All posts by h716a5.icu

Dwayne Bravo, West Indies’ ODI captain, feels the team has been “lacking in unity” of late, and hence results have been poor

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Dec-2013West Indies’ ODI captain Dwayne Bravo feels the team has been “lacking in unity” and hence recent results have been poor. Following West Indies’ first success on the ongoing tour of New Zealand, in the first ODI in Auckland, Bravo said he had emphasised the importance of unity in the lead-up to the match.”Before we played the game, I really stressed on unity as the team was lacking in that lately and hence the reason why we have been playing so poorly. I made a concerted effort to bring everyone together and get everyone involved.”We sat down yesterday morning, Christmas morning, and watched the movie with Morgan Freeman acting as Nelson Mandela. That inspired us. It showed the importance of sport. We are fortunate to represent our nation. We are the few players to do that. It hurts our fans when we don’t win cricket games, and not only losing, but the way we lose at times.”I keep stressing [on unity], and if you have noticed [after] every wicket I get the team together and one player says something positive. It doesn’t come from me all the time. It can be a Darren Sammy or a Kieron Powell or a Lendl Simmons.”West Indies hardly competed in the Tests that preceded the ODIs, and the few times they held the advantage, they let it slip through poor cricket and eventually lost the series 0-2. Before arriving in New Zealand, they had struggled in the two-Test series in India, though they managed to win one of the three ODIs in a close, high-scoring game.In Auckland it was a close, low-scoring game. West Indies’ revamped bowling attack – Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Jason Holder came into the ODI side – made life difficult for New Zealand on a pitch that offered the seamers help, and they scythed through the line-up to restrict them to 156. However, it was not easy going for the visiting batsmen either, and they were reduced to 96 for 6 before Darren Sammy slammed an unbeaten 43 off 27 balls to get them home with two wickets in hand.Bravo had been confident of the team pulling through even after the top-order collapse, though he admitted it was not the most convincing of wins. “Yes, we were 100 for 6, but we still had a very small ground. We had one of the cleanest hitters in world cricket at the crease. As long as Sammy is there, we still have a good chance. The way he went out, the intent he took out there, to put the pressure back on the New Zealand attack.”I think a win is very important at the moment. Confidence has been low as a team. It was good we got over the line. We scratched, but we got over the line.”New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said even though his bowlers had West Indies in trouble, he didn’t think they were at their best. “I don’t think we bowled particularly well to be honest, I thought we could bowl better than that. But we kept picking up wickets and that’s a fighting characteristic. I thought [the pitch] was a little bit two-paced, and with the new ball swinging as well, it certainly favoured the new-ball bowlers.”[But] when you have got a low total to defend you need to be on song throughout. I thought Mitchell McClenaghan was outstanding for us today, and showed why he is such an attacking force. But we did give up too many extras, and I thought we bowled both sides of the wickets at times, and our lengths were not quite right either. Fighting performance, but not good enough…”The batsmen too, McCullum said, could have perhaps done better despite the difficult conditions. “Some of the batting, when you come up against a two-paced surface, it can take a little while to adjust, and if we are honest we probably didn’t give ourselves long enough to get in and create some partnerships. Not a great performance from us, but I guess if you play poorly and still manage to take them right to end that is still a good sign.”

Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Zol’s unbeaten third wicket partnership of 215 runs helped Maharashtra run down a stiff target of 252 runs with eight wickets to spare

