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Unbeaten half-century from Harry Came sees hosts take charge in pursuit of rare home win

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2024Zak Chappell lifted Derbyshire’s hopes of securing an elusive County Championship victory at Derby by demolishing Glamorgan on the opening day of the Division Two match.The fast bowler took 6 for 47, his best figures for the county, as the visitors were bowled out for 168 with Timm van der Gugten top scoring with an unbeaten 46.Glamorgan were 32 for 6 before Dan Douthwaite and van der Gugten led a mini recovery but Derbyshire closed on 119 for 2 with Harry Came not out 58. It leaves them in a strong position to push for a first Championship victory at the County Ground since they beat Sussex in August 2019.On a morning more in keeping with October, Derbyshire’s decision to bowl first on a grassy pitch paid immediate dividends with three wickets falling in the first five overs.In blustery conditions, Glamorgan’s top order had no answer to Chappell’s relentless accuracy and Luis Reece’s swing as they slumped to 9 for 3. Ben Kellaway’s promotion to opener was short-lived and he followed a pair on his first-class debut last September by edging a ball from Chappell that moved away late to register another duck in his third red-ball innings.In fairness, his more experienced team-mates fared little better with Billy Root bowled by a Reece delivery that kept low before Sam Northeast pushed forward to Chappell and was caught at second slip.Kiran Carlson played across one from Chappell that appeared to be going down before Reece got some late swing to have Colin Ingram caught behind. When Chris Cooke was caught behind down the leg side off one of the few bad balls Chappell bowled, Glamorgan were in disarray and grateful for the rain which resulted in an early lunch.Chappell, who passed 50 wickets in all formats for the season, left the field with outstanding figures of 4 for 9 from 6.4 overs but after the resumption they were dented when Douthwaite hit him for three fours in an over.With van der Gutgen playing solidly, the pair added 55 from 97 balls in relative comfort before Pat Brown removed Douthwaite with a snorter that nipped away late to take off stump.Chappell celebrated his fifth wicket when Mason Crane fenced at one to give Brooke Guest his fourth catch but Fraser Sheat on his debut looked capable until he top edged a pull to midwicket.Ned Leonard marked the first match of his loan spell from Somerset by helping van der Gugten take Glamorgan past 150 and drove Jack Morley’s second ball for six before he tried again next ball and holed out to long-on.Van der Gugten matched Chappell’s discipline with a probing spell but Sheat and Leonard could not exert the same pressure. Reece and Came shared an unbroken treble-century stand against Glamorgan last season but this time they managed only 21 before Reece was defeated by a full-length ball from van der Gugten.Guest played a loose stroke, clipping Leonard to midwicket with the score on 41, and Came should have gone on 28 but Ingram at first slip dropped an edge of Leonard.Came took advantage, seizing on any width to reach an 84-ball fifty which contained 10 fours, and with Wayne Madsen motoring to an unbeaten 41, they added 78 before bad light ended play.

At the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, Nair bowled with an action “markedly different” from the one he used in the BBL match, which incurred an automatic ban for 90 days

Daniel Brettig19-Jan-2018Arjun Nair, the Sydney Thunder spinner, has been suspended for a suspect bowling action after undergoing testing at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.The testing followed a report questioning his action, which was filed by the officiating umpires in the Big Bash League match between the Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes on December 30.At the NCC, 19-year-old Nair was found to have bowled with an action “markedly different” from the one he used in the BBL match, and under Cricket Australia’s regulations such a change incurs an automatic ban from all first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket for 90 days. He remains free to bowl in the Sydney club competition and is still a part of the Thunder squad as a batsman.”Arjun is a talented and popular member of our club,” Thunder general manager Lee Germon said. “We believe he will have a long and successful career with Sydney Thunder and shall support him through this process.”Nair has delivered his overs economically for the Thunder this season, and has been a bowler of some interest in Australian cricket for his ability to turn the ball both ways. He has spoken previously of developing his method by watching footage of the West Indian Sunil Narine on YouTube and trying to follow suit.”I was mainly a batsman who bowled part-time leggies,” Nair said in 2016. “Then I started watching a bit of YouTube, clips of guys bowling carrom balls and stuff. I’d watch clips of past matches, slow it down, watch replays and pick things up here and there.”I started trying that for fun at the backyard with my dad and he couldn’t pick it. At first I couldn’t get many revs on the carrom ball, but over time and getting used to it, I’ve started to get more on it and my accuracy has improved.”I was 15 when I started bowling it, and I was bowling it in matches about four months after that. So it wasn’t too long, but because batting was my main thing, it was just fun for me, I didn’t really think about it too much, there wasn’t pressure on me to quickly work on it. Now my bowling is getting ahead of my batting, so it’s worked both ways.”In addition to his T20 and limited-overs appearances, Nair has played four first-class matches, the most recent being a Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales against Queensland in February 2017.

