Once Ireland’s free spirit, Stirling has churned out ODI runs by embracing responsibility

Matt Roller27-Jan-2021In 2019, Paul Stirling had a decision to make. When Ireland were awarded Test status in 2017, the ECB provided Irish internationals with a two-year grace period in county cricket, after which they would only be able to play as their side’s overseas player, rather than as locals – unless they quit international cricket.As a British passport-holder, Stirling admitted that he was “baffled” at the situation, but decided against a legal challenge and was left a choice between renewing his contract at Middlesex, where he had spent 10 years as a professional, and extending his international career.While some of his Ireland team-mates opted for the security and stability of a county deal, Stirling chose the other path. “When he texted me to say he had committed to Ireland and wasn’t going to continue with Middlesex, I was delighted,” Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain, recalled. “Every team around the world would want him.”It is easy to see why he was so enthusiastic. Once a dasher who would throw his hands at the new ball and hope, Stirling has become one of the world’s most consistent opening batsmen, especially in 50-over cricket, the format which comes most naturally to him. Since international cricket restarted in July 2020 after its Covid-enforced hiatus, Stirling has made four ODI hundreds in eight innings; Steven Smith, with two, is the only other batsman to have compiled more than one.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile it had never been in doubt that Stirling was a player with bags of natural talent, there had been legitimate questions a decade into his international career as to whether he would reach his potential.Having made his debut at 17, Stirling’s ODI average was an impressive 42.48 after 32 innings, with a strike rate of 95.43 denoting his aggressive style at the top of the order. In his next 40 innings, he lost his way: he passed 50 only four times, averaging 24.82 across a six-year period which even included a fleeting shift down to No. 6 as a ploy to combat Afghanistan’s spinners.But in his 50 most recent innings, dating back to March 2017, he averages 49.22, with a more conservative strike rate of 84.57 demonstrating the extent to which he has reined in his instincts and adapted his game to perform the role of a senior batsman in a team in transition. Seven of his 12 ODI hundreds have come in that time, with his three in Abu Dhabi this month taking him past William Porterfield’s previous Ireland record of 11. He dedicated the most recent two, against Afghanistan, to the late Roy Torrens, whom he described as “an absolute hero”.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn particular, Stirling has been exceptional against spin, a quality that might not be obvious in a player brought up on green Belfast pitches. Since mid-March 2017, he has scored at a marginally slower strike rate against spinners (83.33) than seamers (86.11), but his average of 78.57 facing spin is up there with the world’s best, after honing his methods against Afghanistan’s ‘big three’ – Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman – and the best in the associate game.Essentially, Stirling realised in his mid-to-late 20s that it was no longer enough for him to swing through the line and hope. “You get bored of getting to 30, hitting it in the air and getting out,” he told ESPNcricinfo earlier this month. “From there you think, ‘actually, I quite like batting – maybe I’ll try and bat a little longer’.”I got off to a really good start in ODI cricket and I probably took it for granted a little bit. I think it’s my favourite format – it’s the one where I feel I can just bat. To me, that’s the most natural you can be. I can walk out there and not have to think too hard, and naturally strike the ball well and score at a strike rate that’s OK.”Stirling displayed his ability against spin during his 142 vs England and Adil Rashid in August 2020•AFP via Getty ImagesRather than any major technical changes, Stirling attributes his improvements over the last four years to a shift in mindset. He still attacks in the powerplay when he can, but not at the expense of throwing his wicket away. “It comes down to experience. I definitely had a shift. I think I was averaging 40-plus in ODI cricket and it slid down maybe even into the early 30s. That’s when I was like ‘right, it’s time to make some improvements here’. You ask yourself, ‘what do you want, to score quick 30s or make match-winning scores?'”In particular, he hails the influence of Graham Ford, who sat him down upon becoming head coach in December 2017 to tell him that he would not settle for sporadic brilliance. “He made his point very clear, which was that I’m here to score runs, not to score pretty 20s and 30s to stay in the team,” Stirling recalled. “I thought that was good. If he hadn’t done that, I could have just continued on my way, so he was certainly a big help.” When he became vice-captain last year, it seemed like a natural fit.As a result, Stirling’s recent record puts him in the company of the best in the game. Since the start of 2019, only Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma have more ODI hundreds than him, and while their innings may have been against stronger opposition, they have not had to carry the rest of their respective batting line-ups in the way that Stirling has; in that timeframe, Stirling has scored 1351 ODI runs, while only one team-mate – Balbirnie – has breached the 500 mark.The upshot is that Stirling has levelled up by slowing down. Once Ireland’s free spirit, he has turned into a relentless run-scorer by embracing responsibility.

