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England Women are using artificial intelligence (AI) to inform selection using a system head coach Jon Lewis says proved crucial in last year’s drawn Ashes series.Lewis was first exposed to the technology, provided by London-based company PSi, while coaching UP Warriorz in the inaugural WPL last year. He has since spoken with the likes of England Rugby Union coach Steve Borthwick about the system, also used by English rugby league side Wigan Warriors and English Football League One side Wigan Athletic, which allows coaching staff to simulate various match-ups and scenarios.”We are able to run simulated teams versus the simulated opposition to give us an idea about how those teams may match up against each other,” Lewis said on Friday after revealing England’s white-ball squads to host Pakistan from next week.”I can send multiple different lineups to the company and they run, I think it’s about 250,000 simulations per team that I send with all the different permutations that could happen through the game.”What I would say is it’s not how we select the side, but it’s one part of selection that we use to help understand what could possibly happen in the future. We used it very successfully in the Ashes last summer with match-ups against the Australian side.”Related

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Lewis said the research methods were impacted somewhat by a gap in the quality of historical data in the women’s game, a situation he believes will improve amid an increasingly packed international schedule and growing franchise scene. And while he said the tool was particularly useful in helping to make borderline selection calls, he would always opt for a people-first approach.”Obviously we’re on the ground with the people and that’s probably the first thing that we look to in terms of selection, which people are playing well, we use our cricketing eye,” he said. “But it’s one small part of what we do and it’s really interesting, and it played out really well last summer against Australia.”I think it will help with borderline decisions in terms of selections and match-ups. Will it ever be at the front, the thing that selects the team? I would say, in my view, no. Other coaches may feel very differently, but it is really interesting.”AI was used throughout last summer’s Ashes and Lewis pointed to the T20 leg, which England won 2-1 to get back into the series after losing the one-off Test, as a moment when it came to his aid in weighing up the merits of two players who were “both in really good form and were both really selectable”.”There was one selection in particular last year,” he said. “We saw a real strength in Australia and we matched up our strength, our best bowlers, to that part of the game against Australia last year. That worked really, really well for us. That helped us win the T20 series in particular and that got us back in the Ashes.”The players were both players that I was thinking about picking. So it did help me with those selections and it turned out that it worked out really well. So yeah, it can help selections, but my go-to would be get your people right first, get them all in the right head space, get their games in order, and then use data to support around selection.”England Women’s squads vs Pakistan•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

From data to people, England have just completed a bonding trip to the Lake District, which involved a number of team-building exercises including cold-water swimming, designed to see how players responded in situations that, for many, were outside their comfort zones.”We spend a lot of time in the nets and we spend a lot of time thinking and practising about how to improve those parts of our game,” Lewis said. “However, the game of cricket is a real tactical game. It’s a game of chess. You need to be able to be a really clear thinker under pressure and you need to be able to manage the anxieties that are around cricket, not only on the field, but the anxieties that all players face off the field as well.”We worked a lot on how to manage anxiety and how to manage pressure and to do that, sometimes you’ve got to take players out of the environment that they’re normally in. When you do that, you take away, I suppose, the hierarchy of the group a little bit and everyone becomes very even. Then what you start to see is different people voicing opinions, different people giving advice to each other, and I suppose the group connecting on a different level than they would do around cricket.”We did a really powerful session around facing our fears and the girls were really, really honest about what their fears were around being part of an England cricket team. There was some really interesting stuff that came out of that and that will really help us as a coaching group manage our players and help them to become more rounded people first and then better cricketers at the same time.”The players, some of them liked the activities that we were doing and some of them didn’t, and that caused different types of stresses and hopefully we help them with some ways to deal with those things.”

Pat Cummins vs Mitchell Starc. INR INR 20.50 crore vs INR 24.75 crore. Hardly a rivalry, even if it’s been talked up ahead of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) game at Eden Gardens on Saturday. For Cummins, it’s only going to be “weird looking across and seeing him in the other dugout”.”I will say this: hopefully I don’t have to face Starc because that means our batters have done quite well,” Cummins said at a press conference a day off from the game. “It’s funny… it’s one of the beauties of the IPL; I have been playing with Starcy for 15 years, [and] I can’t remember another game where I have played against him. Also it’s going to be weird looking across and seeing him in the other dugout.”But there’s that big salary to live up to. “Yeah, being an opposition captain, seeing how we go about playing him will be an interesting part of tomorrow. But we’re both bowlers, so I am not sure we’ll cross [paths] too much.”Related

