Ben Stokes’ back will be the focus of attention over the next few days, while the exploits of the New Zealand XI lower order raised questions about the England attack

Andrew McGlashan at Seddon Park14-Mar-2018England began four days of Test preparation in Hamilton on Wednesday with the first two days played with the pink ball under lights. The matches aren’t first-class, England bowled first by agreement and teams can continue batting a whole day even if bowled out, so the games are essentially glorified middle practice. It all started well for England, reducing the New Zealand XI to 30 for 5, but a chastening afternoon and evening followed as Tom Blundell and Kyle Jamieson added 163 and both scored centuries. Here are a few things that caught the eye.Ben Stokes’ backStokes-watch has not finished with his comeback in the one-day series. He will sit out the first two-day game with a back problem but it is being played down as nothing serious; England are hopeful he will play over the second two days, he pushed himself hard during the ODIs and may be feeling the effects. However, it is likely his workload in the Tests will need to be managed or he could be considered as a specialist batsman. In that case it would again leave England needing to find a way to balance the side. At the very least, Stokes won’t have had any middle time with the pink ball. James Vince, who could be vulnerable if Stokes plays as a batsman, had seven overs on the opening day here, but if he’s needed for that many in a Test, things haven’t gone well.Early points to England’s quicksNew Zealand’s Test openers, Jeet Raval and Tom Latham, walked out to open the XI’s innings – a chance for Raval to have an early sight of the pink ball and for Latham to adjust from one-day cricket. It didn’t work out for either of them first time around. James Anderson, quickly back into the groove, pushed one across Latham to find the outside edge and then Raval had a lazy waft at Stuart Broad’s first ball to give Ben Foakes another catch. With Henry Nicholls chipping to midwicket and Colin de Grandhomme edging Mark Wood behind, it wasn’t a great day for New Zealand’s Test squad. There was time late in the day for Raval to fall a second time, edging a good delivery from Broad. Not the ideal preparation.Wood opens the bowlingBroad is on 399 Test wickets has been working hard between series on trying to regain the outswinger. He had to wait a little while for his first bowl of the tour, though, as Wood was given the new ball ahead of him. If Stokes and Chris Woakes (rested here with a hamstring niggle) are fit, it’s hard to see how Wood would fit into the Test side, so it was an interesting decision from Joe Root. Wood’s first spell ended with 3-2-1-0 and then Broad struck with his first delivery.Blundell hard done byTom Blundell made a century on Test debut against West Indies but, two matches later, is out of the team with BJ Watling having recovered from his hip problem to regain his place. That is an unsurprising decision – Watling averages 38.05 in Tests – but Blundell ensured that the pressure will be on Watling to perform. Having come in at 15 for 4, he became increasingly aggressive during the afternoon – his second fifty took just 49 balls – to reach three figures from 149 deliveries. It won’t have hurt that New Zealand coach Mike Hesson was at the ground by this time. When he had 131, he felt he had enough and retired to give someone else a chance.When the ball goes softThis opposition is stronger than what England faced during their warm-ups in Australia, although the manufactured match situation is unsatisfactory. It wouldn’t have mattered if New Zealand had been skittled, they would have all come in for another bat. At least, though, this was genuine resistance. The recovery, again, raised the question of what this attack can do when the Kookaburra passes about 25 overs. There was some fill-in bowling used at times, but England went 45 overs between actually taking a wicket themselves, and Moeen Ali was treated with some disdain, conceding over four an over. The fact that that period involved a No. 8 without a first-class fifty will raise a few concerns.Who is Kyle Jamieson?The 23-year-old six foot six Canterbury fast bowler, who was part of the New Zealand Under-19s squad in 2014, missed the start of this season with injury, has a highest first-class score of 40, and is more known for his exploits with the ball. A few around the ground raised an eyebrow when he batted ahead of Scott Kuggeleijn (three first-class centuries) in this side, but he certainly didn’t look out of place. He took a particular liking to Wood, with a strike-rate of 163 against him, while Anderson did not take kindly to some of his batting – at one stage the umpire had to step in. His century came from 110 balls when he nudged a single off Moeen. It won’t class in his official records, but he can tell the story of this innings for years to come.

