With a 12-1 record against India at the SCG, Australia would rather face India here than any other venue

Shiva Jayaraman24-Mar-20151 ODIs won by India against Australia out of the 13 played between them at the SCG. That solitary win came in the first final of the tri-series in 2008. India’s win-loss ratio of 0.083 against Australia at the SCG is their worst at any venue where the two teams have played more than two ODIs.10-30 India’s win-loss record against Australia in Australia; their last win came at the Adelaide Oval in 2012. India’s win-loss ratio of 0.33 in ODIs against Australia in Australia is their second-worst against any team in away games. They have done worse only against South Africa in South Africa, winning five and losing 21 ODIs for a win-loss ratio of 0.24.0 World Cup semi-finals lost by Australia out of the six they have played. The only semi-final they didn’t win was the famous tied game in the 1999 World Cup against South Africa. India have appeared in five World Cup semi-finals and won three, including their last-two – against Kenya in 2003 and against Pakistan in 2011.1-1 India’s record against Australia in World Cup knockouts. They lost to Australia in the 2003 finals and beat them in the quarter-finals in 2011. Apart from India, Sri Lanka and West Indies are the only teams to beat Australia in a World Cup knockout match.8-2 Australia’s record at the SCG in their last 10 ODIs here. Both their losses had come against Sri Lanka, before the hosts won their last encounter with Sri Lanka in a league match of this World Cup. South Africa, India, West Indies and England are the other teams to lose to Australia in their last 10 ODIs here.1-9 Teams’ win-loss record batting first at the SCG in day-night games, excluding the two games when Australia scored 376 against Sri Lanka and South Africa scored 408 against West Indies in the league stage of the World Cup. Besides these two matches, teams batting first in day-night games at this venue have won only once since 2011: Australia defended a target of 253 against India in 2012.165 Runs added by Australia’s opening wicket in this World Cup; they have had only one fifty partnership in six matches. Their openers have collectively scored 513 runs at an average of 42.75 including two centuries. But 313 of those runs came in two innings – David Warner’s 178 against Afghanistan and Aaron Finch’s 135 against England. In 10 other innings, Australia’s openers together have scored 200 runs at an average of 20 with a highest of 47 that came against Scotland.18.14 India’s average opening stand against Australia at the SCG in 14 innings. There have been only two fifty stands by India’s openers at this venue with the last one coming between Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Uthappa in 2008. The last century opening stand by an Indian pair against Australia in Australia came in 2004 when Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag added 103 runs at the MCG.81.92 India’s batting average in overs 11 to 40 in this World Cup, easily the best for any team in these overs. The next-best team is Sri Lanka, who averaged 49.91 runs per wicket. India have scored at a run-rate of 5.76 in these overs. Australia have also done well in these overs scoring at a rate of 6.49 – the best by any team and have a healthy average of 48.36 per wicket.0 Wickets India have lost in the batting Powerplay in this World Cup – the only team not to lose a wicket in these overs. India have scored 227 runs at a rate of 7.36 runs in batting Powerplays. Australia too have done well in these overs having lost just one wicket in four Powerplays. They have hit 157 runs at 7.85 runs an over – the second-best scoring rate for any team after South Africa’s scoring rate of 9.43 runs an over.21.64 India’s bowling average in this World Cup – the best their bowlers have averaged in any of the 11 World Cups. Their previous-best in a World Cup was in 1983 when their bowlers took 68 wickets at an average of 22.51. India’s bowlers have taken 65 wickets at an economy of 4.59 in this World Cup. India are the one of two teams – the other being New Zealand – in this World Cup against whom a total of 300 or more hasn’t been scored in this World Cup.41 Wickets taken by Mitchell Johnson against India in ODIs – the most he has taken against any team. Johnson has dismissed Suresh Raina five times in 51 deliveries in ODIs, which equals the most any bowler has dismissed Raina. The last time Johnson bowled at India in ODIs in Australia was in a tri-series in 2008 when he got six wickets at 33.66 runs apiece.15.6 Mitchell Starc’s bowling strike-rate in this World Cup – the second best for a bowler to take at least 10 wickets in any World Cup. Only Gary Gilmour, who took 11 wickets in his 24 overs in the 1975 World Cup, did better than Starc. Starc’s ten wickets against India in ODIs in Australia have come at an average of 17.20 including a 6 for 43 at the MCG earlier this year.18.80 Virat Kohli’s batting average in ODIs against Australia in Australia. He has scored 94 runs from six innings with a highest of 31. Outside Australia, Kohli averages 75.14 against them and has scored three hundreds and two fifties in nine innings.

