All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardSkipper Alex Wakely led the way with 83 as Northamptonshire defied the elements and sealed a dramatic two-wicket win with one ball left in the Specsavers County Championship match at Chester-le-Street.With the floodlights on for the last ten overs and steady rain falling in the final ten minutes, the visitors finished the task of scoring 100 in 17 overs by scampering a bye to the wicketkeeper.Needing 161 with nine wickets standing, no play was possible until 3.05 and tea was taken after 35 minutes when 56 had been added in nine overs. That meant a further 105 were required from 33 overs, but only one over was bowled after the break before the rain returned.The 5pm resumption favoured the NatWest T20 Blast holders against Durham’s inexperienced attack, who were bravely led by Paul Coughlin, who finished with match figures of 10 for 133.Rob Newton cut and pulled Gavin Main for two fours in the second over of the final chase to reach 50 but then miscued Coughlin to deep mid-on to end a stand of 123.Wakeley, who had begun the day on 18 and raced to a 58-ball half-century before the break, continued to score at the required rate and had the target down to 47 when he was narrowly run out attempting a second run to deep point.Rob Keogh skied a return catch to Coughlin and Rory Kleinveldt holed out at long-off. But Barry McCarthy was denied a second wicket when, with 26 needed off four, Josh Cobb was dropped at long-on by Michael Richardson.The last ball of the over soared over the same fielder for six and Cobb, the match-winner against Durham in last year’s T20 final, had all but finished the job when he was caught at third man in the final over.Alex Wakely did the job for Northants•Getty Images

Wakely said: “We tried our best to lose it at the end, but we had the upper hand from the first day and it’s a good feeling to come away with a win we really needed.”The weather threatened to deny us, but we were always holding on to a hope that there would be an opening and we felt 20 overs at the end was all we needed.”With his side even further adrift than at the start of the season, Durham coach Jon Lewis said: “We were well aware of the size of the points deduction, so that’s not an excuse. The loss of personnel is a bigger factor. We are a bit light on battle-hardened campaigners and need to work on maintaining standards over four days.”

ScorecardMiddlesex were frustrated by a combination of bad light and lower-order resistance as Essex clung on for a draw in the Specsavers County Championship at Lord’s.The champions were on course for their first win of the season when they reduced Essex, who were chasing a notional target of 452, to 130 for 7 in the first over after tea. But eighth-wicket pair Neil Wagner and Simon Harmer blunted Middlesex’s attack for 15 overs and as the light deteriorated home skipper James Franklin was forced to employ slow bowlers at both ends.Legspinner Dawid Malan immediately had Harmer lbw as he tried to defend off the back foot but only two more overs were possible before umpires Ian Gould and Paul Baldwin took the players off for the third time in the day with 13 overs remaining, Essex 160 for 8 and Wagner unbeaten on 16.It was harsh on Middlesex whose three-man seam attack, backed up by offspinner Ollie Rayner, had chipped away all day on a wicket which hardly deteriorated, even though cloud cover did encourage the ball to swing.Toby Roland-Jones finished with 3 for 42 and Steven Finn 2 for 39 while it was Rayner who picked up former England captain Alastair Cook, caught at short leg for 37 with his third delivery of the day. Cook had passed 20,000 first-class runs when he reached 16 and looked in the mood to repeat last week’s century in Essex’s win over Somerset, particularly when he drove first Tim Murtagh and then Roland-Jones back down the ground for four.Apart from Cook, Essex’s main resistance came from Ravi Bopara who dug in for just over two hours before he was seventh out in the first over after tea to a ball from Finn which jagged back sharply to knock back his off stump.Conditions were as good as they had been all day at that stage but Harmer and Wagner defied Finn and Roland-Jones for ten overs to give them their team the chance of escape.Franklin had the luxury of runs on the board and enjoyed the happy knack of making bowling changes which brought immediate reward. Middlesex’s slip fielding was faultless too with Malan epitomising their catching performance when he dived to his left to remove Adam Wheater for a duck in the first over of a new spell from Roland-Jones.Essex had added 19 runs to their overnight 19 for 0 when Murtagh made the breakthrough, bowling Nick Browne through the gate.Cook and Tom Westley took the score to 74 when Westley was lbw to a ball from Roland-Jones that kept a touch low. Cook fell without addition to the total and after lunch Essex lost two wickets on 104 when Dan Lawrence was held at slip driving at Finn before Wheater’s dismissal.Ryan ten Doeschate became Roland-Jones’ third victim but rain and bad light forced the teams off for an hour after a two-over stoppage during the morning.Bopara’s dismissal on the resumption left the Essex tail with 30 overs to survive but with a little help from the weather they were able to do so.

