The former Australia captain is back after a gap of 18 months

AAP06-Oct-2022Tim Paine made 6 and pouched a sharp catch in his cricket return as Queensland owned day one of their Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania in Brisbane.Sent in by Queensland captain Usman Khawaja in gloomy conditions, Tasmania limped to 5 for 59 to bring the former Test skipper to the crease shortly after lunch on day one.Paine got off the mark with a crisp straight drive for three, but was caught by Matthew Renshaw after edging a cut shot off former team-mate Gurinder Sandhu in a 19-ball stay.Related

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Tasmania fell to 8 for 93 but scraped to 147 thanks to offspinner Jarrod Freeman’s 44 off 65 balls at the redeveloped Allan Border Field.A modest crowd watched as Michael Neser struck with the third ball of the innings, Caleb Jewell’s attempted cover drive finding Matt Renshaw at first slip. Mark Steketee had Tim Ward and Ben McDermott edging behind the wicket on his way to a four-wicket haul.Joe Burns (35) then showed his class to pilot Queensland’s reply, the former Test opener driving and pulling with authority as the hosts finished the day 1 for 70. Marnus Labuschagne was also solid, unbeaten on 26 when bad light stopped play about 10 minutes before stumps was scheduled.Paine looked sharp behind the stumps, diving low to his left for a catch to dismiss Renshaw. He had not played at the top level since April last year following revelations of a 2017 text-message controversy.Mark Steketee claimed four wickets•Getty Images

He took a summer-long break from the sport but has been training with the Tasmania squad and made a successful return in Hobart grade action last Sunday.Paine, who shared a laugh with Labuschagne as they left the field, had earlier received a warm welcome by the hosts when embraced by Queensland assistant and former Test quick Andy Bichel before play.The 22-year-old Freeman was just five when Paine first played for Tasmania in 2005.”It’s pretty surreal, pretty special,” he said of sharing the field with Paine and fellow Test veterans Peter Siddle and Jackson Bird. “With Painey behind the stumps it boosts you 10, 20 per cent and they know what they’re talking about.”He’s one of the best keepers in the world still, would silly not to have him in the side in that aspect. He’s bounced back and showed he’s not done yet, he’s got something to give.”Speaking to media nearby as part of Australia’s T20 squad, fellow former captain Steven Smith said Paine would “absolutely” be welcomed back by players into the national fold.”I’m sure he’s excited,” Smith said. “It’s great to see him back doing what he loves; he’s just down the road so I wish him all the best in this game. Phone’s always on so if he’s around [to catch up], yeah no reason why not.”Spinner Mitchell Swepson wasn’t named to play for Queensland after being called into Australia’s T20 squad to face England on Sunday in Perth.

Former England assistant coach takes over from Ian Salisbury at Hove

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2022Paul Farbrace has been named as the new head coach of Sussex, having recently stepped down from his three-year role as sporting director at Warwickshire.Farbrace, who was an integral influence as England’s assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss from 2015 to 2019, was also Sri Lanka’s head coach when they won the World T20 in 2014.”I’m delighted to be joining Sussex and I’m really looking forward to helping everyone at the club to achieve their ambitions,” Farbrace said.”It is a fantastic club that has produced many fantastic players for both Sussex and England. I am really looking forward to the opportunity of working with the players and coaches to drive the performance of the team forward.”We should be very focused on developing our own players, as well as developing players to play for England at all levels, but also winning trophies for the members and the club.”His appointment comes as something of a surprise, however, with Farbrace recently expressing an interest in taking time away from county cricket to pursue new opportunities on the T20 circuit, including with the Hundred.He will be replacing Sussex’s outgoing head coach, Ian Salisbury, who left his position earlier this year after an internal dispute, and will take over a team in transition, having lost a number of its senior players in recent years, among them the England players Chris Jordan and Phil Salt. One senior player still on Sussex’s books, however, is his step-son, the England Test bowler, Ollie Robinson.Speaking on the appointment, Rob Andrew, Sussex’s CEO, said: “We are all delighted Paul has agreed to join the club. His all-round experience is exactly what we have been looking for when we made the decision to return to one Head Coach across all formats and I am confident he will enable our team to fulfil its full potential.”He shares the club’s ambitions to produce our own players, develop players for England and win trophies for Sussex. We have a very exciting few years ahead as we see the young talented players develop further in Sussex colours.”