South Africa’s batter embraces the pressure of series-decider at The Oval

Firdose Moonda05-Sep-2022Batting in England, according to Sarel Erwee, can feel like being at the top of a slide you’ve been down many times before. You know your head will spin when you survey the journey below, your stomach will turn as it begins, your ears will pop somewhere en route and you will scream, probably all the way. Even though intellectually you know to expect all these things, when they’re actually happening they will surprise you. Then you will steel yourself and want to go through it all again.”In these conditions, the ball moves and swings and nips and you know it’s going to do that,” Erwee told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s almost like going to India where the ball turns and you know it’s going to turn. When you see a lot of movement, sometimes that plays on your mind a little bit. The challenge is to stay in the moment and not let the one or two balls that swing a lot play on your mind.”Erwee talks from some experience. Although this is his first tour to England as an international, he has spent several seasons at Weybridge Cricket Club, playing in the Surrey Premier League, where he faced the moving ball. It may have caused him some difficulty then but it’s definitely asking much more of him now. “The English attack – just two of them [James Anderson and Stuart Broad] – have got over 1,000 wickets between them and it’s quite nice to face experienced bowlers in bowler-friendly conditions,” Erwee said.For the record Anderson and Broad together have 1,223 Test wickets and while Erwee is in awe, he is not intimidated. “It’s tricky but you wouldn’t want it any other way as an opening batter,” he added. “This is where you learn your Test cricket and what you’re about. To face these guys in their conditions is tricky but a nice experience. It’s something we will take with us into many more series to come, or even just to franchise cricket when we go back home. It’s all a learning curve really.”The issue is that South Africa’s batters have been in the knowledge-seeking phase for what seems like too long. In the last three years, only West Indies and Bangladesh have a top six that averages lower than their figure of 30.84, and they have only scored seven centuries between them, more than only Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.Erwee is one of those century-makers, and one of only two South African batters to have scored a Test hundred this year – Kyle Verreynne is the other – but he doesn’t see the individual numbers as the most important statistic right now. “The key thing for us is partnerships,” he said. “Everyone wants to score runs and hundreds but when you face tricky conditions it’s all about fighting for the next ball and fighting for your partner. That’s a focus.”Erwee’s partnership with Dean Elgar has been one of the highlights of South Africa’s recent batting•AFPOn that metric, Erwee has had done everything right so far. His partnership with Dean Elgar, though still in its infancy, is South Africa’s most successful in average terms since Graeme Smith and Neil Mckenzie in 2008-09.Smith and McKenzie shared in five hundred and eight fifty stands in 27 innings together; Erwee and Elgar have had two hundred and three fifty stands in 11 innings. They average 47.09, which suggests they are giving the middle-order something to build on. The real dilemma stems from them not always being able to, but Erwee has faith in players he has spent more than a decade playing alongside and against in domestic competitions.”They are excellent,” he said. “Watching them in domestic cricket and watching them train here, facing our bowlers – we’re talking about our four seamers who are world-class – for us to be facing them and watching these guys train against them, they are definitely the future of this batting line-up. I’m sure these guys are close to getting onto a good run and I look forward to watching that in years to come. Once I am done playing, I am sure they’ll still be playing. They are class players.”For someone only six matches into a Test career, and 32 years old, talking about no longer playing seems too soon but it’s part of Erwee’s ideology of not looking too far ahead. “I haven’t really thought of [my] long-term prospects. I just try and play my best game so that I have a good foot to stand on in the following game,” he said. “If I score the runs, I’ll stay.”

You don’t want to run away from pressure. You want to go towards it. If you run towards it, when pressure does hit, it becomes easier to face

So far, so good. Erwee is currently the only South African batter with more than 100 runs in the ongoing series and the only one with a half-century. But the expectation on him in an inexperienced line up – which will only get more inexperienced now that Rassie van der Dussen has been ruled out with a broken finger and one of Ryan Rickelton (two Test caps) or Khaya Zondo (one) will replace him – is immense. Asked how he copes with the scrutiny, Erwee offered a philosophical answer: “It’s Michael Jordan who said something about he has failed so many times but he has still become successful,” he said.The exact Jordan quote is: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games, 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” and the message holds: success is not only measured in numbers but in the someone responds in tough times.”You don’t want to run away from pressure. You want to go towards it. If you run towards it, when pressure does hit, it becomes easier to face,” Erwee said. “I don’t really feel I am under pressure every game. I’ve just got to enjoy and make the most of each game that I have, I try to embrace it as much as possible.”The attitude of in-the-moment living comes from the work Erwee has done on his mental health, which hit a low that almost led him to quit cricket, and has now seen him to commit to having as much fun as he can, while he can.And it shows. When he dropped Ollie Pope at slip in England’s first innings at Lord’s, juggling and then falling as he tried to take what should have been a routine catch, he brushed it off as ‘one of those things’ and then saw the lighter side of juggling and taking the catch that ended Joe Root’s innings in the second Test. “When I dropped the first one, I heard the crowd play up a bit. I was like, ‘oh my word, this is crazy’,” Erwee remembered, with a laugh. “But luckily I held on to the second one because that could have been another interesting reaction from the crowd.”Related

