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Selectors take call in consultation with team management to manage allrounder’s workload and lessen his chances of injury

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-20170:54

Chopra: Resting Pandya makes sense

India allrounder
Hardik Pandya has been pulled out of the squad for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka, beginning on November 16.The BCCI said the selection committee had taken the decision in consultation with the team management to reduce the risk of injury to Pandya. “Considering Mr Pandya’s heavy recent workload, the decision was made to negate any possibility of a major injury concern. Mr Pandya will undergo a period of strength at conditioning at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.”

India squad for the first two Tests

Virat Kohli (capt), KL Rahul, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Pandya, 24, played 30 out of 33 matches for India, across formats, since the start of the Champions Trophy. In fact, since June, no one has bowled more overs in ODI cricket than his 147.2 overs. Pandya struck a fifty on Test debut against Sri Lanka in July and followed up with a boundary-laden century in Pallekele.His contributions in limited-overs cricket, however, were arguably greater: he helped India dominate Australia over five ODIs and was the Player of the Series.While Pandya being rested may reduce India’s firepower, the decision was in line with the rotation policy that has been followed in recent times. The selectors have kept R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India’s frontline Test spinners, on the sidelines in ODIs and T20Is, while fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have been treated in much the same way.Of these bowlers, only Jadeja is playing the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy, which began on Thursday, a week ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. However, several of India’s first-choice batsmen – Cheteshwar Pujara, M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul – and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha turned out for their state teams.Virat Kohli might also be rested for the third Test against Sri Lanka, and perhaps the limited-overs matches that follow, in order to keep the India captain fit and refreshed for the tour of South Africa in January 2018.”Virat has played the maximum cricket in the world in the last one year. So he needs some rest at some point,” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo last month. “They [team management] firmly believe they will win [the] South Africa series and they want to be fully prepared. The BCCI will support and whatever they ask we will help out.”

Rangpur Riders fell short by 11 runs in their chase of 167, despite having clawed their way back into the game with a terrific end-overs display with the ball

The Report by Mohammad Isam08-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTaskin Ahmed bowled an over in which three wickets fell•Raton Gomes/BCB

Taskin Ahmed bowled Chittagong Vikings to their first win of the season, helping restrict Rangpur Riders to 155 for 8 in their chase of 167. He took three wickets, including two in succession in the 13th over, and ran out Ravi Bopara off the next ball with his boot to suck the life out of Rangpur’s chase. Luke Ronchi had given Chittagong a blistering start with the third-fastest BPL fifty.Rangpur eventually fell 11 runs short with some of their batsmen getting set but not converting. Left-arm medium-pacer Luis Reece took two for 26 in his four overs.Ronchi made 78 off only 35 balls, hammering seven sixes. But after his dismissal, Chittagong slowed down, adding only 54 runs in the last 10 overs.Ronchi’s belligerence A whip of his wrist gave Ronchi his first six, off the third ball of the match. He hit another six in the same over, off Mashrafe Mortaza, before he struck three fours in the second over, bowled by Sohag Gazi. Ronchi, in the next over, struck Nazmul Islam over mid-on and cover for consecutive sixes before cutting past point for a four. That over finished with a six over long-off, as Ronchi lifted Chittagong to 50 runs in the first three overs, a BPL record.When Mashrafe claimed Soumya Sarkar’s wicket in the fifth over, he had faced only seven deliveries out of the 28 in the opening partnership. Ronchi struck two more sixes during his 40-run, second wicket stand with Dilshan Munaweera.One boundary in 10 oversWhen Bopara had Ronchi caught at long-on, Chittagong were 99 for 2 in the ninth over. Ronchi had made 78 of those runs, having struck seven fours and seven sixes.Munaweera struck Samiullah Shenwari for a six over midwicket at the end of the 10th over, but there was no boundary for 50 balls from that point.Munaweera fell in the 11th over after which Misbah and Luis Reece added 19 runs in the five overs of their fourth-wicket stand. Anamul Haque could only manage 17 off 14 balls. The only boundary in the last 10 overs came from Misbah, who was unbeaten on 31 off 32 balls.Setting up the chaseRangpur lost Johnson Charles in the third ball of their chase, before Ziaur Rahman was dismissed after hitting a six and a four. Mohammad Mithun was the third wicket to fall in the Powerplay, undone by Reece for a 15-ball 23.Shahriar Nafees and Bopara tried to keep up with the required run-rate, adding 49 runs in the following 6.4 overs, putting Rangpur in control.Taskin rips through RangpurIn the 13th over, Nafees was knocked over by an accurate yorker from Taskin, having made 26 off 23 balls. He then removed Shenwari next ball after he clipped a catch to Misbah at midwicket. Off the next ball, Taskin’s boot came in the way of a Thisara Perera drive, which caught Bopara short at the non-striker’s end.Taskin then took his third wicket by having Perera caught at deep midwicket, reducing Rangpur to 119 for 7 in the 15th over.Subashis takes on Mashrafe With the match entering its decisive stages, emotions got the better of Mashrafe and Subashis Roy. Mashrafe dug out a yorker, and gestured to the bowler to get back. Subashis charged at Mashrafe, with Sikandar Raza running in to separate the pair. Subashis later apologised to Mashrafe.