The allrounder offers Australia the priceless balance that South Africa are searching for

Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-20220:57

South Africa looking to grow Jansen’s all-round ability

Pat Cummins has indicated a greater bowling workload for Cameron Green against South Africa and the allrounder may be given an opportunity to get into the attack early.Green largely had a bit-part role to play against West Indies, bowling 29 overs across the two Tests, despite Cummins not being available for half the Perth Test due to injury, and only being required to bat in Adelaide. While there were no workload restrictions on him with the ball Cummins did reveal there had been an effort not to overload him after he was managed for a hamstring niggle in the ODIs against England.The Gabba was the venue where Green opened his account as a Test bowler against England last season having gone through his first series against India without a wicket. He bounced out Ollie Pope in the first innings before claiming Joe Root with a lifting outswinger on the fourth day.Related

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“Somewhere like here I’ll probably rotate the bowlers around to get him a shot with a swinging ball,” Cummins said. “He bowled beautifully here last year, got the big wicket of Joe Root. Coming into the [West Indies] series he wasn’t under any restrictions but he’s still coming off a hamstring injury. We don’t really want to burn him in the first couple of games. So any overs he kind of didn’t bowl in the first two tests hopefully means he can bowl a few more here.”Green went through the rare experience of not being needed with the bat in Perth – having been used to heavily promote the Test in his home city – when Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith feasted themselves with double centuries. He was then unconvincing when he finally got to the crease in Adelaide with Australia 428 for 4, scratching around for 9 off 42 balls then falling in search of quick runs in the second innings.Cameron Green can expect more work against South Africa•Getty Images

In last season’s Ashes, Green made a slow start with the bat as he worked through some technical issues before making half-centuries in Sydney and Hobart. Although he has had a quiet start to the season he offers Australia the priceless balance that is one of the advantages they have over South Africa.It allows the home side to naturally play a five-pronged attack whereas South Africa, who are expected to go with a similar make-up, are asking a lot of the inexperienced Marco Jansen to fill an allrounder’s role at No. 7. However, captain Dean Elgar was confident he would be the long-term solution.”He’s someone who has really won us Test matches in the past with the bat, I refer back to Lord’s [against England] where he put in a massive performance,” Elgar said. “He’s still so raw when it comes to Test cricket and it’s pretty exciting for us. His talent is huge. If he does everything well reckon he’s going to be an allrounder for the next 10 years for us.”For Australia, David Warner is the only other member of the top order whose form is under the microscope with a Test average of 28.12 over the last two years. Tours to India and England loom next year, both where Warner has an underwhelming record, and a lean series against South Africa would increase the scrutiny.”His record is amazing here in Australia,” Cummins said. “He’s a huge part of our team. Opening the batting’s not easy so I’m backing him for big series. He’s hitting the ball beautifully. It’s only two weeks ago he got a 100 [against England] at the MCG. A different format, obviously, but it was a tough wicket so he’s looking good. I’m sure runs will follow.”

India captain Hardik Pandya had criticised the surface after chasing the target of 100 with only one ball to spare

PTI31-Jan-2023The curator of the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow has been removed from his job for preparing a slow and turning pitch for the second T20I between India and New Zealand.Though India won the game on Sunday with a ball to spare, the wicket received criticism from India captain Hardik Pandya, who called it a “shocker of a pitch”. New Zealand were restricted to 99 for 8 in 20 overs and India had a hard time chasing the small target, winning in 19.5 overs. Spinners bowled 30 of the 40 overs in a match that had zero sixes.Related

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“The curator has been removed and replaced by Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal who is a very experienced curator,” a UPCA source was quoted as saying by PTI. “We will turn things around in a month.”A lot of domestic cricket was already played on all the centre wickets ahead of the T20I and the curator should have left one or two strips for an international game. The surface was overused and due to the bad weather, there was not enough (time) to prepare a fresh wicket.”Agarwal has experience preparing pitches in Bangladesh in the past before being removed in October last year. According to the source, he will work closely with veteran BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee.Hardik has not been happy with the quality of pitches so far in the T20I series. “To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket,” Hardik told after the second T20I. “Both the games we have played on so far. I don’t mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line, the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier.”With the T20I series level at 1-1, India and New Zealand play the decider in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Amla, Kallis hit fifties to take team to 150 before Mpofu, Best star with three wickets each