The Report by Amol Karhadkar at the Wankhede Stadium11-Jan-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Kedar Jadhav scored his fifth 100+score of the season•Mihir KarkhanisEleven minutes before tea, Kedar Jadhav pulled Shardul Thakur for a boundary through square leg, picked up a stump and raised his arms in air. Vijay Zol ran towards him and hugged him. Then, the Mumbai slip cordon, stunned by the onslaught of the preceding 108 minutes, took turns to congratulate the Maharashtra duo.On a Wankhede Stadium track where pace bowlers had dominated the proceedings of the first three days, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Zol’s unbeaten third wicket partnership of 215 runs helped Maharashtra run down a stiff target of 252 runs with eight wickets to spare. The win meant Maharashtra entered the Ranji Trophy semi-finals for the first time in 17 years.The dominance of Jadhav, remained unbeaten on 120 after scoring his fifth century of the season, and Zol, the India Under-19 captain, showed his prowess at the first-class level with an unbeaten 91. The match was full of firsts for Maharashtra. Their third victory against Mumbai in 62 outings was their first in a knockout game against the domestic giants. Jadhav became the first batsman this season to go past the 1000-run mark, and the duo’s 215-run association was Maharashtra’s highest ever partnership for any wicket against Mumbai. The previous best was Kamal Bhandarkar and Ranga Sohoni’s opening stand of 204 back in 1940-41, Maharashtra’s last victorious Ranji campaign.The demolition was divided in two parts during Saturday’s two sessions. Starting the day at 28 for 1, 224 runs adrift the target, Maharashtra’s first target was to see off the new ball without losing too many wickets. However, Zaheer Khan bowled at full steam and took just 19 minutes to strike. Harshad Khadiwale was caught in no man’s land off the 25th ball of the morning off a Zaheer short ball that he could only lob it to Kastubh Pawar in the slip cordon.Then came the moment that eventually proved to be decisive. Zaheer brought on Abhishek Nayar as the first change and in his opening over, he managed to entice Zol into a miscued drive. To everyone’s disbelief, Pawar dropped a regulation catch at short point.From then on, till the first drinks break, Zol joined Jadhav in not going after anything that was even slightly outside off stump. The duo left the ball, frustrating the Mumbai bowlers, and once the ball had lost its shine, slowly started playing their shots. In the 32.2 overs in the first session, Maharashtra had got to 111 for 2, having added 83 runs to their overnight total.With the target 141 runs away, Mumbai had to contain the duo up front after the break, even while trying to get the breakthrough. However, Jadhav and Zol came out and switched gears without any trouble. Jadhav, whose 35 runs till lunch had come off 77 balls, took just nine more balls to cross fifty. Then, he raced from fifty to hundred in 38 balls. In the last over before the session’s drinks break, he charged down the pitch and hit three massive sixes off left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar, sealing Mumbai’s fate.Zol, who had flicked Zaheer for three boundaries in the opening session, then expressed himself. His twin drives down the ground, on either side of the wicket, off Zaheer, was the highlight of his knock. The winning shot was followed by a wave of the bat from Jadhav, directed towards his bowling unit, which had set up the remarkable turnaround by winding up Mumbai’s second innings for 129 on the third afternoon.

A round-up of the Under-19 World Cup matches played on February 17, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2014Half-centuries from the openers Sami Aslam and Imam-ul-Haq helped set up Pakistan Under-19s’ 145-run win against Papa New Guinea Under-19s in Dubai.Put in to bat, Aslam and Imam gave Pakistan a bright start by putting up 125 in 25.2 overs. Aslam fell for 62, but Imam forged another big partnership – 72 for the second wicket with Hasan Raza – to take the team close to the 200-run mark and eventually finished with 88. Medium-pacer Kabua Morea picked up three wickets, but Pakistan’s middle- and lower-order all chipped in with small contributions to lift the team to 283 for 9.PNG failed to gather any momentum during the chase as wickets at regular intervals hurt their progress. Kiplin Doriga was the only batsman who offered some resistance, scoring 51, as the team were bundled out for 138 in 30.5 overs.An all-round performance from Mosaddek Hossain guided Bangladesh Under-19s to a 52-run win against Namibia Under-19s in Abu Dhabi. Mosaddek first hit an unbeaten 70 to take Bangladesh to 233 for 5, and then picked up three wickets, including the crucial ones of Xander Pitchers and Jaen Kotze to help bowl Namibia out for 181.Bangladesh, batting first, were buoyed by fifty-plus stands for the first two wickets, with Shadman Islam involved in both stands, scoring 65. Islam was bowled by the legspinner Gerhard Erasmus in the 35th over, but Mosaddek, coming in at No. 4, combined with the next three batsmen to add 98 runs.Namibia lost two early wickets during the chase, but Erasmus and Pitchers stabilised the innings with a 64-run stand for the third wicket. However, both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession by the 29th over, after which the team struggled to muster any other meaningful partnership. Mosaddek and Mustafizur Rahman both took three wickets, with Rahman the slightly more economical bowler, going for just 24 runs from his 10 overs.

Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza has been ruled out of the Asia Cup with a side strain. He will be replaced by Shafiul Islam

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2014Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza has been ruled out of the Asia Cup with a side strain. He will be replaced by Shafiul Islam.”Mortaza had picked up a side strain during the match against India on February 26. The scan report suggests it is a strain on the left side,” Bangladesh physio Vibhav Singh said. “Unfortunately he is out of this tournament. He will carry on doing the rehab under the guidance of the BCB medical team and we will assess him further in the coming days.”The injury is a blow to Bangladesh’s campaign because they are already without Tamim Iqbal, who is also unfit, and Shakib Al Hasan, who will be available only for the last two league games because of his three-ODI ban.Bangladesh are also waiting on Mushfiqur Rahim, who hurt his shoulder during the game against India and was taken to hospital for scans. “We will continue to asses him today,” Vibhav said. “He will undergo a fitness test tomorrow after which we will decide whether he can play the match against Afghanistan.”Bangladesh lost their opening game of the Asia Cup to India and are due to play Afghanistan on March 1.

Zimbabwe can still progress to the main draw of the World T20, but they must beat UAE convincingly and hope that Ireland succumb to a big defeat against Netherlands

The Preview by Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2014Match factsMarch 21, 2014, SylhetStart time 1130 (0530GMT)Big Picture Brendan Taylor is Zimbabwe’s leading scorer in the tournament•ICCThis match could mean everything or it could mean nothing. It’s a possible dead rubber before the final shootout, or the decider in a group that has been kept alive by Zimbabwe taking both their games to the final ball. They’ve provided excitement but their fate does not lie in their own hands.To play in the main draw, Zimbabwe have to win their final match and win big. Then they have to hope Ireland succumb to a big enough defeat against Netherlands so that neither their run-rate nor Netherlands’ trumps Zimbabwe. Calculators, rather than cricket equipment, could end up deciding who goes through.Zimbabwe will see an opportunity to do the first of those things. UAE have not been the competitive force they would have hoped to be, and lost to both Netherlands and Ireland. But Zimbabwe will have to shake off the penchant to play to their opposition’s level, convince themselves they are a few tiers above UAE, and march to a comprehensive victory to give themselves a chance. Even then, if that happens, all they can do is wait.UAE do not stand to gain anything from this match but respect. They are out of contention to play with the big eight and have admitted they are team that is still learning. This is their chance to show what they’ve gleaned so far.Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)Zimbabwe WLLLL
UAE LLWatch out for Brendan Taylor is the team’s leading run-scorer, and Tinashe Panyangara, their leading wicket-taker, but Zimbabwe’s silent assassins have also done an important job for them. Prosper Utseya opens the bowling and his spell against Netherlands showed how successful he can be upfront. He took 2 for 16 to set them back in the powerplay. Sean Williams has partnered twice to usher the batting line-up to a respectable score, although the pressure got to him against Netherlands. If he can overcome that, he can be a key middle-order man for Zimbabwe.UAE have not had much in the way of individual achievement in this tournament. None of their batsmen have managed a half-century and only four bowlers have found themselves among the wickets. Rohan Mustafa is not one of them, but he does have the lowest economy rate among his team-mates. Mustapha has gone for only 5.56 runs an over and it’s no fluke. His economy rate in domestic cricket is almost as miserly at 5.82. He’ll hope he can translate that pressure into success in his final match.Team news Zimbabwe may still want to tinker with their opening duo after Sikandar Raza was out cheaply in both matches. With Vusi Sibanda in decent touch, he could be promoted back to a position he is comfortable in to make room for Malcolm Waller down the order. With Timycen Maruma acting only as a fielder in the last match, Zimbabwe may give Shingi Masakadza a game.Zimbabwe: 1 Hamilton Masakadza 2 Sikandar Raza/Vusi Sibanda, 3 Brendan Taylor (cpt, wk), 4 Vusi Sibanda/Malcolm Waller, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Timycen Maruma/Shingi Masakadza, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Tinashe Panyangara, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Natsai MushnagweFor one last hurrah, UAE may look to mix it up a touch as they say goodbye to the tournament.UAE squad: 1 Amjad Ali, 2 Faizan Asif, 3 Khurram Khan, 4 SP Patil, 5 Shaiman Anwar, 6 Amjad Javed, 7 Rohan Mustapha, 8 V Shetty, 9 Ahmed Raza, 10 Kamran Shahzad, 11 Sharif Asadullah, 12 Manjula Guruge, 13 Moaaz Qazi, 14 Rohit Singh, 15 Shadeep SilvaConditionsAfter a first match day in which 180-plus scores appeared par on the Sylhet surface, the second day’s play at the venue saw much lower scores and more difficult conditions for batting. There was more turn on offer and the bounce was lower. Should it stay that way, even lower totals can be expected for Friday’s matches. Rain brought an early end to the Ireland-UAE match and more can be expected between 3pm and 6pm on Friday with temperatures at a high of 29 degrees.Stats and Trivia The most Zimbabwe have scored in a T20 match is 200 for 2 against New Zealand in a game they lost. The lowest total they have defended is 105, against West Indies in 2010. UAE have only played two T20 matches classed as full internationals, both at this World T20 qualifier.Quotes “We need to regroup, have a good fielding session and come back on Friday and try and get all three departments right. If we do that, we are going to be tough to beat.””We have not been exposed to such a stage so obviously we are going to learn a lot from here.”

