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Matt Parkinson has admitted he was “gutted” to be left out of England’s white-ball squads at the start of the summer and that he hopes his performances throughout Pakistan’s tour can prove he can play in the same team as Adil Rashid at the T20 World Cup in October.Parkinson was overlooked for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka last month, with Liam Dawson preferred as England’s third spin option. Eoin Morgan, their limited-overs captain, explained at the time that Dawson’s versatility and his ability to bowl in the powerplay had been key factors in him earning selection, but Parkinson admitted that he was so disappointed about his omission that he had not asked for any feedback.”Obviously I was gutted,” he said on Monday. “I didn’t ask for any feedback – I was sort of hoping it was about letting me play a bit in the Blast, and not come and carry drinks. That was how I tried to look at it. Sometimes if you look at things too closely, you can get down very easily, and I think I probably used it as momentum to performance for Lancashire.”It’s funny how cricket works. A month ago, I probably would never have thought I’d have played for England this summer, so to have played for the past two weeks have been great – if you’d told me two weeks ago I’d have played five internationals for England this summer and taken some wickets I’d have probably laughed at you. I think the reason I’ve done well is because I tried to use it as a bonus. I didn’t really have this on my radar.”Matt Parkinson was overlooked for Sri Lanka’s tour last month•Getty Images

Parkinson’s success in Sunday’s 45-run win – he took 1 for 25 in four overs and conceded a single boundary while defending a score of 200 – formed part of an unprecedented, spin-heavy England strategy, which saw him, Rashid and Moeen Ali bowl 11 overs between them to strangle Pakistan’s run chase. It was the first time that Parkinson had played in the same England team as another frontline legspinner, and he said he hoped that his success in tandem with Rashid demonstrated their complementary skillsets.”I’m used to playing with spinners at Lancs – it’s a philosophy we use there,” he said. “We bowl spin through the middle and to do that with England yesterday was awesome. A lot gets highlighted about how slowly I bowl – [Rashid] bowls faster than me, he uses his googly more than me. I think we are different and I think that’s why yesterday worked so well: from each end it was different and they couldn’t just line up one of us.”Moving forward, I would love to play with Rash. I don’t think it’s always feasible, but I’d like to think the performances I’ve put in this week will only aid us going forward. The best thing about yesterday was the pressure we had on them: all three spinners didn’t really bowl a bad ball, and I think it was 11 overs, 5 for 80-odd [87] and that only got ruined at the end by some slogging.Related

• Eoin Morgan: England 'continually monitoring different guys' for spots in T20 World Cup squad

• 'Sack it, I'm going to try and rip it' – Matt Parkinson on his ball-of-the-century contender

• Matt Parkinson: 'I don't just want to be in England squads on potential'

• Ben's Babes – the last-minute call-ups in England's emergency ODI squad

• England spinners get to grips with parched Headingley pitch in T20 World Cup dry run

“To have that bowling at the other end is great, and probably pushes me on as well. I think, ‘Rash has bowled a great over, and I need to bowl well here as well’. Hopefully I’ve performed well enough for England to consider playing two legspinners again. I know Rash is number one and an absolute gun bowler – probably the best spinner in the world – but I’d like to think this week has helped me push my case forward.”After a bright start in Friday’s first T20I at Trent Bridge, Parkinson conceded 36 runs in his final two overs to end with 0 for 47 as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan targeted the short midwicket boundary. He stuck to his strengths at Headingley, tossing the ball up and focusing on flight and drift rather than the speed gun, which has been a concern for him in the past (he is among the slowest bowlers recorded in international cricket).”Trent Bridge is a tough place to bowl – you need wickets early really to stem the flow,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I relaxed a bit but I thought I could search for a wicket, got full and that’s when I got banged into the stands. That was a good learner and I used it at Headingley.”In the past I’ve probably thought about [speed] too much. In South Africa [in early 2020] there was a lot written about it and I probably let that affect me – looking up at the board a lot, trying to see if I could push 47mph/76kph.”I’ve just embraced it really – we had a chat [earlier in the] summer about it and I said I’d like to be the only bowler that does it this way. It’d be pretty cool not to have to conform to what other spinners do – to be niche. It might be difficult and on some grounds you’re going to struggle but I’d like to think when there’s a little bit there that I can stick to that.”

