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David Warner mastered the pink ball on a grassy pitch to put New South Wales in a powerful position against South Australia

Daniel Brettig27-Oct-2017
David Warner reached fifty on the first day•Mark Brake/Getty Images

David Warner mastered the pink ball and a grassy pitch better than any other batsman on day one to put New South Wales in a powerful position against South Australia in the floodlit Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.SA captain Travis Head chose to bat first on a surface likely to be quite similar to the one prepared for the second Ashes Test in early December, but the hosts were routed by Trent Copeland’s wobbly seamers after the higher velocity pair of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins had fired down new ball spells for NSW.Copeland’s incisions began with home captain Callum Ferguson and ended with the wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was left stranded in his efforts to push for a Test berth by the rapid fall of wickets at the other end. Jake Weatherald was the most fluent of the SA batsmen but threw his hand away when he cut airily at Cummins and was well taken by Nathan Lyon at backward point.In reply, NSW were momentarily stunned when Daniel Worrall outsmarted Nic Maddinson into leaving a ball that swerved back to hit the top of middle stump, and Chadd Sayers followed up with a skilful sequence of deliveries that squared up the Australian captain Steven Smith and then pinned him lbw. However, Warner, who was edged precisely between second and third slips early on, found the boundary with enough regularity to put the visitors into the lead, before Daniel Hughes and Peter Nevill made starts they will hope to build upon on day two.

“Hopefully with no more bubbles, we can be at home more, have a bit more off time and then get straight into cricket”

Firdose Moonda21-Jul-2022While England’s schedule continues to overwhelm them, South Africa are itching to play a little , at least in the longest format, and are concerned with getting the balance between travel and playing days right.Asked how he views the current calendar, Anrich Nortje explained that he anticipates tours to become shorter as travel normalises post-pandemic, leaving sufficient time for being at home and playing.Related

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“I don’t have the answers, but I would love for us to play more Test cricket,” Nortje said. “We are very busy. We are on the road most of the time but recently, we’ve been away from home for a long time but the cricket has been limited. Hopefully, with no more bubbles, we can be at home a bit more, have a bit more off time and then get straight into cricket. We don’t need to prep as much as in the past, so that’s maybe something we can work around.”During the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, South Africa travelled to Pakistan, the Caribbean, Ireland, Sri Lanka, the UAE, and New Zealand and hosted England (including a partially abandoned white-ball tour), Sri Lanka, the Netherlands (also abandoned), India, and Bangladesh. Their bubbles were the hardest in New Zealand, where they had to undertake a mandatory quarantine and could not leave their rooms, and eased at home, where they had access to large resorts, with some leisure facilities. Since travel opened up earlier this year, they have travelled to India and now England.Nortje is expected to continue playing in all formats for South Africa having regained full fitness since the IPL. He was part of the T20 World Cup playing group last year but then spent six months on the sidelines nursing a back and hip injury, before traveling again to this year’s IPL.”It’s extremes. You get injured, you are at home for a long time. You get back into cricket and you’re on the road for a long time,” he said.”Hopefully, the body can stay in good nick. Playing all formats is tough. I have been playing a lot of T20 cricket the last while and now back into ODIs. It’s really nice to get some rhythm, to get used to some bigger loads and hopefully, build it up for the Tests. I am really excited about what’s coming up. We’ve got a busy schedule. I don’t think we will be at home for a long time, but I am really excited about what’s coming up.”What South Africa have ahead of them immediately is an opportunity to win their first bilateral ODI series in England since 1998 with victory in the second match at Manchester. They beat England by 62 runs in the first ODI, with Nortje starring with four wickets. Although the series does not count for World Cup Super League points, South Africa are taking value from what it can teach them about consistency in the format that has been their weakest since Mark Boucher took over in December 2019 and about closing out series when they are in the lead.They went 2-0 up in their recent T20I rubber in India, only to find themselves locked at 2-2 ahead of a washed-out decider.”We mentioned in India that the third game was going to be a final for us, and then the fourth game was a final and we didn’t pull through. We have to be on it,” Nortje said. “Every time we get close we want to try and pull through. We want to go for the kill. We don’t want to drag it out longer.”For that reason, South Africa are likely to keep the same XI (apart from Andile Phehlukwayo, who is concussed) that beat England in the opener – including both Nortje and Lungi Ngidi – who are also expected to play in the upcoming T20Is and Tests on a surface that should offer the quicks more. Nortje is looking forward to some bounce from the Old Trafford surface, after the benign track at Durham. “From what I understand, it might play a little better than the previous venue,” he said.But even if it does have more of the quicks, not all of the big-name players on both sides will be playing in Manchester as South Africa rested Kagiso Rabada for the series and England’s Mark Wood and Jofra Archer are both out injured.”It’s sad to see they are not here and it’s always nice to see them competing against us. It’s always nice to have the fastest guys, at least one or two in a team,” Nortje said. “Mark Wood and Jofra have played major roles in the England side, so I’m hoping they can have a speedy recovery and get back and produce what they have been in the past.”