Rod Marsh has replaced John Inverarity as Australia’s chairman of selectors in a significant shake-up of the panel that comes as the team sits on top of the world rankings in both Tests and ODIs

Brydon Coverdale02-May-2014Rod Marsh has replaced John Inverarity as Australia’s chairman of selectors in a significant shake-up of the panel that comes as the team sits on top of the world rankings in both Tests and ODIs.Former selection chief Trevor Hohns has returned to the national selection panel for the first time since 2006, alongside first-time selector Mark Waugh, while Inverarity and Andy Bichel have departed. The coach Darren Lehmann remains part of the group, which was reduced from five men to four when captain Michael Clarke withdrew from his selection duties before last year’s Ashes series in England.Inverarity stood down after nearly three years as chairman and although he told Cricket Australia he was prepared to continue on the panel, the board decided it was time for some new faces. Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland said Inverarity had performed admirably since taking charge of the selection duties in October 2011.”When John Inverarity took over as national selector the Australian Test team was ranked fourth in the world and its on-field performance was well short of where it is today,” Sutherland said. “He leaves his post with Australian teams in a position of strength holding the number one ranking in Test and one-day international cricket. That reflects his commitment and the astute judgment he brought to the role at a challenging time for Australian cricket.”After deciding to stand down as chair, he recently indicated that he was prepared to continue on the national selection panel for another 12 months if required. Directors determined that with John stepping down as chairman, it was the appropriate time to bring new personnel into the group.”Rod Marsh is the right man to take on this important role having been a key member of the panel since 2011. His track record speaks for itself. He brings a wealth of experience to the position, having been a leading player, coach and most recently a selector.”Throughout his days as a player he was the absolute embodiment of the baggy green cap and to this day is widely respected throughout the game. He has a great eye for talent and has strong relationships throughout international cricket.”Inverarity said that at the age of 70 he would continue to maintain his interests in education and cricket “in a more part-time manner”. “For some months I have been clearly of the mind that the end of my contract period on 30 June was the right time for me to step down in favour of Rod Marsh to chair the panel,” he said. “Rod is the ideal person in every respect to take over and I would like to wish he and Darren, along with Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh the very best in their new roles.”I have certainly enjoyed the role and the success of the Australian teams in recent months has been pleasing. I would like to congratulate Michael Clarke and the players, Darren Lehmann and his support staff, Pat Howard and my fellow selectors on the very good news that came through yesterday regarding Australia now being ranked number one in both Test cricket and ODI cricket.”The departure of Bichel, who joined the panel at the same time as Marsh in November 2011, means that there will be no fast bowlers contributing to Australia’s selection discussions, a curious absence given the way the attack has been rotated at times in the past. However, Cricket Australia said in a statement that Bichel’s term on the panel had “not been renewed”.Waugh confirmed last month that he had been approached by Cricket Australia for a possible selection role and his presence as a BBL commentator for Channel 10 appears not to have prevented him from taking on the part-time position. Sutherland said Waugh would pay particular attention to the shorter formats, which would be crucial with a World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand next year.NSW seek new supremo

Sheffield Shield holders New South Wales are mounting a global search for a new manager of cricket performance, in a wide-ranging role similar to that undertaken by Pat Howard in the wake of Cricket Australia’s 2011 Argus review. The Cricket NSW, chief executive, Andrew Jones, played a key role in the formulation of that review as CA’s then head of strategy, and is now looking to appoint someone to a similar post overseeing the direction of the men’s and women’s state teams. “I firmly believe a combined and aligned elite cricket function will make it easier for CNSW to achieve our goal of being No.1 in Australian and world domestic cricket,” Jones said, “and ultimately to be the No.1 sporting organisation in Australia.”

