Jurgen Klopp at Bayern Munich “could work”, says Manuel Neuer, with the German coach preparing to sever ties with Liverpool in 2024.
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His place in Australia has gone to Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue while Porter hopes to be fit for the West Indies tour early next year
ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2017Essex seamer Jamie Porter will miss the England Lions tour of Australia after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back.The injury was picked up during pre-tour screening, but Porter has not been scrubbed from England’s plans completely and will now spend time with the Pace Programme as he works his way back to fitness with the aim of being available for selection for the tour of West Indies early next year.Porter was the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship last season with 75 scalps during Essex’s march to the title.”While it was initially surprising and disappointing for Jamie and for us to discover he has a stress fracture, we have agreed with him and with Essex that this new approach is the best option,” James Whitaker, the national selector, said.”Spending the first half of the winter on the Pace Programme will allow him to take a break from competitive cricket after two excellent and demanding seasons for Essex, allowing the injury to recover, and for a focus on his rehabilitation.”We believe that will give him the best chance of being in peak condition for the competitive phase of the Lions winter programme, with four-day and one-day series in the West Indies early next year.”Posting on Twitter, Porter said: “I’m extremely gutted to be missing Australia but at the same time grateful to the ECB for giving me all the support and allowing me the opportunity to work hard and get myself fit for the West Indies tour which I’m very confident I will do! This is a minor setback and I know I’m going to do everything I possibly can to be fully fit for January!”His place in the Lions squad goes to Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue who was originally set to be on the Pace Programme.Tongue, 19, took 47 wickets at 25.78 in the Championship as he played in all 14 of Worcestershire’s matches.Kevin Shine, the who heads up the Pace Programme, said: “As ever, we’ve worked closely with the players and their counties, and we think this is a good solution.”Jamie relished his first Lions experience this summer and we’ve agreed with Essex for him to spend a couple of months with the Pace Programme, at the Performance Centre in Loughborough with a warm-weather camp at Desert Springs in Spain, to get him fit and ready to join the Lions in the West Indies after Christmas.”For Josh, he gets to sample the Ashes atmosphere in Australia, as well as gaining experience of working with the Lions.”
A look at Australia’s batsmen and bowlers at each Ashes venue in England over the years
S Rajesh29-Jun-2009Lord’s hasn’t always hosted the first Test of an Ashes series, but the Australians have been understandably miffed about the decision to have Cardiff host the first match this time. Lord’s has traditionally been Australia’s strongest venue in England, and the only ground where they won a Test in that historic series in 2005. Ricky Ponting went as far as to say that England had deliberately switched venues this time to ensure the series doesn’t start at Australia’s stronghold.That’s a debatable point – Lord’s didn’t host the first Test in 2001 either, when the series started at Edgbaston – but what isn’t debatable is Australia’s overwhelming dominance at the venue. In 33 Tests against England there, they’ve won 14 and lost only five, giving them a win-loss ratio of 2.80, easily their best among all venues in England. The last time Australia lost there was way back in 1934. Since then, in 18 Tests, they’ve drawn and won nine times each.Trent Bridge is next best, but unfortunately for Australia, that’s not on the fixtures list for the five-Test series. Edgbaston and The Oval are the two venues where Australia have lost more than they have won, and they’ll be playing at both grounds, in the third and fifth Tests. The Oval has been a particularly poor venue for them – they’ve won six and lost 15 in 34 matches. In the last nine Tests, Australia have only won once and lost three times, though two of those defeats, in 1993 and 1997 were in dead-rubber games, after the series had been won.
| Venue | Played | Won | Lost | W/L ratio | Bat ave | Bowl ave |
| Lord’s | 33 | 14 | 5 | 2.80 | 31.69 | 28.46 |
| Trent Bridge | 20 | 7 | 4 | 1.75 | 32.66 | 29.75 |
| Headingley | 23 | 8 | 7 | 1.14 | 33.58 | 30.23 |
| Old Trafford | 28 | 7 | 7 | 1.00 | 27.82 | 31.32 |
| Edgbaston | 12 | 3 | 5 | 0.60 | 29.69 | 31.99 |
| The Oval | 34 | 6 | 15 | 0.40 | 28.33 | 31.89 |
Batting and bowling stars at each venueDon Bradman is obviously a name that is among the top of the list in terms of batsmen who’ve done well at a specific English venue, but he doesn’t lead the table (for batsmen who’ve played at least three matches at a venue). The leader of the pack is Steve Waugh, whose three innings at Headingley read 177 not out, 157 not out and 4, for an aggregate, and an average, of 338. His stats were obviously helped by a couple of not-outs, but Don Bradman had only one of those in six innings at Headingley, and yet finished with an average of 192.60. Between them, they topped fifty six times at the venue and they made it count each time, going on to a three-figure score.Bradman and Waugh share the next two spots too, for performances at The Oval and Lord’s, before allowing David Boon to take fifth spot. Waugh makes another appearance lower down the table, in eighth place, thanks to an average of 99.25 at Old Trafford, where he scored two centuries and two fifties in five innings. Allan Border is the other batsman with more than one appearance in the top ten: he is in seventh and tenth place due to his performances at Lord’s and Old Trafford.The top ten in the table below covers only four venues, though. The best at Trent Bridge was Stan McCabe, who averaged 79.50 in six innings, including a cracking knock of 232 out of a team total of 411 in 1938. He is closely followed by Mark Taylor, who averaged 79.20 from five innings. The best at Edgbaston is Mark Waugh, with an average of 63.50 in five innings.
