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In cricket, a combination of opposites is usually the most pleasing one and the differences are often best expressed when they come up against each other

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo02-Sep-2011In cricket, a combination of opposites is usually the most pleasing one. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel: the swinger and the bouncer; Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid: the aggressor and the grinder.But these differences are often best expressed when they come up against each other. In Bulawayo, the contrast wasn’t an obvious one but it was a fascinating one: the steadily dripping tap of Tino Mawoyo against Mohammad Hafeez’s gushing river.In the time it took Hafeez to reach his half-century, Mawoyo had only gathered nineteen runs. The number of boundaries Hafeez scored in his half-century – 10 – Mawoyo only managed when he had accumulated 80 runs. If Hafeez faces the 453 balls that Mawoyo did, he may well have a double century and more.Mawoyo was content to play the waiting game and frustrate the opposition bowlers more than they could frustrate him while Hafeez took the fight straight to the Zimbabwe bowlers, offering them no respite during an attractive and engaging innings. Mawoyo’s strength was in his supreme patience, Hafeez’s his strokeplay.Before the Test started, Mawoyo described himself as a person who enjoys watching the show, not being in it. After finishing day one on an undefeated and composed 82, he was in danger of becoming the star of the show, not just a supporting actor. This morning, when he scored the first runs with a classy cover drive, the credits of the movie started to roll, with Mawoyo’s name dominating. And they rolled, and rolled, and rolled, and rolled, and rolled. More than five hours later, they were still rolling. Mawoyo took his time delivering his soliloquy.For a 30-minute period early on, before he reached his hundred, he had scored just three runs. He spent the entire morning session negotiating Saeed Ajmal from the Matopos End. Even after facing him for more than a day, Mawoyo still could not pick the doosra. Ajmal continued to challenge him, almost dismissing him on 98, but Mawoyo continued to defy the offspinner. He faced 13 balls on 99 before bringing up his century in a typically understated fashion, with a run that might have been a leg-bye.An intriguing race to see if Mawoyo’s score could catch up to the number of overs ensued and it was only when he reached 121 in the 120th over that he could claim a small victory. With Pakistan realising they were faced with a wall, they decided to try and hammer it down and peppered Mawoyo with short balls. He only took the bait to pull when he was convinced that it would reach the boundary, blocking or ignoring those that he thought were going to trap him.His refusal to succumb was a sign of a strong mind, one that would not be distracted irrespective of time spent at the crease, heat, fatigue or the constant chatter by Adnan Akmal with involved many utterances of the word “yourself.” Mawoyo would not be disturbed, neither would be forced to change tack and he made that clear.Even after Mawoyo had reached the 150 mark, he did not consider it time to become more expansive, and went on to face eight dot balls before taking his next run. His celebrations were modest, perhaps because he never felt as though he had won, especially against Ajmal’s doosra. Mawoyo was beaten by it all way through, until the end of his innings, when he missed one in the 150th over of the day.By contrast, the experienced Hafeez was beaten by very little. The youth of Brian Vitori, the pace of Kyle Jarvis, the steadiness of Chris Mpofu and even the late turn from Ray Price couldn’t stop the Pakistan opener. His only wobble came in the third over. After he had played two sublime off drives off Vitori, he got an edge to a delivery that moved across him. Brendan Taylor, at second slip, put down the catch and that blunder only fuelled Hafeez’s fire, instead of inhibiting him.Vitori was taken aback by the early assault, the first he has had to deal with at international level and splayed “hit me” deliveries all over the place. Too straight, too short, too wide, too full but never too good. Although the attack Hafeez faced had more zip than the one Mawoyo had to contend with, they were also more wayward, bowling too short to Hafeez, allowing him to pull comfortably. Azhar Ali was playing a more Mawoyo-like innings on the other side, which gave Hafeez the freedom to put on a firework-like display of shots.There were many times when Mawoyo had that same freedom, but he chose not use it. It was another of those wonderful contrasts in cricket – the room to accommodate those who express themselves with the bat, like Hafeez, and the same space for those who decide that their best form of articulation is by doing things softly and carefully, like Mawoyo.