India lose eight wickets to spin; No. 9 batter Pooja Vastrakar offers lone resistance with maiden ODI half-century

Annesha Ghosh in Vadodara12-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty Images

Australia’s eight-wicket victory, with over 17 overs to spare, bore every mark of the intent they spoke about leading into the three-match series against India. Their spinners – Jess Jonassen and Amanda-Jade Welliington – led the charge to pick up seven wickets between them to dismantle India for 200. Debutant Nicola Carey, too, played a part in an economical 10-over spell that cost just 28. Then opener Nicole Bolton made an unbeaten century, her fourth in ODIs, to undo India’s lower-order fightback.Australia’s chase had an air of inevitability about it right from the start. After seeing off a maiden over first up from Shikha Pandey, Bolton leaned into cover drives, rocked back for square cuts, and swept her way to forging three half-century stands. Even as she took a while to assess the Reliance Stadium surface, where pace had been on the wane since the latter half of India’s innings, Bolton kept pinching singles through the seven-two off-side heavy field, while opening partner Alyssa Healy went on a rampage to make a 29-ball 38.In a manner similar to her WBBL blitzkriegs this season, Healy hammered the barrage of short balls from the opening pace duo of Pandey and Pooja Vastrakar, and also took on spinners Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Having hoisted Australia to 60 without loss in nine overs, Healy picked out Veda Krishnamurthy at point to hand Pandey her 50th ODI wicket.By then, Bolton had upped her strike rate and raced to 21 off 26, shaking off the scratchiness that had made her edge the first ball of the sixth over off Deepti marginally past Veda at first slip. Subsequently, she forged a 68-run stand with captain Meg Lanning, who brought up her 3000th ODI run upon her return to the batting crease since losing her offstump to Jhulan Goswami peach from the World Cup semi-final.Lanning’s fluency shone through right from the outset. Bolton, on her part, raced to her fifty off only 57 balls, but three deliveries later, had Lanning respond to her call and come a long way down the pitch only to send her captain back after tapping at a Pandey delivery. With Australia on 128 for 1, Lanning, on 33, met with a direct throw from Veda at cover-point and was caught short of her ground at the non-striker’s end.The dismissal, however, was to barely have a bearing on the outcome of the game. But Bolton enjoyed slices of luck. Reprieved on 65 when Rajeshwar Gayakwad put down a skier off Poonam Yadav at square leg, strung an unbeaten 74-run partnership with Ellyse Perry. In between, she also avoided dragging the legspinner on 72. Perry chipped in with a 26-ball 25, and hit the winning runs – a four of stand-in captain Harmanpreet Kaur – in the 33rd over, soon after Bolton got to her century off 101 balls.As dominant as Australia were with the bat, it was their bowlers that snotted the life out the Indian line-up. Mithali Raj’s unavailability because of fever meant 17-year old Jemimah Rodrigues was handed an ODI debut, which turned out to be forgettable for her. Among the top six, only Punam Rut managed to make some sort of impression to make 37.With the top order failing, the lower order stood up. Bowling allrounder Vastrakar partnered No. 7 wicketkeeper-batsman Sushma Verma to breathe animation into an tail that has time and again failed to wag under pressure. They added 76 for the eighth wicket, with Vastrakar bringing up her maiden half-century off the 55th ball of her innings.Batting only for the third time in international cricket, Vastrakar’s 56-ball 51 featured seven fours and a six that lent credence to her established pinch-hitting prowess in the domestic circuit. Having come in at No. 9, she capitalised on the two reprieves – dropped on 14 by Lanning at mid-off and on 19 by Perry at midwicket – and lofted left-arm spinner Jonassen over the covers, drove Schutt and Perry straight down the track, and launched Gardner for six over the mid-wicket fence with a slog sweep.That India could scramble to 200 after being reduced to 113 for 7 was down to Vastrakar’s freewheeling approach, coupled with Verma’s defiant 71-ball 41, that bettered her international top-score of 33 that came in a similar situation in the World Cup last year, against Pakistan. The pair’s 93-ball stand injected further sloppiness in the Australia fielding unit.Jonassen, who finished with 4 for 30, however, cleaned up the tail, running the last wicket – Poonam Yadav – out after having both Sushma and Vastrakar to hole out – the latter to Haynes as she failed to time an attempted lofted strike straight over the bowler’s head.

The allrounder has been named in a 13-man squad that will take on an ICC Rest of the World XI at Lord’s to raise funds for rehabilitation of cricket centres in the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2018Allrounder Andre Russell is set to return to the West Indies squad for the first time since he was banned for a doping-code violation in January 2017. He was named in a 13-man squad for the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge, a charity match against an ICC Rest of the World XI. The match is being staged with the support of the MCC, ECB and ICC to raise funds to rebuild and restore five cricket venues in the Caribbean that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year.The squad will be led by allrounder Carlos Brathwaite and will also feature openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. All three of them, along with Russell, are currently playing in the IPL, which is scheduled to end on May 27, three days before the charity match at Lord’s.”We welcome the return of the players who missed the Pakistan series and are delighted to recall Andre Russell to the squad, as we believe he will have a key role in our white-ball cricket. Denesh Ramdin and Keemo Paul keep their places after encouraging performances at both regional and international level,” the chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said.

