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The one-year ban on Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was lifted on Saturday by the PCB, clearing the way for the fast bowler to be considered for national selection once again

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2010The one-year ban on Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was lifted on Saturday by the PCB, clearing the way for the fast bowler to be considered for national selection once again.Rana was one of seven players banned or fined earlier this year by the board following a disastrous tour to Australia; the other six have already had their punishments lifted or reduced on appeal – Mohammad Yousuf did not appeal but is back in the national fold – and this decision means that each one of the seven has now been pardoned. Rana and Younis Khan apart, the others have all played for Pakistan since.”Rana’s one-year ban has been lifted and his Rs 2 million fine has also been halved,” Taffazul Rizvi, the board’s legal advisor told ESPNcricinfo.The overturn came a day after Pakistan announced their Test squad for the South Africa series but Rana believes he still has a future with the national side. “Obviously this is a great relief for me as it’s been hanging over my career for a few months now,” Rana told ESPNcricinfo. “But I’m confident I can get back into the Pakistan side. I’m fit, I’m bowling well and I believe I can contribute.”Rana is scheduled to take part in the PCB’s Twenty20 domestic tournament for reigning champions Sialkot Stallions from Sunday. If he is not part of Pakistan’s winter plans, which include a tour to New Zealand, he will turn out for Tasmania in the Big Bash as he did last season.

Kris Srikkanth has attributed India’s climb to the top of the Test rankings to their balance and depth with both bat and ball

Cricinfo staff08-Dec-2009Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of the BCCI’s selection panel, has attributed India’s climb to the top of the Test rankings to their balance and depth with both bat and ball, and their ability to finish off games after gaining the advantage.Srikkanth said India’s batting line-up was the best around, and had displayed a tendency to withstand early setbacks with players down the order stepping up. “This is the best top-seven in the world,” Srikkanth told the . “This line-up has aggressive players such as Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The side also has Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman who are very solid.”Srikkanth spoke of India’s resilience in the Napier Test earlier in the year, when, after following on and losing Virender Sehwag early, they batted close to two full days, losing just four wickets, to save the game and preserve India’s lead in the series. “When India began its second innings 314 runs behind New Zealand in the Napier Test last season, the batsmen led by Gambhir and Laxman batted with great resolve to save the Test,” he said.And yet, when the opportunity was there to force a win, like in Chennai against England, where Sehwag set the tone with a blistering 83 and Tendulkar guided India home with a rare fourth-innings century, they took full advantage. “If you had seen the conditions for batting in the fourth innings, it was an incredible chase. The side believes in itself,” Srikkanth said.Srikkanth also lauded M Vijay, the Tamil Nadu opener, who replaced Gautam Gambhir in two Tests, against Australia in Nagpur and Sri Lanka in Mumbai, and impressed with 161 runs, giving Sehwag solid support. “On two occasions in Nagpur against the Australians and here, Vijay has batted really well,” he said.The variety in the bowling attack and the ability to take 20 wickets, even on tracks where assistance was minimal, was another crucial factor in India’s success, Srikkanth said. “Everyone said the pitch was flat against Australia at Mohali last year. But Zaheer and Ishant made inroads into the line-up.”We have variety, right and left-arm bowlers, pace men and spinners in contrasting styles. The pace men have struck telling blows with the new and the old ball. Harbhajan Singh is an experienced campaigner now. Both Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra are promising spinners. You got to give them time.”The contribution of former captains Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, Srikkanth added, was also critical. “The side has been consistent and delivered away from home. We have to acknowledge the contribution of Ganguly, who made the side believe in itself. Someone like Kumble brought great value and commitment to the side.”

Bangladesh earned just two wickets on opening day, both picked up by Taijul Islam

