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Club legend had taken on high-performance advisor role while supporting his wife’s battle with cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2025Alec Stewart is to resume his role as Surrey’s director of men’s cricket with immediate effect, the club have announced.Stewart, 62, stepped back from working full-time at the Kia Oval after the 2024 season, in order to help care for his wife, Lynn, who died of cancer in April. He remained involved in a new role as high-performance advisor, with Surrey opting not to appoint a successor.However, after one season away, he is set to retake the reins in the pursuit of more success. Stewart, who returned to the club where he spent his playing career as director of cricket in 2013, oversaw a strong player development pathway alongside four County Championship triumphs, including three in a row at the end of his first stint.”Surrey has always been my home and I am now ready to return to full-time duties with the club again,” Stewart said. “My priorities have always been to support the cricket management team and the squad to be the best county in the country, to bring cricketers into our professional squad through our pathway system and help players to fulfil their dreams of representing their country.”Related

Batty praises 'irreplaceable' Stewart as Surrey seal three titles in a row

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Rory Burns reaps the benefit as Surrey set sights on four in a row

Lynn Stewart, wife of Alec, dies after 12-year cancer battle

Surrey remained the team to beat in 2025, but were pipped by Nottinghamshire in the final rounds of the season to end up second on the Division One table.Stewart will be reunited with head coach, Gareth Batty, and captain, Rory Burns, as they look to re-establish their dominance of county cricket’s oldest competition.Oli Slipper, Surrey chair, said: “Alec is a legend of Surrey and we are looking forward to having him back in his role as director of men’s cricket. Alec’s record speaks for itself and he’s been the driving force in so much of the club’s success over many, many years.”Steve Elworthy, CEO at Surrey, added: “Alec’s commitment, drive and attention to detail has built the team into the side it is today and we know he will continue to progress the team as he resumes his role at the helm on the men’s game in the county.”Alec has remained an important part of the cricket management team over the last 12 months and he continues to drive the highest of standards across the club.”

It just had to be Dominik Szoboszlai! With Mohamed Salah sitting at home after his remarkable Elland Road outburst, Liverpool's true talisman right now slotted home an 88th-minute penalty to earn a 1-0 victory over Inter on Tuesday that greatly eases the pressure on manager Arne Slot.

In all honesty, the Reds played little better at San Siro than they had without Salah on Saturday night at Leeds. Alexander Isak went missing up front, as he so often has since arriving at Anfield for a British-record fee during the summer, although it has to be said Liverpool created little for the Swede, primarily because Florian Wirtz started on the bench. 

However, the visitors were, at least, far more solid in defence, with Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson nullifying Inter's threat out wide, while Alisson Becker also kept a very low-quality Champions League clash scoreless with a smart save from Lautaro Martinez just before the break. 

Liverpool then nicked a badly-needed win right at the death, with the Video Assistant Referee flagging a very minor pull on Wirtz's shirt by Nerazzurri defender Alessandro Bastoni. Christian Chivu & Co. were enraged by the belated decision to award a penalty, but Slot obviously didn't care. Thanks to Salah's replacement, Szoboszlai, he'd won his first match since the Egyptian tried to throw under the bus at Elland Road!

GOAL rates all of the Liverpool layers on show in Milan…

AFPGoalkeeper & Defence

Alisson Becker (7/10):

The reactions save from Martinez's near-post header was top-drawer, and crucial too, but, truth be told, the Brazilian didn't have that much to do during a rather boring game.

Joe Gomez (6/10):

Got the nod ahead of Bradley to start at right-back, perhaps with the idea of nullifying the threat posed by Dimarco, and the versatile defender produced a solid showing. Also got himself into some decent attacking positions, but his final ball let him down. Let's face it, he's no Trent!

Ibrahima Konate (6/10):

Unlucky to see his goal ruled out, as it would have represented a very timely confidence boost for the struggling Frenchman, but he should take great encouragement out of his overall performance here. Konate was by no means brilliant and he misplaced a few passes, but he played his part in a morale-boosting clean sheet for Liverpool's much-maligned defence.

Virgil van Dijk (7/10):

This was more like the Van Dijk of last season, with the Dutchman absolutely cruising through the game, winning most of his duels and spraying the ball about the pitch with aplomb. 

Andy Robertson (7/10):

Brought back into the side in place of Kerkez and justified his recall by defending diligently and also creating a couple of chances with some inviting crosses. 

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Ryan Gravenberch (7/10):

Not quite back to his brilliant best but this was much more like it from the Dutchman, who was very composed in possession and also did a fine job protecting his defence with a string of timely interceptions. 

Alexis Mac Allister (6/10):

By no means the Mac Allister of the past two seasons but arguably a very small step in the right direction. The Argentine offered nothing going forward but he did, at least, draw a fair few fouls, while he also worked tirelessly for his team.

Curtis Jones (7/10):

One of Liverpool's better players. Was very brave on the ball, always willing to pick up possession in congested areas, and also showed some of the passion that Liverpool have lacked in recent weeks and months.

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Dominik Szoboszlai (8/10):

The coolly converted penalty capped another dynamic display from the Hungarian, who was still winning the ball back at both ends of the field well into the last 10 minutes of the game.