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Cummins, as has been discussed ever since he was named SRH captain for the 2024 IPL season, has never captained a T20 side at a competitive level despite being Australia’s Test and ODI captain and playing international cricket – all formats – since 2011. A fast-bowling captain at that.”Really excited, good to go,” Cummins said while acknowledging his lack of experience helming a T20 side.”It’s got its challenges,” he elaborated. “In that you play 14 games in six-seven weeks, plus finals. I’m used to playing a lot of Test cricket, so four overs isn’t as taxing on your body. But it can be mentally taxing, the travel, obviously a different country, play a new team every few days you have to prepare for… But it’s nothing new, we’ve done it before. Obviously, the game day is most important. That’s what we put most days into. No teams play the same XI for all 14 games. I am sure we’ve got to call on our squad and we’re lucky we’ve got a young, fit squad.”I think it’s been a part of the IPL, you have expectations, you have a lot of fans who demand a lot out of the team, they want results. Yeah, being captain is probably a little bit more [of responsibility]. But it’s not much different to what we’re used to as players. We’ll give it our best.”As for the players who don’t get many chances, Cummins has a simple message: “You want a bit of people rivalry, you know, a bit of rivalry when people try to break into the XI.”At SRH, Cummins will have for company Travis Head, who he leads in Tests and ODIs, but it’s going to be very different from leading Australia, who he has captained to world titles in both those formats.”The biggest difference is that you know your team-mates really well playing for Australia. There’s a lot of things doesn’t need to be said, because I have played with Joshie Hazlewood and Starc for 15 years. So there’s a real kind of trust and you just don’t really need to say much, everything kind of runs by itself,” Cummins said. “I think here, learning [about] some new players, that’s going to be the biggest difference, and just learning those different roles within the team. I know a few of the other guys, obviously, and have done a bit of homework to try and get the best out of the guys. But that’s probably going to be the biggest difference.”Washington Sundar adds depth to the SRH batting while also bowling his quota of overs•Associated Press

Are SRH light on the spin-bowling front?

There is Wanindu Hasaranga in the ranks, but that takes away an overseas slot and leaves just two, with Cummins as captain a starter. Outside of Hasaranga, SRH’s best spin options are Washington Sundar and Mayank Markande. Both solid performers at the IPL over the years, but not quite names that would strike fear in opponents.”Whilst not having any huge names that have played a lot of cricket for India, I’ve been really impressed with the guys we do have,” Cummins said. “Washington, who can bat in the top seven but also give handy overs. Markande as well, who’s had some success as well. So I feel like we’ve got that covered. We’ve also got guys like Aiden Markram and Travis Head, who can chip in if we need to as well. So feels like there’s a bit of quality there and if it’s a spinning wicket, we’ve got plenty of guys who can bowl.”Which might be the case at Eden Gardens, which Cummins knows well, having turned out for KKR in the past. His great 14-ball half-century, however, didn’t come in Kolkata, but in Pune, against Mumbai Indians, though Cummins would like to give it another heave on Saturday.”Maybe, I’d love to. It’s great fun. It’s much more fun than trying to block and hang around and cop a few on the body,” he said. “So yeah, I look forward to that, especially the IPL, I’ve got a few runs over the years… I’ve been hit for a lot of sixes in my life, so I’ll try to get a few back.”

It’s barely been three months since the end of Sri Lanka’s ill-fated World Cup campaign, but things are already looking up, according to head coach Chris Silverwood, who has been impressed by his side’s showings so far, particularly in the last two ODIs against Afghanistan.Sri Lanka won both games by 42 and 155 runs respectively, with the batters piling on the runs on pitches that have been flatter than the surfaces traditional seen in Sri Lanka. Silverwood, much like Charith Asalanka two days prior, was pleased that SLC had taken his suggestion to curate flatter wickets to heart.”If we just look at 50-over cricket for the moment, our game plan is better suited to good wickets,” Silverwood said on the eve of the third ODI against Afghanistan. “I asked for flat wickets and thankfully I got the support in that from the powers that be.””For how we want to play our cricket, the nature of how we want to play it, then we need good wickets to do that. And to also allow players the opportunity to galvanise that game plan through the fact that you can go out and do it time and time again. Slow, low wickets don’t suit us to do that.”For me the wickets have been excellent here [in Pallekele]. Yes, we’ve seen lots of runs, but that’s what we want. We need to be able to put up those big scores and then we need to be able to defend them.”Related

