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Surrey clinched a nerve-tingling two-wicket County Championship victory
over Gloucestershire despite Mark Ramprakash being given out for obstructing the
field at Cheltenham

30-Jul-2011
ScorecardSurrey clinched a nerve-tingling two-wicket County Championship victory
over Gloucestershire despite Mark Ramprakash being given out for obstructing the
field at Cheltenham.The veteran batsman was on 35 when he was judged to have impeded Ian Saxelby as
the Gloucestershire player went to gather Kane Williamson’s throw at the
bowler’s end as Jason Roy went for a risky second run.Surrey were cruising at 137 for 4, chasing 184 to win, at the time. When
Zafar Ansari fell lbw to Jon Lewis for a duck two balls later it was 138 for 6
with 46 still required. But after Roy (45) and Gareth Batty (eight) had also fallen, Yasir Arafat (five not out) and Tim Linley (six not out) saw the visitors home to end a superb
match. Surrey took 24 points to Gloucestershire’s five.The hosts had begun the day on 249 for four in their second innings, with a
lead of 112. They soon lost Alex Gidman, caught in the slips by Zander de Bruyn
having added just nine to his overnight score of 57.Wickets fell steadily as Arafat sent back Richard Coughtrie (16) and Will
Gidman (20) for a return of two for 76 and match figures of seven for 162. Linley also finished with seven victims in the game for a total of 136 runs as he accounted for Jack Taylor (10) and Gloucestershire were bowled out for 320 shortly after lunch.That made Surrey favourites and they achieved a solid start in the face of
their modest target as Rory Hamilton-Brown and Steve Davies put on 50 before the
latter was caught behind fending at Will Gidman for 19.It was 60 for two when Hamilton-Brown (39) was taken at first slip by Alex
Gidman off Lewis and 80 for three when off-spinner Taylor struck in his first
over, having De Bruyn pouched by Hamish Marshall at slip – a sharp catch – for
11.Tom Maynard fell lbw to David Payne for two, the ball striking his pad before
the bat, and at 85 for four the match was in the balance. But Ramprakash was a reassuring presence for Surrey after his first-innings century and he looked in little trouble until his controversial dismissal threatened to change the game.The 41-year-old started to walk off and then returned for a further
conversation with umpires George Sharp and Nigel Llong before finally making his
way to the pavilion. In doing so Ramprakash joined an obscure list to be dismissed in bizarre ways.After Ansari’s departure, Batty was well taken at first slip above his head by
Alex Gidman off brother Will with Surrey still 23 short. Only three had been added when Roy edged Lewis to wicketkeeper Coughtrie, having made his 45 runs off 64 balls, with six fours. Despite several scares, Arafat and Linley survived with the latter hitting the winning runs.

Durham skipper Phil Mustard’s unbeaten 71 ensured his side avoided the follow-on at home to Lancashire and the rain-ruined match meandered to the inevitable draw in pleasant sunshine

23-Jul-2010
ScorecardDurham skipper Phil Mustard’s unbeaten 71 ensured his side avoided the follow-on at home to Lancashire and the rain-ruined match meandered to the inevitable draw in pleasant sunshine.Durham were all out for 216 shortly after lunch to trail by 128 and Lancashire reached 91 for 4 in their second innings. It could have been different had Glen Chapple’s superb final fling with the ball brought even greater reward than his eventual figures of five for 65.The key moment came when Durham were 20 runs short of the follow-on target with three wickets standing. Mustard, on 39, survived a sharp chance to Paul Horton at first slip off Chapple and hurriedly picked up the required runs at the other end.Durham still needed 11 when Chapple yorked Callum Thorp with a ball which swung from outside leg stump, but Mustard gathered them all in one over from Tom Smith. He twice ran Smith to third man either side of driving a lofted straight four which took him to 50 off 86 balls.With 99 needed when Durham resumed on 96 for five, the target looked like presenting no problem as Mustard and Ben Stokes comfortably added 50 in the first 55 minutes. Both left-handers started confidently as Stokes leg-glanced Chapple for four and Mustard drove him to the extra cover boundary.After bowling three overs, Chapple gave Sajid Mahmood his first bowl of the match but he began with a leg-side wide and his accuracy scarcely improved in an over which also featured two no-balls. His five overs for 25 did Lancashire no favours.Other than when he flashed wide of off stump at Anderson and edged over first slip for four, 19-year-old Stokes coped admirably against the England bowler. But he grew over-confident and sliced a drive to backward point to fall for 37, Anderson sending him on his way with a few words.Anderson had bowled unchanged for 27 overs, taking three for 74, when Chapple replaced him and quickly had Liam Plunkett caught behind. Thorp swiftly followed but by the time Chapple wrapped up the innings by bowling Steve Harmison second ball it was too late.Stephen Moore, Mark Chilton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul passed 20 as Lancashire meandered to the close, Ian Blackwell recording eyecatching figures of 9-6-5-1. Lancashire took nine points from the match and Durham seven.

