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The Pakistan batsman looks back at his time in the wilderness and his road forward

Umar Farooq27-Jan-2021Between 2009 and 2020, Pakistan have had as many as seven chief selectors. The common strand: none deemed Fawad Alam good enough to be picked for the national team despite his stellar domestic performances, season after season. During this 11-year hiatus from international cricket, Fawad made 26 first-class centuries and 33 half-centuries, amassing 7965 runs at 56.48.As many as 40 caps were handed out, and Pakistan played 88 Tests in this period. But the reason why Fawad couldn’t get a look-in was because of perceptions about his technique. That he was vulnerable and that the presence of a packed middle order in Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq meant there was no opening.He was eventually recalled after 11 years in August 2020, during the tour of England. Six months on, he’s now made a second hundred in the space of three Tests. On Wednesday, Fawad made a century in his home ground, and was asked later about this long wait. His answer exuded maturity of someone, who at 35, has made peace with how things have panned out.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I’ve never blamed anyone,” he said. “I have always been saying that fate had this for me. That if it was in my destiny, then nobody could have taken it away from me. I was only focusing on doing well in whatever opportunities I get to the fullest, even if its domestic cricket.”Cricket is our bread and butter and like they say in Allah’s home, there is delay but no denial. I don’t think about the 10 years going to waste. How can I say all the runs and records made in domestic cricket went in vain? I’ve got enough respect and I want to redeem myself in whatever time I’ve left in cricket. Maybe I may get more success than what I’ve earned, so I can’t complain and I’m happy about the success.”Despite coming back after 11 years, Fawad was nearly dropped again despite the runs and records. He may have not made the New Zealand tour, but he somehow did. And he showed his steely resolve in making a gutsy hundred against some hostile fast bowling in the second Test in Mount Maunganui. This hundred against South Africa may have been all the more special, because it came at home, and also because he rescued the side from a precarious 33 for four.”My two bad innings in England, I felt I could have been dropped for them but he (Misbah) didn’t lose his faith in me and kept on encouraging me,” Fawad said. “He knew the potential in me and gave me another chance in New Zealand, so this specific support from the coach, lifts you up and then that is the confidence you take to the crease.”When you are told that you are the one and you have to do it, then it gets easier. These little positive things from the management can make a big difference and then you are able to focus on your game properly.”Fawad played the anchor’s role, putting together key partnerships with Azhar Ali (94 off 228 balls), Mohammad Rizwan (55 off 113) and Faheem Ashraf (102 off 152) to overhaul South Africa’s 220 and give Pakistan hope of a sizeable lead and thereby a good chance of victory.”Its early to envisage the victory but we got us in a good situation,” he said. “We have a good chance if we managed to get 130-150 runs lead.”As for the hundred, he felt “on top of the world.” And continued: “The runs I scored were needed for the team and it is really good that I was able to deliver. From 33 for four last evening, you can imagine what was on my mind all night. it was tough situation and team needed a partnership to bring stability. We wanted to go as deep as possible so that we idon’thave to score a lot of runs in the fourth innings.”

Kohli affirmed that their “lack of execution is acceptable”, as long as the mindset was in the right place

Varun Shetty09-Feb-20212:14

Where did India lose the first Test?

In his assessment of India’s efforts during their 227-run defeat to England, captain Virat Kohli said the struggles of supporting spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar during England’s first innings affected India’s control of the game, and eventually the result. Nadeem and Sundar, who were both playing their second Tests for India, went at close to four runs per over and took two wickets in 70 overs between them. On the other hand, senior bowlers R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishant Sharma went at a collective rate of 2.6 as England batted into the seventh session of the match for their 578.”You need to understand two things in this situation – as a bowling unit, we didn’t bowl well collectively,” Kohli said. “If you consider the fast bowlers and Ashwin, then yes, we bowled consistently and in good areas. But if Washi and Shahbaz had also bowled such economical spells, then you create more pressure, you cut out 80-90 runs from the opposition. Plus if you see from the batting point of view in the first innings, if you add about 80 runs more, then the match becomes almost equal. So there’s no need to overthink it. We just have to continuously build pressure on them. And if we do that, then I have full belief that we’ll get the results that we’ve achieved as a side on many occasions.”In an earlier conversation after the match with broadcaster , Kohli affirmed that their “lack of execution is acceptable”, as long as the mindset was in the right place; that, Kohli said, was visible in the second innings and that the pressure applied from the bowling unit was good enough, albeit not enough to win the Test.Nadeem was with India’s squad as a standby bowler, and replaced allrounder Axar Patel, who was believed to be a frontrunner for a debut in this Test until he was injured on the eve of the Test. Patel was slated to play a role similar to that of the injured Ravindra Jadeja, and his inclusion might have given India the chance to play wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav. That is, if they would be inclined to drop Sundar, who was one of their heroes in the famous Gabba win on debut and contributed valuable runs in this Test as well. From Kohli, there were no doubts about the bowling line-up India eventually went with, saying Nadeem was the man they had penciled in for the role.Virat Kohli waged a lone battle in India’s final-innings chase•BCCI

