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Players with families might choose to retire, the Australia batsman says, instead of long stints on the road

Daniel Brettig28-Jul-2020David Warner believes that restrictive biosecurity bubbles of the kind Australia are expected to encounter while touring England in September may be a factor for players with families, who might choose to retire rather than face long stints away from their partners and children.Speaking about the realities in the time of Covid-19 – ahead of the England tour, followed by the IPL in the UAE, and then the home summer – Warner said that time with his family of wife Candice and their three daughters would appear less likely in an environment where teams need to be quarantined in order to fulfil international fixtures. The demands of that scenario will figure highly in Warner’s thinking when he considers when to pare back or finish his days as an international cricketer, having flagged last summer that he was considering, at the age of 33, whether to retire from one or more international formats in order to prolong his overall playing time.”Obviously three daughters and my wife, who I owe a lot to, has been a big part of my playing career,” he said. “You’ve always got to look out for your family first, and with cricket and these unprecedented times, you’ve got to weigh up these decisions. Look, at the moment, I’ll keep continuing to aim for that. Obviously the T20 [World Cup] is not here at home, which would have been ideal to play that and win that here. Now that gets pushed back. I will have to have a rethink about that when it comes to India.”I’ll see where I am and where the girls are at with school as well. A lot of that is a big part of my decision. It’s not just when the games are being played and how much cricket’s being played. It’s a big family decision for myself. There are times when you go away and miss your family a lot and at the moment with all these biosecurity measures that are in place, we’re going to not be able to have the luxury of our families coming away with us now and it could be for the foreseeable future.”As the prime minister [Scott Morrison] said, we might not be able to go overseas or visitors won’t be able to come into Australia. They are things that we need to play by ear and if and when I do make that decision, it’ll be predominantly a family decision.”Victoria’s current outbreak has left the state in a precarious position relative to the rest of the country, leaving Warner to conclude that Australia may need to get their heads around not playing in Melbourne around the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays for the first time in living memory.”Yeah, we have to look at it like that. I’m sitting here and you guys are too today looking at how many cases are happening in Victoria at the moment,” he said. “Even the guys trying to get out of Victoria, it’s very, very challenging as well. It’s going to be challenging for everyone. I think we spoke about state cricket. That’s the perfect example. How is Victoria going to be able to start (Sheffield) Shield cricket down there. At the moment, it seems like it’ll be impossible.Players with families might not want long stints away from home, David Warner feels•Getty Images

“But I think they’ll have to put things in place to play it somewhere else. Even if we do play down there, then coming out of Victoria you’ll have to quarantine for 14 days into other states. There are so many elements to it that it’s out of our control and hands at the moment. Whatever happens, if you put something in place now, it’s going to change tomorrow. It’s very, very difficult to process. We’ll have to see and adapt. And you might see the first Boxing Day Test not in Melbourne.”Looking at the likelihood of travelling to England, then to the UAE for a relocated IPL, then home for scheduled Tests against Afghanistan and India, Warner agreed that a surfeit of white-ball matches would not be an ideal lead-in when lined up against the two or three Shield fixtures that Australia’s cricketers have become accustomed to playing before the start of a home international season.”Usually you have a couple of Shield games leading into a Test series, especially at home,” he said. “So I think the unique thing about it is the Indian team and ourselves are going to be in the same boat really. We’re going to have a lack of red-ball cricket preparation and end of the day we have to make the most of that time training in the lead up to the Test series.”We’ve played enough high-level cricket to adapt to red ball. But there are obviously guys back in Australia who won’t be playing in the one-day series or the IPL, who have to try and get ready to prepare. Hopefully there are a couple of games they can play interstate against each other, if something is put in place. We’re obviously unsure and unclear given states are in lockdown or not letting people from other states go interstate.David Warner – and some others – might head into the home Tests straight after the IPL in the UAE•BCCI

“We have to sit back and wait for the government and states to see what the regulations are behind that. All we can do really is train with our states and prepare as well as we can on the wickets provided to get ready for the season.”In a way, the challenges will be a more concentrated version of the kind of dilemmas Australia’s cricketers and selectors have faced most years since the dawn of the Big Bash League, and even before that with the T20 Champions League, which forced players to juggle formats at a formative time of the season.”I feel that – obviously there is going to be a squad of 15 picked for example, and if there’s no Shield cricket being played up until Christmas, it doesn’t give anyone else an opportunity to be picked,” Warner said. “Like if there’s an injury there is nobody coming up from red-ball cricket. So there are these situations that we’re going to have to play by ear and try to get guys to be prepared in case something happens.”There’s three Tests leading into Christmas and coming off three or four Shield games played beforehand as well. So there’s going to be a lack of red-ball cricket obviously – it’s going to be challenging. If someone goes down, we’ll have to bring a person in with a lack of red-ball preparation. That’s foreign to all of us. It doesn’t really happen – and we’re just going to have to adapt to that.”

