Smith, Labuschagne, Khawaja on BBL restrictions; bowlers and Head ruled out

Head and bowlers will not feature while Carey, Konstas, Webster and Marsh are fully available prior to Sri Lanka tour

Alex Malcolm07-Jan-2025Steven Smith is set to play three BBL games prior to the Sri Lanka tour while Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja will only be allowed to play one, as part of individual plans worked out with Cricket Australia’s high-performance team. Travis Head and Australia’s bowlers, meanwhile, are all set to rest before heading overseas.While Smith, Labuschagne and Khawaja will be restricted in their appearances, Alex Carey, Sam Konstas, Beau Webster, Mitchell Marsh and Jhye Richardson have all been cleared to play in the remainder of the BBL.Head, along with Scott Boland, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc will not play any part in the BBL season despite all being contracted.Australia are likely to announce a 16-man touring party for two Tests in Sri Lanka in the coming days and the squad is set to depart for the UAE for a pre-tour camp on January 19 or 20 meaning none of the touring party will be available for the BBL finals series which runs from January 21-27.Related

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  • Cummins likely to miss Sri Lanka tour but no end in sight for captaincy

  • Marsh set for BBL return after losing Test place

It remains to be seen whether all of the squad members from the Sydney Test against India are taken to Sri Lanka, with Josh Inglis, Peter Handscomb, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann all coming into the mix. Glenn Maxwell is also a chance to head to Sri Lanka but with Australia already securing a spot in the World Test Championship, the need for his subcontinental experience has diminished and there is a chance the selectors might look towards the 2027 tour of India with how they shape the squad.Smith will miss Sydney Sixers clash with Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Thursday but is set to be available to play against Perth Scorches at the SCG on Saturday, with Marsh and Richardson also set to feature after they were included in Scorchers squad to face Renegades at home on Tuesday night.Smith will then be available to play against Adelaide Strikers on January 15 and Sydney Thunder on January 17, where Konstas will also play. Despite the fifth Test finishing a few days ago, Konstas is set to play for Thunder against Hobart Hurricanes in Sydney tomorrow night and in Thunder’s last four games.Khawaja and Labuschagne will only be made available for Brisbane Heat’s home clash with Hurricanes on January 16 after having 10 days off. They will not be made available for Heat’s last clash in Melbourne against Renegades on January 18 given they will likely head overseas the next day.Curiously, Carey has been made available for Adelaide Strikers’ last three matches, including a match in Perth on January 18. Webster is supposedly available for Stars on January 19 at this stage. It is understood that those players could make a staggered departure to the UAE in order to play in those BBL games if required.Head is contracted to Strikers but spoke of his need for a rest in the immediate aftermath of the Sydney Test and will not play any of those matches. Head also has an IPL contract and looks set for a near non-stop touring schedule from Sri Lanka onwards with trips to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, India for the IPL, England for the WTC final and the Caribbean for three Tests and some white-ball matches set to keep him on the road until July.Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are staring at a similar schedule in the face although Cummins is likely to miss both Sri Lanka Tests for the birth of his second child while Hazlewood might be ruled out due to a calf injury.Lyon has been rested from the BBL despite a very light workload during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But at 37, having had a major calf injury in 2023, he is being managed ahead of two Tests in Galle where he looks likely to be Australia’s most relied-upon bowler.CA’s high-performance team and the BBL have long been discussing the availability of the Test stars during this short window between the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the Sri Lanka tour, with the BBL keen to have all players available for as many games as possible while the national selectors, coaches and medical staff were very keen to have as many of their stars rest during this precious window without international cricket. CA’s head of National Teams Ben Oliver said the decision on each player’s BBL availability had been made based on each individual program.”A five-Test match series is gruelling, and this was amplified by the intensity of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” Oliver said. “The players and staff deserve great credit for their preparation and management which has enabled sustained performance through what is a full international schedule.”We have worked with each player to form individualised plans which will best support recovery from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and preparation for upcoming international commitments including the tour of Sri Lanka and ICC Champions Trophy. Wherever possible, this includes players representing their clubs in the ongoing BBL season over the coming fortnight.”BBL general manager Alistair Dobson was pleased to get some of the Test stars playing in the competition over the next fortnight.”We are delighted to have number of Australian Test players entering the competition from tonight off the back of their historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory, and thank them for their commitment to the BBL,” Dobson said.

