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Teams in India’s domestic T20 tournament will have to select their playing XIs and four substitute players before the toss

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2023The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) – India’s domestic T20 tournament – will see three changes from the upcoming season: two bouncers allowed per over and minor tweaks to the Impact Player rule, which was trialled last season. Previously, the Impact Player could only be used before the 14th over of an innings in SMAT, but now the rule can be used at any time during the match, like it was in the IPL this year.The other tweak is that teams will now have to announce their playing XIs and four substitute players before the toss, unlike in the IPL where captains brought two team sheets for the coin flip and finalised the XI after the toss.Bowlers being allowed to deliver two bouncers in an over is “to balance the contest between bat and ball,” according to a BCCI release after its 19th Apex Council meeting held in Mumbai on Friday. The T20 tournament is scheduled to be held from October 16 to November 6 this year, after the Irani Cup and before the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over competition).Related

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The Apex Council meeting also confirmed India’s participation at the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, for both men’s and women’s teams. “Considering the overlap of schedule of the Asian Games with ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, BCCI will select from the players not participating in the World Cup to play in the Asian Games,” the release said.The BCCI also plans to formulate policies around the participation of Indian cricketers in overseas T20 competitions. Currently, only players retired from all forms of Indian cricket can feature in overseas leagues but recently there have been a string of retired cricketers who have opted to play overseas.There was also a two-pronged proposal to upgrade the stadiums in India. While the grounds hosting the ODI World Cup games will get immediate attention, rest of the venues will be upgraded in the second phase of the upgradation plan.

Super Kings and Royal Challengers missed their talisman players in their last game and their returns could make their rematch in Bengaluru all the more spicy

The Preview by Sruthi Ravindranath20-Apr-20198:24

Dasgupta: It’s too late for RCB, they should look at next season

Big picture

Had Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers met before their respective previous matches this season, this contest would have had just one familiar favourite. Take these stats into consideration: The last time Royal Challengers won against Super Kings was in 2014, and right now, they are a full 10 points behind the table toppers. CSK fans have enough to put any debate to rest against the supporters of the team in red.Yet they were left bruised by Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday and Royal Challengers overcame an Andre Russell-special on Friday. All that sets this clash up beautifully.

Form guide

Royal Challengers: Beat Knight Riders by 10 runs, lost to Mumbai by five wickets, beat Kings XI by eight wickets
Super Kings: Lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets, beat Knight Riders by five wickets, beat Royals by four wickets

Super Kings’ batting has been largely dependent on MS Dhoni this year, and his absence from the side on Tuesday showed that. He’s bailed them out of danger in at least three instances this season and is also the side’s highest run-getter so far. And without him, the middle order (No. 4 to 7) could add only 37 runs to the total against Sunrisers.Royal Challengers were also missing a key player in their last game – AB de Villiers – but their captain ensured his absence was never really felt. Kohli’s century made sure RCB posted a par-plus total at Eden Gardens while Super Kings – without their talisman – fell below this year’s average first-innings score at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium. Should the weather at home co-operate, RCB might just have a good chance to break their losing streak against CSK.MS Dhoni flexes his muscles•BCCI

Team news

Super Kings’ coach Stephen Fleming said on the eve of the match that Dhoni (back spasm) and Bravo’s (hamstring) availability will depend on “how they scrub up” at the end of the training on Saturday. The CSK captain was, however, seen practising his big hits for nearly an hour.De Villiers is understood to still be recovering from taking a bouncer to the head from Jasprit Bumrah and his availability will be subject to a return to full fitness.