India captain Virat Kohli and batting coach Sanjay Bangar have rued the shot selection of their line-up, saying the batsmen let the team down in their narrow 11-run loss to West Indies in the fourth ODI in Antigua. Chasing 190, India were steered by opener Ajinkya Rahane’s 60 and a 114-ball 54 from MS Dhoni. But Jason Holder’s 5 for 27, that included four wickets in the last five overs, bowled India out when they needed 14 runs from the last over.”We bowled really well to restrict them to 189,” Kohli said after the match. “Our shot selection wasn’t up to the mark, losing crucial wickets at crucial stages. You’ve got to keep up the momentum through the game. Credit to the West Indies bowlers, they created those dot balls that induced those mistakes. The pitch felt a bit two-paced, apart from that I don’t think there was anything else in the pitch. We faltered with the bat and that can happen in this game. We just have to put this behind us and come back fresh for the next game.”Apart from Rahane and Dhoni, no other India batsman in the top five reached double figures as Shikhar Dhawan fell for 5, Kohli for 3 and Dinesh Karthik, who came in for an injured Yuvraj Singh, for 2. In the lower order, too, no batsman crossed 20 as India struggled to get the runs ticking in the middle overs, scoring only 54 between the 21st and 40th overs.”It (the pitch) kept getting slower and slower because shot-making wasn’t really easy and those have been the nature of wickets we have seen so far because, again, we are playing on the same track [we played on] just two days ago,” Bangar explained later. “So the wicket kept getting slower and slower, we didn’t really bat to our potential because it was a gettable score. I just felt that batsmen let the team down. When Hardik [Pandya] got out it was still run a ball, when Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got out, it was still run a ball, so in these situations shot selection was really crucial. And at times I just felt that they erred in that.”Plan was definitely for someone to bat deeper into the innings and that’s what Ajinkya did till the time he was given out. Till that time we were really on course and we also lost couple of wickets after Ajinkya, even Kedar got out to a good delivery. Those wickets in the middle overs actually pushed us back and the run rate kept on creeping higher and higher.”We encountered this situation even in the previous game where we lost couple of wickets in the first 10 overs. But we still managed to get to 260 on a wicket which was very very damp. Suffice to say that we’ve been playing on some wickets which have been difficult wherein some wickets have been damp. So shot-making was a bit difficult but credit to them that they executed their plans really well. I just felt that it was a very very gettable score.”A lot of questions will be asked of Dhoni’s innings, as he brought up his half-century off 108 balls, the slowest by an Indian batsman in ODIs since 2001. Even though he had scored an unbeaten 78 off 79 balls in the previous match, on Sunday he started cautiously to provide some stability after India lost early wickets but failed to see them through by hardly taking any risks. Bangar said it was difficult for Dhoni to play with freedom when the batsmen after him did not give him able support.”See, you need to assess the conditions. At times you need to play the situations well and when you’re batting higher up the order, which MS is doing, and with the kind of depth that we have at No. 6, 7 and 8, and when they don’t really come off, he can’t play with the kind of freedom that he should. It all boils down to how the batsmen at the other end are also batting and how many wickets we have in hand, because one of our plans is to not lose too many wickets in close intervals and when the wickets fall, we try to rebuild.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dinesh Karthik’s fluent 94 set up India’s massive win•IDI/Getty Images