Firdose Moonda29-Oct-2024South Africa 307 for 2 (De Zorzi 141*, Stubbs 106, Bedingham 18*) vs Bangladesh It was a coming of age day for two of South Africa’s top three as Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs both scored their first Test centuries in Chattogram. De Zorzi and Stubbs, with eight and five Test caps to their names respectively, shared South Africa’s third-highest second-wicket stand in Asia of 201 to put South Africa in a strong position to push for a series sweep.They made the most of batter-friendly conditions with little seam movement, swing or steep bounce and only hints of turn to assist the home attack. Bangladesh’s bowlers had little to work with and the best they managed was to keep South Africa quiet in patches. Their tall seamer Nahid Rana was the most impressive of the five-man attack and reached speeds of up to 148kph but went wicketless. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam picked up from where he left off after a five-for in Mirpur and was the only bowler to take wickets, although Hasan Mahmud will feel hard done by. De Zorzi was dropped off him twice, on 6 and 69, on his way to an unbeaten 141.South Africa started the day strongly as stand-in captain Aiden Markram and de Zorzi motored at 4.6 runs an over in the first hour. They hit four fours and a six between them as South Africa reached morning drinks on 60 without loss. The only threat came from Hasan, who took de Zorzi’s edge with the first ball of his fourth over but debutant wicketkeeper Mahidul Islam could not hold on. Bangladesh turned to spin from both ends after that and it brought success for Taijul. Markram advanced down the track to a ball that was not as short as he anticipated and chipped it to Mominul Haque at mid-on.Related

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Markram’s dismissal allowed Bangladesh to pull the scoring rate back. They did not concede a boundary for 21 deliveries as Stubbs played himself in. He found his first four when he reverse-swept Mehidy Hasan Miraz behind point but then Bangladesh reapplied the squeeze. Another 28 balls were bowled for just 14 runs before de Zorzi brought up South Africa’s hundred with a sumptuous cover drive. De Zorzi went to lunch one away from a third Test fifty and got there in the over after the break.The opening exchanges of the afternoon session were difficult for South Africa and they went 91 deliveries between boundaries as they navigated Rana’s pace and small amounts of proper turn from Taijul. Nahid’s lengths were improved from the fuller ones he employed in the morning and he stuck to back-of-a-length balls which proved difficult to get away. But he did not come close to a wicket. Instead it was Mahmud who should have had something to show for his efforts. He drew de Zorzi forward again and took the edge but the chance slipped through the hands of Shadman Islam at first slip, de Zorzi and South Africa survived a period in which they scored only 34 runs in 13 overs after lunch and then things opened up a bit for them.The next eight overs brought 32 runs at a healthier scoring rate and Stubbs brought up his second Test fifty. Stubbs grew in confidence when he hit Mehidy over the sightscreen for six and de Zorzi followed suit by entering the nineties by sending Taijul over long-on. De Zorzi reached his hundred with a sweep shot off Mehidy through square leg and celebrated his achievement to warm applause from the dug out, which included injured captain Temba Bavuma. De Zorzi is only the second black African batter from South Africa to score a Test hundred, after Bavuma.2:12

‘You can’t buy that pace’ – Phil Simmons impressed with Nahid Rana

As de Zorzi struggled with cramps, Stubbs faced 25 of the first 30 deliveries after tea and showed good intent. He was particularly severe on Mehidy, charging him twice for six and reverse-sweeping him for four to near the nineties and knuckle down. De Zorzi struggled to run between the wickets so the pair quietened down and Stubbs spent 39 balls getting from 88 to 100. He did it with a single to deep point and a standing ovation from everyone in the South African camp.Stubbs was bowled in the next over by a ball that kept low from Taijul with about half an hour left of play in the day. South Africa saw that as a license to attack. De Zorzi and David Bedingham played with freedom and scored 34 runs in the six overs that followed as Bangladesh awaited the second new ball. They were also without their captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for that period after he left the field with what seemed like illness. Taijul led in his absence and took the second new ball as soon as it became available. Mehidy bowled one over with it before the players came off for bad light, with the day’s accolades going to de Zorzi.South Africa went into this series with only two specialist batters in their squad with playing experience in the subcontinent and only one, Markram, with a century in Asia. The other, Bavuma, was ruled out of the series with injury, which left them further bereft of experience. A Test and a day into the series they have four batters in the playing XI who have scored centuries in the subcontinent.