Inns Runs Ave SR 100s/50sOutside Australia 9 526 75.14 107.35 3/2In Australia 6 94 18.80 67.62 0/075.00 Glenn Maxwell’s batting average against the India bowlers in the current squad. He has hit 150 runs off them at a strike rate of 126 and has been dismissed twice. Against India’s lead spinners – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – Maxwell has hit 124 runs off just 78 balls at a strike-rate of 158.97.

Spinner Runs dis balls SR 4s 6sR Ashwin 77 1 53 145.28 4 7Ravindra Jadeja 47 0 25 188.00 3 35 Number of fifty-plus scores by David Warner in eight ODIs innings at the SCG. Warner averages 54.75 on this ground and has scored 438 runs at a strike rate of 101.15. Shane Watson and Michael Clarke have also done well at the SCG. Watson has 504 runs at 45.81 and Clarke has 1004 runs at 47.80 at this venue.

The depth and strength of a team’s or a player’s belief cannot be accurately measured but it has certainly emboldened India’s World Cup challenge

Andy Zaltzman19-Mar-2015Belief, in its sporting form, is a much-trumpeted and fervently sought commodity. Fans express it in their team or club; coaches and captains declare themselves to have it in their players, their processes, their preparation; players claim it in themselves. Its presence is often viewed as a necessary component of victory, its absence or fragility is routinely stated to be a critical contributor to defeat.In February 1912, Franz Reichelt had belief. The tailor, inventor and optimist stood on the first deck of the Eiffel tower, almost 60 metres above ground level, wearing a home-made, self-developed parachute suit. You would not put yourself in a situation where the terms “home-made” and “self-developed” could precede the words “parachute suit” (and/or follow the words “stood on the first deck of the Eiffel tower”), unless you had a fairly strong belief that (a) you were about to demonstrate to the world the brilliance of your revolutionary creation, and (b) you would not plummet to a certain death.Reichelt, by his very presence above his small, confused Parisian crowd, and by his refusal to entertain the warnings of friends that Gravity has repeatedly proved itself a worthy foe to the human race, demonstrated the kind of belief that can turn sportsmen into winners. In a different scenario, his confidence could have made him a champion. But this confidence was, as confidence often is, far from doubt-proof. He stood on a chair, teetering on the edge of the French metal megaspike, for a considerable time. He struggled with his inner self before taking his physics-defying leap into aviation-accessory history. But eventually, he summoned sufficient belief to propel himself off the celebrity tower and towards mankind’s natural habitat – the ground.Reichelt’s jump was at least 100% unsuccessful. As uneven contests go, Reichelt versus Physics was more one-sided even than Sri Lanka against South Africa, or Bangladesh versus India, have been this week. Belief is not always enough. Sometimes, you are simply outclassed by a superior opponent, and the Austrian-born Frenchman was 103 years ago in his brief and inevitably ill-fated tussle against cold, hard scientific reality. The gravitational pull of Planet Earth taught him a lesson he would not forget in a hurry. Or remember in a hurry, being, as he was, at least 100% dead.Bangladesh played with belief in Melbourne. At least, they played with apparent belief for two hours of highly competitive cricket, in which they checked an ominous Indian start, gave nothing away to their rightly vaunted opponents, and bowled and fielded like a team that knew it belonged in a World Cup quarter-final. Then, the belief was tested. Umpiring decisions that could have strengthened their confidence further, went against them. Bowlers lost their discipline, fielders blundered, and Rohit Sharma unfurled the full extent of his brutal beauty. Reality reigned, and the decisive phase of the match was conclusively lost.In reply, Bangladesh’s openers batted with a frenzy of hope rather than the positivity of belief. Imrul Kayes, with six consecutive single figure scores in ODIs since August, including innings of 2 and 2 since his summons to join the World Cup side, cannot have honestly believed he was the man to anchor a chase of 303. He swung violently at Umesh Yadav, and missed the ball by as much as you would have expected him to miss it. Tamim Iqbal, with only one score of more than 20 in his previous seven ODIs flayed some boundaries but could not convey permanence. When Mahmudullah, whose form gave Bangladesh a faint prospect of overcoming their statistically superior opponents, was caught somewhere between zero and two millimetres from the boundary, the game was decided.India cannot have begun the tournament overbrimming with belief, after a wretched, victory-free winter that seemed to confirm them as soon-to-be-ex-World-Champions. But if their short-term belief was minimal, their long-term belief, after winning the last two major ODI tournaments, must