Fabian Allen’s maiden first-class century key to Jamaica walking away with first-innings honours

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2017Fabian Allen, in just his sixth first-class game, left an imprint as Jamaica took the first-innings honours in a drawn away fixture against Trinidad and Tobago at Queens’ Park Oval.Allen’s unbeaten 169, his maiden first-class century, formed the base to their eventual first-innings score of 431, with Brandon King’s 98 helping them overcome a slight wobble. The good deeds in the first innings meant Jamaica walked away with significant gains despite being shot out for 141 in their second innings, after Imran Khan’s legspin fetched six wickets.Set a target of 193, Trinidad and Tobago didn’t have enough time to force an outright win and were placed at 84 for 3 after 19 overs when play ended on the fourth and final day.Trinidad and Tobago, who were rocked early at 31 for 4 in the first innings, were primed to take the lead courtesy Yannic Cariah (127) and Tion Webster, who top scored with 178 in what was his maiden first-class century. The next best was Roshon Primus’ 26.With time running out, they got to within 51 runs of Jamaica’s first innings score before declaring on 380 for 7. The bold decision could’ve proved decisive if not for the paucity of time.

Another blow for Bangladesh with four bowlers already struggling with injuries

Mohammad Isam21-May-2022The BCB has granted leave to Mushfiqur Rahim for Bangladesh’s upcoming tour of West Indies, so that he can perform Hajj in July. This year’s Islamic pilgrimage is in July, for which Mushfiqur is likely to travel to Saudi Arabia on June 22.”He informed us before the Sri Lanka series that he wants to perform Hajj this year,” Jalal Yunus, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “When he got confirmation, he gave us a letter that he wanted leave. We have granted him the time. We had an initial thought that he might be available for part of the tour but he is off for the whole tour.”Bangladesh are likely to travel to the West Indies on June 5. ESPNcricinfo understands that they will play the two Tests against West Indies, in Antigua and St Lucia, from June 16. The T20Is are from July 2 to 6 while the ODIs are from July 10 to 16. Only the Test series is part of the World Test Championship; the ODIs are not part of the Super League.Mushfiqur, Bangladesh’s most capped Test cricketer, became the first from the team to reach 5,000 runs in the format in the Chattogram Test last week. Bangladesh therefore will miss the batter who was in their last three West Indies tours.The team are already without four key bowlers, all out with injuries. Taskin Ahmed is still rehabilitating a shoulder injury while Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam and Nayeem Hasan all have hand injuries.The Bangladesh selectors haven’t yet named any of the three squads, but it is very likely that they have their hands full to replace at least these five cricketers. Mushfiqur these days is a middle-order batter who only keeps wickets in the white-ball format, but it will be tough for them to find his replacement in any of the three formats.

The first edition of the tournament will take place from October 1 to 15 this year

Umar Farooq29-Apr-2022The inaugural Pakistan Junior League will be played from October 1 to 15, featuring six teams and 19 games, at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. It is also understood that, after the PCB invited corporate entities to be a part of the tournament, there were as many as 24 companies that came forward with a desire to be involved in different capacities. And at least three of the six existing PSL franchises are also believed to be interested in buying teams.The PCB feels there is enough interest to attract commercial partners, and is hopeful of roping in Pakistani legends as mentors and coaches.”I am delighted, encouraged and motivated by the response we have received to the Pakistan Junior League’s Request for Expressions of Interest,” Ramiz Raja, the PCB chairman, said in a statement on Friday. “This feedback has strengthened my belief and confidence that we have a huge appetite for cricket and a strong commercial market, which is keen, eager and happy to partner with the PCB on its projects of introducing new properties so that we can strengthen ourselves financially and commercially, and the return on investments are shared with all cricketers.”Following the success of the Pakistan Super League and the ever-improving reputation of the PCB, the potential sponsors have shown excitement and expressed their interest in the city-based Pakistan Junior League in their endeavour to play an important role in helping the PCB to create an environment of brilliance by providing a clear pathway to the talented youngsters, which, in turn, will fortify our bench-strength and produce new national stars and heroes.”The plan for a franchise-based T20 league for junior cricketers – locals with a smattering of overseas players – was communicated by the PCB two weeks ago. The aim is to pick players from the 15-19 age group through a draft process. The PCB has confirmed that all overseas cricketers will be allowed to have a parent accompany them, with the cost to be footed either by the organisers or the franchises.The domestic cricket structure in Pakistan has been subject to a lot of rejigging over the years but the pathway for age-group players has mostly been structured, featuring levels between the Under-15s and the Under-19s. Historically, the age-group players have been nurtured through longer-format games, playing two- or three-day games alongside one-dayers.They have not really been exposed to the T20 format during their development phase in accordance with PCB regulations. The exception has been the PSL, where each franchise is required to field at least one emerging player in every game. That has led to quite a few new faces coming to the fore over the years.