Chase goes down to the final over but New Zealander keeps Gloucestershire at bay

David Hopps01-Jul-2021Gloucestershire’s 161 for 7 represented a workable total on a nibbly pitch in the West Country derby at Bristol, but in Devon Conway they came up against a batter who relishes the chance to put in a serious shift. Conway’s unbeaten 81 from 65 balls would not make much of a gaudy highlights reel, but his sensible shot selection and judicious tempo never wavered as he guided Somerset home with four balls to spare.An eight-wicket margin it might have been, but Somerset’s first T20 win at Bristol since 2015 did not come easily. After Lewis Gregory’s career-best 5-24 in limited-overs cricket had prepared the groundwork, a controlled chase could easily have run awry, only for Gloucestershire to miss one or two opportunities to turn the tide.Regrettably, because he is having a tough time of late, the most glaring miss befell James Bracey, who palmed an edge from Conway, on 8, around the post during an eventful first over against Dan Worrall.Conway, who first came to prominence for many English viewers with his double-century for New Zealand in this summer’s Test against England at Lord’s, now has three successive half-centuries in the Blast. This one was sorely needed considering the withdrawal of Tom Banton, whose first flash of form was enough for him to be called up to the England squad to cover for someone who is covering for someone, which the counties have long learned to shrug off as just another example of England’s hegemony, but which could occasionally be imposed with more sensitivity towards the bigger picture.Somerset now join Gloucestershire in the top four and, although they are depleted, the force is with them, especially as Sussex are fast losing impetus after a series of washed-out matches destroyed their early-season momentum.Conway committed himself to a high-risk start and, although Banton’s stand-in, George Bartlett fell for nought, chasing David Payne’s wide half-volley, Will Smeed again underlined his potential with 36 from 23 balls, never better highlighted than by his fast-handed whip off Benny Howell’s length ball over deep square for six.But Tom Smith, who had come close to defeating Conway on the sweep, had Smeed lbw instead and Somerset were still 60 short with seven overs left as Lewis Goldsworthy, although admirably unwavering for someone at the start of his career, struggled to get his innings above a run a ball for a considerable time. Conway’s ability to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps kept Somerset just ahead of the game, although one sneaked single to regain the strike might have resulted in Bracey running him out at the keeper’s end.Lewis Gregory punches the air in celebration•Harry Trump/Getty Images

Ryan Higgins’ did not appear until the 18th over with 24 still needed and Goldsworthy was fortunate to under-edge his yorker for four. That moment of luck eased the chase and when Goldsworthy rounded off the win with successive boundaries against Higgins, he finished with 43 not out from 28 balls, misleading stats which suggested there had been nothing to worry about.Gregory has not had the most productive Blast campaign – only seven wickets and an economy rate of 10.63 – but he chose the West Country derby to address that, ensuring that Gloucestershire’s innings never quite broke the shackles despite Howell’s out-of-character, cautious half-century and a best-of-season 44 up top from Miles Hammond.Hammond was assisted by a collision in the opening over when he top-edged Craig Overton to fine leg where Jack Brooks and Conway, fulfilling the wicketkeeping role, tanked off in pursuit only to smash into each other in their efforts to take the catch.Conway helped him along again on 35, a relatively easy stumping eschewed as Goldsworthy drew Hammond down the pitch. Somerset regard their best keeper, Steve Davies, as a Championship specialist these days, preferring to set loose their exciting array of youthful young batting talent, but such is their injury list he appears to have been disposed off too readily.Gregory’s first victim was Chris Dent, who cut to short third in his second over. He returned in mid-innings after Hammond was beaten for pace by a full-length delivery from Marchant de Lange, who had come close to yorking him leg stump when he had made room to the previous delivery.That 13th over proved decisive. Gloucestershire supporters have become used to the destructive qualities in their middle order of Glenn Phillips, but he fell to a wonderful delivery which left him slightly to strike his off stump. Two balls later, Bracey followed, a botched pull flying vertically for Conway to pouch the catch. Since his 0, 0 and 8, in his first two Tests, and the fierce attention that understandably followed to his batting and keeping alike, he has made 1 and 2 in the Blast and needs a slice of fortune.That Gloucestershire reached a competitive score was due primarily to some rustic leg-side scythes from their skipper, Jack Taylor. Howell, who had much less than half the strike, found room for three sixes in his 41-ball 52, but they were rare moments of domination, and Gregory’s low full toss dismissed him at long-off before Smith’s first-baller completed his five-for.