The Ashes are gone and the prospect of another whitewash looms for England. There will be a huge number of visiting supporters in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test, so what do they need to do to bring some festive cheer?

George Dobell21-Dec-2017Stick or twistOne of the most obvious differences between the sides has been the quality of the spin attacks. While Nathan Lyon has offered both control (he has an economy rate of 2.49 runs per over) and bite (he has 14 wickets at 26.07), Moeen Ali has been both innocuous (three wickets at 105.33) and relatively expensive (3.29 runs per over). As a result, England’s seamers have had to work even harder and the variation in England’s attack – which was minimal any way – has been reduced even further. And while, in the past, Moeen’s batting has compensated for his limitations as a bowler, in this series he is averaging 19.33 and struggling against both pace and spin.There are mitigating factors. He suffering an injury – a cut to his spinning finger – in his opening spell of the first Test which clearly hampered his performance. But if he’s not fit to bowl, or not fit to bowl to the level required, it seems legitimate to ask questions about his place in the side.England’s only other spin-bowling option on the tour is Mason Crane. The team management have insisted on several occasions that they would have no qualms about drafting the 20-year-old legspinner into the side but, as a modest batsman – though a brave one – his inclusion would further imbalance the side and lengthen the tail. His performance in the warm-up game in Perth – he was thrashed for 69 in nine overs during the second innings – might not have done him many favours, either. The example of Simon Kerrigan, whose career might be defined by his experience on Test debut, probably don’t help Crane’s case, either.All of which begs the question: if Crane isn’t considered now, why was he brought on the tour? If it was just to gain experience, shouldn’t the selectors have also brought along a spinner who might have been deemed a viable alternative to Moeen? Had Samit Patel, with his batting ability, been included he would surely have had a great chance of playing in Melbourne.Ultimately it remains likely that England will retain patience with Moeen. He has been a major part of the side for a few years now and, with his finger now healed, he should be capable of more than he has so far delivered. He needs a good finish to the series, though. Ashes campaigns tend to bookend careers and his is looking more vulnerable than most right now.Find an edgeThere has been a wearying familiarity to England’s recent overseas performances. They have now spent an average of 158 overs in the field in the opposition’s first innings of their last eight away Tests. That not only means that the opposition are amassing vast, match-defining totals – England have lost seven of those Tests – but it may also serve to tire and dispirit the batsmen before they respond. Could it even be a factor in Alastair Cook’s decline?To that end, they need to find a way to give their attack more wicket-taking edge. One option might be to draft Mark Wood into the side in Melbourne. While Wood’s most recent Test performances did little to suggest he had any more pace than Woakes, he does seem to be inching back to his best and produced a couple of sharp spells in the warm-up match in Richardson Park. Whether he is fit enough to get through a Test remains to be seen, but he will train with the squad on Friday and could well come into consideration if, as expected Craig Overton, is ruled out with a cracked rib. There are other options. Tom Curran could also come into the side – in place of Overton or Stuart Broad – and, while he is not blessed with a huge amount of pace, he has a variety of other skills that render him a valuable bowler. Mason Crane might, at a push, also be considered ahead of Moeen (see above).The simplest change might be to give the new ball to Woakes ahead of Broad. With Broad failing to gain much lateral movement, it might make sense to allow Woakes, with his extra pace and ability to gain some swing, the chance to use the Kookaburra ball at its most helpful.
Whatever they do, it is worth trying something a bit different. While they appear reluctant to stray from their ‘bowl dry and wait for mistakes’ policy, the evidence of the last year or so is that it isn’t working. And if they keep trying the same old tactic, they’ll probably end up with the same old result.Mark Wood struck twice in the morning•Getty Images