Alexander Isak (3/10):

Have we finally reached the point where the Swede's lack of a proper pre-season can no longer be used as an excuse for dreadful performances such as this? Isak contributed absolutely nothing to the game before being withdrawn after 68 minutes. 

Hugo Ekitike (7/10):

In complete contrast to Isak, the Frenchman always looked capable of making something happen. He's fast, sharp and capable of beating players. He has to start up front against Brighton at the weekend.

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Conor Bradley (7/10):

A bit strange that he didn't start given he's suspended for the weekend's Premier League clash with Brighton – but he was brought on midway through the second half and immediately set up a chance for Ekitike before going close to scoring himself. 

Florian Wirtz (6/10):

Another surprise omission from the starting line-up, the German was part of a double substitution with Bradley and won the penalty that decided the game.

Arne Slot (8/10):

Things couldn't have gone much better for Slot in the circumstances. It wasn't a convincing performance by any stretch of the imagination, but Liverpool kept a clean sheet and claimed a late win with a goal from the player that Slot prefers to Salah on the right-hand side. As victories go, it's probably one of the most important of the Dutchman's career.

Until Sunday, the 12 teams in playoff position at the All-Star break were the same 12 teams holding playoff spots with one week to play. No more. The Reds leapfrogged the sagging Mets, and the molten-hot Guardians can replace the Tigers as soon as Tuesday. You want chaos? This is your week, when baseball becomes a high-stakes, minute-by-minute sprint.

The third wild card is proving its intention: inject sizzle back into September. And don’t worry about a watered-down playoff field. The six No. 6 seeds in three years of the 12-team format have won between 84 and 89 games with an average of 86.9 wins. We again should see the last two teams qualify in that range.

How crazy is the tournament? In the three seasons with six playoff teams in each league, the No. 6 seeds (32–26) have won as many postseason games as the No. 1 seeds (32–22). Just get in, baby.

Wild card spots are not all that’s at stake this week. We’ve got playoff seedings, major awards and MLB records also up for grabs. Here’s your guide to what’s on the line in Chaos Week:

The collapse of the Mets

They no longer control their playoff fate now that the Reds, who hold the tiebreaker over the Mets, caught them for the third wild card.

Since Aug. 19 the Mets are 13–18, including 3–8 against the Marlins and Nationals. But this is not just a late fade. From 45–24 in their first 69 games to 35–52 in their next 87, the Mets have been a bad team longer than they’ve been a good team.

They have used more pitchers than any team in history, received the fourth fewest innings from starters, lost more games out of the bullpen than any playoff contender, walked far too many batters, not once rallied to win after trailing after eight innings and whiffed on trade deadline acquisitions Cedric Mullins and Ryan Helsley, who had been in one organization for a decade before they were dropped into the heat of a New York pennant race.

This week the Mets play three games at Wrigley Field against the Cubs (where they see pitchers Cade Horton, Matt Boyd and Shota Imanaga) and three games in Miami against the Marlins, while asking three kids in their rotation to save their season.

The Reds have three at home against Pittsburgh (including one start by Paul Skenes) and finish with three at Milwaukee against the Brewers. Cincinnati has the edge because of its starting pitching. It also has the tiebreaker advantage over Arizona, which still lurks in the wild card race.

The Tigers in freefall

Detroit takes a six-game losing streak into Cleveland for a huge series against the Guardians that starts Tuesday, then goes to Fenway to finish against the Red Sox, another team hanging on by its fingernails. The Tigers are in a 7–18 freefall in which their 11.5-game AL Central lead has shrunk to one.

The length of the season has exposed the flaws of the Tigers. They strike out too much, their bullpen has the worst strikeout rate in baseball and they are a 46–54 team when anybody other than Tarik Skubal or Casey Mize starts.

American League musical chairs

The Tigers (85–71), Red Sox (85–71), Guardians (84–72) and Astros (84–72) are separated by one game with six to play and three spots up for grabs. One spot will go to either Detroit or Cleveland as the AL Central winner (Cleveland wins the head-to-head tiebreaker with one more win). That leaves three teams for two wild card spots. Here is the skinny on the race:

Tigers: The good news is by finishing against Cleveland and Boston they don’t need help. Their fate is smack in front of them. But that schedule—finishing on the road against two contenders—is also the bad news, especially after Detroit hit .182 against the Guardians while getting swept in three games last week. The Tigers are in trouble, especially if they lose with Skubal on the mound Tuesday in Cleveland.

Red Sox: They are 3–10 against Toronto and Detroit, their opponents this week. They see veteran pitchers Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber in Toronto. Holding tiebreakers against Cleveland and Houston and with head-to-head games with Detroit, Boston still has a good chance of getting in.

Guardians: Manager Stephen Vogt went to a six-man rotation to survive 17 games in 17 days. It worked, not just to keep his starters fresh, but also because pitching coach Carl Willis had them throw two bullpen sessions in between starts to dial in mechanics and pitch shaping. Cleveland is 16–5 with a 2.32 ERA this month. Cleveland is the only one of these four bubble teams to finish all this week at home. If they take two of three from Detroit, the Guardians will be in first place (by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker) and control their fate entering a series against Texas.

Astros: This is the bubble team in the most trouble, if only because they lose the tiebreakers to the Tigers, Red Sox and Guardians and they don’t have Yordan Alvarez (ankle) in the lineup. The Astros are 12–16 in August and September without Alvarez. They need to go at least 4–2 on the road against the Athletics and Angels.