Previous meeting

The highly-anticipated season opener where these two teams met ended up being one-sided with Super Kings routing the Royal Challengers for 70 on a slow surface at the MA Chidambaram. The hosts had chased it down with 14 balls to spare.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers/Heinrich Klaasen, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Akshdeep Nath/Shivam Dube, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Mohammed SirajChennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Scott Kuggeleijn/Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Imran TahirVirat Kohli paced his fifth IPL century to perfection•BCCI

Strategy Punt

• De Villiers scored a cracking 30-ball 68 last year against Super Kings in Bengaluru. He had also scored a crucial 14-ball 28 in Royal Challengers’ last win against Super Kings, in 2014. There’s no doubt he’ll slot right back in if he’s fit. So, how can Super Kings stop him? Since IPL 2015, he’s lost his wicket 12 times in 31 games to legspinners. He’s also been having trouble picking the wrong’un, as he was exposed by Rajasthan Royals’ Shreyas Gopal earlier this month. Super Kings could use Tahir, who’s been their highest wicket-taker this season, against him. De Villiers has lost his wicket twice in three IPL games to his South African team-mate, and averages just 19.5 against him.
• Dhoni boasts an average of 75.8 in IPLs at the M Chinnaswamy. His unbeaten 34-ball 70 had helped Super Kings chase 205 here last year. Royal Challengers could use Dale Steyn to weaken the Dhoni threat, considering the fast bowler has dismissed him twice in seven IPL innings.

Stats that matter

• Super Kings need one more win to claim the joint-highest consecutive wins against a team. They have seven against Royal Challengers.
• Kohli has the most runs (738) by any player against Super Kings, but he has not made a 30-plus score against them since their return last year and has averaged just 10.66.
• In the last three games, Deepak Chahar has leaked 78 runs during Powerplay, bowling a total of eight overs. In the first six matches, he had conceded at an economy rate of just 5.6 in this phase.

Imran Tahir six in the final over helps Surrey scramble to level the scores off the last ball

ECB Reporters Network26-Jul-2019Twelve days after his heroics in the World Cup final, Jofra Archer made a highly impressive return to action with two wickets as Sussex Sharks tied with Surrey in a Vitality Blast thriller at Hove.The 24-year-old showed no ill effects from the side injury which troubled him throughout the World Cup during four hostile overs, bowled in three spells at a cost of 21 runs, during which he picked up the wickets of Aaron Finch and Surrey’s top scorer Ollie Pope, who was dropped on 16, for 43.Fifteen days after removing him for a golden duck in the World Cup semi-final, Archer had Finch well caught on the square-leg boundary by Delray Rawlins. He returned in the 14th over with a superbly disguised slower ball to dismiss Pope, who had just hit four boundaries in an over off Danny Briggs and appeared to be guiding Surrey to victory.Archer had bowled in the nets under the supervision of England’s medical staff earlier in the day and could now be in the Ashes squad when it is named on Saturday.A 6000 sell-out crowd had given Archer a standing ovation when he went out to bat earlier in the evening and they were treated to a thrilling finale. Surrey looked favourites with 29 needed off the last five overs with five wickets in hand but Tymal Mills dragged Sussex back into contention when two searing yorkers accounted for Tom Curran and Ryan Patel in the 18th over.Then off the final ball of the 19th Rikki Clarke holed out to long-on leaving ninth-wicket pair Gareth Batty and Imran Tahir with the task of scoring 12 from the last over from David Wiese, who was bowling his only over of the night.Wiese conceded singles off the first two balls then Tahir stylishly uppercut a full toss for six. One run came off the next two deliveries, leaving Batty to score three to win off the final ball. He drove to long-on and the pair scrambled back for a second after Sussex missed with two throws at the stumps, either of which would have run him out had they been on target.Earlier, Sussex had finished on 144 for 8 which was something of a disappointment after skipper Luke Wright and Phil Salt had smashed 50 in the first four overs.Salt, dropped by Curran off his second ball when on nought, hit 27 off ten balls including successive sixes off Jade Dernbach. But the Sharks were never the same when he holed out later in the same over and it needed an unbeaten 76 from skipper Wright to get them to a competitive total.Sussex only managed six boundaries after the sixth over with Wright unable to go onto the offensive because wickets were falling too regularly at the other end. Veteran offspinner Batty had figures of 3 for 8 at one stage while only Ben Brown got into double figures. Wright hit 14 off Jordan Clarke in the 18th over and finished with 76 off 59 balls including a six and nine fours.