“We think Mark will bring great experience to the role,” Sutherland said. “His particular focus will be on our limited-overs program. He was one of the world’s greatest one-day international players. We think he can add a lot, particularly in an important World Cup year.”The return of Hohns to the panel comes after he spent 13 years as a national selector from 1993 to 2006, including a full decade as chairman of the panel. For the past three years, Hohns has been Queensland’s state talent manager and chairman of selectors, a role that he will relinquish when he rejoins the national panel. His time with the Bulls was significant in that he worked closely with Lehmann, building on a relationship that was more distant when the latter had his international career ended by Hohns’ selection panel.”I took on selection responsibilities with Queensland a couple of years ago and really enjoyed doing it again,” Hohns said. “During that time I worked closely with Darren Lehmann where we developed a good working relationship. So to have the chance to work together again at a national level, along with Rod and Mark will be great. I’m genuinely looking forward to it. I enjoy the role and the responsibilities that go with selection and making a contribution to Australian cricket.”Like Hohns, Marsh will give up an existing role as part of the selection revamp, with Cricket Australia set to begin the search to find a replacement for him as CA’s manager of elite coaching development. Marsh has been given a three-year term as chairman of selectors, which will begin when the new panel officially starts on July 1.

Middlesex trounce Yorkshire; Warwickshire trounce Middlesex; Yorkshire trounce Warwickshire. Picking a winner in this season’s Championship is not easy

Jon Culley at Headingley13-May-2014Yorkshire 444 (Plunkett 86, Williamson 75, Root 69, Bresnan 61, Woakes 4-68) beat Warwickshire 200 (Bell 97; Brooks 3-39) and 89 (Brooks 4-37) by an innings and 155 runs
ScorecardIan Bell’s expression sums up Warwickshire’s fate•Getty ImagesYorkshire are back at the top of the Championship table dealing the erstwhile leaders, Warwickshire, a crushing defeat in which they have again advertised themselves as the team with the strongest hand in this year’s competition.Middlesex have trounced Yorkshire; Warwickshire have trounced Middlesex; Yorkshire have now trounced Warwickshire. Picking a winner in this season’s Championship is not easy.Yorkshire’s self-belief is high for all that. They had the upper hand in all bar one session in the match, which has been a painful exposure of Warwickshire’s reliance on Ian Bell to paper over the cracks in their batting.It was only because Bell made 97 that their first innings lasted long enough for Yorkshire to consider taking the second new ball and even then they were still 244 in arrears when Bell was last man out — with the old ball, as it happens — caught behind down the leg side off a loosener from Jack Brooks, who went on to complete an excellent match.In the follow-on, Bell lasted only six deliveries and made four runs, and with no one else among the frontline batsmen managing even to match Varun Chopra’s 13 Warwickshire fell apart under grouchy West Yorkshire skies.Yorkshire can dominate – Brooks

Jack Brooks believes Yorkshire have a good enough squad to dominate domestic cricket in the way that Warwickshire did in the 1990s after his seven wickets in the match helped demolish the Midlands side with an emphatic three-day win.
“We’ve certainly got the squad for it,” Brooks said, “especially with people like Aaron Finch coming in to strengthen the one-day batting. It’s really difficult to compete for three things, but if you can start the competitions well then it builds from there.
“It’s been such a long time since one team bossed all three competitions – probably Warwickshire in the 1990s – so it’s quite difficult in the modern game to do that. This squad is capable of doing that.
“England calls mean you have to have a deep squad. If you look at the guys who missed out in this game, people like Alex Lees who hasn’t done anything wrong, and Ryan Sidebottom, who took his turn in the rotation, it shows what we have got in reserve. And you’ve still got people like Richard Pyrah, Moin Ashraf and a couple of the young lads who could come in and do a job.”

