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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.

Jonny Bairstow converted his maiden first-class century into a superb double hundred as Yorkshire took control of their County Championship clash with leaders Nottinghamshire

05-May-2011
ScorecardJonathan Bairstow wasn’t content with just a single hundred so made it a double•Getty Images

Jonny Bairstow converted his maiden first-class century into a superb double hundred as Yorkshire took control of their County Championship clash with leaders Nottinghamshire.The 21-year-old England Lions batsman, who had previously passed fifty 17 times without reaching three figures in 34 first-class matches, hit five sixes and 24 fours in his 292-ball innings before he was bowled for 205. He was assisted by former Nottinghamshire seamer Ryan Sidebottom, who hit an unbeaten 45, while Paul Franks picked up four wickets.Bairstow’s dismissal prompted Yorkshire to declare on an intimidating 534 for 9, but they could only bowl 8.2 overs at Nottinghamshire openers Mark Wagh and Neil Edwards before bad light ended play an hour early, with the hosts 491 behind on 43 without loss.After Yorkshire had batted through the first day in glorious sunshine and with the traditionally seamer-friendly Trent Bridge wicket offering little assistance to the Nottinghamshire attack, the arrival of cloud cover at the start of the day prompted an early clatter of wickets.Having begun the day on 291 for 3, the visitors lost four wickets for 40 runs, with Joe Root nibbling at an away-swinger from Franks to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Chris Read five short of a maiden first-class hundred. Gerard Brophy was bowled by Luke Fletcher in the next over and Franks found some bounce in the pitch to account for Adil Rashid and Richard Pyrah soon after.But with the hosts missing leading wicket-taker Andre Adams, unable to bowl due to an elbow problem, Bairstow proved an immovable presence and passed three figures nervelessly, accelerating as batting conditions eased during the day.Ajmal Shahzad made 18 before a rush of blood saw the England paceman attempt to hit Samit Patel’s left-arm spin for six, only to slice in the air to mid-off. That brought Sidebottom to the crease and he helped Bairstow add 151 in 39 overs for the ninth wicket, breaking a club record against Nottinghamshire that had stood since 1899.Bairstow went from 100 to 150 in only 49 balls as he unveiled a powerful slog-sweep to put a dent in Patel’s bowling figures, including a six that helped him pass 200. He was then yorked by medium-pacer Steven Mullaney off the next ball he faced, making room to hit through the off-side.Although Nottinghamshire survived a testing mini-spell from Shahzad and Sidebottom unscathed, they still require another 342 to avoid the follow-on.

Zimbabwe have taken major steps towards regaining their position in the cricketing hierarchy

Cricinfo staff09-Jun-2010Zimbabwe have taken major steps towards regaining their position in the cricketing hierarchy, of challengers capable of toppling the best sides on their day, and Brendan Taylor who has been at the forefront of the turnaround, has reaffirmed his loyalty to the Zimbabwean cause.”Zimbabwe is my home and it is good place to be in right now,” Taylor told . “I want to support Zimbabwe cricket as much as I can. We’re training hard and trying to give our best to play against Australia, India and Sri Lanka. Hopefully by next year, we will get our Test status back and things here will be normal soon.”We feel the first class structure in Zimbabwe is heading in the right direction. It’s run professionally and we just hope it continues the same way. We have got five teams at the moment and we’re trying to give exposure to the youngsters,” he said.Zimbabwe’s trough in world cricket coincided with the political upheaval in the country which drove several of their leading players away. Taylor was one of the few white cricketers who stuck with the team through the tough phase and spearheaded a few upsets during his time.”Beating Australia (in the first World Twenty20) was a very special moment. They were the world champions at that stage. The last-ball six against Bangladesh in 2006 which gave us series win. It was the closest game I’ve ever played in,” he said.Taylor top-scored in each of Zimbabwe’s three victories in the ongoing tri-series, getting a century and two fifties in the process. He almost single-handedly derailed India’s campaign – an outcome even he is surprised by. “I love Indian cricketers and follow them closely. The present side is slightly out of form. We’re surprised that they have left their main players out. But the current side has some quality cricketers. I’m really surprised that they are out of the tournament.”India and Sri Lanka may have sent depleted sides for the series, and while Taylor admits it made his side compete better, it would have been a good learning experience for Zimbabwe to face full-strength opposition. “That’s [strength of the other teams] not in our hands but I feel a lot happy that India have not fielded their best team. They would have made our task much harder.”At the same time, I would have liked them to be here. It would have been a good experience for us. I have immense respect for players like Yuvraj, Dhoni and Sachin. But we enjoyed playing against the current team. We learnt a lot,” he said.With his recent exploits, Taylor has his sights set on impressing the IPL talent scouts, and if things go his way, he may follow Tatenda Taibu to the lucrative Twenty20 league. “Certainly, every cricketer’s dream is to be a part of the IPL. I know there are two new teams from this year and I have my aspirations to play in the IPL. A few more good performances and I know I can get an IPL contract. It’s my aim to be part of such a well-established tournament,” Taylor said.