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In terms of defending those big totals, in the first game, despite Sri Lanka piling on a mammoth 381, Afghanistan ran them close only falling at the final hurdle following a spirited chase. In the second game however, with 308 defend, Sri Lanka’s bowlers made life much tougher for Afghanistan, ultimately resulting in a monumental collapse where the visitors lost their final eight wickets for just 25 runs.For Silverwood, this outcome was especially satisfying as it had been a result of the players actively taking on board and implementing the feedback from the coaching staff.”After the first game I thought there was plenty of room for improvement,” Silverwood said. “So we sat the lads down – all of them, not just the bowlers – and we showed them using the Hawk-Eye data what we were talking about. The areas that we bowled, the lengths that we bowled, what was and wasn’t successful, and talked about how we were going to tighten that up. And they did it beautifully in the last game.”Other things that we use is first and sixth ball – can you start your over well and finish your over well? Can you push the pressure back on to the batsman, and make them play the big shot? Rather than giving runs either side of the over. And it’s the job of the next bowler to pick up where they left off. So you’re constantly trying to build that pressure on to the batsman. And I think you saw us do that, particularly in the last game. We saw that with the boundary count coming down.”Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling coach Craig Howard and Wanindu Hasaranga at a training session•AFP/Getty Images

While Wanindu Hasaranga was the pick of the bowlers in the second ODI, grabbing four wickets, another who was particularly impressive was Asitha Fernando. Playing his first ODI in over a year, he returned figures of 2 for 23 in six overs, but those wickets were crucial as they broke the only two significant partnerships of the Afghanistan innings.Silverwood, who has been working closely with the Sri Lankan seamers, was full of praise for Fernando, who up until then had been primarily categorised as a Test bowler.”He certainly put his best foot forward in the last game,” Silverwood said. “The way he turned up on short notice, and the way he performed was fantastic. The skills that he’s got – what he showed us during the Test match – lend themselves very well to one-day cricket as well. The way that he can hit length hard time and time again, the lines that he bowls are very tight, and he’s got a very accurate bouncer.”For me, we need to keep pushing him on, keep working on that slower ball so he has that variation, but as for the basic skillset required to be successful in 50-over white-ball cricket he certainly showed he’s got that in the last game.”Going forward, the plan unsurprisingly is to build towards stability so that Sri Lanka can have a far better showing at the next ODI World Cup in 2027.”We are in that building phase again now, we’re building for that World Cup, and we have to make sure that we put all the building blocks in place,” Silverwood said. “So when we do arrive there we’re in a good place, everybody’s got experience under their belt, everybody knows their roles, and everybody has had success along the way as well so they carry that confidence with them.”

Bangladesh Under-19s, who had beaten India Under-19s in the Asia Cup in December last year, threatened to cause another stir when left-arm seamer Maruf Mridha took five wickets in the Under-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein. Maruf’s strikes kept India to 251 for 7, but Saumy Pandey trumped Maruf with 4 for 24 and bowled his team to victory.Musheer Khan, the younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan, pitched in with two wickets, including that of Mohammad Shihab James, who top-scored for Bangladesh with 54 off 77 balls. The rest of the batters collapsed around James as Bangladesh were bowled out for 167 in 45.5 overs. Musheer also effected a direct-hit to sink Bangladesh. Pandey was the most economical bowler on the day, conceding just 2.44 an over.Earlier in the day, India’s innings was built around half-centuries from opener Adarsh Singh (76 off 96) and captain Uday Saharan (64 off 94). Aravelly Avinash (23 off 17), who was picked by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 auction, and Sachin Dhas (26 off 20) then gave the innings some late impetus.Shahzaib Khan almost batted through the innings, scoring 106 from 126 balls•ICC via Getty Images

Ubaid Shah, the younger brother of Naseem Shah, and Mohammad Zeeshan, who has been part of Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL, took seven wickets between them to skittle Afghanistan Under-19s for 103 in their chase of 285 in East London.Opener batting Shahzaib Khan had laid the platform for Pakistan Under-19s’ 181-run victory with 106 off 126 balls. His knock contained ten fours and three sixes. He added 92 for the third wicket with Saad Baig, who hit 55 off 52 balls, to set Pakistan up for a big total. Khalil Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, returning 4 for 51 in his ten overs.Pakistan’s total looked even bigger when Ubaid and Zeeshan ripped through Afghanistan’s top and middle orders. Wicketkeeper-batter Numan Shah was the only Afghanistan batter to pass 25 in the chase. Amir Hassan and Ahmed Hussain picked up a wicket each as Pakistan bundled Afghanistan out in 26.2 overs.Luc Benkenstein picked up key wickets in the middle overs•ICC via Getty Images

