Split coaches in different formats are the way forward in cricket? Here's what experts say

Much like players opting for certain formats or are forced to do so in the wake of speciality in cricket, certain former players and experts believe that coaches too need to specialise in different formats. In a podcast former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop revealed that he thinks specialisation in coaching is almost knocking on the door.

“The fact that we want all the best players playing all the formats and that poses problems for people like Moods (Tom Moody), who have the task fo making players succeed in all the formats,” Freddie Wilde, author of the famous book Cricket 2.0 told Bishop on The Pitch Side Experts Podcast.

Responding to that, Bishop also echoed his thoughts. “You read my mind, I was just going to end it with it. Moods, my heart goes out to you and I wonder, It’s no surprise there seems to be a specialisation in even in the coaching ranks apart from the few very best who are able to coach across formats,” said the man with 279 international wickets.

“Given the demands and multiplicity of the skills that one had to bring to the table, and even to the commentators,” Bishop added, indicating that doing everything in all three formats for all people involved with the game is getting relatively difficult.

Earlier, Darren Lehmann, former Australia coach had propagated the multiple coach theory or split coaching. “I think split coaches is the way to go in India as well as here[England]. You just can’t be away for 200 days a year. It’s too much for the family and it’s too much pressure on a single coach,” Lehmann had said on a podcast with Michael Vaughan.

“I think to get longevity out of your coaches you have to have split roles,” he had added.

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Babar Azam is one of the leading captains right now: Mohammad Rizwan

Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan has out his weight behind captain Babar Azam and has said that his scoring-rate in the T20Is isn’t really a cause of concern for the team. "We've never felt an issue with Babar's strike rate," Rizwan said. "When he goes big he generally has a strike rate over 140. People talk about our strike rate but do remember we chased down 200, just the two of us, so our strike rate can't be that bad. There was an issue with the middle order, but we have more personnel coming in, so hopefully that should be resolved now." The right-hander who led Multan Sultans to PSL title win further talked about the batting and said that the top-order is pretty sorted while some tweak is required in the middle-order. "We don't have any issue in the top order. We're all settled in our positions, and the only problems we had were in our middle order,” Rizwan added. The wicket-keeper batsman also hailed Babar Azam for his captaincy skills. “Babar is one of the leading captains right now, and if you look at our past series, he's made some brilliant decisions,” Rizwan said. Pakistan are slated to play three ODIs and as many T20Is against England slated to begin on July 8.

ICC Women Rankings: Mithali Raj regains her top-five spot among ODI batters

Indian Women skipper has regained her spot in the top five of the Women’s batter’s rating in ODI cricket after her 108 balls 78 in the first match of the three-match ODI series against England Women. The list is still topped by South Africa Women’s Lizelle Lee. The other Indian in the top 10 among ODI batters is Smriti Mandhana who slid one position and currently sits at number nine. In the bowler’s raking Jhulan Goswami has maintained her number five position while Poonam Yadav did not play in the first ODI and had a below-par outing in the home series against South Africa has slipped to number nine. The list is topped by Megan Schutt of Australia Women. England Women’s Sophie Ecclestone entered into the top 10 courtesy of her 3-40 spell vs India Women in the last game. Among the all-rounders, Deepti Sharma has maintained her number five position in the list while other Indians including Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet Kaur are in the top 20 but not part of the top 10. The list is jointly topped by South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp and Ellyse Perry. The Indian Women return to Taunton, for the second ODI against England Women on June 30 and all of these ladies would be under the spotlight if India are to get back into the series.

Salman Butt joins PCB's umpiring course

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has found his name in the list of players who had taken part in the umpiring and match referee course. The course was conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Apart from Butt, Abdul Rauf, Bilal Asif and Shoaib Khan were the other international players to have taken part in the course. There were a total 346 personnel who were part of the online Level-1 Umpiring course for umpires and match referees including 49 cricketers. The course was held from June 7 to 25. The PCB had introduced Level 1, 2 and 3 courses for umpires and match referees to develop the match officials. The personnel will now undergo written tests, interviews and fitness tests in the second phase. The Pakistan Cricket Board has said that it wants the former players to get employment opportunities. Butt’s inclusion in the list didn’t really go with the fans and the PCB did face some backlash on social media for the same. The former opener was one of the three Pakistan players apart from Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to be involved in the match-fixing scandal in England in 2010. The then Pakistan skipper Butt was banned for 10 years. The three players were jailed in November 2011.

ENG vs SL | 1st ODI: Sri Lanka suffer another batting collapse as hosts take upper hand

Sri Lanka’s batting woes continued against England in the first ODI of the series after Chris Woakes and David Willey ripped apart the batting unit at Chester-le-Street as the visitors were bundled out for 185. After being put into bat, Sri Lanka had a struggling start after openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera only managed to put 23 on the board for the first wicket. Nissanka was the first one to depart for 5 after he was removed by Chris Woakes and his dismissal was followed by a couple of more wickets going down in quick succession. The visiting team was struggling at 46/3 when captain Perera was joined by Wanindu Hasaranga in the middle and the two tried to show some resistance after stitching a stand of 99 runs. But Hasaranga miscued a pull stroke on a short delivery from Woakes and was caught in the deep by Livingstone for 54. The right-handed batsman’s departure broke the shackles and the visitors suffered another collapse where they were reduced to 160/8 with Perera who was also back in the hut. He was undone by David Willey for 73. A lot of credit goes to the English bowlers also, especially Woakes and Willey. The two pacers troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen with the pace and some disciplined line and length. Woakes eventually returned with a four-wicket haul while Willey had three wickets to his name during the course. While the home side was impressive with the bowling, the fielding was on spot as well. Sri Lanka lost their last two wickets, courtesy runout with Sam Billings being involved in both of them. Billings repeated what he did in the last T20I when he sent Dasun Shanaka packing. The right-hander came charging in from the deep to hit the bull’s eye at the non-striker’s end and sent Shanaka back in the pavilion. This time it was Praveen Jayawickrama at the receiving end in a similar manner. But this isn’t the first instance where Sri Lanka have suffered a batting collapse. Something similar was witnessed during the T20I series between the two sides which the Lankan side lost 0-3.