Trott warns England of Dharamsala outfield concerns ahead of Bangladesh fixture

The outfield was rated average after the Afghanistan-Bangladesh match with the ICC independent pitch consultant “comfortable” with its state

Matt Roller08-Oct-2023England’s boundary fielders are bracing for a challenging day in Dharamsala on Tuesday, after being warned about the condition of the outfield at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium by their former batter and current Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott.The grass on the sand-based outfield is patchy and uneven, and several players slipped or lost their footing while fielding in the deep during Bangladesh’s six-wicket win over Afghanistan on Saturday. The outfield is a long-standing problem at the venue, and had caused an India-Australia Test to be moved to Indore at short notice in February.Trott had said that Mujeeb Ur Rahman was “lucky” to escape “a serious knee injury” when his knee dug into the turf as he attempted to make a boundary save. It is understood that he has contacted England players to warn them about its condition ahead of their fixture against Bangladesh.Related

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  • Sandy outfield raises concerns about remaining matches in Dharamsala

  • For England's seamer-heavy squad, the WC is an endurance game

The match officials’ report for Saturday’s game described the condition of the outfield as “average”, while Andy Atkinson, the ICC independent pitch consultant, inspected it on Sunday and was described as “comfortable” with its state.”The process for assessing the condition of the pitch and outfield lies with the match officials under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, and the outfield at Dharamsala was rated as average after the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh match,” an ICC spokesperson said. “Additionally, the ICC independent pitch consultant has taken a look at the outfield today, and is comfortable with the conditions – as is Javagal Srinath, the Match Referee for the next game.”The HPCA ground staff watered the outfield immediately after the game, and did so again on Sunday afternoon – particularly the areas around the bowlers’ run-ups. Tuesday’s match will be played on a fresh pitch, two strips across from the unusually slow surface for Saturday’s.In the worst-case scenario, the umpires could – after consultation with the match referee – deem the condition of the ground as “dangerous or unreasonable”, causing the game to be suspended in the first instance, and then abandoned. In that event, the teams would share the points. On Tuesday, Ahsan Raza and Paul Wilson will be the standing umpires, with Srinath as the match referee.Jonny Bairstow, who spent eight months out of the game with an ankle injury last year, said that it would be difficult for fielders to fight their inclination to dive for balls, but that he expects England will be “clever and smart” as they hope to avoid any serious injuries.”There’s been a lot of chat about it, hasn’t there?” Bairstow said. “The last thing you want is two guys going off with knee injuries or something. It can contribute to shoulders as well, if you’re diving and your elbows get stuck in the ground. It will be very difficult to hold someone back if they see a ball and they try to stop it: it’s a natural reaction to go for it.”Bairstow’s ankle is still “getting better as time goes on”. He said: “It’s still relatively fresh. But, touch wood, there hasn’t been any adverse reaction to different surfaces. Your calves and Achilles and anything… people need to make sure you do everything possible to make sure those areas are loose and able to cope with the stress of a sand-based outfield.”The outfield was slow during Sunday’s match, and Bairstow said that England will have to adapt accordingly. “It might also affect your angles and where you stand: when the ball hits the sandy outfield, it might not fly off as much. It just affects different things. It’s like a pitch being different [from] one venue to another: you’ve just got to adapt to it. Touch wood, we don’t have any major incidents.”The state of the outfield could be a contributing factor in England being unlikely to pick Ben Stokes, who missed their nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand with a left-hip injury. Stokes spent half an hour batting in their nets session on Sunday, but only faced sidearm throws rather than bowlers, and moved gingerly throughout.He then briefly went through some running drills on the main square. Stokes did not feature in either of England’s warm-up matches – the first was washed out but he was not due to play – and had only batted once previously since arriving in India, in a training session in Guwahati.