The five major venues

• Ronald Webster Park, Anguilla – damaged in Irma

• Sir Viv Richards Stadium, Antigua – temporarily converted to host refugees from Barbuda following Irma

• Windsor Park Stadium, Dominica – damaged in Maria

• A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground, BVI- damaged in Irma

• Carib Lumber Ball Park, St Maarten – damaged in Irma

Russell last played an international match in August 2016 and is currently in the middle of a productive comeback which began with him representing Jamaica in the Regional 50-over competition in February.This isn’t the first charity match being staged to raise funds to repair the damage done by the two Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria – the former being the most powerful recorded in the Atlantic since 2005 – which ravaged the Caribbean Islands last year, among other hurricanes through August and September.In October last year, Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard had led the Caribbean Select XI and Trinidad sides in a charity match that was aimed to directly help the communities that had suffered damages. This time round, the focus will be on the major cricketing centres that were affected, with all proceeds going into their rehabilitation.Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave said: “On behalf of CWI, I’d like to thank the players for their commitment to and support of this vital cause. We’re hoping to raise a significant sum from the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge and are very grateful to the MCC, ECB and ICC, without whom this match would not be taking place.”West Indies squad: Samuel Badree, Carlos Brathwaite (capt.), Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Kesrick Williams

A century on debut for the Australian meant Warwickshire have a stiff chase on the final day if they are to continue their winning run

Jon Culley at Edgbaston11-Jun-20181:52

Surrey set the pace in Division One

ScorecardUntil he turned up in Cardiff last week to be introduced as a Glamorgan player, Usman Khawaja’s knowledge of Wales did not extend much beyond the sitcom Gavin and Stacey. It has become one of his favourite TV shows, so much so that top of the list of places he wants to see while in the principality is not Cardiff Castle or the Snowdonia National Park but Barry Island.It is quite likely Wales will take to him, too, after he marked his Glamorgan debut with a century that has given them a chance of achieving their first Championship win at Edgbaston since 1988, when the sometime England fast bowler Greg Thomas took six wickets and Warwickshire, needing 194 to win on the final afternoon, were bowled out five runs short.In doing so Khawaja emulated his compatriot, Shaun Marsh, whose place in the side he has taken, who also made a hundred on his county debut in April. They will play together in the Vitality T20 Blast later in the summer.For now, Marsh is preparing for Australia’s ODI joust with England, which begins on Wednesday. It was Marsh’s call-up that led Glamorgan to ask Khawaja if he wouldn’t mind playing in two or three Championship matches ahead of the T20, an arrangement he is more than happy with, given there is an Ashes tour looming in 2019.Not that he is unfamiliar with English conditions. Indeed, he has made centuries here before, two for Derbyshire – Glamorgan’s opponents in Swansea next week – and one for Lancashire. But he does not have one in a Test match in England, which is another thing on his to-do list following his 171 against Joe Root’s hapless boys at Sydney in January.His 125 here, spanning almost three-and-a-half hours on a slow, used pitch now effectively four days old, ensured that the good work of openers Nick Selman and Jack Murphy against the new ball on the second evening was not wasted, even after Selman had clipped Keith Barker straight to short midwicket in only the fifth over of the morning.It might have been. Murphy added only eight to his overnight score and both Connor Brown and Owen Morgan went cheaply but Khawaja found an ally at last in Chris Cooke, his captain in this game in the absence of an injured Michael Hogan. They shared a partnership of 115 that ended with his own dismissal, lbw playing back to Jeetan Patel, whose offspin to that point he had countered pretty well.There has not been much turn so far and Josh Poysden, who did so well to take five wickets in the first innings, was wicketless this time. Yet it is a surface that needs to be treated with respect, nonetheless, one on which a batsman can become tentative. Not so Khawaja, who paced his innings evenly, scoring his first fifty off 58 balls with seven fours, his second off 63 with another seven.Once he had gone and Cooke followed, gloving a catch as he tried to withdraw the bat against the impressive 18-year-old quick Henry Brookes, the innings did fall away yet Warwickshire, needing precisely 100 more runs than were required 30 years ago, were left with a tall task to extend their winning run and those padded up in the dressing room will have been pleased to see Will Rhodes and Dom Sibley negotiate 13 overs to stumps unscathed.