Stoneman scores his first fifty of the season as survival tilt looms for hosts

Vithushan Ehantharajah21-Apr-2023Play only began at 2:15pm as the rain threatened to wash away any momentum in this fixture. Yet somehow, not only did 60.4 overs get sent down, mostly in bright sunshine, but the game has moved along at pace. And perhaps most notable of all, Middlesex walked off for the first time this season with a degree of satisfaction.They are still 253 behind Nottinghamshire’s first-innings score, the loss of Pieter Malan at the start of what was to be Friday’s last over something of a kicker. But this was comfortably the newly promoted side’s best day of the season so far.If that sounds a bit hollow, it’s because it is, even if it’s true. Middlesex came into this match propping up Division One after losing lost both their opening matches. However, the manner in which they took Nottinghamshire’s five remaining wickets, for just 112, then followed up with their highest first- and second-wicket stands of the season – 50 and 61 – felt like a necessary response to those travails. Factor in season-high scores for all of the top three, and it is clear this was an important step towards feeling like they belong at this level.Mark Stoneman remains unbeaten on 60, driving imperiously, with scope for the middle-order core of stalwarts young and old to join him on a surface showing no demons yet.The county is by no means in disarray, with squad harmony reinforced by a few life-long bonds and the manner of last year’s promotion from Division Two. But sniff hard enough and you could convince yourself there was a whiff of a group of players feeling the pressure of being back in the top flight for the first time in six years.Ben Duckett sensed as much when he entered the evening session on day one. He did not hide his feelings that the early finish played into the hands of the home attack. The 28-year-old had gotten himself – and them into a position – where he was looking to “smack it” in the evening. “My idea was to potentially get 80 or 90 runs to finish the day on 200 or something,” he said, dripping with the confidence of a batter at the height of his red-ball powers.Related

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Though Duckett moved seamlessly to an 11th score of 150 or more, his frustration at yesterday’s early finish played out. That same attack with a night’s sleep restricted him to just 58 more from his overnight score of 119, from 81 deliveries before he attempted to deposit Ryan Higgins into the top of the Grandstand. A top edge was brilliantly taken by Martin Andersson, running and diving forward at fine leg. Considering Duckett has seven scores higher than this 177, four of them double-centuries, he and Notts could argue Middlesex got away with one there. Higgins finished the innings with his very next delivery, bowling Dane Patterson.The key interjection took over an hour to come and required the second new ball. Notts skipper Steven Mullaney was getting into his work, building on the 14 runs he made yesterday with a bit more vigour. He had done what Duckett failed to do in hitting the upper reaches of the stand away to the short side, when leg spinner Luke Hollman dropped one in short. On 46, Mullaney was undone by his opposite number Toby Roland-Jones, who nipped one into the right-hander – off the seam and down the slope – to trap him lbw.Two overs later, Duckett carved through extra cover for his 15th four to take him to 153 from 222 deliveries. Middlesex had decided to focus primarily on getting the England opener off strike even before the tail came into view. Now with it on display, there came a degree of urgency from the man himself to absorb as much as he could. Particularly after Ethan Bamber had found Liam Patterson-White’s edge through to John Simpson, then bowled Brett Hutton in his next over.That brought Stuart Broad to the crease, greeted by cheers – as much recognition of his 161 Test caps and 576 wickets as the entertaining nonsense he brings with the bat in this kind of situation. However, at 344 for 8, his role as Bonus Points Hawk required him to keep the nonsense to a minimum while Duckett hunted for extra runs.Thankfully, he didn’t – appealing for and getting a no-ball call on height after Bamber bumped him first ball, a mow over backward point that brought him a couple and the odd swish and miss. At the other end, Duckett entered into ramp mode. That Broad wasn’t able to play the lead role because of the loss of the final two wickets in successive deliveries was a shame.Nevertheless, the day ended with a textbook celebrappeal, with Broad trapping Malan in front with the final ball of the day to dampen the hosts’ mood ever so slightly. By then, Malan had at least made it to double figures after opening scores of 0, 4, 2 and 0.He had arrived following Sam Robson’s 17, before he was lbw to Lyndon James. There was a momentary fear Robson may bag his second duck in three weeks, before he calmly opened the face to guide his 22nd ball beyond point for a couple.Stoneman looked a class apart, particularly against Broad. One of his 10 boundaries so far even elicited a “shot!” from the 36-year-old seamer, who had seemingly closed off the midwicket region with two fielders cutting off that angle. The left-hander managed to split both, all along the floor, with a nicely timed clip.The eighth boundary – a pull in front of square from his 70th delivery – brought Stoneman a first half-century of the season. Given the way he has negotiated a wily seam attack of Broad, Hutton, Paterson and James so far, and moreover timed every attacking shot well, it’s not hard to envisage a 30th first-class hundred – and sixth for Middlesex – sometime on Saturday.The weather is not expected to play as big a part on day three, and with only 130 overs into this surface so far, this may be the best it is for batting. Whatever torment the last couple of weeks have seen, tomorrow could kickstart the survival tilt.