England Under-19s enjoyed a winning start to the Under-19 World Cup, easing past Scotland Under-19s in Potchefstroom.Luc Benkenstein, the son of former South Africa international Dale, sealed the victory with an unbeaten cameo after setting it up for England with a three-wicket haul. Farhan Ahmed, who is the brother of England international Rehan, also bagged a three-wicket haul to help England dismiss Scotland for 174.Captain Ben McKinney then hit 88 off 68 balls to rush his side to victory, with seven wickets and 142 balls to spare. He forged a 106-run partnership for the first wicket with Jaydn Denly, who made 40 off 50 balls.After Scotland were asked to bat first, they never got going and lost wickets in clusters. They didn’t even have a single half-century stand in their entire innings. Owen Gould top-scored for them with 48 off 61 balls, including five fours and a six. The other nine batters scored a combined five boundaries. Harry Armstrong was absent hurt for Scotland.

New Zealand legspinner Ish Sodhi has backed the “experienced heads” in their side to bounce back from the defeat in the opening Test against Bangladesh. New Zealand went down by 150 runs in Sylhet, after which their captain Tim Southee felt they didn’t bowl consistently in the right areas for long enough.Sodhi, who was the last batter dismissed in Sylhet, said the home side’s impressive showing also gave New Zealand the “blueprint” to play in these conditions.”The great success this [New Zealand] team’s had over the past decade has been being able to park these sort of things pretty quickly, whether it’s success or loss,” Sodhi said. “That’s going to be tested though. It is never anything to take for granted. It is always hard to come back off the back of a loss. But with the experienced heads here, we’ve been there, we’ve done that. We know how to apply ourselves into the next games. Hopefully, that’s something that we can commit to really well and apply to this next game.”It is obviously tough to come out on the losing side in that first game in Sylhet, but I think as the Test progressed, we found a bit more rhythm. Obviously, I haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so it’s always going to be tough in these conditions. The way that Bangladesh played, they certainly outplayed us. But upon reflection, I think they gave us a blueprint on what’s successful in these conditions, and hopefully we can apply that to this next Test match.”Related

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Bangladesh scored 310 and 338 in the first Test, totals that Southee felt were more than what New Zealand should have conceded. Sodhi also called for accuracy from the bowlers in their bid to draw level in the two-Test series.”It is about just working in partnerships and being a little bit more accurate,” Sodhi said. “That’s something hopefully we can come together as a bowling group over the next couple of days – discuss as a spin bowling group, seam bowling group, whatever that looks like, and try to make improvements. It’s always going to be challenging, not playing a lot of Test cricket over a long period of time, but when you come together, [it is about] how quickly you can adapt.”Sometimes you wish you could have adapted sooner in the last game, but we can’t sort of look back now. We’ve got to try to find all the learnings that we had in that last game and apply them to this one, and hopefully we can come out on the winning side.”Sodhi, who picked up three wickets in Sylhet, will return to Mirpur, the setting of his best ODI haul of 6 for 39 after scoring 35 off 39 balls with the bat against Bangladesh in September, for the second Test that starts Wednesday.”Going into conditions where you have had a bit of success, you always have a bit more confidence going into games like that,” he said. “It’ll just be about exposing the conditions as best as we can, figuring out whether it’s going to turn, or if it’s not, what that looks like for us in terms of attacking and defence. So I am really looking forward to the prospect of the second Test, but a couple of good hard days of practice beforehand.”