have been strong, and the tournament format gave teams that began with a victory the chance to build form under minimal pressure. From the time that Dhawan and Kohli gave them a strong start against Pakistan, India have rampaged through the tournament. They have suffered barely a punch from their seven opponents.Of all the terms associated with Indian cricket, “unstoppable pace machine” has not been one. Until now. Their pace trident took seven more wickets at the MCG, bowled with pace and menace again, and have now taken 43 wickets at an average of 17.0, lower even than Australia, and far better than any previous Indian World Cup seam attack.Their individual improvement is close to astonishing. All three are relatively inexperienced – Yadav and Shami had 40 ODI caps before the tournament, Mohit Sharma 11. Mohit had taken 10 wickets at 40, and been wicketless in six of his previous eight ODI innings – he has taken 11 wickets at 21.72 in the World Cup. Yadav had reasonable form in the latter half of 2014, but a moderate overall record (63 wickets at 32.30, economy rate 5.68), and took 2 for 97 in his two games in the triangular contest in January. He has 14 wickets, average 17, economy rate 4.5. Mohammad Shami – 2 for 98 in the triangular series – had a good wicket-taking record in ODIs, but an economy rate of 5.50. He is, at least until Mitchell Starc and Wahab Riaz try to overhaul him in Adelaide, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, with 17 at 13.29, and an economy rate of 4.43.How can this remarkable advance be explained? Belief is playing its elusive part. Do not believe me on that. Believe MS Dhoni. After the Melbourne victory, he attributes his pacers’ improvement to them having learned the importance of consistently, repeatedly “hitting that one area where you want to bowl, and building up pressure, in partnerships”.

India might win the World Cup without its newly brilliant pace attack ever coming under that scrutiny, without having to claw back an escaping opponent, or maintain their current precision when inaccuracy could mean defeat.

India’s no-longer-outlandishly-potentially-double-World-Cup-winning skipper continued: “That actually creates that pressure where the batsman gets out. I feel bowlers have really tasted it, and now they actually believe in that. Seeing it is one thing, believing it is something that’s more important because once you believe in something like that you keep working on it. The subconscious keeps working, and the good thing is it becomes part of the system.”The depth and strength of a team’s or a player’s belief cannot be accurately measured – Statsguru has no filter for finding, for example, batsmen who scored centuries because they woke up feeling good about themselves, or bowlers who took 0 for 90 after suddenly remembering that their opponent once obliterated them and called them “Big Bertie Boundary-Conceder” during a drinks-break.Moreover, teams and players with genuine, battle-toughened belief can still lose. Teams and players with fragile confidence can and do win. Belief is but one of the commodities that influence sporting outcomes, along with skill, fitness, luck, determination, money, fear, attention span, the capricious will of Zeus, the relentless march of time, whether a boundary rope is a millimetre one way or the other, Ian Gould’s conception of what and where a waist is, and many more.Belief is also, to an extent, reactive. It can also grow and dissipate with alarming rapidity, depending on the events that can shape it. Will the Indian bowlers’ belief in themselves and their methods remain unbroken for two more innings? As impressive as they have been, they have not been scrutinised by genuine, potentially World-Cup-losing pressure. Their batsmen have given them sizeable targets to defend, or they have dominated with the ball from early on.India might win the World Cup without its newly brilliant pace attack ever coming under that scrutiny, without having to claw back an escaping opponent, or maintain their current precision when inaccuracy could mean defeat. They might maintain their standards and still lose. It will be fascinating to watch.Did Bangladesh believe they could beat India? Probably. Did they continue believing they could beat India once Raina and Rohit had their narrow escapes and began to assert their champion qualities? Probably not. Fortunately, exiting a cricket tournament is not quite as terminal as exiting the Eiffel Tower platform. Bangladesh’s World Cup was vastly better than 2011. If Franz Reichelt had had a second chance to hurl himself from an inadvisably high platform on an iconic landmark, he would no doubt have improved on his first effort. Whilst the Associates, according to current plans, may well find themselves involuntarily Reichelted out of the 2019 World Cup, Bangladesh, assuming they make it through from their qualifying tournament at home, will have the opportunity to test to rigour of the belief they have constructed this tournament.