This ends India’s reign as the top team across all three formats

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2024Australia have replaced India as the No.1-ranked Test team in the ICC rankings. Prior to this, Australia had held the top spot briefly following their win in the World Test Championship final in June.Before the latest update, both Australia and India had a rating of 118 each, but India were ahead on points. However, India lost one rating point after they drew their two-match series in South Africa 1-1, and are now placed second. Australia, meanwhile, beat Pakistan in the first two Tests to stay on 118 rating points.This also means India’s reign as the No. 1 team across all three formats has come to an end. In last September, they had become only the second team in men’s history to occupy the top spot across formats.

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India and Australia also occupy the top two spots in ODIs. India are No. 1 with a rating of 121, Australia just below with 117.In T20Is, India (265) have a lead of nine over the second-placed England (256).When it comes to player rankings, Kane Williamson, Babar Azam and Suryakumar Yadav are the No. 1 batters in Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively.Among bowlers, three spinners – R Ashwin in Tests, Keshav Maharaj in ODIs and Adil Rashid in T20Is – occupy the top spots.

Chasing 249 set by Queensland, Carey hit a composed 111 from 135 balls to control the hosts’ innings and get them home with 14 balls to spare

AAP24-Feb-2024Nicola Carey hit Tasmania to a WNCL three-peat, with an unbeaten century lifting them to a six-wicket win over Queensland in the final.Chasing 249, Carey hit a composed 111 from 135 balls to control the hosts innings and get them home with 14 balls to spare at Blundstone Arena.Perennial battlers in the 50-over competition for their first 10 seasons after joining in 2010-11, Tasmania only won their first title in 2022 before backing it up with two more.And they can thank Carey for the latest one. Not picked for Australia since December 2022, Carey knocked back a national contract last April in a bid to rejuvenate her game with a full winter at home. The decision has paid dividends. The one-time bowling allrounder topped the run-scoring charts in this summer’s WNCL, with Saturday’s runs taking her past 696 for the season. Carey’s runs came at an average of 69.6, a mark only bettered by Meg Lanning this season.On Saturday, Carey barely offered a chance, pulling powerfully and twice reverse-sweeping spinner Charlie Knott to the boundary. She brought up her century off 128 balls, after previously forming a 132-run partnership with Heather Graham (63 off 75) that swung the match.Queensland briefly had a sniff when Graham was bowled trying to reverse sweep Georgia Voll, before Naomi Stalenberg was caught three balls later for a duck. At that point Tasmania needed 67 runs from 68 balls with six wickets in hand, but Carey and Emma Manix-Geeves ensured there would be no late jitters.”I’m relieved, that was stressful,” Carey said. “I felt scratchy but Heather and EMG made my life so much easier. I love batting with Heather, it’s always good fun. She makes it look really easy and I make it look harder.”Earlier, Graham also took 3 for 39 with the ball to stop any hope of Queensland setting an unattainable target. With Queesland 115 for 2 in the 28th over, Graham got a ball to skid on and bowl Lauren Winfield-Hill for 28. She then had Mikayla Hinkley lbw on 33, before bowling a hard-hitting Knott for 73 late in the innings to keep Queensland to 248 for 7.Tasmania’s victory makes them the second state to achieve a hat-trick of titles in the WNCL, with NSW having at one stage won 10 straight between 2005-06 and 2014-15.

These pitches, he said, neither allowed their batters to be in top hitting form, nor taught their spinners how to handle conditions that required them to work harder

Madushka Balasuriya12-Nov-20232:01

Silverwood: ‘We need a proper plan for the next cycle’

As the Sri Lanka squad arrived home after a disappointing 2023 World Cup, consultant coach Mahela Jayawardene attributed much of the team’s struggles the types of tracks being produced for domestic cricket in Sri Lanka. These pitches, he said, neither allowed their batters to be in top hitting form heading into the World Cup on flatter decks in India, nor taught their spinners how to handle conditions that required them to work harder for their wickets.Sri Lanka finished ninth on the points table, meaning they do not qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. In the five instances where they batted first, they were able to breach the 280-run mark only once, against Pakistan.”We knew that when we went to India, looking at the wickets, that we had to play at a very high tempo, which we discussed with the batters,” Jayawardene said. “It was something that they were not used to, particularly leading up to the World Cup did not allow us to do that – and most of the surfaces that we play in Sri Lanka.Related

