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Half-centuries from Gordon Muchall and Will Smith helped Durham to victory over Somerset, despite Alex Barrow’s late hitting

13-May-2012
ScorecardDurham avenged last season’s CB40 semi-final defeat at Taunton with a 14-run win against injury-hit Somerset at Chester-le-Street. It looked like being a stroll for Durham, but former England Under-19 batsman Alex Barrow marked his debut in the competition by playing some audacious strokes to score 72.Somerset needed 76 in 9.3 overs when Barrow was joined on 147 for 8 by George Dockrell, but they had reduced the target down to 18 off eight balls when Barrow skied a catch on the leg side. In the final over Dockrell was caught at long-off and Somerset were all out for 208.Graham Onions was pulled out of Durham’s team following his inclusion in England’s 13-man squad for the first Test against the West Indies and his replacement, Jamie Harrison, took two wickets in his first seven balls. The 21-year-old left-arm seamer marked his debut by having Craig Kieswetter and Peter Trego lbw on the front foot.Chasing Durham’s 222 for 9, Somerset rallied from 24 for 3 through a stand of 57 between Arul Suppiah and Craig Meschede, which was ended by Liam Plunkett’s first ball of the season. It was short and wide but Suppiah cracked it fiercely to Will Smith, who leapt to take the catch above his head at backward point.After working on his action over the winter in an attempt to restore his accuracy, Plunkett has been playing in the second XI. In his second over Craig Meschede also chased a wide one and sliced to Gareth Breese at deep gully and Plunkett went on to finish with 4 for 33.Jamie Overton took 4 for 42 for Somerset, although he did bowl four of his side’s 10 wides. His last two victims were caught at long-on by his twin, Craig.Craig Meschede dismissed Paul Collingwood, who had pulled two sixes over a short boundary on his way to 13 when he went down the pitch in the ninth over and skied to deep mid-on. Durham recovered from 43 for 3 through Gordon Muchall and Will Smith putting on 124 in 24 overs.Muchall dominated, scoring 75 off 87 balls with six fours and a six, while Smith struggled to find his timing and survived two sharp chances in scoring 18 off the first 41 balls he faced. But he showed the value of patience as things suddenly clicked and he hit two sixes in accelerating to 55 off 66 balls.

Allrounder Angelo Mathews copes with pressure ‘better than anybody else’, according to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Jun-2012Allrounder Angelo Mathews copes with pressure ‘better than anybody else’, according to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene. His unbeaten 80 that took Sri Lanka to victory in the match and the series against Pakistan on Monday should silence his critics, Jayawardene said.”A lot of people ask about his role in the team and he justified his place,” he said. “I don’t know why this question keeps popping up. Angelo has done well with the ball and he has done well with the bat. He is a quality allrounder and he handles pressure than anybody else I’ve seen.”It’s not the first time he has done this for us, he has done it quite often. Some of the other times he has bought us close and maybe hasn’t been able to finish the game off, but from nowhere he has the ability to bring us into the game.”Jayawardene put his team’s success in the series down to them having handled challenges better than Pakistan. “We handled most of the tough situations better than the Pakistanis, and the fielding standards were much better that was the difference in the series.”It wasn’t an easy series and we knew that is how it would be from the beginning; credit to the entire team for working really hard. A lot of guys showed a lot of composure in handling difficult situations … Thisara [Perera], Lasith [Malinga], Kula [Nuwan Kulasekara], and with the bat most of the guys. What’s important is that we take forward the positives from the series.”This is the first ODI series win for Sri Lanka since they made the World Cup final in April 2011, and Jayawardene said he hoped the victory would put his team in the right frame of mind for the Tests that begin in Galle on Friday. “We’ve played some really good cricket, but we didn’t have anything to show for it; it has been a lot of hard work in the last 12 months for us, and hopefully continue to improve as a team.”The Test series is always going to be big challenge, but winning is a good habit to have so hopefully we can continue this momentum. We have some experienced players coming in for the Tests. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us. It’s important that we start fresh and start well.”