ESPNcricinfo picks its team of the 2015 season, with a limit of only four overseas players in the XI

Mathew Varghese25-May-2015One hundred and forty five. That’s the number of players who got a game in this year’s IPL. That means a potential 10 quadrillion combinations of ESPNcricinfo’s tournament XI. Fortunately, it wasn’t as complex an exercise: unlike earlier occasions where we usually have each staff member sending in their XIs and spots being filled by names that get the most mentions, this time it was more of an actual selection meeting deliberation.Six from the XI were unanimous picks: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stood out as captains, and were also among the better domestic batsmen on show; two left-arm fast bowlers Ashish Nehra and Mitchell Starc; and Yuzvendra Chahal and Harbhajan Singh as the two spin options.ESPNcricinfo’s IPL XI from 2014

Robin Uthappa, David Warner, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Sunil Narine

Three batsmen, three bowlers. Now the remaining five spots. Given the format, the openers were expectedly among the highest run-scorers. David Warner, Ajinkya Rahane and Lendl Simmons led the pack this season, and Parthiv Patel was the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the tournament. Not to forget the impressive season that Shreyas Iyer had for Delhi Daredevils. Also, with more runs than both Kohli and Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers surely had done enough to slot in among the remaining three overseas spots.Then the allrounders from the West Indies. (Being West Indian was not a selection criterion). Andre Russell had three Man-of-the-Match performances, Dwayne Bravo was the leading wicket-taker, and Kieron Pollard stepped up when it mattered for Mumbai Indians. For his consistency with both bat and ball, Russell won our nod, though we did debate if we should have another.Back to the openers. One suggestion was to stick with Mumbai’s pair of Parthiv and Simmons. But Warner had a far more impressive strike rate than Simmons. And if both Warner and Simmons featured, then there would be no place for de Villiers. So, we picked Warner as an opener and de Villiers in the middle order. To partner Warner, the call was between Rahane and Parthiv. The other option was to have de Villiers keep wickets as well, which he didn’t in this IPL, and pick an Indian middle-order batsmen instead of Parthiv, but the lack of options and taking the easy cheat-sheet route made it a no-go. Final decision: Rahane opens, Parthiv moves down the order.Our 12th man would be Bravo: in case the bowling needed beefing up, he could replace either Warner or de Villiers. The XI has six batsmen (two of them wicketkeepers, too), one fast-bowling allrounder, two left-arm fast bowlers and two spinners. Four from the Royal Challengers made the XI, while Warner was the only one from our XI last year who made the cut in 2015. For the captain’s spot, who better than a man with two IPL titles: Rohit Sharma.The IPL 2015 XI1. David Warner (Sunrisers) – 562 runs, average 43, strike-rate 1572. Ajinkya Rahane (Royals) – 540 runs, average 49, strike-rate 1313. Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers) – 505 runs, average 46, strike-rate 1314. AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers) – 513 runs, average 47, strike-rate 1755. Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) – 482 runs, average 34, strike-rate 1456. Andre Russell (Knight Riders) – 326 runs, average 36, strike-rate 193, 14 wickets, average 23, economy rate 87. Parthiv Patel (Mumbai Indians) – 339 runs, average 26, strike-rate 1388. Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians) – 18 wickets, average 25, economy rate 7.89. Mitchell Starc (Royal Challengers) – 20 wickets, average 15, economy rate 6.810. Ashish Nehra (Super Kings) – 22 wickets, average 20, economy rate 7.211. Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers) – 23 wickets, average 18, economy rate 8.95:59