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2023Fifties from Hasim Amla (66 off 59) and Jacques Kallis (56 not out of 43) followed by fine bowling spells from fast bowlers Chris Mpofu (3 for 16) and Tino Best (3 for 20) guided World Giants to a 20-run win over Asia Lions on Thursday. By virtue of the victory, World Giants booked a spot in the final. Lions will face India Maharajas in the qualifier on Saturday.Tillakaratne Dilshan attacked the powerplay overs in the Lions’ chase of 151. He didn’t find much company though as Mpofu and Best derailed the top order. Dilshan struck Samit Patel for a six over backward point and followed that up with two boundaries in the fourth over. Mpofu, though, came back by rattling the stumps of Upul Tharanga in the final delivery of the fifth over.New batter Thisara Perera hit a six to get off the mark and later greeted Best with a boundary in the next over. Best also made a quick comeback with a yorker that took an inside edge onto the stumps.Best continued his fine spell to dismiss the dangerous Dilshan next. He bowled a full length delivery on the stumps, which caught Dilshan right in front.Captain Shahid Afridi was the only other batter to score more than 13 as he struck three fours and one six in his 18-ball cameo. Brett Lee was hit for a four and a six by Afridi, but used a shorter change in length to dismiss Afridi in the 15th over. At 108 for 6, the game was beyond Lions as they folded for 130.Earlier, Lions’ decision to bowl worked well initially, as Giants scored only 30 runs in the powerplay. Giants lost the in-form Chris Gayle to a run-out after Amla drove a ball to mid-off. Both batters were stranded at the non-striker’s end before Gayle was eventually given out.Amla kept the scoreboard moving at a steady rate. He hit Abdur Razzaq through extra cover for four runs before driving him to the point boundary off the first two deliveries of the fifth over. Boundaries then dried up in the next five overs. The former South African pair of Amla and Kallis struggled to find the gaps against the disciplined lines of Razzaq, Sohail Tanvir and Afridi.Amla and Kallis found some momentum in the second half of the innings as they picked up four boundaries and one six in three overs. The first six of the Giants innings came in the 13th over when Kallis hit a slower delivery from Isuru Udana over the midwicket boundary.The rebuild continued through the final five overs. Even though Amla was dismissed by a perfect yorker from Mohammad Amir in the penultimate over, ending a 105-run third-wicket stand, he and Kallis had carried Giants to a winning total.

Edwards and Ben Dwarshuis added 127 for the eighth wicket

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2023A career-best innings from Jack Edwards elevated New South Wales to a promising position against South Australia as they try to post their first win of the season in the final-round match.NSW declared midway through the middle session at 9 for 447, with South Australia reaching 3 for 134 at the close on day two.Daniel Drew (51no) was leading the way for South Australia. The other major contribution came from opener Kelvin Smith, who hit a confident 46 in his first Shield match for four years before missing a cut against Chris Green.Henry Hunt had early become a maiden first-class wicket for Ryan Hadley while Nathan McSweeney was bowled when he shouldered arms at Chris Tremain.Allrounder Edwards led the way for the inexperienced NSW side with an innings of 138 that included 20 boundaries and a six.The 22-year-old’s second Shield century eventually came to a close after 179 balls with a catch on the point boundary off the bowling of Nathan McAndrew.Edwards and fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis were rarely troubled on the Karen Rolton Oval pitch in their 127-run stand for the eighth wicket. Dwarshuis ended unbeaten on 60, having notched his first half century.It was a day of career-highs with the NSW-born McAndrew returning 6 for 97, securing his maiden first-class six-wicket haul in the process.South Australia’s hopes of reaching the final ended in last week’s penultimate round, while NSW are seeking to avoid a first-ever winless campaign in a 10-match season.