Fast bowler set for Surrey and Hundred returns after winter of freak injuries

Andrew Miller24-Jul-2023Reece Topley is expected to make a playing comeback for Surrey in a 50-over contest against Suffolk next week, ahead of a full stint with Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, as he begins his comeback from a cruel run of injuries that derailed his participation in both the T20 World Cup in Australia last year and the IPL.Topley, 29, travelled to Australia in October expecting to play a key new-ball role in what turned out to be a triumphant tournament for England, who went on to become the only men’s white-ball team to hold the 50- and 20-over World Cups concurrently.Instead, he stepped on a boundary marker while warming up ahead of a practice match against Pakistan in Brisbane, and had to fly home from the tournament for ankle surgery. And then, having been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 1.9 crore (£190,000 approx.) for his maiden IPL stint, Topley bowled just two overs in his opening match against Mumbai Indians before landing heavily in the outfield and suffering a dislocated right shoulder.Related

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“I knew I was going home,” Topley said, recalling the incident at the Chinnaswamy in early April. “When I was sat in Bangalore with my humerus bone in front of my pec, I was just like, ‘wow, how quickly can I get home to have surgery?’ It wasn’t like I was going to hang around or whatever. It was just, like, let’s just get out of here.”Now, however, he’s on the comeback trail, and given his extraordinary physical attributes – a 6’7” frame capable of generating pace, swing and bounce from an awkward left-arm angle – his recovery is sure to be monitored closely by the England selectors, as their attentions switch from the ongoing Ashes to the white-ball series against Ireland and New Zealand in September, ahead of this winter’s defence of the 50-over World Cup in India.Reece Topley dislocated his right shoulder after diving awkwardly on his IPL debut•BCCI

“The Hundred is almost like end-stage rehab, I guess,” Topley said at the launch of the KP Snacks community cricket pitches initiative in Tottenham. “Obviously I’ll look to put in some good performances and I’ll want to do well for Superchargers because we’ve got a great squad that wants to go all the way.”But then, obviously, you got New Zealand and Ireland,” he added. “Those games will be quite pivotal in the lead-up to the World Cup. I know that the conditions are slightly different, but 50 overs is something we don’t play a lot of anymore, so that game-time in an ODI will be massively important. So I’ll look to hopefully play those, and get up to speed as soon as possible.”Almost exactly 12 months ago, Topley was at the very top of his game – most notably with a remarkable haul of 6 for 24 against India at Lord’s, the best figures ever recorded by an England bowler in a men’s ODI. He blew away India’s top-order once again in the next match at Old Trafford, and though England could not close out that particular contest, the performance ensured that he was in high demand at the subsequent IPL auction in December, where he attracted bids almost of three times his base price.The fact that Topley is suddenly in such high demand – especially after an injury-plagued career that encompassed four stress fractures between 2016 and 2020, and the genuine belief that he might never play again – has helped him to compartmentalise the frustrations of his freak setbacks this year, and double down on the rehab to make sure he’s ready for whatever opportunities come his way.”It has gone really well,” he said. “Obviously it’s never nice to get injured, but then I suppose the nature of the two injuries I had this year, you can spend a lot of time soul-searching and asking questions why, but I think you’ve just got to get on the front foot and deal with it, and almost take a typical British attitude, stiff upper lip and crack on.”I suppose you flip it [on its head] and ask yourself what’s going to be achieved if you don’t get on with things? I’m really excited to get back out there. I’ve bowled really well when I’ve played, so the fact that I’m playing again and getting out there fills me with so much excitement.”When you are out there, you do have a big sense of gratification, you love the fact that you’re playing cricket, rather in any sense turning up and thinking it’s just another game. So let’s hope it’s the start of a relatively successful end of the summer and winter, obviously with the World Cup on the horizon.”Assuming he’s able to prove his fitness for the rest of this summer, Topley will be returning to India for his second World Cup campaign, having played a part in the squad that reached the final of the World T20 in Kolkata in 2016, where Carlos Brathwaite famously cracked four sixes in a row off Ben Stokes to swipe the trophy from England’s grasp.”I suppose it’s nice that you’ve got people that have experienced that sort of heartbreak, especially out in quite an emotional place which is India,” Topley said.”When you’re playing, everyone’s emotions seem to be running high, whether you’re one side of the boundary rope or the other. But, equally, there’ll be some new faces in that squad. There’s a few stalwarts and ever-presents, but even those new faces have got IPL experience. So I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to throw up any surprises to anyone.”I’m really excited. There’s a lot of debate about 50-over cricket, but when there’s a World Cup on the horizon, there’s few other things that you can say you’re going to prioritise ahead of 50-over cricket.”It’s a nice run-in with the Hundred, but those ODI series against Ireland and New Zealand will be about people trying to get in the XI for October.”From a personal perspective, I’ve had some success and it’s really about emulating that, but I wouldn’t say I’ve stayed still,” he added. “I’ve got injured, but it’s been a time to work on my own game and learn some new things, because people say that, if you’re standing still, you’re going to get overtaken, so it’s about adding more strings to my bow.”KP Snacks are funding 100 new community cricket pitches over the next three years. To find out more and search for a pitch visit: https://www.everyonein.co.uk/pitchfinder