Agarkar and O’ Brien pick their all star IPL team

A small crowd at the Brabourne Stadium saw Rajasthan Royals enjoy conditions similar to Jaipur and Delhi Daredevils let themselves down in the field, time and time again

Amol Karhadkar03-May-2015Ever since the construction of Wankhede Stadium in the 1970s, the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium has more or less found itself being sidelined when it comes to hosting top-flight cricket. As much as it has been due to the CCI’s feud with the Mumbai Cricket Association, as responsible has been the lax attitude of its very own members towards hosting big games.A majority of CCI members are in disdain when it comes to staging of major cricket matches since it disrupts their daily routine. They are deprived of their usually set socialising on the club’s greens. Naturally, when the quaint venue staged its first game of the season on Sunday night, it wasn’t a startling sight to see a majority of seats in the historical club house and the members’ stand, a temporary structure, lying vacant.What came as a bit of a surprise was the fact that the club house and members’ enclosure wasn’t an aberration. Almost half the seats in the whole stadium were unoccupied. Perhaps it had something to do with the absence of the home team from Mumbai. And with the match turning out to be yet another one-sided affair, one could virtually count the number of seats that were still occupied, at least in the North Stand.But Rajasthan Royals, who have adopted CCI as their second home for the season, had no reason to complain at the end of the day. The Royals were in fact relieved to have been able to return to winning ways after a drought of five games. Besides Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair’s 113-run partnership that set the tone for the night, the Royals had more reasons as well that eventually helped them put one foot in the playoffs.First and foremost, it was the green-top at the CCI. For Royals, it was the closest they could be to Jaipur, their original home. On a grassy and bouncy track at the SMS stadium, the Royals enjoyed an impeccable run.The pitch resulted in change of strategies for both the teams. While Rajasthan Royals went in without a specialist spinner, Delhi Daredevils’ quest to bolster the pace department with Gurinder Sandhu meant Imran Tahir, their highest wicket-taker this season, had to be benched. With the primary wicket-taker out of action, the onus was on the Daredevils pacers to strike early.Zaheer Khan appeared to do that in the third over but neither wicketkeeper Kedar Jadhav nor the umpire heard the nick off Shane Watson’s inside edge. Then on, to keep the pressure on the batsmen, Delhi Daredevils had to restrict the run flow. They couldn’t. As much because of Rahane’s ability to find gaps at will as with butter-fingered fielding.Fielding, they say, is the easiest of three primary skills in cricket. And in Twenty20 cricket, considering the usually low margin of victories, it is more important than in the longer formats. When you drop two regulation catches and continue to leak runs in the field as consistently as Daredevils did, you are bound to let the opposition have a field day.There is no doubt that the Daredevils have one of the lightest fielding units. As if Zaheer and Amit Mishra’s presence doesn’t make them a weak fielding lot, Saurabh Tiwary’s recent inclusion has meant Daredevils have three men who need to be hidden in the field – something that’s virtually impossible with the array of strokes of modern batsmen. All three of them resulted in gifting runs to Royals in the field, with Tiwary also dropping Karun Nair just when he was about to shift gears.But the syndrome wasn’t limited to them. Sandhu, making his IPL debut, misjudged a skier off Rahane’s willow, Jadhav, keeping with a swollen palm, failed to collect a couple that resulted in byes. The energy in the field had reached its nadir by the time Nathan Coulter-Nile, the best fielder, missed a regulation attempt in the deep to concede a boundary in the last over.Besides the two dropped catches in the deep, the Daredevils would have conceded 20 additional runs in the field. Considering the loss margin of 14 runs, the Daredevils would be cursing their butter-fingers for having put them in the soup. It was so bad that the IPL’s 500th match – notwithstanding the six abandoned games – would perhaps be remembered for possibly the worst fielding display ever in the tournament.If the Daredevils were to achieve their highest-ever run chase, they needed a quickfire start and wickets in hand for a late charge. They failed on both counts. In-form openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer couldn’t cope with the slight lateral movement that the Royals pacers managed to garner. And Stuart Binny added insult to the Daredevils’ fielding woes with an amazing catch on the run and timing his dive to perfection at deep square leg to see the back of Yuvraj Singh.This meant that JP Duminy was always going to run short of partners by the time the death overs, the weakest link in the Royals’ IPL 2015 campaign, began. Once he was caught by Dhawal Kulkarni at short fine leg off the last ball of an impressive spell by James Faulkner, while the Royals wore a relieved look, the scarce spectators started their charge towards the gates.Come Thursday and the Royals will be hoping for an equally good performance and a far better turnout.