“There are quite a few players who have never beaten India in a Test series. It’s quite astounding,” Hazlewood said

Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-20242:42

Why they said it – “It’s been ten years of unfinished business”

Nathan Lyon hopes to make use of the knowledge gained from England’s Tom Hartley during his spell with Lancashire when he comes up against India later this year as Australia look overcome a decade of “unfinished business” against them.Australia have not held the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since 2014-15 when they won 2-0 and that period includes consecutive series defeats on home soil. In 2020-21, India came from 1-0 down after being bowled out for 36 in Adelaide to take the series with famous wins at the MCG and Gabba alongside a stirring draw in Sydney.Related

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A series victory over India is a major missing piece for this generation of the Australia side, with current captain Pat Cummins among those yet to hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, although they did claim the World Test Championship (WTC) title in the one-off contest at The Oval last year.”It’s been ten years of unfinished business, it’s been a long time, and I know we’re extremely hungry to turn things around especially here at home,” Lyon said. “Don’t get me wrong, India is an absolute superstar side and extremely challenging but I’m extremely hungry to turn things around and make sure we get that trophy back.”Feel like we are a different team to a couple of years ago, we are on a journey of becoming a great Australian cricket team. We’re definitely not there but we are along that journey and have been playing some decent cricket.”1:38

Cummins explains why he will miss the September tour to England

Lyon lauded India’s ability to continue to find world-class players, and singled out opener Yashasvi Jaiswal among the newer names. But the offspinner has made use of his time in county cricket this winter to pick up some intel.”I haven’t come across him [Jaiswal] yet, but that will be a massive challenge for all us bowlers,” he said. “The way he played against England, I watched that quite closely and thought that was quite amazing. I had some really good chats with Tom Hartley about different ways he went about it to different guys which I found quite interesting.””I love talking about cricket, so if I can talk to someone who has played Test cricket I might be able to pick up something I’m not aware of. There’s so much knowledge floating around this game that we can always tap into.”Lyon knows that could also work in reverse for next year’s Ashes, but asked if he thought the conversations about India would prove valuable, he added: “If the plans we’ve spoken about come to true, then I think it will be.”Along with Lyon, Josh Hazlewood is another survivor from the 2014-15 series and conceded Australia’s recent results against India was a significant hole in their record.Tom Hartley and Nathan Lyon have a chat in the field•Getty Images

“There are quite a few players who have never beaten India in a Test series. It’s quite astounding to say that,” he said. “That’s one we need to tick off, definitely, in particular at home – we should pretty much win every series here at home.”That last series we obviously bowled them out for 36 in Adelaide and we thought here we go, [we are] back at home [and] confident on these grounds. People say we played India B in that last Test, but they can sometimes be stronger than the best team. They’ve got unbelievable depth in all formats and we are starting to see that now.”The five Tests against India will also be key in shaping the race for the WTC final at Lord’s in June 2025 with Australia aiming to defend their title and it’s something that has extra significance for Hazlewood who missed last year’s final.”It’s always in the background, we have the table up [to see] where we are sitting and what we need to tick off,” he said. “For me, it’s a big one because I didn’t get to play the last one in England so that’s a burning one for me.”Hazlewood will be part of the upcoming T20I and ODI tour of the UK. He is then looking at playing one Sheffield Shield match before the first Test against India. Lyon, meanwhile, is earmarking up to three Shield outings for New South Wales early in the season.