They were five down for 31 inside the 13th over and Brooks and Tim Bresnan scythed through the top order, rallied (in relative terms) as Tim Ambrose and Chris Woakes showed some overdue resolve, but then wobbled badly again as Steve Patterson took two wickets in the same over, reduced to 84 for 7 when a sweep of heavy rain gave them temporary respite.Woeful though Warwickshire’s batting form is, excepting Bell, Yorkshire’s bowling has been high class and it is comforting for them with the impending loss of Tim Bresnan to England (potentially for the remainder of the summer if he does well enough in the one-day series to regain his place in the Test side) that they have blown away a perceived title rival without Ryan Sidebottom and with decent back-up in reserve in the shape of Moin Ashraf and Rich Pyrah, neither of whom has yet been required.With Bell’s help, Warwickshire’s first innings limped on just long enough to claim a batting point. They had lost their seventh wicket to the fourth ball of the morning when Keith Barker was drawn into playing a ball Liam Plunkett that found some extra bounce. Patterson bowled Jeetan Patel through the gate and Richard Jones was leg before to one from Adil Rashid that seemed to zip off the pitch.Then Bell met his fate, missing out on what would have been his 48th first-class hundred and his third of the season in the Championship.Yorkshire did not hesitate to enforce the follow-on and what happened next was spectacularly poor from Warwickshire. That was the only conclusion even allowing for the fact that the hors d’oeuvre served up before Plunkett had another chance to run in with venomous intent was a burst of Brooks in the mood to show that he too can make quality batsmen quake.He and Bresnan combined to take five wickets for 10 runs in the space of 25 deliveries as Warwickshire lost half their batsmen in advancing the scoreboard from 21 to 31 in hopeless pursuit of the 244 they needed to make Yorkshire bat again.Brooks had William Porterfield well caught by Adam Lyth at second slip before a full ball from Bresnan had Chopra leg before. Brooks ruffled Laurie Evans with a short ball he fended away uncertainly before bowling him with one that nipped back. Then came the big one as Bell pushed forward to a ball from Bresnan and edged to third slip, where Kane Williamson scooped up a very low catch. Bell walked anyway, so no argument.Ateeq Javed became a sixth victim in the match for Brooks, after which there was a break in the mayhem as Tim Ambrose and Chris Woakes rode some early luck to add 47 runs before Patterson delivered his two-wicket burst, defeating Ambrose’s tentative push and finding a thin edge to have Barker caught behind.Heavy rain then offered Warwickshire hope that at least they might take the match into a fourth day, but after a two-and-a half-hour stoppage Yorkshire needed only three overs and two balls to ensure that did not happen.Patel was dismissed without scoring for the second time in the day, caught at second slip by Adam Lyth off Brooks, whose tally for the season in the Championship rises to 21. Plunkett, overlooked for England’s one-day plans but firmly in national selector James Whitaker’s notebook for Test consideration, had the last word, trapping Richard Jones leg before and having Chris Wright taken superbly at fourth slip by Bresnan, with consecutive deliveries.

New Zealand consolidated on a slow start, with Kane Williamson making his sixth Test hundred and Tom Latham his maiden half-century, to end the first day in a strong position