New Zealand allrounder Sophie Devine on what she’d say to Roger Federer, and being a neat freak among messy team-mates

Interview by Vishal Dikshit19-Jul-2015You wear jersey number 77. Any particular reason?
It used to be the house address when I was growing up. It was 77 Woodman Drive, so I chose that number because that’s where a lot of things started for me – where I first played backyard cricket with my family. So it’s just a nice reminder of where I came from.What’s your favourite shot?
Probably a big, dirty slog over cow corner, but I’ll probably get told off! Maybe a more correct shot, a nice straight drive. Usually in the air but if it goes along the ground I’ll be happy with that.Is there anything you dislike about T20?
I actually think it can be so hit and miss where one person can change the game, whereas in 50-over cricket, even if one person can stand out it takes quite often two or three people to have really good days [for a win]. Whereas in T20 one person can take the game away from you with the bat or the ball. But it’s also a positive if you are that person who stands up.If New Zealand Women need six off the last ball to win the World Cup, who would you put on the pitch?
There’s too many to choose from. It will be hard to go past Suzie Bates or Rachel Priest – they are some of the cleanest hitters I’ve seen around.

“I’m hopeless at swimming. I love the water, I play games in the water, but I probably couldn’t swim 50 metres. I could stay afloat and doggy-paddle”

Why don’t you wear a helmet while batting?
Actually, I’ve never really worn a helmet. The only time I can really remember is playing boys’ high school cricket and a few boys were going after me, bowling at around 130-135kph, so I put one on. I back myself to get out of the way. If I get hit, I guess it’s my own fault, and probably people will be saying I’m a bit silly for that. But it’s a comfort thing as well and just something that I’ve always done.Who’s the fastest bowler you have faced?
I think when I first played I was up against Cathryn Fitzpatrick, the old Australian. She was pretty nippy. If you look recently, Lea Tahuhu from our side gets some good pace up; Katherine Brunt and Ellyse Perry all get it through at a reasonable rate of knots, so I think the exciting thing about the women’s game is that it’s growing and getting those outright quick bowlers.Sophie’s choice? White Ferns, but an Olympic medal is the dream•Getty ImagesYou were run out without facing a ball on your T20 international debut. What happened there?
Oh, was it ()? I can’t even remember! I don’t even remember who it was against – it must have been a while ago. Back when I first debuted, both 50 overs and T20, I was a bowler, I did not bat at all. So I was always lower down the order. I was probably backing up too far or just trying to get the batter on strike rather than me, or something like that. It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve slowly worked myself up the order, so you never know, I might even open at some stage.White Ferns or Black Sticks?
Well, White Ferns. I’ve been really fortunate to play for both teams and I definitely keep an eye on the Black Sticks at the moment. I’m really excited about the future of the White Ferns and the competitions coming up – the World T20 in India next year and the World Cup in England in a couple of years’ time.Olympic gold medal or World Cup?
You’re throwing the hard ones at me! That’s really tough. That’s something that hockey will always have over cricket, that it’s an Olympic sport and that a medal is a huge thing; it’s not to say that the World Cup trophy isn’t worthy. I’ll take either, whatever it is.