While in Harare, a rain-hit contest between Tuskers and Eagles yielded no result

Liam Brickhill06-Dec-2018Results SummaryZimbabwe’s domestic season is underway after the first round of Logan Cup matches in Harare and Kwekwe.Fast bowler Carl Mumba burst back onto the Zimbabwean domestic scene with a match haul of 8 for 24 to demolish the reigning Logan Cup champions Mountaineers at Kwekwe Sports Club. Building on captain Tarisai Musakanda’s maiden first-class hundred, Rhinos reached 232 in their first innings, the highest score of the match.Peter Moor’s second-innings fifty helped Rhinos set Mountaineers 245 to win despite Donald Tiripano’s 5 for 42. That total was well beyond them when Michael Chinouya’s incisions rocked the top order, and Mumba then tore through the tail to pick up the remarkable career-best figures of 6 for 7 in the second innings, Moutaineers crumbling to 140 all out. There is not much room for error in the six-match Logan Cup competition this season, and the pressure is on Mountaineers not to slip up again if they are to retain the trophy.At Harare Sports Club, persistent rain had the final say in a closely-fought contest between Mashonaland Eagles and Matabeleland Tuskers. Having been put in by Eagles captain Tino Mutombodzi, Tuskers were carried by Craig Ervine’s 141 in their first innings, reaching 313. An all-round effort from the bowlers then restricted Eagles to 284, Chris Mpofu playing a vital hand by dismissing Cephas Zhuwao when the big-hitting left-hander had raced to a 45-ball 60.Cunningham Ncube’s battling 77 held Tuskers together in their second innings in overcast conditions well suited to swing bowling, with no other batsman making more than 14 in the innings. Eagles bowled Tuskers out early on the final morning, and their pursuit of 211 to win fired in fits and starts but was still on track when rain stopped play.Eagles were 155 for 4 when the weather intervened, the captains eventually shaking hands for a draw when it became apparent no further play would be possible.On the national radarWith a couple of the established names in Zimbabwean cricket away playing T20 (and even T10) franchise cricket elsewhere, the first round of Logan Cup matches was an opportunity for those on the fringe to start staking a claim. Mumba’s dramatic return will not have gone unnoticed, while in the same game Musakanda’s maiden first-class ton showed positive signs for his continued development, with Musakanda having made the runs batting out of position as an opener. Tiripano also recorded his fourth five-wicket haul in First Class cricket during the game in Kwekwe, while in Harare Ervine’s 10th first-class hundred (as well as some summer rain), helped Tuskers secure a draw.Top performerMumba had not played any professional cricket since seriously injuring his knee in Hambantota during Zimbabwe’s tour of Sri Lanka last year. The injury required reconstructive surgery on his knee, as well as nine months of rehabilitation work, but his performance against Mountaineers suggests that Mumba has lost none of his zip, and he could well find himself back in the national set-up, especially with the pace cupboards a little barer since Blessing Muzarabani’s departure for Northamptonshire.Admittedly, Mumba was also aided by a slightly spongy patch on the Kwekwe Sports Club pitch, but no bowler from either side was able to exploit the conditions as effectively as he was. His analysis is the best in Zimbabwean first-class cricket for any bowler taking six wickets in an innings, beating that of the great bowler Joe Partridge who took 6 for 13 for this country against North-Eastern Transvaal in Pretoria back in 1955-56. However, it does fall short of the amazing feat of left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa, who in 2006-07 took seven wickets for just one run for Westerns against Northerns in the Logan Cup at Harare Sports Club.