Essex steal a march in grim conditions but Bresnan endures for Warwickshire

Andrew Miller20-May-2021Warwickshire 159 for 7 (Bresnan 47*, Sibley 43, Siddle 4-36) vs EssexThat long-awaited return to a county cricket ground proved to be slow, bleak and joyless. And that was just Dom Sibley’s innings. But by the time a filthy squall of rain blew across Chelmsford at 4.30pm to coat the ground in an unseasonably wintery glow of floodlights (and drive away each and every one of the 100-odd diehards at the Hayes Close End of the ground) Sibley’s stereotypically dour 43 from 120 balls had been trumped by another notable returnee to the fray.When Essex won the 2019 County Championship title, amid emotional scenes at Taunton two years ago, Peter Siddle’s presence had been conveyed via a cardboard cut-out in the corner of the dressing room. He had played an integral role in the triumph with 34 wickets at 20.08 in the first half of the campaign, before departing for his Ashes swansong, and then remaining sidelined by the pandemic throughout last summer’s Bob Willis Trophy triumph.And so this was Siddle’s first outing at Chelmsford since July 2019 – when, as it happens, he’d claimed a first-innings five-for, also against Warwickshire – and his first chance to take formal receipt of that elusive winner’s medal, along with his county cap (No. 164, for those who like to keep tabs) during an on-field presentation during the lunch interval.But before he’d had a chance to try out that new headgear for size, Siddle’s impact on the day’s events had been more than just ceremonial. The first of his four wickets took just three balls to arrive, as Will Rhodes fenced to fourth slip having withstood the new ball for 10 dour overs, and Siddle had doubled Warwickshire’s jeopardy before the end of his second over, as Rob Yates lost his middle stump to a nip-backer.Jamie Porter added a third before lunch, as Pieter Malan kissed a beautiful angled delivery through to Tom Westley at third slip, but throughout a grim first session, Sibley endured with painstaking attrition – parked on the front dog like the part-man, part-bollard that he has been brought up to be, refusing to let the bowlers see anything but the maker’s name as he made up for lost time after his early-season finger break.Sibley’s runs were scarce and hewn from granite – a first-ball clip for four off Porter was a freebie that never looked like tempting him into thinking his eye was in, and in fact almost a sixth of his final total came in one bizarre moment when Adam Wheater fielded a return from the deep and winged a shy away through fine leg, to gift his quarry a lesser-spotted seven.Timing has never been at the core of Sibley’s game – although you might argue that his comic timing was spot-on in the circumstances. What more hearty fare could the Chelmsford faithful have wished for on such a blustery and soul-sapping morning, than the sight of 55 runs being chiselled out in 28 overs of the session, with Sibley himself dripping along at a personal rate of exactly one for every over, like the inexorable impact of gravity on the panes of a stained-glass window.Even though he was dropped on 32 at leg slip (a position that Kane Williamson will no doubt have inked into his battle-plan) it still came as something of a shock when, in the first hour after lunch, Sibley was turned inside-out by the ever-excellent Sam Cook to give Simon Harmer the easiest of his two catches at second slip.For the most part, Sibley had treated his stay like a live net. But, on a day when those in action of England’s probable middle order at Lord’s – Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes – contributed 0, 0 and 0 between them, the barnacle tendencies of their incumbent opener were made all the more valuable by hindsight.Talking of hindsight, it seems extraordinary that Warwickshire would inflict such a scenario on themselves by choosing to bat first in such conditions, although given the knowledge of what Harmer tends to do on this ground in the fourth innings, it was perhaps a question of which bullet they would prefer to dodge. As it was, a scoreline of 76 for 5, on a day when barely any other contest had got beyond the opening pleasantries, was less than ideal by any standards.But Warwickshire, to their credit, refused to buckle to the conditions. In the 40th over, Harmer’s first-ball proper (after a sighter over before lunch) was blatted high over long-on by a pre-emptive Michael Burgess, who manned the barricades alongside the inestimable Tim Bresnan with a gutsy 56-run stand for the sixth wicket.But just when Burgess seemed to have weathered the worst of Essex’s threat, he was undone through a combination of bowler skill and personal misjudgement, as Siddle nipped a length ball off the seam to pluck out his off stump as he shouldered arms for 35.Olly Stone – who would surely have relished cranking it up in these conditions – didn’t last long as Harmer swooped brilliantly to prise him out for 4, his right hand almost behind him as he plucked the edge to give Cook his second of the day.But Bresnan, his stock seeming to rise as a county batsman with every passing year, endured through two closes – the first at tea when the apocalypse appeared to have ended any prospect of further play, and then after a further 2.4 overs in the late evening, in which time he flipped Porter over midwicket to finish as the day’s top scorer on 47 not out.By then, Essex’s paltry returning crowd had fled for home. The circumstances of the post-lockdown reboot could not be less ideal for Chelmsford, a tight ground with a cramped perimeter, where numerous choke-points render social distancing impossible and so have limited their numbers to a handful. But at least those that were present were able to witness their table-topping outfit doing the needful on the field once again – in spite of Sibley and the weather doing their best to be further killjoys.