See Cook find formUnder normal circumstances, a batsman who had failed to reach 40 in their most recent 10 Test innings – and only once reached 25 – would be under severe pressure for their place. But Alastair Cook has not had a normal career and England are not about to give up on him. They are in desperate need of him finding some form, though. Only once in the series have he and Stoneman posted an opening partnership as high as 30 (they put on 53 together in Adelaide) and, as one of the two most experienced batsmen in the top six, it was always likely that, if England were to succeed on this trip, Cook would have to score heavily. It was probably always an optimistic plan, though. Now in his seventh Ashes series, Cook has averaged 40 in just one (he averaged 127.66 in 2010-11) and in five other attempts, including this one, he has failed to average 30. In light of such figures – plus the relative inexperience of Stoneman and the possibility of injuries – it seems baffling that the selectors didn’t include a reserve opening batsman in the squad.There are few realistic alternatives, with Ben Foakes and Gary Ballance the other batsmen in the squad who could come into the side. While Liam Livingstone and Joe Clarke, from the Lions squad, have remained in Australia on holiday, the Lions opening batsmen have returned to the UK. Sam Robson, the Middlesex opener, is in Sydney though and could be called upon if deemed necessary.Realistically, though, Cook has earned the right to a prolonged spell of patience and has shown previously that he can claw his way back from grim runs of form. This feels different, though, and you wonder if his form in the final two Tests of the series might define the next phase of his career. Aged 33 on Christmas Day, he is young enough to come again.Push onA look at the batting averages of the two sides tells the story. While Australia have six men averaging over 40 (and three over 70), England have just two. And while an Australian batsman has scored a century in each Test, England have only scored centuries in Perth. As Mark Stoneman put it: “In the first two games, we made 50s and they made 100s. And in Perth we made hundreds and they made double-hundreds.”The mantra from the England team in recent days has been ‘if we can make 50, we can make 150 by repeating the behaviours that got us 50.’ There may be some truth in that, too, with Stoneman, Joe Root and James Vince all twice making half-centuries without going on to register a match-shaping innings. But such is the relentless nature of the Australia attack there have rarely been periods when England’s batsmen could feel they had weathered the storm. It just keeps coming at them.One thing they have learned from the first three Tests, however, is the need to be ruthless when they do get themselves in. So whereas Steve Smith refused to be tempted into chasing wide or short balls during his marathon effort in Brisbane, Dawid Malan has twice been guilty of failing to fully capitalise on strong platforms. Malan has been England’s best player on the trip but, if they want to turn opportunities into victories, such foundations will have to be ruthlessly capitalised upon.Joe Root and Stuart Broad were in a spot of bother before lunch•Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Work out if Broad is fitWhile the England management have played down the extent of Stuart Broad’s left knee issue, he did have a scan ahead of the Perth Test and his performances are a concern. He has, at present, taken just five wickets at an average of 61.80 in the series while he looks as if he is batting too high at No. 10. While he hasn’t bowled badly, a drop in pace and absence of much lateral movement have rendered him without obvious weapons. His figures in Perth – none for 142 – were the worst of his career.
So, is he hampered by injury or is this part of a general decline that has seen him fail to take a five-wicket haul since January 2016 or even a four-wicket haul this year? His Test bowling average in 2017 is 39.48. In the same period Anderson, bowling against the same batsmen on the same surfaces, is averaging 16.86.If Broad is carrying any sort of injury, it might be best to rest him for the Melbourne Test at least and allow him to recover. He is only 31, after all. He should have a couple of good years left in him. But if there is no injury and this is the new normal, he faces a huge fight to regain the pace and movement that made him such a destructive bowler.

India couldn’t dismiss Dean Elgar at all, but found a way around him to complete their third Test win in South Africa

