-highest aggregate in any series.
• Abdur Rahman had an extraordinary spell of bowling in this match, however brief. His first-three balls in the match were no-balled for being full tosses above the waist after which he was stopped from bowling further in the match. His three deliveries resulted in eight runs and his bowling figures for the match read 0-0-8-0. There have been three other such instances of a bowler showing up on the scorecard as having conceded runs without bowling a ball. The last such instance was when Bangladesh hit their winning runs off a no-ball from Kenya’s Colins Obuya, who was bowling his first ball in the match.
• In addition to Bangladesh’s openers, both the Pakistan openers also scored fifty-plus, making this only the tenth instance in ODIs when all four opening batsmen have hit fifty or more in a match. The last such instance was the India-Australia match in Jaipur last year.
• In all, eight fifty-plus scores were hit in this match, only the third time that these many were hit in an ODI. The last time this happened was in last year’s Jaipur ODI between India and Australia.
• Excluding Rahman, Misbah-ul-Haq bowled seven bowlers in this match and four of them went for 60-plus runs. This is only the third time ever that four of Pakistan’s bowlers went for 60 or more in an innings. The last such instance came against South Africa in Centurion in 2007.
• Bangladesh crossed 200 runs in this match for the fall of just one wicket. This was only the second such instance for them. The only other time Bangladesh have scored 200 runs before the fall of their second wicket in an ODI was against Zimbabwe in Dhaka in 1999.
• Saeed Ajmal went for 61 runs off his ten overs – his most expensive spell bowling in ODIs in the subcontinent. Remarkably though, Ajmal’s first six overs had gone only for nine runs. He had bowled three of those overs in the batting Powerplay, taking the wicket of Mominul Haque and giving away just five runs. In the death overs though, fortunes changed for Ajmal – he was hit for 52 runs off his remaining four overs, including nine boundaries.
  

  Saeed Ajmal’s spells

  	dot-balls	4s	6s	Runs	Balls	Econ	Wkts
  Spell 1	13	0	0	4	18	1.3	0
  Spell 2 (Powerplay)	14	0	0	5	18	1.5	1
  Spell 3 (last-ten)	4	8	1	52	24	13.0	1

And does Heather Knight hold the record for captaining the most women’s internationals?