With their campaign on the line, the sixth-wicket pair add 75 off just 32 balls to pull off a stunning win

Shashank Kishore26-Jan-2021Seventy runs needed off 45 balls. A top order that had dismantled attacks during the course of five successive wins in the group stage had collapsed in a heap. Tamil Nadu’s campaign, which had looked bright enough to go one better than their runners-up finish last year, was in doldrums.Himachal Pradesh’s bowlers were making a target of 136 seem more like 186. They were boisterous, having just dismissed Dinesh Karthik. Tamil Nadu were five down, with the last recognised pair at the crease. The decision to promote Sonu Yadav as a pinch hitter had backfired too, his run-a-ball 16 putting immense pressure on the lower order.Enter Shahrukh Khan, who joined Baba Aparajith, who until then had scratched his way to 23 off 33 balls. With the asking rate mounting and Himachal scenting victory, they held firm and then turned the game on its head, adding 75 off just 32 balls as Tamil Nadu cantered home with 13 balls to spare.The turning point of sorts was the third ball of the 14th over, bowled by the left-arm spinner Ayush Jamwal. Aparajith swatted it across the line, and the long-on fielder parried the ball over the ropes. With a reprieve behind him, Aparajith unleashed his strokes without fear. This rubbed off on the muscular Shahrukh too, his contribution an unbeaten 19-ball 40 laden with five fours and two sixes.With him, there are no half-measures. He’s reminiscent of Yusuf Pathan at the crease. Has a big presence, takes a giant stride and can give it a proper whack. He picks his spots and goes through. On Tuesday night, the leg-side was his favoured area, and it took some kind of power to clear the big boundaries quite comfortably. Shahrukh in league cricket is a destroyer, and if he continues to play the same way in top-flight cricket, it may not be long before IPL teams enter into a bidding war. He wasn’t picked at the 2019 December auction, but knocks like these could certain boost his chances.Meanwhile, Aparajith is a calming presence at the crease. Unhurried with his strokes, uncomplicated in his mind, he keeps the runs ticking and brings the big shots out only if the situation demands. He plays the kind of role S Badrinath did successfully at Chennai Super Kings, stem a collapse and hold the batting together if required. Throw in his handy off spin and he is a package teams often look out for.Here, he remained unbeaten on 52 off 45, having overcome pockets of frustration in the middle overs. To his credit, he carried on, trusted his game, and saw the game through. Prior to this game, Aparajith had just batted once in the tournament. But when the pressure was on, he dug deep to see his side through.Having watched the match-winning partnership nervously, Karthik, N Jagadeesan and C Hari Nishanth, who had done bulk of Tamil Nadu’s run-scoring in the league phase, exulted, roaring and punching the air, relieved at having a shot at making another final.Earlier in the evening, Karthik had opted to field presumably to give his bowlers a relatively dry ball to play with. They all responded superbly to restrict Himachal to 135 for 9. The pace duo of Sandeep Warrier and Yadav used contrasting methods to finish with combined figures of 5 for 46 off their eight overs.Warrier, who will fly off to join the India team as a net bowler on Thursday, hit the deck hard and relied on seam movement and bounce. Yadav used his slower variations to lull batsmen into big hits. In the middle overs, M Ashwin, the legspinner, and R Sai Kishore, the left-arm spinner, didn’t let the batsmen dictate terms.Rishi Dhawan was the only batsman who looked fluent and adjusted to the pace of the surface quickly, finishing with an unbeaten 26-ball 35 to give the innings a late push, after Abhimanyu Rana and Nitin Sharma wasted starts to fall just as Himachal looked to accelerate at different stages. And as well as Vaibhav Arora made the new ball talk, prising out three huge top-order wickets, Himachal just didn’t have enough runs to stop Tamil Nadu’s counter-punch.

Durham seal innings victory after dominating visitors at the Riverside

Paul Edwards01-May-2021The funfair arrived in Chester-le-Street this week. If they glimpse its gaudy attractions as they travel home this evening Warwickshire’s cricketers might think them an exercise in irony, the last insult from the worst three days of their season so far. Their innings defeat had looked likely since they collapsed on the first day and Durham’s openers showed them how to bat on a pitch that was testing but never the haunt of vipers Will Rhodes’ batters thought it. Nevertheless, the lights and those bloody waltzers were the final insult.From the upper floors of the Riverside one could see the Ferris wheel, nothing as grand as the London Eye, mark you, but a couple of classes above the one featured in the 1949 film . Until Friday morning there were no carriages attached and one wondered if, in keeping with the North East’s reputation for toughness, customers were supposed to hang from the struts. It might have been rather tricky for Harry Lime to give Holly Martins a tutorial in his moral philosophy had those been the conditions in post-war Vienna. But wait, I was going to tell you about Carse, Brydon Carse…Related

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• Kemar Roach eight-for consigns Hampshire to heavy first defeat of season