Tim Macdonald to leave England Women after Commonwealth Games

Lisa Keightley’s assistant to return home for role with Perth Scorchers and Western Australia men’s teams

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2022Tim Macdonald will leave his job as England Women’s Senior Assistant Coach after the Commonwealth Games to take up an assistant coaching post with the Perth Scorchers and Western Australian men’s teams.Macdonald played first-class cricket for Western Australia and Tasmania. His family has continued to live Australia since he was appointed full-time assistant to Lisa Keightley – with whom he previously worked at Perth Scorchers and Western Fury – in August 2020. He had initially joined the England Women’s set-up on an interim basis during the T20 World Cup in Australia earlier that year.Macdonald will return home after the Commonwealth Games end in August to take up the role of Senior Assistant Coach – Bowling across the BBL and State competitions.”I’ve loved every minute of working with such an amazing group of players and staff,” Macdonald said. “I’ve learned a great deal and made some life-long friends, but I couldn’t turn down this amazing opportunity to return home to Perth and be closer to my family.”With my family living in Australia, and the ability to travel being heavily impacted by COVID-19, it has been a challenging yet rewarding time to be in this job, but in that time I believe I’ve seen our team improve and our pool of talent get deeper. Had the rain not intervened at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup we could easily have made two global finals in that time. The future is very bright for the England Women’s team.”The stars have aligned for me, and I’m so excited to return home to my new role with WA and the Perth Scorchers and I absolutely can’t wait to get going following our quest for Commonwealth games gold.”England missed out on reaching the T20 World Cup title decider after rain washed out their semi-final against India, who advanced on points from the group stage. England then turned around a three-match losing streak at the start of this year’s 50-over World Cup to finish runners-up to Australia.Jonathan Finch, Director England Women’s Cricket, said: “Tim has played a vital role in continuing to improve the England Women’s team over the last two years, and will continue to do so as we prepare for the summer match programme.”Tim’s departure coincides with the start of the ICC Women’s Championship and there is no doubt his positive influence will be felt over the coming years. We wish Tim all the best in his new role and thank him for the commitment and passion he has given to England Women’s cricket.”

Devdutt Padikkal's fourth successive ton propels Karnataka into semi-finals

Gujarat also make semis after captain Panchal’s ton flattens Andhra

Saurabh Somani08-Mar-2021Gujarat and Karnataka became the first teams to qualify for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21 semi-finals, with convincing wins against Andhra and Kerala respectively on Monday. Both victories were fashioned by opening batsmen.While Priyank Panchal made 134 off 131 to power Gujarat to 299 for 7, Karnataka’s opening duo of R Samarth and Devdutt Padikkal continued their irresistible form during the tournament as the side piled on 338 for 3. Samarth, the new Karnataka captain, smashed a career-best 192 (off 158 balls), while Padikkal made a 119-ball 101. Kerala mounted a challenge of sorts but subsided to 258 all out in 43.4 overs with seamer Ronit More taking 5 for 36 in nine overs, as Karnataka wrapped up an 80-run win.Gujarat’s victory was even bigger, as Andhra were bowled out for 182 in 41.2 overs. Left-arm pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla took 4 for 28.Karnataka and Gujarat now await the winners of the quarter-finals between Mumbai-Saurashtra and Uttar Pradesh-Delhi, which will both take place on Tuesday.Related