Steven Lynch01-Apr-2025There were three innings of 97 in the space of two days last week, two in the IPL and one in a T20 international. Was this a first for T20s? asked Swaminathan Ramachandran from India
This was indeed a first. A score of 97 is fairly rare in T20 matches anyway – there had been only 53 such innings before last week’s rush. That started when Shreyas Iyer’s 97 not out helped Punjab Kings to victory over Gujarat Titans in the IPL in Ahmedabad on March 25. The following day, Tim Seifert matched that score as New Zealand beat Pakistan in Wellington, then Quinton de Kock also hit 97 not out as, back in the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.As this list shows, there had never previously been a day with two 97s in T20 matches worldwide, and just two instances of two in the space of three days – February 22-24 in 2023, and October 12-14, 2022, when both 97s were by Saurashtra’s Samarth Vyas.Jofra Archer conceded 76 runs in his four overs the other day, which I read was a record for the IPL. Who held it before him? asked Avikesh Krishna from India
Those painful figures for Rajasthan Royals’ Jofra Archer – 4-0-76-0 – came in just the second match of this IPL, against Sunrisers in Hyderabad. His first over went for 23 (including four fours and a six from Travis Head), his second cost 12 (there were two fours from Nitish Kumar), the third 22 (three sixes from Ishan Kishan) and his last went for 19, plus four byes – it included three fours from Heinrich Klaasen, and another from Kishan.The man who’s probably relieved he no longer holds the IPL record for the costliest analysis is the Indian seamer Mohit Sharma, who leaked 73 runs in his four overs for Gujarat Titans against Delhi Capitals in Delhi in 2024. The only other bowler to concede 70 in an IPL match is Basil Thampi, against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru in 2018.There have been seven costlier analyses than Archer’s in all T20 matches. Right at the top is the unfortunate Musa Jobarteh, whose four overs cost 93 as Zimbabwe piled up a T20I record total of 344 for 4 against Gambia in a T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Nairobi in 2024.Hasan Nawaz started with 0, 0, 105*, 1, 0 in his debut series for Pakistan•AFP/Getty ImagesHasan Nawaz made a century against New Zealand in the T20I series, but also picked up three ducks. Was this a record? asked Nick Peterson from New Zealand
The new Pakistan opener Hasan Nawaz had a strange start to his international career in the recent T20 series in New Zealand: he started with two ducks, hit an undefeated 105 in the third match in Auckland, and rounded the series off by being out for 1 and 0.Only two men have made fewer than 106 runs in a T20 series in which they batted at least three times and also scored a century. South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw made 0 (out first ball), 0 (second) and 100 not out (from 48) against India in 2022. And the New Zealander Colin Munro made 0, 101 and 0 in a home series against Bangladesh in 2017. Chris Gayle’s 113 runs in five matches (four innings) in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India included 100 not out against England in West Indies’ first match, in Mumbai.Heather Knight has just been stood down as England’s captain after about ten years. Did she captain in more international matches than anyone else? asked Alan Varney from England
Heather Knight captained England for the first time in June 2016, and in all skippered in 199 matches – nine Tests, 94 ODIs and 96 T20Is. It turns out that the only person to captain in more women’s internationals is the lady she replaced: Charlotte Edwards skippered in 220 – ten Tests, 117 ODIs and 93 T20Is.Five other women have captained in more than 150 international matches: Mithali Raj 195 (eight Tests, a record 155 ODIs and 32 T20Is), Meg Lanning 182 (4/78/100), Harmanpreet Kaur 154 (3/28/123), Chamari Athapaththu 153 (0/53/100) and Suzie Bates 151 (0/79/72).The men’s record is held by MS Dhoni, who captained in 332 international matches (60 Tests, 200 ODIs and 72 T20Is). Ricky Ponting skippered in 324 (77/230/17) and Stephen Fleming in 303 (80/218/5).I was gobsmacked to discover that Len Hutton batted for 292 overs during the course of his 364, the Test record at the time. Was this the most in a Test? asked Richard Lyle from England
When Len Hutton made 364 against Australia at The Oval in August 1938, both his score and England’s 903 for 7 were Test records (since broken). Hutton was out not long after lunch on the third day: in all he batted for 797 minutes and faced 847 balls.The painstaking researches of the Australian statistician Charles Davis reveal that Hutton was out to the third ball of the 292nd over of the innings, bowled by the great legspinner Bill O’Reilly, who was sending down the 82nd of his eventual 85 overs. This was also a record at the time, but was surpassed nearly 20 years later when Hanif Mohammad batted for more than 16 hours in scoring 337 for Pakistan against West Indies in Bridgetown in January 1958. Ball-by-ball information for this match can no longer be found, but the best guess is that Hanif survived until the 312th over of the innings.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Regardless of how Australia lead into a global event, they usually find a way of being in the mix when it matters

Andrew McGlashan30-Sep-20232:22

What role will Travis Head play at the World Cup for Australia?