A look at the 2023 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy teams, key matches and players to watch

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2023

Diary dates

April 22: Season starts with all eight teams in action. Sunrisers, winless over the three-year history of the competition, take on two-time champions Southern Vipers at the Ageas Bowl, Thunder host South East Stars, defending champions Northern Diamonds are home to Western Storm and The Blaze, the newly named Nottinghamshire side which has replaced Loughborough-based Lightning, welcome Central Sparks.
July 22: Southern Vipers vs Northern Diamonds. We’ll have to wait until well into the competition before these sides meet for the first time since the 2022 final, in which Diamonds prevented a Vipers three-peat. By then we’ll have a good idea of where each side stands this year. Diamonds are unlikely to lose as many players to England duty through June and July. These sides play each other again immediately after the August pause for the Hundred.
September 21: Play-off between the sides placed second and third after the group stage to determine who faces the top side in the final.
September 24: The final. Will it be another Vipers-Diamonds clash, as has been the case over the first three seasons, or will another team break into the reckoning?

Key signings

Central Sparks have secured Australian batting allrounder Erin Burns from May until the start of August, bolstering their addition of left-arm quick Katie George (Western Storm) and top-order batter Chloe Brewer (South East Stars) during the off-season.Diamonds have lost a lot of experience with Linsey Smith going to Vipers and Nat Sciver-Brunt to The Blaze. They added batter Rebecca Duckworth to their line-up from Thunder but it is Chloe Tryon, the South African batting allrounder, who looms as the biggest fillip during a substantial stint from April-August.South East Stars have brought in allrounder Paige Scholfield from Vipers after Eva Gray’s move to Sunrisers.Southern Vipers welcome back Smith, their Kia Super League OG, from Diamonds but have lost wicketkeeper Carla Rudd (retired), Scholfield and Tara Norris (Thunder).Sunrisers received a much-needed boost when they managed to sign Dane van Niekerk, the hugely experienced former South Africa captain, following her international retirement. She will be with them from May until late July, when she joins Oval Invincibles for the Hundred, while Gray bolsters the bowling stocks.The Blaze Along with Nat Sciver-Brunt, Blaze have added legspinner Sarah Glenn and South Africa allrounder Nadine de Klerk after an impressive off-season recruitment drive.Thunder have also been active in the market, securing former Vipers left-arm quick Norris while retaining former West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin. Naomi Dattani and Fi Morris have also joined from Sunrisers and Western Storm respectively.Western Storm have handed Academy product Sophia Smale her first professional contract after a breakout season in the Women’s Hundred, where she was Oval Invincibles’ leading wicket-taker.

Players to watch

Central Sparks: Grace Scrivens, England’s captain, may have taken the clutch wicket that edged her side past Australia and into the Under-19 T20 World Cup final, but that narrow victory was set up by legspinner Hannah Baker’s 3 for 10 which allowed England to defend a paltry total of 99 and showed she has plenty of gumption.Diamonds: Fast bowler Lizzie Scott was also part of the England U19 team which finished as T20 World Cup runners-up to India in January, building on her performance in last year’s final where she took the important wicket of No.3 Georgia Elwiss in just her third RHFT appearance.South East Stars: Tash Farrant’s season was ruined by a back stress fracture last year, just as she had worked her way back into the England side, so it will be interesting to map her return.Southern Vipers: Opener Ella McCaughan played a couple of excellent knocks in 2022, including a half-century against Lightning and 47 in a 98-run stand with opening partner Maia Bouchier their play-off victory against Stars.Sunrisers: Grace Scrivens is a player the Sunrisers can build their hopes of winning some games on and the confidence she has gained from leading her country at U19 level could see her take the next step sooner rather than later.The Blaze: Grace Ballinger, the 21-year-old left-arm seamer, was joint-leading wicket-taker for Lightning last season alongside the experienced Kirstie Gordon and has been awarded her first full professional contract this year.Thunder: Left-arm swing bowler Tara Norris, who represents United States, won wider international recognition as the first player to take a five-wicket haul at the WPL, although Vipers fans are familiar with what she can bring to a side after she finished 2022 as the competition’s third-highest wicket-taker with 12 at 19.75 and an economy rate of 4.08.Western Storm Experience gained from the Hundred and England’s runner-up finish at the Under-19 T20 World Cup stand Sophia Smale in good stead to make the next, exciting step in her career.