The India fast bowler was one of the main reasons the fifth Test entered its final morning, and he put in a match-winning performance

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Aug-20253:04

Bangar hails ‘Herculean effort’ from Siraj

Mohammed Siraj is a massive Cristiano Ronaldo fan. His “siu” celebrations make that quite clear. So, on the final morning of the fifth Test against England, it was CR7 who was on Siraj’s mind after he woke up restless at 6am instead of the usual 8am.In a way, Siraj was responsible for the Test entering the final day; he had caught Harry Brook at long leg but stepped on the boundary to concede six on Sunday. Brook went on to score a century and have what seemed like a match-turning partnership with Joe Root. But Siraj was also responsible for the match being poised on a knife edge, delivering two long and amazing spells of fast bowling on tired legs with an old ball.So, with England needing 35 to win the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, and The Oval colosseum filling rapidly despite it being Monday morning, the gladiator in Siraj wanted to leave his mark. England had four wickets in hand, albeit one was Chris Woakes with arm in sling, but Siraj had belief.Related

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“I usually wake up at 8am, but today I woke up at 6am. I told myself I can do it today. I went on Google and searched for this image,” he said at the press conference after the match, raising his phone to show Ronaldo’s picture with “BELIEVE” written above it. “I downloaded the image, and made it the wallpaper. So belief is very important.”Belief is what allowed Siraj to bounce back from the mistake of reprieving Brook on 19. He said it was a “game-changing moment” when Brook got away and went into T20 mode to nearly take the Test away from India. But Siraj did not let that setback defeat him. “But I’m a senior bowler. I will not let my shoulder drop.”He told himself things happen, and moved on quickly. Shubman Gill, his captain, sitting next to him at the press conference after India’s win, quipped that if Siraj had held the catch, he could have saved everyone a lot of stress.”Also, if you had taken the catch, [I’m] thinking [it] would have been too easy for us,” Gill said as Siraj broke into a chuckle like the rest of the room.5:30

Gill on Oval win: ‘Makes you feel the journey is worth it’

Belief underpins the Siraj story, which started with a tennis ball in his late teenage years before he was spotted, nurtured and developed by former India quick and fast-bowling coach Bharat Arun. Combining belief with skill, Siraj has, along with Jasprit Bumrah, quickly grown into India’s most dependable fast-bowling duo in the longest format. For the second successive day, Siraj showed his sharp bowling intellect. He applied pressure from the first ball, delivering mostly outswingers, pitching on a good length and on the fifth- or sixth-stump line, and moving the ball away to challenge the England batters to take a risk.The batter’s problems were exacerbated by Siraj’s ability to cut the ball sharply into the pads with the wobble seam: to play him as a swing bowler, or a hit-the-deck bowler, which Siraj, in a chat with Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports, said he was? He did not relent even for a minute until he had knocked back Gus Atkinson’s off stump with a 143kph yorker – just like he had hit Zak Crawley’s off stump with a similar ball to end play on day three.Siraj, who won the Player-of-the-Match award for his nine wickets at The Oval, bowled 185.3 overs in the series to finish as the leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets. After the win, Siraj bounced around the ground with the ball in hand, thanking the fans, and arrived at the press conference flashing a big smile. High on dopamine, he showed no trace of the toil he has had for the last two months.5:16

Harmison: Siraj never looked like running out of steam

“Body is fine right now because it is almost 187 overs,” Siraj said when asked whether he felt exhausted. “But [when] you play for the country, you give everything. Don’t think too much [whether] you bowl the sixth over or you bowl your ninth over. I don’t care. I believe you bowl every ball for your country, not for yourself. [When] you play for the country, give it everything. Rest doesn’t matter.”Siraj had coped with an extremely heavy workload during India’s previous five-Test series too – the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. India lost that series 3-1 despite Bumrah’s record-breaking numbers, as he took 32 wickets. But Siraj, who had bowled 157.1 overs in that series, the most for India, also took 20 wickets at an average of just over 31. Siraj said his role in Australia was different to that in England, where he was the leader of the attack with Bumrah playing only three of the five Tests.”In Australia, while Jassi [Bumrah] was performing, my only job was to bowl in partnerships and build pressure, and not try something else – because then there is a potential to leak runs, and that could build pressure on us,” he said. “As for my improvement, I always believe in my bowling that I can take a wicket in any situation. I don’t mind whether I am bowling the first spell or eighth. I just need to give 100%. I have never run after results. Rather [I’m] focused on the process of how to build pressure by bowling in partnerships.”3:04

Bangar hails ‘Herculean effort’ from Siraj

Siraj has been part of several memorable moments in Indian cricket. He was part of the team when Ajinkya Rahane’s India triumphed at the Gabba in 2020-21 to win the series in Australia 2-1. He felt this drawn series in England would be ranked slightly higher, though.”I will rate it higher because [of] the way we have fought throughout this series, with each Test going into the fifth day,” he said. “There was a lot of belief in this dressing room, and everyone believed this morning [that] we would win this match.”The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been a series full of unforgettable moments. Two of its defining images are of Siraj: one on his haunches at Lord’s after being bowled by Shoaib Bashir, and another of him covering his face in the fading light on an overcast Sunday at The Oval after letting Brook off.”I don’t know why I am in these moments,” he said. “At Lord’s, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish. But the almighty clearly had something good written for me in his mind, and that’s why I am here at this moment, and I could take the wickets in the end.”Siraj knows exactly why he is where he is – bowling India to one of their most famous victories, and their narrowest, by a margin of six runs.”Stay honest to your game,” he says. “Believe in yourself. Without belief, nothing can happen.”