Henry Hunt also struck a century while Aaron Hardie helped complete a demanding chase of 367

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2022Queensland wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson completed an outstanding match for Australia A with an unbeaten century to lead them home in a big run chase against Sri Lanka A.The victory was made more impressive by the fact Australia A were struggling on 69 for 4 having been left a target 367. Firstly, Peirson added 151 with Henry Hunt who made a fine century of his own and then the match-clinching partnership in an unbroken stand of 150 with allrounder Aaron Hardie.Peirson’s unbeaten 128 followed his undefeated 67 in the first innings which helped keep Australia A in the game after the rest of the batting struggled. It also meant he was not dismissed in his three innings during the two-match series having been subbed into the opening match when Travis Head was called into the ODI squad.Peirson had not been an original member of the Australia A squad but was called up when Peter Handscomb left the tour for family reasons.Earlier, Hunt had made 107 from 212 deliveries after the top order had been removed by Lakshitha Rasanjana and Dilshan Madushanka. A notable element of both centuries was the relative lack of boundaries: Hunt hit just three while Peirson’s 189-ball stay only included four in what became a one-day style chase during the final session.The five-wicket victory completed a successful tour for the Australia A which saw them take the four-day series 2-0 following a share of the two one-day matches. The benefit of the concurrent series to the senior tour was also emphasised by the ability to draft players in amid what has been a lengthy injury list during the T20Is and ODIs while giving others preparation.At various times Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Matt Kuhnemann and Scott Boland have moved between the squads. Kuhnemann made his ODI debut and played four matches in the series while Boland, who is part of the Test squad, claimed seven wickets in this match in his first competitive bowl since the end of the Australian season in late March.Left-arm spinner Jon Holland and offspinner Todd Murphy, along with Kuhnemann, will stay on with the Test squad as part of the preparation for the two-match series in Galle. None of them have yet been officially added to the group, but with doubts continuing over Ashton Agar after his side strain there could yet be an opening.

The allrounder had suffered a groin injury during the third ODI on January 25

Mohammad Isam30-Jan-2021Shakib Al Hasan has been named in Bangladesh’s 18-man Test squad for the two-match series against West Indies. Shakib had suffered a groin injury during the third ODI on January 25, and walked off the field without completing his fifth over. He returned to training on Saturday after a scan last week revealed no major damage.Shakib had already made a successful return to international cricket following his one-year ban, completing a player-of-the-series performance against West Indies in the ODIs. This will be his first Test since the one-off Test against Afghanistan in September 2019.Apart from Shakib, the national selectors have added Shadman Islam to the squad that was chosen for Bangladesh’s last Test match, the one-off game against Zimbabwe last February.Among the uncapped players are Yasir Ali, the middle-order batsman who was picked against Zimbabwe last year for the first time, and pace bowler Hasan Mahmud who recently made his ODI debut against West Indies. Yasir averages 51.33 in 51 first-class matches, and has scored eight centuries. Mahmud has taken 37 wickets in 14 first-class matches thus far.The first begins on February 3 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, while the second Test is from February 11 in Dhaka.Bangladesh squad: Mominul Haque (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Saif Hassan, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Shadman Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.

He will continue to captain South Africa and sees it as his responsibility to help with the transition