Details set to “be announced in a week or so” but arrangements conditional on the “changing” Covid-19 pandemic

Firdose Moonda21-Jan-2021Cricket South Africa is confident Australia’s visit for three Tests will go ahead, with details set to “be finalised and announced in a week or so”, according to acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki.ESPNcricinfo understands that the full series will be played on the Highveld, with matches divided between SuperSport Park and the Wanderers, and the Irene Country Club will be used as the teams’ biosecure base, as was the case for the Sri Lanka series over the festive period. While dates are yet to be confirmed, former Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris, speaking on SEN radio last week, suggested that the Australian team will depart their shores on February 24, with the Tests to start in early March. All these arrangements are conditional on the ever-changing situation of the Covid-19 pandemic.”Australia’s tour at this stage is going ahead. I had a chat with the chair of Cricket Australia about a week ago and we agreed that the tour is going to go ahead,” Judge Zak Yacoob, chairperson of CSA’s interim board, said. “We agreed that we are going to ensure that our facilities are as good as possible, as good as necessary. We also agreed we learn every day but that is not on the basis that we did anything wrong when England was here because you know that none of the English were affected. That’s the bottom line. They all flew back and that was fine.”But the learning in relation to this virus changes all the time and as it changes things must change. We agreed that as professionals neither he [CA’s chair] nor I know anything about this. We have doctors, we have experts, who lead us through this process and what we have adopted is an approach that as long as the experts on both sides, true professionals in relation to coronavirus and health, agree that the facilities are fine, we go on the basis that the facilities are fine. So far there is between the chair of CA and myself no doubt that the series will go ahead, but we have agreed also that the coronavirus is so changing, that we cannot predict what will happen. If things suddenly go down for the worse and we really can’t do it and our experts say we can’t do it and the other experts say we can’t do it, we won’t be able to.”South Africa have already hosted two international series this summer, first against England, who were based in Cape Town, and then against Sri Lanka, who were in Johannesburg. England were due to play three T20s and three ODIs but left without playing the 50-over matches after concerns over the integrity of the biosecure environment. Three South African players and two hotel staff tested positive for Covid-19 over the course of the three T20s, as did two England players before the ODIs, though those tests were later proved to be false positives, while both teams were allowed out to play golf. CSA tightened protocols ahead of the Sri Lanka series, with neither team allowed to leave the base except to go to the ground, and that series took place without incident.Given the success of the Sri Lanka series, that there are two Test venues on the Highveld and that it is more affordable for CSA to create a biobubble at the Irene Country Club than Cape Town’s Vineyard Hotel (where the players were housed for the England series), the Australia Tests are more than likely to take place in upcountry rather than at any of the coastal venues.The only factor that could cause concern over hosting the series in the Gauteng province is the rising number of Covid-19 infections. South Africa are deep into the second wave of the pandemic and daily case numbers range between 10,000 and 20,000. The Gauteng province, where many festive holiday-makers have returned, is expected to see a continued rise in cases and there is concern that the healthcare system could be overwhelmed. Restrictions are in place countrywide, which include a 9pm-to-6am curfew and a ban on alcohol sales, but interprovincial and international travel by air is allowed. Despite that, several airlines, including Emirates and KLM, have temporarily suspended flights to and from South Africa.In all likelihood, the Australian team will have to arrive by charter flight, but will not need to enter a strict quarantine on arrival. It is likely they will train in small groups at first and as a squad within a few days, as Sri Lanka did. CA has been in touch with the staff at the Irene Country Club to request extra facilities – such as a makeshift gym – and it is understood further negotiations concern the logistics around players’ families joining them on the tour.CSA is expected to try and be as accommodating as possible to Australia given the financial importance of the tour. After losing USD 1.5 million from the postponed England ODIs, the Australia tour is the last opportunity for CSA to earn money this summer, and could also impact the negotiations for their new broadcast deal, which will be finalised in April. The deal is expected to be worth less than the previous one due to both the economic climate and the team’s declining fortunes, but a more competitive South African side that plays against top opposition regularly could bump up the value.Australia, too, will be keen to play. After losing to India at home, they need to win two Tests in South Africa and draw the third in order to leapfrog New Zealand on the World Test Championship table. Australia have only lost one series in South Africa since readmission, in the 2017-18 summer. They have returned to play ODIs in the country since then and were whitewashed 3-0 last March, but this will be the first time their Test team plays in South Africa since the ball-tampering scandal.