“My favourite shot would probably be a big, dirty slog over cow corner, but I’ll probably get told off”

If you had to pick one?
I’ll probably get shot for saying this but an Olympic medal. I’ll be dropped for the next game probably now ().What’s the one thing you’d change immediately if you became captain tomorrow?
I would love to get more girls on contracts. I think that would be a huge positive for us. It’s fantastic that we’ve got ten, but realistically we want to push that up to 15, ideally 20, contracts, so that we can get more girls in the environment and supply them with the resources that we need to keep challenging those top teams.Who is more famous in New Zealand, Suzie Bates or Valerie Adams?
Probably Valerie Adams, but they look quite similar – both tall. Valerie Adams is a hero at home, she’s got a pretty good record there with the shot put but what Bates has achieved is pretty awesome – dual international is pretty special, not too many people can say that.Who has the worst taste in music in the team?
Morna Nielsen. She’s very alternative, she would think she’s got excellent taste. She did throw a spanner in the works the other day, when she said her favourite movie was , which goes completely against all her normal selections. So she’s up there, and also Hannah Rowe. Ninety percent of her iPod is Taylor Swift. It probably shows her age a little bit – she’s only 19, the youngest and that probably does make sense.Six needed off the last ball? Call Suzie Bates•WICB Media/Ashley AllenYour favourite sporting hero is Roger Federer. How are you taking the Wimbledon loss?
Not very well. Everyone was watching in their rooms and all you could hear at one point was hooping and hollering. That’s one thing about Federer – he’s so gracious in defeat as well. I’m absolutely gutted that he didn’t win, but it’s a sign of the person he is. Looking from the outside, the way he holds himself whether he’s winning or losing, he’s definitely an idol.What would you say if you’re stuck in a lift with him?
I probably wouldn’t even be able to talk. With famous people I lose the plot, I just get really hyped up and emotional and I won’t be able to speak. Even back at home, even if it’s a men’s domestic cricketer, I lose the plot. I just get squealy like a teenage girl.Tell us something we don’t know about you
I think most people know about the diabetes now, I really like to push that up there. I’m hopeless at swimming. I love the water, I play games in the water, but I probably couldn’t swim 50 metres. I could stay afloat and doggy-paddle but I probably could not complete a 50-metre length pool. I’ve always been hopeless at swimming, so that’s something my family always takes the piss out of me about.Describe yourself in a sentence
It would probably be based around having a laugh. For me it’s just about enjoying wherever I am, whoever I’m with. I can get pretty serious sometimes, but it’s always good to crack a joke or have a laugh.

He has not played a Test in two years but Steven Finn is back in England’s Ashes planning and believes the best is yet to come

George Dobell04-Jul-2015Steven Finn believes the best is yet to come for him as an international cricketer.Finn has not played Test cricket since the start of the 2013 Investec Ashes series but won a recall to the squad ahead of the Cardiff Test, which begins on Wednesday.While he accepts he will probably only make the final XI if one of the other seamers sustains an injury, he is delighted to have finally fought his way back into the reckoning after a chastening period when he was deemed “unselectable”. Despite having taken 90 Test wickets at the impressive strike rate of one every 48.30 deliveries, he says his next game will feel “like making another debut”.It was Ashley Giles, England’s limited-overs coach, who described Finn as “not selectable” when explaining why he was being sent home early from the Ashes tour of 2013-14. It was a term used quite often by the coaching staff about Finn on that trip – and not unreasonably as he looked a shadow of the fast bowler that had burst on to the scene in 2010 – but Giles was the only one to use it publically. It earned him some criticism, though Finn understands it was meant benevolently.Finn unaware of Rogers’ ticket scheme