The Report by George Binoy08-Jun-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKane Williamson and Tom Latham held firm for most of the first day at Sabina Park•Associated PressThe first Test match after two high-profile Twenty20 tournaments – the World T20 and the IPL – got off to a slow start at Sabina Park, as New Zealand’s run rate stayed below 2.65 an over throughout the day. The visitors, however, had the better time of it after Kane Williamson and Tom Latham adjusted to the pitch, whose strongest characteristic was its sluggishness, and put on a 165-run stand for the second wicket.The spectators who came to the ground to see Chris Gayle bat in his 100th Test had to wait after West Indies’ new Test captain, Denesh Ramdin, lost the toss. Instead, they were witness to the comebacks of four bowlers from layoffs of varying lengths, and the discipline of two young New Zealand batsmen, who played with a patience that is becoming increasingly rare in international cricket.Jerome Taylor, whose last Test was in November 2009, opened the bowling with Kemar Roach, who had been out of action for more than a year. Neither bowler hit the speeds they used to before their injuries, but that was probably due to the pitch. Moving the ball away from both the right and left-hand openers, Taylor was more effective than Roach, but on the whole they could have made the batsmen play more than they did. Their lengths too were shorter than ideal on this surface, whose slowness made it easy to play on the back foot.New Zealand were cautious in the opening exchanges, with their newest opening combination Peter Fulton and Latham barely playing a forceful shot. Fulton was beaten by a couple of deliveries from Taylor that seamed away from off stump, and when one did not move as much, his poor footwork resulted in an edge to the wicketkeeper. It was the ninth consecutive innings in which Fulton had failed to pass 15.In the 10th over, Ramdin made a surprising bowling change. Darren Bravo had never bowled in any form of international cricket – he had bowled only 100 deliveries in first-class cricket – and yet here he was bowling medium-pace in a Test. His lengths were horrible and the experiment lasted only one over.Benn, playing his first Test since December 2010, came on in the 12th over and immediately found turn and bounce to keep his two slips alert. New Zealand scored only 22 in the first hour.Shortly after drinks Ramdin deployed spin from both ends, but it was Marlon Samuels that he turned to and not the other specialist Shane Shillingford. Samuels thought he had Latham lbw first ball and reviewed the umpire’s not-out decision, only to find the ball had hit both the inside edge and then the pad outside off stump.Benn bowled five maidens in his first six overs and had a bat-pad appeal upheld shortly before lunch, but Latham successfully challenged it. New Zealand went into the break on 62 for 1, scoring at just over 1.90 an over.In the first over of the second session, Latham drove loosely at a full and wide Taylor delivery and edged to Samuels at gully. He was on 39, and his partnership with Williamson was worth 55, but both received a lease of life when replays showed Taylor’s heel was not behind the crease.In the next over – the 34th – Williamson cut Benn for four to take the run rate above two for the first time. It had taken Williamson 84 balls to hit his first boundary. He and Latham swept the spinners when they bowled fuller lengths, and when it was short they had enough time to go back and play square of the wicket. Every now and then, though, the odd delivery spun sharply past the outside edge.Benn bowled 19 consecutive overs either side of lunch, far more than any other bowler. When he had finished his 16th, Shillingford was coming on to bowl only his fourth. Shillingford ripped an offbreak from leg and middle past Latham’s defensive prod but the batsman got to his maiden half-century a couple of balls later, off his 126th delivery.Until the 54th over, not a single ball had been hit in the air, and then Williamson cut Roach over gully. He got to his half-century in the same over, by edging a drive through the same region. By tea time Williamson and Latham were using their feet, and the depth of their crease, with ease. They had scored 102 runs in the second session.The old ball began to do things after tea. Taylor reversed it a bit, but Shillingford got it to spin big. Latham, on 83, closed the face too early to an offbreak and the ball lobbed back to the bowler off the leading edge.It could have been tricky for the new batsman but the hard toil told on the West Indies bowlers, whose lines and lengths were shoddy. Williamson moved into the 90s by cutting a short and wide one from Roach for four, but then stopped scoring for 33 balls. During that time, Taylor kept New Zealand going, and when West Indies took the second new ball in the 85th over, he cut three wide ones from Roach for boundaries.Just when it seemed Williamson might go into stumps a few short of a century, he snapped out of his scoreless trance and late-cut successive deliveries from Benn to bring up his sixth Test hundred.

A few days after being dropped for Friday’s T20 Blast outing, Davies channelled all his resolve into manufacturing a first Championship century of the season