Batsman will spend whole season in Cardiff and is unlikely to play IPL or CPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020Glamorgan have announced that Colin Ingram has signed a two-year contract extension with the club as an overseas player after the cancellation of his Kolpak registration.Ingram has spent five seasons in Cardiff to date, playing as a local player throughout on a Kolpak deal. He did not play in 2020 due to international travel restrictions, and will return on an overseas deal next year with the end of the UK’s transition period with the European Union bringing an halt to the Kolpak era.Ingram has signed for the T20 Blast first and foremost, having dominated Glamorgan’s run-scoring charts in the competition since his debut in 2015. He fills the club’s second overseas spot in the Blast, after Marnus Labuschagne signed for all formats.ALSO READ: County ins and outs, 2020-21Glamorgan have also signed Labuschagne’s Queensland team-mate Michael Neser as their second overseas player for the County Championship and Royal London Cup, but Ingram will be available in those competitions should either Australian be called up for international duty.A Glamorgan press release said that Ingram, 35, would spend the full summer in Cardiff, and that he would become a mentor for academy batsmen and a pathway coach when not playing or training. As a result, it seems unlikely that he will take part in the IPL or the CPL next year.”Cardiff is where I want to be,” Ingram said. “I love playing here and my family love the city and being in Wales. I love playing T20 cricket, but I also want to challenge myself again in the longer formats of the game and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do that at the club I love.”I’ve always been passionate about helping the next generation of cricketers and it’s really exciting for me to work with these young Welsh players, help them improve and share some knowledge I’ve gained at the international and franchise level.”Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s director of cricket, said: “He’s played around the world and brings invaluable experience to our players and now we are able to fully utilise these experiences across the pathway.”Colin’s got plenty of experience in all three formats and has excelled for Glamorgan across the last five years, and he’ll be a fantastic reserve option should he be needed in the longer formats of the game.”