Australia coach doesn’t expect the controversy over the leadership ban issue to affect the out-of-form opener against South Africa

Tristan Lavalette13-Dec-2022Struggling opener David Warner has “not hinted” at an impending Test retirement, according to head coach Andrew McDonald.Warner had said last month that he was not going to play the longest format beyond another 12 months. However, his experience is pivotal for Australia’s tour of India early next year. And, before that, he is expected to play his 100th Test starting Boxing Day against South Africa, who round off the series at his home ground at the SCG just after that. It could prove something of a fitting send off, but McDonald was confident of Warner extending his Test cricket beyond the home summer.”He’s eager to continue on at this stage. He has not hinted [at] anything else,” McDonald said. “His appetite for the work – in and around training – is still there. He’s busy at the crease, and you’ve seen signs that he is going well. He’s just found different ways to get out, and sometimes that can happen.Related

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“We are building towards a World Test Championship [final], and he wants to be part of that. So that’s a clear focus for us, and we’ve got South Africa as a part of that. And then on to India.”As Australia’s other top-order batters feasted on a listless West Indies bowling in the series – Australia declared each of their four innings during comprehensive victories in Perth and Adelaide – Warner missed out each time, with just 102 runs at an average of 25.50.It continued a rut for 36-year-old Warner, who has scored only 675 runs at 28.12 in 25 Test innings since his last century in January 2020. Pressure has increased on Warner, with speculation building on his Test career ahead of tough tours of India and England next year, where he has modest records.But unless something dramatic happens against South Africa, Warner is set for his third Test tour of India, where he has never scored a century, and averages just 24 from 16 innings. And his wealth of experience is seen as important for a team likely to boast several batters who have never played Test cricket there.”We’ll see what happens in the next three Test matches. But at this stage, he’s firmly in our thoughts for India,” McDonald said. “We’ve seen the more times you tour certain areas of the world, the better you get at it.David Warner hasn’t scored a century in 16 Test innings in India•AFP

“But it’s also the knowledge that he can pass on to the younger players in and amongst that. We really value our senior players – both on and off the field – in terms of that education process. So there’s huge benefit for those players to be touring those areas, and albeit if they don’t play, they can still have an impact.”Warner has also been engulfed in controversy after withdrawing a bid before the second Test against West Indies to have his lifetime leadership suspension lifted. But McDonald felt that Warner had the mental resolve to overcome that saga.Ahead of what should be a tough three-match series against South Africa – who boast a star-studded pace attack – Warner has been backed to shrug off any distraction from the lingering off-field tumult before the first Test at the Gabba starts on December 17.”He’s great at compartmentalising, [and] separating the off-field from the on-field. And I think most of the great champions do that very well,” McDonald said. “I sense this situation is not different. We respect and understand David’s decision to withdraw from that appeals process.’He’s moved forward, we’re moving forward as a team, and we’ve got a seriously good opponent confronting us at the Gabba. So our focus is firmly on that… and so is David’s.”