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“In domestic cricket we play on pretty slowish wickets so the batters aren’t going to trust their shot selection on good wickets, because they’re not used to that, against high quality bowling.”Of the batters, Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama were regular contributors in the top order, while the bowling unit was carried by the outstanding Dilshan Madushanka. After his 21 wickets, the next highest for Sri Lanka was Kasun Rajitha with eight, while Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana had six apiece.Theekshana’s struggles in particular hurt Sri Lanka, however support in terms of other spin options was sorely lacking. Jayawardene once more lay the blame on the pitches being offered domestically, which traditionally are known to suit spin bowling – but crucially does not necessitate the imparting of extra revolutions on the ball, something spinners who were successful at the World Cup, such as Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja, have been known to do.”When we play in Sri Lanka, the number of good wickets we play on is very low. So on those wickets it’s not really necessary for our spinners to bowl with any sort of overspin – which is what is needed to succeed on wickets like those in India. That’s where we see a big difference in our spinners.”If you take someone like Rangana Herath, he played years in England, so he had that skill. What we need to see is how we get our spinners to acquire those skills. At the moment, if you even take a player from the Under-19s they will first play in domestic cricket. But to get them to the right level, we need them to play on good wickets.”We’ve run the numbers in the high performance centre, and at the moment 66% of the deliveries bowled in domestic cricket are by spinners. We even saw a match last week where the whole innings was bowled by spinners. These the major problems we have to address. It’s only if we fix these problems that we can take Sri Lankan cricket to where it needs to be even in the next 10 years.”Jayawardene was speaking during an hour and thirty-minute long post-mortem, during which Sri Lanka’s returning players and staff were grilled by the country’s media on topics ranging from team changes and decisions made at the toss to more wide-spanning inquests regarding Sri Lanka’s standing in the broader cricketing landscape and the way forward for a side seemingly lacking in direction.The entire World Cup squad was present at the briefing, with only Angelo Mathews absent, while head coach Chris Silverwood and Jayawardene represented the coaching staff. It was Jayawardene though that took the lead in navigating a sometimes hostile press. He urged critics to show “trust and be patient” in a “skilful group”.Maheesh Theekshana had a disappointing 2023 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

“It’s a process that we have to trust and be patient with. This is a skilful group,” Jayawardene said. “The expectations I understand. I think the fans, they all know that when we go for a World Cup, we’re going to do well, perform well. But that expectation has to be realistic, along with the plans.”People jumping and shouting and screaming have to realise what one-day cricket is, and how we’re going to compete going forward. The plans are being set, we just need to be patient and work harder in areas where we need to improve.”More immediately however, Jayawardene drew attention to the team’s fielding and fitness levels. Sri Lanka were the worst fielding side in the tournament in terms of the percentage of catches dropped, while in terms of fitness – aside from injuries to Dasun Shanaka, Matheesha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara – Jayawardene said that fatigue played a role in some of the poor performances towards the end of the tournament.”We dropped 16 catches which is the highest in the competition. When you’re going with a depleted bowling unit you can’t afford such mistakes. They work really hard in their fielding practices, but on the field the anticipation and execution we do lack. That comes with experience.”But for me the biggest thing is the fitness. What I noticed over the course of the tournament, because of our fitness levels the fatigue got to us as the tournament progressed, and because of that our performances died down. From the first game to the last game, we saw guys making a lot more mistakes. That happens with mental and physical fatigue. The execution and concentration lapse is because of that.”Looking ahead, the path forward is not without substantial obstacles. Much like the World Cup cycle that preceded it, the one leading up to the 2027 tournament will have two T20 World Cups in between. Further, with Sri Lanka having failed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy, they will have considerably less ODI cricket under their belt heading into the next ODI World Cup – which could potentially leave the ODI side undercooked once more in four years time.”There’s a big difference between how T20 cricket and one-day cricket is played,” Jayawardene said. “We need to see how we can fit in more one-day games in to the next FTP [future tours programme]. We also need to increase the number of one-day games being played domestically.”Once we have a debrief of this World Cup, we will start planning for the next year and the two years after that and so on, and see what the best plan is moving forward. During this planning we must not only look at the T20 and one-day sides, but also the Test side – who were very close last time around of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.”Despite the team’s poor recent results, Jayawardene was eager to stress patience with the current set of players, highlighting the primarily the need to create an identifiable culture within the team.”We’ve come this way with the talent of our players, the issue is the consistency of them utilising that talent. The players know this as well. They all have a responsibility to build a culture within the team. Each player has that responsibility.”They have to do it on their own though, it’s not someone can just come and instil. The biggest challenge is building that culture along while winning. My biggest belief is that culture precedes strategy. If that culture is there then the team strategy will be easy to execute. If we can do that then this team will go a long way.”