The evening session ended with Carse leading his team off the field after taking five wickets, three of them rather easy ones, when the game was up. Earlier, though, he had removed Sam Hain and Matt Lamb in a lively spell from the Lumley End. So he and everyone else will have received plaudits and pints.Yes, this was a lovely day and a lovely match for Durham and who will say they do not deserve their time of jubilee? Even their first reverse of the morning prompted a standing ovation. For after 500 minutes’ unobtrusive and quietly magnificent resistance Alex Lees was caught by Tim Bresnan for 129 when he couldn’t get his bat out of the way of a lifting delivery and the nick was parried to first slip by Michael Burgess. Three wickets then fell in less than an half an hour, two of them to Danny Briggs, but this was something a trade-off, given that both Ben Raine and Carse whacked the slow left-armer into the stands. And Carse continued his resistance after Raine had flat-batted a return catch to Briggs. He added exactly 50 with Wood, a partnership that took the lead past 300, although by the time Wood was bowled by Briggs the batters were swiping at most things, Carse was unbeaten on 40 and the lead was 304.The declaration gave Warwickshire’s openers a rather smelly 20 minutes before lunch and their noses were not up to it. The fifth ball of Wood’s second over kept low and brought Rhodes to his knees, unsurprising when the thing’s coming down at about 90mph. The next delivery was maybe even quicker and of full length. Warwickshire’s unsettled skipper played a loose drive and nicked a catch to David Bedingham at first slip.What the visitors needed after lunch was exactly what they had required in their first innings: a long partnership between two of their established batters. What they received was Russell Warren’s finger in the second over after the resumption when Hanuma Vihari pushed slightly forward to his second delivery only for the ball to hit his pad. He thus became Chris Rushworth’s 500th wicket in County Championship cricket. The task of salvaging something from the fast accumulating wreckage fell to Rob Yates and Sam Hain…The relative stability Yates and Hain brought to Warwickshire’s innings lasted barely 90 minutes. After batting for nearly two hours for his 34, Yates was defeated by Rushworth’s bounce and Scott Borthwick took the catch at second slip. On the point of tea Hain had no price when a ball from Carse reared off a length and Bedingham did the necessary. Early in the evening session Lamb played inside a ball from Carse and lost his off stump. Warwickshire were 93 for 5 and no one gave a cuckoo-clock for their chances.They were right. The end came fairly quickly after tea as only Bresnan showed any taste for the fight. Carse took three wickets in 15 balls and at one stage looked as though he might end the game with a hat-trick. Instead he had to settle for five wickets, a chorus of “Blaydon Races” and a day off. One doubts he will be complaining. The same may not be said for Rhodes’ cricketers but they would be sagely advised to watch a recording of Lees’s innings. It was a master class.There will be celebrations both in and near the Riverside tonight. For one thing there is the funfair; for another, this town has long had a reputation for enjoying its Saturday nights. That may be so… but then I never knew the old Chester-le-Street before the war with its folk music, its glamour and easy charm…

Mark Wood chimes in with three as England win by eight wickets

Valkerie Baynes10-Mar-2019
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryDavid Willey made an emphatic point while Mark Wood didn’t miss a beat as West Indies were bowled out for an abysmal 71 and England cruised to an eight-wicket win in St Kitts to sweep their T20I series 3-0.Willey claimed 4 for 7 and Wood 3 for 9 in a staggering West Indies innings lasting just 13 overs in which four players reached double figures but none of them passed 11 runs.Chasing just 72 to win, Alex Hales signalled his intent when he smashed Sheldon Cottrell for 16 runs in the first over of England’s innings and the tourists reached the target for the loss of just two wickets with 57 balls to spare, England’s largest T20I victory in terms of balls remaining.West Indies’ paltry total was their third-lowest in T20Is and only marginally better than their 45 in the second match against England at the same ground on Friday night.Playing on the same pitch which, by all accounts, appeared tacky, West Indies made the surprising decision to bat first upon winning the toss. Sure enough, Willey struck with the first delivery of the match, a fuller-length ball that dug into the surface slightly and, as he pressed forward uncertainly, Shai Hope spooned a simple catch to Hales at short cover.In his next over, a Willey slower ball tempted Shimron Hetmyer into a loose shot that sailed straight to mid-off where star fielder Chris Jordan took an easy catch.Man of the Match Willey, who before the final fixture had questioned the noise surrounding Jofra Archer’s potential World Cup selection, did his best to press his own claims for inclusion when, in his next over, he claimed two wickets in three balls, dismissing debutant John Campbell, who skied a catch to Joe Denly in the covers, and Darren Bravo, caught behind.Wood, who was rested for the first two T20 games, picked up where he left off after an impressive showing in the third Test and the ODI series, after replacing Liam Plunkett for the tour finale.Wood had Jason Holder put down off his second ball in a rare fielding mistake by Joe Root but, after Denly’s part-time spin dismissed Holder next ball, easily caught by Jordan, Wood had Nicholas Pooran out to an athletic catch by Player of the Series Jordan running round to his right at mid-wicket. With West Indies in disarray at 48 for 6, Wood and Adil Rashid cleaned up the tail and left England’s batsmen to chalk off the run-chase with minimum fuss.Hales made a sharp 20 off 13, while Bairstow, dropped by Hetmyer off Holder’s bowling when he was on 19, went on to reach 37 off 31 before he was bowled by Devendra Bishoo. At that point, England needed just 12 more runs for victory and Eoin Morgan saw his team over the line with a six and a four in consecutive balls off Bishoo.