South Australia have added left-arm spinner Tom Andrews and fast bowler Kane Richardson to their squad for the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria in Alice Springs.The pitch at Traeger Park has traditionally taken spin, meaning Andrews is in with a chance of joining Adam Zampa in a spin bowling pair for South Australia as they seek to defeat Victoria in the decider, having lost to them in the final last season. Andrews has played three first-class games and taken seven wickets. His last Shield match was against New South Wales in February 2016.”We’ve heard that it is a good cricket wicket and that it tends to spin a bit later in the game, but we think we have the squad to take advantage of the conditions and put our best foot forward,” South Australia high performance chief Tim Nielsen said.”We need to play positively and aggressively and back ourselves in and make sure that we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game. Unlike last year, we have to win to hoist the Shield in the air so there’s no second option.”Two players who missed out last season, Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper, are set to take part and will both be playing in their first Shield final after long domestic careers. Ferguson, a Test debutant earlier this summer, was waylaid last year by a serious knee injury, while Cooper was dropped due to a lack of runs. Both have been firm contributors to South Australia this season. The final commences on Sunday.South Australia squad: Travis Head (c), Tom Andrews, Alex Carey (wk), Tom Cooper, John Dalton, Callum Ferguson, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Jake Weatherald, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said they have to play to their potential, after they weren’t even at “half their ability” in Galle, in order to get a result in the Colombo Test.The visitors were crushed by 259 runs, with their bowlers lacking enough penetration while their batsmen were unable to bat out crucial periods in the game. Fielding too remained ordinary, dropping three chances on the fourth day alone. Mushfiqur was the standout performer, playing with conviction and batting long periods.

Mahmudullah to remain in Sri Lanka

Mushfiqur Rahim said that Mahmudullah will remain with the team during the Colombo Test, adding his presence won’t affect the team much.
“He is possibly not playing in the second Test but since he is in the ODI squad, he will stay with the team. It can happen to any cricketer that he might fall into a bad patch. It won’t have much of an impact in the team but he is a senior cricketer so you feel bad. But we are 1-0 down, so whoever plays, has to focus on making it 1-1,” he said.

“We couldn’t even play to half of our ability in Galle which was very disappointing,” he said. “We have to try to get the result in our favour in Colombo. We have to take every chance that comes our way. We weren’t sticking to the basics, so we must improve on those things.Throughout their Tests this year in Wellington, Christchurch, Hyderabad and Galle, seamers Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Rubel Hossain have been slack in the third session. Mustafizur Rahman has relied on cutting down his pace in latter spells.Courtney Walsh, Bangladesh’s bowling coach, said one of the areas they are looking at is the pace bowlers’ physical ability to bowl later in the day.”They are not fully experienced on how to come back in the third spell,” Walsh said. “You get it by playing a lot. It is something that we have been working on, how to bowl that last spell. Our seamers have been little bit jaded in the last session of most of the Tests we’ve played. It is obviously an area of concern and it is something that we are looking to fix.”Walsh said that despite their lack of experience, the Bangladesh fast bowlers are wicket-takers.”It is not unjustified [to expect them to take 20 wickets] because they are going to learn at some point in time. When you play Test cricket, you have to take 20 wickets. It is going to be hard work because of the inexperience. They will get better the more they play, but the other factor is that they are playing in different tracks.”By the time they realised what happened in New Zealand and India, we had left those places. And now we are here. It is about adapting quickly. So far I think we are getting reasonable batting tracks. With more experience, you will only get better. I am hoping on the special occasion of the 100th Test, pride alone will kick in and the boys will do everything that they can to try to win this Test match,” Walsh said.Mushfiqur also believed they are capable of winning the milestone Test. “There are expectations about every Test,” he said. “But Bangladesh cricket is in such a stage that they are expected to win a Test, ODI or T20. This itself is a big achievement, which inspires the players to give their best in the field. We didn’t fulfill our expectations in the last game but we will give our best in the next game. Our main target will be to play consistently.