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Karnataka v Kerala

Samarth and Padikkal have both piled on runs in the tournament, and they proved unstoppable once again. Padikkal made his fourth consecutive century – having hit 152 against Odisha, 126* against Kerala in the league game, and 145* against Railways coming into the game. He thus became the first Indian player to hit four consecutive List A centuries. Only two other players have hit four consecutive centuries in one-dayers: Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka in the 2015 World Cup, and Alviro Petersen later that year in the Momentum One-Day Cup 2015-16 for the Lions.Samarth, meanwhile, pressed on, and was in sight of a double-hundred when he fell with ten balls remaining in the innings. He hit three sixes and 22 fours, while accelerating at pace during his innings. His first fifty took 59 balls, and he reached a century in 112 balls. He then plundered 91 runs off his last 46 balls. Samarth has been only marginally less prolific than Padikkal, having not scored below 60 in his last five innings, which include two scores of 150-plus.Both Padikkal (673 runs) and Samarth (605 runs) sit comfortably atop the run-getters list for the tournament, with no other batsman having crossed even 450 yet.All of Kerala’s bowlers came in for heavy punishment barring Jalaj Saxena, who took the new ball against Karnataka’s marauding openers but ended up conceding a mere 34 runs in ten overs, finishing the tournament with an economy rate below 3.75. Nedumankuzhy Basil, the right-arm medium pacer playing only his fifth List A game, took all the wickets to fall, ending with 3 for 57 in eight overs.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kerala’s reply suffered an early jolt when the in-form Robin Uthappa was lbw for 2 against his home state, More making his first breakthrough. Vathsal Govind, the 21-year-old left-hand batsman playing his debut one-day season, made 92 off 96 while Mohammed Azharuddeen smashed 52 off 34, but with none of the rest of the top order crossing 30 and More striking regularly, Kerala’s task was always a difficult one. Saxena added to a good all-round day with a 23-ball 24 from No.8, until he was the last man out.More, who had not been picked in the XI for Karnataka’s last three games, got his opportunity due to a niggle to Abhimanyu Mithun, and made the most of it.

Gujarat v Andhra

Panchal joined Samarth in both captains being the top run-scorers in their matches, holding Gujarat’s innings together till he fell in the 49th over. Panchal maintained a brisk pace throughout his innings, accelerating after his century, which took 114 balls. He hit 10 fours and two sixes during his innings, and was the fulcrum around which Gujarat built their total. The rest of the top order all got into double figures, but Gujarat’s second highest score was 36, by No.3 Rahul Shah.Priyank Panchal’s 134 off 131 balls was too much for Andhra•PTI

Ripal Patel, the hard-hitting pace-bowling allrounder who was signed by Delhi Capitals at the IPL 2021 auctions, provided some ballast in the second half with a 24-ball 35 that pushed Gujarat along, but it was Panchal who carried the innings on his bat.Andhra’s most successful bowler was right-arm medium pacer Harishankar Reddy, snapped up by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2021 auctions, who took 3 for 60 in ten overs including the wicket of Panchal. KV Sasikanth and debutant Lalith Mohan both took 2 for 55, though Mohan bowled only nine overs.Andhra’s reply was derailed early by Nagwaswalla, who has now become the top wicket-taker in the competition. Nagwaswalla has 19 scalps from six games at an average of 12.00. He struck in the second, fourth and sixth overs – his third wicket being that of Hanuma Vihari for a duck.Ricky Bhui continued his good form with 67 off 76 from No.5, but with the rest of the top order falling cheaply, Andhra were always behind. Some lower-order runs meant they recovered briefly from 58 for 5 in the 16th over, but that only narrowed the margin of defeat.

Adam Zampa stuns Queensland to overshadow Marnus Labuschagne century

South Australia legspinner thumped 35 not out off 15 balls to secure a last-over win