Andrew Miller at Lord's10-May-2019Lancashire 304 for 4 (Jennings 96, Vilas 70*) beat Middlesex 284 (Harris 117, Simpson 74, Mahmood 4-38) by 20 runsThere is, in case you missed it, quite a kerfuffle at present about the sudden availability of a genuinely quick new-ball bowler, a man with the potential to add a new level of pizzazz to England’s World Cup attack. But not even in his wildest dreams could Jofra Archer hope to hoover up 25 wickets at 18.88 in his first nine matches of the tournament, to propel his team into the semi-finals.Saqib Mahmood has done just that for Lancashire in the Royal London Cup. In spite of a startlingly heroic fightback led by James Harris, whose maiden List A hundred included a sixth-wicket stand of 197 with John Simpson that carried a spirited chase deep into the penultimate over, the ferocity of Mahmood’s new-ball burst was an intervention that could not be patched over in the final analysis.It was, nevertheless, the most improbable sporting thriller since … well, the midweek Champions League fixtures. Somehow, Middlesex clawed their way back from oblivion at 24 for 5 in the tenth over, as a batting line-up that had been denuded by injury and international call-up – with Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan all missing from their first-choice XI – instead found itself relying on a makeshift No.6 whose previous highest List A was a paltry 32.Harris arrived in the middle with his side in freefall and Mahmood enjoying the ultimate Master-and-Apprentice learning experience alongside the ageless Lord of Lord’s, Jimmy Anderson, who produced yet another Pavilion End masterclass, and even topped and tailed his day with a pair of direct-hit run-outs.Screaming to the crease with the biomechanical purity of Brett Lee, allied to a splayed-limb final flourish that evoked Waqar Younis in his pomp, Mahmood blew away Sam Robson and Stevie Eskinazi – the latter to a rabbit-in-the-headlines hook that spiralled to square leg – before producing an off-stump snorter that a batsman with the class and form of Ross Taylor could only steer to slip.The game was a goner – and long before half-time this time – so Harris decided to trust both his eye and his partner, and enjoy the rare opportunity to set out his stall for the bulk of a 50-over innings.For a full 30 overs, he thrived – bossing the change bowlers, not least the legspinner Matt Parkinson, on a pitch that Lancashire’s own batsmen had already demonstrated was full of runs. Without ever exerting themselves, Lancashire had eased to a total of 304 for 4, with Keaton Jennings’ 159-run stand with Stephen Croft providing the backbone before Dane Vilas’ 70 not out from 67 had applied some late urgency.However, it seemed for a long while that Lancashire would regret not getting more of a wriggle on against a Middlesex attack lacking the senior statesmen, Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh, and which at times seemed to be relying on a combination of bluff and guts to stay in touch. No-one had epitomised that better than the medium-pacer George Scott, whose early diving catch at midwicket to remove Liam Livingstone was the outstanding fielding moment of the day, and whose looping leg-stump yorker somehow wriggled into Jennings’ timbers to extract him for 96 and complete a notable maiden List A wicket.But Harris simply kept his composure, and once Mahmood and Anderson had been withdrawn after six overs each, he correctly ascertained that by batting through the overs, the runs would have to come on a pitch as true as Lord’s. He brought up a superb century from 90 balls, with nine fours and two sixes in consecutive overs off Parkinson and Graham Onions, and the increasing frequency of Lancashire’s brains trust gatherings was a clear indication of their mounting doubts.But then, in the 41st over, everything changed again. Swinging across the line to Parkinson, Harris let his back foot twitch fatally as his toe strayed out of the crease, and then two balls later, calamity struck, as the new man, Scott, slapped an inside-out drive to mid-off, and sold Simpson a dummy as Anderson’s dead eye pinged down the stumps at the far end.Though Scott made amends as best he could, with Toby Roland-Jones also digging deep in an eighth-wicket stand of 45, Mahmood would not be denied. Back he came at the death, finding his yorkers at will to strangle the scoring rate, before earning a somewhat fortuitous fourth wicket, as Scott was pinned on the knee-roll by an inswinger, albeit outside the line.With the situation getting frantic, Nathan Sowter ran himself out with a suicidal single to the keeper, before Roland-Jones picked out deep midwicket one ball later to end Middlesex’s spirited campaign. It’s been 31 years and counting since they last won a List A title – but there has been much to admire in their white-ball endeavours this year.Lancashire, meanwhile, march on to face Hampshire in the semi-final on Sunday, and with a world-class strike bowler bubbling up in their ranks, they may yet believe that this hard-fought win was but a dress rehearsal for their own overdue return to trophy-winning ways at Lord’s.

