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Chennai Super Kings’ exceptional run of form has been built on the principle of unity, a theme also visible in the other team led by MS Dhoni

Nitin Sundar07-Apr-2011Big PictureChennai Super Kings’ exceptional run of form has been built on the principle of unity, a theme also visible in the other team led by MS Dhoni. While most sides used the 2011 auction as an opportunity to clean out the closet, Chennai focussed on minimising churn. The four best players were held back, and the franchise fought hard to repurchase the likes of R Ashwin, Doug Bollinger, Mike Hussey, Shadab Jakati and S Badrinath from the auction pool. With a solid bunch of performers at their disposal, and the added advantage of familiarity among their ranks, Chennai are primed for another good season.On-field success is only one half of Chennai’s story, though. Chennai is arguably the most successfully branded IPL franchises, with their PR campaign capturing the very essence of cricket on the streets and beaches of the city. Year after year, they come up with the most endearing promos, with everyone from Dhoni to Bollinger joining the Chennai layman in the chorus. The party will resume in full force at Chepauk when they stride out in their yellow jerseys on Friday.Key playersUntil famous bat-twirl after the winning six in the World Cup, the most enduring MS Dhoni image was the uppercut he landed on his own helmet after whacking Chennai into the 2010 IPL semi-finals. It was a rare show of emotion from a man who seldom loses his composure on the field. As wicketkeeper-captain, Dhoni is the team’s brains and the nerve-centre rolled into one. His perceptive use of R Ashwin with the new ball, and positioning of a very straight mid-off to snare Kieron Pollard in the 2010 final are now part of IPL folklore.Michael Hussey is an unusual choice at the top, yet Chennai’s decision to open with him ensures stability and a solid foundation for the muscular middle order to launch from. After a personally fulfilling Ashes, Hussey was laid low by a serious hamstring injury that kept him out of the initial stages of the World Cup. With Matthew Hayden missing in action this year, Hussey should face no hindrance in resuming his alliance with M Vijay at the top of the order. He will, however, join the party a little late after Australia’s one-day tour of Bangladesh.R Ashwin‘s prowess with the new ball, bowling to fields that are pulled in, is based on his accuracy. He may not be able to bowl six different balls in an over, yet he can get each one of them to land them on the same spot, and get the odd one to surprise the batsman by going away. Having picked up the carom ball by watching Ajantha Mendis bowling in Chepauk before he became an international sensation, Ashwin has become as lethal in its use as the inventor himself. Ashwin’s biggest strength, though, is not his variety, but his reluctance to over-use it.Big name inChennai have picked wisely in including Nuwan Kulasekara and Tim Southee for the new season. Their bowling attack in past editions often included three spinners, but this time they have two high-quality seaming options to fall back on. Both Kulasekara and Southee rely on exemplary seam position, and while Southee’s stock ball is the outswinger, Kulasekara specialises in mixing legcutters with huge induckers. Bollinger and Morkel are likely to be the first-choice fast bowlers, but Southee and Kulasekara could come into the picture as the tournament wears on.Big name outTwenty20 was clearly not Muttiah Muralitharan‘s format, yet he found a way to be effective, by going round the wicket and twirling his offspinners and doosras from the same spot around middle and off. He formed a formidable tweak-trio with Ashwin and Shadab Jakati, and Chennai – the team and the city – will miss his presence and personality, as much as his immense skills.Below the radarS Badrinath‘s India days might be behind him, but year after year he turns in stellar middle-order performances for Chennai. Badrinath’s methods will not fill up the stands – his high elbow, straight bat and along-the-ground shots are incongruous in this format, but he is the kind of man Dhoni backs. Badrinath’s domestic record speaks of a man whose appetite for runs borders on gluttony. He provides the stability in a middle order that features attackers like Raina, Morkel and Dhoni himself. Expect more of those typically unsung, unnoticed but invaluable gems from Badrinath this season.Last three seasonsChennai have been the most consistent IPL team, having made the semi-finals in each edition of the tournament. Not once was their passage into the last four straightforward – at one point in the 2010 season, they were languishing at seventh in a field of eight teams – but each time they managed to find a game-breaking performance to see them through trouble. In 2008, they had the upperhand for most of the final against Rajasthan before losing off the last ball. Their 2009 campaign was halted at the semi-final stage by Bangalore, powered by a cool innings from Manish Pandey. Chennai were unstoppable at the business end of the 2010 edition, and easily trumped a nervous Mumbai in the final.