Bangladesh, who face England in the Champions Trophy opener on June 1, collapsed spectacularly, falling to 22 for 6, before eventually getting bowled out for 84 in their chase of 325 against India in the warm-up game at The Oval. After allrounder Hardik Pandya had clattered an unbeaten 80 off 54 balls to propel India to 324, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ripped through Bangladesh’s top half with the new ball. The seamers utilised the overcast conditions, and extracted sharp movement and bounce from a pitch that had hitherto appeared benign, taking three wickets each.The procession began when Soumya Sarkar slashed away from his body at an Umesh delivery that straightened in the corridor. Sarkar appeared confused when the Indian fielders went up for a caught-behind appeal, walking down the track to consult Imrul Kayes about a possible review, before quickly realising there weren’t be any available. Perhaps, it was an early sign of what was to come for Bangladesh, who would soon lose Kayes and Shakib Al Hasan to misguided hook shots.Sabbir Rahman had his stumps rattled by a full inswinger, while two vicious deliveries that climbed from a length took the outside edges of Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain. The chase had effectively ended with only 45 balls bowled. Mehedi Hasan, who had earlier bowled an economical spell (9-1-39-0), offered resistance with 24, but could not find enough support from the other end.India had lost the toss, but Virat Kohli was happy at being put in. Shakib stood-in as captain in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal, who were both rested ahead of Thursday’s fixture against England. Bangladesh’s intention was to give their bowling line-up a lift after they had failed to defend 341 against Pakistan on Saturday.Rohit Sharma, who last played for his country in October 2016, opened alongside Shikhar Dhawan. He, however, lasted only three balls before dragging a short and wide ball from Rubel Hossain onto his stumps. At the other end, Mustafizur Rahman troubled Dhawan outside the off stump, before inducing a loose shot from Ajinkya Rahane – pushed down to No. 3 on Tuesday – and disturbing his stumps via the inside edge.Dinesh Karthik, streaky throughout his nine-ball duck in the previous warm-up game against New Zealand, started tentatively again before finding his timing. He strung together a 100-run stand for the third wicket with Dhawan. The stand, though, ended when the opener played one shot too many against left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam, hoicking him straight to midwicket after hitting 10 runs off the first three balls of the 23rd over.Karthik, dropped on 29, brought up his fifty in the 26th over, before shifting gears, getting his next 43 runs off only 26 balls. Karthik had to retire six short of a hundred, having staked his claim for a middle-order spot in India’s XI. Yuvraj Singh, who missed the previous warm-up match because of viral fever, did not bat in this game, but the lower-middle order fired.Kedar Jadhav, who did not play against New Zealand as well, made 31 off 38 balls at No. 5. Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja then dominated the last 15 overs. Hardik motored along positively, picking the gaps when he couldn’t find the boundaries, eventually showing his ability to finish the innings with four powerful sixes. Jadeja’s stay wasn’t as fluent. Apart from a release shot that flew over long-on, Jadeja struggled to rotate the strike and his 36-ball innings yielded only 32.

Perth’s new stadium will not host an Ashes Test this summer and may miss the 2017-18 cricket season altogether after the West Australian government confirmed there was no chance of the project being completed in time for the third match between Australia and England in mid-December.Having expressed optimism about the Ashes Test being held at the stadium as recently as Monday, the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland admitted disappointment at being told that such a scenario had little basis in reality when meeting with WA government ministers and stadium management in Perth on Tuesday.”Well I guess it’s good now we have some certainty around where the Perth Test match is going to be played this year as part of the Ashes series,” Sutherland said in Perth. “It’ll be played here at the WACA Ground across the river. We received advice yesterday in meetings with government, [WACA CEO] Christina Matthews, [WACA president] Ken Michael and myself received the news that the new Perth Stadium wouldn’t be ready for the Ashes Test match.”Coming over here to Perth on this trip, we did know that it needed to be finished ahead of time and everything needed to come together, but it was still disappointing. We were really hoping that the Test match could be played at this magnificent new stadium. Nonetheless there’s lots to look forward to, with tickets to go on sale very shortly.”In contrast to CA’s hopes for the stadium to host an Ashes Test, or at very least the ODI between Australia and England on January 28 next year, the state government could only confirm the venue will be ready in time for an Ed Sheeran concert to be played in early March ahead of next year’s AFL season. Either way, the WACA Ground looks set to host not only the Ashes match but also the BBL and WBBL fixtures for the Perth Scorchers.”The meetings we had yesterday led us to believe it is still a very strong chance that the ODI on Sunday the 28th of January next year will be played at the new Perth Stadium,” Sutherland said. “I was very fortunate to have a tour of the new stadium yesterday and it really is exciting to see an absolutely brilliant, state-of-the-art sporting stadium – Perth fans don’t yet know what they have been missing out on.”At this stage the way the timing works it’s probably unlikely that any of the Big Bash League or Women’s Big Bash League matches will be played at the new stadium. There is a slight chance that if we get to finals time that the final could be played at the new Perth Stadium, and we know West Australians like to think the final’s played in Perth every year, but let’s wait and see with that. It certainly would be wonderful.”The stadium has been subject to numerous construction delays in recent months, largely related to a footbridge to be erected across the Swan River, easing access from Perth’s CBD to the Burswood location of the venue. WA recently voted out the Liberal government of Colin Barnett, leaving the endgame in the hands of Labor.”The idea of an Ashes Test opening the Perth Stadium was only ever a Colin Barnett thought bubble. The scheduled opening has always been the start of the 2018 AFL season and that is what we’re working towards,” the WA sport and recreation minister Mick Murray said.”Hosting the Ashes Test at the new stadium would have been a spectacle, but unfortunately it’s just not possible and the State Government is now working to correct the problems we have inherited. Confirmation of the Ed Sheeran concert in March 2018, just ahead of the first AFL match is a fantastic outcome for Western Australians, and we will continue to investigate the possibility of earlier events.”