Firdose Moonda22-Oct-20194:32

India’s consistent pressure made us weak in every Test – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis will continue to captain South Africa despite overseeing one of their worst Test results since readmission – he sees it as his responsibility to ease them through the transition. South Africa last suffered successive innings defeats in Tests in 1935-36, and though they have been whitewashed by Australia twice since 1992, their defeats then were not as stark as they are now. Du Plessis, who has led the side since mid-2016, will not use the results as a reason to jump ship and wants to oversee a process that will enable a new leader to take over in due course.”How I see my journey unfolding with this team is to help with the transition period,” du Plessis said at the press conference after the Ranchi Test. “That’s something we spoke about before that wasn’t necessarily the case before. Graeme Smith was a successful captain for a very long time and then after that, it was like, ‘what now, who is going to captain the side, what’s going to happen?’ This period is to try and make that process a bit smoother, identifying the next leaders, identifying the next captains, working with them, and then when that time is right, that time will be right.”His reference to Smith and his golden generation will only make the India series’ result sting even more. It was under Smith that South Africa last won a Test in India, in 2010 and remained unbeaten in an away Test series for nine years. But earlier this year, South Africa lost a home Test series to Sri Lanka and now they haven’t merely lost in India, they have been outplayed and exposed, something du Plessis puts down to inexperience.”I found the tour really tough,” he said. “We have had a very mature Test team for a while, guys that have played 30, 40 and more Test matches. Now you look in the dressing room and its five, six, seven, eight, ten Tests.”South Africa’s most experienced player on this trip is du Plessis himself, with 61 Test caps, and only five of the 16-man squad had toured India before. Of those, Dean Elgar showed he has made some progress from 2015 by scoring a century, but Temba Bavuma did not. Similarly, in the bowling department Kagiso Rabada, who debuted in that series, showed flashes of brilliance but Vernon Philander, who was injured after one Test on the 2015 tour, didn’t. A combination of the inability to bowl out the opposition even once and a failure to bat big is how du Plessis summed up what went wrong.”When we play in the subcontinent, our style of bowling is not successful. You have to adapt your style to the style that is required. Obviously, someone like Dale Steyn was effective in the subcontinent because he has a similar skill set. He is a skiddy bowler off the pitch, hits the stumps, whereas if you are missing the stumps a lot or bouncing it over the stumps, it’s not as effective here.”Seam bowling is one area; spin they [India] were better than us and from a batting unit, exceptional ruthlessness in the way they put massive scores on the board. That’s one of the reasons why mentally we were so weak towards the end. Obviously, they did bat first every time, which made it easier but they still to put on 500, 500, 600 and the scoreboard pressure, the effect that it has on you mentally as a batting line-up, it takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of toll. You just feel like there’s no opportunity or no moment in the game when you can hide. Your body is tired, your mind is tired and then you make mistakes.”Mind games have long haunted South Africa, mostly at major tournaments but now even in the longer format and du Plessis believes its an area that needs improvement fast. “Our next journey is to try and make sure we get a lot stronger as a cricketing team mentally. As you can see, a tour like this reveals that there is a lot of mental scars that can happen and then obviously it’s difficult to come out of the hole. We played our best match in the first match and the consistent pressure that was on us made us weaker with every Test match that we played. It tells me we are not mentally strong as a team and that some work is required in that department.”This tour is the first place du Plessis will look at when it comes to identifying who is mentally strong enough to keep playing at this level and who will form the next leadership group. “When you go through extreme hardships like this, in the hardships, you will still find guys that are up for Test cricket.”Like who? Quinton de Kock scored one century, Keshav Maharaj was brave with ball and bat, Senuran Muthusamy showed all-round potential and Zubayr Hamza played one sprightly knock.The same cannot automatically be applied to Bavuma, the man being groomed as du Plessis’ successor. He scored 96 runs in six innings and was moved down the order from No. 4 to 5, swapping places with du Plessis. His numbers suggest he is not ready to take over just yet, but his mindset reveals something else. In a revealing press conference in the second Test, Bavuma spoke frankly about his battle to convert and acknowledged that his best was not good enough at the moment. Like du Plessis, he recognised his responsibility and he knows what’s expected of him. For now, that’s all South Africa can ask for. It will take time before Bavuma is performing at the level required of a captain, or South Africa find someone else who is and no-one can say how much.The next few months will not be easy as South Africa host England at home for four Tests. When the same sequence of fixtures was played four years ago, South Africa lost both series and their captain, Amla. This time, if du Plessis sticks to his word, they are are only at risk of the former.