The Report by Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg27-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
India couldn’t out Dean Elgar at all, but found a way around him to complete their third Test win in South Africa. He was ridiculed on the third evening for a short ball that hit him in the face and caused an interruption in the play, but Elgar tried his darnedest – in vain – to deny India. The visitors were efficient and ruthless even as Elgar and Hashim Amla went more than half the day without losing a wicket and added 119 of the 241 required for the second wicket. India waited and waited for the first breakthrough without giving away free runs, and once the wicket came they swooped in on the kill. The last nine wickets fell for 53 runs.As at Lord’s 2014, Ishant Sharma began the slide with a mid-afternoon spell of 7-2-15-2, but here the load was shared. His victims were big: Amla and Faf du Plessis. Jasprit Bumrah was equally impressive in his nine-over spell that followed up with wickets of AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock. Once the two were taken off, Mohammed Shami came back from an average morning with quick, full and accurate bowling to run through the tail.This was one of India’s great wins in Test cricket as they came here beleaguered, having lost the series, and were presented with a treacherous surface. They got most of their selections right, made the bold move of batting first, batted with extreme courage and determination with contributions all around, including a couple of 30s from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.Having set South Africa 241, they would have looked at an easy job, but there were hiccups. Play was suspended 19 minutes before stumps on the third evening as the umpires were concerned about the players’ safety. After meetings, it was decided the pitch would be given a chance on the fourth morning, but overnight and early-morning rain pushed India’s quest for a win back by an hour.The pitch did show signs it had settled down a little with the uneven bounce becoming a lesser concern for the batsmen than the seam movement. Elgar took eight blows on the body, including four on the third evening. Amla was rapped on the gloves by length balls a couple of times. Between them they were beaten 26 times, but they kept batting on. Elgar had to keep getting attention on his forearm. Amla wore reinforced gloves. Inch by inch they took South Africa closer.Elgar showed a lot of ticker in not getting perturbed by the number of blows he took. He showed great judgement in leaving the ball, didn’t follow the ones that seamed away from him, and kept nudging away ones and twos. There were a few lucky runs between the slips and the gullies, but you need that in these highly unusual circumstances and conditions.Amla was more in control of what he was doing, shuffling well across to know what lines to leave and then also opening up the leg side for runs. India tried going behind his legs, but his bat kept coming down in time. The punch to balls higher than his waist, a shot almost unique to Amla, continued to be his friend. In his 40s, when Amla got stuck and scored just two runs off 39 balls, the punch came to his rescue and saw him through to a second fifty in the match.Elgar’s method was different. When India put together a spell of 25 balls for just two runs, he ended it with a hoick over square leg. Elgar was not there to look pretty. He was there to just be. As long as he could be. When he reached his fifty, after accepting congratulations from Amla and the crowd, he quietly knocked the left side of his chest, then his thigh pad twice, and again his chest, his heart. He had shown enough of it.India played the waiting game. This was a mature spell of play. When not much was happening they sought to shut down the scoring. Hardik Pandya did a job too, bowling six overs for 15. If the worst happened, India wanted to be in the game by the time the new ball was taken.By the time Ishant was brought back about 25 minutes before tea, South Africa needed 117 runs and the second new ball would be available in 28 overs. Having looked to get Ama behind his legs because of his shuffle, India now had a short midwicket in place. Ishant, the rare bowler pitching balls on a good length, was now rewarded. For the second time in the Test, Amla failed to keep a clip to leg down, and Pandya at short midwicket accepted the catch.As it happens in fourth innings, more so on pitches like these, the new batsmen find it incredibly difficult to bat. This was India’s moment. They couldn’t afford another partnership. South Africa needed one more man to bat out of his skin to add to the efforts of Elgar and Amla. De Villiers was the man who could run away with it. Bumrah, though, oproduced a ball that only a settled batsman could have avoided. It reared off a length, and held its line, and the edge was taken at gully.On the other side of tea, Ishant and Bumrah did their one-two again. Ishant got one to nip back in and stay low too to hit du Plessis’ stumps. Quinton de Kock grabbed a golden duck with Bumrah bowling quick and straight at his stumps. The pace and efficiency of this four-pronged attack was too much for the rest. Elgar, who carried his bat with 86 not out off 240 balls of pure grit, and Lungi Ngidi fought hard with the last-wicket stand of 16, but they were only delaying the inevitable.

Kusal Mednis will come into the Sri Lankan T20I squad in place of the injured Kusal Perera

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Feb-2018Kusal Perera has been ruled out of the T20 internationals against Bangladesh, and has been replaced in the squad by Kusal Mendis. Perera had suffered a side strain while batting in Sri Lanka’s third ODI of the tri-nation series that preceded the Tests, and had returned home for treatment. Although he was named in the T20 squad, he has not traveled with the team to Bangladesh.”According to medical advice, Perera needs more time to recover from the side strain,” an SLC release said. This is Perera’s second injury over the past year. In June he had pulled a hamstring while batting in the Champions Trophy, and was out of competitive cricket until November.Mendis, his replacement, has been in excellent Test form, but does not have an enviable T20I record. From eight international innings in the format, Mendis has a high score of 22, and a strike rate of 123. It is possible he will not play in the top order, with Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal all jostling for positions. Mendis last played a T20I in February last year.The first of two games will be played in Mirpur on Thursday, before the action moves to Sylhet for Sunday.

The review of the code of conduct will seek to clearly define what the spirit of the game is, identify what is acceptable behaviour, and assess whether the offences are being dealt with appropriately