India’s tour begins on June 27 with T20Is against Ireland, and the Tests against England start on August 1. That’s enough time to acclimatise, say Kohli and Shastri

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2018India are ready to play “difficult” Test cricket. That is the message their captain Virat Kohli has sent out on the eve of their departure for the 81-day long tour of the UK. Kohli has made it clear that what happened on the last tour in 2014, when India lost the Test series 3-1, will have no bearing on the five-match Test series this summer. By the time the Test series starts in the peak of the English summer on August 1, India, according to Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, would be feeling at home, having been in the country for more than the month.India’s tour will begin with two T20Is against Ireland from June 27, before heading to England for more T20Is, an ODI series, and then the Tests. Shastri said playing the shorter formats first will be “ideal” preparation for them, giving them a month to acclimatise to the conditions, and Kohli added that by the time they play the Tests, they will be “so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series”.

India tour of Ireland and England

1st T20I v Ireland: June 27, Dublin
2nd T20I v Ireland: June 29, Dublin
1st T20I v England: July 3, Manchester
2nd T20I v England: July 6, Cardiff
3rd T20I v England: July 8, Bristol
1st ODI v England: July 12, Nottingham
2nd ODI v England: July 14, London
3rd ODI v England: July 17 Leeds
1st Test v England: August 1, Birmingham
2nd Test v England: August 9, Lord’s
3rd Test v England: August 18, Nottingham
4th Test v England: August 30, Southampton
5th Test v England: September 7, The Oval

“The last time we played [in England], we felt that collectively as a team we didn’t perform consistently in all three skills,” Kohli said in Delhi before departing for the tour. “Because of that, the batsmen feel the extra pressure, or the bowlers feel the pressure because they feel batsmen aren’t doing enough. But when both click together and whether it’s swinging or seaming, bounce or turn, if you have momentum, any conditions feel favourable and if you don’t have the momentum, flat pitches may also feel tough.”But yes, the conditions are going to be different, we will have to respect that. By the time the Tests come, we’ll be so comfortable that we won’t even feel like we’ll be playing an away series. So once you spend time there, you get comfortable and that’s the biggest factor. If you are at ease mentally, it will show in your performances.”Shastri, on the other hand, said India were focusing more on the pitches and the conditions instead of the opposition. He went to the extent of saying they were not even looking at it as an away series.”From the preparation point of view, it is ideal [to start with T20s and ODIs,” Shastri said. “They will get to play T20s first, then ODIs, the Tests will come a month later. The first game against Ireland is on the 27th (June) and the first Test starts on the 1st (August). So there’s a lot of time to acclimatise.”For us there is no away, every game is home game because we don’t play the opponent, we play the pitch. Our job is to conquer the pitch. Wherever we go – it could be Bombay, it could be Delhi, it could be London, it could be Johannesburg. It is 22 yards that we have to try and conquer, and that is the endeavour. The boys know that they will be rated if they adapt to different conditions. So, if the other team has to adapt to those conditions, so do we. It’s not a question of where you’re playing, for us every game has to be a home game. You see those 22 yards, you say, ‘how am I going to take 20 wickets on those 22 yards, and how am I going to score 350-400.’ Keep it simple.”India’s schedule in England is in stark contrast to their most recent tour to South Africa, when they arrived only five days before the first Test. The players even chose to train on their own instead of playing warm-up matches. At the time, Kohli had said they were “very well prepared” but later Shastri admitted that 10 more days of preparation in South Africa would have made a difference. India lost the first two Tests, but won the third and then went on to dominate the ODI (5-1) and T20I (2-1) series.”When we were playing the Test series in South Africa, after a couple of Tests, people really thought we were outplayed. And then we won the third [Test] and won the series that followed,” Kohli said on Friday. “Then people really understood how well we played in that series. We as a team knew internally we had played well and that led to the success in the ODIs and the T20s as well because we took the confidence into it. People on the outside might not be able to see the small things that happened when you’re playing a particular Test match of a series, but the point about teams not travelling well… I think we’re one of the teams who are looking forward to other countries and playing.”I think that makes a massive difference and that showed with the mindset of someone like Jasprit Bumrah bowling 144kph in his last spell of the third Test. And that’s where fitness comes in. When you have people that are hungry, fit and ready, you’re not only competing but you’re winning. That’s the difference between getting emotional and letting go of a policy and holding on to it and actually taking the hard calls and moving ahead with the system. I think all those things have come together really nice and as I said, we’re looking forward to playing difficult cricket. It can be anywhere, even in India, because that is the only way we feel we’ll be able to test ourselves as a team and judge ourselves as players and as a team. It’s a very exciting time for all of us.”Kohli said he is back to peak fitness having spent time off the field post IPL. A neck injury, which he picked up at the back end of the IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bangalore, had denied Kohli a much anticipated county stint with Surrey, a deal which was done at the last minute.Kohli admitted that playing for Surrey, even for just about a month, would have been ideal preparation for him to not just adapt to English conditions but also keep him mentally charged going into the Test series. The last time India played a Test series in England was in 2014, a tour Kohli will not spend too much time thinking about. In 10 innings in that series, Kohli scored 134 runs at an average of 13.40.Kohli said the key thing for him was to enter the Test series fresh and not exhausted, and that not playing county cricket may have helped him in that regard. “In hindsight what has happened was the best thing for me because although, yes, I wanted to go and experience the conditions, that is a place we haven’t played so much. There’s a big gap of four years and you sort of forget how the conditions were when you played the last time.”So I wanted the more difficult phase of those conditions. Now we are going to enter the heatwave. I wanted the damp and the wet conditions, which Puji [Cheteshwar Pujara] played in, Ishant [Sharma] played in and I saw Varun [Aaron] play in as well.”But in hindsight when I look at it now if I was 90% fit in my body and used to the conditions compared to feeling 110 (%) now and going in fresh I would much rather be in this position. Because in hindsight when I thought of it, I thought I need to be fresh for the tour. I need to be looking forward to it rather than thinking ‘oh, I have been in that place for four months now’. And you don’t want that feeling because the Test series is in the latter half [of the English summer].”Since last year Kohli has stressed on managing his workload in order to be match-fit for a longer career. He played in the IPL having skipped the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka and then missed out on the Afghanistan Test recuperating from the neck injury, which he said he has completely recovered from.”I am absolutely ready to go, went through the fitness test as well so body is feeling fine. I am actually very excited to get back on to the field which is a very rare thing when you play so much cricket. But these sort of breaks really help as mentally they make you fresh and make you excited to go back on to the pitch again.”Having fought their way back in the closely fought Test series in South Africa, Kohli said his team was now hungry and keen to play the Test series in England. “This is another series as far as I am concerned individually. But for us as a team this is a very exciting time because we are actually looking forward to playing more difficult Test cricket after what happened in South Africa. That I feel is the best thing that can happen to any side. You don’t want to go to England and say ‘oh, the Test series is one month [away]’. We want it to be actually be sooner. It is just a great phase for Indian cricket.”