The trio joins Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh in the panel, with Sharma set to be chairman

Nagraj Gollapudi and Vishal Dikshit24-Dec-2020Former India fast bowler Chetan Sharma, along with the fast bowling pair of Abey Kuruvilla and Debasis Mohanty, will be the three new men on the Indian selection committee. The trio will join the pair of Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh to complete the five-man committee, with Sharma set to be the chairman of the panel.The selection of Sharma, Kuruvilla and Mohanty was made by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), led by former India allrounder Madan Lal and which also comprises former India left-arm seamer RP Singh and former India women’s player Sulakshana Naik, on Thursday. Incidentally, four members of the five-member panel will now comprise of seam bowlers.The BCCI made the announcement through a media release, saying the CAC has “recommended” Sharma as the chairperson of the committee “based on seniority” in terms of his Test-playing experience. Sharma, who turns 55 in January, has played 23 Test matches and was one of the 11 candidates interviewed virtually on Thursday. According to the BCCI, the CAC will conduct a review of the three selectors after one year.”It’s indeed a privilege for me to get an opportunity to serve Indian cricket once again. I am a man of few words and my action will speak louder than words,” Sharma told . “I can only thank BCCI for this opportunity.”Lal, RP Singh and Naik “met virtually” on Thursday – the same the day the 89th AGM of the BCCI was held in Ahmedabad – to pick replacements for Jatin Paranjpe, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh, whose terms ended in September.Sharma, Kuruvilla and Mohanty were among several candidates who had applied in late November, including Ajit Agarkar, Maninder Singh, Nayan Mongia, SS Das and Ranadeb Bose.The BCCI had put down a minimum qualification of seven Tests or 30 first-class matches, or 10 ODIs and 20 first-class matches for the applicants. They should have also retired “at least five years previously” and should not have been over 60 years of age.The first assignment for the new panel will be picking the three squads for the long home tour against England featuring four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs, starting February 5 next year.Sharma is the most experienced of the three new names with 23 Tests and 65 ODIs in which he took 61 and 67 wickets respectively, and also struck an ODI century after being promoted to No. 4 against England in 1989. He is, however, famously remembered for taking a hat-trick against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup. By bowling Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield, Sharma became the first bowler to grab a World Cup hat-trick and the first Indian to do so in ODIs.Mohanty, from Odisha, played two Tests and 45 ODIs from 1997 to 2001 and also featured in the 1999 World Cup. He was India’s second-best bowler in the tournament with 10 wickets from six games at an average of 26, behind Javagal Srinath’s tally of 12. Mohanty also coached his home side Odisha in 2011-12 after taking over from Michael Bevan.Kuruvilla, who rose to international cricket from Mumbai, took 25 wickets each in the 10 Tests and 25 ODIs he played in 1997. One of the tallest men to bowl for India at 6’6″, Kuruvilla impressed in only his third Test with a five-for against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1997, but fell off the radar soon after. Later he served in various selection panels, heading the India junior selection committee in 2011-12 before being named the Mumbai chief selector in 2012.

Bess admits being dropped was ‘a tough pill to swallow’ after role in Chennai win

George Dobell03-Mar-2021Dom Bess has admitted that being dropped from the England team was “a tough pill to swallow” but said that he accepted, in retrospect, that it might have been the best thing for him.Bess claimed five wickets in the first Test of England’s series in India and said he did not see his omission from the next game coming. But while he said it has been “tough” to watch the last couple of Tests – in which spin bowling has played a prominent role – from the sidelines, he also admitted that the break has “freshened” him and was “probably the best option.”Although Bess claimed five wickets in the first Test, he also struggled with his length and delivered several full tosses. The England management subsequently concluded that, as an inexperienced 23-year-old who had played three Tests in the previous month, he was exhibiting signs of both mental and physical tiredness, and replaced him with Moeen Ali for the second Test.But with every chance of winning a recall, Bess insisted that he is “ready” and “in a great space right now” ahead of Thursday’s fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad.”It was certainly a tough pill to swallow,” Bess said about his omission ahead of the second Test. “I didn’t see it round the corner. Personally, I didn’t think I needed a break. But as time went on, it was probably the best option.”I do think a lot about the game. I’m always trying to get better, whether thinking about the game or doing it physically. The hardest part for me was getting away from it.”I guess the management sort of did it for me. It has freshened me up. I’ve thought about things and then had time to work on them. I look back over the period now and think it’s actually been a real success heading into this last game. I was happy with that break.”Related