Sidharth Monga29-Mar-20182:28

The Rough Side: A brief history of ball-tampering

Ball tampering, currently a level 2 offence, will most certainly be considered a graver indiscretion as ICC reviews its code of conduct following recent poor behaviour from players, which culminated in the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test between South Africa and Australia. Like other things, handling of the ball and what is considered legal will go through a thorough reassessment and will be defined more clearly. The review of the code of conduct will seek to clearly define what the spirit of the game is, identify what is acceptable behaviour, and assess whether the offences are being dealt with with appropriate seriousness and handed appropriate penalties.Player behaviour has been an issue for years of late with ICC introducing a demerit points system, which stick to a player’s record for 24 months. It has clearly not been a big enough deterrent. A review of the code, the ICC CEO David Richardson said, was imminent but the recent events have necessitated urgent action. The matter was supposed to be discussed at ICC meetings in April, but will be dealt with alacrity now. This was an appropriate time and a great opportunity for the ICC to draw a line in the sand, Richardson said.”We have seen a number of incidents of poor player behaviour in recent weeks including things like some ugly sledging, abusive language, send-offs, dissent against umpire decisions, we had a walk-off in the tri-series in Sri Lanka, and now this ball-tampering episode in the latest series,” Richardson said. “In fact player behaviour and player conduct was already on our agenda for the April meeting, but I think what happened in Cape Town has certainly created an additional sense of urgency that something needs to be done.”The review of the code of conduct will be carried out by a group that will involve the ICC’s cricket committee, the MCC, and former players who according to the ICC played the game in the right spirit. Current players will also be represented. Richardson emphasised the need for getting on board former players with repute. “Players from the past that we think have epitomised the way the game should be played… Names that come to mind immediately are Allan Border, Anil Kumble, Shaun Pollock, Courtney Walsh… these are all players that played with aggression, passion. Richie Richardson will be another one. He was brilliant when he was captain of West Indies. These are players that played with passion and aggression and determination but never never overstepped the mark. Never were abusive. Never resorted to personal sledging. And – to my knowledge anyway – no tampering of the ball.”Richardson said he was taken aback by the enormity of the reaction the specific incident of ball tampering has received. “It has been an eye opener for me, that, ‘Hang on, ball tampering around the world is considered cheating.’ And if we are going to take the attitude that everyone does it, if we allow a little bit of lip balm on occasion, raise the quarter seam on another, then where do we draw the line? Is that okay and using sandpaper is not? We probably need to look at it again. Let’s be absolutely clear what we mean when we say ball tampering is not allowed. And what we mean by ball tampering.”Richardson admitted the penalty available for ball tampering in this instance – maximum of a one-Test ban for captain Steven Smith – handicapped the ICC a little. He said that was not the case when the playing conditions were first formulated. “It is only subsequently that we have come to realise that, ‘Hang on, the world, not only Australia, regards ball tampering in a very serious light. That, I think we identified as the need to look at the level of the penalty imposed specific to ball tampering.”The ICC’s history with controlling ball tampering has been eventful with officials mostly being aware of a certain level of tampering they felt they could live with. “The way the match officials have looked at it is, we have been aware of it,” Richardson said. “When it became obvious that some of the teams were doing things to the ball that they shouldn’t, ICC directed the umpires to conduct regular inspections of the ball. At one stage we were inspecting the ball at the end of every over. This is going back to the early 2000s.”Then there was a feeling that we have got it under control a bit, and maybe they were inspecting the ball on irregular occasions. They still do that. They are trying to enforce but it is very difficult to impose. I remember Steve Bucknor used to always sniff the ball for sunscreen or all that on the ball. I think we are aware that ball tampering to some degree takes place.”In recent times we are getting a sense that teams might be going to more extraordinary lengths to tamper with the ball. Australia in Cape Town was an example of that. As I said it is very difficult to impose but what is more difficult is when you accuse the player of tampering with the ball, you are effectively accusing him of cheating. So the match officials are reluctant to step in unless they are absolutely sure. At international level, they are so many cameras in the game, if they can help us in identifying them – I don’t think we should go out of the way and instruct television crews to specifically look for it – but when it becomes apparent then we need to take strict action.”In the short term, Richardson said, it was important to identify and define these offences so that it is easier to implement them. “I think it will take a longer time to implement a culture of respect,” Richardson said. “That doesn’t happen overnight. So that might take a little bit longer, certainly I don’t see there will be total revamp of code but being clear in knowing what do we mean when we say ball tampering and what do we mean when we say you can’t use abusive language.”In my view, we can be more definitive in those regards. Look we can say if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s what we can do short term but as we say, implementing it will take a bit longer.”

Kevin Sharp, former batting mentor to England captain, sees encouraging attributes in Worcestershire prodigy