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In all seriousness, fielding in the slips is not as straightforward as it may seem in these conditions, for exactly the same reason batting is challenging. “It’s quite tricky with the ball that wobbles a bit once it’s past the bat. It’s not something I’ve experienced before,” Erwee said. “We train our slip catching quite intensely. You’ve just got to train it over and over again to get used to the wobble of the ball once it comes past the bat. It’s just about keeping your body as relaxed as possible and your head nice and still so that if something happens you can move quickly.”South Africa routinely do their fielding sessions last in training, when the players are already quite fatigued, to challenge their concentration levels in the same way a Test match might. It’s about forcing them to be as present as possible. “You’ve always got to be switched on. I have really enjoyed the challenge of that,” Erwee said.And that means that, even if he knows exactly what to expect on the field, he is also always ready for a few surprises.

On a green surface, Southee backed his openers to grind it out – there are few better than Conway and Latham for that job anyway

Danyal Rasool02-Jan-2023The first Test hadn’t yet finished when talk of the strip this Test would be played on began. Interim chief selector Shahid Afridi promised a “green” pitch, and on the eve of the second Test, pictures on the PCB’s social media account showed enough grass to barely distinguish it from the outfield. On the morning of the game, Shakil Shaikh, a member of the PCB’s (not very) new-look management committee, declared that the pitch problem had been resolved “in a wink” on a “new, lively surface”.When Tim Southee walked out to the middle for the toss, he paid no attention to any of this. Not just because he probably doesn’t hang on to every word Afridi says, and he certainly doesn’t follow Shaikh on Twitter. But he couldn’t ignore the look of the pitch itself, which, while not quite as emerald green as pictures from the previous day suggested, had a distinct greenish hue that hadn’t been in evidence on any surface used for international games all season. He batted.

****

New Zealand are second from bottom in this cycle of the World Test Championship and haven’t won a Test since February. They have lost four of their last five matches. There aren’t too many things they have done well in the format since lifting the WTC trophy 18 months ago. But in Devon Conway and Tom Latham, they possess an opening pair that might just go on to become the envy of the world.Related

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Since the start of 2016, no pair averages more for the first wicket than the 67.25 Latham and Conway (minimum 500 runs) have. While this was just their eighth innings together as an opening pair, their credentials in the top order are rock solid. When Conway dropped down to No. 3 in New Zealand’s home season last year, he amassed 388 runs in six innings, including two centuries against Bangladesh and a 92 against South Africa.That was why, on a green surface that retained a fair bit of moisture, Southee showed no hesitation in backing his openers to see the first hour out. There are few better equipped to grind out an opposition bowling attack, their partnership in the first Test a perfect exhibition of their abilities. Pakistan appeared to have bought into the hype around the pitch, dropping a spinner [Nauman Ali] for an extra fast bowler [Naseem Shah], one whose fitness has been questioned of late.Conway and Latham can do the grind, but are also astute enough to know when to choose belligerence. A green surface and three fast bowlers invariably meant Pakistan would go searching for something; 46 of the 115 deliveries bowled by the fast men in the first session were overpitched. And while the swing faded away fairly rapidly, the run-scoring when Pakistan erred did not; balls that were either short and/or wide or too full went for 45 in 53 deliveries.But when Babar Azam turned to Agha Salman as early as in the seventh over, the bowler found the turn too slow, and New Zealand milked the spin at over four runs an over. Conway took a particular liking to Abrar Ahmed, using his feet to hit him down the ground, plundering him for 60 runs in as many balls, with eight fours and a six.”With the nature of the grass on the surface, it had maintained a bit of pace in the wicket,” Conway, who scored 122 to Latham’s 71, said after the day’s play. “When the ball’s harder, it comes off the bat a bit better as well. We were rewarded for good cricket shots that went for boundaries. We managed to get off to a quick start.”Agha Salman got purchase off the surface as the day wore on and picked up three wickets•Associated PressIt might sound simple enough in theory, but none of this is easy. After all, the two became the first New Zealand opening pair to put on consecutive century stands away from home. They are the first visiting openers to register successive century stands in Pakistan; only one other pair had managed two in the same series. That was over 25 years back.The game might have turned in more ways than one in the final session, but Pakistan might find an imposing enough total by the time they get a chance to bat. Salman’s three wickets and the speed at which the ball spun in the final session might have encouraged them, but New Zealand have fielded three spinners, and should have the resources to exploit any such liveliness.”It’s starting to change,” Conway said. “After tea, there was a bit more turn on offer, which is showing the nature of the wicket drying out and assisting the spinners a little bit more. It’s skidding on a little bit more, and there isn’t as much carry as the morning, so it’s interesting to see what the wicket will look like on the last three days”.Some sides might have viewed a toss won on this surface against a three-pronged seam attack as an automatic bowl-first. New Zealand, instead, saw it for the opportunity. They cut Mir Hamza when he strayed wide and drove Naseem while the bounce was true and the trajectory straight. They milked Agha around the square and smashed Abrar around the park. They kept the runs ticking along, and the wickets column dry.For that, you need a quality opening pair, and in Conway and Latham, New Zealand are well sorted.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put on 126 runs together for the first wicket