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo's Sunday firing was not your average executive dismissal.

When they let Rizzo go, the Nationals bid adieu to a figure who had seen almost the entire history of the franchise in D.C.. Washington hired Rizzo before the 2007 season, the team's third after its relocation from Montreal. Several former Montreal Expos and Expos draftees were on the roster at that point.

Gradually, Rizzo helped turn the Nationals into winners and—in 2019—world champions. Perhaps for this reason, the former general manager is giving back to the fans in an unusual way.

"As a way to say thank you to the fans for 19 amazing years with the Washington Nationals, grab a 'Round on Riz' Monday, July 14 before the Home Run Derby at Penn Quarter Sports Tavern or Walter’s Sports Bar," Rizzo said on Instagram through his foundation, referencing two local sports bars. "First round of beer is on us from 5-7 pm. Cheers to an incredible ride!"

Nationals left fielder and designated hitter James Wood will compete in the event in the midst of a stellar season. He will be the first Washington player in the Derby since right fielder Juan Soto in 2022.

Now, thanks to Rizzo, Nationals fans have two economically friendly places to watch their budding star work.

Sometimes, handicapping the American and National League Rookie of the Year races is about being flexible—feeling out who's hot at any particular moment over the course of a long season.

However, sometimes, the art of assessment requires patience. Throughout the year, Braves catcher Drake Baldwin has bobbed up and down the NL pecking order. He’s been prone to weekly foibles, but all along he’s slashed .280/.352/.457 with 15 home runs, 62 RBIs and 2.6 bWAR in what could plausibly be described as part-time duty, and he’s now pushed past Sean Murphy to claim the lion’s share of the starts behind the plate in Atlanta.

While his season-long excellence should result in him being named NL Rookie of the Year, there are a few other players peaking at the right time to prevent it from being a certainty. This week's six contenders feature some faces that are familiar, some returning, some new. Welcome to the latest edition of MLB Rookie Watch.

American League1. Nick Kurtz, first baseman, Athletics

Kurtz is controlling essentially every variable in this race he can control in one of the great rookie seasons of the 21st century. He leads all AL rookies in bWAR and win probability added, and his 4.7 bWAR extrapolates to 8.0 over a 162-game season. Since the last Rookie Watch column a month ago in which we acknowledged Kurtz as the new AL favorite, Kurtz has run away with the distinction by slashing .324/.474/.568, making his own luck with an astounding .465 BABIP (2026 regression seems likely, but that's another column). An oblique injury that cost him three recent games appears to be resolved.

2. Roman Anthony, outfielder, Red Sox

The Roman Empire was more of a Roman Republic to start the season; as recently as July 2 he was sitting on a .200/.309/.329 slash line. However, it's been ever since—Anthony's last 25 games include a .306/.389/.520 clip to go with six home runs and 13 RBIs. On the first day of that span, Anthony signed a lucrative contract extension, and he has earned every penny, even as a lengthy injured list trip looms and threatens to end his regular season. How many rookies can make an 8.7-bWAR player a year ago expandable?

3. Noah Cameron, pitcher, Royals

His last start of August was a nightmare—six earned runs allowed on eight hits in five innings as the White Sox shut his Royals out 7–0 on Aug. 25. Still, no other AL rookie starter can touch him. Any team would take his numbers extrapolated over a full season—13-11 with a 2.92 ERA and 149 strikeouts. With Kansas City in a tight wild-card race, he’ll have opportunities to affect winning down the stretch.

Honorable Mention

Jacob Wilson, shortstop, Athletics; Mike Vasil, pitcher, White Sox

National League1. Drake Baldwin, catcher, Braves

On the strength of an uber-consistent 21-game stretch, Baldwin replaces stagnating Brewers infielder Caleb Durbin (.296 OBP in his last 30 games). Baldwin recovered from a mediocre July to post an .800 OPS in August, highlighted by an Aug. 7 showing against the Marlins in which he went 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs. If Atlanta takes the training wheels off in September—as many losing teams do for their youngsters—it’s Baldwin’s award to lose.

2. Isaac Collins, left fielder, Brewers

With Durbin cooling, Collins’s production this year has become undeniable even amid a below-average stretch for him. The versatile Creighton product is slashing .276/.373/.426 with eight home runs and 51 RBIs for a team still in possession of the best record in baseball. For the week ending Aug. 10, he was named the NL Player of the Week, flummoxing Braves and Mets pitchers with a .429/.538/.905 hot streak. Not bad for a Rule 5 draft pick Rockies fans are kicking themselves for seeing get away.