• Leach: Bess will be 'more than ready to go' if selected

• Fourth-Test victory would be a 'phenomenal' achievement – Joe Root

• Kohli: 'The defensive aspect of the game has fallen behind'

• Bess' fate sealed by inconsistency and fatigue

• Silverwood 'not worried' about Dom Bess

Joe Root, England’s captain, confirmed that Bess was being considered as a realistic option to return to the side. “He’s been training really well,” Root said. “He’s used time out of game for the last two Tests to work on few things and he looks very good. He’s practised hard and he’s a very good character. If he gets a chance to play, I’m sure he’ll be desperate to exploit the surface if it’s anything like the last two games.”Has his confidence been knocked? I don’t think so. When you do get taken out of the side, it’s really important you look to use the opportunity to evolve as a player and get better all the time. He’s done that; he’s used that time to work on his game and become a better player for it. I think that’s exactly what you want from your players: you want them to go away and try and improve themselves.”Despite his disappointment in missing the last couple of matches, Bess was positive about both Moeen, who replaced him in the side, and the team’s management.”It was actually really nice to see Moeen come back into it and perform the way he did,” Bess said. “He showed the qualities he has. He was quality with how he went about things. As a young spinner, learning from him was really important.”It was a shame to miss out but it’s part and parcel of sport. I had to look for opportunities to get better when I was out of the team. I had to come away from the main stage and look to improve. What was explained to me [was that the decision] was about looking ahead and things I could work on. I definitely took it in my stride in terms of opportunity.”It’s only little things I’ve been working on. It’s making sure I’m in the groove with my timings and making sure my action is running as smoothly as possible. There’s not been too much to search for. And having a bit of a break, as well. If you can, try to get away from it out here, which is hard to do. So, I could just freshen up and hopefully look forward to the last game.”Bess struggled for consistency in the first Test in Chennai•BCCI

While Bess said the tour, as a whole, has contained “positives and negatives”, he also said that he had learned a great deal from the experience.”It’s been, at times, really exciting,” he said. “It’s been a massive learning curve with positives and negatives. I’ve certainly enjoyed bowling on spinning wickets. Potentially, at times, I need to improve and there have been tough times out here. Overall I’ve been pretty happy with how it has come out. But as a youngster, aged 23, I’m always trying to keep striving forward.”Am I ready if I’m selected? I certainly am. I’m in a great space right now to come back in. We’re under a bit of pressure but it’s a great opportunity to perform. I know I’m ready. It’s very exciting if I get the chance to head out with 10 other blokes to try to draw the series.”To draw the series is so, so important. To come back from two heavy defeats would show a lot about our character. To potentially finish on a high and not lose a Test series out here would be a big achievement.”

A tinder-dry Queen’s Park Oval pitch drew comparisons to Kanpur as West Indies and Australia weighed up the possibility of decking their teams with spin when the second Test begins on Sunday