“Not really. Not at all. Because when you’re playing two off-spinners, Kuldeep more or less becomes a similar kind of spinner taking the ball away [from the left-handers],” Kohli said. “So you need variety in the bowling attack. We were quite clear on what combination we wanted to play and there are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. And moving forward, we will think of combinations that will bring us variety as a bowling attack and not one-dimensional where the ball is only turning away from the bat. These things are really important to understand.”
With the exception of Ashwin, and Jadeja to an extent, India have had to chop and change their bowling attack to a huge degree over their last few Tests. At the moment, injuries are keeping Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Shami out of the squad. But India aren’t being bogged down by hypotheticals.”Well they’re not here, so whether they could have or would have is irrelevant,” Kohli said in response to a question about the benefits Shami or Yadav might have brought to a Test replete with reverse swing. “Look, we are not a side that goes into what-ifs and what could have been and what should have been. If you’re adding to what could have been, then we’re talking about someone like Jaddu playing this Test as well – then you’re talking about a totally different situation. So let’s not go there. Let’s be aware of the fact that we have a strong team. We have individuals in front of us who we believe will do the job for the team. And, in one game where the execution hasn’t happened, does not mean that it won’t happen again.”So we have to keep believing in our process. We have had a lot of success as a team and we have to believe that as a side if you play good cricket, more good things are gonna happen in the future and not think of what if this payer was here and that player was here. All three of them are injured, so we have bench strength. You saw a true example of that in Australia and we totally believe in the players that we have in the team and we’re confident that we’re going to bounce back strong. We’re really looking forward to being on the field again.”

Captain remains adamant in his view that there was little wrong with the pitch in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-20216:10

Reason for our success is not cribbing about pitches we play on – Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli remains adamant in his view that there was little wrong with the pitch for the pink-ball Test in Ahmedabad, and that the game ended in two days because of poor batting. On the eve of the fourth Test – which will be played at the same venue but with the red ball in daytime – Kohli suggested, in fact, that having to switch constantly between limited-overs cricket and Test cricket has caused defensive techniques to deteriorate.Related

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“Defence is very important,” Kohli said in his pre-match press conference. “From the pattern I’ve seen in Test cricket – take any match, if two batsmen are facing a 45-minute period of difficult bowling, are they able to score 10 runs and survive without offering any chances? I think because of the influence of white-ball cricket, we’re getting results in Test cricket, but we also have this byproduct that defence, which is also a part of the game, is getting compromised.”This is why people say score 300-350 quickly. I don’t think they focus on that grind of four or five sessions these days, probably because they don’t focus on defence so much, because they’re needing to switch formats, and the game is very fast-paced.”I think there is a requirement for skill in playing on spinning tracks, and not necessarily just playing the sweep. You find your own method, and from my point of view, my best solution is a defensive shot, where I know I can defend and the ball won’t go to silly point or short leg, and that’s an aspect of the game that’s fallen behind.”Pitches remained the major theme of his press conference, but Kohli addressed a number of other issues too, including questions relating to a couple of members of India’s squad.Kohli – “I don’t think batsmen focus on that grind of four or five sessions these days, probably because they don’t focus on defence so much”•BCCI