Somerset recorded their fourth Championship Division One victory in five outings, beating Nottinghamshire by 10 wickets

31-Jul-2010

ScorecardSomerset recorded their fourth Championship Division One victory in five outings, beating Nottinghamshire by 10 wickets. The victory, achieved with more than a day to spare, earned Marcus Trescothick’s side 24 points and keeps their hopes of lifting the coveted title for the first time very much alive.Resuming their first innings on 278 for 5, Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read, unbeaten on 75 overnight, opened his account with a boundary off the last ball of the opening over – bowled by Charl Willoughby.The left arm seamer had the last laugh however when Read was caught by wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter for 80 as he pushed forward to the last ball of the 81st over – the first with the new ball. Read added 157 for the sixth wicket with Samit Patel, before being dismissed with the score on 287.Patel reached his century when he edged Willoughby through the vacant third slip area, but in the next over he was out leg before wicket as he played back to a delivery from Alfonso Thomas. Patel scored 104 off 185 balls, including 17 fours and two sixes.Andre Adams brought up the 300 with a boundary through midwicket, but after moving on to 20 he attempted to drive Willoughby and was caught by Kieswetter. Willoughby struck twice more to wrap up the innings, accounting for Paul Franks leg before, and two balls later bowling Charlie Shreck as the visitors were all out for 339.In the morning session Willoughby took four wickets for 26 runs from 6.3 overs to end with six for 101. Trescothick enforced the follow-on, and batting for a second time 178 runs behind, the visitors lost Matt Wood, leg before to Willoughby with the score on one.By lunch the score had reached 28 off 10 overs without further loss – but four overs after the break Alex Hales, who had moved on to 28, stepped down the wicket to Murali Kartik and edged to Kieswetter.In the next over Thomas had new batsman Patel caught at first slip by Trescothick for one and the visitors found themselves 42 for 3. Mark Wagh was joined by David Hussey and between them they took the total on to 93 when Wagh was lbw pushing forward to to Zander de Bruyn for 45.New batsman Ali Brown brought up the 100 with a boundary through cover point off De Bruyn in the 31st over. When Willoughby replaced De Bruyn at the Old Pavilion End, Brown – 16 at the time – gave a chance which Kieswetter, just failed to take diving to his right.De Bruyn’s return to the attack paid dividends when he bowled Hussey, shouldering arms, for 30 which brought Read to the wicket. The Nottinghamshire skipper spent eight overs at the crease before he was caught by De Bruyn at deep backward mid-off for four off Thomas.The same bowler then had Paul Franks caught by James Hildreth for one at backward square leg in his next over – and the visitors were rocking on 168 for 7. Thomas struck again in his next over when he had Brown leg before wicket for 47 but the visitors went ahead when Adams edged Kartik through first slip to the boundary.However, the left arm spinner got his revenge when he trapped the batsman leg before in his next over for 10. Thomas claimed the final wicket when he bowled Shreck for three as Nottinghamshire were all out for 190, giving him final figures of 5 for 40 from 14.4 overs.Needing 13 for victory Somerset reached their target in 11 balls, with Trescothick unbeaten on four and Nick Compton five not out, with the remaining runs being extras. Notts picked up five points for their part in the match.

Aggressive 91-ball century saves England from early collapse as NZ wobble in reply

Vithushan Ehantharajah06-Dec-2024Harry Brook has hailed his 123 on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington as the best of his eight Test hundreds, eclipsing the 317 he scored against Pakistan two months ago.Brook’s 115-ball innings – including a century from 91, his second-fastest in Tests – has put England in command at the Basin Reserve, with New Zealand closing on 86 for 5, 198 behind the tourists’ opening effort of 280. The 25-year-old arrived at 26 for 3 upon the fall of Joe Root and unleashed some audacious shots, including clouting Nathan Smith out of the ground for the first of three sixes over extra cover.It began immediately as a counterattack on a pitch that was seaming prodigiously. Having been dropped five times for his 171 last week in the first Test, Brook was chanceless throughout, until some slack running saw him run out by Smith on the stroke of tea.Nevertheless, Brook was so happy afterwards that he ranked it top of the charts for his meaningful scores so far. Including the history-busting knock against Pakistan in the first Test at Multan in October, when he became England’s first triple-centurion in 34 years, after Graham Gooch’s 333 against India in 1990.”I think that might be my favourite hundred so far,” said Brook at stumps. “I enjoyed that a lot.”It was just the circumstances really, it was 26 for 3 when I came in and the pitch was doing quite a bit. It was seaming and swinging and I’m just glad I put my attacking mode on and really took it to them and put them under pressure.”Obviously that pitch (Multan) was extremely flat. You could just lean on it and the outfield was so rapid it would go for four. Here in the situation of the game, the pitch, and the way I played…I felt like I was really putting them under a lot of pressure.”It’s a pretty special feeling. Most of the balls came out the middle of the bat. It feels good to be batting like that.”Related