England allrounder Ben Stokes has become the most expensive overseas player ever bought at an IPL auction, going for INR 14.5 crore (USD 2.16 million approx) to Rising Pune Supergiants. He is also the second highest paid player among those currently active in the IPL, behind Virat Kohli, who is paid Rs 15 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore per season.England fast bowler Tymal Mills also set a new record price for a specialist bowler: he was the second most expensive sale at the tenth player auction, in Bangalore on Monday, and bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million approx). Allrounder Chris Woakes was the third England player to get a hefty payday; he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 4.2 crore (USD 625,000 approx).Three other England players bought – all at base price – were: batsman Eoin Morgan for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx) to Kings XI Punjab, batsman Jason Roy for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000) to Gujarat Lions, and allrounder Chris Jordan for INR 50 lakhs (USD 74,000) to Sunrisers Hyderabad.While demand for England players was expected, Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi, 18-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan, and UAE batsman Chirag Suri became the first Associate players after Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate to get an IPL bid. The Afghanistan players were bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad – Rashid for INR 4 crore (USD 595,000 approx) and Nabi for INR 30 lakh (USD 44,000 approx) – while Suri went to Gujarat for INR 10 lakh (USD 14,000).Delhi Daredevils were the most active team in the early bidding. Their purchases of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx), South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx) and Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins for INR 4.5 crore, (USD 670,000 approx) exhausted their quota of nine overseas players in the first 90 minutes of the auction.6:07

IPL auction trends – ‘Left-arm quicks in high demand’

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, did not bid for any of the first 22 players up for sale despite having a squad of only 13 available players before the auction. They were successful in the first player they bid for, buying New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx).Of the first 108 players that went on sale in the main draw of the auction, only 33 were bought and among them only two from Australia: Mitchell Johnson to Mumbai Indians at his base price of INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), and Cummins to Delhi. More Australians – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Billy Stanlake, Dan Christian and Ben Laughlin – were bought in the second round of bidding after lunch. Coulter-Nile was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.5 crore (USD 520,00 approx.) while Stanlake, Christian and Laughlin went at base prices.The trend among Indians was for the more experienced players to get no bids – Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parvez Rasool and RP Singh were unsold – while several uncapped players were picked up at high prices.Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj was bought by Sunrisers for INR 2.6 crore (USD 390,000 approx), left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary by RCB for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx.), K Gowtham by Mumbai for INR 2 crore ($300,000), T Natarajan by Kings XI for INR 3 crore (USD 445,000 approx), Basil Thampi by Gujarat for INR 85 lakh (USD 125,000 approx), Karn Sharma by Mumbai for INR 3.2 crore (USD 475 approx), Eklavya Dwivedi by Sunrisers for INR 75 lakh ($110,000), Varun Aaron by Kings XI for INR 2.8 crore (USD 415,000) and M Ashwin by Delhi for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000).India allrounder Pawan Negi, who was bought for INR 8.5 crore last year and then released by Delhi, was bought by RCB for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx).