World Cup pedigree: Australia have a proud history in the ODI World Cup having won the title five times, including a hat-trick in 1999, 2003 and 2007. They were also triumphant on home soil in 2015 led by Michael Clarke but fell at the semi-final stage in 2019 where they were steamrolled by the England juggernaut. They have, however, had a world title since then when they somewhat unexpectedly claimed the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. Regardless of how Australia lead into a global event, they usually find a way of being in the mix when it matters.Recent form: After looking promising, it has become indifferent. They started their September lead-in – which has arguably involved too many matches – by going 2-0 up in South Africa before the home side won three in a row to take the series. They were then comprehensively beaten in the first two matches against India before securing a consolation victory in Rajkot. The top order looks in pretty solid form, but there are question marks lower down and concerns over the death bowling.Selection: One late, and significant, change with Marnus Labuschagne, who wasn’t in the one-day plans a month ago, replacing the injured Ashton Agar after the selectors opted to carry an injured Travis Head through the first part of the tournament. Head, who broke his hand in South Africa, is not expected to be available until the midway point of the group stage. It leaves Australia with just one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa and a lot resting on Glenn Maxwell.Squad: Pat Cummins (capt), David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam ZampaMitchell Starc was atop the wicket charts in the last two ODI World Cups; a treble in store?•BCCIKey player: Mitchell Starc has a wonderful World Cup record having been the leading wicket-taker in 2019 and sharing the tag with Trent Boult in 2015. Australia have been short of new-ball wickets in the lead-in, which has often left them exposed at the death. So Starc’s ability to exploit the first few overs where the white ball might move could be vital. He will also be an important wicket-taking threat in the middle overs and an option at the death. However, he is coming off an injury having picked up a groin strain at the end of the Ashes, so has not had much game time leading into the tournament.Rising star: Overall, it’s a very a senior squad so this has to go to Cameron Green even though he has been around the scene for a few years. It’s been a difficult build-up for him after he suffered a concussion in South Africa, which ruled him out of three matches. He has struggled to find rhythm with the bat and was plundered for 103 off his 10 overs in Indore. Having opted for the IPL this year, where he went for mega bucks, he has only had a handful of nights at home since March. But there is little doubting his talent. Has anyone mentioned he has buckets for hands, too?World Cup farewells? With the T20 World Cup next June, the players from this squad who also feature in the 20-over side will make it to that event, but in terms of 50-over cricket, this tournament will mark a changing of the guard. David Warner will soon retire, and Steven Smith will be 38 by the next ODI World Cup, as will Maxwell. Starc will have called it a day, too, and probably Josh Hazlewood. Pat Cummins may not reach 2027, either. Mitchell Marsh is viewed as the next ODI captain but another four years could be a stretch.

After losing all their previous nine Tests in New Zealand, the visitors have changed the narrative with solid, fighting cricket in the first Test

Mohammad Isam03-Jan-2022Bangladesh carried all their doubts, poor form and an overall bad vibe from the disappointing home series against Pakistan last month to New Zealand. The prospects were bleak. But three days of solid, battling cricket in the first Test has changed the visitors’ outlook.They hold a 73-run lead against the Test world champions after the third day, and if Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto frustrated New Zealand on the second day, it was the turn of the more experienced Mominul Haque and Litton Das to do it on the third. The two put on 158 for the fifth wicket, and Yasir Ali and Mehidy Hasan Miraz didn’t allow a lower-order collapse after Litton’s dismissal. Before them, while he scored only 12, Mushfiqur Rahim batted close to an hour, facing 85 balls.Related

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“It was a fantastic partnership between Mominul and Litton,” team director Khaled Mahmud said after the third day’s play. “They batted very well against a New Zealand attack that always comes at you with discipline. Mominul played an excellent innings. He spent a lot of time in the middle, he left a lot of balls, like Joy had done earlier. Mominul is a more experienced Test cricketer than Litton but both batted superbly. By Allah’s grace, we are now in a position to dominate the match.”I think New Zealand bowled superbly with the second new ball, but we stuck to our plan. They weren’t giving us many freebies. They were bowling such tight lines that, at the start of the day, Joy and Mominul couldn’t even get singles. But we spent time at the crease, rather than thinking about runs. Mushfiqur [Rahim] and Mominul, both experienced players, did a great job in that situation. The execution was perfect.”Mominul and Litton got together with Bangladesh 203 for 4, in a strong position but just a bad hour away from undoing the good work. Mominul scored 88 in over four hours, facing 370 balls, while Litton’s 86 came in just under three hours, off 247 balls.

“I particularly remember telling them that we lost nine Tests in New Zealand. In 2017, we lost despite declaring on 595 in Wellington. I told them that we can’t keep losing here. One group has to stand out, so why not this group?”Khaled Mahmud, former Bangladesh captain and current team director

