Month: November 2018

With the T20 and ODI now series behind us, Pakistan host New Zealand for a three-Test series in their adopted desert home of the UAE. The first Test at Abu Dhabi starts on Friday, and is followed up by a second Test in Dubai before returning to Abu Dhabi for the final encounter.

Losing away from home has become the norm for most Test sides in recent years – leaving aside of course Zimbabwe winning the first Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet recently, and England likewise against Sri Lanka in Galle – victories so unusual that they made the cricketing world stand up and take notice. The BlackCaps, noting this trend, have developed a fool-proof method over the last two years of ensuring they don’t lose away from home – by simply not playing Test matches outside of New Zealand!

Their last eleven Tests have been played at home, and they haven’t ventured beyond the Shaky Isles wearing whites since October 2016. One could be tempted to call it “The land of the long white clothes drought”! The BlackCaps form in those home Tests has been great -winning series against England, Bangladesh, West Indies and Pakistan – and has seen them move up to fourth in the world Test rankings.

Pakistan for their part have had very indifferent form in the longest format over the same two-year period – winning just five of fifteen tests played, a run which has seen them drop to seventh in the rankings. Even so, they were too strong for New Zealand’s neighbours Australia, taking out the recent two match series in the UAE 1-0.

Familiarity of conditions will be a factor as it always is in the emirates. Added to New Zealand’s lack of recent experience anywhere overseas, Pakistan’s pedigree in the UAE is of course strong – having won 16 of their 32 Tests played in the country. The last series between the two sides there ended 1-1, and there is every chance that another close series will ensue this time around.

So plenty to keep us entertained and, as always, here is my run down of the potential individual milestones in reach for players of both sides as the series unfolds:

Ross Taylor (New Zealand)

Veteran Taylor has been in great form in the white-ball stuff, although the less said about his calling Mohammad Hafeez for chucking the better. Let’s all hope he returns to letting his bat do the talking – he needs just 139 runs to overtake Stephen Fleming’s 15,319 runs and become his country’s leading run scorer in international cricket, across all formats. That will be a remarkable achievement for a batsman that shows no signs of slowing down.

Kane Williamson (New Zealand)

BlackCaps skipper Williamson currently has 5.338 Test runs to his name, and 106 more will see him past New Zealand legend Martin Crowe into fourth place for his country.

Meanwhile, just 54 runs will see him to 12,000 runs in all formats.

Neil Wagner (New Zealand)

Neil Wagner has become one of new Zealand’s most feared bowlers in Tests of late and he needs just one wicket to bring up 150 for his country.

Trent Boult (New Zealand)

Fresh from taking a hattrick in the first ODI last week, in-form quick Boult has 215 Test wickets in his ledger – four more will see him overtake Chris Cairns’ 218 and move into fifth place for his country. Long time teammate Tim Southee is next on the list at 220.

Yasir Shah (Pakistan)

The Pakistani Lionel Messi has taken 173 Test wickets, which sees him as the eleventh highest wicket taker for Pakistan. He’ll be confident of rocketing up that particular chart – five wickets will see him break into the top-ten, overtaking Sarfraz Nawaz, one more past joint eighth-placed Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Akhtar, and thirteen will take him into seventh past Mushtaq Ahmed.

Asad Shafiq (Pakistan)

Middle order batsman Shafiq needs just 67 runs to bring up 4,000 career Test runs.

Having already navigated their away around both the incessant rain and their opponents in the ODI and T20I legs of their tour of Sri Lanka, England now turn their attention to red ball cricket, when the first of three Test matches gets underway in the shadow of the famous Galle fort on Tuesday.

Above: The famous Galle Fort will play backdrop to the first Test from Tuesday.

The weather has been an ever-present issue on this tour, not surprising given it was scheduled in the middle of monsoon season for reasons known only to the people in charge of scheduling, and it has continued to be so in the run-up to the Tests. England’s final warm up was curtailed to just a 50-over a side affair thanks to yet another biblical downpour. That has not help their preparations one bit, and they still have several decisions to make before the first ball is bowled in Galle.

This is the first outing in white clothing since the retirement of legendary opening batman Alastair Cook in the summer, and the side continues to have a developmental feel to it. The camp has been further rocked by the ankle injury sustained by Jonny Bairstow playing football in training, which means they enter the match in Galle without their first choice keeper.

There are as many as four uncapped players in England’s squad. One of them, Surrey’s Rory Burns, is a shoe-in to replace Cook, and his county team-mate Ben Foakes could make his debut in place of Bairstow if the selectors are wary of placing too much responsibility on Jos Buttler. Joe Denly is also a potential starter in either the other opening slot (at the expense of Keaton Jennings), or at three depending on how England want to balance their side. The also need to decide whether or not to play two or three spinners – with jack Leach seemingly in contention with Stuart Broad for the final bowling slot.

Although ranked third in the world, England’s form in Tests can best be described as topsy-turvy of late. They are coming off a 4-1 series win over India, where the eventual scoreline flattered them, and prior to that drew at home with Pakistan and suffered series defeats to both Australia and New Zealand down under. Away from in particular is a worry – England have not won a Test outside of Great Britain for over two years, a run of 10 defeats and three draws in that time. Add to that an overall losing record in Sri Lanka and having never won in four attempts at Galle, and it does seem like an uphill effort for the visitors.

For the hosts, this match is likely going to be an emotional one, as it marks the last appearance of the seemingly ageless spinner Rangana Herath, who has announced he will retire at the end of the first Test, aged 40. Herath has become a much-loved legend over the last ten years, and his numbers are astonishing in that period, taking nearly 400 wickets since his 30^th birthday – a world record by a wide margin – and becoming the leading left-handed wicket taker in Test history. He will be sorely missed, and the home team will be pumped to give him a farewell win that he richly deserves.

Sri Lanka’s form over the last year or so in Tests is, perhaps surprisingly, quite good. Despite being ranked a lowly sixth, they have won their last three Tests, and indeed only lost two of their last twelve. In that period they have notched up series wins over South Africa at home, Bangladesh away and Pakistan in the UAE – the latter a feat not many teams can lay claim to in recent years. They are a very strong side in turning conditions, and will be a stern challenge for their visitors.

So, all in all, a fascinating Test awaits – let’s hope the rain stays away long enough to let it proceed as planned!

As always, here is my run-down of some personal milestones to keep an eye out for over the next week:

Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)

Where else to start but with the retiring Herath, who currently has 430 Test wickets to his name, enough for tenth place in the all-time list. Five more wickets in his final Test could see him leapfrog New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (9^th, 431), England’s Stuart Broad (8^th, 433 -but see below!) and India’s Kapil Dev (7^th, 434) and ensure he keeps his spot in the top ten for a good few years ahead.

Stuart Broad (England)

Due to the spinning conditions, England’s second highest wicket-taker of all time is by no means guaranteed to keep his place in the XI, but if he does, he will also be looking to overtake Kapil Dev and move into 7^th place in the wicket takers list (and to keep the wily Rangana from overtaking him to boot!)

Adil Rashid (England)

Having broken back into the Test side at home over the summer, and a certainty to play in Galle, Rashid needs two wickets to bring up both 200 in all formats for his country, and 50 in Tests.

Ben Stokes (England)

All-rounder Stokes needs just 26 runs with the bat to bring up 5,000 across all formats for England.

Jimmy Anderson (England)

More famed of course for his record-breaking exploits with the ball, barring declarations and innings victories, Jimmy will make his 200^th appearance at the batting crease for England in Tests!