Alex Malcolm23-Oct-2019A staggering cameo from legspinner Adam Zampa helped South Australia steal a three-wicket win over Queensland at the Gabba with just two balls to spare.Zampa walked to the crease with the Redbacks needing 49 from 27 balls with just three wickets in hand and he clubbed 35 not out from 15 deliveries in a dazzling, scarcely believable display of batting to completely overshadow Marnus Labuschagne’s maiden List A century from earlier in the day.Jake Lehmann made 54 not out from 64 balls but he was truly a support act to Zampa and had struggled to find the boundary throughout his innings.Zampa launched the last ball off the 47th over from Billy Stanlake over long-on for six, but Michael Neser conceded just six runs from the 48th, leaving Zampa and Lehmann to score 27 off 12 balls to win the game. Zampa crunched Stanlake on the up wide of mid-off and then hooked him for six but Lehmann played and missed off the last ball of the penultimate over giving Neser 15 runs to defend off the last six balls.He couldn’t defend them in four. Zampa scooped the first ball for six over fine leg, cover drove an attempted wide yorked for four, pulled a short ball behind square to the boundary and crunched a straight drive to finish it with two balls to spare.Zampa was named player of the match after earlier taking 2 for 66 with the ball, trumping Wes Agar’s maiden five-wicket haul, Callum Ferguson’s 91, Alex Carey’s 79 and Labuschagne’s magnificent century.Just two days after steering Queensland home from a precarious position in a fourth-innings run chase in the Sheffield Shield against the Redbacks, Labuschagne conjured another superb counter-attack following a top-order collapse making a career-high 135 in Queensland’s total of 9 for 295.The Bulls slumped to 4 for 24 in the eighth over with Agar claiming all four wickets. Max Bryant was clean bowled playing across the line while Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns both chopped on. Matt Renshaw was hit on the toe and adjudged lbw first ball in between.Labuschagne, having made 72 not out after the Bulls slumped to 5 for 54 in the Shield game, picked up where he left off playing with a dominance that belies his overall record. He put together a 110-run stand with Jimmy Peirson to dig his team out of trouble and then found further allies in Neser and Ben Cutting.Labuschagne had failed to convert his nine previous List A half-centuries, and his last seven first-class half-centuries, into three figures but finally broke the drought launching a towering six off Zampa to go from 94 to 100 in style.South Australia’s chase started poorly with Jake Weatherald and Travis Head both falling in the opening five overs to Jack Wildermuth. Carey and Ferguson then resurrected the chase with a 117-run stand. Carey put on a masterclass scoring 79 of them as the Redbacks appeared on track but when he ran himself out trying to steal an unnecessary single to Bryant at cover the chase stumbled. The in-form Tom Cooper was cleaned bowled through the gate for 2 by Neser.Ferguson and Lehmann rebuilt but the required run-rate began to climb. With 86 needed from 54 balls, Lehmann was dropped at long-off by Neser off Matt Kuhnemann. Two balls later Ferguson fell for 91, top-edging a sweep to short fine leg. All looked lost when Luke Robins and Cam Valente holed out. But Zampa stole the show.

Emrit, Tahir star as Guyana Amazon Warriors defend 141

From 113 for 2, St Lucia Stars collapsed to 126 for 7 and their 13th successive loss, a streak stretching back to CPL 2016

The Report by Peter Della Penna12-Aug-2018
Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

Guyana Amazon Warriors preserved their unbeaten start to CPL 2018 in improbable circumstances in a three-run win over St Lucia Stars at Providence Stadium. The visitors found new ways to maintain their incredible streak of futility since ditching the Zouks moniker at the start of 2017, frittering away an almost-certain victory from a position of 113 for 2, chasing 142.The Walton-Ronchi surge
Amazon Warriors’ openers sped their way to a half-century stand in just 5.4 overs to give the hosts a superb platform. Chadwick Walton, in particular, was creative with his punishment, following up his first three boundaries with a scooped six over fine leg off Mohammad Sami to start the fifth over. The pair eventually added 54 in seven overs before Stars turned to spin to shift the momentum.Qais of death