South Africa levelled the ODI series by bowling India out for 211 in the surprisingly seam-friendly conditions of the usually slow and low St George’s Park. It came as no surprise to South Africa, though, who added two frontline quicks to their XI and decided to bowl first on a fresh pitch with the bowling wind blowing.Left-arm quick Nandre Burger, who seems to have it all in height, pace and movement, led the attack with three wickets either side of a nosebleed-forced absence from the field. The conditions didn’t quite ease out, but South Africa had the advantage of knowing they didn’t need to be urgent with their scoring and also enjoyed a significant amount of luck in the early goings, which might seem to be at odds with Tony de Zorzi and Reeza Hendricks putting on the biggest opening stand in Gqeberha to set up the comfortable win. De Zorzi went on to convert his maiden half-century into a century.The win, though, was set up by the fast bowlers, two of whom didn’t even play the last match. One of them – Beuran Hendricks – flew in from Cape Town earlier in the morning after Ottniel Baartman and Andile Phehlukwayo were ruled out with injury. Aiden Markram also left out Tabraiz Shami’s left-arm spin for Lizaad Williams. The three specialist quicks bowled 28.2 overs between them for six wickets and 113 runs.After half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan – his second in his first two ODIs – and captain KL Rahul, the lack of depth in India’s batting was exposed when they looked to score quick runs and lost wickets to leave Axar Patel with four tailenders over the last 13.2 overs. The last four wickets could add only 42.Burger and Williams made good use of the Easterly and the pitch with seam movement and also inconsistent bounce. In comparison with Johannesburg, the ball swung much less – 0.6 degrees on an average in the first 10 to 1.3 degrees at Wanderers – but there was appreciable seam movement available, which made batting difficult. If anything, the slightly older ball seemed to be moving more off the deck as it did in Beuran’ spell as the first-change bowler.Burger corrected his length beautifully after being driven for four first ball, trapping Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw immediately. Tilak Varma’s stay at No. 3 was a troubled one, but was part of a 42-run second-wicket stand. Burger had to go off the field because of a nosebleed after three overs, but Beuran and Williams remained just as challenging. When Burger came back, his extra pace proved to be decisive as he got Varma on the hook for 10 off 30 balls.Sudharsan, who had been playing the ball late and not been missing out on any half-volleys, began to be troubled now as B Hendricks found a good length and the ball seamed either way. India were 54 for 2 in 15 overs when South Africa went to the second string of bowlers. Sudharsan slog-swept Keshav Maharaj for a six, Rahul pulled Wiaan Mulder for successive fours, and 37 came off seven overs before Markram went back to Williams.Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul score fifties each but it wasn’t enough for a win•AFP/Getty Images

In the third over of his second spell, Williams produced an unplayable delivery that kicked off just short of a length and took Sudharsan’s glove to dismiss him for 62 off 83. At 113 for 3 in the 27th over, India still needed one more partnership before they could think of accelerating but Sanju Samson played Beuran on after looking good once again.Despite having lost four wickets, Rahul and debutant Rinku Singh looked to attack before the 40th over, which got them 31 runs in 22 balls, but ended in Rahul cutting Burger straight to backward point for 56 off 64. This is when Maharaj came into his own, slowing the ball down and using the drift from the wind to have Rinku stumped and Kuldeep Yadav caught on the sweep. This was a crucial helping hand just before the death overs.A couple of connected slogs from Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan took India past 200 but they batted only 46.2 overs despite going into the last 20 overs with seven wickets in hand.Arshdeep was much more impressive with the ball, getting consistent swing and seam, often proving to be too good to take the edge. Reeza, who had spent the first overs of the last two international unable to lay bat on ball, took first strike again and found things slightly easier. Only slightly. He edged Mukesh to second slip in the fifth over, but Gaikwad dropped a second catch there in two matches.Reeza was in control of just 22 of the first 35 balls he faced, de Zorzi 15 of the first 31 he played. However, de Zorzi was quick to punish any error in length, keeping the run-rate around four. This absorbed the entirety of the highly testing spell of 5-0-14-0 from Arshdeep and Mukesh’s 4-0-12-0. At this point, spin came on at one end, and at the other, Avesh began to bowl a touch too short.Like expert batters do, the South Africa openers now filled their boots, first by slowly working around singles and then targeting Kuldeep and Avesh. De Zorzi swept Kuldeep for four sixes, three of them slogs and only one of them off a wrong’un, which suggests little help for the spinners, which makes Maharaj’s contribution earlier in the day significant.When Mukesh and Arshdeep came back for their second spells, they still moved the ball around, they still troubled the batters, but by then, South Africa had gone past 100. The floodlights had barely come on by then.Reeza reaped the rewards for hanging in there, getting to a fifty, before he hooked Arshdeep straight to long leg, having added 130 for the first wicket. India had no option but to over-attack now, and both de Zorzi and Rassie van der Dussen cashed in. De Zorzi was there at the end to hit the winning six with 45 balls remaining and eight wickets in hand.