WA quick will play in Australia’s 50-over domestic competition to start the summer but is waiting to be cleared to play red-ball cricket after a slow recovery from a back injury

Tristan Lavalette10-Sep-2024Emerging quick Lance Morris admits it’s been “frustrating” working his way through another rehab from a back injury, but hopes a cautious approach will prove beneficial as he earmarks playing in the Sheffield Shield ahead of Australia’s Test series against India this summer.The 26-year-old has not played since the ODI series against West Indies in February. After making his international debut in the series opener, Morris claimed two early wickets in the third match in Canberra before suffering a side strain which ended his season.Morris had been due to line-up for Seattle Orcas in Major League Cricket before post-season scans showed a hot spot in his back and he wasn’t considered for Australia’s current tour of Scotland and England. It was a recurrence of the injury that ruled the West Australian paceman out of the Ashes tour in 2023.Related

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“It’s been a bit frustrating,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo. “I guess you call it a stress fracture, but when we scan it, it doesn’t have the natural characteristics of a usual stress fracture. So there was some confusion at first around exactly what it was.”The tricky one for me was I didn’t actually have any back pain when I was bowling. I get monthly check-ins with an MRI on my back to make sure things are heading in the right direction. And it’s been clearing up… healing, so that’s a positive.”While he maintained his fitness levels through running and regular gym, Morris was unable to do any skills work for around eight weeks.”Frustrating to have to stop for a couple of months. I’m at that stage in my career with a Cricket Australia contract….it’s a transition into a 12-month cricketer,” he said.”I was continually preparing to go [to MLC], but never managed to get over there.”But the silver lining is I’ve stayed fit and I feel stronger than ever. Whereas if I ignored it and cracked on with things, there’s every likelihood that I would spend 12 months on the sidelines.”Lance Morris suffered a left side strain in his second ODI in February•Getty Images

Dubbed ‘The Wild Thing’ – in a nod to former tearaway Shaun Tait – Morris garnered considerable attention for his ability to bowl over 150kph. Regarded as arguably the fastest bowler in Australia, he became an enforcer for Western Australia on bouncy WACA decks and rose to the fringes of Australia’s Test team over the past couple of seasons.Having slowly built up his bowling loads, Morris had been left wondering whether he could reach maximum speed again until going “full tilt” in recent weeks restored his confidence.”The tricky thing with loading up really slowly is that you have restrictions on the pace you can bowl at different intervals,” he said. “You sort of wonder how you’re going to get back up to top speed.”But over the last couple of weeks, it’s been basically shackles off. It’s been nice to let the ball go.”Morris is set to make his return through Australia’s domestic 50-over competition starting later this month before eyeing a red-ball comeback in the Sheffield Shield. Three-time defending champions Western Australia start their Shield season against Queensland at the WACA on October 8.”Conversations so far… basically it’s ok to start playing one-day cricket, so [I might play] one of the first two white-ball games,” Morris said with WA opening the One-Day competition against New South Wales on September 22 before playing South Australia two days later.”There will be a little bit of a process in building up and getting ready for Shield cricket. But I think all going well, I should be available for round one or round two. I’m not too sure exactly yet, but we’re not far off.”There are four rounds of the Shield before the first Test in Perth. A solid base of competitive cricket might propel Morris into the mix with concerns over Australia’s depth behind incumbent pace trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.”I have no expectations at all. But if the opportunity does arise, hopefully I can jump on it with both hands,” Morris said of his Test prospects. “Fingers crossed I can stay on the park this season because I think there could be a few opportunities that arise.”Liam Haskett will miss the first half of WA’s season with a back injury•Getty Images

Meanwhile, WA left-arm quick Liam Haskett is set to miss the first half of the Sheffield Shield season as he recovers from a stress fracture in his back.Post-season scans confirmed a recurrence of an injury Haskett suffered a few years ago. The towering six-foot seven-inch paceman emerged during a breakout debut season when he claimed 20 wickets at 24.75 from six Shield matches. Haskett, 23, starred in the final round with six wickets against Victoria at the Junction Oval, but missed the Shield final against Tasmania due to a heel injury.”A rough timeline would be getting back towards the end of November-early December, but that could change with a scan result,” Haskett told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s frustrating coming off the season I had, but we’ll keep working towards getting back on the field around the middle part of the season.”