The allrounder won the Man of the Match award for his four-wicket haul in India’s first innings and then a brilliant 63 from 65 balls to rescue England from calamity

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2018A pulsating Edgbaston Test may have been lit up by a masterful batting contribution from an all-time great in Virat Kohli, and sealed on the final morning by a three-wicket burst from England’s premier allrounder, Ben Stokes. And yet, the Man of the Match award went to a 20-year-old rookie in only his second Test – and the recipient, Sam Curran, found it hard to believe what he had been a part of.”I can’t take it in,” Curran said during the post-match presentations. “It’s all so special, it feels like I’m dreaming. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight as I didn’t sleep last night!”In spite of his tender years, Curran grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck twice in as many days. First, he routed India’s top order, claiming three wickets in eight balls en route to first-innings figures of 4 for 74.Then – after Kohli’s brilliant 149 had hauled India back into the ascendancy – he rescued England’s second innings from calamity at 87 for 7 with a counterattacking 63 from 65 balls.It was a precocious display from a player whose temperament has been well known on the county circuit since his Surrey debut as a 16-year-old. But even for a player used to taking the big stage in his stride, this was a step up in intensity.”I tried to take it as another game but it is quite hard when the Barmy Army is chanting down there, and you’ve got world-class players on show, and I’m just on my second game, trying to learn my way. But it’s awesome., I’m just taking it in.”He is, however, well used to gleaning advice from the senior men around him, and Curran admitted that he followed the example of two all-time greats in producing his vital maiden half-century – Kohli on the one hand, and Kumar Sangakkara, his former Surrey team-mate turned Sky Sports commentator, on the other.”To be honest, I was trying to learn a bit from Virat in the first innings, when he batted with the tail,” Curran said. “But chatted with Kumar in the hotel the other day and he also told me a few things about batting with the tail. A few came out of the middle and I was lucky enough to get a few runs.”Joe Root, England’s grateful captain, was full of praise for the manner in which Curran rose to the challenge in the most intense atmosphere of his young career, but also warned that expectations should be tempered so early in his career.”He played a brilliant game, with a huge amount of skill, and he didn’t seem to feel any sort of pressure there,” said Root. “He loves the occasion, it’s like having two Ben Stokes, which is a great thing. But two Tests in, it’s very easy to get carried away.”Stokes himself, whose three wickets on the final morning sealed England’s victory, also credited Curran’s impact as the decisive moment of the Test.”I thought we are a bit behind with the lead but Sam Curran took them out of play,” he said. “The way that he played at such a young age, that was the big turning point of this Test match.”The world is clearly at Curran’s feet at the age of 20, with IPL contracts doubtless in the offing after impressing India’s huge viewership throughout the first Test. But, he said, the chance to win a Test match for England was the ultimate fulfilment of his ambition.”I have dreamt of this growing up,” he said. “Playing Test cricket, in front of these big crowds, with all these players I’ve seen growing up. Stokesy, Jimmy, Broady, I’m just trying to learn a bit every day.”Asked if he’d felt any nerves in what, personally speaking, had been a nerveless display, Curran responded: “Obviously Jimmy getting that first one of [Dinesh] Karthik, that gave us a bit more confidence, but whilst Kohli was there it was obviously going to be nervous. But luckily Stokesy got an awesome spell this morning and turned the game around.”

