All posts by csb10.top

Stumps Despite fine half-centuries from Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli, it was Jason Holder whose persistent lengths created the best impression on a topsy-turvy first day in Kingston. Holder’s three wickets – of the two half-centurions and KL Rahul – didn’t allow India to dominate any period of play on the opening day of the second Test at Sabina Park, ensuring they scored at a rate of under three through the day.Holder had opted to bowl at the toss, stating that the grassy surface would allow their pacers to make the most of the deck. But that wasn’t to be early on as India openers Rahul and Agarwal struck at a run rate of 5.33 for the first six overs. Rahul was especially aggressive, beginning his charge off the day’s very first over when he struck Kemar Roach through the covers for four.Soon, though, Agarwal presented a chance off Shannon Gabriel. Looking to drive, he edged one through the slips, but he looked surer two balls later while driving through the off side for a boundary.When Gabriel went off the field unwell after just three overs, Holder brought himself on and struck with his fifth ball. Getting a length ball to straighten, he found the shoulder of Rahul’s bat and had him caught at slip for 13. The catch was taken by Rahkeem Cornwall, who was one of two debutants – alongside wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton – for West Indies.Soon after the first wicket, Cornwall was handed the ball with No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara still searching for his first run, and found purchase off the deck straight away. Pujara often came down the pitch to negate Cornwall’s flight and turn, but when the offspinner pitched one shorter and quicker 20 minutes before lunch, the extra bounce forced the batsman on the back foot and he ended up chipping to point for 6. The teams went into the break with India at 72 for 2 with No. 4 Kohli still new at the crease.Virat Kohli acknowledges the applause after another landmark•Getty Images

The post-lunch session began with four byes as Kohli missed a pull down the leg side. He then rolled his wrists to flick Roach through midwicket before repeating that in the next over off Cornwall. When Gabriel replaced Roach, he was driven straight back as Kohli moved into his 30s.Agarwal, though, was being tested by Holder’s length balls, which went both ways. He was particularly troubled in his 40s, inside-edging two attempted drives to fine leg, reaching his third Test fifty in unconvincing fashion. On 53, Agarwal was adjudged caught behind off Roach, but he reviewed after consulting Kohli and that paid off. Replays showed daylight between bat and ball. But it wasn’t to last as Agarwal perished to Holder in the next over, edging one to Cornwall at first slip. The 69-run stand, though, had done enough to put India slightly ahead at that stage.Kohli and No. 5 Rahane, the star of the first Test, then consolidated, with the latter surviving a few inside-edged chances that could have rolled on to his stumps. Kohli moved to 49 with a crisp cover drive off Gabriel and two balls later reached his 22nd Test fifty. Rahane, meanwhile, batted carefully in the hour before tea, happy to take the singles and avoid risky shots.The final session began with India at 157 for 3. Roach dismissed Rahane with a dangling delivery outside off that he played at. Edging to the keeper, Rahane fell for 24, with India only at 164 for 4.Kohli and Hanuma Vihari then looked to build a partnership, but it lasted only 38 runs as Kohli perished for 76. Holder had returned for a new spell and he went full outside off stump, tempting the India captain to drive. But the ball zipped off the surface, took a feather-edge and handed wicketkeeper Hamilton a second catch. At 202 for 5, Rishabh Pant joined Vihari, and he soon took on Roston Chase for the day’s first six over long-on.Vihari wasn’t afraid to play his shots either, striking two driven fours off Gabriel in the 85th over. From the other end, Cornwall and Pant had a battle where the bowler came around the wicket trying to induce the sweep. When the new ball was taken, Roach troubled Vihari with balls that were searing inwards, but a tired Gabriel did not pose the same challenge. In the final over of the day, Vihari flicked two fours through midwicket off Roach to finish the day on 42, while Pant walked back on 27.Despite Cornwall bowling 27 overs for only one wicket, West Indies would be pleased at the turn he was getting. Cornwall and Chase induced leading edges off nearly every batsman on the day, and the erratic extra bounce always kept the batsmen honest. For the hosts, though, a way past Vihari and Pant is key to taking the upper hand in a must-win Test match.