3. Cade Horton, pitcher, Cubs

The Cubs are blessed with two intriguing rookies in Horton and third baseman Matt Shaw, so let’s compare the two. Shaw has twice as many bWAR as Horton (2.8 against 1.4), but Horton has Shaw beaten in fWAR (1.7 to 1.2). OPS+ (102) and wRC+ (95) have Shaw as about a league-average hitter, but ERA+ (137) has Horton as a well-above-average hurler. We’ll give the last slot to Horton (9–4, 2.78 ERA), whose unique position as a pitcher among the NL ROY contenders could give him a leg up if he dominates in his September outings—the 2022 first-round pick got off to a good start Wednesday by holding the Braves hitless over five innings.

Honorable Mention

Matt Shaw, third baseman, Cubs; Braxton Ashcraft, pitcher, Pirates

The American League Championship Series comes down to one game to decide who will meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 World Series.

What follows is a look at the five players who will decide the outcome of Game 7 on Monday night.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Vladdy Jr. has been on fire in the postseason, hitting .462 with a franchise postseason record six home runs and 12 RBIs. He's posting a ridiculous OPS of 1.532 in October, but has hammered Mariners pitching in this series. In the last four games, he's 9-for-15 with three home runs, three walks and one strikeout. He has also done some crazy things. There isn't a baseball player on the planet hotter than Guerrero right now. He'll have his say on Monday night.

Cal Raleigh

Like Guerrero, Raleigh has been big in the playoffs. He's hitting .302 with four home runs and seven RBIs, and also boasts an OPS of 1.028. Aaron Judge's only challenger for the AL MVP award, Raleigh has been mostly bottled up in this series. The 60-homer man is 5-for-22 with two home runs against the Blue Jays. In his career against Toronto's Game 7 starter Shane Bieber, Raleigh is 2-for-8 with a pair of singles and a strikeout. Seattle needs him to break through against the righty. If he doesn't, Seattle's offense may not have the punch it needs to win.

Shane Bieber

Speaking of Bieber, who would have thought he'd be here? He spent most of the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, then the Guardians sent him to Toronto at the trade deadline before he'd pitched a big league game in his return. Now he's starting Game 7 of the ALCS. The former Cy Young winner has made two postseason starts and is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP and 10 striekouts against two walks in 8 2/3 innings. He took the win in Game 3 of the series, as he went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out eight. Toronto would take that performance again in a heartbeat.

George Kirby

Kirby took the loss in Game 3 and had the opposite performance of Bieber. He surrendered eight runs on eight its in four-plus innings and the Blue Jays hit three home runs on him. Before that, the 27-year-old righty had allowed three runs on nine hits in 10 postseason innings. His lone ALCS start ballooned his playoff ERA to 7.07. The Mariners need him to bounce back and put his Game 3 disaster behind him. If he can't, the season may end Monday night.

Josh Naylor

Naylor has made himself a lot of money in the postseason. The Mariners acquired the impending free agent from the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline and he has been oustanding when it has mattered the post. His has three postseason home runs and is hitting .341 with a .974 OPS in October. He has hammered Toronto's pitching in this series as well. Naylor is 9-for-21 with all three of his postseason homers in the first six games of the series. In the last three games, he's 6-for-10 with two bombs. If Seattle is getting a big hit in Game 7, there's a good bet Naylor will be the one delivering it.

Also: who is the oldest umpire to stand a first-class match?