Century on debut powers new team to record-equalling 334 for 5 and 131-run win

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2023South East Stars 334 for 5 (Scholfield 111, Davidson-Richards 73, Chathli 48) beat Thunder 203 (Dottin 51, Davies 3-27) by 131 runsA debut century by Paige Scholfield propelled South East Stars to a record-equalling 334 for five in a convincing 131-run victory against Thunder in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener at Emirates Old Trafford.Scholfield, playing her first game for the Stars after signing from Southern Vipers, blasted 111 from just 90 balls, hitting five sixes and 11 fours, as she helped add 143 off 115 balls for the fourth wicket with Alice Davidson-Richards who contributed a classy 73.The Stars’ total equalled the highest score made in just over three seasons of regional cricket and the Thunder never threatened to chase down the required runs as they were bowled out for 203 in 42 overs.The first half of the Stars’ innings had been a fairly even contest on a good wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Kira Chathli and Ryana Macdonald-Gay steadily compiling an opening partnership of 52 until the latter was bowled for 18 by a big inswinging delivery from Deandra Dottin, the former West Indies all-rounder who has returned to Thunder for a second season.Chathli perished for 48 after driving left arm spinner Alex Hartley to Kate Cross at mid-on, and when Stars’ skipper Bryony Smith swept leg spinner Liv Thomas into the hands of Fi Morris on the midwicket boundary for a hard-hitting 35 off 31 balls, the game was finely poised with Stars 130 for three in the 27th over.Scholfield injected immediate impetus into the visitors innings hitting three of her first six deliveries to the boundary and she received great support from Davidson-Richards who paced her innings expertly as their alliance blossomed.The pair pounced on anything bowled short or wide to reach a 56-ball fifty partnership while their century stand arrived from only 92 balls with the under-pressure Thunder not helping their cause by dropping Scholfield on 63 and Davidson-Richards on 48 as the runs flowed.Davidson-Richards had struck two sixes and eight fours before eventually departing for 73 to a fine catch at long leg by Thomas off Tara Norris in the 46th over but Schofield went on to reach a fabulous century from 85 balls and was undefeated on 111 when the innings ended.Thunder used eight bowlers in an attempt to stem the flood of runs as the Stars hammered 132 from the final 10 overs, with Cross the pick of the home attack conceding 45 off her 10.Thunder needed a positive start to their challenging run chase but instead lost England opener Emma Lamb caught behind by Chathli off Phoebe Franklin for six and Scholfield then added to her great day by nipping one back to bowl Morris for 18.Not to be outdone, Davidson-Richards produced a seaming delivery of her own to bowl Ellie Threlkeld for 14 to leave Thunder 68 for three in the 19th over.Naomi Dattani made a steady 33 until trapped lbw by Dani Gregory before the afternoon was enlivened by some big hitting from Dottin who reached her maiden Thunder fifty off 37 balls before skying a steepling catch that was well judged by Scholfield – who else? – off Gregory for 51.From 143 for five the Thunder innings fell away quickly from that point with Freya Davies (three for 27) picking up a trio of wickets and MacDonald-Gay two, as the Stars clinched victory with eight overs to spare.

Nadine de Klerk backs up last weekend’s bowling exploits for The Blaze with top score of 43