Hampshire opener Michael Carberry marked his return to first-class cricket after being diagnosed with cancer by scoring a century against Cardiff MCCU at the Ageas Bowl.Carberry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour last July and missed the second half of the season. He returned to training shortly before Christmas and was part of Hampshire’s pre-season tour to Barbados last month where he showed good form.On the first day against Cardiff he opened the batting, scoring 100 off 121 balls before falling to David O’Sullivan and was given a standing ovation as he walked off.Last week, Carberry issued a statement thanking people for their support and looking ahead to the season.”I would like to thank my family, the club, the supporters and my team-mates worldwide for all the kind messages of support and love through another very tough time in my career and life,” he said.”There is still a long way to go to being ‘recovered’ fully, but the outpour of support from the cricket family has helped massively in getting me back playing, and I’m looking forward to another great summer with Hampshire.”Carberry has played six Tests for England including all five on the 2013-14 Ashes tour where he was England’s second-highest run-scorer behind Kevin Pietersen.

Derbyshire have announced that they are “no longer pursuing” a deal to bring Marlon Samuels to the club. Samuels revealed in an interview last week that he had been offered a contract “worth £120,000-130,000 a year” to sign as a Kolpak player for Derbyshire, while expressing his frustration with West Indies’ selection policies.Samuels was left out of the ODI squad for West Indies’ series with England but was said to be reluctant to go down the Kolpak route, as it would bar him from international cricket. However, Derbyshire have now withdrawn their interest.A statement on the club’s website said: “Derbyshire can confirm it has been in contact with West Indies international Marlon Samuels and his agent regarding opportunities at the club.”The club remains committed to exploring all options to strengthen the side ahead of the 2017 season. However, we have a number of routes available and, in view of recent events, the club is no longer pursuing Marlon Samuels.”Samuels, 36, was not selected for the England ODIs after opting to miss the majority of the WICB’s Regional Super 50 competition in order to play in the Pakistan Super League. He was critical of the board for not showing more loyalty after a 17-year international career that has seem him play more than 300 times for West Indies.”I’ve got a Kolpak deal on my plate which I’m contemplating,” he said of the offer to play county cricket. “It’s a three-year deal with Derbyshire. Worth probably £120,000-130,000 a year. The money is not the issue at the moment, I’ve been playing international cricket the last 17 years so have set myself the right way. This is about principle, about being loyal.”