Zimbabwe have been reinstated as a member of the ICC, three months after being suspended for government interference in their board. The sanction on Zimbabwe was lifted at the ICC’s board meeting on Monday. The decision was taken following a meeting between the governing body’s chairman Shashank Manohar, chief executive Manu Sawhney, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, Zimbabwe Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry and Gerald Mlotshwa, the Chairman of the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) on Friday, October 11.Following the meeting, it was decided that ZC had “unconditionally complied” with the conditions laid down by the ICC in July.Nepal have also been reinstated as ICC member, although on a conditional basis. They were suspended in 2016 for breach of ICC regulations that prohibit government interference, while also requiring “free and fair elections”. Following the election of a 17-member Central Working Committee for the Cricket Association of Nepal earlier this month, the ICC readmitted the Nepalese board. A transition plan for Nepal’s full reinstatement will now be developed.”Given the progress made in Nepal,” Manohar said, “a transition plan will now be developed for the Cricket Association of Nepal to support full compliance with Associate Membership criteria, which will also involve controlled funding.”ALSO READ: No more boundary countback as ICC change Super Over regulationsZC will be breathing a sigh of relief that its own period out in the cold was not as protracted as Nepal’s. Both countries’ suspensions meant they were cut off from ICC funding, and Zimbabwe’s case threatened to cripple the game as it battles to operate in a country in the midst of steep economic decline. Funds will now be drip-fed to ZC as per the agreement reached in July 2018.From a playing perspective, Zimbabwe’s men’s and women’s teams will be able to compete in ICC events again, though the lifting of the suspension has come too late for them to feature in the T20 World Cup qualifiers. The women’s qualifying tournament was held in August-September, while the men’s equivalent begins on October 18. However, Zimbabwe’s Under-19 team will be able to participate in the men’s age-group World Cup in January next year and the men’s ODI team will join the Super League from 2020, in order to challenge for a place at the 2023 World Cup.When they were suspended, it seemed likely that cricket in Zimbabwe would stay on its knees, following several years of crises, both financial and administrative. The straw that broke the ICC’s back came when the SRC, a government parastatal, suspended the ZC board chaired by Mukuhlani, and replaced it with an interim committee. The ICC asked ZC to reinstate the Mukuhlani board and provide evidence that there was no government interference in the running of the board if they wanted the suspension reconsidered. Mukuhlani’s board was reinstated on August 8 and members from ZC have been in communication with the ICC since.In particular, Zimbabwe’s sports minister, the Olympic swimming champion Coventry, was instrumental in assuring the ICC that ZC was ready to be reinstated. “I would like to thank the Zimbabwe Sports Minister for her commitment to the reinstatement of Zimbabwe Cricket. Her desire to work in support of Zimbabwe Cricket was clear and she has unconditionally complied with the conditions set down by the ICC Board,” Manohar said. “Funding to Zimbabwe Cricket will continue to be on a controlled basis as part of a collective effort behind getting the game in Zimbabwe back on an even keel.”Zimbabwe’s next fixtures are yet to be confirmed. They were due to host West Indies later this month but the tour was postponed because Zimbabwe were expected to be playing at the T20 World Cup qualifiers. New dates have yet to be agreed on.

