England’s head coach Matthew Mott has revealed how the side’s “spiritual leader” Ben Stokes stepped in to rally the dressing room after their shock World Cup defeat by Afghanistan.
Stokes, who came out of one-day retirement to help defend the trophy he did more than anyone to win in 2019, has yet to feature in India after suffering a hip injury on the the eve of the tournament.
But Sunday’s upset in Delhi, where a side whose only previous win on this stage was a narrow one against Scotland eight years ago, led Stokes to address his team-mates during a dressing room debrief.
Test captain Stokes is on track to return in Saturday’s must-win clash against South Africa at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, but has already made his presence felt behind the scenes.
“He’s like the spiritual leader of the group in many ways and he certainly spoke really well after the game the other day,” said Mott.
“He spoke about that need to really assert ourselves, which he’s renowned for. I said ‘I’ve got this’ and just spoke, talked about the plan going forward for the next few days, and then Stokesy came in on the back of that.
“He really reinforced what was a great message, particularly for someone who’s sitting on the bench and has a bit of a different lens on things. I think it went down well, it brought us back to controlling what we can control, really.”
Mott’s own attempt at diagnosing England’s problems saw him suggest that the defending champions were suffering from a lack of self-belief.
Having become the most swaggering side on the planet during their reinvention from also-rans to world champions under Eoin Morgan, England looked uncharacteristically tentative in their losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan.
“You don’t lose your ability overnight but you can lose your confidence,” he said.
“It’s that confidence… puff your chest out, go out there and really take the game on, which this team has been renowned for over a long period of time.
“On reflection we’ve been the reactive team in those two games, so we need to turn that round really quickly.
“That was one of Stokesy’s biggest points – we’re normally the team that dictates terms and gets the other team unsettled, disrupted and for whatever reason we haven’t been able to do that.
“We’ve always been on the back foot, trying to pull things back. What we need to do is dominate those first 15 overs whether we bat first or bowl first in the next game.”
Brendon McCullum, Mott’s red-ball counterpart and joint architect of England’s ‘Bazball’ approach in the Test arena, made an unexpected appearance at the team’s Mumbai hotel on Tuesday after arriving on business.
McCullum memorably said on his appointment last year that he was not interested in the limited-overs job on account of it being too simple in contrast to reviving the Test team, a position Mott suggested may no longer stand.
“I just saw him down in the foyer and he said exactly the opposite!” he joked.
“I said, ‘do you want to do a little swap?’ We had a good chat and good catch up.”
Stokes’ likely return – which is all but certain provided he pulls up well after a thorough workout on Thursday – means Mott must grapple with a thorny selection issue.
Harry Brook has been keeping his spot warm and would ordinarily be expected to drop out, but his fluent 66 was easily England’s best innings against the Afghans and made a strong case for his retention.
Experienced seamer Chris Woakes and all-rounder Sam Curran are both vulnerable after struggling badly for form thus far, but with Stokes currently unavailable to bowl that only muddies the waters.
“It’s still up for debate. We’ll have some really good, robust conversations over the next 24 hours,” Mott said.
“I think we’re going to sit down as a selection group, get the numbers, get some theories out there. We’ll normally get to two or three XIs and then debate it, so all things are on the table at the moment.”
David Willey and Gus Atkinson are waiting if England do decide to cut Woakes after three poor outings in a row, but Mott is not ready to draw an emphatic line under the long-time leader of the attack.
“Over the history of Woakes’ career, he’s come out on top a lot more than he’s missed out,” he said.
“He hasn’t been at his best, and he’s the first to admit it, but he’s got a few credits in the bank.”
Motie's heroics lead West Indies A to victory over Nepal in T20 thriller: Series level at 1-1
In a thrilling encounter at Kirtipur, Gudakesh Motie emerged as the standout performer for West Indies A, propelling his team to a crucial victory over Nepal in the second T20 International to level the five-match series at 1-1. Motie's exceptional all-round display, featuring an unbeaten 33 off just eight balls and impactful bowling, played a pivotal role in securing the win.
Batting first, West Indies A faced early setbacks but rallied behind Andre Fletcher's resilient 43 and Captain Roston Chase's 23. However, wickets fell at regular intervals, leaving the team in a precarious position at 115 for 7. When Fletcher departed, the onus fell on Motie to provide a late surge. With only 13 balls remaining, Motie unleashed a blitz, smashing two fours and four sixes to power his team to a competitive total of 160 for 7. Matthew Forde contributed with an unbeaten 11 as Sagar Dhakal and Kushal Bhurtel each picked up crucial wickets for Nepal.