Sussex returned to the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as Chris Nash’s maiden one-day century set up a 19-run victory over Kent at Canterbury

22-May-2011
ScorecardSussex returned to the top of Group A in the Clydesdale Bank 40 as Chris Nash’s maiden one-day century set up a 19-run victory over Kent at Canterbury.Nash hit an unbeaten 124 while Luke Wright scored 41 as Sussex set a total of 249 all out after being put in to bat. Rob Key top scored with 59 in reply but Kent were never able to keep up with the required rate as they suffered their third defeat in five games in the competition.Nash had made a first century of the season in the last round of County Championship matches against Somerset and carried on where he left off. He set the tone by crashing Azhar Mahmood for three boundaries in the first over and together with Ed Joyce put on 50 for the first wicket.Joyce was caught at mid off trying to hit James Tredwell’s first ball out of the ground but it did not halt Sussex’s momentum as Luke Wright came in to put on 77 with Nash for the second wicket.
Wright fell for 41 as he holed out trying to hit down the ground and it was left to Nash to hold together the Sussex innings.Nash brought up his 50 off 50 balls with seven fours and then hit Adam Ball for the only six of the match on his way to passing his previous best one-day score of 85.The 28-year-old completed his century with a single of James Tredwell but Sussex floundered in the last ten overs as they went from 180 for three to 249 all out, including losing four wickets for two runs in the final over.Kent’s reply was hindered when Joe Denly and Matt Coles fell in quick succession which left Key and Martin van Jaarsveld to rebuild their innings.They put on 48 together in cautious fashion before Nash pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss van Jaarsveld for 24 off the bowling of Monty Panesar. Rana Naved then dropped a simple chance at mid-off when Darren Stevens was just four and it looked like being costly as Stevens went on to hit 43 from just 37 balls.Rana made amend by trapping Stevens lbw and Kent’s hopes looked over when Key followed soon after for 59. Geraint Jones and Azhar Mahmood briefly threatened to set up a dramatic finish but both fell in successive balls to Yardy and Rana as Sussex ran out comfortable winners.

Veteran produces a sublime unbeaten century to guide WA home in a tricky chase of 206

Alex Malcolm26-Nov-2019It really was Shaun Marsh’s Cup.Australia’s one-day domestic competition’s title sponsor has nothing to do with Shaun or his famous cricketing family, for as much mirth as the possible link has provided. But the 36-year-old proved why he is still one of Australia’s premier domestic players carrying Western Australia to their 14th title with a magnificent unbeaten century to sneak past Queensland in the final at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.WA’s star bowlers Jhye Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile had set the game up claiming three wickets each to bowl Queensland out for 205 after winning the toss. Richardson, it was revealed, incredibly bowled under duress having hurt his previously injured right shoulder at training on Monday. The hosts were fortunate to make that many thanks to a brilliant 79 from Jimmy Peirson.Chasing 206, WA were 3 for 23 at one stage but Marsh guided his side home with an unbeaten 101 from 132 with 13 boundaries. It was Marsh at his sublime best, driving, cutting, and pulling with textbook assuredness on a surface where only two players passed 37 on either side.He got good support initially from Marcus Stoinis who made 37. Although the allrounder absorbed 62 deliveries and at one stage was 10 off 37 balls, Marsh kept the scoreboard moving. Stoinis eventually got going against the part-time spin of Matt Renshaw, but after clubbing a four and six he holed out in the deep. WA wobbled again slumping to 6 for 151 with 15 overs left when Cam Green fell to a stunning catch from Max Bryant diving to his left at backward point. But Marsh and Ashton Agar didn’t panic. They had to withstand a probing spell from Billy Stanlake who bowled sensationally without reward, finishing with 0 for 30 after beating the bat endlessly.Marsh cruised to his 9th one-day domestic century before Agar smashed a six to bring up the winning runs with two overs to spare.Shaun Marsh and Ashton Agar celebrate the winning runs•Getty Images