Daniel Brettig in Port-of-Spain15-Apr-2012A tinder-dry Queen’s Park Oval pitch drew comparisons to Kanpur as West Indies and Australia weighed up the possibility of decking their teams with spin when the second Test begins on Sunday.Having initially offered a slightly damp, tacky appearance when viewed by the tourists on their first visit to the ground on Friday, the strip had dried considerably by the time they took a second look the day before the match, while also showing evidence of surface cracking. Oil stains left by the heavy roller gave the wicket a slightly mottled look, and gave Darren Sammy and Michael Clarke much to ponder ahead of a match the hosts must win to stay in the race for the Frank Worrell Trophy.Nathan Lyon and Michael Beer both bowled lengthy spells in the nets, Lyon frequently in discussions with the coach Mickey Arthur, and Clarke said both would be considered. Having not chosen two specialist spin bowlers in the same team even when confronted by the sharply turning Galle pitch in Sri Lanka last September, playing both would be quite a departure for the visitors, and would also force the omission of one of Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus or Peter Siddle – a difficult call in every case.”It [two spinners] is definitely worth thinking about, for sure,” Clarke said. “The wicket looks very dry, yesterday as soon as they took the covers off it looked a bit tacky, but no doubt there’s a big possibility we could play two spinners on that wicket for sure.”Arthur mentioned Kanpur when asked to name a pitch of similar appearance. He was coaching South Africa in 2008 when they were confronted by a sharply spinning track on which India levelled the series at one match apiece. After South Africa were rolled for 121 in the third innings to lose in three days, Kanpur’s officials were warned by the ICC for preparing a strip rated as “poor”, just as Galle’s was last year.The Port-of-Spain pitch has returned a series of low scoring results in recent times, and offered plenty of assistance to spin bowlers. The hosts included the offspin of Shane Shillingford, in addition to Devendra Bishoo’s leg breaks and Narsingh Deonarine’s part-timers, in a squad of 14 in anticipation of more of the same. However its low and variable bounce means that fast bowlers can also reap rewards, provided they are straight and accurate. Shane Watson and Sammy are two such men who will be capable of hitting the same spot ball after ball.”[There has been] a lot of first-class cricket played here [this season] and so far there’s been a result. So we expect this pitch to be one that will have a [result],” Sammy said. “When we play here it is a little bit low as well, so I think bowling straight would be the key.”You’ve got to be accurate and I think that’s what we’re going to look to do. We have Fidel [Edwards], [Kemar] Roach, bowling quick. If they’re accurate, like they were in Barbados, and a few decisions that were close end up in our favour, it could be a different story. We’re looking to go out and play another good Test match, hopefully we can be on the winning side.”We’ve included Shillingford in the line-up, everyone in the 14-man squad is eligible for selection, the chairman is here so we will make some decisions on the best combination to help us win the Test match.”Rain is predicted to intervene on most days of the Test, leaving Clarke to also factor that into his team selection and tactics. “I think rain’s definitely going to play a part, the forecast is for rain for the first three days of the Test match,” Clarke said. “They say the drainage here is very good, and it rained a fair bit yesterday but the ground was still fine to play on. So it’s going to be more the lack of time in the game [that could effect the result]. Come 5pm, I think it’s going to be quite dark as well.”

England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have been unveiled as the top T20 side as the ICC launched their rankings for the shortest format of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2011England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have topped the ICC’s inaugural rankings for the shortest format of the game. England batsman Eoin Morgan tops the batting ratings, Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis is the top bowler and Australia’s Shane Watson the No. 1 allrounder.England have 127 points and are ahead of Sri Lanka, who have 126 in the rankings, announced on Monday. If England win their T20 against India at Eden Gardens on October 29, they will have a four-point lead over Sri Lanka. If they lose, though, they will slip below Sri Lanka and India.”The introduction of rankings for international Twenty20 cricket provides real context to the various series played between member countries on an ongoing basis,” England’s team director Andy Flower said. “Until now we haven’t had the chance to play a large number of Twenty20 Internationals so this will offer a benchmark as to who is performing at international level.”The next four teams – New Zealand (117), South Africa, India and Australia – were separated by only six points. Pakistan, who won the World Twenty20 in 2009, were ranked seventh followed by West Indies, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.Bangladesh, along with Associate Members Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland, which have T20 international status, will join the table as soon as they have played sufficient matches (at least eight T20s since August 2009) to qualify for a ranking.Since August 2009, England played 20 T20s, winning 12, losing six and two no-results. Pakistan played the most matches (24) during the same period, but lost more than 50% of its matches, which contributed to its low rating.Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen were No. 2 and 3 behind Morgan in the rankings for batsmen, while spinners occupy seven of the top ten spots for bowlers. “I believe spin bowlers have adapted to T20 cricket better than most,” Daniel Vettori, who has retired from T20s, said. “To see spinners succeed in a tough environment is great for the game and means bowlers can enjoy Twenty20 cricket, most of the time!”Watson, the No. 1 allrounder, is followed by Shahid Afridi, David Hussey and Mohammad Hafeez. Abdul Razzaq, at No. 10, is the third Pakistan player among the top ten allrounders.