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Two days ago, Brook moved to No.2 on the ICC Test batting rankings following his 171 in the first Test of this series, behind teammate Root, who was dismissed for just three here. And according to Nathan Smith, who was targeted by Brook and launched into the road with the first of three sixes over extra cover off his bowling, he deserves to be considered in such vaunted company.”He’s a crop of that new, young cricketers – those world-class ones; him, Rachin, the guy from India (Yashasvi Jaiswal),” said Smith. “You put those guys in the same category. He’s world class, right up there.”This was Brook’s seventh century overseas, taking his average away from home to 91.50 from 10 Tests. All of those have been played in either Pakistan (six) and New Zealand (four), and he has yet to play in India or Australia.”I’ve only played in two countries – if I go to another it might change,” said Brook. “The pitches in Pakistan are usually very nice to bat on. Here you get nice-paced pitches, quick and bouncy and I feel I can play a different array of shots.”Brook also signalled out Brydon Carse, the pick of England’s bowlers with 2 for 28, including the dismissal of Kane Williamson. He had Williamson bowled for 20 off a no-ball, before making amends with a delivery that left the legendary Black Cap and caught an edge through to Ollie Pope for 37. Carse then snared Daryl Mitchell late in the day with a lifter down the leg side to confirm England’s advantage going into day two.”I think the ball after he got the no-ball wicket was 92/93mph,” Brook said. “He was fairly angry. Every team needs a player like him, he bowls at 90mph, diving and taking that amazing catch and he can come out with the bat and smack his first ball for four. he’s a very valuable asset to us and an unbelievably good bloke.”

No concerns about cohesion, says England opener, as familiar faces gather for 2019 re-run

Matt Roller06-Sep-2023England are getting the band back together. They train in Cardiff on Thursday before the first of four ODIs against New Zealand which serve as preparation for their defence of the 50-over World Cup in India, and the core of their 2019 squad will return to a format they have only played sporadically over the last four years.Joe Root was in the nets at Trent Bridge before their six-wicket defeat in a low-key fourth T20I on Tuesday evening, while four other members of the side that lifted the trophy at Lord’s – Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood – will also return to the white-ball fold in Wales.It marks the start of their World Cup run-in. England have only played nine ODIs in the last 12 months and those games have been decidedly low-key, including three in Australia which started hours after their T20 World Cup celebrations had ended. They were proud to win 2-1 in Bangladesh in March, but none of their squad have played a 50-over game since.Their main challenge over the next nine days will be adapting to a format that they have hardly played. Between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, England played 88 ODIs; in the last four years, they have played 36, and rarely with anything near a full-strength side. That reflects the global trend: only three of the 10 teams competing in India have played more in this cycle.”We’ll rock up to Cardiff and see all the lads: it’ll be just like normal,” said Jonny Bairstow, who missed England’s nine ODIs last winter through injury but was an automatic selection for their World Cup squad, given his prowess as a one-day opener. “It’s great to have a group that have got a wealth of experience coming back together.”Naturally, there’ll be conversations around, ‘well, you’re not playing much 50-over cricket together’ and all this stuff. But the guys have been playing Test cricket or T20 cricket… to have the skillset to play both of those is a skillset that you’re able to take both parts of into 50-over cricket. It can throw different bits at you.”It is going to be good fun. I don’t think there’s too much worry about cohesion, or people not having played together for two, six, 12, 18 months – whatever it may be. I don’t think that’s too much of a worry when the group has played together for seven or eight years. It’s one of those where you just fit back and you slot back into your roles.”Related

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There are four weeks until the same teams get the World Cup underway in Ahmedabad on October 5, and these four ODIs will be England’s most important preparation. They are likely to rest the vast majority of their first-choice squad for the three fixtures against Ireland later this month and their two warm-up matches in Guwahati will be relatively low-key.The World Cup is a long tournament in its current guise, and England learned four years ago that dropping a game or two early in a nine-match group stage is not terminal. “We’ll be able to call upon some tough experience we had during that competition,” Bairstow said.”It wasn’t just plain sailing: having to win four out of the last four games in order to win the competition. We’ll be able to call upon those experiences in the big moments in the big games during the World Cup.”Everyone wants to go back-to-back. It’s something you dream of. But we’re under no illusion that in India, it’s going to be very tough. There are some quality teams around the world. There will be some exciting games; there will be some upsets; there’s going to be some interesting pitches, I’m sure, at times. There will be different conditions around the country and it’ll be the team that adapts the best that gets the best results.”Bairstow also played down the severity of the injury that kept him off the field during New Zealand’s run-chase on Tuesday night, having experienced some pain in his right shoulder while batting. “We’ve got a lot of cricket ahead of us… it’s better to take slighty more precaution than not,” he said. “It’ll be absolutely fine.”