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.

“We want to create a strong foundation for the future with Mayank at the helm,” says head coach Anil Kumble

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2022Mayank Agarwal has been unveiled as the new captain of Punjab Kings, just under a month from the start of the 2022 edition of the IPL on March 26.”I have been at Punjab Kings since 2018 and I take a lot of pride in representing this fantastic unit. I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead the team,” Agarwal, one of two players retained by the franchise ahead of the latest mega auction – medium-pacer Arshdeep Singh was the other – said in a statement issued by the Kings on Monday morning. “I take over this responsibility with utmost sincerity, but at the same time, I believe my job would be made easier with the talent we have at the Punjab Kings squad this season.”We have some vastly experienced players in our ranks, along with many talented youngsters who are keen to grab the opportunity and run with it. We have always taken to the field hoping to win the title and as a team we will once again work towards this goal of lifting our maiden IPL trophy. I thank the team management for entrusting me with this new role of leading the side. I look forward to the new season and the new challenges it brings with it.” Agarwal, who has in the past turned out for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Rising Pune Supergiant and Royal Challengers Bangalore, joined the Punjab franchise in 2018, when it was still called Kings XI Punjab. After a slow start – he scored 120 runs at a strike rate of 127.65 from 11 innings in his first season – he has been one of the team’s leading batters. His 332 runs in 2019 came at a strike rate of 141.88, and as he forged a strong opening pairing with KL Rahul, the captain till last season, Agarwal scored 424 runs (SR 156.45) and 441 runs (SR 140.44) in 2020 and 2021 respectively.Overall, in 11 seasons of playing in the IPL, Agarwal has 2131 runs at an average of 23.41 and strike rate of 135.47.”Mayank has been an integral part of the side since 2018 and of the leadership group for the last two years,” Kings head coach Anil Kumble said. “The new squad we selected at the recently concluded auction has exciting young talent and outstanding experienced players. We want to create a strong foundation for the future with Mayank at the helm.Related

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“He is hardworking, enthusiastic, a team player with all the attributes required of a leader. I look forward to working with him as captain and believe that he will lead this team to a successful campaign.”Though he has had a good run in the IPL over the years, Agarwal hasn’t yet earned his India cap in T20Is. He was called up to the squad for the ongoing series at home against Sri Lanka, but only as an injury replacement for Ruturaj Gaikwad. Looked at as a long-format player by the national selectors, Agarwal has played 19 Tests (1429 runs at an average of 43.30) and five ODIs (86 runs at 17.20) so far.In the 2022 IPL, though he won’t have Rahul, his friend and colleague from Karnataka for many years, to work with. Rahul led the Punjab franchise for the last two seasons, but was acquired before the latest auction by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants, who have also named him their captain. His price tag of INR 17 crore (US$ 2.28 million approx.) made him the joint-highest-paid player in the IPL across seasons, along with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli. Kohli was signed for the same amount by Royal Challengers in 2018, ahead of the last mega IPL auction.Agarwal does, however, have a strong unit at his disposal. At the recent auction, Kings spent a lot of money on Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Shahrukh Khan and Shikhar Dhawan, who should be Agarwal’s opening partner. They also have players like Jonny Bairstow and Odean Smith among overseas players, and locals like Rahul Chahar, Rishi Dhawan and Harpreet Brar, apart from Arshdeep.Kings have been stacked with Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers and Gujarat Titans in Group B in the upcoming IPL.