Kent looked bound for victory at Canterbury until Tom Smith and Thisara Perera turned the tables for Gloucestershire with three-wicket spells

ECB Reporters Network18-Jul-2017
ScorecardThisara Perera took three wickets [file picture]•Getty Images

Gloucestershire moved level on points with south group leaders Hampshire after beating NatWest T20 Blast rivals Kent Spitfires by
eight runs in a low-scoring thriller in Canterbury.Michael Klinger’s unbeaten side fielded tigerishly and caught superbly to defend a modest total of 138 for nine on a spin-friendly pitch and
complete a T20 Blast double over Spitfires as well as their third successive short-form win on Kentish soil.Set to chase at almost seven an over for victory, Kent’s in-form opener Daniel Bell-Drummond played out a David Payne maiden before
crunching 12 off the second over from Matt Taylor, including a leg-side six by Joe Denly and Bell-Drummond’s crisp off-drive for
four.Thisara Perera, the experienced Sri Lanka all-rounder, conceded
successive boundaries from his first four deliveries of the night as Bell-Drummond raced to 25, but the right-armer struck back by pinning
the Kent opener lbw with a quicker, low full-toss as Kent ended their Powerplay on 45 for 1.Fresh from a career-best 116* at The Oval on Friday, Denly was, on this occasion, guilty of tossing away his wicket by driving a Tom
Smith delivery straight into the hands of long-off to spark a dramatic Kent collapse.Sam Billings opened his shoulders with a back-foot force off Chris Liddle and a pulled six off the same bowler, but his skipper Sam Northeast miscued to extra cover off the wily Benny Howell to leave his side on 68 for 3 after 10 overs.Jimmy Neesham needlessly slog swept high to mid-wicket to gift the slow left-arm spinner a second wicket then, to Smith’s next delivery,
Billings was snaffled low down by Klinger at short extra – a catch confirmed on review by third umpire Michael Gough.Alex Blake plundered the biggest six of the night over mid-wicket to raise Kent’s 100 as Smith completed his spell with 3 for 28.Needing 38 off the last 30 balls, Spitfires lost Darren Stevens caught and bowled to a slower ball as Howell finished with an
excellent 2 for 12.In the dash for late runs Matt Coles was superbly caught on the run at deep mid-wicket by Jack Taylor, who then held another steepling
catch at long-off that accounted for Alex Blake.James Tredwell was skittled in the final over as Spitfires crashed to their second defeat in four starts.Bowling first after winning the toss, Kent defended their long boundaries well to restrict the visitors to only 13 fours and three sixes.Neesham struck with his third delivery by having Phil Mustard spectacularly caught off a sliced drive at cover point. On the run and diving forward, Bell-Drummond came up with the ball to make it 18 for one.Klinger showed his class with the first six of the night in Neesham’s next over, a leg-side clip with barely any bat pick-up that sailed over the mid-wicket ropes. He blotted his copybook soon after however, cracking the first ball of the night from Mitch Claydon to Stevens who held an overhead catch at mid-off to send Gloucestershire’s dangerman packing for 25 as the visitors reached 42 for 2 at the end of their Powerplay.Kent turned to spin at both ends in England off-spinner Tredwell and Imran Qayyum, a rookie slow left-armer making only his second Blast
appearance. The pair bowled well on a dry pitch, turning the occasional delivery and restricting the boundary count.Qayyum span one past the outside edge as George Hankins ran down the pitch looking to drive only to be stumped by Billings.Tredwell finished his four with creditable figures of nought for 25 then, in his last over, Qayyum deceived Ian Cockbain (40) in the
flight to have the visiting top-scorer caught at extra cover and finish with 2 for 19 – a stint that included 11 dot balls.Gloucestershire raised their hundred in the 16th over as Matt Coles wrapped up with nought for 31, but Jack Taylor upped the tempo by
taking six and four off successive Neesham deliveries before chipping a Claydon slower ball to mid-off to go for 21.Perera clubbed to long-on to give Neesham 2 for 30 then, in the final over, Smith, Matt Taylor and Howell were all run out
risking second runs into the deep.Victorious captain Klinger said: “It’s slightly easier to be captain when your bowlers perform so well and we fielded like we did. I felt
that over all we probably gave a wicket or two too many away in our Powerplay, but our spinners and change of pace bowlers came back
really well on a wicket that was quite tough to bat on.”We talked about 145 to 150 being a par score on that wicket because it was holding and turning, but we’ve made a name for ourselves over
the past few years for being able to strangle batting sides in those positions and luckily enough that’s how it worked out for us today.
It’s always nice to win some tight ones, especially early in the tournament.”Kent skipper Sam Northeast said: “I thought we did really well in the field to keep them below 150, which was our target. We knew it would
be tough through those middle periods with the bowlers they have in Howell and Smith. We felt we had enough batting calibre to chase that
down and maybe we could have gone harder in the Powerplay, or we could have chosen better options through the middle. It wasn’t the greatest
pitch in the world but you have to adapt as a team.”