Managing director of England men’s cricket to be replaced by Andrew Strauss on interim basis

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2022Ashley Giles has been sacked as England men’s director of cricket amid the fallout from the team’s dismal Ashes campaign in Australia.Andrew Strauss has agreed to step into the role on an interim basis and will put in place arrangements for England’s three-Test tour of West Indies, which gets underway on February 24 with the first Test in Antigua on March 8, while the search begins for a full-time replacement.The changes follow an ECB board meeting on Tuesday to discuss an end-of-tour report penned by Giles and head coach Chris Silverwood into England’s 4-0 Ashes defeat and presented to Strauss. England’s campaign was beset by questions over players’ fitness levels and reports of a drinking culture within the touring group.As the changes were announced on Wednesday evening, Tom Harrison, the ECB Chief Executive Officer, said: “I’m extremely grateful to Ashley for his commitment and contribution to England men’s cricket over the last three years… He’s highly respected throughout the game and has made a huge contribution to the ECB and England Men’s cricket. Off the back of a disappointing men’s Ashes this winter we must ensure we put in place the conditions across our game to enable our Test team to succeed.”Related

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Strauss has experience of the role, having been Giles’ predecessor as England director of cricket for three years from 2015-18 before leaving to care for his two children in the wake of the tragic death of his wife, Ruth. He takes over from his current position overseeing the ECB’s cricket committee.Giles said that the past couple of years, which have included the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting bio-secure touring bubbles, had been “incredibly challenging”.”Despite these challenges, over the past three years, we have become 50-over World Champions, the top ranked T20I side in the world, we remain the fourth-ranked Test team and our Under-19s have just reached the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years,” Giles said. “I wish all our players and staff great success for the future. I’m now looking forward to spending some time with my family before looking at the next challenge.”Silverwood’s job is also under scrutiny in the wake of England’s Ashes failure, although no mention was made of his position as the ECB announced Giles’ departure. Giles appointed Silverwood as head coach in 2019 before giving him control of selection last summer following the removal of Ed Smith as national selector.Alec Stewart has emerged as a potential caretaker-coach for the Caribbean tour, should Silverwood follow Giles out the door.Stewart retired in 2003 with a then-England record of 133 Test caps after a career epitomised by his no-nonsense professional standards which, given the disciplinary issues raised at the end of the Ashes series, could prove a vital factor if he joins the England set-up – even on a short-term basis – ahead of the ECB’s proposed “reset” this year.While no direct approach has yet been made, the Daily Mail reports that Stewart, currently director of cricket at Surrey, has shown an interest in stepping into the breach when the Test squad departs later this month.The alternative may be to promote one of England’s current assistant coaches in the short term. Paul Collingwood is the likelier candidate, given that Graham Thorpe is also expected to lose his job following the Ashes debacle. Thorpe’s fate may have been sealed by a bizarre incident at the end of the fifth Test in Hobart, when police had to be called to break up an early-morning drinking session, reportedly after Thorpe had lit a cigar indoors.Stewart was in the running to succeed Trevor Bayliss as England’s head coach in 2019, but withdrew from the process for family reasons. Other names in the frame for the long-term role include Gary Kirsten, who threw his hat into the ring in December, and maybe even Australia’s current head coach, Justin Langer, whose own future in that role may be decided this week.The circumstances for the ECB could hardly be less conducive to long-term decision-making, however, given that the board is currently without a chairman following the resignation of Ian Watmore last year. Harrison, the CEO, is also under intense pressure, given the mounting anger about the Ashes performance, and following an unconvincing appearance in Parliament last month, when the sport’s response to the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal came under renewed scrutiny.

ESPNcricinfo’s updates from the 42nd game of IPL 2020

Debayan Sen24-Oct-2020