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Warwickshire’s middle-order came to the rescue once again to help them gain the initiative on the second day of an engrossing match against Nottinghamshire

George Dobell at Edgbaston27-Jun-2016
ScorecardTim Ambrose made his highest score of the season (file photo)•Getty Images

Warwickshire’s middle-order came to the rescue once again to help them gain the initiative on the second day of an engrossing match against Nottinghamshire.Reeling at 48 for 4, with all three of their leading run-scorers dismissed, Warwickshire were grateful to half-centuries from Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke for helping them establish a significant first-innings lead (it is 131 with power to add) and a decent chance of at least three batting bonus points that looked beyond them at one stage.Warwickshire have been, at various times in the first innings of their Championship matches this season, 132 for 5 (against Hampshire), 173 for 6 (against Middlesex), 88 for 6 (against Somerset), 161 for 7 (against Nottinghamshire), 259 for 8 (against Durham) and 94 for 6 (against Lancashire) but, such is the depth of their batting, they have been able to register totals of 360, 468, 152, 373, 313 and 263 respectively.It was a similar story here. With the top-order folding against an impressive opening spell from Jake Ball – who had 3 for 12 at one stage – it was left to Ambrose and Clarke to claw their side a way back into the match. Aided by a drying surface and a tiring attack, both men registered their highest scores of the campaign so far with Ambrose punishing the seamers for any error of line or length and Clarke attacking the spinners.Clarke has been, with the bat at least, in horrid form of late. As well as ducks in his previous two Championship innings, he was also dismissed first ball in his latest T20 innings and has only once, in his last seven Championship innings, passed 12.But here, after surviving a chance to slip when he had 24, Matt Carter putting down the chance off Brett Hutton, he showed good discipline against the seamers – he scored just 8 in 48 balls from Hutton and Steven Mullaney combined – and punished Carter by taking him for 30 runs in 31 deliveries including a straight-driven six and three cuts for four.Ambrose took full toll of a loose spell from Dan Christian, who conceded five boundaries in his 17 balls, and also took an overpitching Hutton for four boundaries.Nottinghamshire were not helped by an injury to seamer Luke Fletcher. While Fletcher did not offer the threat of Ball, whose first few overs were outstanding, he ensured pressure was maintained on the batsmen. But when he was forced off with a groin strain, it left Notts over-reliant upon Ball and looking a seamer short.Indeed, so reliant were they on Ball that he was obliged to bowl 23 of the 79 overs delivered by his side – 10 more than fellow seamer Hutton and nine more than spinner Samit Patel – and saw his figures suffer as a consequence.His first spell had been excellent. Generating sharp bounce from a good length to take the edge of Varun Chopra’s bat, he followed it with an outswinger to account for Andrew Umeed, poking tentatively at a ball that demanded a stroke, before Ian Bell, feet going nowhere, followed one he could have left and edged to slip. By the time Jonathan Trott, playing across a straight one, it seemed Warwickshire may struggle to overhaul Nottinghamshire’s modest total.But first through Sam Hain, who registered his highest score of a disappointing Championship season, and then Ambrose and Clarke, Warwickshire posted stands of 69, 64 and 55 for the fifth, sixth and seventh wickets. The highest stand in the match up to that point had been just 30.Warwickshire have persisted with Hain through a grim start to the season – he was averaging under 10 before this innings – in the knowledge that he is one of relatively few young players in the squad about whom they can have realistic hopes of one day replacing the likes of Bell and Trott.While Chopra has been consistent this season – he has scored five fifties and a hundred – it seems he is destined to leave at the end of the season, with Essex the most likely destination. He will prove hard to replace, with Warwickshire keen to back their own in principle. If they do decide to recruit, though, Scott Borthwick and Ben Duckett are possible targets.While Hain was caught behind, edging a well-flighted Carter delivery that invited the drive, Ambrose was lured into an attempted force that led to an edge and Clarke clipped one to deep square-leg, Keith Barker, Jeetan Patel and Mark Adair stretched the lead further and exploited the absence of Fletcher.This was a tough day for Fletcher. He had earlier taken a thumping blow on the head – the ball seemed to hit the badge of his helmet – when batting. Misjudging a back-of-a-length ball from the impressively hostile Boyd Rankin, bowling round the wicket with a short-leg and fly-slip, Fletcher required several minutes of treatment following the incident.To his immense credit, he was straight back in line when play restarted, but Samit Patel claimed the final two wickets of the Notts innings in his first over of the morning after Christian, edging a long-hop, and Hutton, edging a perfect out swinger, had earlier fallen to Clarke.This is an important match for both teams. If Warwickshire retain realistic hopes of challenging for the Championship title – and with their squad, they really should – they need to start winning more games; they have won just one of their first seven. But for Nottinghamshire, who have lost four of their last seven, another defeat would see them sink further into trouble and might condemn them to a late-season relegation scrap. The weather over the final two days of this match, which is not forecast to be great, may yet save them.