Steven Lynch18-Feb-2020I read that Naseem Shah was described as the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick. Whose record did he break? asked Steve Dillon from England
Pakistan’s Naseem Shah, who turned 17 on the weekend, took a hat-trick last week when he was still 16, against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. He broke the record of legspinner Alok Kapali, who was 19 when he achieved the feat for Bangladesh against Pakistan, in Peshawar in 2003 (Kapali took only three more wickets in 16 other Tests). Abdul Razzaq was 20 when he took a hat-trick for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2000.The oldest man to take a Test hat-trick was 38-year-old Rangana Herath, for Sri Lanka against Australia in Galle in August 2016. He was about three months older than the England offspinner Tom Goddard when he took one against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1938-39. For the full list, click here.Two batsmen scored 200 for Chandigarh the other day – from No. 7 and No. 8. Is this unique? And was Chandigarh’s first-innings lead of 609 a record too? asked Rahul Bhasin from India
The match in question was the Ranji Trophy Plate Group encounter between Chandigarh and Manipur in Kolkata, which had excited number crunchers even before it started, as according to the Association of Cricket Statisticians it was the 60,000th first-class match ever played.Chandigarh were in a spot of bother at 136 for 5, but Uday Kaul made 148, putting on 221 with Bipul Sharma, who then added a further 172 with Gurinder Singh. That ended when Sharma was out for 200, but Chandigarh’s captain, Manan Vohra, didn’t declare until Singh also reached 200. Singh, in his more usual role as a left-arm spinner, then took 5 for 19 as Manipur were skittled for 63.This was the first time in first-class history that Nos. 7 and 8 both scored double-centuries – but there is an instance of Nos. 7 and 9 reaching 200, again in the Ranji Trophy. For Haryana against Karnataka in Hubli in 2012-13, Amit Mishra scored 202 not out and Jayant Yadav 211, most of them during an eighth-wicket partnership of 392.Chandigarh’s first-innings lead of 609 was the fourth highest in India – on top are Holkar (912 for 8), who led Mysore (190) by 722 runs in the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Indore in 1945-46 – but the biggest in all first-class cricket remains 886, by Victoria (1107) over New South Wales (221) in Melbourne in 1926-27. In Pakistan’s Ayub Trophy in Lahore in 1964-65, Pakistan Railways scored 910 for 6 before bowling Dera Ismail Khan out for 32 (they thus conceded a lead of 878) and 27.Umpires Maurice Tate and John Langridge (right) walk out for a game in 1956•Getty ImagesR Ashwin has now taken 362 wickets in 70 Tests. Is that the most after 70? I know he held this record for a while, but does he still? asked Milind Bhaskar from India
You’re right that R Ashwin held this mark for a while. He still has the most wickets after every number of Tests from 39 (when he had 220) to 65 (342). But Muttiah Muralitharan was level with Ashwin after their 66th Tests, with 350 wickets – and 11 more in his next game put Murali in front, where he has remained. He had 382 wickets after 70 Tests, so Ashwin has a fair bit of ground to make up if he is to get back in front.I noticed that Patsy Hendren’s brother Denis umpired a first-class match when he was nearly 75. Was he the oldest umpire in any first-class fixture? asked Lawrence Cartwright from England
Denis Hendren played a few first-class matches for Middlesex between 1905 and 1919. His brother, Patsy Hendren, was much better known, scoring 170 centuries (second only to Jack Hobbs) in a career that stretched to 1937, when he was 48.Denis Hendren took up umpiring, joining the county panel in 1931 and eventually standing in 390 first-class matches. He did not officiate in the County Championship after 1949, but stood in many university games over the next eight seasons, including ten in 1957. His last was Oxford University against Leicestershire in the Parks in June, three months before his 75th birthday. The oldest known umpire in a Championship match was John Langridge, who was 73 when he stood in his 557th and last first-class game, between Leicestershire and Yorkshire at Grace Road in 1983. Before taking up umpiring, Langridge had played 574 first-class matches, all but seven of them for Sussex.Five umpires older than Hendren are known to have officiated in first-class matches. The oldest of all – and the only octogenarian – was William Bock, who was 81 when he stood in Wellington’s game against Otago at the Basin Reserve in January 1928.In a tough quiz the other day we were asked to name the batsmen who made the highest score for and against Middlesex in 50-over cricket – apparently it was the same score, and both in 2019? asked Mike Everett from England
This peculiar double was indeed achieved inside a fortnight in 2019, during the Royal London Cup. First Luke Wright blasted 166 for Sussex at Lord’s, breaking the old record by anyone against Middlesex in a List A match, Chris Adams’ 163, also for Sussex, at Arundel 20 years earlier, in a 45-over game. Then Max Holden hit 166 for Middlesex against Kent in Canterbury, breaking the county’s previous-highest – also 163 – by Andrew Strauss against Surrey at The Oval in 2008.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

In English conditions, the combination of Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer has all bases covered

George Dobell at Old Trafford25-Jul-2020There’s a famous photo of an iconic West Indies attack. Lined up in height order, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner stare back at the camera. There’s not a smile in sight.The picture was taken in Trinidad in 1981. West Indies were involved in a Test against England at the time; a Test they won by an innings and 79 runs.The quartet only played together in 11 Tests. But it’s an enduring image that represents the West Indies teams of the era pretty well. Each one of those bowlers had legitimate claim to be qualified as a great of the game; each one of them offered skill, pace, hostility and control. It was an awesome attack. It was an awesome team.The England quartet of seamers in this Test doesn’t quite have the same height or pace or hostility. They might not, in Perth or Johannesburg, offer the same threat at this stage of their careers. Batsmen don’t, on the whole, fear for their physical safety when they go out to face them.ALSO READ: Tentative West Indies walk into seam-and-swing trapBut they might well wonder where their next run is going to come from. For in these conditions, under overcast skies and armed with a Dukes ball, this England quartet presents a formidable challenge.The statistics alone are overwhelming. Reunited once more, James Anderson and Stuart Broad have nearly 1100 Test wickets between them and will be remembered as greats of English cricket. Chris Woakes takes his wickets, at home at least, at a lower cost than either of them, while in his first five Tests in England, Jofra Archer claimed two five wicket hauls and took his wickets at 22.08. There’s no respite. Not in these conditions.The key, according to Broad, is the quartet’s control. And it’s true that on these surfaces, offering assistance off the seam, that bowling a tight line and length is often enough to create both pressure and chances.Stuart Broad and James Anderson discuss bowling plans•Getty ImagesBut they have more to offer than control. They also have the ability to swing the ball, utilise the wobble seam – an increasingly common part of England’s game over the last couple of years – and work out any technical flaws they may see. They can go short against those, such as Shane Dowrich, who struggle against the rising delivery. They can nip the ball back against those, such as Roston Chase, who walk across their stumps, and they can move the ball away from those, such as Shai Hope, who tend to push at it.”I can’t think of a better attack in these conditions,” Nasser Hussain said on Sky. It was hard to disagree.And while there may be moments, as the ball softens and the shine wears, when batting becomes more straightforward, Archer’s ability to generate lift from even slow surfaces offers an extra edge. John Campbell was caught off the splice by a brute of a delivery that punished his prevalence to prop forward.Any absence of pace or weakness of spin is negated in such conditions. It was a reminder why England have not lost at home to anyone since 2014 and to West Indies since 1988.”For this pitch, it’s a very, very strong attack,” Broad said. “What you want to try and avoid is four seamers that all do exactly the same thing because if you don’t get a pitch that suits you, you could be in trouble.