On whether turning tracks are subject to unfair criticism
“There’s always too much noise and too much conversation about spinning tracks. I’m sure that if our media is in a space to contradict those views or present views that say that it is unfair to criticise only spinning tracks, then I think it’ll be a balanced conversation. But the unfortunate bit is that everyone sort of plays along with that narrative and just keeps making it news till the time it is relevant.”A Test match happens, and if we win on day four or five no one says anything, but if a match finishes in two days, everyone pounces on the same issue. It just becomes an issue to talk about. We lost in New Zealand on day three, in 36 overs. I’m sure none of our people as well wrote about the pitch. It was all about how India played badly in New Zealand. And none of the pitches were criticised. No one came and saw how much the pitch was doing, how much the ball was moving, and how much grass there was on the pitches. “On whether the red ball will behave differently on the Motera pitch compared to the pink one
“I don’t understand why the cricket ball, the cricket pitch, all these things are brought into focus. Why don’t we just focus on the fact that the batsmen were just not skilled enough on that pitch to play properly, and it was a bizarre display of batting by both teams in a Test match, and I will continue to maintain that, because I’ve played this game long enough to understand what happens on the cricket field. And it’s not a change in the ball colour or the change in the cricket ball, it’s still round, it still weighs five and a half ounces, so I don’t know what difference it makes suddenly.”The surface in Chennai was different in the [previous] game. This track has more pace than that. You could see with the fast bowlers as well, none of the balls went through on the Chennai track like it did for Ishant in those first couple of overs or for Bumrah as well. So the track in general has a bit more pace, and that’s the result of the clay that’s been laid in on the pitch. So it’s very important to understand these small-little details of the game.”On whether there’s a need for boards to ensure pitches don’t provide undue home advantage
“It would be lovely if you asked us this question on an England/New Zealand/Australia tour. Not when you’ve seen two turning pitches in India, so that question for me is irrelevant at this point of time.”Kohli on Pujara: “He’s a world-class performer, has been for us for a long period of time”•BCCI

On Cheteshwar Pujara being dismissed by left-arm spin in three out of five innings
“The fact of the matter is, till about four years ago, he was criticised for not scoring away from home. He was [spoken of as] only a home-track bully, and only scored in India. Now he’s performing for you everywhere outside of India, and a few innings where every batsman has struggled, barring maybe Rohit and a couple of innings from [others] – Ash (R Ashwin) played well, Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) got a fifty, I got a couple – it’s not been easy. So if you now start criticising his game at home, then I don’t think that’s fair on him.”He’s a world-class performer, has been for us for a long period of time, and I will keep saying this again and again – along with Jinks, Pujara is our most important Test player, he will continue to be so. Every cricketer, every batsman, faces some sort of challenges in terms of a couple of areas where they might find a need for improvement, that happens to all of us constantly, and he’s a very responsible guy who will first and foremost go into the nets, bats more than anyone else to iron out his flaws, and I’m sure that he’ll keep solidifying his game moving forward, but there’s absolutely no concern whatsoever when it comes to Cheteshwar Pujara. “On Kuldeep Yadav’s limited opportunities
“There’s no issues with skill, there’s no issues with headspace. His game is absolutely precise, bowling better than he’s ever bowled before. [It’s about] combinations. We need to make sure that we cover all facets of the game, and we have our strongest balanced squad on the park. See, if a [Ravindra] Jadeja is playing and you’re talking about a third spinner, then a Kuldeep comes into the picture way more because of Jadeja’s experience with the bat, and the number of times he’s done the job for the team.”Right now we’re going in with Ash, Washy (Washington Sundar) is playing, Axar [Patel] is playing. Washy has scored a few runs, Axar is relatively new to Test cricket, so yes, they can contribute with the bat, but it’s not the same experience as a Jadeja, so your combination becomes different. When a Jadeja comes in you know, you’re assured that he’s responsible, he’s going to do the job for the team, and he knows that he’s done it again and again and again, so you can play a Kuldeep who’s primarily a wristspinning bowler. But yeah, it’s all about combinations. If people are not good enough, they won’t be part of Team India. It’s as simple as that. He’s a very, very skillful bowler, and he’ll always be in consideration to play whatever game is in front of us, purely because of what he brings with the ball, and yeah, his game is as good as it’s ever been.”On whether it’s right for teams to rotate their players in Test cricket
“I feel any format of the game is the right place for rotation. No human being can possibly go on for that many games throughout the year. Everyone needs to find windows of having some time off, having a break, especially with the bubble format, and the kind of systems you have to follow in the bubble, it can get very monotonous, and it’s very difficult to keep yourself excited about small things. I think these are things that need to be considered for as long as we play in the bubble. Outside of that, I think it depends on where you stand physically, more than mentally, but I think till the bubble exists, we need to keep the mental factor in the picture as well, because mental fatigue could be a huge, huge factor – playing within a restricted area, moving around within a restricted area.So yeah, these are things that one needs to be aware of, and hence our bench strength becomes way more important, because if you have guys who are hungry, ready, who read the game well, who understand where the game is heading, and are brave enough to take on opportunities or situations to take the team forward, then you can rotate very easily. You know there are 11 more guys who are ready to win a Test match for India, or a one-dayer or a T20, and that’s exactly what we’re striving towards, and we have a clear roadmap as to where we need to go in the next 4-5 years, so that our transition is not difficult at all – guys are ready, people can take breaks accordingly, as and when it’s required, and yeah, we have a clear plan that we need to move forward with. “