New Zealand’s eyes are still firmly fixed on trying to save, or even win, the opening Test in Perth but if, as is very likely, Australia come out on top they may have won a few little battles late on the third day.Their short-ball tactics, led by Neil Wagner and this time implemented by Tim Southee as well, are so well telegraphed yet still continue to reap considerable reward. “The five men out on the pull gave it away,” Joe Burns said with a smile.Burns was one of the five Australia second-innings wickets to fall to the short delivery, when he gloved Southee to gully, the odd one out being Tim Paine who was cleaned up second ball.Significantly, the plan worked for the second time in the match against Steven Smith, who picked out deep square leg having been given a working over by Wagner which included a painful blow on the gloves. It meant that for the first time in his career, Smith had gone three Tests without a half-century.David Warner miscued a pull to mid-on, Marnus Labuschagne picked out midwicket (although not until he had scored another fifty and become the first batsman to 1000 Test runs this year) and Travis Head flicked straight to leg gully, his second poor dismissal of the match. Those moments are unlikely to have much bearing on this game, but they are little markers for the Tests to come.”First and foremost it’s to try and get through this match but we have wait and see what the wicket’s like in Melbourne,” Ross Taylor said. “It’s definitely a tactic we’ve used in New Zealand to good effect and Neil has been a fantastic exponent of doing that. The match-ups throughout this whole series, not just this match, will be key and we’ll get a lot of confidence from that.”Burns acknowledged that knowing the plan was coming and play it are two different things, highlighting the fact that the pace of New Zealand’s – around the low 130kph-mark without the injured Lockie Ferguson – presents a different challenge to when the ball is fired down at 150kph.”We spoke it, they’ve done it to us and all sorts of different teams in the past,” he said. “We spoke about being clear how you want to play. It’s always disappointing when you lose wickets but credit to the New Zealand bowlers, to get through the overs they’ve done and get executing the short ball for long periods of time. It’s probably why they are No. 2 in the world”It’s easier said than done to say you’ll come round the wicket, or for Wagner to bowl long periods of the short ball to that field, there isn’t much margin of error if you miss. If you bowl bad balls you’ll leak a lot of runs. Credit to them, it’s a big part of their bowling plans. As a batter you just try to wear them down, pounce on bad balls, but they didn’t miss too many times.”It’s awkward because you feel like you can play it. At the speeds they bowl it’s challenging, different because they are asking you to play the shot to get off strike and you are bringing in all their catchers. Credit to them because they can execute it for a long period of time. They find a way to keep creating wickets when they flatten out.”

England 284 for 6 (Wyatt 110, Beaumont 107) beat Pakistan 209 (Maroof 69, Cross 4-32) by 75 runsDanni Wyatt’s maiden women’s ODI hundred, and a seventh in the format from Tammy Beaumont, set up England for victory in the first match of the series against Pakistan. England consolidated second spot in the ICC Women’s Championship, with qualification for the 2021 World Cup already confirmed.The 75-run margin, while comfortable enough for Heather Knight’s side, was the closest chase in nine ODI meetings between the sides. Pakistan, currently lying fifth on the table, still retain hope of automatic progression to the World Cup but face a tough run of fixtures against England and India between them and a top-four spot.England’s total was set up by a dominant 188-run stand between the openers, Wyatt and Beaumont. Pushed back up the order, with Amy Jones taking the gloves and shifting to No. 5, Wyatt cracked an 86-ball hundred to set the innings up perfectly, before Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof finally made the breakthrough.Beaumont was more circumspect, reaching three figures from 136 balls, and Pakistan did a good job of controlling the scoring after Wyatt’s departure, with England adding 96 from the final 16 overs. Knight managed 41 from 44 balls but Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson and Jones all fell cheaply as debutant Rameen Shamim finished with 3 for 61 from her ten overs.”I’m delighted to have got a hundred and for us to get the win,” Wyatt said. “It was a tough challenge early on. The pitch was slow and skiddy so it was really important to play straight.”Heather’s given me licence to play my game at the top of the order and that’s what I did. We maybe left a few runs out there and there are definitely a few things to work on for the next game, but Pakistan batted well and it was to nice to start the new era with a good win.”Pakistan’s reply began badly, with both openers gone inside the first three overs as senior new-ball pair Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt hit their straps. When Kate Cross claimed the first of her four wickets in the 11th over, Pakistan were 39 for 3 and facing a steep asking rate.Maroof and Umaima Sohail helped rebuild with a 67-run stand for the fourth wicket, while some late aggression from Aliya Riaz kept Pakistan in contention. Maroof recorded her 13th ODI half-century before being bowled for 69 by Cross, and England’s debutant legspinner Sarah Glenn picked up two-for as Pakistan lost their last four wickets for six runs.The dismissal of Nida Dar lbw earlier in the chase also saw Brunt reach 150 ODI wickets as England, under the guidance of assistant coach Ali Maiden ahead of Lisa Keightley taking charge in the new year, got their tour off to a solid start.