Earlier, Peirson salvaged the Queensland innings after Richardson and Coulter-Nile ripped through their top order.The quicks made the most of a surface with plenty of live grass after WA captain Ashton Turner won the toss. Richardson pinned Bryant lbw with a ball that nipped back sharply off the seam before Sam Heazlett chopped on off Coulter-Nile to leave the Queensland 2 for 8. Usman Khawaja weathered the storm and looked in sublime touch racing to 26 with two boundaries and a six. He looked untroubled, and every bit the joint player of the tournament alongside absent Queensland teammate Marnus Labuschagne, until Coulter-Nile found some extra bounce and nip to catch his outside edge. Richardson sucked Renshaw into driving on the up to have him caught at second slip before trapping Jack Wildermuth flush on the shin in front of middle stump.But from 5 for 56 after 14 overs Peirson and Bryce Street rebuilt. Street struggled for fluency scoring 29 from 72 balls with just one boundary but Peirson controlled the scoring with sharp footwork and good placement. Stoinis was particularly effective in tying up Street, delivering his 10 overs for just 30 runs. They shared a 46-run stand until Street fell to a stunning one-handed return catch by Agar. He dived to his right, his non-dominant hand, past the ducking non-striker Peirson to pluck the chipped drive.Peirson found allies in Mark Steketee and Matt Kuhnemann to lift the total up over 200. He fell for 79 in the final over, caught at deep fine leg hooking Coulter-Nile.Queensland had WA under enormous pressure at 3 for 23. Cameron Bancroft was out hooking Steketee, having replaced Josh Philippe at the top of the order and as the wicketkeeper, while D’Arcy Short was caught at mid-off failing to stay on top of a drive off Michael Neser. Turner was Neser’s second victim adjudged lbw to a delivery that seamed a long way back into the right-hander.But they couldn’t get Marsh. It was WA’s third title in seven years, and their first under coach Adam Voges in his second year.

England’s wicketkeeper is averaging just 23.14 since the start of the 2019 Ashes

George Dobell in Cape Town01-Jan-2020Jos Buttler has admitted he is “not quite performing to the standards” he would like with the bat in Test cricket.Butter is averaging just 23.14 since the start of the Ashes – a period of 14 innings in seven Tests – with one half-century (70 against Australia at The Oval). His average since he was recalled to the Test team in May 2018 is now 34.10, while his overall Test average, after 38 Tests, is 33. He has made just one century.ALSO READ: Pope fit and raring to make Test spot his ownNow Buttler concedes he is still “trying to work out” a way to play Test cricket with the natural aggression that has rendered him one of the world’s most dangerous limited-overs batsmen. And he has resolved to be “a bit more positive” in the future if the situation allows.”I feel like I’m not quite performing to the standards I need to,” Buttler said. “I’m trying to improve that and affect games in positive ways for England.”Since I’ve come back into Test cricket I’ve tried to trust my defence for longer periods of time. I’ve been able to do that on occasions. But [playing my natural game] is certainly something I’m trying to work out.”You can do a lot of work in the nets but I’m spending a lot of time thinking about the game when I’m sat in my room or trying to visualise things or work through them in my head. Moving forward I’ve got to play the situation, but I will try to be a bit more positive.”He doesn’t have to look too far for an example. For while Buttler made 12 off 39 balls in the first innings in Centurion, failing to marshal much resistance from the tail, his South Africa counterpart Quinton de Kock thumped 95 from 128 balls in the first innings and 34 from 37 in the second, to speed the game away from England.”Quinton played a really good knock and put pressure back on the bowlers,” Buttler said. “He tried to take the initiative and, watching that from behind the stumps, it resonated with me.”When you’re batting with the tail, you try to sum up situations and work out how best you can score. You work out your risk management.: what is too much risk; what is trying to push the game on.”Looking ahead to this Test, I want to look to be a bit busier and try to look a bit more on the positive side.”Jos Buttler has endured a tough run in Test cricket•Getty Images