Former England and Gloucestershire allrounder joins coaching team headed by Gary Kirsten

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2022Mark Alleyne, the former England and Gloucestershire allrounder, will join Welsh Fire as an assistant coach ahead of their upcoming men’s Hundred season.Alleyne, who represented England in 10 one-day internationals and captained Gloucestershire to nine one-day trophies in seven years, joins head coach Gary Kirsten and fellow assistants Matt Maynard and Jason Kerr to form Welsh Fire’s men’s coaching team.Alleyne works as a Test scout for the ECB and is Assistant Director of Sport at Marlborough College. He travelled with the England men’s T20I squad as a support coach during their recent tour of the Caribbean.”I’m delighted to be joining Welsh Fire and have the opportunity to work with Gary Kirsten and his coaching team,” Alleyne said.Related

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“It’s exciting to be able to work closely with elite players and hopefully I can use my experience to add extra value to what they do and help create a winning formula for Welsh Fire.”I loved watching The Hundred last year and it’s exciting to get involved in a competition that captured the imagination of fans and brought new audiences to cricket.”Mark Wallace, Welsh fire team manager, said: “Mark was one of the most forward-thinking and progressive players of his generation and is a great addition to the Welsh Fire coaching staff.”He is full of enthusiasm and knowing Mark he will bring plenty of new ideas to the table that will help take Welsh Fire to the next level.”Welsh Fire men’s side finished last year’s inaugural season in seventh place out of eight teams. They begin their 2022 campaign against defending champions Southern Brave at the Ageas Bowl in the opening match of the new season on August 3. They will then host Oval Invincibles on August 7. The women’s side get their season underway on August 13 in a double-header with Birmingham Phoenix at Sophia Gardens.

Offspinner produced an up and down performance in first Test

George Dobell10-Feb-2021Chris Silverwood insists he is “not worried” about Dom Bess, despite an up and down performance from the offspinner in the first Test in Chennai.Bess claimed five wickets in the match and contributed 59 with the bat across the two innings. But he also bowled 19 full tosses – 12 in the first innings and seven in the second – including a grim over which saw him bowl three in succession to Virat Kohli. Each of them was hit for four.But while Silverwood, the England coach, conceded Bess had endured “a bad day”, he did not believe there was any more significant problem than that.Related

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“I think he just had a bad day, which can happen to anybody,” Silverwood said. “The top and bottom of that one is that we’ll get in the nets on Thursday and we’ll get bowling again and I’m sure he’ll get straight back on the bike. I’m not concerned at this moment in time. Did he have an attack of the yips? No, absolutely not.”I am not worried. I had a chat with him afterwards and he’s still in good spirits. Everybody has a bad day and I can accept that.”It’s not through lack of effort. We get to the nets, work hard again and find him some rhythm: I am sure he will be fine.”Bess’ record on the tour as a whole, which started with two Tests in Sri Lanka, is excellent. He has taken 17 wickets across the three Tests at an average of 22.41 as well as averaging 22.75 with the bat. While he would admit there has been an element of fortune about some of those wickets – he had Cheteshwar Pujara caught at midwicket in Chennai after his pull shot bounced off the back of the short-leg fielder – he has also produced some fine deliveries. Even on the final day in Chennai, he had Washington Sundar caught behind off a fast, sharply turning offbreak.But those full tosses are a worry and suggest problems in either temperament, technique or perhaps both. That leaves England having to decide whether it is better for Bess’ long-term future to stick with him for another game and risk the possibility of exposing him to further difficulties, or leaving him out and denting his confidence.Dom Bess had and up and down performance in Chennai•BCCI

One option would be for them to recall Moeen Ali for the second Test. But Moeen hasn’t played a first-class game since September (and a Test since August 2019) and may also be short of bowling having recently had to spend two weeks in isolation after being diagnosed with Covid-19 when England arrived in Sri Lanka.Silverwood, though, is adamant that he is a “viable option” for the second Test and will know he scored two centuries on England’s most recent Test tour of India.”Moeen has worked as hard as he can with the facilities we have,” Silverwood said. “Obviously he has not played in a game and we know that. We accept that those are the times we are in, but should he play, I would have every confidence in him.”The underlying issue with Bess is that he is having to learn his trade at the highest level. With County Championship cricket providing few opportunities for spin bowlers to play, let alone bowl the volume of overs they require, he is effectively gaining the experience he needs against the toughest opposition and under the glare of the brightest spotlight. With that in mind, the England management may decide the only way he will gain more experience is by bearing with him through the inevitable bumps in the road that will occur as he develops.If Silverwood had come to a conclusion on the issue, he was not sharing it on Wednesday. Instead, England will return to the nets on Thursday – the entire squad had a rest day following the Test – and perhaps make a decision after that training session.