Legspinners have made a habit of striking on the first ball of their spells during this CPL, from Australia’s Fawad Ahmed to Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane. Afghanistan teenager Qais Ahmad followed in their footsteps at Providence on Saturday afternoon, beating Walton in flight after coming on in the eighth over to have the Jamaican stumped for 31.Shimron Hetmyer, who produced a sparkling half-century a few nights earlier in Warriors’ win over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, was the next to fall to Qais. A thick edge on an attempted cut was held after a juggle by Andre Fletcher in the 12th over. The Afghan’s third and best of the night came in his next over when he beat Shoaib Malik through the gate with a googly as the Warriors had been cooled down by the end of Qais’ haul from 54 for 0 to 98 for 3.Duguid, the bad and the ugly
Umpire Nigel Duguid had a night to forget, standing out in the wrong way for a pair of lbw decisions. The first came late in the Warriors’ innings. Ronchi was holding firm on a sluggish wicket in spite of the damage done by Qais and was on 42 off 40 balls before the last delivery of the 16th over. Mark Chapman, who had been brought on to bowl for the first time of the night with his left-arm spin as Stars’ eighth bowler of the night, speared a skiddy delivery into Ronchi’s legs on a good length. The ball went straight on past Ronchi’s pull and looked to be clearly going down leg stump but Chapman’s appeal was upheld. With the anchor lifted, Warriors only scored two boundaries off the final four overs to claw to 141.A far more egregious error was made early in the Stars’ chase. A conservative start by Fletcher and David Warner saw them crawl to 28 for 0 at the end of the Powerplay. Imran Tahir came on for the seventh over and after a single by Fletcher, Warner got a full toss that he attempted to reverse sweep behind point. He edged the ball onto his glove as the ball trickled toward point with Ronchi more concerned about chasing after the ball to deny a single than supporting Tahir’s appeal.A stunned Warner then saw Tahir sprinting away toward the boundary as Duguid upheld the appeal. Not only had the ball never come close to striking Warner’s pad, but the impact with his gloves appeared to be outside off stump as well with the ball’s trajectory projected to carry well past off stump. The decision was compounded later in the over, when Tahir struck to trap Fletcher lbw, a straightforward decision, with a googly to leave Stars at 30 for 2.Unlucky 13
Lendl Simmons bashed five sixes after coming in at first drop to give the Stars a much-needed boost in the middle order. The Stars’ winless streak looked certain to end at 12 when Sherfane Rutherford spilled Simmons off a regulation chance on the cover boundary in the 16th off Sohail Tanvir and two balls later Simmons ended the over with a six to bring the equation down to 34 off four overs with eight wickets in hand.Yet The Curse of the Zouks is looking very very real for the Stars, having given away the match from that position. Rayad Emrit’s spell in the death snuffed out the Stars, beginning with the wicket of Simmons three balls into the 17th over. Chapman’s charge down the pitch to Chris Green’s offspin failed on the first ball of the 18th as Pollard and Rahkeem Cornwall could manage just three singles off the rest of the over to leave 23 off the final two overs.Emrit found himself on a hat-trick four balls into the 19th over when Pollard sliced to Jason Mohammed at extra cover and Cornwall was cleaned up by a yorker. Qais denied Emrit the hat-trick before slugging the final ball for a six over midwicket to leave 16 off the last over to win. Keemo Paul then yorked Kavem Hodge off the first ball to put Stars seven down before Mitchell McClenaghan scooped a six off his first ball over fine leg to make it ten off four. Two, one, two off the next three balls left Qais with a four to tie or six to win off the last ball. Paul fed him a thigh-high full toss on a middle-stump on silver platter, but Qais flubbed it to long-off for a single, taking Stars’ winless streak to a baker’s dozen.

Derbyshire 26 short of first win for two years – then comes Nottingham rain

Derbyshire were 26 runs short of a first Championship win for two years – and in a derby to boot – and then the rain fell in Nottingham