While some have suggested Buttler would benefit from a position higher up the batting order to allow him time to build an innings, the England management believe that batting him at No. 7 allows him the freedom to play his familiar, aggressive game in the knowledge that he has limited before the lower-order are dismissed.He has batted everywhere from No. 5 (eight times) to No. 8 (twice) since his return to the Test side (he has batted 13 times at No. 6 and 15 times at No. 7) with little obvious change in strike rate or average. Overall, he averages slightly more at No. 7 (33.15, with a strike-rate of 56.77) than No. 5 (28.62; strike-rate of 53.62) with No. 6 (average 39.69; strike-rate 63.15) his best position.”It’s obviously nicer to be 300 for 5 than 100 for 5,” he said. “But you turn up and try to play the situation.”With Jonny Bairstow – who averaged just 18 in 2019 – also having lost form, there is not the pressure on Buttler’s position from within the squad that there might be. But Ben Foakes, who averages 41.50 from his five Tests and is, in the eyes of many, the best wicketkeeper available to England, in the background, Buttler will know neither he or his team can afford a sustained fallow period.

Indian openers put up team’s highest stand in the format, helping them clinch the first T20I by 84 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2019Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put up India’s highest partnership in women’s T20Is, helping them clinch the first game of the five-match series against West Indies by 84 runs in St Lucia. Their opening stand of 143 took India to 185 for 4, the highest by any side against West Indies in the format, after which the hosts were restricted to 101 for 9.After a quiet first over, 15-year-old Verma struck the returning Shakera Selman for two fours and a six in the second over, before launching Chinelle Henry for four fours and a six in the fourth over. At that stage, she was on 40 from just 15 balls.Mandhana, not outscored by her partners too often, took off in the third over by hitting three fours off Hayley Matthews, but Verma was on an 18-ball 43 at the end of the powerplay, while her senior mate was on 31 from the same number of balls. The total had reached 77 by that stage.The scoring rate fell a bit after the 11th over, but India were still eyeing a strong total, with the openers having brought up the 100-run stand within ten overs. Selman finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over, dismissing Shafali for a 49-ball 73, her highest score in a young career so far. Anisa Mohammed sent back Mandhana in the next over for 67, scored off 46 balls, and Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma fell cheaply after that. But a late impetus from captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy in the last two overs lifted India to their third-highest total in the format.It didn’t help West Indies that their fielders missed as many as four chances – three dropped catches and a missed stumping – against Mandhana, Natasha McLean missing two out at long-off; McLean also dropped Harmanpreet in the covers in the last over.Smriti Mandhana shapes to pull•PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP

“We definitely don’t want to remember tonight,” West Indies’ stand-in captain Mohammed said after the game. “Our fielding – we need to sharpen up. We can’t restrict a team to a low total if we are going to field like that. And, our batters, they needed to be there at the end, and not expect bowlers to chase 12-13 runs an over.”On that, the batting, West Indies sorely missed their captain Stafanie Taylor, who had scored 94, 20 and 79 in the three ODIs that preceded the T20Is but is out with an injury.West Indies lost three wickets inside the powerplay for just 33 runs. Matthews started the chase by hitting two fours off Deepti but fell in the second over to Shikha Pandey. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav took McLean out in the third over, while Pandey added one more to her tally when she dismissed Chedean Nation.With the required run-rate soaring, West Indies could not keep up, losing their last five wickets for just 23 runs. Shemaine Campbell finished as their highest runs scorer of the day with a 34-ball 33, while Pandey, Radha and Poonam Yadav finished with two wickets each.The match, though, had slipped from West Indies’ grasp well before that, in the first half itself. “We worked hard on our opening pair,” Harmanpreet said. “We did well today, especially Shafali Verma, because is young and she is giving so much contribution to the team, playing like a senior player. Smriti Mandhana also played really well, both of their contributions played a big role for us.”