All other tests from day three of quarantine have returned negative results

Umar Farooq28-Nov-2020A seventh positive Covid-19 test has emerged from Pakistan’s touring contingent in New Zealand. The identity of the squad member is not yet clear.Six players – Sarfaraz Ahmed, Rohail Nazir, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Abid Ali and Danish Aziz – had returned positive results from the first tests conducted upon Pakistan’s arrival in New Zealand on November 24.The latest positive result comes from the second batch of tests conducted on day three of the team’s quarantine at a managed isolation facility in Christchurch. All other tests conducted on day three have returned negative results. This doesn’t include the six players who had already tested positive and assistant coach Shahid Aslam, who will join the squad in Christchurch after completing his 14-day quarantine in Auckland.ALSO READ – New Zealand director of public health slams Pakistan Covid protocol breachesThe fact that the second round of testing only threw up one new positive case will come as a relief for the Pakistan Cricket Board, which had been awaiting the results with some anxiety, particularly after the revelations that some members of the touring contingent had breached Covid-19 protocols at their managed isolation facility.The PCB had, in fact, organised a media interaction with CEO Wasim Khan on Saturday morning, but cancelled it once it came to know there was only one additional positive case. Khan had earlier addressed the players and urged them to comply with Covid-19 protocols, saying it would be “hugely embarrassing” if they were sent home as a result of another breach.The squad will have to clear two more tests, on days six and 12 of their isolation, before being allowed to leave quarantine. Pakistan had sought an exemption to be allowed to train while in managed isolation, but that exemption is on hold pending investigation by medical authorities on its safety and feasibility.In the meanwhile, those who have tested negative are allowed to go out on their balconies or make short, individual visits to a park near the isolation facility.Pakistan are due to play three T20Is on December 18, 20 and 22 in Auckland, Hamilton and Napier respectively, before playing two Tests in Mount Maunganui (December 26-30) and Christchurch (January 3-7).

India beat Bangladesh by six wickets with eight balls to spare in the final of the U-19 tri-nation series, Mahmudul Hasan Joy’s ton going in vain

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2019India cruised home in the final of the tri-nation Under-19s tournament in Hove, with eight balls to spare, a win set up by their top order comprising Yashasvi Jaiswal, Divyaansh Saxena, and Priyam Garg, who all struck fifties chasing 262.Openers Jaiswal and Saxena made 50 and 55 respectively, stitching together a 104-run stand in 22 overs that laid the platform for captain Garg to capitalise on with a 66-ball 73. After the opening pair fell within three overs of each other – both to left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan – and No. 4 batsman Pragnesh Durgesh Kanpillewar departed for 2, Garg took charge of the chase, hitting four fours and two sixes en route to his second successive half-century.Garg top scored for his side and was ably assisted by wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, who chipped in with a 73-ball 59 not-out, adding 109 runs for the fourth wicket with his captain. Garg departed with India U-19s only 27 shy of victory, leaving Jurel to shepherd their side to the target in the company of Tilak Varma, who sealed the chase with a four.Bangladesh Under-19s put up 261 after opting to bat, the bulk of the run-scoring done by first-drop batsman Mahmudul Hasan Joy and opener Parvez Hossain Emon. Emon was involved in two fifty stands to take his side past 120, before falling to left-arm pacer Sushant Mishra for a 64-ball 60 in the 23rd over. Mishra also took out Towhid Hridoy – for a duck – in the same over and not long after Bangladesh U-19s lost another pair in quick succession as Shahadat Hossain and captain Akbar Ali departed for single-digit scores in the 32nd and 33rd overs respectively.Much of the repair job thereafter was shouldered by Joy who made 109 off 134 balls – studded with nine fours and a six – before falling off the final delivery of the innings. Shamim Hossain’s 32 at No. 7 was the only other noteworthy contribution from the Bangladesh U-19s line-up, while Mishra and right-arm pacer Kartik Tyagi’s figures stood out among the India attack, both taking two wickets apiece.

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.

The last time Australia successfully batted out the final day of a Test to secure a draw was in 2011, and Steven Smith and Darren Lehmann were hopeful the wait would end in Ranchi