Jos Buttler has admitted that he is facing a clash of priorities in the build-up to England’s Champions Trophy campaign, with the scheduling of a two-match ODI series against Ireland in early May set to clash with the final weeks of his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians.Buttler, who participated in the full IPL season in 2016, said it was a “tough question” as to which of the two competitions would provide better preparation for the Champions Trophy, which takes place on home soil in June and represents a very good opportunity for England to claim their maiden 50-over title in a global event.”End of the day, you want to play for England and represent England,” he said. “Obviously, the management will make the call on the players and the availability for the Ireland games. I understand that it is a tricky sort of situation – the IPL is a great experience but playing for England is obviously a fantastic opportunity and a privilege as well. It’s a tough question.”The ECB last year relaxed their attitude towards overseas franchise leagues, seeing them as a vital part of their players’ preparations for international white-ball tournaments. With Buttler making his mark at the IPL, and others, such as Adil Rashid starring for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash, England’s progression to the final of the World T20 in India last year was early proof that the new approach could bear fruit.However, with the schedule for England’s home summer focusing on one-day cricket from the outset, instead of the usual early-season Test series, the timing of the Ireland tour threatens to disrupt the availability of England’s IPL hopefuls. Two ODIs are scheduled for Bristol on May 5 and Lord’s on May 7, and the captain, Eoin Morgan, is one such player who is expected to have to make himself available for those matches instead of completing a full IPL stint.Buttler, who was retained by Mumbai Indians for the upcoming season, also hoped he would get to see more of his England team-mates participate in the IPL, but said it would be up to the individual players to decide.”I think it is always going to be a little bit of an individual decision. I can only speak from my own experience; I think the IPL is probably the best cricket experience I’ve ever had. I’ve learnt as much, not just about T20 but about myself, about all forms of cricket, about what it takes to become a top cricketer. It’s only the best experience I’ve had as a cricketer.”Whether other people will feel that, I don’t know. I could only have good things to say about it. So hopefully, from my point of view, there are more English guys involved in playing in these conditions, in front of these crowds, under the pressure of being overseas players. It can only stand you in good stead, looking forward to when you play for England, and when you play in different competitions and knockout competitions, I think it is a great experience to be part of.”

Rest and rotation of fast bowlers has become a contentious, and much-discussed, subject in recent years. Ask Graeme Smith, South Africa’s former captain, however, and he will tell you it is all modern day mumbo-jumbo that messes up a team’s mojo. Little wonder that Kagiso Rabada agrees.”Resting is when you’re off,” Rabada said. “When you get time off that’s when you must rest. When you need to bowl is when you need to bowl, to get yourself to the highest level you can be at. There’s no room for you to rest if you’re not bowling well.”After his first Test at a level slightly below excellent in Port Elizabeth, where Rabada was down on pace and lacked his usual aggression, his workload has become a topic of conversation. Rabada has played every Test since January 2016 (10) and all but two ODIs (15) and one T20 (nine) but the 21-year old denied suggestions that he is fatigued. Instead, he went the other way and, much like Dale Steyn used to say, claimed that the more he bowls, the better he feels.”I didn’t feel good rhythm in Port Elizabeth at all but I’ve just bowled more and got better rhythm through bowling,” he said.Before the St George’s Park match, Rabada was on a three-week break after the Australia tour. He was not required to play for his franchise, Lions, in the T20 tournament and he was not called on for the exhibition match between the national cricket and rugby teams. His captain, Faf du Plessis, said he believed Rabada had “had enough rest” ahead of the series and was ready to go.Rabada’s view is clear, although he would consider accepting a prescription of rest on the advice of higher-ups. “If it’s recommended you have to be open-minded about it,” he said. “The people that are in your area, you have to respect their opinions because they’re employed for a reason. Take their advice because they know what they’re talking about.”But you have to make the choice – it’s about how you feel. So you take their advice and then see what you think of it. It’s a broad topic. If you’re bowling well, you feel good. You don’t have to bowl as much. But I guess it comes with experience, because everyone’s different – knowing yourself and knowing when to rest.”Does the same thing apply to batting? With Hashim Amla struggling for fluency and form on the eve of his 100th Test, it has been suggested he could also do with a break, but Rabada was quick to defend the team’s most senior batsman. “He is not a robot so he is not going to play well all the time. He is a great player so he knows what to do to get back into form. You don’t do so well for so long by fluke. He knows what to do.”

Ross Taylor has been cleared by eye specialists to play the Hamilton Test against Pakistan, which is set to begin on November 25. However, the batsman needs surgery on his left eye, which will be done after the Test, thereby ruling him out of the ODIs in Australia in December.Taylor has a benign growth on the eye, called a “pterygium”. The growth is currently not obscuring his vision in any way, according to New Zealand’s physiotherapist Tommy Simsek, but will have to be removed before it gets larger.”Ross has a pterygium on his left eye, which is gradually getting bigger,” Simsek said. “Both the specialists he has seen in recent days have advised Ross still has 20/20 vision, and Ross himself feels confident he is ready to play.”But Ross will still need to undergo a medical procedure on his eye to remove the pterygium before it gets any larger. He’ll have surgery following the Test, which rule him out of cricket for approximately four to six weeks.”New Zealand are leading the two-Test series against Pakistan 1-0. After it ends, they travel to Australia to play three ODIs for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, between December 4 and 9. Their next international assignment is a visit by Bangladesh, which kicks off with an ODI on Boxing Day in Christchurch.Northern Districts batsman Dean Brownlie had been put on standby by the selectors, as cover for Taylor, when New Zealand Cricket announced the squad for the second Test against Pakistan. Allrounder Mitchell Santner returns to the squad for that Test, having recovered from a wrist fracture.