The former Olympic rower, who was appointed in 2019, suffered a health scare late last year

Daniel Brettig06-Apr-2021Drew Ginn’s future as Cricket Australia’s high performance boss is uncertain after he took personal leave from the role in late February with no set return date.CA’s acting chief executive Nick Hockley authored a reshuffle of Ginn’s direct reports, including the shift of the sports science division headed by Alex Kountouris and the national talent and pathways division run by Graham Manou to the desk of the national teams chief Ben Oliver. Peter Roach, the head of cricket operations, now reports directly to the chief executive.There is no suggestion that Ginn is set to quit the job. Nevertheless it has been a difficult year for Ginn who, in addition to the myriad problems created by the need for CA to find a way through restrictions put in place to deal with Covid-19, had to cope with the death of his father in March 2020.Ginn, 46, also suffered what he described as a “heart and kidney scare” after a long-haul cycle ride from Melbourne to Warrnambool in mid-December to commemorate the first such race in 1895. “Ten minutes after we completed the 336km ride ending up in 40C temperatures, I was admitted to hospital,” Ginn told the podcast. “I had a little bit of a heart scare and a little bit of a kidney scare.”Much fanfare had surrounded Ginn’s appointment, alongside Oliver, in dual roles encompassing the national men’s and women’s teams and the high performance apparatus around them, in the middle of 2019. The two roles had been devised to replace one single and extremely broad commission taken up by their predecessor, Pat Howard, between 2011 and 2018.It was the recommendation of Howard’s interim replacement, Belinda Clark, that the job be split in two, with the then chief executive Kevin Roberts ultimately deciding on Oliver and Ginn in the two positions after what at times seemed an interminable wait.A multi-Olympic gold medallist as a rower, Ginn’s only previous experience in cricket had been as the high performance chief of Cricket Tasmania, a brief but eventful tenure in which he made himself known as a critic of much of CA’s direction.He was an advocate, for one thing, of drastically different training for fast bowlers more aligned to lessons from rowing, a viewpoint that clashed with many of the CA employees he was later to be appointed to manage. Over the past 18 months, Ginn was also involved in the painful discussions around cost-cutting that were initiated by Roberts and the CA Board in response to Covid-19, including the exits of numerous coaches working out of the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.”I’ve just been eyes and ears open for three years learning, and I certainly wouldn’t claim to know everything about the sport, because I never really played it,” he told the podcast. “The sport’s been reasonably welcoming to me as a person but not welcoming in terms of you can get away with doing anything and say anything, but rather we appreciate someone coming in from outside who’s had experience and success, but you have to earn your way, earn the right to have an opinion.”I certainly feel like I’ve been way out of my depth plenty of times, not just from knowing cricket but also what I’ve been managing budget-wise and size of staff and that sort of thing, [it] is stuff I hadn’t experienced before.”You make mistakes and the key thing for me has been owning those mistakes when you make them as a leader and keep having conversations with people. The relationship is always the key. If you have a good relationship with people, there’s a tolerance there. If you have a terrible relationship with people there’s not a tolerance there. So it’s been a huge learning curve.”Ginn’s projects had included the elevation of mental health considerations within Australian cricket, including the hire of a new mental health lead position at CA.