| Batsman | Venue | Tests | Runs | Average | 100s/ 50s |
| Steve Waugh | Headingley | 3 | 338 | 338.00 | 2/ 0 |
| Don Bradman | Headingley | 4 | 963 | 192.60 | 4/ 0 |
| Don Bradman | The Oval | 4 | 553 | 138.25 | 2/ 1 |
| Steve Waugh | Lord’s | 4 | 231 | 115.50 | 1/ 0 |
| David Boon | Lord’s | 3 | 321 | 107.00 | 1/ 2 |
| Warren Bardsley | Lord’s | 4 | 411 | 102.75 | 1/ 2 |
| Allan Border | Lord’s | 5 | 503 | 100.60 | 1/ 3 |
| Steve Waugh | Old Trafford | 3 | 397 | 99.25 | 2/ 2 |
| Victor Trumper | Lord’s | 4 | 194 | 97.00 | 1/ 0 |
| Allan Border | Old Trafford | 4 | 416 | 83.20 | 2/ 1 |
The bowlers’ list is headed by the irreplaceable Glenn McGrath, who, in just three Tests at Lord’s, took 26 wickets at an incredible average of 11.50, with a five-for in each match. Those stats include figures of 8 for 38 in his first innings at the ground, a performance which sparked an Australian revival in the 1997 series after they had lost the first Test at Edgbaston. Fred Spofforth was equally impressive in his three Tests at The Oval, with 20 wickets at an average of 12.50.In fact, The Oval dominates the top ten list, which is slightly surprising considering Australia’s poor record at the venue. Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Hugh Trumble and McGrath all enjoyed bowling at this ground. Shane Warne, though, preferred Trent Bridge and Lord’s – averaging less than 20 at each of those two venues – and Old Trafford, where his average barely exceeded 20.Warne is the only bowler in the top ten list three times, while McGrath makes an appearance twice. Edgbaston and Headingley aren’t represented in the top ten list, but Warne top the Edgbaston chart as well, with 25 wickets in four Tests at an average of 21.76. Clarrie Grimmett, the legbreak bowler from the 1920s and 1930s, leads the way at Headingley, with 20 wickets in three matches at 22.20 each.
| Bowler | Venue | Tests | Wickets | Average | 5WI/ 10WM |
| Glenn McGrath | Lord’s | 3 | 26 | 11.50 | 3/ 0 |
| Fred Spofforth | The Oval | 3 | 20 | 12.50 | 2/ 1 |
| Charlie Turner | Lord’s | 3 | 19 | 14.63 | 3/ 1 |
| Ray Lindwall | The Oval | 3 | 15 | 16.73 | 1/ 0 |
| Dennis Lillee | The Oval | 3 | 27 | 17.59 | 3/ 2 |
| Hugh Trumble | The Oval | 5 | 27 | 17.66 | 3/ 2 |
| Shane Warne | Trent Bridge | 4 | 29 | 17.72 | 1/ 0 |
| Shane Warne | Lord’s | 4 | 19 | 19.57 | 0/ 0 |
| Glenn McGrath | The Oval | 3 | 19 | 19.78 | 2/ 0 |
| Shane Warne | Old Trafford | 3 | 21 | 20.04 | 1/ 0 |
The Zimbabwe coach, however, took confidence from the side’s historic 3-2 series win in Sri Lanka in July last year
Mohammad Isam13-Jan-2018Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe coach, has said that his team is the underdog in the tri-series, which also involves hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe are the lowest ranked team among the three in ODI cricket – they are placed tenth with 52 rating points. Sri Lanka are placed eighth with 84 rating points while Bangladesh are placed seventh with 92 rating points.Streak, however, took confidence from Zimbabwe’s historic 3-2 series win in Sri Lanka in July last year. Zimbabwe have not played an ODI since, and need to shake off the rust quickly.”I think we still have a long way to go,” Streak said. “We are the underdogs in this series. But I still feel that we have got the quality of players we need to take Zimbabwe cricket forward. We showed against Sri Lanka last year that we can compete against other countries outside our home territory. It was very pleasing but we have a long way to go as a team.”[The Sri Lanka ODI series win] will give us the belief and the confidence to compete. We haven’t played a lot of one-day cricket of late. We have played more Tests while SL have played 13 ODIs since we last played them. We haven’t played any. We have prepared well and hopefully we can get into the series as quickly as possible and then get some good results early on. I feel we have the players with the skills, and give them Sri Lanka and Bangladesh a good challenge. I know our team is capable of winning.”Streak, who was Bangladesh’s bowling coach when Chandika Hathurusingha was in charge of the side between 2014 and 2016, said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing his former team and colleague.”These days a lot of coaches are part of a team and become opposition, he said. “I had a good relation with Chandika [Hathurusingha] and Khaled [Mahmud] Sujon, the technical director. I think it will be a good challenge for all of us.”We know the conditions and players, so does Chandika [Hathurusingha]. I think a lot of these Sri Lankan and Zimbabwean guys play in the BPL. There aren’t many secrets out there anymore. It is about coming up with good plans and technical advice for the teams and making sure you execute those skills well.”