Comilla Victorians overcame a stuttering start on the back of Thisara’s 26-ball 74 not out, before Mushfiqur powered the Vikings chase for victory with two balls to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna13-Jan-2019How the game played outChittagong Vikings withstood Thisara Perera’s blistering assault at the end of the first innings to pull off a thrilling chase of 185, on the back of Mushfiqur Rahim’s sensational 75 off 41 balls to win with two balls to spare.A stuttering start to the match by the Victorians cost them in the end as they managed just 33 for 2 in their first six overs, with Evin Lewis struggling to get going before eventually retiring hurt. Thisara gave them hope with his thunderous six-hitting, but he was outshined by Mushfiqur, who paced his innings brilliantly after taking over from the hot start offered by Mohammad Shahzad.Robbie Frylinck, who had been hammered by Thisara for 30 runs off the 19th over of the first innings, redeemed himself by scoring the winning runs. Entering after the fall of Mushfiqur at the end of the 19th over, Frylinck hammered a six over midwicket with two balls to spare to seal the match.Turning points

• Four Comilla batsmen departed in the 12th and 14th overs, bowled by Khaled Ahmed: Imrul Kayes bowled by an inswinger, Evin Lewis retiring hurt after pulling a hamstring, Liam Dawson bowled while backing away to drive, and Shahid Afridi stepping on his stumps while going back to hook, to stunt any momentum.
• Thisara counterattacked with a 20-ball half-century after entering at No. 8, which included 30 runs off the 19th over bowled by Frylinck.
• Shahzad rocketed the Vikings chase by scoring 43 off 21 balls in the Powerplay to take Vikings to 61 for 1.
• Under pressure from a rampaging Mushfiqur, Mohammad Saifuddin came unglued in the 19th over of the Vikings chase by bowling a pair of no balls that made the resulting equation of 13 off eight balls more manageable.

Star of the dayMushfiqur trumped Thisara with his phenomenal anchor role in the successful chase. It seemed Mushfiqur might have slipped on a banana peel when umpire Alex Wharf gave him out lbw on the last ball of the 18th over. But the decision was overturned on review after replays showed Mushfiqur had got some bat on the ball. It allowed him to score another 13 runs in the next over to take Vikings closer to victory.The big missThe Comilla management’s decision to send Thisara in at No. 8. Thisara is only three matches removed from his 140 off 74 balls against New Zealand. He had followed that up with two more blistering innings of 80 off 63 balls and 43 off 24 against the Kiwis prior to landing in Bangladesh. Despite being one of the most in-form batsmen in world cricket, he didn’t enter until the 14th over, missing out on key scoring opportunities as a result.Where the teams standVikings broke a deadlock with Comilla, Rajshahi and Rangpur to move into sole possession of second place with six points, two behind league leaders Dhaka Dynamites. Comilla are on fourth place, equal on points with Rajshahi and Rangpur, but ahead of Rajshahi on the net run rate.

Belligerent batting display ensures visitors make good use of only practice ahead of Tests

Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Feb-2023England XI 465 (Brook 97, Lawrence 85, Root 77, Foakes 57) vs New Zealand XIFor a warm-up fixture that had started to feel like an afterthought before it had even begun, England made the first meaningful day of cricket on this tour count. A score of 465 was blitzed in 69.2 overs against a New Zealand XI, with 55 fours and 17 sixes hammering home a mantra that the hosts are all too familiar with.As New Zealand’s favourite son Brendon McCullum watched those under his care squeeze plenty of juice from their only competitive day’s batting before the first Test begins a week Thursday, it was clear the apparently blasé approach to this fixture did not carry over onto the field. There was no toss, with England given the opportunity to bat the entirety of day one ahead of bowling all of day two. There was no Ben Stokes, either, with the captain opting to go through his own preparations to offer up an extra batting spot and give Ollie Pope another small dose of leadership. Only nine tourists were named in the XI ahead of the 2pm start.Adding to the cushty nature was the presence of Blackcaps captain Tim Southee. A white baseball cap hinted at an incognito look at the opposition, but any whiff of espionage was quashed when Southee caught up with McCullum before sitting down with Stokes and the England staff to chat about anything and everything. Better concealed was the former New Zealand limited-overs batter Anton Devcich in full England training gear. The Hamilton local has been lending a helping hand in training.Though play ended prematurely at 8:23pm with 20.4 overs of the 90 remaining, this had been a worthwhile endeavour. Particularly for Harry Brook, leading the way with a pugnacious 97, followed by 85 for Dan Lawrence, 77 for Joe Root and an accomplished 57 from Ben Foakes.Brook’s knock was the one of note, fast-tracking the innings, notably during a five-over spell before tea in which he and Yorkshire team-mate Root hammered 47. The pair combined for 115 in 16.1 overs for the fourth wicket, following starts from Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Pope that had lifted England to 95 from 17 overs.This was originally pencilled in as a four-day affair, as per the posters dotted throughout the ground, before the reduction to two to focus solely on the pink-ball elements ahead of the day-night opener in Mount Maunganui. That decision was ultimately made in Pakistan, a series also preceded by a reduced two-day scrimmage against England Lions. On that occasion, the decision to trim off a day was taken after conversations among the players at stumps on day two.Joe Root steers into the covers during his innings of 77•Getty Images