Abbas claims stunning figures of 6-11 as Hampshire take mammoth lead

Alan Gardner16-Apr-2021Around an hour into the second morning of this match, Middlesex’s bowlers were preparing to put their feet up in the dressing room in recognition of a hard job well done. Then came the Mohammad Abbas-inspired madness, a sickening sense of preconceptions being upended, and the desperate scramble for batting gear. Abbas sized up the pitch on his home debut, claimed a hat-trick inside seven balls, and had a five-for before the end of his third over, as Hampshire brutally seized control.Middlesex started and ended the day in the field, the one major difference being that they were now in hock to the tune of almost 450 runs after Hampshire declined to enforce the follow-on. Sam Northeast and Ian Holland added a double-century partnership in untroubled fashion, both walking off in the 90s at the close, as the home attack took their chance to recharge. Abbas might look more like an accountant than a strike bowler, but you don’t have to have the instincts of either to know which team the sums favour from here.Strike bowler he surely is though, and the Pakistan seamer demolished any notion that this could be a close contest within the space of 5.5 pre-lunch overs, as Middlesex tumbled to 14 for 5 in response to Hampshire’s 319. Abbas finished his day’s work with hypnotic figures of 11-6-11-6, as Middlesex were eventually rounded up 79; only three batsmen managed double-figures, with Nathan Sowter’s 24 not out from No. 9 the highest score of the innings.Ramadan started this week, and although Abbas is not currently fasting, he said that his “great day” had been influenced by the Islamic holy month. At 31, it was the first hat-trick of his senior career.”I took two wickets and before I bowled for my third wicket I realised Ramadan is going on and that is lucky for us, and Friday is a day that is lucky for me,” he said. “I have played here before when I was with Pakistan and the pitch had something in it for me, and I bowled on point in the right areas.”Hampshire’s new overseas signing, currently out of favour with Pakistan’s selectors, has shown on more than one occasion previously that it pays not to underestimate his shuffling gait and 78mph stylings. A two-season stint with Leicestershire in 2018 and ’19 yielded 79 wickets at 20.67 and, while a shoulder injury might have hampered his effectiveness at Test level, he emphatically restated his qualities as a county operator.This was the definition of a controlled explosion, as Abbas detonated the Middlesex top order with five wickets in 13 balls. The subtlety of his methods was borne out by the fact each wicket-taking delivery pitched in roughly the same area but confounded the batsmen in a variety of ways.Max Holden was the first to go, jumping from the crease to narrow the angles in his favour, only to steer an edge to third slip. Nick Gubbins, another left-hander, was pinned by one that came back at him (although there was a suspicion it might have pitched outside leg); then, with the first ball of Abbas’ next over, Stevie Eskinazi was sucked in by length and spat out by seam movement – a feathered outside edge giving the bowler his moment.He wasn’t done there, either, as Middlesex’s tricky hour before lunch became a match-defining collapse. Robbie White and Martin Andersson were both trapped in front of their stumps by in-duckers – White playing forward, Andersson hanging back – to complete a five-for that had scorers and Twitter statisticians consulting their databases. For the record, Abbas’ efforts fell just shy of Ryan Patel’s five in 11 balls at Guildford in 2018, while Jacques Kallis claimed a Test five-for in 12 deliveries against Bangladesh in 2002.Abbas had all six wickets to fall when Sam Robson went shortly after lunch – edging to slip as the bowler shortened his length in response to Robson’s deliberate efforts to get forward – before Kyle Abbott, who had claimed a 17-wicket match haul on his previous first-class appearance at the Ageas Bowl, finally got in on the action, as Toby Roland-Jones chopped a drive into his stumps.Sowter and John Simpson managed to double the score, meaning this was ultimately only Middlesex’s lowest total since being dismissed for 75 at Hove two summers ago, before Brad Wheal cleaned up the innings with three cheap wickets.Ambushed by Abbas, Middlesex were left feeling abashed – and with Hampshire deciding to bat again on a lead of 240, they had plenty of time to reflect on their shortcomings. Roland-Jones and Ethan Bamber struck early to give Middlesex a glimmer at 2 for 2, but the third-wicket pairing of Northeast and Holland steadied Hampshire before pressing on resolutely, both passing 50 for the second time in the match to consolidate a position that was nigh on impregnable.The quality of Middlesex’s attack had seemingly kept the home batsmen in check on day one but, in a harbinger of what was to come, more foot-slogging was required on the second morning to finish off Hampshire’s first innings. Roland-Jones, Bamber and Steven Finn posed plenty of questions – though none came close to the sort of unanswerable spell provided by Abbas – and they were made to work right until the end, Finn finishing with 4 for 96, as Abbott’s nuggety half-century took Hampshire past 300 for a third bonus point, and a position that would soon be revealed as dominant.

Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva also move up after 97-run win in final ODI against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2021Sri Lanka fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has moved up by 27 places to get to a best-ever 33rd spot in the ODI bowlers’ rankings after his career-best 5 for 16 in the third ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka. That capped a fine tour for Chameera, who topped the wicket-takers’ list with nine strikes at an average of 11.00, even though Sri Lanka went down 2-1.New Sri Lanka limited-overs captain Kusal Perera, who scored his sixth ODI century in the same match, advanced by 13 spots to 42nd in the batters’ list. That’s just one spot away from his career-best of 41, achieved in June 2016.Dhananjaya de Silva was another Sri Lankan to gain, after hitting 55 in the final ODI. He moved up by ten spots to 85th in the batters’ list. He gained two spots in the bowling table too, to No. 79, and seven spots to No. 24 among allrounders.It wasn’t a great day for Bangladesh, who finished on 189 after Sri Lanka had put up 286 for 6, but their half-centuries meant that Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah moved up in the batters’ table. Hossain scored 51 in 72 balls from No. 5, and that took him 12 spots up to No. 113, while Mahmudullah’s 63-ball 53 from No. 6 lifted him two slots to 36th.Taskin Ahmed, who kept the Sri Lanka batters in check with returns of 4 for 46, progressed 12 places to No. 88 among bowlers.The 2-1 scoreline put Bangladesh on top of the World Cup Super League table, with 50 points from nine matches, while Sri Lanka have recorded only one win in six outings and are way down.

Yorkshire fall short by 20 runs despite having home side in trouble at 95 for 6

ECB Reporters' Network11-Jun-2021Brydon Carse inspired Durham to a 20-run victory over Yorkshire Vikings in their first game of the Vitality Blast campaign at Emirates Riverside.Carse took centre stage with the bat after it appeared the hosts had wasted an excellent platform. The 25-year-old scored his maiden T20 fifty to elevate Durham to a match-winning total of 181, despite career-best figures of 4 for 44 from Jordan Thompson.Jonny Bairstow threatened the home side, but Carse made the decisive impact to dismiss the England man for 67. A late surge from Harry Brook proved in vain as Durham held their composure to get off the mark in the competition at the first attempt.After losing the toss, Durham made a rapid start as Graham Clark dispatched David Willey for four-straight boundaries, including a massive six over square leg. The introduction of Lockie Ferguson brought about the breakthrough for the Vikings as the opener picked out Willey at mid-on for 34.The home side enjoyed a solid start after the Powerplay, reaching 54 for 2. However, Thompson ensured that Durham could not maintain the pace of their innings, deploying slower deliveries to remove Ben Raine and David Bedingham.Durham’s innings was in danger of petering out when Ferguson had skipper Cameron Bancroft caught behind for a scratchy 15. Impetus arrived in the form of Carse, who excelled with a variety of blistering strokes. He notched his maiden T20 fifty from 30 balls, striking Thompson over the rope, but the bowler had his revenge with his final delivery to claim his best figures in the format.The Vikings lost Adam Lyth in the second over of their reply, lifting his drive off Matty Potts into the grasp of Bancroft. Bairstow and Dawid Malan kept Yorkshire in line with the run rate during the Powerplay, but the latter departed two balls after restrictions were eased, losing his off stump to Liam Trevaskis.Tom Kohler-Cadmore threatened to spark the Yorkshire innings to life, smashing the ball onto the roof of the health club on the edge of the ground. His next attempt failed as Raine prised him out with his first delivery for 16. Bairstow remained composed, notching his first fifty of the campaign from 40 balls but Carse delivered for Durham to halt the Yorkshire momentum by taking his middle stump out of the ground.Brook offered brief hope for the visitors with a brisk 41, but his desperate late attempt to slog Potts resulted in being caught on the rope. Durham held their nerve at the death to close out their first win of the campaign.