ECB Reporters Network10-May-2023England captain Heather Knight saw her return to domestic action curtailed by the weather as Western Storm’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match against The Blaze at Leicester was abandoned just beyond the halfway stage, both sides taking two points each.Knight, preparing to lead England in this summer’s home Ashes series against Australia, was just five overs into her first bat on home soil since July last year when showers gave way to heavy rain.Knight missed a large part of last season because of a hip injury for which she later had surgery and played in this year’s inaugural Women’s Premier League in India following a return to international action in the winter.She did not bowl as The Blaze posted 209 for 9 from their 50 overs but opened the batting for Storm alongside Alex Griffiths and was 5 not out with her side 23 without loss when bad weather arrived.The multi-format Ashes series begins with a Test match at Trent Bridge on June 22, preceded by a red-ball match between England and Australia A in Derby a week earlier.Today’s abandonment meant both The Blaze and Storm have suffered two no-results in their first five matches in the women’s regional 50-over competition, although The Blaze have won all three completed matches to lead the early season table.Storm would have fancied ending that run after restricting the home side to what was probably a sub-par score, even though conditions favoured the bowlers with the ball swinging under the cloud cover.South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk, their star with the ball in a career-best 7 for 33 against Northern Diamonds last weekend, top-scored with 43 for The Blaze, Georgie Boyce making 34. Danielle Gibson, Chloe Skelton and Griffths took two wickets each for Western Storm.The Blaze made a terrible start after being put in, losing leading-scorer Tammy Beaumont in the third over and opening partner Marie Kelly in the fourth, each contributing only a single.Beaumont would not have enjoyed watching her dismissal, bowled shouldering arms to an inswinging Gibson delivery that jagged back off the pitch. Kelly, pushing forward, edged Lauren Filer behind.The third-wicket pairing of Boyce and Kathryn Bryce repaired the damage by adding 51 for the second wicket, helped by a generous number of wides, but after a half-hour stoppage for rain lost Bryce to a catch at slip off the medium pace of Mollie Robbins.Sarah Bryce helped Boyce keep the scoreboard moving but from 93 for 3 in the 22nd over, The Blaze lost three wickets in as many overs to slip to 99 for 6.Boyce was unlucky, jamming the bat down on a yorker-length delivery from Griffiths only for the ball to somehow squirm back onto the stumps. Then Sarah Glenn feathered a catch behind off Skelton’s off-spin, and Bryce dragged one on to hand Griffiths a second success.The Blaze looked in danger of going down cheaply at 110 for 7 when Lucy Higham chopped straight to backward point but a combination of de Klerk’s quality and a strong showing from the tail almost doubled the total in the remaining 23 overs.Sophie Munro punched a valuable 24 off 40 balls including a pulled six off Filer and after de Klerk had been bowled attempting to slog-sweep Gibson, skipper Kirstie Gordon and Grace Ballinger added 21 off the last 21 balls to take the total beyond 200.

Prior to his appointment, the former South Australia keeper-batter was with Netherlands Women in the same role

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2023Shane Deitz has stepped down as Netherlands Women’s head coach to take up the same role with West Indies Women. Deitz will start in his new role in late August, ahead of the Women’s CPL, and the away series against Australia in October will be his first assignment with the team.Deitz, 48, is a former South Australia wicketkeeper-batter who played 66 first-class matches between 1998 and 2008. He has also featured in 27 List A games and two T20s. He has been into coaching for over a decade now, and was the head coach of the Bangladesh women’s team in 2013-14. He takes over a West Indies team that made the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in 2022 but failed to make the knockouts of the T20 version earlier this year.”West Indies cricket both men and women have a great history of success whilst playing entertaining cricket and my aim is to continue with that formula,” Deitz said. “The team has a great blend of world-class senior players and some talented younger players which is a good starting point to build from. We have a lot of work to do though as the reality is we are behind the top few sides in the world and we need to bridge that gap and become competitive again to challenge for World Cups in the future.”I do believe though the nucleus is there to create a world-class competitive side and that is what I will aim to do. The standard of women’s cricket is at an all-time high and we need to strive to reach those heights through good planning, a lot of hard work and then executing on the pitch.”Deitz became the full-time coach of the Netherlands women’s team in March 2021, and under him, they regained one-day status. Their ODI ranking peaked at 12 and the T20I ranking at 18. Netherlands are currently preparing for a European qualification tournament for the 2025 ODI World Cup.”Obviously the decision to leave the Netherlands Women’s team was extremely tough as I have loved working with this team, they really are a great bunch of girls,” Deitz said. “The team has grown on and off the field and they are in a really good position now to keep pushing to qualify for a World Cup. I really want to thank the whole squad for their efforts and sacrifice they put in to get the team where they are.”At West Indies, he replaces Courtney Walsh, whose contract was not renewed following a review of the team’s performance. The contracts of assistant coaches Robert Samuels and Corey Collymore were also not extended. Samuels, though, was appointed interim head coach for the ODIs and T20Is against Ireland, taking place over the past week, with Ryan Austin and Steve Liburd as his assistants. West Indies won both ODI and T20I series under this management.Deitz’s appointment was confirmed at the CWI board of directors meeting on June 30 at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, and made public on July 8.