The knock-on effect of that discussion has been to give the players more ownership of their individual games, particularly when off-duty. That includes rest. Brook, for example, pulled out of a deal with SA20 franchise Joburg Super Kings to spend a bit more time at home after his player-of-the-series exploits in Pakistan.”I made the decision with England to pull out of the new South Africa competition and that was massive for me,” Brook said. “I was meant to travel on the 7th and I wasn’t quite ready to be completely honest, and I’m glad I pulled out in the end. That month was massive, just to be able to spend some time with the family and relax and not really touch a cricket bat was good. Hopefully I can come back in full flow this year and dominate.”Not that he’ll be lacking for the experience or coin. A £1.3million deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming IPL has only just sunk in. It is the fulfilment of a dream, even if he wasn’t expecting to go for as much. “Every little helps,” he said with a wry smile.This time last year, Brook was a non-playing member of England’s white-ball tour to West Indies. As he says, a fair bit has changed.”Last year was probably the best year of my life, lifestyle and cricket-wise, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Standing here saying I’m a World cup winner is unbelievable and nobody can ever take that away from me. It was a phenomenal year.”Related

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His work on Wednesday afternoon in Hamilton was far more attacking than his three innings across six days in Bloemfontein and Kimberley had been in last week’s ODI series: 97 off 71 versus 86 from 87. All four of his sixes during the ODIs came in the same knock of 80 in the second match. Today, five in a row came in the 36th over after Brook had played out a first-ball dot from legspinner Adithya Ashok. The first of those blows – comfortably the biggest of his nine – landed on Tristram Street which runs along the west of the ground. An attempted attempt for a 10th to take Brook to three figures was snared smartly on the thirf boundary to give Jarrod McKay the second of his 3 for 72. The first – cartwheeling Crawley’s middle stump – was the most spectacular blow landed.”To be honest, the way we’re playing cricket at the minute, it doesn’t really change,” Brook said, when asked about switching continents and ball colours in the space of a week. “I batted a lot slower for the 80 I got in South Africa than I did out there. We’re looking to put pressure on the bowlers, trying to hit them off the spot and keep the pressure on throughout.”He admitted to a degree of pressure in his own head to score briskly, which in turn meant his movements were a bit off by his own exacting standards. Nevertheless, he was impressed with his ball-striking beyond that one devastating over.”I think I’ve got a little bit stronger so I feel like I’m hitting the ball a bit harder,” he said. “Whether that’s just because I’ve been given the freedom to go out and play in a positive way and take the match on or I’ve just got stronger. I just feel like I’m hitting the ball a lot harder than I was before.”It was hard not to sympathise with those chasing leather, particularly given the heavy green tinge to their side. Ashok, for instance, only has one first-class appearance under his belt for Auckland against Central Districts back in October, though he did take 5 for 108 in his only innings of that game. Even with the misfortune of being thrashed around here for 82 from nine overs, he did at least emerge with the dismissal of Root, albeit a fortuitous caught-behind down the leg side off a lackadaisical sweep.By then Root had had his fun, pulling out the now-characteristic lap over third man for the first of two sixes, sending a reminder to the watching Southee after the hard launch of that shot in last summer’s Trent Bridge Test. By the time Lawrence got stuck in, the inferiority of the New Zealand attack was shining through as the sun dimmed.Play was at its most competitive when Kyle Jamieson had the ball in hand, and 15 overs of constant pressure throughout the day will have boosted Southee more than his eventual haul of 3 for 65. Jamieson has not played international cricket since picking up a back injury in that same Test in Nottingham, and has been working up to full fitness with limited-overs cricket.After shaking out a bit of rust on his return to whites, he removed Duckett with a neat delivery that drew the left-hander forward and slightly across for an edge through to Tom Bruce at second slip. A return in the final session exploited a bit of extra juice with the floodlights to square Lawrence up for another catch to Bruce in the cordon, before Will Jacks was turned inside-out to be caught at first slip this time.New Zealand’s coach Gary Stead has not confirmed whether Jamieson will make his comeback in the first or second Test. The decision won’t be made on this outing alone, although given England’s mood, and the absence of Trent Boult, perhaps it should be.