Australia will tour Bangladesh for the first time since 2006 in April 2011, straight after the on-going World Cup, for a three-match bilateral one-day series

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2011Australia will tour Bangladesh for the first time since 2006 in April 2011, straight after the on-going World Cup, for a three-match bilateral one-day series. They are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on April 4, just two days after the World Cup final, and will play ODIs on April 9, April 11 and April 13, all at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.In accordance with the ICC Future Tours Programme, Test playing nations must tour each other at least once every six years, and Australia have toured Bangladesh just once since they attained Test status. That tour was in April 2006 and Australia won both Tests and all three one-dayers. The FTP had Australia scheduled to play two Tests this time around as well, but the Bangladesh Cricket Board have announced Australia will leave immediately after the three ODIs.One repercussion of the tour will be that the players from both teams’ squads will miss the first week of the IPL, which begins on April 8. As many as 36 current Australia players were sold to IPL franchises during January’s auction, while Shakib Al Hasan is the only Bangladesh player who is part of the Twenty20 tournament.Australia have had a busy last five months, having played series against India, Sri Lanka and England in the lead-up to the World Cup. Bangladesh have enjoyed a slightly more spread-out schedule, with a couple of one-day home series the only cricket they played in the six months before the World Cup.Bangladesh have beaten Australia just once in 16 one-dayers against them, back in 2007 in Cardiff. Since they last played Australia in September 2008, they have won 25 of their 53 one-day games, and have been on a good run at home, where they recently won series against New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

New head coach along with the team director Mike Hesson outline their vision for IPL 2020 and beyond

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2019Excerpts:
Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t made the playoffs for three seasons now. How can you turn it around?
Mike Hesson: We have spent a lot of time in the last two weeks looking at how we want to structure things as a support staff. With the structure we have got and people we’ve got around us, we’re well aware that we have to make a few tweaks in the squad to get the balance that we think we need moving forward. We are not going to talk about player names. Obviously, we are not going to give too much away, but there has certainly been a lot of behind-the-scenes thinking about how we want to structure things.ALSO READ – RCB overhaul: Kirsten, Nehra out, Hesson, Katich inHas there been any thought at all of looking at a different captain?
Simon Katich: Not at all.How will the team management set-up work in the new structure?
Hesson: I will be having input pre-game, but Simon and Virat will be in charge on game days in terms of the XI they put on the park. The dealings I had with both are inclusive as well. I am sure coaches have experience at certain venues against opposition, but it’s a collective agreement. But Simon and Virat will be in charge on game days.Kohli has led for the past seven seasons. The outside perception is that he calls the shots. Is that a strength or do you have any apprehensions about working with him?
Katich: From our point of view, we have been aligned about how we are going to go about things. We haven’t got that perception about Virat at all. Potentially there is a learning from that and the fact that what he has done in the past, maybe he has learnt from that and wants to go about things differently moving forward. But from what we’ve discussed with him so far, he has very much been aligned about how we want to move forward, and happy to take advice from our experience and how we see things.There are always going to be different opinions, but it is about what is best for the team and I think we have both (him and Hesson) spoken about it over the last couple of weeks. There’s no question, for us Virat is captain.PA Photos