Opener believes 2-2 would be just, welcomes prospect to take on the quicks at The Oval

Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Jul-2023By the time Monday came around, the rains had ceased in Manchester. The clouds were finally empty after a weekend of showers. And just to rub it in, the sun dipped in and out of view as a reminder it was still up there on this, the first morning in which the 2023 Ashes were no longer live.An abandoned match and a draw in the fourth Test has Australia taking the urn back with them, boasting an unassailable 2-1 lead heading into the fifth Test at the Kia Oval. The great decider that was supposed to send English cricket into the stratosphere is now signposted as the tourists’ chance to win their first overseas Ashes series since 2001.Nevertheless, mimicking the two-all scoreline of 2019 is a huge motivation for this England side. Unlike then, when the fifth Test had a very end-of-term feel, with the only thing missing being both sides playing out the match in jeans, Ben Stokes’ charges have the opportunity to affix an asterisk to Australia’s retention.They believe they have been the most assertive across the series so far, despite the fact they were 2-0 down after two. And while it may only be an asterisk that those in the dressing-room can see, the fact that the weather stopped them from going into the final match on Thursday with it all to play for has England feeling robbed. A squared series at the end, to them, would represent some form of justice.”I think 2-2 would be fair,” said Crawley, whose stunning 189 from 182 deliveries drove England to 592 for a 275-run first-innings lead that they could not cash in. “They had the better of us at Lord’s, Edgbaston could have gone either way. We probably deserved this one and Headingley could have gone either way. So I think two-all would be right. We’ll see, hopefully we can get it.”We’ll play the same way and to know we can make a big score. It suits us to have a little in the wicket – we’ll see what happens. That’s the beauty of a five-Test series; you get a look at them, work out tactics and nuances. I’ve never played a five-match series before this one.”We’re massively up for it. And as Stokesy says, we’re building as a team, this isn’t the end just because it’s the Ashes. It’s very much the start, hopefully.”Even amid the positivity, Crawley admitted the Old Trafford dressing-room was flat when the match was eventually abandoned on day five, at around 5.24pm. A consistent downpour across days four and five meant England were only able to bowl 30 out of a possible 180 overs to push for victory.Up until Friday evening, England had played more or less the perfect game; reducing Australia to 113 for 4 in their second innings, trailing by 162, by stumps on day three. Alas, it was all in vain.”It’s pretty flat,” said Crawley of the mood among the squad. “We’re disappointed we’ve played a lot of good cricket in this game. We wanted to win, we were in a good position to win, and two days of rain cost us. But that’s how it is.”Related

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As for Crawley personally, his innings took him to the top of the run-scorers charts this series – comfort for a player derided as a weak link throughout Stokes’ and Brendon McCullum’s time in charge. He arrived into the fixture with handy starts, including 61 in his first knock of the series, which he marked by striking the first ball of the first Test at Edgbaston for four off Pat Cummins.He continued on in a similar vein and, as such, his 385 runs so far – at an average of 55.00 – have come from just 428 deliveries. Number two on the list, Australian opener Usman Khawaja, has scored his 377 from more than twice as many (961).”I feel I’m as good a player as I have ever been,” Crawley said, having now passed 2,000 career runs and lifted his 38-cap average to 31.01. “I feel good about my game, I’m pleased with how I’m playing – I’ve just got to build on it. I have a bit more experience now, things to fall back on in different conditions, so yes, I feel I can kick on now.”Crawley agreed that Australia’s extra pace throughout their attack has been a contributing factor to his upturn in performance. And on what should be an Oval pitch favouring batters, the Kent batter hopes to cash in once more before the Test summer concludes.”I think so, I certainly feel quicker attacks do. Fast bowling suits my game. The Australian attack is a quick attack and I think a bit less when they’re faster. I think that just suits my game a bit more. They are unbelievable bowlers, they present different challenges.”I love batting at The Oval for Kent, and I have played one Test match there and did okay (five and 69 not out against South Africa last summer). Hopefully it’s a decent wicket and a good game.”