Ryan Bailey at Derby16-Jun-2014
ScorecardSteven Davies led Surrey into a big lead•Getty ImagesSteven Davies’ decision to renounce wicketkeeping duties at Surrey, on the back of an uncomfortable start to the season, took many by surprise – particularly given the uncertainty over the England berth at the time – but, when the runs dried up, it also led to him being overlooked. A few days after being dropped for Friday’s T20 Blast outing, Davies channelled all his resolve into manufacturing a first Championship century of the season and helping Surrey assume control of this Division Two encounter.On a day short of highlights, a punch through cover off Tony Palladino – having tottered through the nineties for almost three-quarters of an hour – late in proceedings sparked cock-a-hoop celebrations on the balcony but the reaction in the middle was far less impassioned; a simple acknowledgement to the spectators that had persevered into the dying embers. This was a nothing more than a job that needed to be done for Davies.If he was restrained on reaching three figures, Zafar Ansari’s delight was palpable. Expectations can weigh heavy, especially on young shoulders, and having stumbled at the final hurdle last week at Bristol, Ansari ensured there would be no mistake this time around as he constructed a plucky, yet striking, maiden first-class ton.”It was pure relief, above anything, when the runs came because obviously I’ve had a few near misses,” Ansari said. “It takes the pressure off.”Ansari and Davies, who came together the over before lunch, put on 140 for the fourth wicket and by the time Ansari, continuing as a makeshift opener, fell two deliveries after tea for 105, any hopes of Derbyshire limiting the damage of Sunday’s batting calamity were extinguished: the lead at the close stands at 239.For all the apparent adversity, Davies had scored three fifties in four Championship innings hitherto but there was a point that needed to be proved. From the moment he strode out to the middle, after Vikram Solanki had tamely chipped the part-time offspin of Scott Elstone to mid-on, there was a sense of purpose about his batting.Once he cut Palladino the fence, the wheels were set in motion. While Ansari was typically watchful at the other end, steadily accumulating in ones and twos, Davies pounced on anything loose and played with plenty of swagger allied to a steely determination.He reached his fifty off just 74 balls and continued to accelerate thereafter, as Derbyshire’s bowlers flagged with every passing boundary. Ansari was first to reach his landmark, guiding Alex Hughes down to a vacant third man before being embraced by Davies; the significance was evident but Davies’ moment was still to come.While the pitch remains slow and rewarding for bowlers who put the ball on a good length consistently, Derbyshire were unable to muster any measure of pressure to make the inroads they needed after being dismissed for 153. Davies negated any lateral movement the lively Mark Footitt was extracting from the pitch and the incessant shuffling of his pack by Wayne Madsen during the afternoon did little to worry Davies.That Ansari and then Davies went about their business, especially after lunch, so comfortably will irk Graeme Welch, Derbyshire’s head coach. Both Footitt, who picked up three wickets, and Tom Taylor were lively in spurts but once again Madsen’s hand was limited, often turning to part-timers in an attempt to find something from somewhere. Tim Groenewald, dropped after indicating he will leave at the end of his contract, leaves a big hole in the attack.Taylor, however, looks highly promising. He bowled with great maturity and confidence during an opening spell that made it difficult for the batsmen to settle. He was duly rewarded with a maiden first-class wicket as he got one to nip back and clip Hashim Amla’s pad – certainly one to tell the grandchildren about for Taylor.But, that was about all that awoke the Derbyshire faithful from their slumber. Solanki ignited proceedings in an abrupt burst before lunch as he crunched successive boundaries off Taylor and then lifted him over midwicket in the same over. His departure, for 52, only provided the platform for the two centurions.Footit provided some late inspiration with a hostile new-ball spell that hinted at a measure of frustration, as he sent Jason Roy’s off stump cartwheeling and then trapped Gary Wilson, the Surrey captain, in front. It did little to stem the flow and halt Surrey’s charge as a lively innings from Chris Tremlett – including a couple of hefty blows for six – saw the visitors near 400. Davies’ moment of recklessness at the end, bowled attempting to send Marcus North into Derby town centre, could do little to take the gloss off his, and Surrey’s, day.

Alex Doolan, Australia’s incumbent Test No.3, has returned home from a tour of India after suffering a side strain

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2014Alex Doolan, Australia’s incumbent Test No.3, has returned home from a tour of India after suffering a side strain. Doolan was in Bangalore to play a pair of four-day games for a National Performance Squad XI in an effort to give him exposure to unfamiliar conditions, and he scored 83 in the first game against a team from India’s National Cricket Academy.However, Doolan suffered the side strain while batting and will return home to have the injury properly assessed. Doolan made his Test debut during Australia’s most recent series in South Africa and played all three Tests, scoring 89 on debut in Centurion and averaging 31 over the course of the tour.Although he was unable to break through for a maiden century during the South African tour, Doolan showed enough promise to suggest that he could be part of the squad for Australia’s next Test series, against Pakistan in the UAE in October. Cricket Australia physiotherapist David Beakley said it was unclear at this stage how long Doolan would take to recover.”[Doolan] will return home to Hobart to undergo further investigation and rehab ahead of his next playing commitments,” Beakley said. “He will have scans in Hobart which will provide a clear indication of the injury and the timeframe for his return to play.”