How easy or difficult is it to talk to with superstar players like Kohli or Brendon McCullum (at New Zealand when he was head coach) to have an open discussion on decision-making?
Hesson: Simon, Virat and myself, everybody has been working together to this point and so far those relationships have been very good. There is a time and place for everything, but the three of us have to be brutally honest with each other behind closed doors around every decision.There will be decisions we all make where we might say: “hang on, what were we thinking there?” And it might not necessarily be saying you have done something wrong. It’s just asking for clarity on what you were thinking. I think this is a responsibility for all of us, to challenge the three of us as a leadership group to make sure we are getting the best out of each other. We are not going to be passive and not be afraid of having honest discussions. There is no value in that for anybody.Royal Challengers have never been short of talent. As a coach, how do you get that talent to work together?
Katich: A big part of it is identifying what sort of style of players will bat well with each other or potentially bowl well in partnerships together in different phases of the innings. So that’s something we are working through at the moment. But then, when it comes to a team’s style of play, you need to have guys with that character that they are prepared to put the team first over their individual needs of trying keep getting a game, or just potentially do well for the next auction.So that’s the balancing act of trying to put a squad together and that’s where the character side of it comes into it because yes, there are a lot of players out there with lots of talent but are they playing in winning teams and how are they contributing in being part of winning teams? So that’s all the things we have to weigh up when we are making these judgments over the next few months.How do you make sure the Chinnaswamy pitch will favour RCB so that they utilise home advantage, a crucial determining factor in making the playoffs?
Katich: It was probably the first thing I mentioned when I first came on about the job, asking the question about the wicket because I have seen it evolve over the last four years. Obviously in 2017, it was a different type of wicket given what happened with the drainage. And obviously, it affected the balance of the team because it was playing differently to what the team had been used to in the past.So that was one of the first questions asked because you want to really utilise your home ground advantage for seven games, and if you make it a fortress which others teams have done at their venues, whether it’s at Chennai (Chennai Super Kings) or whoever it is, that becomes a big determining factor whether you can make it to the playoffs. So that’s one thing we certainly will be taking into account and making sure that it suits the balance of our team. We have to understand how it is going to play.

Smith united with Labuschagne, his like-for-like replacement in more ways than one

Daniel Brettig in Manchester04-Sep-2019First, there was Steven Smith. At Edgbaston and Lord’s, through three consecutive innings after his return from the Newlands scandal ban, he drove England’s bowlers to distraction. They tried all manner of plans, field placings, too many really, without much at all in the way of success. Two centuries went by and a third beckoned, even as Jofra Archer cranked up his pace on an up-and-down pitch, angling the ball back down the slope.Watching, waiting, anticipating and perhaps dreaming a little, was Marnus Labuschagne. No-one in the Australian squad more closely resembled Smith’s voracious pursuit of batting knowledge, skill and method, with both as likely as each other to keep teammates awake in the middle of the night with the sound of their bats tapping on hotel room carpet, miming shots for the next day. Labuschagne was watching closely when Archer homed in on Smith, felt the jolt alongside 28,000 spectators, and rushed for a vantage point to see if he was ok.Struck down but not out, Smith returned briefly, distractedly, having passed concussion tests in the immediate aftermath of the blow. He did not fare as well the following morning, and as he netted in reserve on the Nursery Ground ahead of the final day’s play, Labuschagne was given the word from the captain, Tim Paine: he was in as Smith’s substitute. Having removed one obstacle, England found another immediately. Labuschagne, too, was hit by Archer, but only on the helmet grille. His resultant half-century scrounged a draw.More was to come at Headingley, in two innings from Smith’s customary post at No. 4. Thrice Labuschagne passed 50, runs that could have, indeed should have, been enough to secure an Australian victory at Leeds and retained the Ashes there and then. If he was the beneficiary of several dropped chances in a second innings of 80, his first-day contribution of 74 out of 179, when conditions were at their hardest, more than compensated for this good fortune. At the end, cruelly, one of Ben Stokes’ match-winning sixes floated a matter of centimetres beyond Labuschagne’s hands on the boundary.Watching it all was Smith, leavening his pain at the result with appreciation of its extraordinary circumstances. Each day of the Leeds Test he gradually increased his level of activity, batting under the studied eye of the team doctor Richard Saw, before facing pace bowlers and taking part in a tour match against Derbyshire. Throughout, he tried to get used to the addition of a protective stem guard to the back of his helmet, even though it wade him so claustrophobic as to feel as though his head was inside an MRI machine. Nets against throwdowns were deemed, subconsciously, as more useful preparation than match batting against Derbyshire spin.In Derby, Smith and Labuschagne played together and did not bat together, but they did not have long to wait. Chosen and Nos. 3 and 4, displacing Usman Khawaja, they trained together pre-match, Smith sidearming balls down at Labuschagne, who also enjoyed the rare sensation of having Steve Waugh clean mud out of his spikes. “A bit surreal, I had Steve Smith throwing sidearms to me for 30 minutes,” he said. “I love talking to him about the game and learning off him, obviously a great experience and a great player. I’m taking it all in as much as I can.”For all the shuffling of Australia’s top order to try to secure a better start, none could be found at Manchester. Again, the openers were separated before the score was into double figures, David Warner edging Stuart Broad when trying to leave him alone for the second time in the series. Marcus Harris, looking a little more comfortable, was nonetheless figured out pretty quickly by Broad, who quite obviously targeted the line of the stumps and won an lbw verdict before the score had reached 30.Also read: The key to Broad’s edge over WarnerLabuschagne had looked comfortable once more from the moment he arrived, leaving the length ball well outside off stump and scoring from anything that drifted either full and wide or too straight onto his stumps and pads. He had spoken before the series of sculpting a game very much around making lots of adjustments within lots of plans for every bowler in every set of conditions, eschewing the time-honoured Australian line of “playing my natural game” for something more scientific.Smith, of course, had rather pioneered this method among contemporary Australian batsmen, keeping at least one step ahead of the world’s bowlers for most of the last six years. Together, they were a hive mind of ideas, adjustments and tweaks, all done within the context of a moving ball and an English pitch. They have one inbuilt advantage, that of being right-handed and so denying Broad and Archer the chance to bend the ball away from them from around the wicket in the manner Warner, Harris and Khawaja have had to contend with, but the rest is skill and forethought.Perhaps the most obvious counter offered up by Smith was in how he played Archer’s bouncers, choosing to ensure he took evasive action to the off side of the ball, to eradicate the chance of him being hit by a delivery that follows him as he tries to sway back away from it. If the Old Trafford pitch was not yet a speedy one, and Archer was somewhat short of his best, the bouncer caused Smith zero trouble at all, leaving Joe Root and company with yet more thinking to do. At the other end, Labuschagne could only admire it.Steve Smith (right) and Marnus Labuschagne bat together at last•Getty Images