Mitchell Johnson has mellowed and is unmoustachioed these days, but the menace remains. That much was clear at the Waca as he blasted Perth Scorchers into their fifth BBL final in the competition’s six seasons. After claiming an astonishing 3 for 3 in his four-over new-ball spell, there was no way back for Melbourne Stars.Johnson is no Samson; he awoke on Tuesday morning with facial hair, but lopped it off. “I had a beard thing on this morning but decided it was too gross, it was really bad and so I trimmed it down. Maybe I got through the breeze a bit quicker.”Johnson cited the absent moustache as a reason he is friendlier these days; of Kevin Pietersen, who arrived at the crease for the second ball of the match, he said: “I was probably too friendly to him.”He also believes, contrary to what his bowling figures might claim, that a lot of his aura has vanished since the end of his international career. “I get in the moment and enjoy it, but I don’t feel I’m as devastating as I was.” And he simply does not feel as quick either. “It didn’t feel like 146 [kph],” he scoffed, when told what he had clocked on the speed-gun.”I have moments where I get really excited but I don’t think it will ever be the same as what it was a few years ago,” he said. “I said that at the start of the tournament – I won’t be the same Mitchell Johnson that I was three years ago or 10 years ago. It’s today and this is how I am. I felt a little slower than normal in this game, but that suited the wicket perhaps. I celebrate like I was 20, so that’s a good thing. I cherish the game and love it.”Today’s performance must have been one of those “moments” that Johnson refers to. Rob Quiney and Luke Wright were dismissed in the first over, a maiden, while KP went in his third. He did not concede a run off the bat until his 18th ball. He had looked menacing against Hobart Hurricanes on Saturday too, hurrying out key men Tim Paine and Ben McDermott. Perhaps it is because he is relaxed these days, and a bit more philosophical too.”I still want to win and have that hunger, but I’m probably stressing about the game a little less than I was,” he said. “Coming into this I was laid back, excited but normally I’d be stressing out and thinking about what I need to go, going through all the batters. I haven’t looked at all the batters before this game and the last game. The hunger is still there.”It doesn’t matter how you get them in this game,” he said of the Quiney wicket, caught at fine leg off the opening delivery of the match. “As bowlers, you go for big sixes and get little inside-edges, so it was nice to have luck go my way first ball of the over. And it really just set the tone. That’s what I have enjoyed about getting the new ball – there is that little extra pressure, I guess, as an opening bowler, you want to get quick wickets up front, but to do it like that was very enjoyable.”I feel in good rhythm. My cues and everything I used to think about feel good, and that has taken a couple of games to get there. Hopefully I can stay at that pace. If I do, it’s tough to get away, but I’d rather bowl fast than 125 [kph]. I might as well give up if I’m down there. Not many teams would sign me up bowling 125.”One team he will not be playing for again is Australia. Many wise old heads have been touted for a run against Sri Lanka next month, including Quiney and Michael Klinger, Johnson’s Scorchers team-mate. Johnson, however, will not be joining them. “It would be nice but I don’t think I want to play,” he said. “I don’t think it would be as enjoyable for me. I had my moment in the sun, and these young guys are playing better cricket than I am, I just don’t think it would work. There’s too much stress at the top level.”He did, however, come close to signing for the Pakistan Super League and is looking at IPL deals now. “The fresher I stay the better. There are a few little tournaments later in the year, not so serious, that are around.”Could England’s NatWest T20 Blast be counted about those ‘not-so-serious’? Tim Bresnan and Ian Bell, team-mates at Scorchers, have certainly been in his ear to play next season. “It’s been mentioned and it could be an option,” he said.And, after that, he will be back with the Scorchers, although not at the Waca, which is making way for a new purpose-built stadium next season. “I will miss playing here,” he reflected. It is a ground indelibly linked to Johnson at his most fearsome; how nice it would be to see him fire there once more time.

Match facts

Saturday, January 28
Start time 16.15 local (08.15 GMT)2:41

Macpherson: Selection quandary for both teams

Big picture

In a repeat match-up of the BBL’s most memorable final yet, a classic in Canberra two years ago to the day, the Perth Scorchers and the Sydney Sixers will meet for what is likely to be the last-ever BBL match at the WACA, with the Scorchers relocating to the new Perth Stadium across the Swan River for the expanded tournament in 2017-18.No team has dominated this season, but the Scorchers seem to have hit their straps at the right time, with emphatic wins over the Hobart Hurricanes and the Melbourne Stars in the last week, the latter securing their home final. They have a method that is tried, tested, and tried again – if a little defensive – and the depth to cover for absent stars. At the WACA, they are exceedingly hard to beat.The Sixers are the competition’s most intriguing team. They simply refuse to be dull: they have lost to poor teams, won against good ones, collapsed, Super-Overed and everything in between. When the two teams met just after Christmas at the SCG, the Sixers pulled off a dominant victory. The form of their captain Moises Henriques, a BBL finals specialist, will be vital to their hopes of a second title.