Featherbeds in domestic cricket do not offer the chance for batsmen and bowlers to be ready for a rank turner in international cricket, says the senior Bangladesh batsman

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur29-Aug-20175:20

Isam: Bangladesh off kilter after Smith reprieve

A spinner-friendly pitch in Mirpur has produced an exciting Test match but has also highlighted the difference in pitches prepared for domestic and international matches in Bangladesh. Tamim Iqbal questioned this discrepancy at the end of day three, saying batsmen don’t get enough chances to practice on sharply turning pitches in first-class cricket.Bangladesh were bowled out for 221 in their second innings, their lower order collapsing in the wake of variations in pace, bounce and turn. Nathan Lyon utilised the conditions well, triggering a spell of play when there were three wickets for no runs in 16 balls.Tamim conceded that such pitches do give the Bangladesh an advantage, but he would prefer the players being exposed to them in the domestic circuit first before having to deal with them in a Test. Currently, many of the surfaces in the National Cricket League and the Bangladesh Cricket League are batting friendly, and help fast bowlers in the first few weeks of the season before easing out into featherbeds. The instances of domestic matches being played on rank turners, such as the one for the ongoing Test, are rare.”I think there is home advantage but my question is, how many times do we get to play in these wickets in domestic cricket?” Tamim asked. “We only play in these wickets in international matches, because it gives us an advantage over the foreign side. We are busy with grassy wickets in domestic cricket although we never play in those in international matches at home.”This thinking has to change. We tour once or twice a year in places where we confront grassy wickets. I feel that if we want to play international matches in these surfaces, we should do the same in domestic cricket. At least one or two grounds should have these wickets so that it creates a habit.”There has been a clamour for first-class pitches with more bite so that the Bangladesh batsmen can tested against the swinging ball. However, it has not come to pass with spinners dominating the wicket-takers’ list for most of the last 10 years. And using a pitch like the one in Mirpur for domestic cricket could create issues for the BCB’s Grounds Committee, even if in Tests, it brings Bangladesh’s spin attack to the fore and earns the curator praise. Tamim had warned of such a situation during England’s tour of Bangladesh last year.Against Australia, many of the Bangladesh batsmen faced unplayable deliveries from seamers and spinners. Pat Cummins got one to leap at Tamim from a good length and the left-hander could do little except tickle a catch to the wicketkeeper. Imrul Kayes got a similar delivery in the first innings, and there were some on the third day that leapt out of everyone’s reach after pitching on the rough. Tamim said that the track will continue to play this way on the fourth day and the home team’s spinners will need to be more accurate to create chances and take wickets.”The wicket is unpredictable, anything can happen. We have to be patient because one wicket has brought two or three in a cluster. We can bowl better than we did today.”

The batter played six ODIs and 16 T20Is for India Women

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2022VR Vanitha, the batter who played six ODIs and 16 T20Is for India Women from 2014 to 2016, has retired from all forms of cricket. The 31-year-old made her announcement via Twitter, thanking the family members, friends, mentors and team-mates – including India players Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj – who had been part of her journey in the sport, as well as the two state associations – Karnataka and Bengal – that she represented in domestic cricket.