George Dobell06-Apr-2018
Joe Clarke could be the new Joe Root, according to Root’s former batting mentor.Kevin Sharp, for many years a player and coach at Yorkshire, worked with Root as a developing player. Now head coach of Worcestershire, Sharp believes 21-year-old Clarke shares many of the same attributes as the England captain and feels he would do well if picked for the Test team this summer.”Yes, he could be the new Joe Root,” Sharp told ESPNcricinfo. “He reminds me a lot of Joe Root’s credentials.”I met Joe Root as a 12-year-old and he had something special straight away. I knew that from day one. The way he went about his tasks, the way he talked about the game and the way he went about planning: he was always planning for the next level.”Joe Clarke’s the same. He’s a fine young player. He wants to play all types of cricket for England. He’s very self-driven.”A few years ago I told Joe Root to look out for a guy called Joe Clarke. He said ‘All right. OK then.”Clarke is clearly a huge fan of Root. During the days when the England and England Lions squads trained together in Australia during the Ashes tour, Clarke could be seen sitting in the closest net to Root as he batted and watching his every move intently. And, while Clarke did not score especially heavily on the Lions tour in the Caribbean, he redeemed himself with scores of 46, 71 and 112 in the North v South games. He had previously become the first teenage Lions player since Root.With England struggling to find much consistency in their middle-order batting since Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen left the team, Clarke could even himself in the Test team within weeks. He is clearly highly thought of by the likes of Andy Flower and, if he starts the county season well, he will have given himself an excellent opportunity to push for a middle-order spot.”It wouldn’t surprise me if he was picked,” Sharp said. “He would do well. He believes in himself, he’s hungry and he concentrates well. It absolutely wouldn’t be a problem if he got picked. He wouldn’t let himself or anybody down.”Of more concern to Worcestershire could be the fact that Clarke is out of contract at the club at the end of the season. Counties can make 28-day approaches to players (that means they can notify the county of a player who is out of contract at the end of a season and inform them they wish to speak to that player in 28 days) from April 10 this year and Clarke is likely to have several big-budget suitors.It may be relevant that he retains aspirations to keep wicket – a skill he feels could help him when it comes to England selection – and his ability to do so at New Road is blocked by the excellence of Ben Cox.

Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan aced the chase of 188 with no fuss to knock Delhi Daredevils out

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu10-May-2018
On top of the world: Rishabh Pant scored a century off 56 balls•BCCI

Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant smoked an unbeaten 128 off 63 balls – the highest score by an Indian in T20s – but another Delhi boy Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson stole his thunder and ensured Sunrisers Hyderabad became the first team to progress to the playoffs.The result also pushed Daredevils a step closer to the precipice. Their chances of making the playoffs are now exceedingly slim.On another night, Pant’s blistering assault may have been match-winning. After being part of two run-outs, he single-handedly took on Sunrisers’ attack like an action hero would treat a bunch of villains. A 36-ball half-century made way for a 56-ball century. By the time he finished, Daredevils had smashed 135 off their last 10 overs to swell the total to 187 for 5.On a typically slow Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, the chase ought to have been a challenging one, but Dhawan scored his second half-century of the season and Williamson hit his sixth to make light work of it. They added an unbroken 176 for the second wicket – the highest stand for Sunrisers – to usher their team home with nine wickets and seven balls to spare.Daredevils’ go-slow
Sunrisers’ sensational attack had limited Mumbai Indians to 52 for 3 – the lowest 10-over score this season – while defending 118 against Mumbai Indians last month. They repeated the feat again, against Daredevils on Thursday night. Shakib Al Hasan found grip and turn with the new ball to dismiss Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy off successive balls. Pant denied Shakib a hat-trick and instead went onto hit a hat-trick of off-side boundaries to greet Siddarth Kaul into the attack. Shreyas Iyer, at the other end, laboured to three off eight balls, before he became the victim of a terrible mix-up with Pant.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Don’t mess with the angry Pant
Harshal Patel, who was promoted to No. 5, ahead of Glenn Maxwell and Vijay Shankar, injected some urgency into the innings with a brace of sixes off slower balls. Another piece of sloppy running, however, resulted in the run-out of Harshal for 24 off 17 balls. It was the fourth time in four games that Pant was involved in a run-out. Having turned his back on his partner for a second time on Thursday, a fuming Pant unleashed his pent-up frustration on Sunrisers’ attack. The first ball he faced after the Harshal run-out was banished over the midwicket boundary. It brought up his fifty off 36 balls; he then needed only 20 more for his next fifty.Pant’s ferocity put Maxwell in the firing line at the non-striker’s end. He then stretched out, met the pitch of a wrong’un from Rashid Khan, the No.1 T20 bowler right now, and disdainfully reverse-swatted it away to the backward point boundary. Pant, however, hit his peak when he flipped Bhuvneshwar Kumar over short third man not just once but thrice. Pant had Maxwell, a master of trick shots himself, punching his gloves and Williamson smiling wryly.Bhuvneshwar had Maxwell holing out with the first ball of the last over, but Pant carted the remaining five balls to the boundary, the pick of them being a one-handed six over long-on. All told, Pant took Bhuvneshwar for 43 runs off 11 balls at a strike-rate of 390.90.Nailing the chase
The popular opinion was that bat first and bat big would apply pressure on Sunrisers. Their only two losses this season have come while chasing 180-plus totals against Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. Against Daredevils, Sunrisers had an early setback when Alex Hales was pinned lbw by Harshal’s offcutter in the second over. The next over bowled by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem was the only over in the chase without a boundary.Dhawan, who had managed only 68 runs in five innings since sustaining an elbow injury, was severe on anything that was remotely short and wide outside off. Williamson, however, was just doing his thing. He kept manoeuvring the balls into the gaps and kept putting the bad balls away.Dhawan moved to his fifty off 30 balls, when he swatted Harshal over midwicket for four, in the 12th over. Williamson, meanwhile, brought up a fifty of his own, three overs later, off 38 balls. Daredevils dug deep into their reserves, with Liam Plunkett and Trent Boult bowling a variety of slower balls, and Nadeem even venturing a legbreak, but nothing worked against Dhawan and Williamson.Masters of the defence: check. Masters of the chase: check.