The Sri Lanka batting coach felt that after some strong discussions, the allrounder was heading in the right direction

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Jul-2018Persevered with for so long for his potential rather than his form, Thisara Perera has started to turn his game around. This, at least, is what Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera believed, after Thisara struck 49 off 30 balls to assist Sri Lanka’s recovery after they had careened to 36 for 5.Thisara’s innings was to be of little consequence – South Africa ended up sauntering to a five-wicket victory. But it was another solid contribution from a player who, in the past, has been a source of great frustration. For years selectors kept picking him because the idea of a seam-bowling, big-hitting allrounder was too much to resist, but his performances since 2014 had largely been mediocre. This year, though, he has seemingly rediscovered the form that had made him such an exciting prospect in the early years of this decade. Having averaged an abysmal 14.50 – at a strike rate of not much more than 100 – between January 2015 and December 2017, Thisara has now averaged 45.75 with a strike rate of 156, in five innings in 2018.”In the last six months he’s improved a lot as a batsman,” Samaraweera said. “I gave a lot of space to him, and he’s getting there. The good thing is, after his dismissal he showed a lot of disappointment in the dressing room, because this was one of the best opportunities for him to get an ODI hundred.”

Felt more like a Pretoria or Wanderers wicket: Shamsi

South Africa’s left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi took 4 for 33 to wipe out the Sri Lanka innings, after South Africa’s quicks had wreaked havoc on the top order. His thoughts on:
The bowling performance
“I managed to get the guys that made runs. But the fast bowlers made our job a lot easier. Any team that is five down early for 30-odd on the board – that makes things easier. Credit to the Sri Lankans for almost getting to 200 runs after a start like that.”
The pitch
“I felt it was a little bit of a South African type wicket. There wasn’t much spin, especially because we bowled first. We bowl a lot on pitches like this at home, so it was okay to adjust. Felt more like a Pretoria or Wanderers wicket.”

A performing Thisara has always been an alluring proposition, but now, with Angelo Mathews seemingly unable to bowl due to injury concerns and a World Cup in England in less than a year, Sri Lanka’s desperation for a seam-bowling allrounder has rarely been so acute. What is heartening for Sri Lanka is that Thisara’s bowling turnaround is also impressive. Having taken 29 wickets at an average of 48.24 in the three years from 2015 till the end of 2017, Perera has claimed his wickets at an average of 17.63 this year.”We had a lot of discussions, and we emphasised to Thisara how important he is to the 2019 World Cup,” Samaraweera said. “I think you have to give a lot of credit to bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake also. He changed Thisara’s bowling approach. He was very slow to the crease before Rumesh came, and in the last seven months, we can see how much faster he is to the stumps. We had strong discussions, and sometimes disagreements. But Thisara is heading in the right direction at the moment.”That Thisara had had to come to the crease as early as the ninth over in this match, was down partly to Sri Lanka’s inability to withstand Kagiso Rabada’s new-ball spell. Rabada’s first five overs brought him three wickets for 22 runs, while Lungi Ngidi struck once at the other end, and Upul Tharanga was run out.”We talked about what South Africa’s strengths were, and their strength is in the first eight to ten overs – we have to get through that period,” Samaraweera said. “After that, they have a very inexperienced bowling attack. Unfortunately, they got five wickets. We were thinking a score of 275-280 would be good, because we have three spinners to defend that. But when you are 30-odd for five, it’s very hard to win games from there. We recovered well, but the match was decided in the first ten overs because of our very poor batting.”

Kent and Northamptonshire played out a dull, high-scoring draw at Beckenham after Josh Cobb and the Northants lower order comfortably made the 24 more runs they required to avoid the follow-on early on the final day