“We were definitely under pressure with a young team, lacking maturity in these conditions,” Mahmud said. “But hats off to the boys today. They batted really well. Litton is always good to watch. He was brilliant today; [he] always seems to have time while batting. He negotiated the fast bowlers so comfortably. He didn’t look under pressure. We know what he went through in the T20 World Cup, but we knew of his capability.”Shanto played an exciting, dominating innings. Young Joy, playing only his second Test, took his time in the middle. Mominul, too, batted for time, which was important for us in this Test match. They have ensured a 73-run lead, but there’s a lot of cricket left in this game.”Joy, who was dismissed for 78, said that he was reminded by all three of his batting partners that time spent at the crease would bring him runs.”I planned to play as many balls as possible. I didn’t want to focus on runs. I knew that I could score runs when I am set at the crease,” he said. “I had a good partnership with Shadman [Islam] and then another good partnership followed with Shanto . He also told me to be in control when I tried to become too aggressive. Mominul told me that playing a lot of dot balls was not a problem.”Khaled Mahmud: “We want to do well – even if we can’t win, we definitely want to draw this Test”•AFP/Getty ImagesMahmud is known in Bangladesh cricket circles as a good motivator. That side to him had to come to the fore on this tour, considering Bangladesh’s poor record in New Zealand.”I usually speak to everyone individually. I particularly remember telling them that we lost nine Tests in New Zealand,” he said. “In 2017, we lost despite declaring on 595 in Wellington. I told them that we can’t keep losing here. One group has to stand out, so why not this group? Why can’t we play better cricket?”Results will come later, but we can play with courage. These are tough conditions for every visiting side, but I felt that we could do well here. I tried to pass this on to this young team. Definitely, there was fear within us. We have five batters – Shadman, Joy, Shanto, Yasir and Litton – who are not very experienced in Tests. They all possess the ability to play well, but working in specific areas really paid dividends for us.”Mahmud said Bangladesh were looking forward to a positive result in the next two days, particularly if they bat deep and take a 150-plus lead on the fourth morning.”They [the players] have worked hard, did everything to get to this stage,” he said. “I still think it is too early to say anything in this game. We have two more days left. We want to do well – even if we can’t win, we definitely want to draw this Test.”

Happy Hump Day!

Let’s have some fun rooting for a pitcher’s duel in Chicago. Two pitchers with swing and miss stuff get the start today. Can they reward us with plus-money payouts? 

MLB Best Bets Today

Hunter Brown over 6.5 strikeouts (+125) at DraftKings

Yes, this K prop is high, but the Chicago White Sox have been striking out at a 26% clip vs. right-handed pitching since the first of June.

That’s the third-highest rate in MLB.

Even Framber Valdez, a lefty ground ball pitcher, fanned five last night.  Hunter Brown has been on fire lately, striking out seven or more in each of his last four starts. I’ll take the chance he makes it five in a row for this nice payout. 

Garrett Crochet over 6.5 strikeouts (+115) at DraftKings

I’m taking the over for Garrett Crochet on the other side of this game, too.

I’m expecting a low-scoring affair today. Crochet has been dominant all season, leading all of MLB with 12.67 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Astros are a very low K-rate team with a league-best 15.5% K-rate vs. left-handed pitching this season. However, this lineup is down Kyle Tucker and possibly Yordan Alvarez for the second day in a row. 

Jon Singleton, Yainer Diaz and Trey Cabbage will definitely whiff a few times, and Crochet has pitched through the sixth inning or longer in each of his last five starts. He also exceeded this prop in four of them. 

The former Australia allrounder was head coach of San Fransisco Unicorns in the MLC recently

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2025Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson has been appointed assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the IPL 2026 season, joining a team management that includes Abhishek Nayar (head coach) and Dwayne Bravo (mentor).ESPNcricinfo has learned that Watson and former New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee are new additions to the KKR coaching staff, which has been overhauled after the team finished seventh in IPL 2025. Southee has been juggling playing commitments in franchise cricket with a consultant role with England over the past six months.”It’s a great honour to be part of a franchise as iconic as Kolkata Knight Riders,” Watson said in a statement issued by KKR. “I’ve always admired the passion of KKR fans and the team’s commitment to excellence. I’m eager to work closely with the coaching group and players to help bring another title to Kolkata.”KKR is Watson’s second assignment as a coach in the IPL, having been deputy to head coach Ricky Ponting at Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022 and 2023. He recently left his position as head coach of San Francisco Unicorns in the MLC, where he had worked for three seasons. They had wanted him to take on a year-long role but Watson did not want to give up his broadcast and other coaching commitments.A highly-acclaimed T20 player turned commentator, Watson has been part of title-winning teams in the IPL, BBL and PSL. An MVP during Rajasthan Royals’ run to the title in the inaugural season in 2008, Watson finished his IPL career with Chennai Super Kings. He played a key role as an opener in CSK’s run to the title in 2018, scoring 555 runs – the second highest for the team – in 15 innings, including a century in the final. Watson also played two seasons for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2016 and 2017.