Daniel Brettig19-Mar-2017Australia haven’t played in a drawn Test since a rain-blighted meeting with West Indies in January 2016. But to find the last time they managed to successfully bat themselves out of trouble on the final day, it is necessary to go further into the past. All the way to the 2011 Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.Michael Clarke, on his maiden Test tour as captain, made a hundred back then to keep out Rangana Herath and make the series safe. The loss of David Warner and Nathan Lyon in the eight overs before stumps in Ranchi meant that his successor Steven Smith needed a similar performance to prevent Australia from falling behind in the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Head coach Darren Lehmann said the team’s Dubai preparations had included discussion and training for exactly the scenario they found themselves in. “Obviously we’ve got to save the game. Tough to lose those two wickets tonight, there were some good balls from them. Good challenge for the group to put it into practice tomorrow and we’ve got to do that and deliver on the big stage. Once the ball gets a little bit softer it plays pretty well so there’s no real demons in the track. It’s obviously a case of applying ourselves.Lehmann also emphasised the importance of combating Ravindra Jadeja as a key part of emerging with the 1-1 series ledger intact. The left-arm spinner was responsible for taking both wickets to fall so far, and was able to make balls explode off the pitch.”Going to have to come up with a plan to combat Jadeja but we’ve worked on that and you’ll probably see it tomorrow, I would think,” Lehmann said. “They’ve got to believe in what they’re doing as a group and a couple of good balls like tonight, that can happen in a game of cricket. For us it’s a great challenge. The challenge for our group is to put on a couple of partnerships and really get ahead of the game.”You’ve got to prepare for all scenarios here in India. As you’ve seen the wickets start to wear on day four, day five, [but] this has been a really traditional Indian wicket, a good wicket. It’s quite a challenge. Preparing in Dubai, that’s what we did and now it’s putting it into practice.”A possibly tired Australian team – Steve O’Keefe bowled 77 overs and Steven Smith had to deal with 210 overs of setting the field – was up against a seriously difficult task to save the Ranchi Test•Associated Press

Before this series, Smith had said one of the qualities he wanted to see in his team was the ability to scrounge a draw from a difficult situation. “Obviously you want to win first and foremost, but a draw’s a much better result than a loss. If the game’s dead and buried and we can’t win, you want to see the fight and the willingness to put your natural game away and do everything you can to stay out there and get a draw.”That’s something we haven’t done overly well in the past. When we’re a long way behind the game and chasing 500 or something in the last innings, guys have still just gone out and played, rather than do what Faf [du Plessis] did in Adelaide a few years ago and just block it until the game’s gone, and give yourself a chance to survive.”Some observers, including Clarke, have wondered whether the allrounder Glenn Maxwell could have bowled more overs, but Lehmann defended Smith’s judgment in relying heavily on the frontliners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon. O’Keefe equalled the 18th longest spell in all of Test cricket, bowling 77 overs for three wickets, and at times the Australians appeared somewhat limited in their plans and tactics.”I think [it’s the] captain’s call obviously,” Lehmann said. “We did speak about it, chopping and changing a little bit. The game was always on a knife’s edge so you always want your best spinners going. And we chopped and changed a little bit, probably could have bowled a few more overs [of part-timers] but I thought the spinners toiled really hard as well so that’s a call the captain makes out there and really happy with that.”The physical toll on the pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood also had Lehmann pondering whether it would be possible to pick them for the final Test in Dharamsala next week. “When you bowl 210 overs, I don’t think that’s happened too often, and India do that well, they bat long periods of time here in India.”If anything it heightens our first innings where we needed to bat a little bit longer. But the bowlers worked really hard and I thought they were fantastic. Chopped and changed as best as they could in the conditions. We’ll see how they pull up and make a decision. But we’ll worry about tomorrow first.”

Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch due to back pain

Brydon Coverdale17-Feb-2016Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch due to back pain. Siddle bowled only eight overs during New Zealand’s second innings in Wellington before back spasms forced him from the field after tea on day three; he returned on the fourth morning but did not bowl again.”Peter experienced some discomfort in his back during the first Test in Wellington and has not recovered sufficiently enough to play the Test,” Cricket Australia’s physio David Beakley said. “At this stage the plan is for him to stay with the squad in Christchurch for the remainder of the tour before returning to Melbourne for further investigation.”Siddle’s absence in Christchurch will likely mean a recall for James Pattinson, who played all three Tests against West Indies before shin soreness prevented him from playing later in January. Pattinson was ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington as the selectors were unsure whether his fitness would stand up to five days of cricket.However, captain Steven Smith said after the Wellington Test that Pattinson had been bowling well in the nets and appeared to be on track to be available for the second Test, which starts on Saturday. The only other bowling option in Australia’s squad is the uncapped swing bowler Chadd Sayers, whose style is similar to that of Jackson Bird, who played in Wellington.