Chris Green, making a rare appearance for his state, picked up four wickets

AAP17-Nov-2022Daniel Hughes smacked yet another century before spinner Chris Green weaved his magic with the ball to lead New South Wales to a crushing 160-run win over Tasmania in the one-day clash at Blundstone Arena.Just days after missing a Sheffield Shield clash due to Covid-19, Hughes scored 101 off 114 balls as the visitors reached 8 for 300 after being sent in to bat.In reply, Tasmania were skittled for 140 in 28.1 overs, with Matthew Wade (42 off 49 balls) the only home batter to post a score of any substance. Green starred with the ball, finishing with figures of 4 for 20 off nine overs.NSW entered the match yet to taste victory this season in either the one-day competition or the Sheffield Shield.But the 207-run opening stand between Hughes and Kurtis Patterson (92) put the Blues on track to end the rut. Hughes has now posted three one-day centuries this season and he can consider himself unlucky to be overlooked for Australian selection following Aaron Finch’s retirement.Thursday’s innings took his average to 67.8 for the past four seasons with only Shaun Marsh having more one-day domestic centuries – 10 to Hughes’s nine – of current players.The left-hander was strong square of the wicket, cutting, pulling and pushing off the back foot whenever Tasmania dropped short.Sitting pretty at 0 for 194 after 32 overs, the runs dried up slightly for NSW after Patterson picked out the man on the legside boundary while trying to pull Tom Rogers.It kickstarted a collapse of 5 for 35 in the next six overs as Rogers, Nathan Ellis and Tom Andrew pulled back the Blues. Jason Sangha and Baxter Holt were the only remaining batters to pass 20, as NSW took just 63 runs from the last 10 overs.Tasmania’s run chase started poorly with the home side crashing to 3 for 35. Wade sent a scare through the camp when he was struck on the side of the helmet by a Liam Hatcher bouncer. The veteran had raced to 21 off just 11 balls but struggled for fluency after being hit.Wade even fell to the ground later that over while evading another Hatcher bouncer and he eventually holed out 10 overs later in the search for quick runs.The bonus-point win lifted NSW (five points) off the bottom of the ladder, but they are still five points adrift of the third-placed Tasmania (10 points).

Chamari Athapaththu dominated for Renegades but her 75 wasn’t enough

AAP03-Nov-2022Hobart Hurricanes legspinner Maisy Gibson returned career-best figures in a four-wicket win over the Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL.Gibson put in a supreme display with the ball to help restrict the Renegades to a modest 5 for 133 batting first at Blundstone Arena.In the run chase, Hurricanes allrounder Heather Graham (39* off 26 balls) put her foot on the accelerator at the right time to ensure her side cruised to victory with 11 balls to spare.The turning point in the chase was the 27 runs Hurricanes made in the power surge, which they took in the 13th and 14th overs.Hurricanes captain Elyse Villani (29) made her highest score this season before she was bowled by a superb skidding delivery from Renegades captain Sophie Molineux.Renegades slumped to their sixth consecutive defeat and are in last position in the ladder, while Hurricanes are in fifth spot but have a game in hand over the top four sides.Opener Chamari Athapaththu was the star of the Renegades innings with an unbeaten 75 from 59 deliveries. The Sri Lanka captain was on a different level to the rest of the batters, with her straight hitting clinical and power-packed.Renegades got off to a fast start with the bat, with opener Hayley Matthews (26 off 23) the prime mover.Gibson took two wickets in her first over, including Josephine Dooley with an athletic caught and bowled in her outstretched left hand. She was in the groove and another over where she snared two wickets made sure the Renegades never got away.The fielding of the hosts was supreme, with Ruth Johnston diving full stretch to take a one-handed diving catch with her left to dismiss Molineux.

Allrounder hopes England’s performance has ‘shut a few mouths’ as he stars on eve of Bristol court case.