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge05-Jun-2017
ScorecardDerbyshire’s long wait for a win in the Championship continues after they were denied victory over Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire in the most frustrating circumstances.Chasing 216 from 49 overs, they were within touching distance with 36 needed, six wickets in hand and still 14 overs left when darkening skies reached the point at which the light from the floodlights had taken over from the natural light, obliging the umpires to take the players off the field.They brought they back after a little under 20 minutes but the batsmen had faced only seven more deliveries – one of them a no-ball – when the forecast rain arrived and Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman was forced to accept a draw. He had lost one more batsman but the requirement had come down to 26 from eight overs, eminently within their grasp.It was an outcome he would have been happy with at the start of play on Friday but not at that moment, not as close as this to a first Championship victory since July 2015 – and a first win in red-ball cricket for Godleman as Derbyshire captain.Rain had washed out the whole morning session but the run chase was set up with no contrivances, Derbyshire bowling out their hosts for 349 after play began at 1.45pm.Chris Read’s unbeaten 74 gave Nottinghamshire’s bowlers something to defend and created an element of scoreboard pressure in taking the target beyond 200 but in the end the only real source of anxiety for Derbyshire was the weather.The forecast had suggested that the closer the clock moved towards six, the greater the likelihood of further rain and by 5.30 with 44 still to get the clouds were gathering ominously as the umpires began to twitch about the light.A couple of minutes later, the deepening grey of the sky forced them to act.Derbyshire’s disappointment was hardly made easier for knowing they had been on top almost throughout the four days, although at the same time it will be a source of encouragement for the way ahead.Nottinghamshire were not long losing their last four wickets from 313-6.Billy Godleman, Derbyshire’s captain, came close to breaking the winless run•Getty Images

Tom Taylor took three of them in the space of a dozen deliveries as Brett Hutton played round one to be bowled, Luke Wood hooked straight to long leg and Luke Fletcher was leg before to a straight one. Given that only the rabbit Harry Gurney remained, the 22-year-old right-arm seamer must have sensed a five-for was there for the taking but Jeevan Mendis denied him the opportunity as Gurney had a swing but hit the ball straight to point.Nonetheless, largely thanks to Read’s canniness in keeping Gurney away from the ball as much as possible, the Nottinghamshire lead swelled beyond 200, enough to put a little more psychological pressure on Derbyshire.Read’s 74 included 28 of the 36 runs added to the overnight score. He finished with a flourish, damaging Taylor’s figures a little by going four-four-six.Wayne Madsen was in charge two years ago when Derbyshire beat Northamptonshire by seven wickets at Wantage Road and it was he who put his side in with a chance of winning for the first time on this ground since 2002.They had lost Luis Reece and then Godleman in the first 10 overs of the 49, Reece failing to clear mid-on and Godleman caught behind after a nice piece of bowling from Luke Wood, who is turning into a blond version of Jack Brooks in the way he wheels away across the square to celebrate a wicket.Shiv Thakor gloved one through to Read but Madsen scored 61 from 57 balls to take his side so close to the winning line.He will probably reflect that he rather gave his wicket away in the end, aiming a big swing at Samit Patel when such rashness was unnecessary and slicing the ball high in the air to deep point, where Brett Hutton dived forward at full length to take the catch.But Alex Hughes and Gary Wilson picked up the pieces calmly enough. Hughes was leg before to a Fletcher full toss but there was enough batting left for the job to have been completed, had weather permitted. Instead, Derbyshire’s winless run extends to 27 matches.

Ambrose 'very disappointed' at losing WI consultancy job

Curtly Ambrose, the former West Indies fast bowler who was replaced as the team’s bowling coach on the weekend, has said the decision to remove him came as “a bit of a shock”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-2016Curtly Ambrose, the former West Indies fast bowler, has said the decision to remove him as West Indies’ bowling consultant came as “a bit of a shock”. Ambrose was replaced with Roddy Estwick on the weekend; he said head coach Phil Simmons told him the decision was made because Simmons wanted someone who is “more technical” to coach the team’s fast bowlers.”I only learnt about it from head coach Phil Simmons on Wednesday [last week], and when he told me I said to him that I am very disappointed, because I never expected it, and I never saw it coming because he never gave me any indication he was going to let me go,” Ambrose was quoted as saying in the . “So, it came as a bit of a shock basically, but I haven’t decided which direction I am going to take just yet. I’ll just pause and give it a little time to think about it and decide where I want to go after.”Ambrose had served as West Indies’ consultant for the last three years, his most recent assignment being the World T20 triumph in India in April. The WICB press release did not state a reason for Ambrose’s exit. “I spoke to head coach Phil Simmons, and he told me that he wanted someone who is more technical to work with the fast bowlers,” Ambrose said. “So, I said to him well, if you knew I was doing a poor job, then you should have told me. He said no, I did a fantastic job, because I brought a high level of discipline to the team, and I have motivated the guys quite a bit… but he wants somebody more technical, hence, he is going for Roderick Estwick.”Estwick, who was given the designation of bowling coach, is due to join the West Indies pre-season preparatory camp on May 19, ahead of the home tri-series against Australia and South Africa that starts on June 3 in Guyana. Estwick had coached the Barbados domestic side as well as the West Indies Under-19 and Barbados Under-19 teams, apart from participating in the High Performance Centre programme.