Allrounder sets sights on England call-up after 54-ball ton

ECB Reporters Network09-Jul-2021Emma Lamb became the first batter to score a century in the Charlotte Edwards T20 Cup as Thunder defeated Sunrisers by 71 runs to register their second win in the new competition.Timing the ball well and frequently striking it with considerable power, Lamb reached her hundred off 54 balls and finished unbeaten on 111 off 61 balls having hit 11 fours and three sixes. Her hundred is only the fourth to have been scored in senior domestic women’s cricket.”I’m so happy,” Lamb said. “I haven’t scored a century for Thunder in T20, so that’s good obviously, but also scoring it at Emirates Old Trafford is amazing.”I don’t think it could have gone much better for me this season. There’s been a lot of hard work but some of it is up in your head and I’ve enjoyed working with the new coaches we have this season, Stephen Parry and Craig White. I’ve always got a little thought of England in my mind and I do want to play for England one day. I’ll just have to do well and see what happens.”Unsurprisingly Lamb’s innings was at the heart of her side’s total of 186 for 1 in 20 overs and that proved to be far too many for Sunrisers, who finished 115 all out in exactly 20 overs.Lamb put on 69 for the first wicket with Georgie Boyce before her opening partner departed for 36, caught at mid-off by Cordelia Griffith when driving Gayatri Gole. But that reverse only brought Ellie Threlkeld to the wicket with whom Lamb shared an unbroken stand of 117, Threlkeld finishing unbeaten on 26.Related

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The same bowler also had two catches dropped, including one off Lamb, who was put down by Kate Coppack at deep square leg when she had made 90. Gole finished the innings with 1 for 37 but the most impressive visiting bowler was Grace Scrivens who conceded just 22 runs from her four overs.Replying to what may have seemed a daunting target, the Sunrisers batters came out determined to play their shots but lost Naomi Dattani in the second over, brilliantly caught by Laura Marshall at deep square leg off Kate Cross, the Thunder skipper.Another fine catch, this time by wicketkeeper Threlkeld standing up to Laura Jackson, saw the end of Scrivens for seven and wickets fell steadily thereafter. Griffith made 34 and Amara Carr 25 but at no stage did Sunrisers look like overhauling Thunder’s total.Fine run-outs by Sophia Turner and Laura Marshall removed Griffith and Lissy McLeod as the visitors declined to 103 for 6 after 16 overs but inevitably, perhaps, Lamb could not be kept out of the action and the Thunder allrounder took three wickets and two catches in the latter stages of the game.She was even on a hat-trick in her final over but had to settle for figures of 3 for 16. Overseas player Piepa Cleary also bowled well, taking 2 for 20 as Thunder strolled home.

Australian to play primarily as a batter, and is expected to be with the club for the full season

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2021Matthew Wade has signed an all-format deal with Worcestershire for the 2022 season, with the club saying that the Australian would be used primarily as a top-five batter.Wade, whose experience in the English county circuit so far has been limited to an appearance with Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast, said in a club statement that he was excited at the opportunity to “experience the challenge of a full season” of county cricket. And from the point of view of the county, signing Wade should be seen as a “sign of our intent”, cricket steering group chairman Paul Pridgeon said.Related