When one of us goes, the other will be one of the first to know. There’s certainly been no talk of that. Jimmy’s record is arguably getting better and better, as is mineStuart Broad on his partnership with James Anderson

“We all are slightly different bowlers. We all release from slightly different places on the crease which means that every time a different bowler comes on, a batsman has to make little adjustments”We have a saying in this bowling unit. Control the run rate; control the game. Every bowler on that pitch has got the ability to control the run rate and is a natural wicket-taker.”England have had other decent attacks in recent times, of course. They went to No. 1 in the Test rankings in 2011 with a three-man seam attack, which saw Broad and Anderson supported by, at various times, the likes of Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett.But it was a policy that demanded an awful lot of those bowlers and was held together by the skill of the spinner, Graeme Swann. Eventually, Swann and Bresnan suffered elbow injuries and England had to find another way. The presence of four seamers here – plus Dom Bess’ spin and the possibility of a contribution from Ben Stokes later in the game – means the bowlers have been able to operate in shorter spells and allows for the possibility of enforcing the follow-on should the opportunity present itself.The best comparison for the current unit might, in England terms, be the 2005 Ashes line-up. At their best, the quartet of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff had just as much pace, hostility, control and skill. They had a better spin option, too. They played together 16 times, won 10 and lost only twice.How many more times will Anderson and Broad operate together? Not too many, probably. Broad has responded to his omission from the team which played in the first Test of this series wonderfully eloquently. As he asked after play here: “Do you think we’re both in England’s best bowling attack?”Jofra Archer celebrates a wicket•Getty ImagesThe answer, in these conditions, is almost certainly yes. But it remains the case that, in India or Australia, or South Africa or the Caribbean, it could be hard to accommodate them. The extra pace of Mark Wood or Olly Stone may well, in some conditions, prove more effective.We’re probably in that transition phase between eras now. This was, after all, just the fourth time the pair had played together in England’s most recent 14 Tests. The mantle is passing to Archer, in particular, with Woakes, who Broad believes is bowling better than ever, helping bridge the gap. Given the need for rest and rotation in this summer’s packed schedule, it probably wouldn’t be reasonable to expect Anderson and Broad to feature in more than two of the three Tests against Pakistan. And then? Who knows. They’ve proved it unwise to write them off, but time is an unrelenting opponent. It tends to win in the end.”I don’t ever walk on the field and think ‘Is this is the last time we’ll play together?'” Broad said. “Both of us have a burning desire to keep going and keep trying to win Tests for England”When one of us goes, the other will be one of the first to know. There’s certainly been no talk of that. Jimmy’s record is arguably getting better and better. As is mine.”Maybe, in time, pictures of Anderson and Broad together will resonate for England supporters in a similar way to that magnificent Caribbean quartet. They are a formidable pairing. This is a formidable quartet. Enjoy them while you can.

Their season disintegrated in the latter stages, with their batsmen not putting up enough runs for their bowlers to work with

Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Nov-2020Five matches, five defeats. That’s how a promising Royal Challengers Bangalore season ultimately came to nothing. In each of those last five games, the Royal Challengers batted first, posting totals of 145, 164, 120, 152 and 131. And as hard as their bowlers tried to keep them in the game, they simply didn’t have enough runs to defend, with only two of these matches going into the final over.Something, clearly, went horribly wrong with the Royal Challengers’ batting. But what, and why? How did a team that won seven of its first ten games disintegrate so spectacularly?According to Mike Hesson, the Royal Challengers’ director of cricket, the downturn was caused by the batsmen’s inability to adapt to the slowing down of the pitches as the tournament progressed.”The reality is that the wickets slowed up and as a batting group we didn’t adapt quickly enough, and when you don’t score enough runs you put an awful lot of pressure on your bowling unit,” Hesson said in a media interaction on Saturday. “Last five games, we batted first, [and] on all of the surfaces we struggled to adapt, we struggled to be able to apply any pressure on our opposition, we kept losing wickets by trying to force our case, therefore you end up basically crawling over the line a little bit from a batting point of view, getting a sub-par score, and then scrapping hard.”And the fact that we’ve had to scrap for every game, the last four or five, it certainly exposed the fact that we struggled on the slower surfaces as the tournament progressed.”The first ten rounds, when there was enough pace in the surfaces, as a batting unit we were very good. In the death we were the second-best team, in the powerplay I think we were second or third, in the middle we were sort of around the middle, and as the tournament progressed we dropped off in those phases, but that in a nutshell was the story of the last five games.”On the surface, Hesson’s reading seems accurate. The Royal Challengers were indeed the second-fastest-scoring team in the death overs until the end of their tenth match of the season, and third-quickest in the powerplay, but second-from-bottom in the middle overs.Then they simply fell off a cliff, particularly in the death overs (their middle-overs scoring rate actually improved marginally in the latter part of the tournament).The Royal Challengers’ death-overs scoring rate nosedived over their last five games•ESPNcricinfo LtdBut did cracks suddenly erupt in the Royal Challengers’ batting unit after game 10, or did they exist right through the tournament, papered over initially by the acts of a genius? Look at the death-overs numbers in the above graphic, and think about this game, this game, this game and this one. Would the Royal Challengers have won any of them without AB de Villiers?Four wins out of seven, owing largely to the efforts of one man. And even de Villiers can’t keep such a run of form going forever. The Royal Challengers’ death-overs decline towards the end of their campaign can be attributed largely to de Villiers reverting to the mean. In their first ten games of the season, he batted six times in the death overs, and was only dismissed twice in 69 balls. In their last five games, he was dismissed three times in 16 balls across three innings.The Royal Challengers were heavily reliant on AB de VIlliers’ death-overs masterclasses•ESPNcricinfo LtdA team can’t be so reliant on one batsman. Or even two. Virat Kohli’s approach in T20s has been widely debated, but when he makes it as far as the death overs he usually makes it count. In the early, happy phase of the Royal Challengers’ season, he made it into the death overs four times in 10 innings, and scored 88 runs off 40 balls (strike rate 220.00) while being dismissed once.In his last five games, Kohli only got into the death overs once, scoring 17 off 11 balls in the phase against the Chennai Super Kings, after having scored 33 off his first 32 balls.That sort of start was typical of Kohli’s season, and the Royal Challengers were prepared to accept it given the death-overs payoff he can deliver. But did they organise the rest of their batting well enough to complement those slow starts?Simon Katich, their head coach, certainly believes so.”One thing that we tried to do with our batting order was structure it so that guys who batted in consistent pairings complemented each other,” Katich said. “You’re having guys who are strong against maybe pace, and other guys who’re strong against spin to complement each other in different phases of the innings, so it makes it harder for opposition captains to really stifle the innings.ALSO READ: Gambhir says RCB need to look beyond Kohli for captaincy”We see that in games where two similar players bat together and an opposition captain can win a three- or four-over spell of the game with a certain type of bowling, so we were really mindful of that, and hence the reason why there were games where we did bring left-handers into the fold to break up our right-handers at the top, which we obviously had, with three of the top four, in [Aaron] Finch, Kohli and de Villiers.”Pretty much in T20, batting has to be adaptable and flexible, because the nature of the game situation dictates how you have to play, whether you’re batting first or you’re chasing and when you enter the fray. So there are no actual set positions in T20 a lot of times, it comes up to how you have to go against a certain match-up and try and make it as hard as possible for the opposition captain.”That flexibility, however, wasn’t always apparent when it came to de Villiers’ batting position. He batted at No. 4 in all but two of his innings, no matter when the second wicket fell. And he ended up with a rigidly fixed position over his last six innings of the season, after the Royal Challengers made the widely debated decision to promote a pair of left-handers, Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, above him, to match up against the two legspinners in Kings XI Punjab’s attack.”We certainly tried [promoting the left-handers] in Sharjah against Kings XI knowing full well they had their two legspinners bowling in that phase of the game,” Katich said. “Unfortunately, the execution of that plan probably meant that we copped a lot of flak over it, because it left AB de Villiers not batting as much as we would have liked, and also we didn’t get the runs we would have liked in that phase, where we did promote Sundar and Dube. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the actual thought around the plan.”

“The wickets slowed up and as a batting group we didn’t adapt quickly enough, and when you don’t score enough runs you put an awful lot of pressure on your bowling unit”Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket

There wasn’t, but the flak they copped for the move dissuaded the Royal Challengers from trying it again, even in situations that seemed to cry out for it.In the game against the Super Kings in Dubai, Kohli and de Villiers scored a combined 68 off 62 balls against Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner and Imran Tahir, all of whom turn the ball away from the right-hander. Moeen Ali, a left-hand batsman with a T20 strike rate of 169.36 against legspin and left-arm orthodox before that game, and a far more proven performer than Sundar or Dube, didn’t come out to bat until the 18th over.Moeen didn’t play another game until the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad, when the Royal Challengers made two major changes to their batting line-up. It felt like a belated recognition of the issues that had plagued the team through the tournament, especially through the middle overs. Kohli, who had struggled to find the boundary through the middle overs all season, opened alongside Devdutt Padikkal to try and make use of the powerplay field restrictions. Moeen – who boasted the best middle-overs strike rate (176.51) of all Royal Challengers batsmen since the 2018 season – came back into the team.According to Katich, Moeen was set to bat at No. 3 to target the legspin/left-arm spin combination of Rashid Khan and Shahbaz Nadeem. But the Royal Challengers lost two wickets within the first four overs, and the plan was put on ice. Moeen eventually arrived in the 11th over and ran himself out, off the first ball he faced – a free-hit.ALSO READ: Kohli’s mentorship and never-say-die attitude vital for RCB, says coach Katich”There was a period, if we hadn’t lost a wicket early [in the Eliminator], Moeen would have probably batted three, if he’d come in at the back end of the powerplay or just after the powerplay, so the timing of the wickets probably changed how our batting line-up looked,” Katich said.”We were taking the aggressive option, really, in moving Virat to the top of the order to try and get him in the game, to influence the game positively. That didn’t happen, I mean, that’s the way it panned out. It’s not often you get someone [Kohli] caught down the leg side and someone else run out off a free-hit no-ball, so that’s the way the game goes sometimes, and it didn’t go our way.”It didn’t go their way, but it might well have done had the Royal Challengers taken those decisions earlier in the tournament, and acted more proactively to address their middle-overs issues.