Sri Lanka’s ODI captain has delivered a stern rebuke to Danushka Gunathilaka, who is the latest player to be sanctioned for misconduct during a series

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jul-2018Sri Lanka’s ODI captain Angelo Mathews has delivered a stern rebuke to Danushka Gunathilaka, who is the latest player to be sanctioned for misconduct during a series. Gunathilaka was officially reprimanded for breaching curfew on the second night of the recent Colombo Test against South Africa.What has especially irked Sri Lanka Cricket and the team is that although Gunathilaka himself is free from suspicion of any criminal wrongdoing, his curfew offence is linked to an alleged incident of sexual assault within the team hotel. As part of that criminal investigation, police have arrested a man believed to be known to Gunathilaka.”It is disappointing to lose out on a player, but we will not tolerate any indiscipline,” Mathews said when asked about Gunathilaka’s absence for the ODI series against South Africa. Gunathilaka had been the incumbent ODI opener, but is now suspended for six limited-overs matches.”If they take that risk they have to deal with the consequences, they can be the best player, but we will not tolerate that kind indiscipline. When it comes to team rules they have to abide by it. We do care what they do outside the ground, because it affects the whole team and the image. Players have to be very careful to take good care of themselves on and off the field not try and damage the team’s image.”Gunathilaka is the second player to be punished for off-field behaviour. Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay was also fined 20% of his annual contract fee and put on probation for a year, over a night out in St. Lucia last mont. Vandersay’s offence did not occur during a Test match, however.

Dominic Sibley scored his third hundred in four innings as Warwickshire maintained their grip against Kent