Sampath Bandarupalli12-Aug-2021126 Partnership runs for the first wicket between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, the first century opening stand for India outside Asia in Tests since the start of 2011. The last India opening pair to share a century stand overseas was Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who put on 137 in India’s second innings at Centurion in 2010.1 Rahul and Sharma are also the first visiting pair with a century stand in England since August 2016. The 126-run stand is also the highest opening partnership in England in this period, alongside Alastair Cook and Alex Hales against Pakistan in Birmingham in 2016.126 The partnership of 126 between Rahul and Sharma is the second-highest by a visiting team in England after being put in to bat. Michael Slater and Mark Taylor shared a 128-run stand in 1993 at Old Trafford.20.4 Overs per innings before the fall of the first wicket for India overseas in 2021. Between 2011 and 2020, the Indian opening pair lasted only 6.4 overs on an average in Tests outside Asia.ESPNcricinfo Ltd43.4 Overs batted by India’s opening pair of Rahul and Sharma on Thursday, the second-longest opening stand for India outside Asia since 1998. Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik take the top place as they batted out 56.1 overs for a 153-run stand in Cape Town in 2007.5 Instances of India’s opening partnership lasting 20 or more overs in Tests outside Asia since the start of 2011. All the five instances came in 2021, including twice in the ongoing series against England.247.5 Balls per dismissal for Sharma during the first 20 overs of innings away from home this year. Across nine away innings in 2021, Sharma got out just twice before the end of 20 overs.4 Hundreds by Indian openers in Test cricket outside Asia since the start of 2015. All those four are by Rahul – twice in England and one each in Australia and West Indies.

Allrounder slips back into new Test set-up keen for another crack at Australia

Vithushan Ehantharajah13-Jun-20231:15

Moeen ‘thought Stokes was taking the mick’ with Ashes WhatsApp

“Stokesy messaged me with a question,” said Moeen Ali. “‘Ashes?'””I hadn’t heard the news on Leachy [Jack Leach] at the time. So I just said ‘LOL’, thinking he’s taking the mick.”Just a couple of things to unpack there. A 35-year-old man using “lol” is one of them, even if that’s more common than you’d think. Not hearing about the injury to the sole Bazball spinner until England’s Test captain sent the kind of “you up? x” text English cricketers dream of receiving – very much another.The following day Moeen was at The Grove Hotel as part of a PCA Team England Golf Day. It was known that an approach had been made and he had been given time to mull it over. But until official confirmation arrived on Wednesday morning, the strongest hint he was up for donning the whites again was a covert photo taken by someone at the hotel which had started to gain traction on TikTok.Related