Yasir Shah followed the lead of his captain to give Pakistan the edge after two days of the first Test at Lord’s

The Report by Alan Gardner15-Jul-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYasir Shah followed the lead of his captain to give Pakistan the edge after two days of the first Test at Lord’s. Misbah-ul-Haq’s hundred provided the initial inspiration and Yasir backed that up with a virtuoso display to leave England battling for parity, his fifth five-wicket haul in 13 Tests, on a pitch that offered him little assistance, underlining his claim to be one of the most dangerous spinners currently playing the game.It could have been worse for England, with Alastair Cook dropped twice off the bowling of Mohammad Amir on his way to 81. Amir eventually bowled Cook for his first Test wicket since he removed Graeme Swann on the same ground almost six years ago but the spotlight had already begun to shift to his team-mate Yasir. The last legspinner to take a five-for at Lord’s was Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996 – also the last time Pakistan won on the ground.England had been 118 for 1, Cook and Joe Root adding a century stand for the second wicket, before Yasir struck for his first Test wickets outside of Asia. Root, in his first innings replacing Nick Compton at No. 3, looked at something like his dynamic best before trying slightly too hard to force the pace and top-edging a slog-sweep to be taken at midwicket two short of a half-century. It was to prove a costly indiscretion.Pakistan had their first look at England’s reshaped middle-order, an area Misbah had tentatively suggested his bowlers might be able to exploit before the Test, and Yasir in particular liked what he saw. James Vince briefly shimmered on an otherwise dull, cloudy day, before playing back to be lbw to Yasir – DRS confirming it would have clipped leg stump – for a fifth innings without a significant score at Test level; Gary Ballance clipped one four on his comeback but was then beaten by a gently turning legbreak, pushing down the wrong line.Jonny Bairstow bristled with intent as he attempted his latest England rebuilding effort, hammering boundaries either side of the wicket with the vigour of a blacksmith at his anvil, but he too fell to Yasir, attempting to cut a delivery that was too full and seeing it skid on to the stumps.Misbah erred towards defensive fields, as his quicks struggled for containment, but he had a dual-purpose operator in Yasir, who settled into a 15-over spell that yielded 4 for 46 once he had switched to the Pavilion End. Only the occasional delivery spun but Yasir, like an experienced engineer calibrating a favourite piece of machinery, twiddled away at the control panel, imparting drift and subtle changes of pace to leave England scratching their heads at 193 for 6.They were grateful to Chris Woakes, who had earlier taken his maiden Test five-for, battling to the close. Woakes and Moeen Ali negotiated almost a dozen overs but Yasir again changed ends and an appeal that would once have been dismissed as highly speculative gave him his fifth victim. Joel Wilson adjudged Moeen lbw to a delivery spinning in from round the wicket and, with DRS registering umpire’s call on impact in line with off stump and ball hitting leg, Yasir did not have to consider retracting his of joy.Woakes’ 6 for 70 had helped finish off Pakistan with only 57 added to their overnight score before the stage was transported back to 2010, as Amir prepared to bowl to Cook once again. Amir’s first delivery in Test cricket after a five-year ban for his involvement in spot-fixing on this ground was met by a few pseudo-witty cries of “no-ball” from the crowd and it was unceremoniously tucked away into the covers for a single by Cook.Much has changed in the intervening period but Amir’s tightly coiled action caused the England captain just as many problems as it did on their first meeting, when he picked him up three times in five Tests; when Cook dragged on during the evening session, Amir had his moment of release.He had initially struggled with his line and length, leaking 33 runs from six overs before lunch, but gradually became more comfortable as the adrenaline ebbed away. Rahat Ali was generally the most demanding of Pakistan’s left-arm trio and he removed Alex Hales in the second over of the innings, angling a delivery across to have the opener taken at third slip.The England reply had been anchored by Cook, who benefitted from two glaring errors in the field. When he had made 22, Amir slanted the ball in to take the edge, just as he had done as a teenager, only for Mohammad Hafeez to make a mess of a straightforward low catch at first slip. There was further anguish for Amir when he began his second spell during the afternoon, his first delivery luring Cook into a drive as the ball left him, only for the ball to hit wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed on the wrist as he dived to his left.Cook had reached his fifty by that point and went on to pass Sunil Gavaskar’s record as the opener who has scored the most runs in Tests, but a rather less pleasing statistic for England soon emerged. Of the last eight Tests in which Cook has made a 50-plus score, none have resulted in victory (two draws, six defeats).In the morning session, a burst of three wickets in eight balls, including the dismissal of Misbah for 114, saw England wrap up Pakistan’s innings inside the first hour. Having been 282 for 4 shortly before the close on Thursday, Pakistan might have been disappointed to make only 339.Misbah, fresh from becoming the oldest captain to score a Test hundred, began the second day with designs on seeing his side up towards 400 and a secure position from which his bowlers could mount an attack. He could only add four runs to his overnight score, however, before Stuart Broad brought a delivery back to burst between bat and pad and rattle the stumps.That dismissal meant Pakistan had gone from 310 for 7 to 316 for 9, with Woakes removing Sarfraz and Wahab Riaz in the preceding over. Sarfraz had looked in dangerous mood, frequently stepping down the pitch to cut and drive on his way to 25 from 29 deliveries but he gifted his wicket when slapping a short, wide delivery to backward point to give Woakes his maiden five-for.Two deliveries later, Wahab was following Sarfraz back to the pavilion, as Woakes followed up an excellent outswinger with one of the fastest balls of the match, full and ducking in past a flimsy defence to leave off stump flat on the ground. As the crowd applauded Woakes’ achievements, Amir walked out for his first involvement in a Test since the corresponding match at Lord’s in 2010. But this was far from the main event, as Yasir would later prove.