Having begun the new year by being skittled out for 109, Brisbane Heat roared back to beat Hobart Hurricanes by 31 runs at the Bellerive Oval to make an upward move on the BBL points table.Heat captain Chris Lynn top scored with 88 while Max Bryant smashed 65 to help Heat post 212, their highest BBL total of all time. After that, each of their bowlers got among the wickets to comfortably win. Six Hurricanes batsmen reached their twenties, but none of them went past it, and that was the major difference between the two sides in the end.Chris Lynn kept up his good run, hitting 88 not out in 55 balls•Getty Images

Bryant’s fireworksRiley Meredith removed Tom Banton in the second over to bring Bryant and Lynn together, and he set the tone by hitting three fours in his first five balls. James Faulkner bore the brunt of Lynn’s assault in the third over, and pulled a calf muscle in the process, bowling no further overs in the game.With Lynn finding his feet, Bryant began playing aggressively too, taking on legspinner Qais Ahmad for two fours. When left-arm spinner Clive Ross was introduced, the batsmen creamed 15 off the sixth over to end the Powerplay on 1 for 60.Lynn temporarily took a back seat to allow his young partner hog maximum strike. Bryant was particularly strong on the leg side, pulling and hooking short balls to the midwicket fence. In the 10th over, Bryant cut Meredith for four to reach his first BBL fifty of the season, and followed it up with another four to lift Heat to 1 for 100 after 10 overs.In the 11th over, Bryant fell to the left-arm wristspin of D’Arcy Short trying to clear cover. His attempted slap off a googly found the fielder on the 30-yard circle.Lynn consolidates, but doesn’t get the hundredWhen Bryant fell, Lynn was being starved of strike. In the seven overs before Bryant’s dismissal, Lynn had faced just the 12 deliveries, so when No. 4 Matt Renshaw walked in, it was Lynn who decided to change gears.He struck Qais for a six and four in the 12th, then earned his 18th BBL fifty two overs later. But he left the big shots for the 18th over, when he struck Nathan Ellis for two fours and a six to move into his eighties.But once again – like it was with Bryant – Lynn could not find the strike at the death. Not that it was a particularly bad thing. In the last two overs, No. 5 Ben Cutting clattered 18 off eight balls while before him, Renshaw played a nifty 17-ball 30 to help Heat finish on their highest BBL score.Max Bryant set the Heat innings up with a blazing 36-ball 65•Getty Images

Hurricanes begin with resolveIn the past, the Hurricanes’ two highest BBL chases have come against Heat, so 213 was not a total that the home side was deterred by. Openers Short and Caleb Jewell played their shots in the early exchange, the latter being more adventurous with his paddles and sweeps. After three overs, Hurricanes were 0 for 25, so Lynn introduced left-arm spinner Zahir Khan to stem the run flow. But that ploy didn’t work either as he was taken for 15 runs in his opening over.Jewell, however, perished in the fifth over, caught behind by Mark Steketee, but the incoming batsman Ben McDermott did not slow proceedings down. Although troubled at the start by Zahir’s spin, McDermott took on fast bowler Steketee for back-to-back sixes and then clobbered the spinner for a reverse-sweeped four as well. It seemed Hurricanes were preparing for the big assault.Bowlers apply the chokeFor Hurricanes to make a chase of the game, they needed to keep wickets in hand entering the final 10 overs. However, that didn’t happen as they lost both the set McDermott and Short in the 10th and 11th over respectively.David Miller and George Bailey restarted Hurricanes’ rebuild after that, but with substantial number of overs from the accurate Ben Laughlin and Zahir still to go, the chase did not have the grandstand finish it was set up for.The Hurricanes began to lose wickets at regular intervals, with each of their bowlers earning a scalp, and despite a late charge with the bat from Clive Rose – who struck an entertaining 13-ball 27 – it was all too much for the Hurricanes batsmen on the night.