Steven Finn has confirmed that he knew nothing of Chris Rogers’ plans to sell hospitality packages at the Lord’s Ashes Test.
Rogers, the Australia opener, was embarrassed last month after it emerged he was trying to sell on tickets for the game he had gained through contacts at Middlesex – something that is against the regulations. In his explanation, he claimed that he had cleared the plan with “everyone” at the club and that he had anticipated personal appearances from other players such as Finn as part of the hospitality events.
But Finn had no idea about the scheme, which the MCC is currently investigating. And while he says he would have been happy to help Rogers if required, he does admit he was surprised by when his name was mentioned in connection with the plan.
“Yes, I was surprised because I had no idea about it,” Finn said. “We’ve spoken about it since and there’s no animosity between us.
“We’re friends and if he wanted me to go and meet people and say hello to people he’d brought over then so be it. I’d do it because I’m a friend. I wasn’t ever giving tickets away because my family would want to come and watch if I was playing.
“I didn’t really have an idea about it but if he’d have asked for my help I would have helped because I’m a friend.”

“It wasn’t meant in a derogatory way,” Finn says now. “I had a testing period. It wasn’t pleasant. But overall it’s been a beneficial experience. I came home, reassessed where I was and all that is in the past. I feel good now. I feel I can do myself justice.”Whatever the cause of Finn’s issues – and it would appear that attempts to shorten his run-up and help him avoid crashing into the non-striker’s stumps in delivery provoked a crisis of confidence that resulted in the natural fast bowler losing pace and rhythm – he says he never lost faith in his ability to make it back to Test cricket.And why would he? For even now, two years since he last played, he is only 26. While the pace is not back to the level it once was – mid-80s rather than early 90s would appear to be the norm these days – he was termed England’s “attack leader” by new head coach Trevor Bayliss after the ODI series with New Zealand and seems to be inching his way to somewhere approaching the bowler he once was.”I don’t think I ever doubted I’d get back,” he says. “I never thought that playing Test cricket was out of my grasp. If I was five years older I might have done. I always knew that I’ve had success at international cricket. My record speaks for itself in all formats.”I certainly hope the best is ahead. I’m only 26. I’m not even at my peak yet as a fast bowler. I’m always learning. I always feel like I’m improving. And hopefully, in the future, I can play Tests and have better years ahead of me. I’ve plenty of time left and plenty of overs left in my career and hopefully plenty more of them will be in Test cricket.”He admits that his desire to improve may, for a while, have been the cause of his problems. Too much thought, too much deliberation, too much time in the nets seemed to turn one of the most exciting fast bowling talents England had developed for years into another fast-medium seamer.”Trying to improve myself hindered me for a little while,” he says. “But as I became clear about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to bowl, I think I’ve got that determination back to come back into the England team.”When I was left out after the Trent Bridge Test of 2013 I had a burning desire that I didn’t want it to be my last Test. It would have been easy to go back to county cricket, rest on my laurels and not try and improve.”Steven Finn last played a Test during the 2013 Investec Ashes•Getty ImagesHe credits his recovery, in part, to the hard work of two bowling coaches. While his name-check of Richard Johnson, the Middlesex bowling coach, is no surprise, the mention of Kevin Shine, the sometimes maligned ECB coach at Loughborough, is more of a surprise. Finn is grateful to them both.”I’m indebted to those guys,” he says. “They put in hours and hours of early mornings with me bowling through to a mitt, or to a stump and watching and giving feedback. I’m very grateful to the way those guys have given their time so selflessly to me after the last 18 months. Hopefully I can repay that faith in performances in an England shirt.”Finn remembers England winning back the Ashes in 2005 very well. Not only was he taking his GCSEs that summer, but he made his first-class debut for Middlesex as a 16-year-old. He was the youngest man to do so since Fred Titmus in 1949. Now, having experienced the outpouring of support from spectators after the much-improved ODI performances against New Zealand, he is “desperate” to be part of an Ashes-winning side that can inspire in the same way the side of 2005 managed.”We’re desperate to win back the Ashes,” he says. “We’ve seen how much the home crowd have been behind us this summer – there’s been a big turnaround in people’s attitude towards us – and we want to make those people proud.”I’ve never seen a crowd get behind us as much as they did in the one-day series against New Zealand. You can be walking down the street and people will say ‘we’re loving the way you’re playing your cricket, you’re making us proud’ and that’s something we have to continue.”