Pitches that start turning quite early could become the norm in the Test matches Bangladesh play at home. The series against England was played on such surfaces, and Bangladesh competed admirably. They came within 23 runs of victory in Chittagong before taking all 10 wickets in single session to level the series in Dhaka.While it would certainly enhance their biggest strength – spin bowling – it may also pose a challenge to the batsmen. But Bangladesh’s top three have showed signs of being up for it.Tamim Iqbal avoided some shots, assessing their risk to be too much, on a turning pitch but still made a century at a strike-rate of 70.74 in the second Test. His opening partner Imrul Kayes was fully committed to being aggressive, his 78 off only 120 balls in the second innings helped set a target beyond England’s reach. Mominul Haque, at No. 3, was his usual composed self and contributed with his 10th half-century.With confidence that their batsman can handle it, Bangladesh are set to welcome touring sides – especially those with a reputation of struggling in the subcontinent – with tailor-made pitches for the spinners.”I think wickets at home will be made according to our opponents,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “If we are playing against teams from the subcontinent, then I don’t think playing on such wickets will help us, but it will be different when we play against teams like Australia, England and New Zealand.”Tamim added that standing up to tough conditions was quite pleasing. He was the only batsman from either side to score a hundred in the two Tests. “It feels really good to have made runs in these kinds of difficult tracks. The team took a decision, and we stuck by it. The planning meant that we had to work hard, so scoring around 230 runs is something good.”I think my 78 in Chittagong has its own value. The ball spun a lot with many things out of the batsman’s control. The 104 in the second Test is most valuable among my hundreds against England, considering the conditions and the fact that we won the game.”Mominul’s had an additional challenge. He isn’t a regular in ODIs and T20Is and was coming into the Tests having not batted in international cricket for over a year. He got a three-ball duck in his first innings of the series, the outside edge carrying off the wicketkeeper’s leg to gully, but adjusted better later on with help from batting consultant Thilan Samaraweera.”When I was playing and got four months [off], it was very hard [coming back],” Samaraweera said, “Especially in the first innings of the first Test. However you train and whatever you do, when you come to the game, you are under pressure. That’s a different pressure. Importantly, you have to stick to the routines to get your body right for the game.”In the first inning of the first Test, the way he [Mominul] got out, that’s hard. The first few balls, you don’t know. We talked a little bit, different things. They are willing to work, that’s the key thing. Whatever I say, if they don’t listen to, it won’t work. But these boys are absolute superstars. Straightaway they work [at it].”Bangladesh’s limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza also praised how the team read the pitches in Dhaka and Chittagong and attacked England.”The thing I liked the most was the batting approach, it was very positive. Since it was hard to stay in these wickets, the batsmen had to score rapidly. Batsmen like Alistair Cook and Joe Root didn’t do well, so it showed that settling in these wickets wasn’t easy.”Bangladesh’s batting was criticised because there were some bad shots and some untimely dismissals. While it is hard to deny such mistakes, what thrilled me was how they were able to read the wicket. They knew they had to play the shots, so guys like Tamim and Imrul batted very well. And at least one batsman stood up whenever necessary.”

Australia batsman Nic Maddinson has been called up to the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad as a replacement for captain Martin Guptill, who is leaving to join the New Zealand squad ahead of the two-Test series against Zimbabwe beginning July 28.Maddinson has played two T20Is for Australia, scoring a total of 38 runs in two innings against India and South Africa. In the most recent 2015-16 Big Bash League, Maddinson captained the Sydney Sixers, who finished last, and scored 141 runs in seven innings with a best of 70 against Sydney Thunder. In his T20 career, he averages 23.93 with six fifties in 50 innings.Guptill’s last game prior to departing was Friday’s encounter against Jamaica Tallawahs at Sabina Park where he scored a duck in his team’s loss.