Daniel Worrall made a memorable return to first-class cricket, claiming 5 for 31 to help South Australia to a second-straight Sheffield Shield win as they bowled out Western Australia on the final day in Adelaide.The Redbacks swing bowler tore through WA’s lower order after the key breakthroughs from Nick Winter and Wes Agar had put WA in a hole in their pursuit of 332 for victory. Marcus Stoinis continued his good form from the BBL making 60 but could not press on as the visitors were bowled out for 222.Worrall had not played a first-class game since limping off the WACA in March last year with hamstring and back injuries ruling him out of county cricket in England and the first half of this Sheffield Shield season. His late outswing accounted for Josh Philippe and Josh Inglis as both threatened to form a partnership before he ran through the tail to claim his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket and Player-of-the-Match honours.Earlier, South Australia declared after just two overs in the morning session having added 17 to their overnight total. It left WA needing 332 from 86 overs for victory. WA had chased down 313 to win against SA in the fourth innings in Adelaide last season.The chase started solidly but Agar made two huge breakthroughs with consecutive deliveries to have Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh caught behind with the total at just 44. Marsh was the big scalp for a first-ball duck after he made 163 not out in that successful chase last summer.Bancroft’s opening partner Jake Carder made an error on 28 cutting Will Bosisto’s part-time off-spin straight to cover.WA steadied through Stoinis and Cameron Green. The pair added 55 with Stoinis cruising to his fifth half-century of the Shield season. But Winter’s spell in the middle of the afternoon arrested the momentum. Green fell to a loose drive slicing a catch to point for just 15 before Stoinis was pinned plumb lbw for 60. Stoinis played down the wrong line as Winter nipped one back from around the wicket. It left WA in peril at 5 for 142.Philippe and Inglis counter-attacked briefly but Worrall snuffed it out with a supreme spell of swing bowling to close the game out. The win keeps South Australia in the mix for the Shield final with three rounds to go as they move up to fourth on a bunched points table.

Kagiso Rabada has sustained a groin strain and will take no further part in the Australia tour to South Africa. He has been further ruled out of the team’s subsequent tour to India starting early next month, and faces a race to get fit in time for Delhi Capitals’ IPL opener on March 30.Rabada suffered the injury during the recent T20I series against Australia, according to a Cricket South Africa press release. He played all three games, bowling 11 overs and conceding 114 runs, while taking two wickets. He is expected to be ruled out for around four weeks.While this is Rabada’s first significant groin injury, he has regularly suffered with back problems throughout his career to date. In 2018, he missed the IPL with a stress injury, and last year he left the tournament early after a niggle. Faf du Plessis would later bemoan Rabada’s presence at that tournament during the World Cup, suggesting his pace was down following his knock.”Kagiso sustained a groin muscle strain in the T20 series against Australia,” said Dr Shuaib Manjra, CSA’s chief medical officer. “He was assessed by the medical staff, assisted by an MRI scan.”The significant injury means that he will take approximately four weeks to heal, which effectively rules him out of both the Australia and India ODI series. The CSA medical staff will ensure his effective and expeditious recovery.”Delhi’s opening game in this year’s IPL is at home to Kings XI Punjab, and takes place on Monday, March 30. According to the suggested timeframe, his groin will likely have healed by that time, though it is by no means certain that he will have returned to match fitness in time to play. Last year, Rabada was the side’s leading wicket-taker with 25.Rabada’s replacement has yet to be named. South Africa’s three-match ODI series against Australia begins in Paarl on Saturday, while the series in India starts on March 12.