Australia have retained the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001, after digging deep into their reserves in the final hour at Old Trafford

The Report by Andrew Miller08-Sep-2019 Australia 497 for 8 (Smith 211, Labuschagne 67) and 186 for 6 dec (Smith 82) beat England 301 (Burns 81, Root 71) and 197 (Denly 53, Cummins 4-43) by 185 runs

Australia have retained the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001, after digging deep into their reserves in the final hour at Old Trafford to achieve the catharsis that eluded them at Headingley last week, and outlast another gallant bout of English resistance in yet another cliffhanging finish.This time, mere survival was the limit of England’s ambition, but as the tension tightened in another nail-shredding final session, it took an unlikely hero to unlock the resistance of a familiar cult figure. At 178 for 8 in the 76th over shortly after tea, Jack Leach – promoted to No.10 after his role in England’s third Test miracle – joined the nerveless Craig Overton, and saw off the new ball with guts and determination in a ninth-wicket stand that spanned the best part of 15 overs.So Tim Paine, Australia’s captain, chose an unlikely means to pick the lock. With men crowded round the bat, he tossed the ball to the part-time legspinner Marnus Labuschagne, who was given licence to give it a rip and see what he could achieve out of the ever-deepening footholes. Sure enough, he was able to spit one out of the rough and thump the left-hander’s glove for Matthew Wade to snaffle the crucial catch, to send Leach on his way for a valiant 12 from 51 balls.The resistance didn’t last much longer. Back came Australia’s senior seamers, and down – at the last – fell Overton, pinned on the knee by another nipbacker from Josh Hazlewood, and though he rolled the dice on England’s final review, it was all academic. Three reds on the big screen prompted an outpouring of Aussie joy – their shattering setback in Leeds last week a thing of the past as they pulled ahead 2-1 in the series with just next week’s fifth Test at The Oval to come. After waiting 18 years for success on English soil, the sweetness of this moment will do for now. But a series win is what this side deserves after outplaying their opponents on a far more consistent basis than the current scoreline implies.That England took it this deep, however, was a tribute to the depth of character that exists within their dressing room – even if the events of the past five days have exposed technical flaws that no amount of heart and tenacity can overcome.After the mess that Pat Cummins had made of England’s top order on the previous evening, bagging Rory Burns and Joe Root for back-to-back ducks, expectations were low when Joe Denly and Jason Roy resumed in the morning session with the score still stuck on a grim 18 for 2. And yet, in differing styles all the way down the batting card, England stitched together a tapestry of heroic cameos that added up to an absorbing day of sporting theatre, even if it couldn’t quite carry them over the line this time.The tone for the day was set in the first 80 minutes of a fraught but absorbing morning session, as Roy and Denly endured, with tenacity at first against the discipline of Cummins and Hazlewood, and then with more opportunistic intent as the spin of Nathan Lyon was coupled with Mitchell Starc’s less metronomic but potentially deadly left-arm line.There were moments of looseness from Denly in particular – a wild swipe at a wide one from Starc that skidded over the head of third slip took the biscuit – but it was Roy who was the first to succumb, bowled for the fifth time in ten Test innings as Cummins obliterated his off stump with a scorching inducker. For all that he had fought valiantly against that same hard-handed technique that had propelled England to World Cup glory just two months ago, the manner of Roy’s parting, after 67 balls of obduracy, was wearyingly familiar, as he pushed way ahead of his body, and buckled as the ball jagged back through the resultant gap.Six overs later, and England’s promising start was a distant memory, as Cummins accounted for the biggest scalp of the lot. As Ben Stokes showed in the early part of his Headingley miracle, he can stonewall with the best of them these days. And he did little wrong against the ball that eventually bagged him – save under-estimate the bounce that Cummins was able to extract from just back of a length, as it snagged the under-edge of an attempted leave. The umpire was unmoved, but Tim Paine had no doubt, and Stokes duly walked rather than wait for the inevitable review.Denly, however, was still in his bubble, and having taken England to lunch in partnership with Jonny Bairstow, he brought up his second fifty in as many first innings three overs after the break with a compact drive for four through mid-off off Cummins. The fact that he had now risen to become England’s best hope of salvation was perhaps an indictment of England’s selection more than anything else, but it was hard to dispute the grit on display.It wasn’t built to last, however, and on 53, Denly succumbed to the best ball of an otherwise underwhelming spell from Lyon, who appeared to be struggling with a cut on his spinning finger, and whose tight line on off stump had been consistently turning the ball safely past leg. This time, however, he offered more air on the widest line of his spell, and a ripper out of Starc’s footmarks thudded the glove en route to Labuschagne under the lid.At 93 for 5, the scoreline looked uncompromising, but the relative ease of England’s survival in the first three hours of play was all the incentive that Bairstow and Buttler needed to knuckle down and grind their way through the second hour of the session. With the ageing ball offering little in the way of assistance, Paine took to shuffling his pack, at one stage implementing nine bowling changes in 14 overs, including an early sighting of Labuschagne in tandem with Travis Head’s offspin, before Starc’s switch to the James Anderson End eventually reaped its reward. Bairstow, on 25 from 61 balls, was thumped on the pad flap, albeit deep in his crease, and sent on his way lbw – the subsequent review confirming the ball would have clipped the top of middle.In came Overton, the first of the bowlers and the beginning of the end, it seemed. Not so fast. Overton’s selection had raised several eyebrows before the match – but there was plenty that the selectors admired about his spirit in adversity on the tour of Australia and New Zealand two years ago, not least with the bat, where he made a gutsy 41 not out on debut at Adelaide, before top-scored from No.10 in the 58-all-out at Auckland.Sure enough, it wasn’t long before his solid stride down the track was negating Lyon’s threat, and he even managed to middle the ball from Cummins for which he was erroneously given out lbw for 7 – not that the third umpire, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, could decipher that fact from the technology at his disposal. Overton only survived when HawkEye subsequently showed he’d been struck outside the line.Australia by now were looking flat, but just as had been the case in the first innings at Edgbaston last month, a change of ball when the original went out of shape prompting an upsurge in threat. Steve Smith’s reaction on examining the replacement was revealing – we waved it aloft as if to say we’ve hit the jackpot here, and it wasn’t long before the ball was bending round corners – one screeching inswinger to Buttler was particularly unplayable.The breakthrough came via a cunning bluff from Hazlewood, who posted a pair of close catchers right under Buttler’s nose, to force him to think again about propping onto the front foot in seeing off the length ball. With half a mind on the rib-tickler too, Buttler allowed himself to hang back and shouldered arms to the wrong delivery – a beautiful nipbacker that cracked into the top of off.Out to the middle came Jofra Archer, whose allround talents may have their use one day. Today, however, was never going to be his day. Lyon took less than an over to pin him plumb lbw with one that grubbed after turning, to bring Leach back to face the music once again.The crowd roared for their cult hero, not least when the famous cloth came out of his pocket to wipe the steam off those ever-foggy spectacles, and there was steam coming out of Cummins’ ears soon afterwards, as he reverted to a round-the-wicket line and crashed a bouncer off Leach’s helmet.That approach, however, was a sign that the recently claimed new ball wasn’t quite having the impact they had hoped. Something more funky was required to dislodge England’s ninth-wicket pair, as thoughts became to turn very tentatively to that famous rearguard in Cardiff in 2009 – another series in which Australia were consistently the better team in spite of evidence to the contrary.Over to Marnus and his speculative leggies. And on now to The Oval, with all and nothing to play for. Australia dearly want and deserve a series win, but the retention of the urn was their primary objective. That has been gloriously achieved.