ECB Reporters Network06-Jul-2017
ScorecardKent and Northamptonshire played out a dull, high-scoring draw at Beckenham after Josh Cobb and the Northants lower order comfortably made the 24 more runs they required to avoid the follow-on early on the final day.Northants, resuming on 528 for 7 in reply to Kent’s mammoth 701 for 7 declared, were eventually bowled out for 568. Kent then replied with 184 for 3 in sizzling temperatures, and in front of a sparse crowd, and they took 11 points from this Specsavers County Championship Division Two match and Northants 9.Daniel Bell-Drummond played on to Ben Sanderson on 5, but Sean Dickson made 60 in a second wicket stand of 101 with Joe Denly, who went on to 78 not out before hands were shaken at 4.50pm. Denly, who made 182 in Kent’s first innings, now has more than 900 championship runs this season, at an average above 60, with three hundreds and four more scores above fifty.Dickson, the first innings triple-centurion, skied Max Holden’s off spin to cover after totalling 378 runs in the match, while Denly took his match run aggregate to 260 as Kent captain Sam Northeast kept him leisurely company against an assortment of Northants’ slow bowling – which included the offerings of wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, with skipper Alex Wakely deputising behind the stumps.As the game meandered to its conclusion, indeed, it was a moot point as to whether what was on show could be deemed first-class cricket. Perhaps the championship regulations should allow the umpires to call matches off early, but to their credit Kent’s batsmen did not try to smash the gentle bowling to all parts – merely walking singles into the deep field amid the odd boundary.Northeast, in fact, gifted Ben Duckett his maiden first-class wicket when he skied an attempted big hit at a full toss to cover, on 27. Adam Rouse finished 8 not out.At the start of the day Northants did not lose another wicket until the follow on target of 552 had been passed, with Cobb off driving Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah for four to take his side beyond that score.Graeme White, on 11, then skied Shah to mid on before both Nathan Buck and No 11 Sanderson fell cheaply to leave Cobb 34 not out. Buck was leg-before to Shah, as he shaped to play to leg off the back foot, and Sanderson slogged James Tredwell’s off spin to mid on to go for a duck.Northants’ 568 was a record total in first-class cricket against Kent, beating the previous best of 561 for 8 declared at Canterbury in 1995.

A fine half-century on debut by Martin Guptill could not prevent cup-holders Lancashire Lightning slumping to their second successive defeat

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2016
ScorecardPhil Mustard’s flying 46 sealed the match for Durham•Getty Images

A fine half-century on debut by Martin Guptill could not prevent cup-holders Lancashire Lightning slumping to their second successive defeat when they lost to Durham Jets by six wickets in Friday’s NatWest T20 Blast game at Emirates Old Trafford.Guptill made 72 off 46 balls but the New Zealand opener’s efforts were rather eclipsed by his Jets counterpart Phil Mustard, whose 46 off 18 balls included five fours and three sixes and put his side on course to overhaul Lightning’s plainly inadequate 149 for 8.Graham Clark then took up where Mustard had left off and made 36 off 27 balls as the Jets romped home with five overs to spare.Having been asked to bat first, Lancashire Lightning’s innings got off to a poor start when they lost Alviro Petersen and Karl Brown to successive balls in Usman Arshad’s second over.Things got worse for the hosts two overs later when Arshad took his third wicket in ten balls, Jos Buttler skying the seamer on the off side only to see Paul Collingwood take a fine diving catch running back from point.That left Lancashire on 46 for 3 but Guptill and Steven Croft repaired some of the damage with a stand of 60 in eight overs, Guptill reaching his half-century off 34 balls with a single off Scott Borthwick.Guptill hit his only six when he deposited a Borthwick long hop over the rope in the 13th over and the pair brought up their fifty stand in the same over.However, instead of marking the start of an acceleration, that six was the last boundary for half a dozen overs, during which Lightning lost four wickets, three of them in the same Barry McCarthy over.The key wicket of Guptill had earlier been taken by McCarthy when the Kiwi opener pulled the Irish seamer to midwicket, where Borthwick dived backwards to take an outstanding catch. Guptill hit ten fours and a six in his innings but the other Lancashire batsmen managed just four more boundaries between them as Collingwood and Borthwick strangled the run-rate.Indeed, there were no weak links in the Jets attack. McCarthy fully deserved his figures of 3 for 23 and Arshad, who had made the vital breakthroughs in the Powerplay overs, finished with three for 30.A six from Neil Wagner helped hoist the score to 149 for 8 off their 20-over allotment but that total looked insufficient on a good pitch at Emirates Old Trafford.The modesty of Lancashire’s total and the limitations of the Lightning attack were ruthlessly exposed as Jets scored 43 runs in the first two overs of their innings, Arron Lilley conceding 23 runs off his first six deliveries and Kyle Jarvis leaking 20 off his over.Mark Stoneman fell for ten runs in the third over but Mustard was on course to equal his county’s fastest short-form fifty, which was achieved off 19 balls by John Hastings against Northamptonshire in 2014, when he skied George Edwards to Guptill at square leg.By then, though, Durham Jets were 73 for two in six overs and the later loss of Clark and Ryan Pringle’s wickets never looked likely to affect the outcome of what was a predominantly one-sided encounter.Wagner and Edwards collected a couple of wickets apiece for Lancashire, who have now lost both their T20 games this season. Michael Richardson completed the victory and finished on 34 not out.