Hilton Moreeng has denied a rift in the South African women’s changeroom despite a group of players expressing their grievances with his continuing as the head coach.Moreeng, who is in his 11th year in the post and has had his contract extended until December 31, went as far as to describe the environment as “not unhealthy,” following a two-week camp where players were given the opportunity to air their views. He did not elaborate on what was discussed but indicated the squad is united on the eve of their departure to Pakistan for a six-match white-ball series starting September 1.Asked how he is going to manage players who have written to Cricket South Africa to express their desire for a change in coach, Moreeng batted away any suggestion of a schism. “There are challenges here and there and these internal things we discuss. The landscape has changed. The country has become professional but regarding the changeroom being divided, it’s not something that has happened,” he said. “We are building as a team. Whatever challenges we encounter, which are in every changeroom, is one of those you discuss as you go along. Extended conversations have happened. We had a camp. We could speak and find out what the actual challenges are. We also need to stay focused on the job at hand. It’s not an unhealthy situation. You need to have discussions.”Related

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Chief among those conversations is the one Moreeng had to have with Sune Luus, who opted to step down as South Africa captain earlier this week. The 27-year-old had served as a stand-in several times and had great success recently, taking them to the final of the T20 World Cup. At that tournament, she even opened up about making the team her own.CSA initially did not provide a reason for Luus resigning but later said she chose to “to focus on her cricket.” Moreeng echoed that line. “She decided to step down because she wants to contribute to the team and focus on her performances. In the beginning, it was tough but we had to accept that’s how the player feels. She feels she can contribute more (not as captain).”Laura Wolvaardt, who Moreeng praised for having a “very good cricket brain,” has taken over in interim capacity for the Pakistan and New Zealand series, which close out South Africa’s year. A decision on the permanent captain will be made towards the end of the year. That is also when a longer-term coaching appointment will be made with the board now accepting applications. Moreeng did not explicitly say if he will put his name in the hat again but confirmed that he still has ambitions for the national women’s team. “I have enjoyed working with the players from the first day. When we started as a team, it’s always been one of our visions to give ourselves a chance to win a World Cup and to have a professional league,” he said.Already one of those goals has been met. This week, CSA announced that the top-tier of women’s domestic cricket will be made professional and that each of the six teams competing can contract 11 players and a full-time backroom staff.Moreeng came close to achieving the second – winning a World Cup – when he oversaw South Africa’s run to the T20 World Cup final earlier this year. “As a country, we can say, we are closing the gap slowly,” he said. “When you look at the top three teams, we are closing the gap.” Given that he has also taken the team to the last two ODI World Cup semi-finals, he called it “frustrating,” to hear calls for his ouster but added “that is the country we live in.” It is ESPNcricinfo’s understanding that the players are not unhappy with Moreeng as a person, but are after a change of ideas.

Cameron Green believes it would be a “stretch” for him to open the batting in Test cricket as the moment gets closer when Australia’s selectors will need to decide how to balance the playing XI for Old Trafford.Green missed the Headingley Test with a minor hamstring issue – which he said he would have been able to play through if needed – and Mitchell Marsh grabbed his opportunity with a scintillating hundred on the opening day to rescue Australia. Marsh also bowled tidily and the selectors now face a quandary over how – or if – to fit Green back into the team.The least disruptive route would be to take the rare option of not playing a frontline spinner, leaving out Todd Murphy, who was sparsely used in Leeds, and using Green as part of an all-pace attack supplemented by Travis Head, but coach Andrew McDonald has been firm on how he prefers a balanced bowling group.Related

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Therefore, the selection squeeze has turned the spotlight back on David Warner, who failed twice against Stuart Broad at Headingley. While McDonald stopped short of guaranteeing his spot, he did cite the value of the opening stands he added with Usman Khawaja at Edgbaston and Lord’s. Warner has been supported by Ricky Ponting in recent days to retain his spot and leaving him out would also require a reshuffle of the order.Marsh and Green have even been floated as potential options given they have done it in white-ball cricket – Marsh recently in ODIs and Green in T20s – although neither has regularly been higher than No. 4 in first-class cricket, and it remains a very unlikely solution.”I think it’s a bit of a stretch,” Green said of the possibility of him opening the batting in the fourth Test. “I think being an allrounder [makes it a stretch] – probably Shane Watson is the only one who comes to mind doing that – [and] I’m not too sure how much he bowled.”Watson was recalled to open the batting midway through the 2009 Ashes and it went on to be his most successful position in Test cricket, with an average of 41.79. On average, he bowled close to 15 overs in those matches and he claimed the third-most wickets (43) of a pace bowler to have opened the batting. Green currently averages a little over 13 overs per Test.”I think anyone would be happy to bat anywhere to play Test cricket,” Green added. “You always put your hand up for selection but have to wait and see what selectors think.”The other option the selectors will need to consider is whether to bring Green straight back in. His returns with bat and ball on tour, which includes the WTC final against India at the Oval, so far have been underwhelming, with respective averages of 19.16 and 45.60.Cameron Green hasn’t quite found his stride so far•Getty Images