Pakistan women’s captain Bismah Maroof was critical of the ICC’s decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain governemt permission to play.Maroof called the decision “deeply disappointing”, remarking it was “good luck” for India to have effectively been awarded points for nothing. The ICC decision means Pakistan miss out on automatic qualification for the 2021 Women’s World Cup, while India go through directly. Had the ICC decided to award full points to Pakistan, as they did in a similar scenario in 2016, it would have been Pakistan who went through, while India would have had to try to go through the qualifying route.”The decision was very disappointing, because we had been waiting [for] a long time to play against India and the board was working towards it,” Maroof said in a video press conference. “But we weren’t getting any response from India. It’s good luck for India, who got points without agreeing to play any matches. I suppose if we look at it in a positive light, we’ll get a few extra competitive matches having to play the qualifying rounds.”There’s always hype when we’re due to play India and the fans want to see those matches because they’re usually very exciting. Pakistan showed a willingness to play against India, and Pakistan have kept sport away from politics. So it was very disappointing for us not to get these matches, and we were number four, in a position to qualify directly, before the matches were due to go ahead. If we had lost those matches and then had to qualify, that would have been easy to accept. But as things stand, those matches will have been missed by all cricket fans, not just Pakistan fans.”The ICC decision, which came a fortnight ago, has caused significant malcontent at the PCB. The chairman Ehsan Mani went public in expressing his own disappointment with the ICC, while the PCB was swift to get in touch with cricket’s governing body to explore what further steps it could take.The dissatisfaction, however, has not spilled over into any public censure of the ICC; Mani’s statement aside, there has been virtually total silence from within the PCB by way of any further official communication. ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for this is the PCB’s legal team considering bringing litigation to the ICC’s dispute resolution committee. Maroof confirmed that should the legal team believe there were grounds to proceed in this manner, she would get behind it.”The PCB’s legal team is reviewing the decision as things stand. If they think there are grounds for a legal case, we should definitely proceed with one. It was very disappointing, and politics and sport should be kept separate,” she said.The PCB had attempted to engage with their Indian counterparts about the series on the sidelines of the last couple of ICC meetings, a series they viewed as a bilateral issue rather than one that needed ICC engagement. It appears they did not receive a meaningful response from the BCCI, either in writing or verbally.In 2016, the ICC decided to give Pakistan full points when India failed to show up for a series, but there is one difference that looks to have secured a more desirable outcome for the BCCI. On that occasion, the BCCI offered no written explanation for the failure to proceed with the series, and the technical investigation committee found the BCCI had not been able to establish “acceptable reasons” for non-participation in the series.This time around, the BCCI engaged with the ICC early on, making its stand clear about why it could not play Pakistan in the ODI series scheduled in 2019. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI made extensive submissions as early as 2018, demonstrating that it could not get the relevant permission from the Indian government to play Pakistan. That helped the ICC’s technical committee to invoke the force majeure clause on this occasion.”With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC (technical committee) concluded that the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” the ICC said in a media release on April 15.Meanwhile, Maroof paid a glowing tribute to her former teammate and former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, who announced her retirement earlier this week, saying women’s cricket’s reputation and profile in Pakistan owed plenty to Mir.”Sana Mir is a legend of the game and an ambassador of Pakistan cricket. She was one of the great minds we all played under. We all grew under her, and the credit goes to her. The name women’s cricket has here exists in a large part because of Sana’s involvement with it. She has achieved a huge amount for Pakistan cricket, and she deserves all the praise she has received over the last few days. She is a true ambassador for women’s cricket around the world and I wish her good luck in whatever she wants to do next.”