George Dobell at Edgbaston25-Sep-2018
ScorecardA few weeks ago, Dominic Sibley hardly knew where his next run was coming from. Twenty innings into the first-class season, he had reached 30 just three times and had suffered 11 single-figure dismissals. His place in the Warwickshire side was in serious jeopardy.But then, in search of a solution, he turned to Gary Palmer. Readers of a certain age may recall Palmer as a player. A seam-bowling all-rounder, he was labelled as one of the first ‘new Bothams’ when he broke into the Somerset side as a 16-year-old in 1982. For various reasons, though, he did not develop as had been hoped and, by the time he was in his mid-20s, his playing career was over.In a way, though, his on-field career was little more than foundation work ahead of his more serious contribution to cricket: as a coach. After helping Alastair Cook rediscover his form in early 2015, he has gone on to enjoy success with well-known international players from Pakistan and West Indies as well as several England cricketers.Sadly for Palmer, most of those players prefer for his involvement to remain secret. They are keen not to offend – or annoy – their regular coaches and they know that Palmer’s methods are just a touch controversial.Why? Well, at a time when the prevalent view would appear to be that confidence is more important than technique, Palmer believes strongly to the contrary. He is adamant that it is competence that breeds confidence and argues that it is only hours of drilling technical skills against bowling machines that can deliver lasting improvement.He also believes – and this is the more controversial bit – that some of the traditional beliefs held about batting are a nonsense. In particular, he believes – insists, really, is the apposite word – that batsmen are inhibiting themselves by standing sideways on and maintains they will perform better with an open stance, both feet pointing more towards mid-off than point, allowing them to avoid becoming trapped behind their front leg. This, he believes, allows them to hit straighter, remain better balanced and play in a more compact manner.It may not work for everyone but the evidence is starting to mount up to suggest it does work for some. Take Sibley for example. After that horror start to the season, he spent a long session with Palmer and has now registered scores of 106, 44, 144 not out and 119 in his four most recent Championship innings. He looks better balanced at the crease – he has struggled with his head falling to the off side at previous times – and less likely to follow the ball outside off stump. In short, he looks a far better player.And while Palmer will not confirm it – he is famously guarded over the identity of his clients – it is understood Cook turned to him for help just before his final Test at The Oval. And we all know how that went.Not everyone resists Palmer’s methods. The England management are relaxed about players visiting him (they have even encouraged a few) and he was part of the coaching team on the England Lions tour to Australia over the winter. Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s director of sport, is also something of an advocate of Palmer’s approach and open-minded enough to know that different views and different voices can sometimes prove beneficial.Whether many modern players are so open-minded remains to be seen. One young player on the Lions tour recounts a story of Palmer seeing a batsman – who has played international cricket – face one ball in the nets and shout “No, no, no” and march down to show him where he was going wrong. At a time when coaches are, generally, unfailingly gentle in their approach, Palmer’s no-nonsense style is not always welcomed. They don’t like to be told and he insists on telling them.For Sibley and Cook and several more, however, Palmer’s input has proved valuable. And, as county cricket experiences an epidemic of batting collapses, it could be their success acts as a spur to reembrace the old virtues of technique and drilling. While it may seem that flair has never been more prevalent in the game, it is surely stronger if it is built on a foundation of substance.Technique was not the only admirable quality in Sibley’s innings. He also demonstrated great hunger in resisting for 100 overs for his 119 runs. And, when he was finally out, he was clearly furious with himself. Such a desire to persist is rare among younger players and such greed bodes well. It helped Warwickshire carve out a first-innings lead of 213 – vast on a surface that is now providing a decent amount of assistance to spin bowlers – despite nobody but the openers reaching 40.Kent fought back valiantly after a poor opening day. With Harry Podmore, one of the breakthrough players of the season, bowling a relentless spell and both spinners enjoying the conditions, batting proved hard work. Joe Denly, bowling his legbreaks at a sharp pace, was impressive in his control while Adam Riley came back well after a grim opening on the first day. Will Rhodes’ fine innings ended when he left a straight one and it eventually took a ninth-wicket stand of 55 in 12 overs between the departing Chris Wright and Jeetan Patel to lift the lead above 200. With only a win allowing Kent to snatch the Division Two title, however, that is likely to be enough.Sibley’s defiance will be a reassurance to Warwickshire supporters who know they must now do without Jonathan Trott. Trott was given a guard of honour by Kent’s players when he walked out to bat on Tuesday – quite possibly his final innings as a professional player – but was soon brilliantly caught by a diving Darren Stevens at midwicket. They probably don’t make them like Trott anymore, but after a bit of assistance from Palmer, Sibley isn’t a bad imitation.

The adjudicator, however, “set aside” two sanctions against Jamshed because they fell outside the the PCB’s anti-corruption code

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2018An independent adjudicator, Justice (retired) Hamid Farooq, has upheld the 10-year ban that had been imposed on Nasir Jamshed two months ago. The adjudicator, however, “set aside” two sanctions against Jamshed because they fell outside the confines provided under the PCB’s anti-corruption code. Jamshed was banned in August from playing any level of cricket after a three-man tribunal found him guilty of five of the seven breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code.Jamshed had filed an appeal against the anti-corruption tribunal’s verdict and the independent adjudicator announced the order on Monday. According to the judge, a 10-year ban imposed on Jamshed was “perfectly justified” and will continue to remain in force. Jamshed was also handed a life ban earlier from being involved in the management or administration of cricket, but got a relief on Monday when the judge announced that that particular sanction would not hold after a 10-year period. The two sanctions set aside, because they fall outside Article 6.2 of the boards’ anti-corruption code are: a) his inclusion in the list of players to be avoided by cricketers and all stakeholders, and b) not to be given an important role in the management or administration of cricket.Jamshed had already served a year-long ban separately that only ended earlier this year after an anti-corruption tribunal found him guilty of non-cooperation in the 2017 PSL spot-fixing case. Later, the PCB charged him with seven violations of their anti-corruption code because he was, according to the board, the “linchpin” connecting several corruption cases. The whole case was built upon him being a central figure in the corruption scandal for approaching and soliciting other players for fixing.In separate proceedings, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in England is also involved in investigations emanating from the allegations of the spot-fixing case. The NCA is yet to reach a conclusion in their investigations yet after initially arresting and subsequently releasing Jamshed on bail.Out of the six players to be punished in the PSL spot-fixing case, Jamshed’s punishment was the heaviest. The other five players – Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Irfan and Shahzaib Hasan – were all fined and banned on separate charges.