England star’s quarantine period means she will miss London derby against Oval on Sunday

George Dobell23-Jul-2021Tammy Beaumont was a surprise absentee for London Spirit as they started their Hundred campaign with a match against Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston.Beaumont, the England top-order batter who is anticipated to be one of the star players of the competition, had been given permission to attend a family wedding. She will also miss Spirit’s second match, the London Derby against Oval Invincibles, on Sunday.It is understood the wedding of her brother took place on Wednesday but the need to observe Covid protocols has obliged Beaumont to observe a quarantine period before joining up with the rest of the squad.While the timing is unfortunate – this is the first double-header of the tournament – the ECB are keen to ensure the long-term welfare of their top players. Many of them have spent an extended amount of time in ‘bubbles’ over the last year and there is the prospect of plenty more to come.Equally, they are keen to avoid a situation where an entire squad could be ruled out by one positive test and a requirement for others to self-isolate.”Tammy Beaumont was given permission to attend a family wedding and is therefore unavailable for London Spirit’s first two games as she follows the COVID-19 testing protocol before re-entering the team environment,” the ECB said in a statement. “We recognise that safe living asks a lot of our players, and with their wellbeing at the front of our minds it’s right that we support them.”Readers of a certain age may recall Tony Pigott missing his own wedding – well, postponing it – when he was called up for England’s Test team while in New Zealand in early 1984. New Zealand won by an innings and Pigott was never called up again.London Spirit had better news with the availability of Deandra Dottin. The Barbadian only arrived in the UK from Antigua (which is on the Green List) earlier this week and, having undergone two negative PCR tests, was introduced to her team-mates over Zoom on Thursday evening and joined up with them shortly before the game.

Zimbabwe likely to miss T20 World Cup Qualifer after becoming the first Full Member to be hit with suspension

Liam Brickhill18-Jul-2019Zimbabwe have been suspended from the ICC with immediate effect. ICC funding to Zimbabwe Cricket has been frozen, and representative teams from Zimbabwe will not be allowed to participate in any ICC events while under suspension, making Zimbabwe’s participation in the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in August and Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in October highly unlikely.After several rounds of meetings in London this week, the ICC Board unanimously decided that Zimbabwe Cricket was in breach of Article 2.4 (c) and (d) of the ICC Constitution, and that the actions of the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) in suspending the board in June constituted government interference in Zimbabwe Cricket’s affairs.”We do not take the decision to suspend a Member lightly, but we must keep our sport free from political interference,” ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar said. “What has happened in Zimbabwe is a serious breach of the ICC Constitution and we cannot allow it to continue unchecked.”ESPNcricinfo understands that a major part of the ICC’s reasoning in blocking funds to ZC was that it was concerned the money might be diverted to the Zimbabwe government instead of being utilised for the development of cricket and the players.Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis, with inflation figures increasing exponentially and price increases at a 10-year high as government coffers empty. According to an official who attended the meetings this week, since the ICC disburses funds in US dollars to member boards, it feared that the Zimbabwean government would seize the funds and hence the extreme step of barring ZC its funding had to be taken.Zimbabwe’s sanctioning marks the very first time a Full Member has been suspended by the ICC – although Sri Lanka were warned in 2015 by the then ICC chief executive David Richardson that they were at risk of immediate sanction for government interference in their administration. Various Associate Members are currently under suspension, including Nepal. However, Nepal’s national teams have been allowed to continue participating in ICC events during suspension, as had USA during their recent suspension and expulsion period from June 2015 through January 2019.The ICC has directed that the ZC board originally elected in mid-June be reinstated to office within three months, and progress in this respect will be considered again at the next board meeting in October. “The ICC wants cricket to continue in Zimbabwe in accordance with the ICC Constitution,” Manohar added.At least one member of that board will not be taking up a position, however, as Ed Rainsford, the former Zimbabwe fast bowler, released a statement on Thursday through his lawyers indicating that he would decline to accept his nomination.Representatives from both the SRC and Zimbabwe Cricket were heard by the ICC Board this week. Dave Ellman-Brown, the chairman of the SRC-appointed interim committee and a former Zimbabwe Cricket Union chief executive, was in attendance in London, and Tavengwa Mukuhlani took part in the board meeting, seemingly in his official capacity.Mukuhlani, who has played various administrative roles in Zimbabwean cricket at provincial and national level since 2004, had been re-elected as board chairman in those June elections. But that the elections took place at all marked the start of ZC’s conflict with the SRC – officially, at least.Since then, Zimbabwean cricket has been in lockdown – and meltdown. Mukuhlani, acting managing director Givemore Makoni, and the entire board were suspended by the SRC and ZC’s offices were literally locked, with a police detail dispatched to guard the property, “to ensure that no assets or other documents, especially of a financial nature, left the premises,” according to SRC chairman Gerald Mlotshwa.The ICC immediately froze Zimbabwe’s funding upon the suspension of the board in June, and as a result Zimbabwe’s women were unable to take part in a scheduled tour of Ireland. The men’s team, already in the middle of their tour of Netherlands and Ireland, completed their trip and have since returned to Zimbabwe.A member of the touring squad confirmed that players had not been paid match fees or salaries for the tour, and that “everything” has been frozen. ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC will leave the question of player welfare to ZC while they are under suspension.