In response, Nepal's captain Rohit Paudel led the charge with a magnificent 71 off 48 balls, keeping his team in contention. However, Nepal's batting struggled against the West Indies A bowling attack, with only Gulsan Jha offering notable support with 26 runs. Motie continued to make an impact with the ball, claiming 2 crucial wickets for 244 runs alongside Obed McCoy, who showed signs of returning to form with his 2 for 24.
Despite Paudel's heroics, Nepal fell short in their chase, ultimately conceding victory to West Indies A by 10 runs. Motie's exceptional performance earned him the Player of the Match award.
The third match in the series is set for Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Russell defends CPL's contribution to regional cricket but open to suggestions on improvements
With their long-term agreement with Cricket West Indies (CWI) heavily scrutinised by government leaders and cricket stalwarts, chief executive, Pete Russell of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) defended the product’s positive contribution to cricket in the region.
Addressing the gathering on Friday’s final day of the CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, Russell said the CPL is one of CWI’s largest domestic commercial partners.
While noting that CPL contributed significantly to player economic welfare, with nearly US$28 million spent on salaries since the start of the tournament in 2013, Russell, also revealed that cumulative losses, across both the league and franchises for the past 11 years, stand at US$40 million.
“Dennis O’Brien and Digicel have been the principal investors, not only investing in the league from day one but they also spent money on sponsorship and media rights. The franchises have also pumped in significant money, money that helps pay players and coaches, as well as investing in local businesses around the region that help make the games happen. All the franchises have made losses.
“So, on the positive side, Cricket West Indies has been paid close to US$17 million in sanction fees, so over the past 12 years CPL would be one of CWI’s largest domestic, commercial partners. Caribbean players have taken home US$27.7 million in player salaries since the tournament’s inception, all paid for by the franchises,” Russell declared during the event held in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Each year, it takes US$25 million to run this tournament over five weeks. CPL and the franchises bear all these costs. There is no financial burden on CWI or the territorial boards, so the risk is 100 per cent ours.
“So that is our starting point each and every year. So as you can imagine, the commercial challenges are considerable just to break even,” he added.
Russell’s response came as government leaders and West Indies legend Sir Clive Lloyd, suggested that the 50-year contract between CPL and CWI be re-negotiated.
The issue of the league’s ownership was also called into question, as they view was largely expressed that there would potentially be more development and earnings for players, if CWI controlled the tournament.
But, Russell, a member of the CPL management team rebutted.
“What is interesting is that other leagues around the world are following the lead of CWI. They are also looking for third-party investors to help fund their leagues. The English Cricket Board are in the process of selling The Hundred, the Australian Cricket Board are courting outside investors for the Big Bash, Cricket South Africa sold all their rights to host broadcaster Supersport, and the new American Major League Cricket is 100 per cent privately owned,” Russell shared.
“In time, only the IPL will end up being 100 per cent owned by its domestic board and that is simply because they can afford to do so. So, trust me when I say, ownership isn’t everything, and smart stewardship and partnership can yield better results. But of course, we’re always happy to listen to any suggestions on how we can improve things,” he ended.
IPL: Royals extend lead at the top after Samson and Jurel see off LSG
Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel combined for an unbeaten partnership of 121 as Indian Premier League leaders Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday.
The Royals have now won eight of their nine matches in the 2024 campaign and are almost certain to be involved in the playoffs after chasing down their victory target of 197 with an over to spare in a seven-wicket triumph.
Another Royals win had looked unlikely when they fell to 78-3 in their run chase after Jos Buttler (34), Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Riyan Parag (14) all fell in quick succession shortly before the halfway mark.
But Rajasthan captain Samson fought back as he blasted 71 runs from 33 balls including seven fours and four maximums, while Jurel bounced back from a poor period of form to finish unbeaten on 52 from 34.
LSG reached 196-5 from their innings courtesy of a fine knock from their own skipper, KL Rahul. He reached 76 from 48 before eventually falling to Avesh Khan (1-42) in the 18th over.
Deepak Hooda made it to 50 as LSG rallied from 11-2, but ultimately their competitive total was within reach of the visiting Royals.
Data Debrief
This is the second time in as many home games Rahul has passed fifty, after he scored 82 against Chennai Super Kings last week.
Samson (385) and Rahul (378) are second and third respectively in the race to win this season’s orange cap, although RCB’s Virat Kohli continues to set the pace with 430 runs.
They also narrowly trail Kohli (40) when it comes to the most fours hit in this season’s competition, with Samson on 36 and Rahul just behind with 34.
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