The left-arm spinner took five wickets as Pakistan collapsed spectacularly around Azhar Ali in a chase of 176

The Report by Danyal Rasool19-Nov-2018
1:22

Ajaz Patel: teenage left-arm seamer to Test-grade left-arm spinner

In the pantheon of infamous Pakistan implosions, this must rank right around the top. Pakistan were cantering to a victory around lunchtime, courtesy Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali, and the wicket of Shafiq off the last ball before lunch seemed no more than an inconsequential irritant. But New Zealand, blindly, illogically, unreasonably, refused to write off this match as a lost cause, compelling Pakistan to believe the game was still on, the pressure all theirs to bear. And somewhere along the line in the middle session, Pakistan were convinced. New Zealand had won that game of poker, and, in the process, set the wheels in motion for a four-run victory, their narrowest Test win in history, and surely one of their most gratifying ones.
After lunch, Babar Azam lost his head and ran for a single his partner was least interested in, and just like that the panic set in. Sarfraz Ahmed, woefully short of confidence, edged a sweep – a shot that once was a strength but now appears to be a crutch. The tail was in, and the shots they played soon turned the panic into complete hysteria. Even as Pakistan lost their heads, New Zealand kept theirs. Azhar Ali was running out of partners without quite having the belief to take the game into his own hands, and he tried to inch Pakistan to victory with No. 11 Mohammad Abbas in tow. But, having blown their chance to waltz through the door, Pakistan soon found the back door slammed shut too by a New Zealand side playing their first Test cricket in over seven months.New Zealand’s indomitable spirit played a massive part in how they sneaked home in one of the most unlikely comebacks of all time, but the inquisition from Pakistan is destined to be punitive. There was so much to take issue with in the approach to the target, a small target by lunch. These were professional cricketers and with the finishing line almost reaching out in embrace, they forgot how to run. Strategies were thrown out of the window, composure tossed aside in the frenzy. Babar and Sarfraz may be the most disappointed in the manner of their dismissals, but the lower order could have few excuses too.Bilal Asif tried to swing Patel into Dubai with an ugly hoick, with Azhar Ali at the other end, handing New Zealand the seventh wicket as the possibility of defeat became a probability for the first time. Azhar, too, was guilty of sensing the moment far too late, only properly farming the strike when he was with Abbas.Hasan Ali may receive the brunt of the blame; Pakistan cricket does like a scapegoat or two. He was the one who decided to go into T20 mode, hoicking Patel to deep midwicket with his side needing 12 runs. Eighteen months ago, Pakistan made Shannon Gabriel the butt of many jokes when the No. 11 tried to sweep Yasir Shah when a defensive block would have given senior partner Roston Chase the strike for the final over and secured a draw. Hasan’s smear was in no way less hare-brained, and in the end equally as costly to Pakistan, condemning them to their narrowest Test defeat.Neil Wagner roars after taking a wicket•AFP

For New Zealand, Patel was the hero and such team spirit exists in their dressing room that it barely registered he had completed a five-wicket haul on debut, when he trapped Azhar Ali in front for the final wicket. It was a compliment to the debutant that he was the man Williamson trusted to spin the side to victory even when Ish Sodhi was in the side, and Patel repaid that in bucketloads. Flighting the ball, controlling the spin, drifting it in, rushing it through, he could do it all. He had Pakistan’s batsmen on a piece of string by the end, and cut the cord just in time to prevent them scrambling their way to safety.Things had looked so different at lunch. Azhar and Shafiq had belatedly appeared to step into the boots of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, an 82-run partnership putting Pakistan within touching distance of a 1-0 lead in this series. Coming together with Pakistan at 48 for 3, they had sucked the life out of New Zealand’s hopes.Patel had triggered Pakistan’s slide with a lovely offbreak that came back in and hit the pads quicker than Imam-ul-Haq could cope with, before Sodhi made his impact on the game. A flighted delivery beat Mohammad Hafeez in the air, leaving him spooning a catch to short cover, while Haris Sohail – much as he had first innings, scooped drove a low full toss in the air. Sodhi completed a brilliant, low catch, and the famed Pakistan implosion never far away from the surface came bubbling to the fore once more.But then, Azhar and Shafiq joined hands. Not the Azhar of late, the uncertain, hard hands imposter that has dented his reputation in the past year, but the real thing. He was never rash, but insisted on keeping the runs flowing, eager to play the supporting role to Shafiq who looked so free from pressure you wondered if he really understood the importance of the situation. Sodhi, who had been looking to rip through the Pakistan line-up as spinners do on surfaces like these, suddenly lost his rhythm and couldn’t pitch two consecutive deliveries in the same postcode.Pakistan have had trouble chasing down low totals in the fourth innings recently. Last year in Barbados, they were shot out for 81 in a chase of 187, while at this very ground 13 months ago, Sri Lanka had bowled them out for 114 to deny them a seemingly certain win. They might have been looking to consign those results to musty corners of hidden history today. But, against a side that would not accept they would lose, Pakistan suddenly became a side that refused to believe they were winning.