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Aug-2016Anusha Samaranayake, a Sri Lanka Cricket fast-bowling coach, has been cleared of the fixing allegations over which he had been suspended in February. SLC had launched an inquiry about Samaranayake’s role in the fixing-related approach of more than one Sri Lanka cricketer last year. However, the ICC has since informed SLC that there is no evidence Samaranayake has breached its Anti-Corruption Code.Despite this, Samaranayake’s role with SLC remains in hiatus, as he has more recently been found guilty of a separate disciplinary misdemeanour, SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said. This inquiry had related to Samaranayake’s entertaining of guests at SLC’s academy at Khettarama. Samaranayake’s contract with SLC runs until the end of December; although his position has not been terminated, SLC appears reluctant to having him resume his duties.Samaranayake has contributed to the development of several Sri Lanka fast bowlers, with bowlers including Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara citing his influence on their careers. SLC said a concrete decision on Samaranayake’s future will be made in the coming weeks.

James Anderson insists he will be fit to play a role in England’s Test tour of India next month, even though he is unlikely to start bowling again for another three weeks

Andrew Miller04-Oct-2016James Anderson insists he will be fit to play a role in England’s Test tour of India next month, even though he is unlikely to start bowling again for another three weeks as he continues his recovery from a long-term shoulder injury.Speaking at Lord’s ahead of the NatWest OSCAs, Anderson admitted his frustration at missing out on the Bangladesh leg of England’s campaign, following a stress fracture of his left shoulder blade that caused him to miss the first Test against Pakistan in July.However, he took umbrage at the suggestion that – at the age of 34 and with 463 Test wickets to his name in a 14-year England career – his body is beginning to struggle with the intensity of his international workload.”I feel fine,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a frustrating injury where everything feels good, the rest of my body feels great, but as soon as I try to bowl I’ve got a bit of pain there. It’s something that’s going to take a few more weeks to rest and recover. I’ve got another scan in three weeks to see if it’s healed enough for me to start bowling.”I’m not going to miss the entire trip, no,” he said. “I’m very confident I’m going to be involved in the India series, it is a frustrating injury, something I want to get right, but it does happen in cricket, in sport, you get injured, you’ve just got to deal with it, and hopefully I can get as fit as possible as soon as possible.”Despite Anderson’s optimism, the timescale is a concern, with England facing five Tests against India in the space of six weeks, starting in Rajkot on November 9, one week after the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour.James Anderson at the NatWest OSCAs at Lord’s•ECB

Anderson has not bowled in a competitive fixture since the fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval in August, and with no warm-up games scheduled for the early weeks of the India leg, there will be scant opportunity for him to regain his match fitness ahead of one of the toughest assignments in Test cricket.What is more, having not missed an England Test through injury since the Sri Lanka series in 2011 (at Edgbaston in 2012, he was rested alongside Stuart Broad for a dead-rubber against West Indies) Anderson has now had to sit out four of England’s last 16 Tests – two against Australia in the 2015 Ashes, and one each against South Africa and Pakistan.His situation is such that Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, admitted after the squad’s arrival in Bangladesh earlier this week that he “didn’t know” whether to expect Anderson’s return at any stage of the tour, adding that he may require careful management over the next 12 