Collingwood takes up Scotland coaching role

Paul Collingwood, the former England batsman, will begin his coaching education by taking up a post with Scotland over the winter

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2013Paul Collingwood, the former England batsman, will begin his coaching education by taking up a post with Scotland over the winter.Collingwood recently led Durham to the Championship title and still has one year left on his contract but, rather than pursue T20 deals or media work in the off season, he will lend the experience of more than 200 limited-overs internationals to Scotland’s attempts to qualify for the World Twenty20 and World Cup.In addition to 68 Tests, Collingwood is England’s most-capped player in ODIs, with 197 appearances, and he also captained England to victory at the 2010 World T20. He could provide a valuable resource as the Associate nation tries to reach a global ICC tournament for the first time since 2009.The qualifier for the 2014 World T20 takes place in the UAE in November, with the qualifier for the 2015 World Cup following in New Zealand in January. Collingwood will play a full part in both the preparation and competition phases of both tournaments, working alongside Scotland’s head coach, Peter Steindl, and fielding coach/performance analyst Toby Bailey.In addition to Collingwood, Craig Wright, the current Under-19s coach and former Scotland captain, will join in the role of bowling coach.”Leading into two vital qualifying events, I was very keen to change things up a bit, add a couple of new voices to the coaching team and bring in coaches who had attained success at the very highest levels of the game,” Steindl said.”Paul has been part of successful teams as a player and a captain and it will be great to have his experience and knowledge on board. We identified Paul as a person we were very keen to secure and I am delighted he agreed to join us for the winter. I am sure he will be a hugely positive influence on the squad as we head into some really important cricket.”Collingwood, who has also played limited-overs cricket for teams in India, Australia and South Africa, added: ”I am very excited at the prospect of working with the Scotland squad over the coming months and look forward to helping the team qualify for both the World T20 and the 2015 World Cup.”Keith Oliver, chairman of Cricket Scotland said: ”Following discussions with Paul, we are convinced he will add real value to the coaching team and the playing squad. As a vastly experienced player and World Cup-winning captain , he will bring skills which will complement the existing team of coaches as we seek to qualify for two World Cups.”The Scotland team will leave for Sri Lanka on October 27 for a training camp before the World T20 qualifier starts, before arriving in Dubai on November 9. Scotland play two warm-up matches, against USA and Namibia before their first Group B game against Bermuda on November 15.

Ireland warm-up with a win

Ireland showed useful form in their second warm-up game in Sri Lanka ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 which starts next week

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2012Ireland showed useful form in their second warm-up game in Sri Lanka ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 which starts next week. Phil Simmons’s men thumped a Sri Lanka A side by seven wickets with more than five overs to spare.Ireland had received a boost at the weekend when Australia slipped below them in the world rankings.
Sri Lanka A made 104-9, with Alex Cusack (3-11) and Boyd Rankin (2-13) the pick of the Ireland bowlers off their four over spells. Tim Murtagh took his first wicket in Ireland colours, going for 24 in his four over spell. Angelo Perera made 32 for the Sri Lanka A, and captain Thilana Kandamby, 21.Ed Joyce scored a rare T20 half-century, making 53 off 39 balls, while he and Kevin O’Brien – who thumped 28 off 19 balls – saw Ireland home. Sachithra Senanayake took 2 for 13 off three overs for the hosts.

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