Form guide

Perth Scorchers WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sydney Sixers WWLWW

In the spotlight

Mitchell Johnson sent the Sixers – and other franchises around the world – a message with his gutting of the Stars’ top three on Tuesday. His return as a new-ball bowler in the absence of David Willey has been a revelation, and Adam Voges may be tempted to give him all four overs first-up once again. The final will also serve as a neat shop window for Johnson, with the IPL auction scheduled in February. He is a different beast these days, but remains a fearsome prospect.One of those who will have to fight Johnson’s fire is Nic Maddinson, who has endured a torrid time since being dropped from the Test side. In six games, he has managed just 74 runs, and was bowled by Joe Burns, of all people, in the first over of the Sixers’ semi-final chase. Maddinson is a class act and a genuine BBL star, so it would be a surprise if he failed to finally free the arms. He should return to No. 3 because of the absence of Colin Munro, giving the Sixers’ higgledy-piggledy order a more settled look.

Team news

Since their respective semi-finals, both teams have lost players to international call-ups. The Scorchers’ Shaun Marsh, who made dazzling half-centuries in each of his last two innings, and the Sixers’ Munro have headed across the Tasman Sea to battle for Australia and New Zealand respectively. Hilton Cartwright looks set to replace Marsh, while Jordan Silk would be a like-for-like replacement for Munro, although the Sixers may look to bring in an extra fast-bowling option, with Henry Thornton and Doug Bollinger in the squad.An intriguing pace option looms for the Scorchers, too. Jason Behrendorff, their all-time leading wicket-taker, was expected to miss the entire tournament while recovering from a fractured leg, but has been in the squad, and captain Voges insisted he was fit and firing in the nets. Jhye Richardson, who has had a good season, would likely make way if Behrendorff were to be risked.Scorchers (probable) 1 Michael Klinger, 2 Sam Whiteman (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Adam Voges (capt), 5 Hilton Cartwright, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Andrew Tye, 11 Jhye RichardsonSixers (probable) 1 Michael Lumb, 2 Daniel Hughes, 3 Nic Maddinson, 4 Moises Henriques (capt), 5 Brad Haddin (wk), 6 Jordan Silk, 7 Johan Botha, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Ben Dwarshius, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jackson Bird

Pitch and conditions

This is Perth, so it will be sweltering. There has been a bit of chatter about the pitch, which is the same one on which the Scorchers thrashed the Stars on Tuesday. Kevin Pietersen, memorably – and perhaps slightly melodramatically – described it as “unbelievably slow” when miked up for . By the time Voges and Henriques toss the coin, the track will have had 40 more overs on it, with the Women’s BBL final preceding it.

Stats and trivia

• The Sixers have only lost to the bottom three teams on the ladder this year – the Hurricanes, the Adelaide Strikers and the Sydney Thunder
• These two teams have previously met twice in the final – in 2015 and 2012, with both games oddly played on January 28 – winning one each. The Sixers won the inaugural edition at the WACA, and the Scorchers took the title in the fourth edition at the Manuka Oval
• Henriques played significant innings in both those finals, with 70 off 41 in 2012 and 77 off 57 in 2015.

Quotes

“It’s nice to be at home, no doubt. Great for the fans at a packed house to be able to watch us and the girls. I think it’s a significant advantage – we have a good record here against the Sixers, and their game is based a lot around their two excellent spinners, so, hopefully, a fast WACA wicket will nullify them a bit.”
“We haven’t played him [Mitchell Johnson] yet this year. We got the win over them at the SCG, but he didn’t play that game. He bowled really well in the semi-final, only going for three runs in his four overs. At the end of the game, he bowls left-arm over, he bowls quick. We are pretty lucky at New South Wales and the Sixers to have a few guys who do something pretty similar to that with Mitch Starc and Doug Bollinger. A lot of guys have faced that sort of stuff before.”