months if he is to survive a hectic schedule that culminates in next year’s Ashes tour of Australia.Anderson, however, disagreed vehemently with that assessment – much as he had done during the Pakistan series, when his protestations of fitness ahead of the Lord’s Test were over-ruled by England’s selectors and medical staff.”No, I don’t think like that at all,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of injuries here and there in the last 18 months, which is pretty much all I’ve had in my career. I don’t think that’s going to deter me from wanting to play in every single game that I possibly can.”I love playing the game, I love playing for England and I don’t want to miss any cricket. I’m sure that the management and medical team will have different opinions to me, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it down the line.”I don’t think my body has let me down in any shape or form,” he added. “I feel as fit as I ever have, I feel very strong, the rest of my body I’ve been working hard on, I’ve done a lot of running, and I’m confident that I can come back fit.”There’s little doubt that England would dearly love to have Anderson back for what promises to be an intense contest, as India – the newly-crowned No.1 Test team – seek to avenge their home-and-away defeats in their last two series against England.In spite of those who maintain that Anderson loses his impact away from England’s green seamers, his record in India stands up to scrutiny – 22 wickets in seven Tests at 29.81, including matchwinning spells in Mumbai in 2006 and Kolkata in 2012. He knows that his experience with the new ball could be crucial in helping to guide the fortunes of a talented but largely untested attack.”Do I have to prove myself?” he said. “I’ve enjoyed bowling out there, it’s a huge challenge as a seam bowler, and I think that gives you more fulfilment and satisfaction if you do do well.”Certainly myself and Stuart [Broad], having been there before, we’ll need that experience when it comes to playing in that series, as we’ll have plenty bowlers who won’t have been there before, so we’ll have to help the guys settle into that environment as quickly as possible.”Recent contests between England and India have been understandably feisty affairs, and Anderson – who became embroiled in an ugly row with Ravi Jadeja during the last series in 2014 – expects this next campaign to be little different.”We are two teams that play with great passion,” he said. “I watched the India-New Zealand series recently and you could see the passion the India side has got, led by Virat Kohli.”We are a very similar team in that respect. We go out there wanting to win and we play with a lot of passion. And when two teams play like that, then inevitably you are going to get some fieriness on the field.”As for the Jadeja row, he added: “That’s in the past. We shook hands at the end of the series and, for me, that was the end of it. And I think for him as well too. I’m sure there will be battles between individuals when we are out there, but hopefully it will be with bat and ball.”In the meantime, however, the focus will be on England’s fortunes in Bangladesh, and in Anderson’s absence, it may fall to the breakthrough star of the English summer, Chris Woakes, to exploit what little movement may be on offer on what are expected to be slow and low wickets at Chittagong and Dhaka.”What he brings with bat and ball is crucial to the balance of our team,” said Anderson. “He’s an amazing talent, he can swing the ball both ways, he can reverse the ball, and he’s got pace so he’s got everything you need to be successful.”And he’s been working on subtle variations – offcutters, legcutters – that you need out there. He is crucial to the balance of our team, he brings depth, and I’m sure he’ll go from strength to strength in the next few years.”James Anderson was speaking at the NatWest Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards (OSCAs), which recognise the contribution that volunteers make to the game. To find out more, visit natwest.com/cricket