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2018An emotionally spent Ben Stokes admitted that “playing for England means so much” after his final-day heroics with the ball secured his team a thrilling 31-run victory over India at Edgbaston.Stokes’ participation in the second Test at Lord’s – and beyond – will depend on how his trial for affray develops, when the case gets underway at Bristol Crown Court on Monday.However, he managed to put his off-field worries to one side with a brilliant three-wicket intervention on Saturday – including the priceless scalp of Virat Kohli, lbw to an inswinger for 51.”It’s great to be a part of this game, but I don’t know … I don’t know what to be feeling right now,” Stokes told at the end of the match.”Throughout the whole innings … Kohli played a brilliant knock in the first innings, but with the ball swinging, he was trying to move across to play for that inswinger, but actually it was the one that I was trying to swing away [that set the wicket up], he maybe leant over and missed one for a change.”Moments like that change the game in these tight ones. I’m proud to be part of this group, playing for England means so much, and it’s a great start to this tough five-match series. Being 1-0 up we’re in the box seat at the moment.”Stokes followed that dismissal up by having Mohammed Shami caught behind for a duck in the same over, before wrapping up the contest when Hardik Pandya fenced another lifter to Alastair Cook at first slip.”We weren’t quite sure what to expect here,” Stokes said. “We knew we needed five wickets and we had all the confidence, These games are brilliant. We’ve copped a lot of stick as a team recently and beating a team like India there has closed a few mouths.”Winning those tight games, you can’t underestimate what it gives teams for confidence. We’ve got a five-Test match series here, so we’ll take all the confidence we can. There’s no better way to start it off than that.”Stokes’ all-round impact in a tight Edgbaston Test brought to mind the efforts of Ian Botham in 1981 and Andrew Flintoff in 2005, but he paid particular tribute to another allrounder whose four-wicket haul in the first innings and vital half-century in the second kept England afloat in the game.”I thought we are a bit behind with the lead but Sam Curran took them out of play,” he said. “The way that he played at such a young age, that was the big turning point of this Test match.”

Anti-corruption officers have sought clarification from the Pakistan team management after a couple of their players were seen wearing what appeared to be smart watches

George Dobell at Lord's24-May-20180:34

Watches won’t be worn again – Hasan

Anti-corruption officials have told Pakistan’s players not to wear smart watches on the field after a couple of their players were seen with them on the first day at Lord’s.As per the ICC’s Player and Match Officials Area Regulations, wearing smart watches is prohibited on the field and areas designated as player and match official area [PMOA]. An ICC release on Friday confirmed that such devices must be surrendered, along with mobile devices, upon arrival at the ground on match days.”The ACSU officer came to speak to us and told us it’s not allowed to wear them so we won’t be wearing them,” Hasan Ali said after the day’s play.In an effort to combat corruption in cricket over the last few years, players and officials have been obliged to hand over their phones (and any other transmitting devices) to anti-corruption officials ahead of the start of play. They are then locked away and returned to them shortly after stumps.ICC regulations state that: “Communication devices are prohibited within the PMOA, barring specific exceptions. Without exception, no player shall be in possession of, or use a communication device (such as a mobile phone or a device which is connected to the internet), while in the PMOA.”Asad Shafiq checks his watch•Getty Images

An ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: “Apple watches in any way connected to a phone/WiFi or in any way capable of receiving comms such as messages, are not allowed. In effect, it is considered a phone unless ‘disabled’ and just a watch.”There are several legitimate reasons to continue to wear such a watch when disabled. It still tells the time, for example – though there is also a large clock overlooking the playing area at Lord’s – while fitness data can all be recorded and stored on a disabled device.Asad Shafiq, who wore the watch on Thursday, had said in a pre-series interview with the commentator Ramiz Raja that players use the watch to track their daily exertions, and that they burn “around 3000 calories” on a regular day of Test cricket.”We definitely get an idea [of fitness measures],” Shafiq said. “If you wear it the whole day you get an idea, you get the results of your workout in front of you, and you can calculate your targets for the next day.”ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC’s anti-corruption officer at the match, Peter O’Shea, was surprised by photographs appearing to show the devices and approached the Pakistan team management at the end of play. The ICC has the power to confiscate the devices and download all material from them in order to monitor recent activity.While there is no allegation of wrongdoing, the ICC on Friday stated that it will caution players against wearing such devices in order to avoid such confusion in the future. Their own regulations may well be tightened to reflect that stance.May 25, GMT 0600 The article was amended to include Asad Shafiq’s quotes.May 25, GMT 0745 The article was amended to reflect ICC’s PMOA regulations.