“One thing he’s very good at [is problem solving], I see that at the other end but I think you can see that as a spectator,” he said. “When different guys come on, how he changes, different guards, the way he bats, different pre-movements and I think that’s what makes him the best in the world. He’s always one step ahead and thinking ahead, not waiting, not being reactive, he’s being proactive, which makes him very hard to bowl to because he’s always thinking ahead.”We were constantly talking out there about what the bowlers are trying to do, what he’s trying to do and we’re thinking similarly and trying to think about where they’re trying to get us out and stuff like that. Always trying to learn off everyone really, it doesn’t matter whether your’e a batter or bowler, just trying to learn different things off different people and trying to make sure you’re always open to learning off anyone.”It was good fun, good to have some time. I’d never batted with him before so it was a good experience to see how he goes about it and learn from him out there.”Late in the day, heavy winds swept through a shower that was intense enough to have the umpires virtually suspend play, only for the same wind to have it disappear so quickly that Craig Overton, having twice stopped in his run to the wicket due to the rain, ended up bowling uninterrupted. So stop – start was the day that it looked made to ruin a batsman’s concentration, but Labuschagne’s well is clearly deep. When Overton did finally bowl, he dabbed the resultant delivery neatly down through third man to the boundary, and at the end of the over walked down the pitch gesticulating repeatedly how the ball had skidded off the surface.It was a mannerism instantly familiar – not from Labuschagne, but from the man at the other end. Amid the broken nature of this wet and windy day, Labuschagne and Smith were the ideal men for Australia to have in the middle, not only as their leading run-makers this series but as two cricketers never happier than when cocooned at the batting crease. And even though Labuschagne did allow one through his guard in the closing overs, granting Overton access to the top of the off stump, Australia had the platform for the 300-plus score coach Justin Langer has so craved this week.A deal reportedly struck between Labuschagne and Smith after Edgbaston – for the younger man to clean up Smith’s bag at the end of each Test in return for a couple of the former captain’s bats – may need revision should this century stand be the bulwark of the victory Australia need. There will be a few other members of the Australian top six who, on the basis of their runs together, might do well to clean up the bags of Smith and Labuschagne both.