“It’s been a tour so far with a lot of learning,” Green said. “Most of the time, I’ve got myself out rather than to do with the conditions. I think that’s to do with the wickets, it’s been quite flat. I am just trying to learn as much as I can and hopefully it holds me in good stead moving forward.”Unlike most of the squad who have taken a complete break in the gap before Old Trafford, Green has continued to train. He said his absence from the third Test was a very precautionary move and he could have pushed through. He picked up the hamstring niggle batting in the second innings at Lord’s and was able to bowl 13 overs afterwards which included the sustained short-ball approach.”[There were] no real issues at the time, it was more it’s just a long tour so I think everyone kind of wanted to get a break throughout one of the games, so that was my game,” he said. “The body is all good. Felt completely fine bowling. Think I just took off for a single and felt something very, very minor.”Green and Marsh are very close and while the latter’s superb return to Test cricket may mean Green now has to wait for his next outing, there was delight in his team-mate’s success.”We both have a great relationship,” he said. “We’re so happy for each other when one gets picked…I kind of look up to Mitch, so I’m so happy to see him play well. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to come back and play an incredible game, which he did.”

Australia’s reserve opener Marcus Harris is resigned to the fact that he may not play in the Ashes, praising David Warner for his performances despite twin failures in the Headingley Test.Harris, 30, is the only specialist reserve batter currently in the squad after Matt Renshaw was released following the second Test at Lord’s. But he is not expecting to play a part in the series unless there is an injury to one of Australia’s top five batters.Since Australia’s loss at Headingley, all the selection talk has revolved around trying to fit Cameron Green back into the team after Mitchell Marsh made himself indispensable following his stunning opening-day century and crucial wickets, having replaced Green when he was withdrawn due to a hamstring niggle.Related

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Warner has been mooted publicly as the man who could make way given his continued struggles against Stuart Broad. But Green, and others within the Australian team, have tempered suggestions that either he, Marsh or Travis Head could be viable options to open the batting at Old Trafford.Harris echoed those sentiments and acknowledged that he is unlikely to be considered until after Warner’s planned Test swansong in January next year, given that Warner and Usman Khawaja have produced three 50-plus opening stands in the series so far while England’s opening duo of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have managed just one.”Davey’s earned the right to pull the pin whenever he wants to pull the pin and he’s done well this series,” Harris said.”England’s not an easy place to open the batting and him and Uz have got us off to some good starts. So if I have to wait until then, so be it. But if something comes up earlier, I’m ready to go. Davey’s obviously a bit of a lightning rod for opinion.”Even if you’re not getting the big runs that you want to get, if you can still contribute to the team in some way, shape or form, I think you’re doing a job. But that’s coming from an opening batter so I’m probably biased towards that.”Harris was called upon midway through the 2019 Ashes series and found the challenge every bit as difficult as Warner, making just 58 runs in six innings.Marcus Harris has made nine first-class centuries in England•Getty Images

But Harris has accrued three years’ worth of County Championship experience since then and has built an impressive first-class record in England, averaging 45.83 from 52 innings with nine centuries, including two this season for Gloucestershire.Given his experience in English conditions, Harris cautioned against asking a middle-order batter to open the batting in a Test match in England.”I think it depends on the conditions and where you are,” he said. “Like you saw in the subcontinent, it is probably the best time so to have someone destructive like Heady, he can open the batting there. But I think probably in England and in Australia, the way the wickets have been the last couple of years, and New Zealand, those sorts of wickets, it’s more of a specialist position. And you want your destructive players like Greeny or Mitch or Travis to be coming in against a bit more of an older ball.”Maybe those first two wickets were alright. Definitely, Edgbaston would have been okay, but I think like we saw at Lord’s, whenever there were some overheads, and at Headingley, it was hard work. My experiences from county cricket [are] if you cop the wrong time of the day to open the batting, especially if you’re a destructive batter, it’s probably not ideal.”Harris is strong in his belief that he is a much-improved player compared to both his last England tour in 2019 and his last Test opportunity in January 2022.”I have been exposed to a lot more conditions,” Harris said. “Since then I have been to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and played three county seasons here. Being an overseas pro to county teams is a different experience to playing Shield cricket. I just feel more well-rounded. That series taught me a lot in 2019. At the time it didn’t seem good, but I have probably benefited from it in the long haul.”I feel like I am ready to go whenever that chance comes. Whether that is this tour or not, so be it. I am in a good place mentally and with life. Whenever it comes up, I’ll be ready to go.”Harris has not played since making an unbeaten 122 for Gloucestershire against Durham on May 21, with the attack featuring Test bowlers Matthew Potts and Ajaz Patel.He was given the option of playing county cricket last week to get some middle time under his belt, as Michael Neser did for Glamorgan, but he opted to go on a golf trip to Scotland with Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, and Australia bowling coach Daniel Vettori.”I got given the option,” Harris said. “I thought it would be good to have a couple of days off and get away from cricket altogether. I have been here since April 1 so it has been a pretty long tour. The training we can do now with how big the squad is as a collective, during the games is as good, if not better, than playing a game of cricket. I don’t feel like I haven’t had a lot of cricket.”Might have been a different story if I just came on the Ashes and hadn’t played any county cricket. But personally, there hasn’t been any issue for me.”