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It shows Moeen, wearing a Liverpool shirt, flanked by Adil Rashid, in an amiable discussion with Stokes and managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key. In the middle of them is a bag from Sam’s Chicken.”That was me and Rash,” Moeen confirmed on the bag of fried goodies. “We were hungry and got there a bit late.”A laissez-faire approach to the seriousness of Test cricket, an appreciation of fried chicken such as that England had showcased last year on an early morning jaunt to Nottingham’s Mega Munch after beating New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Moeen was always going to fit in, wasn’t he?As he joined his team-mates for his first red-ball training session since September 2021, ahead of the most hotly anticipated home Ashes series since 2005, the vibes could not have been more immaculate. Whether that instils you with confidence is another thing altogether. If sport – ergo, cricket – is the most important of the least-important things, a five-match Test series against Australia is the most least-important. Vibes may only carry you so far, even if they’ve carried this team to 11 wins out of 13.The sun shone brightly enough on Tuesday to make the Australians feel at home, who were glad for the morning session at Edgbaston when an emergency alarm triggered an evacuation of the stadium. No harm for the tourists, who simply spent their remaining allotted time on the outfield and the adjoining outdoor nets.Moeen Ali, Rob Key and a bag of Sam’s Chicken at the Grove Hotel•DealtWithCricket/TikTokIn the end, it barely impacted on England, who were out as scheduled for the second half of the day. A team huddle began with a round of applause for Moeen’s return before Brendon McCullum said a few words. From there, they broke into separate packs.For the first time at an open practice session this summer, Stokes bowled at full pelt. He began with walkthroughs out in the middle before pacing out his full run-up with measuring tape to send down about two-overs-worth of deliveries. He was joined partway by Moeen, who sent down about as many under the watchful eye of spin coach – and one-time Warwickshire offspinner – Jeetan Patel.As it happens, the last time Moeen bowled with a red Dukes ball was the day Stokes messaged him. The Birmingham Bears skipper was training at Edgbaston ahead of Vitality Blast fixtures against Northants and Derbyshire. “I saw a red ball and had a few balls,” he said. “But not properly.”Among the reasons to fear Moeen’s retirement U-turn might not work out, beyond justified trepidation about his readiness having not played a first-class match since the last of 64 Test caps in September 2021, is the robustness of his spinning finger.Having torn it open in the 2017 summer, he battled through the 2017-18 Ashes, taking just five wickets across as many Tests, at an eye-watering average of 115. It re-emerged as an issue during the first 2019 Ashes Test, at Edgbaston no less. Following match figures of 3 for 137, he sat out the rest of the summer.Time away, perhaps, has helped. Even if the workload of a white-ball spinner is fairly limited, the allrounder has not bowled all that much. He sent down just two overs in England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in October, and 26 from 15 matches for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. There have since been 11 overs across three innings for the Bears.The problem, however, is the prouder seam on the red Dukes ball, which could literally and figuratively reopen a wound. Moeen, however, does not seem concerned.

“There’s been many players, past players who played a lot of games and never won an Ashes series. So to have that is amazing. But I’m keen to have number two. The Ashes is huge”

“It’s all right, actually,” Moeen said of his right index finger. “Obviously, I haven’t bowled much with the red ball but it seems to be okay. We’ll see after I’ve bowled about 15 overs.”I’ve not thought about that too much. Depends on the pressure going into the games, the hardness of the ball, and all that sort of stuff. I should be fine.”While the squad picked is for the next two Tests, Moeen is also of the mind this his lot until the end of July.”If you’re in you’re in. Baz did say look, even after two games, if you’ve done well and you’re enjoying it – that’s fine. He’s obviously convinced that I will enjoy it – that’s the plan.”As for the Test tour of India at the start of 2024, that, he says, is too far – though adding “I don’t think I will, really” throws his place in this group into stark focus. This is far from succession planning. But as part of a team that are looking to live in the moment, Moeen, as of last week, has become their latest totem.He had an offer from the United States to take part in this summer’s Major League Cricket, though was not going to go as it would mean reneging on his ECB contract, as Jason Roy has done. With the ODI World Cup in October, the vice-captain is staying put. For now, at least. When asked about 2024’s MLC, he offered an open-ended, “We’ll see”.Moeen is not due to be at training on Wednesday and instead – with McCullum’s blessing – will be at Windsor Castle to pick up the OBE awarded to him last year. His focus, however, remains on the next five weeks.Though his recent memories of playing against Australia are not that great, his first series in 2015 is one that those who were there and those who were not are looking to replicate. It was the last time England claimed the urn.Should he replicate that form of eight years ago, with 12 dismissals and 293 runs with the bat – surpassing 200 and 3000 across his Test career in the process – all this would have been worthwhile. Indeed, it is what drew him out of his Test exile.”It’s one of those Ashes that no one really remembers for some reasons,” he said of the 2015 series, which England won 3-2. “But it was one of my highlights of my career for sure, right up there with the World Cups.”Because the Ashes is not easy, as we know. And there’s been many players, past players who played a lot of games and never won an Ashes series. So to have that is amazing.”But I’m keen to have number two. The Ashes is huge.”

Ramiz Raja, the new PCB chairman, was among the many voices from Pakistan expressing their disappointment at New Zealand’s decision to abandon the tour

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2021

Crazy day it has been! Feel so sorry for the fans and our players. Walking out of the tour by taking a unilateral approach on a security threat is very frustrating. Especially when it’s not shared!! Which world is NZ living in??NZ will hear us at ICC.

— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) September 17, 2021