Australia’s T20 captain believes they will take confidence from their recent success against England in the shortest format

Melinda Farrell at Edgbaston26-Jun-20181:19

T20 a chance for Australia to ‘strut our stuff’ – Finch

Aaron Finch believes Australia will take confidence from their recent T20 success against England into the standalone fixture at Edgbaston and has said the different format gives his players the opportunity for a fresh start after their 5-0 loss in the ODI series.Australia won the Trans-Tasman T20 Tri-Series earlier this year, beating England twice before going on to defeat New Zealand in the final. They have most of the same squad available at Edgbaston, although Finch is captain in the absence of David Warner, who led them to success in February before his embroilment in the Cape Town saga.”We’ve played really good T20 cricket over the last little while,” Finch said. “That was with Davey as skipper in the T20 tri-series but we’ve got a pretty similar group and the guys are playing some really good cricket in that format. It’s probably a format the guys have played a lot more of in the last 12 months, with Big Bash and IPL and things like that.”It’s just about trying to get some continuity over the next six games and really start to develop a core squad that we can take forward almost with one eye on the 2020 World Cup at home.”Finch has captained Australia in both the 20-over and 50-over formats and there has been speculation he may take the ODI reins should Alex Carey, his vice-captain for this game, be favoured as wicketkeeper over Tim Paine, who struggled with the bat in the series against England and admitted his place would be up for discussion.”Someone asked me about this the other day and I haven’t spoken to Tim about anything like that. I haven’t thought about it to be honest,” Finch said. “If the opportunity came up at some point, having done it a couple of games in New Zealand going back quite a while, if the opportunity is there anyone would love to captain their country but Tim’s the man for the job.”Australia will head home via Zimbabwe for a tri-series also involving Pakistan. While there have been security concerns surrounding the tour, Finch said the players had been briefed by the security team and felt comfortable with arrangements. Along with this one-off fixture, the upcoming matches give Finch a chance to nail down the captaincy.Aaron Finch, Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting chat at training•Getty Images