Michael Neser could yet bolt into Australia’s World Test Championship squad with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh facing tight timeframes to be available for the showdown against India.Hazlewood (side) and Marsh (adductor) came home early from the IPL with minor niggles and though both have since returned to bowling, and there remains confidence they’ll be ready for the Ashes, the clash with India at The Oval on June 7 may come too soon.Australia will effectively need to make a call by Sunday (May 28) when their 15-player squad for the final has to be submitted under the ICC rules for the final. Those traveling from outside the UK arrive on Saturday.Related

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Hazlewood is the more significant of the two names and CA said earlier in the week that scans on his return to Australia had shown no damage to the side. However, with six Tests in less than two months there would be a risk of pushing him too soon.”We knew when he went to the IPL that everything would have to go perfectly on the back of the Achilles setback in India and this stage everything is good,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald told . “But it will have to go perfect for him to be part of that World Test Championship final and available.””We feel it’s almost like a home summer. We usually pick four quicks and travel around and add players when we need. We’ve got Michael and Sean [Abbott] over there and feel they can be added in at any time depending on if new information comes to us.”Neser, who picked up his impressive Sheffield Shield form in his county stint with Glamorgan, where he has scored 311 runs and taken 19 wickets, would provide cover for both players although Abbott brings a similar all-round package.Michael Neser currently has two Test caps•Getty Images

Both Neser and Abbott will join the Australia squad when they reach London late next week and begin training following a bonding camp in the northwest of England.Neser’s omission from the original squad was the most debated call, but he and Abbott have had the benefit of playing competitive cricket in recent weeks. McDonald said that Neser’s continued excellence did not surprise him and, perhaps significantly, made mention of his batting returns which have seen him average 38.66 since the start of the last Australia season.”He’s really pressing to be genuine allrounder, probably not a top six allrounder, but definitely a No. 7 or 8,” McDonald said.Overall, however, and particularly with a view to the first Ashes Test on June 16, Australia have fewer injury concerns than England who have lost Jofra Archer, face a nervous wait on James Anderson and are uncertain how much captain Ben Stokes will be able to bowl. They did, however, get a boost with a positive update on Ollie Robinson.”You don’t know how much to read into the information coming out around the injuries, how significant they are, but there is no doubt that they’ll be having more conversations around where their injury list is at than we are,” McDonald said. “It’s always nice when you haven’t got those moving parts and it’s quite settled going in.”

Cameron Green’s format switch

Cameron Green will face increasing demand on his time•BCCI

In terms of allrounders, the key name for Australia remains Cameron Green. He lit up the IPL earlier this week with a maiden T20 century to carry Mumbai Indians into the playoffs which meant his stay at the tournament is extended.McDonald acknowledged the quick turnaround between formats will be a test for Green. He found it tricky last season after the T20 World Cup, although in that case had had precious little batting time, and there were already signs he was adapting when he returned from his injury layoff during the Test series in India.”The thing for me he’s adaptable, he’s a man for all conditions, he’s always engaged in the game whether with bat, ball and in the field…he’s high-end talent and is showing the world what he’s got,” McDonald said. “The challenge for Cam now is as he starts to become a three-format player is how he focuses [on] that, shifts between formats, and he’s going to have another challenge in front of him going deep into the IPL finals to get ready for the World Test Championship match. So that will be a challenge for him, but he’s a fast learner and every hurdle he’s got over so far.”Glancing into the not-too-distant future, managing Green across three formats will become one of McDonald’s key challenges.”We’ve declared our hand with his entry into T20 cricket last year and now what’s done in the IPL would suggest he’s tracking to be a three-format player for us. Then it’s finding the balance within all of that,” he said. “You can’t be everything to everyone and they’ll be some series where he needs to be managed like all the other players when they play three formats. The demand’s going to go up then clearly there’s other leagues that will want access to him at certain times. It’s going to be a bit of a juggling act but he’s got a good head on his shoulders and we’ll be able to work with him.”