Calum MacLeod struck his second hundred in three ODIs to lead Scotland to a 53-run win over Hong Kong in Edinburgh

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCalum MacLeod racked up his second hundred in three ODIs•Peter Della Penna

Calum MacLeod struck his second hundred in three ODIs to lead Scotland to a 53-run win over Hong Kong in Edinburgh and take the series 1-0.MacLeod made 102 off 107 balls and spearheaded a 116-run sixth-wicket partnership – a Scotland record – to help his side recover from a poor spell in the middle overs and post 266 for 7.The hosts were eyeing a lot more after they won the toss and captain Kyle Coetzer produced a stroke-filled 48 from 42 balls. However, he was the second man out with the score on 63 and then watched his side slip to 144 for 5 in the 33rd over.Disappointment kept piling up for Coetzer – had he scored one more run he would have become Scotland’s highest run-getter in ODIs beating Gavin Hamilton’s 1231 – until Craig Wallace, playing only his seventh ODI, chipped in with a run-a-ball 52 and gave the set batsman MacLeod the support he had been desperate for.MacLeod’s first fifty came off 67 balls, but the next one came off only 38. With him in charge, Scotland added 116 runs in their final 15 overs.Hong Kong made a steady start to their chase. Their captain Babar Hayat and Nizakat Khan were even able to regain momentum after a spell of play when they lost two wickets for nine runs between the ninth and 13th overs. But once their 90-run stand – joint-highest for Hong Kong’s third wicket – was broken, the middle-order collapsed. Scotland owed their bowling turnaround to the 22-year old Chris Sole. Playing his third ODI, he took 4 for 28 to bundle Hong Kong out for 213 after they had been 139 for 2.”We got a good start with the run chase, Nizakat and I were playing nicely and then we collapsed,” Hayat said after his highest ODI score of 56 went in vain. “They took two really good catches and saved a lot of singles and twos and we didn’t do that. That was the big difference for me.”We need to work on our fielding, in every game we gave away 20-30 runs and today it put us under a lot of pressure so that is something we have to work on.””Overall we’ve played really well on this tour [of the UK] – we brought a lot of young guys and are missing key players. So it’s a learning process for us and we will be a lot better for the experience.”

Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder, has been denied a No-Objection Certificate to compete in South Africa’s domestic T20 league