For most people, a car accident on a treacherous stretch of road would teach them to slow down.But not Mumbai taxi drivers, it seems, nor Trevor Bayliss.For Bayliss has reacted to England’s defeat in the third Test by suggesting England’s batsmen should be more positive. The fault, he believes, is that they were too defensive in Mohali.

Go easy on player confrontations, says Bayliss

Trevor Bayliss has urged the ICC not to crack down too hard on players engaged in on-field exchanges with the opposition, after Ben Stokes was reprimanded for remonstrating to the India players following his dismissal in Mohali.
“I think at times the ICC are almost looking for things,” Bayliss said. “I agree that things have been out of hand in the past, and we don’t want it to go overboard.
“But sometimes a little bit of by-play between a couple of guys on either side – who are passionate about their cricket and their team – I think it’s good for the game.
“We’ve just got to be careful we don’t completely cut that out. I think having some personalities in the game is fantastic to watch.”

It didn’t seem Moeen Ali was too defensive when he was caught at deep backward square in the first innings, or mid-on in the second. And it didn’t seem Jos Buttler was too defensive when he was caught at extra cover in the first innings and deep midwicket in the second. The same might be said about Ben Stokes’ first-innings dismissal, when he charged down the pitch and was stumped, or Joe Root’s, when he missed an attempted pull against the first ball of spin he faced.But Bayliss is convinced that the secret of England’s success is to be found in them playing more positive – and, specifically, less defensive – cricket.”I thought we gifted them a number of our wickets,” Bayliss said, as he reflected on the Test. “We’ve got to make them work a little harder.”When we have been a little bit more defensive, we look like wickets waiting to happen. As soon as we’re a little bit more positive, rotating the strike and hitting a boundary when the opportunity comes, it puts pressure on the opposition.”Yes, it might get you out once or twice. But with the batting order we’ve got, there’s going to be a number of guys that do score runs, and that puts some pressure on the opposition.”We all know what Bayliss means, of course. He means that bowlers can be hit off a length or close fielders pushed back. He means that, if batsmen can make the bowlers’ lives uncomfortable, they are unable to go on the attack and batting becomes more straightforward.It might be relevant, though, that the greatest run-scorer in England’s Test history is the most defensive player in the side. And it might be relevant that, while England have tried several aggressive opening partners for Alastair Cook, it has been Haseeb Hameed, the man with the tightest defensive technique, who looks most likely to fill the spot on a permanent basis.Might the approach of Bayliss and Cook be at odds here? While Cook called upon his team to block their way to safety in Vizag, Bayliss always seems inclined to take the more aggressive option. Might we be coming to the time when this side – Cook’s for so long – is changing in nature and needs a different leader to ensure a clear message? It is too soon to say for sure, but they do seem to have a notably different ethos to batting and if there is one thing a dressing room desires, it is clarity.A man apart: Trevor Bayliss conducts England practice in Mumbai•Getty Images