“Yeah I think so,” Finch said when asked. “I think when I had the job last it was one game here and there tacked on to a long tour and it would almost be a heap of guys that ship out and a couple of guys would come in to just play one game here and there.”So I think the amount of T20 that’s coming up, I think most of them are three-game series against other countries so it’s going to be a great opportunity for guys to start to really cement their spot, put their hand up and be the one going forward in their position and just get some continuity with selection and playing more games.”But before that, Australia will be desperately seeking a win to finish a disappointing tour on a high. After England’s last-gasp victory at Old Trafford, Eoin Morgan recalled the way the team’s confidence was affected by a string of losses before the 2015 World Cup. “There was a big mountain to climb,” in terms of belief, Morgan said.But Finch rejected the idea that Australia’s poor ODI form against England – they have lost 10 out of the last 11 contests between the sides – will have a lasting effect.”We’ve just got to start winning, we’ve just got to play better cricket,” Finch said. “I don’t think when we turn up next year for the World Cup there’ll be any mental scars there, they’re probably more for England to be fair. They haven’t won a World Cup and it’s at home so no doubt the pressure will be huge on them.”In the one-day format the confidence was definitely affected, England put us on the back foot from the word go and we weren’t able to catch up. But we’ve had success in this format, from seventh in the world to first or second which is a great achievement and done it with mixed and matched teams. We’re getting more settled. The confidence took a hit in the one-dayers but I don’t think there will be anything to worry about in this format.”

A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches held on April 26, 2017

Mohammad Isam26-Apr-2017Ziaur Rahman smashed five sixes in his unbeaten half-century as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club defeated defending champions Abahani Limited by six wickets at the KSOA Stadium in Fatullah. His 57-ball 73 paved the way for their 270-run chase, and closed out the game for Dhanmondi Club with 12 balls to spare.Ziaur came in to bat after Dhanmondi Club were struggling at 3 for 160 in the 33rd over. He shared a 102-run fourth-wicket stand with Nurul Hasan, who struck three fours in his 43-ball 46. Ziaur, an allrounder with a reputation of being a big-hitter, clobbered six sixes, with two of them landing deep into the stands over midwicket. He skied another over long-on, as the Abahani bowling attack, in the absence of Taskin Ahmed, were left reeling under pressure.Fazle Mahmud and Dhanmondi Club’s Indian recruit Prashant Chopra had earlier laid the foundation with a 114-run second wicket stand. Chopra made 57 off 86 balls with five fours and a six while Mahmud retired hurt on 63 with a leg injury, having struck two fours and as many sixes in his 86-ball knock.Earlier, having elected to bat, Abahani gave away a good start as they were bowled out for 269 runs in 50 overs. Liton Das and captain Mahmudullah made 62 each but there was no real push from the rest of the line-up as they fell about 30 runs short on a pitch that had very little in it for the bowlers.That, however, didn’t stop legspinner Tanbir Hayder from finishing with four for 45 in his ten overs while Shahadat Hossain and Abdur Razzak took two wickets apiece.Mominul Haque smashed Bangladesh’s third highest List-A score as Gazi Group Cricketers picked up their fourth win in a row, beating Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club by 35 runs at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar. They are now the only team with eight points and, thus, are placed top of the points table.Mominul’s 152 came after Mohammedan Sporting Club’s Tamim Iqbal struck 157 in this year’s league opener against Kalabagan Krira Chakra. Coming in to bat in the second over with Gazi Group having put only two runs on the board, Mominul finished with 16 fours and six sixes in his 120-ball innings in what is arguably his best knock in domestic cricket. This was his third hundred in the List-A format; he had struck 104 against the same opposition in Dhaka Premier League’s last season.He added 153 runs for the third wicket with Nasir Hossain, who contributed with 64 off 76 balls, before adding another 101 runs for the fourth wicket with Parvez Rasool who hit three sixes in his 54-ball 53. Gazi Group, however, failed to accelerate from 263 for 4 in the 42nd over, as they tumbled to 307 all out in the penultimate over of the innings, having lost their last seven wickets for 44 runs within the space of seven overs.For Prime Doleshwar, seamers Farhad Reza and Delwar Hossain took four and three wickets respectively.Much in the fashion of Gazi Group, Prime Doleshwar, too, lost an early wicket but recovered through a 72-run second-wicket stand between Imtiaz Hossai (42) and Shahriar Nafees (36). They, however, slipped to 98 for 5 in the 21st over. Their Afghan recruit Samiullah Shenwari (55) and wicketkeeper Jaker Ali (52) added 103 runs for the sixth wicket.Once the two set batsmen were removed within the space of 11 deliveries, followed by captain Farhad’s dismissal soon after, the chase only had academic interest. Doleshwar laboured to 272 for 9 in 50 overs as Nasir took three wickets while Shafiul Islam picked up two.Legends of Rupganj thumped Kalabagan Krira Chakra by two wickets at the BKSP-4 Ground in Savar, where the game had to be reduced to 27 overs a side due to a wet outfield.Having elected to bat first with the game starting at 1pm after a four-hour delay, Kalabagan posted 176 for 8 in 27 overs with Mehrab Hossain jnr carrying his bat through his 81-ball 79.Mohammad Sharif, Mosharraf Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza took two wickets each.Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored for Rupganj with 44 off 53 balls – studded with three fours – while Hasanuzzaman, Ashar Zaidi and Mashrafe chipped in with brisk knocks to take their side close to the target. Rupganj’s chase, however, required the ninth-wicket pair of Sharif and Mahmudul Hasan to complete the win with two balls to spare.Abul Hasan, Muktar Ali and Sanjit Saha took two wickets each for Kalabagan.