January has been a worrying month for Leeds United supporters mostly for reasons off the pitch.

The whole spygate saga has had some feeling uneasy as they wait to see if the club are punished in any way, while Jack Clarke has constantly been linked with a move away from Elland Road this month.

According to Sky Sports, Southampton, among other teams in the Premier League, are keen on signing the 18-year-old winger in this transfer window. However, with deadline day fast approaching and a big player having seemingly cooled their interest, things are now looking good for Leeds.

The Breakdown

The Evening Standard reports Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is not fully convinced with Clarke, which will come as a huge relief to Leeds.

The Yorkshire club will undoubtedly fancy their chances of fighting off a side like Southampton but, with Tottenham, it becomes a different ball game.

Given how well the developments of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Harry Winks among others have gone, joining the north London club, who now find themselves among the Premier League elite, will sound like an attractive proposition to another young, talented English footballer such as Clarke.

With a transfer to Tottenham now seemingly unlikely, though, Leeds supporters should be able to rest easy, or at least until the summer.

Whatever the case, Clarke looks set to remain at Elland Road for the time being and, at 18, there is no need for him to rush and force a move, especially when you are already getting a good football education from an astute coach like Marcelo Bielsa.

Reports by Takvim earlier this week claimed that Newcastle United have joined the growing list of suitors emerging for Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who could allow Steve Bruce to say goodbye to Karl Darlow this summer.

It is thought that the Toon sent scouts to observe Bayindir in action against Gaziantep on Monday night, where they were joined by representatives from Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and AFC Ajax.

Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield United and several Bundesliga outfits have also previously been credited with approaching Fenerbahce over a move for Bayindir, who the Super Lig giants were claimed to value at £12.5m last year.

The Yellow Canaries’ asking price has since risen in line with the heightened interest, along with Bayindir saving the Istanbul side’s blushes on numerous occasions and establishing a place in the Turkish national side.

Bayindir has kept 12 clean sheets over 34 appearances across all competitions this season, including shutting out Trabzonspor and Galatasaray, while starting all but one of Fenerbahce’s Super Lig fixtures.

His efforts have impressed Oktay Derelioglu greatly, with the ex-Besiktas striker telling Hurriyet last month: “In my opinion, the best squad of the league is in Fenerbahce. But if it were not for Altay Bayindir, the team could have been around 48-49 points.”

Instead, the Yellow Canaries are second in the Super Lig standings on 66 points, four behind leaders Besiktas and four clear of third-placed Galatasaray, with seven games to play.

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Fenerbahce would be expected to demand in excess of Bayindir’s TransferMarkt valuation of £12m to sell the shot-stopper this summer, but Newcastle sealing a deal against the widespread rival interest could see Bruce land a suitable replacement for Darlow.

Darlow has been backed to quit Newcastle at the end of the season after losing the number one jersey to Martin Dubravka, and has since failed to regain the role from the Slovakian.

Bruce had entrusted Darlow with guarding the Magpies’ net for each of their opening 25 Premier League fixtures this season and proved to be one of the Toon’s more consistent performers, yet was ousted after criticism for his efforts in defeat to Manchester United.

His performances between the sticks even led to suggestions of an England call-up, having started the season with a sublime showing at Tottenham Hotspur and later having been the star of the show to keep Liverpool at bay in December.

The handling of his becnhing angered Darlow and is expected to see the 30-year-old look to force through a move away from St. James’ Park, which would leave Bruce needing to sign cover capable of offering the same impact if called on.

Bayindir may be just the man having been lauded for his importance in Fenerbahce claiming around 20 more points than they would have been expected to claim without the 23-year-old, who commands the goal line at 6 ft 5 and could be a Toon star for the next decade.

AND in other news, Newcastle land huge boost in race to sign “intelligent” teen with five goals this season…