Dubai has emerged as the latest overseas venue that could host games to help salvage some cricket in the English season.Last week, ESPNcricinfo revealed that Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) was set to offer its facilities to the ECB for use between October and January, with all professional cricket in England and Wales suspended until July 1 at the earliest. Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said on Friday that there had been “offers from multiple boards… as far away as New Zealand and Australia”.And Dubai has now thrown its hat into the ring to host games, as Salman Hanif, the head of cricket at Dubai Sports City (DSC), suggested he would “definitely be keen” to host whatever fixtures were on the table, whether internationals or county games.ALSO READ: Hundred postponement ‘makes more sense’ than low-key launch – Moeen AliRestrictions have started to lift in the UAE following a strict curfew, and it would seem that the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic has been avoided there with 89 deaths reported to date. Malls have begun to re-open across the country, while the conditions of the lockdown have been loosened.”If anything comes up – any bilateral series, or tournament – that has to be rescheduled, UAE would definitely be keen to host any of them,” Hanif told the . “It is still too early to plan, but if there is anything such as that being considered by the ECB, we would be more than happy to host them.”We have hosted them in the past, and we would certainly offer the best of support, facilities and everything again. Outside of full member countries, UAE has the best cricket facilities, infrastructure, management support, and support for cricket organisations. We have proved that in the past. If anything comes up, I think UAE would be considered at the forefront.”There are three grounds at Dubai Sports City: the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, where England have played 12 times against Pakistan across all three formats, and two pitches at the ICC Academy which have regularly hosted pre-season county fixtures.The ECB has repeatedly stated its intention to stage cricket in England and Wales this summer, with internationals and the T20 Blast prioritised as the most lucrative forms of the game. Harrison said last week that the ECB was “starting to get comfortable with the idea there won’t be crowds this summer”, suggesting that revenue from ticket sales would not be a major consideration.Richard Thompson, Surrey’s chairman, said last week that staging games overseas “has to be considered” but raised the “significant cost” of flying whole squads abroad as a drawback.”Broadcasters are crucial to this,” he said. “No governing body wants to breach an agreement with the broadcasters, so as long as it can deliver the product, it doesn’t matter where it delivers it from.” It appears that offers to play games overseas remain at a very early stage.Last week, David White, the chief executive of New Zealand Cricket, told the : “We really feel for the ECB right now, given the disruption to their season, and are wanting to help in any way we can.”I’m in constant contact with Tom [Harrison] and have communicated that offer to him, should it become possible at our end. We’re part of a global cricket family, and we need to support each other.”

Surrey 189 for 3 (Borthwick 73*, Stoneman 45) trail Middlesex 347 for 6 dec (Gubbins 192, Simpson 53) by 158 runs Scott Borthwick’s four-hour unbeaten 73 anchored Surrey’s 189 for 3 from 67 overs in the Bob Willis Trophy’s London derby at the Kia Oval following an imaginative Middlesex first innings declaration on 347 for 6.Borthwick was joined in stands of 71, 69 and then an unbroken 40 that occupied almost 24 overs by Mark Stoneman, Will Jacks and Jamie Smith as Surrey’s top order battled hard on a sluggish pitch that did not make strokeplay a straightforward business.Stoneman’s 45 took him 88 balls, with nine fours – three of them in one Tim Murtagh over – while Jacks played the punchiest innings of day two with 36 from 50 balls, including a six and five fours.Smith, though, took a long time to get going, with Nathan Sowter’s leg spin proving particularly hard to score from with just 22 runs coming from his 11 overs. After facing 44 balls, Smith still only had a single to his name but, to his credit, he refused to get flustered and, by stumps, had fought his way to 15 not out.Borthwick, who batted throughout the afternoon and evening sessions and has faced 183 balls, hitting ten fours, played with great determination and did not play a false shot until he flapped at a short ball from Miguel Cummins on 50 and was fortunate to see it drop to the turf midway between the slips and third man.Thilan Walallawita, Middlesex’s Sri Lanka-born 22-year-old left-arm spinner, claimed a maiden first-class wicket on debut when Stoneman lifted a cut to backward point in his sixth over.The left-handed opener looked disgusted with himself for the mistake after he and Borthwick had built a solid foundation after Ryan Patel had fallen for just 4 in Murtagh’s second over.Murtagh, on his 39th birthday, saw keeper John Simpson dive to his left to take a brilliant low catch when Patel’s edge gave Middlesex early reward for their declaration with 8.3 of their maximum 120-over first innings allocation still unbowled, and which left Surrey with three overs to negotiate before the lunch interval.Jacks swung and swept Walallawita for fours as he accelerated smoothly, but was then pinned leg-before by an inswinger from James Harris.On 264 for 4 overnight, Middlesex earlier struggled to push on against some accurate Surrey bowling. Choosing not to take a second new ball that had become available towards the end of the first day after 90 overs, Surrey concentrated on containment and not even Nick Gubbins – who resumed on 150 – could break the shackles.Gubbins was finally out for 192, from 315 balls with a six and 19 fours, when he sliced Rikki Clarke to backward point in a vain attempt to get Middlesex to a fourth batting bonus point. Simpson, who had helped Gubbins to add 131 in 36 overs for the fifth wicket, was also dismissed, leg-before sweeping at Borthwick’s leg spin for 53, just ahead of the declaration.