Firdose Moonda27-Mar-2016Hashim Amla remains adamant that, despite South Africa’s failure to progress to the World T20 semi-finals, their much-vaunted senior players will refocus on the 2017 Champions Trophy in England in an attempt to add a limited-overs medal to their cricketing CVs.Ahead of South Africa’s dead-rubber against Sri Lanka on Monday, Amla insisted that he will join AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy and Imran Tahir in proving that they still have the capacity to succeed in major international tournaments.”A lot of us are extremely keen to keep playing international cricket,” Amla said. “It’s something we’ve enjoyed. A lot of us feel like we’ve got a few more years left in us.”It would be great if we can make it to the next 50-over World Cup – that would be ideal. But first we’ve got a Champions Trophy next year. As long as you are fit and healthy and scoring runs and you warrant your place in the team then hopefully you can make it.”Although there has not been yet been much dissection of South Africa’s exit – perhaps because they still have a game to play – one of the inevitable questions will be about the future of some the squad.De Villiers, for example, has been outspoken about managing his workload. Considering his roles as captain in both Test and ODI cricket and a packed schedule of T20 leagues including the IPL and CPL in 2016, leaving international T20s behind may be an option.The same can be asked of Dale Steyn, who spent all but two days of the summer injured and was carefully brought back for this tournament but then only played one match. But Amla dismissed ideas that either of them is considering phasing themselves out.”The whole rumour of AB retiring was before I gave up the Test captaincy and I think it was just that: a rumour,” he said. “There are no issues whatsoever. Everyone is really passionate and desirous of doing well. We’re just hoping we can play good cricket and at the next ICC event have a better performance.”Steyn only played South Africa’s opener against England before South Africa opted for the pace-off-the-ball bowling of David Wiese, even at the Wankhede where the quicker bowlers had more in their favour.Amla defended Steyn’s non-selection as a logical thought process. “Before coming to this tournament, the captain and the coach talked about picking the right team for the venue or the wicket,” he said.”In Mumbai, with a smaller field and a lot of boundary hitting, the quick bowlers came into the picture a lot more,” he said. “In Nagpur, the slower bowlers were more effective. I can understand why the captain and coach opted for David Wiese.”That wasn’t the only selection question South Africa faced.AB de Villiers had been playing as an opener until the tournament began, which led to questions about his reversion to the middle order. JP Duminy’s hamstring injury just as he returned to form also meant that South Africa’s middle order was weakened ahead of the vital tie against the West Indies.The fact that South Africa’s key batsmen failed to fire was identified by critics back home as a key reason for their inability to advance to the knockouts but when Amla was asked if he felt de Villiers and Duminy had given the team enough, he displayed rare irritation. “Is that a serious question? Really?” he asked. “Next one, please.”Instead, Amla put South Africa’s performances down to lack of cohesion as a unit and did not place any individual blame. “We haven’t played our best cricket throughout. We haven’t had a game where our batting and our bowling has clicked in the same game.”All hope had not gone, he said, issuing a familiar message. “This team will win a World Cup or an ICC tournament at some stage.” Just not this time.