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Wade, the 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, is currently in Bangladesh, leading Australia in a five-T20I series as they look to finetune their personnel ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year. “I’m really looking forward to joining up with what’s an exciting group of players at Worcestershire for next season,” he said. “I have always wanted to experience the challenge of a full season of county cricket, and I jumped at the opportunity to join Worcestershire as soon as it came about.”New Road is one of the world’s most recognisable cricket grounds, and I loved playing there as part of the Ashes tour in 2019. I can’t wait to get going.”Tasmanian Wade has so far played 36 Tests (1613 runs and 85 dismissals) as well as 97 ODIs (1867 runs and 117 dismissals) and 43 T20Is (613 runs and 25 dismissals), and is vastly experienced, having turned out in 156 first-class matches, 180 List A games and 144 T20s since starting his professional career in 2007.”We have signed him as a batter. He is a real hard-nosed batter in red-ball cricket and a dangerous striker in white-ball cricket,” Pridgeon said. “We think he will add a lot to our group and will be particularly helpful for the young players.”He is a real winner, he knows how to win, and we feel that will rub off on some of the young lads and be good for their development. Matthew has also got a lot of captaincy experience, which will undoubtedly come in helpful to the likes of Joe Leach, Ben Cox and Jake Libby and people like that.”Calling it “an old-fashioned overseas signing”, to mean that Wade wouldn’t just be slotting in for a few games and, instead, stay for the whole six months, Pridgeon said, “We have been conscious that we needed something at the top of the order to spark us. He gives us a lot in all three competitions, and it is a sign of our intent to try and to continue to improve.”He can bat anywhere in the top five. I want to stress that he is here as a batsman and to help to develop the younger players. It is something we felt we needed. It is great to get it done and dusted so early for next season.”Under the current schedule, Australia are due to tour Sri Lanka in the middle of next year but Wade lost his Test place after the series against India earlier this year.

Preparation is being disrupted by the weather and there are concerns around Covid-19, but the focus is on the Gabba

Andrew McGlashan30-Nov-2021He’s never played a first-class match, let alone a Test, in Australia and the final week of preparation leading into the opening game of the Ashes in Brisbane looks set to be disrupted by the weather, but Jos Buttler is determined to go into the series unburdened by things he can’t control.Buttler is part of the second group of England players who have now joined the full squad following their quarantine after the T20 World Cup but on leaving their Gold Coast camp for Brisbane they encountered torrential rain which wiped out the opening day of their final warm-up match.With the forecast poor, there is a real chance England may not get any proper middle time in the days ahead. The first intrasquad match last week had just 29 overs on the first day. Australia are in the same position with their three-game likely to be canned – and have also had to deal with the off-field drama around Tim Paine’s resignation – although some of their players have been playing in the Sheffield Shield over the last two months.Related

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Buttler did not play England’s most recent Test, against India at The Oval, due to paternity leave but had been due to regain his place for the Old Trafford match that was called off due to Covid-19 concerns. Overall it was a disjointed home season with no great Test reward for Buttler, who missed the New Zealand series due to the IPL and then made 72 runs in five innings against India, but he is ready to embrace the challenge in Australia.”I feel like I have nothing to lose, to be honest,” he said. “It’s sort of been disjointed, that [year] just gone. Some good form and some bad form and in the year before as well. It’s the first time I’m experiencing an Ashes series [in Australia] so I’m fully determined to enjoy all the challenges that throws up. I’m excited to experience it, the good the bad, and I’m sure the highs and lows along the way.”As a player at the minute I’m trying to bring a fearless approach and to truly try and embrace the opportunity. I know when I get to somewhere near my best that’s going to be pretty good.”Jos Buttler had a lean home series against India•AFP/Getty Images

Buttler has reasonably extensive experience playing in Australia although it has all been in the white-ball formats. He averages 38.71 from 18 ODIs, has played five T20Is and has had Big Bash stints with Melbourne Renegades and most recently Sydney Thunder.”Familiarity with some conditions is something I can dip into and hopefully not be surprised by,” he said. “But I think the challenge always as a player is to adapt to any conditions that are in front of you and adapt quickly. The practice, when you can practice, is incredibly important for that and your first five, 10 balls are vital as a player to understanding the conditions and playing accordingly. But certainly I will try to dip into that experience and I’m in my early 30s now so played quite a bit of cricket and hopefully know what to expect.”As ever in the current world there could be further complications thrown the way of the series. It remains to be seen whether Covid-19 protocols will need to be tightened following the emergence of the Omicron variant – with cases detected in arriving passengers in New South Wales – and the impact any potential changes to international border restrictions could have on families.Buttler was among the players to raise concerns about families not being able to join the tour but he said it was too early to be worrying about a scenario where they were unable to fly out.”It’s a hypothetical situation at the minute. Until we get told that something’s changed there’s no decision to make and it just adds to the unknown. So it’s things I don’t really need to worry about at the moment. If something like that happens I have to get the information and we can work through it and see how that looks.”