Colin Benjamin07-Nov-2016Kieron Pollard, the West Indies allrounder, has been denied a No-Objection Certificate to compete in South Africa’s domestic T20 league, after the West Indies Cricket Board made the unprecedented move of levying 20% of the contract fee on any Caribbean player wishing to participate in an overseas T20 tournament.Pollard, who signed a two-year contract last season with Cape Cobras, was informed of the WICB decision on November 3 by the board’s chief executive officer Michael Muirhead in an emailed letter. He is currently still in Trinidad, with the tournament due to get underway on November 11.Muirhead called the move a “policy” decision, taken by the WICB board of directors. He also said that the WICB had notified all the ICC Full Member boards of this decision.”The WICB will levy a charge for the granting of an NOC for West Indian cricketers seeking a release to participate in Leagues outside the jurisdiction of the West Indies,” Muirhead informed Pollard in the email, which has been accessed by ESPNcricinfo. “This will be an amount equivalent to 20% of the player fee (as defined in the player contract) that is actually paid to the relevant player.”Pollard was told he would not be granted the NOC until the WICB had received “acceptance of our position” from the various boards which feature Caribbean players in their domestic T20 tournaments.It is understood that the Bangladesh Cricket Board is considering a 10% payment, but might ask the BPL franchises to carry out such a payment. Cricket South Africa has rejected the WICB proposal while there has been no response as yet from the Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket Australia.The Federation of International Players’ Association (FICA) has described the WICB decision as “restraint of trade” and warned that it could attract legal challenges.Muirhead argued that a release fee was necessary given how many Caribbean players are now seeking to maximise their earnings in the various T20 tournaments around the world.”WICB however, having invested in developing a player’s talent, is not able to realise a return on its investment if the player is not available to play in local tournament, which would allow lesser experienced players the opportunity to face a more experienced and skilled opposition, thereby improving on the standard and competitiveness of the domestic tournaments,” he wrote.However, the move comes as little surprise to seasoned observers of the current WICB administration. The board has consistently said that senior players who earn big money in the T20 leagues need to compromise and give back something to the regional cricket. Otherwise, as Muirhead noted to Pollard, it “disadvantages” the West Indies team.”In the end, it compromises the standard of the WICB’s international team and that team’s performance internationally. The primacy of international cricket is threatened.”Muirhead stated in his email that the WICB move could not be called as restraint of trade. “While we do not wish to act in restraint of trade, we must seek a balance to ensure that there is fair and adequate compensation for the investment made in the players,” he wrote. “What WICB seeks is some compensation to recognise the investment made into players, an investment from which another Full Member is benefitting.”Although Pollard is the only player officially contacted by WICB so far, many other Caribbean players are predicting a similar email in their inbox at some point in the near future.Muirhead said the board could put the fees collected for an NOC from various players into a pot which then could be redistributed as contracts to players who only play T20. Pollard, along with the former West Indies captain Darren Sammy, are some of the prominent voices who have asked WICB to offer them T20 contracts.”It is our expectation too, that the accumulation of these fees will facilitate the offer of contracts to players participating only in the short format of the game,” Muirhead said.Pollard, however, is not even a contracted WICB player, having been controversially dropped for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, scheduled for later this month. And for that reason, Tony Irish, the FICA chairman, believes that the move is unjustified.”We have made it very clear to all the boards that any restrictions placed on players are likely to constitute restraint of trade and there challengeable legally,” he said. “In the case of Kieron, he is not even contracted by the WICB. Therefore their attempt to levy 20% in exchange for the NOC effectively imposes a restriction on freedom of movement.”Irish called the decision arbitrary, considering the WICB had not even discussed the move with players and the other boards. He added that he will be speaking directly to the WICB on Tuesday about a decision that looks set to prevent Pollard from fulfilling his second year of the contract with the Cobras.”It is not a good situation. I will be taking it directly as a FICA issue with the WICB and making them aware of the implications.”Insignia Sports, who manage Pollard along with other leading West Indies players including Sammy, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, has also said it will be challenging the WICB move.”It is a blatant restraint of trade on a player who has not been selected by WICB for the upcoming tri-series, does not have a contractual tie to the WICB permitting such a restriction,” said Eddie Tolchard, one of the partners at Insignia Sports. “Applying an unreasonable and unjustifiable fee and requesting CSA pay it in order to provide a NOC is a restraint of trade.”Additional reporting by Nagraj Gollapudi

No play was possible on the second day in Hobart due to persistent rain

The Report by Brydon Coverdale13-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:47