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Australia’s vice-captain says the side’s problem is not so much about failing to read India’s spinners, but the struggle to cope with the pressure of losing wickets in clumps
Alagappan Muthu in Indore23-Sep-20171:38
No excuse for non-debutants to not perform in India – Warner
Australia vice-captain David Warner has rebuked the notion that Australia are not reading India’s spinners. Instead, he has offered the explanation that at the points they were introduced, the batsmen were already under a lot of pressure and that, more than any other factor, caused the match-losing collapses.In Chennai, the score was 29 for 3 when the first Australian wicket fell to spin, in a match that suddenly took on the nature of a T20 because of rain. Four days later in Kolkata, Bhuvneshwar Kumar toppled the openers during a splendid new-ball spell and just as a partnership was developing between captain Steven Smith and Travis Head, the latter found short midwicket off a full toss to allow Kuldeep Yadav easy access to the lower middle order.Two-down in the series, Australia are faced with a must-win situation in Indore on Sunday to have a chance at the trophy and Warner felt they were not ill-equipped to do that.”I find that the players can read the spinners,” he said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. “And that it’s the odd one or two that when they can’t see the seam, then the players react off the wicket and that’s probably the odd one here or there.”At the end of the day, you have to have a game plan against spin – whether or not to hit down the ground or sweep the ball. But when you’re losing wickets in clumps, you become tentative. So you have to apply that pressure [early]. If you get off to a good start and the spinners come on, it’s a different game then. It’s about the tempo of the game, and the situation of the game and I feel if we were in a different position, you’ll see a different mode against the spinners.”There may be good news on that front. Warner felt the pitch looked very good, and noted the boundaries were rather small. The conditions may prove to be conducive to the injured opener Aaron Finch’s style of play, if he is cleared to return. On Saturday, he went through a batting session in the nets and tested the range of movement in his calf by running twos and threes between the wickets as well.”He is a very good batter,” Warner said, “And he has played a lot of cricket for us over the past couple of years. He’s got a lot of experience and, for us at the top of the order, he brings a lot of aggression. It’s good signs to see him back in the nets and he’s doing everything he possibly can to be fit for this game.”Recurrent injury issues have meant that Australia have run through 35 players in the two years since the end of the last World Cup. Matthew Wade, the wicketkeeper, has been their most capped in this period, followed by Smith, Warner and a man now discarded: George Bailey.They went to South Africa last year with an under-strength bowling attack and lost 5-0. In February, they conceded the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand. Rain dogged them in England at the Champions Trophy, where they failed to make it to the semi-finals. The outcome of this run is the record of 10 losses, two no-results, one abandoned fixture and no wins over their last 13 ODIs away from home. Not the best record for the reigning fifty-over world champions.”I think what you have to realise is we were world champions with a different team,” Warner said. “The team that we had when we won the World Cup was totally different. There was a totally different dynamic. The team has probably chopped and changed a little bit since then and it’s about the players putting numbers on the board and playing to the best of their ability.”We’re trying to work towards the next World Cup, we’ve got about 30 games and that was the same lead-up and preparation we had with the previous team so we’ve got to find a stable team and once we work out what’s going to be the best to defend the World Cup. At the moment, it’s a work in progress. Can’t say that teams are better than us or we’re better than other teams.”That job, however, appears a little hard at the moment, with Australia facing a fairly settled Indian line-up. Warner noted the difficulty an overseas batsman faces when he comes to the subcontinent for the first time and was particularly sympathetic to Hilton Cartwright, who has begun his ODI career as an opener in India with 2 runs in two matches, having to bat out of position.”It’s always challenging for a young guy to come into the team and take the bull by the horns. It is very, very difficult. Especially when you come over here and play for the first time on a world stage against one of the best ODI teams in their own backyard – it can be overwhelming. What he brings to us is a lot of energy and, I’ll say, experience in his knowledge of the game as well. He is a workaholic, he loves the game of cricket, he brings a good dynamic for us and we thoroughly love having him here.”Much as Warner was effusive in his praise of the young player, he conceded the seniors could not hide behind such excuses. “You grow up on wickets that are fast and bounce, and then you come up to the subcontinent and it’s your first Test series, it’s very hard to adapt. But when you keep coming back, there’s no excuse,” Warner said.”You should know the conditions very well. In saying that, when you’re out there, you become tentative. The game situation dictates that if you lose a couple of wickets, what do you do? Do you use your feet? Do you play with one stride? They are the things that you have to work out and adapt when you’re here. So as a senior player coming back to these situations you should know your game well enough. Our talk in the one-day format is to get off strike, to hit the guys in the boundaries; you should know that game very well.”
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