Mark Stoneman’s England Test opportunities might have resulted in disappointment but when will England’s selectors take a serious look at Rory Burns?

George Dobell09-Jun-2018
ScorecardThe streaker is not – thankfully – a common sight in Championship cricket. It’s not just that the atmosphere of the game hardly warrants
it – it’s a bit like crowd surfing in a library – but, with the schedule pushing matches to the margins of the season, it’s not very warm, either. And the cold is neither comfortable or flattering.So it was hard to imagine why anyone would strip off and run around the Ageas Bowl pitch in light drizzle towards the end of the first day
of this match. Insanity was one theory. Stolen trousers another. Or could it be Rory Burns in a desperate attempt to be noticed?The answer to that we should make very clear – we live in litigious times, you know – is a resounding no. But if Burns were driven to such measures it might, to a point, be understandable. After all, he keeps churning out runs. But it doesn’t seem to make any difference.But Burns is becoming, for the best of reasons, hard to ignore. After finishing the 2017 season as the third-highest run-scorer in Division
One, he is now the second-highest run scorer in the division this season.Here, against an attack boasting 623 Test wickets (Sean Ervine, who hardly bowls these days, is not included in that tally), he made his
second century of the campaign. Only Hashim Amla has scored more runs in Division One this year, no England-qualified batsman has more
centuries and nobody in either division has faced more deliveries.At a time when it appears just about every opening batsman with a pulse and bladder control has been considered by England, it is puzzling that Burns – with a career average of 42.51 in first-class cricket – has not had as much as a Lions call. Indeed, to talk to those who know him at Surrey, it seems he has not had as much as a phone call from the selectors or England management.That will surely be rectified soon. The Lions play India A at New Road from July 16 and it would be bizarre if Burns does not win an opportunity to impress. While England may feel they have settled upon an opening pair for the India series, it remains possible that Burns
could slot in at No. 3, thereby allowing Joe Root to revert to what appears to be his favoured No. 4 position. He may be just the thing an
England side crying out for stability requires.One of the arguments against Burns is that he scores his runs – or many of them, at least – on relatively flat tracks at The Oval. And there is some truth in that. But developing a game on those surfaces also builds confidence and technique. So, unlike some openers, who have adapted to testing conditions in the county game by attempting to smash their way to runs as fast as possible in the hope they can score a few before an unplayable delivery arrives, Burns has the confidence to build an innings. He leaves well, he drives sweetly – some of his
cover drives in this innings were a thing of beauty – and he is good off his legs.He is not especially pleasing on the eye – not in his stance, anyway, crouching with his bottom stuck out far behind him and his head turning at the last moment as if the square-leg fielder has just said something appalling about his mother – but this should not put off the selectors. Alastair Cook’s batting is hardly pretty, after all, and he has done rather well.And there is no ignoring runs against this attack. With Dale Steyn (419 Test wickets) keen to prove his fitness ahead of a potential return to Test cricket bowling, forming a formidable opening pair alongside Fidel Edwards (165 Test wickets) with Kyle Abbott (39 Test wickets) and the vastly underrated Gareth Berg in support, this innings cannot, in any way, be dismissed as soft. While it is true this sluggish surface meant he was hardly tested by the short ball in this innings, there was lateral movement and he coped with it admirably.”It’s an outstanding attack,” Surrey coach Michael Di Venuto said afterwards. “There aren’t too many better in Championship cricket.”That was a terrific innings from a fantastic player. Hopefully he gets recognition and higher honours soon. He just scores runs and that’s the name of the game for a batsman.”Surrey were grateful for Burns’ resistance. They were two down after the first over after Mark Stoneman was caught in the slips and Scott
Borthwick attempted a sharp single only to be run-out by Brad Taylor’s direct hit from cover.Stoneman’s poor luck continues. After a horrid second-innings dismissal at Lord’s – the ball keeping low – ended his Test career for
now, here he was victim of a fine piece of bowling. With Edwards – the pick of the bowlers – generally moving the ball back into the left-hander, Stoneman was obliged to play the delivery just outside off stump. But this time it was angled across him and caught the edge
on its way.With Mason Crane – who has worryingly experienced a recurrence of pain in his back – and Liam Dawson – finger – injured, Hampshire were
obliged to give an opportunity to the off-spin of Taylor. And, while he ended Ryan Patel’s promising stay – the batsman simply missed one
he had attempted to turn into the leg side – Ben Foakes, in particular, took a bit of a shine to him. At one stage he was plundered for three boundaries in an over.Foakes endured some nervous moments at the start of his innings. Edwards beat him a couple of times outside off stump and Burns may
have survived an edge in between the keeper and first slip off Abbott when he had 74, but generally the pair were sound and resourceful in
adding an unbroken 133 for the fourth-wicket.Edwards, who will shortly depart to represent Winnipeg Hawks in the Canada Cricket League – a somewhat surprising turn of events – was the pick of the bowlers. Steyn, being the class act he is, was tidy and, in his first couple of spells, occasionally dangerous. But, playing
his first first-class came since the first week of January, he is still feeling his way back to full pace and was not helped by a pitch
on which, once the hardness of the new ball has gone, is slow. He later announced himself happy to simply be out on the pitch. There’s
more to come from him.There’s more to come from Burns, too. Not only will Surrey be keen for him to add substantially to his overnight score, but it seems his
opportunity – at Lions level, at least – must be imminent. His is a hot streak that cannot be ignored.