Bayliss has been successful in a couple of important areas. He has created an environment in which his teams feel both relaxed and motivated – which is probably the key role of a coach at this level – and he has, in limited-overs cricket, established a clear ethos: all-out attack. And while the change in approach in limited-overs cricket may have begun just before Bayliss took charge – Paul Farbrace was stand-in coach for the watershed series against New Zealand – he has consolidated and improved it. He deserves credit for those things.But the longer he has been in office, the more the faults become apparent.For a start, he has little idea of the best players in county cricket. He is not really to blame for this – the England schedule is unrelenting and there is no way he can become steeped in the domestic game as an international coach should be – but it is a reason why his appointment was, in some ways, flawed. Maybe it is why England seem to pick their spinners by looking at the batting averages.His approach to support coaches is also questionable. While there are good motivations for reducing the number of support staff travelling with the squad – the aim was to make the dressing room a little quieter, the message to the players a bit more consistent and to encourage them to think for themselves more – it has also had less welcome consequences.The absence of a full-time fielding coach, for example (Bayliss and Farbrace now lead the fielding sessions), might well be one of the reasons that discipline has become so inconsistent, while the improvement of the spinners (especially Adil Rashid) since the short-term appointment of Saqlain Mushtaq begs the question: why do England not have access to such expertise more often?Most of all, Bayliss’s approach to Test cricket looks unsophisticated. In a format of the game where patience and discipline have always been important, he instead preaches the virtues of aggression and positivity. Instead of building the batsmen’s games from a defensive base – like Hameed – he seems more inclined to stuff the line-up with sufficient aggressive players and allrounders that the inevitable failures of some can be mitigated by others. At times, Bayliss sounds like the coach shouting: ‘Score at 10 an over, but don’t get out’. At times, he seems like the man driving home as fast as he can to get through the fog.Can that approach work? It’s entertaining, for sure, and it may bring the best out of some players. But as they have found in Australia of late, the best Test batsmen are not necessarily the ones with the greatest array of strokes or the ability to hit the ball furthest. They are ones who can see off the new ball and have the technique to play the spinning one. They are the ones who know which balls to play and have the patience and confidence to weather the tough periods. They are ones who have the defensive techniques that allow them still to be at the crease when the poor ball is delivered.But, not for the first time, it seems England have embraced an Australian approach – on this occasion, an overly aggressive attitude to batting – just as the rest of the world has realised its drawbacks.

Jos Buttler looks set to return to England’s Test side as a specialist batsman. Buttler, who was dropped as wicketkeeper a year ago, has only played one first-class game since but such is the England management’s belief in his ability – and, just as importantly, the modest form of the alternative options – that he looks certain to be recalled for the third Test against India in Mohali.The man to make way will be Ben Duckett. While the England coach, Trevor Bayliss, remains a believer in Duckett’s natural talent, his struggles against spin appear to have convinced the team management that to subject him to further exposure could damage his long-term development. He has scored 18 runs in the three innings he has played in the series against India and seen a technical weakness against quality offspin from R Ashwin exposed in merciless fashion.There are only two spare batsmen in the squad: Gary Ballance, who was dropped after the Bangladesh portion of the tour, and Buttler.For all Buttler’s ability, he has an oddly modest record in red-ball cricket. He only once reached 30 in his last 12 Test innings (his highest score in that period was 42) and he has a first-class average of 32.07; notably lower than Chris Woakes’.But the team management have long believed that his problem was temperamental rather than technical. They hope that he will take the confidence he shows in limited-overs cricket into the longest format and will encourage him to play in that same positive manner.”The one thing with Jos,” Bayliss said, “is that if he plays the same way as he does in one-day cricket, I think that’s the way ahead for him; red ball or white ball. I think he’s starting to get his head around that fact.”He’s in the top echelon of destructive batters when it comes to white-ball cricket, and there’s no reason – if he can get his head around playing against a red ball – that he can’t do the same and put the pressure back on the opposition.”Buttler’s lack of match practice is far from ideal. He played in one red-ball warm-up match in Bangladesh a month ago (he scored 4 in his only innings and was dropped once as well), but it remains an irony that a nation that plays as much and appears to plan ahead as England should find itself in such a position.This predicament was created by an odd combination of events, though. First Buttler was encouraged to play in the IPL and then, just as he would have embarked upon a spell of County Championship cricket with Lancashire, he sustained a thumb injury in a T20 match against Worcestershire. But Bayliss hopes that his form in the nets can be transferred to a Test.”He’s certainly hitting the ball very well in the nets,” Bayliss said. “Yes, we would have liked him to have a hit-out at some stage, but it is what it is these days. We’ve no time to fit one in. If he does come in I think he’ll give it his best shot.”While Duckett looks certain to be dropped, Bayliss remains an admirer of his ability and his work-ethic and maintained that, aged 22, he has time to come again.”I think he’s got a special talent,” Bayliss said. “Whether he plays the next match or not, I think he’ll play a lot more for England. Every level you get to, you go up. It gets harder and harder, and the step is bigger. Ben’s working harder than anyone in the nets to try to fix things up, getting himself into a position that he is confident enough to score runs.”