Kent romp to victory by seven wickets after Podmore, Stevens star with ball

ECB Reporters Network08-Sep-2020England Test batsman Zak Crawley hammered an imperious 94-ball century to help Kent to a comfortable seven-wicket Bob Willis Trophy win over Hampshire in Canterbury.Crawley, who stroked 18 boundaries during his 146-minute stay, joined forces with Marcus O’Riordan (52 not out) – his former Tonbridge School team-mate – to mark their maiden first-class partnership with a match-winning second-wicket stand worth 157 as Kent cantered home with a day and 21 overs to spare.Crawley, who suffered an eight-ball duck in the first innings here, reached three figures for only the fifth time in domestic first-class cricket with a rasping pulled four against seamer Ajeet Dale.With the hosts needing only 16 for victory, Crawley blotted his copybook by missing an ambitious sweep against leg-spinner Mason Crane to depart leg before for 105.Jack Leaning was bowled by Dale for a duck during the final throes, but O’Riordan, diligent to the end, saw the job through with an unbeaten 52, reaching his maiden first-class fifty from 121 balls and with six fours.Kent had made a miserable start to their successful pursuit when acting captain Daniel Bell-Drummond became a first-over casualty, bowled for seven after allowing the ball from Ian Holland to spin back onto his stumps and dislodge the off bail.But O’Riordan, playing as Kent’s makeshift opening bat due to Jordan Cox’s issues with stomach cramps, combined with Crawley to add 50 inside 66 minutes.On his competition debut, Crawley should have gone for 35 but saw his lofted, bottom-handed on-drive against Tom Scriven dropped by Dale at wide mid-on and, much to Scriven’s annoyance, parried to the ropes for four.The tall right-hander celebrated the let-off by cracking three more quick-fire boundaries off Scriven to reach a 44-ball 50 with 10 fours.The pair took their run-a-minute stand into three figures inside 24 overs, by which time the classy Crawley was virtually playing see-ball, hit ball.Despite dropping six cordon catches in the opening two days of the game, Kent polished off their win soon after tea to secure their third Willis Trophy victory in five starts. Their only defeat coming in the opening round away to Essex, who had secured their south group title with a nine-wicket triumph over Middlesex at Chelmsford earlier in the day.Hampshire had started day three on their overnight total of 108 for five – for an overall lead in the match of 129 runs – yet failed to bat out the morning session despite a three-hour career-best vigil worth 68 by Scriven.They added only two before Lewis McManus steered Harry Podmore’s lifting leg-cutter to third slip without adding to his 95-ball half-century.Scriven, the 21-year-old all-rounder making his second Willis Trophy appearance, reached his maiden first-class 50 from 96 balls and with nine fours with a rasping square drive against Grant Stewart who, somewhat unusually, opened the bowling ahead of Kent’s leading wicket-taker Darren Stevens.Podmore bagged his first five-wicket return of the campaign in his next over by enticing debutant Scott Currie to follow an away-swinger and edge low to slip.Stevens replaced Stewart at The Nackington Road End after 40 minutes’ play and, as if to make a point to acting skipper Bell-Drummond, struck with his fifth ball by removing Crane after a sliced drive to gully.With Matt Milnes unable to bowl and off the field with a stiff back, Stewart was switched to the Pavilion End to replace Podmore but, despite beating the bat on numerous occasions struggled to find an edge.Kent’s relentless pressure paid dividends, however, when Scriven dragged an attempted straight drive against Stevens straight into the hands of Podmore at mid-on.Stewart finally got his deserved wicket and denied Stevens another five-wicket return when last man Dale edged an attempted push drive through to the keeper.Podmore closed with season’s best figures of 5 for 43 and Stevens returned 4 for 35 and match figures of 9 for 72.