Somerset’s game resistance has given them every chance to save the match at Chelmsford and keep their own title challenge bubbling

Dan Norcross27-Jun-20181:57

Kent go top of Division Two

ScorecardThe best days at cricket are comprised of numerous moments. Singular moments, such as a wicket taken or a pleasingly creamed cover drive, and extended, even occasionally tantric moments; a battle royale, for example, between batsman and bowler, such as that enjoyed by Atherton and Donald at Trent Bridge.This match has been graced with too few moments; plenty of runs, plenty of toil, plenty of earnest endeavour but very few moments. The most significant today was a moment to forget; Westley dropping a sharp but eminently gettable chance above his head at slip when James Hildreth had just 16. Harmer, the bowler, would almost certainly have pouched it. He can’t, despite Theoretical Physics’ best efforts, be in two places at once though.Hildreth went on to produce the innings of the day but even his 75 was not garlanded with enough of those trademark Hildreth moments to make it an innings that will stay long in the memory. Neither the pitch nor the ball were conducive to his aesthetic.Running it a close second was the controversial catch that wasn’t. Harmer thought he’d clung on to a low chance at slip when Lewis Gregory had 11, and Somerset, on 322 for 6 still needed 46 to avoid the follow-on. The umpires consulted. The catch was not granted. Ryan ten Doeschate, returning after a two match ban and conscious of not wanting to incur further wrath, remonstrated as politely as any remonstrator has ever remonstrated, but Gregory survived.Neil Wagner produced the most entertaining moments. For the vast bulk of the 22 overs he bowled today (32 overall in the innings) he seemed intent on breaking Anthony Thornton’s record for walking backwards the longest distance in two days as he accompanied every bouncer, which was pretty much every ball, with a glare, a smile and fixed eyes on the batsmen as he made his way slowly back to his mark. The record, incidentally, is 95.4 miles, was set in 1989 in Minneapolis and still stands, but only just.He also produced the ball of the day to remove the most eye catching batsman of the day. Dom Bess arrived with Somerset in a spot of bother on 310 for 6 and five overs to go until tea. The new ball had just been taken and Porter had done for Peter Trego, taking the top of off stump.Bess counter attacked, saw off the new ball and his 35 from 38 balls was threatening to speed his side to the relative of safety of 368 and follow-on avoidance. Wagner bent his back that bit further, got one to rear at Bess’ throat (admittedly not a towering achievement) and caught the outside edge as Bess, fully off the ground, did his best Robin Smith impression of trying to evade a Curtly Ambrose snorter.Briefly the game was alive. Lewis Gregory’s miserable run with the bat (he now has 123 runs in 11 completed innings) continued with a hideous swipe that ended up at Third Man and seven were needed with just two wickets in hand. Wagner, unsurprisingly, peppered Overton with more bouncers. Overton survived, then flung the bat. The follow-on was averted.Eventually the innings was wrapped up in the softest of whimpers when Overton gently offered a catch to Bopara off Westley’s sixth and final ball. All out for 407 conceding a lead of just 110 and with only 9 overs to go on the third day the match looked as good as dead.
But just when we thought we’d have no more moments today, and in all likelihood tomorrow as well, Tom Westley, opening in place of Alastair Cook who is laid low with tonsillitis was trapped by Davey for a duck. The debutant Michael Pepper went next over to Gregory for 1. Suddenly it was 3 for 2. The slip cordon peaked at four. Momentarily nerves jangled but Browne and Bopara survived to the close with Essex leading by 127.The pitch is showing no signs of deterioration and it may require an improbably generous declaration to prevent the very real possibility of Essex slipping 39 points behind the leaders Surrey who have a game in hand. The grip on their title is loosening by the day.