Romario Shepherd strikes key blows to seal nervous DLS-adjusted chase

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Dec-2023West Indies 191 for 6 (Carty 50, Jacks 3-22) beat England 206 for 9 (Duckett 71, Forde 3-29, Joseph 3-61) by four wickets (DLS method)West Indies secured a long-awaited 2-1 series win over England with victory by four wickets in the third ODI in BarbadosNot since 2007 had they enjoyed a 50-over success against England, who themselves craved a positive result here to move on from their abject title defence at the World Cup. West Indies, who failed to make it to India after falling in the qualifier, also registered their first bilateral win against a Full Member nation in more than two-and-a-half years.It was a largely torturous affair after rain that delayed the start by two hours and then interrupted England’s innings, which began as a 43-over affair before morphing into a 40-over one. The tourists scraped 206 for 9 before another delay, which left West Indies needing 188 from 34 overs, a target they achieved with 14 balls to spare.Debutant Matthew Forde set things in motion in front of his home crowd, taking 3 for 29 to reduce England to 49 for 5 inside 10 overs. Keacy Carty then showed his class with a second career half-century, after making 16 and a duck in his first two knocks of the series, before Romario Shepherd repeated his 28-ball cameo from Antigua, scoring an unbeaten 41 this time to take them over the line.For England and Jos Buttler, who lost the toss and returned a first-ball duck, it was another blow to wear in what has been a harrowing winter for the ODI set-up. That being said, they were favourites on the home stretch, thanks to a fine spell of 3 for 22 from Will Jacks. The Surrey opener helped level the series with 73 in the second ODI and looked to be turning things with his offspin. Having not been utilised in the field during the first match, he was able to return career-best List A figures.After sharing the honours in the two opening exchanges in Antigua, this showdown in Barbados was supposed to provide an opportunity for both teams to secure a nourishing series win.Having dealt with unchanged line-ups for the first two ODIs, a single tweak was made to each XI. England were pushed into action with illness ruling out Brydon Carse, giving his Durham team-mate Matthew Potts a fourth ODI cap. West Indies, however, opted for a tactical shift in rotating out Oshane Thomas for Forde.The 21-year-old needed just 25 balls to pick up his first three wickets, utilising the moisture in the air and extra life in the pitch to give himself a day to remember. Playing in just his 13th List A match, Forde was entrusted to open the bowling and repaid Shai Hope’s faith by prising out Phil Salt at the end of the first over for his maiden dismissal.Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone put on an 88-run stand•Getty Images

Salt was typically bullish, flaying the second delivery over point for four, but botched a drive to Alzarri Joseph at mid-off whose catch passed the sniff test after the umpires sent it upstairs to check it was clean. Bounce then did for Zak Crawley, attempting to leave outside off stump only for the ball to lift and kiss the glove for a dolly to Alick Athanaze at second slip.The best of the opening trio was the removal of Jacks. Forde angled one into the right-hander which held its line enough on pitching to skim Jacks’ edge through to Hope, making it 45 for 3 at the start of the ninth over – the last of the first powerplay with the revised playing conditions.Things went from bad to comical for England in the next over. Joseph was brought into the attack for the 10th and was loose enough to field his second delivery into the leg side before throwing down the non-striker’s end stumps after Harry Brook had tipped and run for an ambitious single. Two balls later, Buttler was walking off for a golden duck having top-edged a well-directed short ball from Joseph to Gudakesh Motie down at fine leg.And so came an all-too-familiar sense of dread from an English perspective. As impressively as Forde had begun, the situation was reminiscent of the various moments of disarray England had found themselves in during the 2023 World Cup, with a few new faces.It was one of those new faces in Ben Duckett who set about the rebuild. Having arrived on the scene in the third over – England were only two down by then – he was an engaging presence at the crease even amid the decline at the other end.Both he and Liam Livingstone set about ticking over, safe in the knowledge that Forde’s six overs meant they would not be seeing him for a while. They knocked about spinners Motie and Yannic Cariah with ease – the latter guided through point for the single to take Duckett to his fourth ODI score of 50 or more, from 56 deliveries.The the pair exchanged sixes to score 17 from the 22nd over, delivered by Joseph. Duckett’s, the first of the innings, came over fine leg before Livingstone heaved over midwicket. The tide seemed to be turning, particularly when Livingstone was given a life on 31 when Carty shelled a straightforward high catch out at deep square leg after an unnecessary hack across the line.That should have been a learning experience for the Lancashire allrounder. But he fell on 45 to an even worse shot, clothing to mid-on when trying to clear the straight boundary. A dismissal made all the worse coming 17 balls after Duckett had unwittingly prodded to midwicket to end his impressive resistance, and the sixth-wicket stand on 88.Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed took the score to 161 for 7 after 33 overs before more rain lopped off three further overs, putting the onus on the tail to pitch in. Joseph profited, Rehan scuffing a rising delivery through to Hope, then Curran skewing a shorter, slower delivery out to Motie at deep third. But Atkinson and Potts were able to find 35 unbeaten runs between them to take England to 206. They would have had to settle for 190 had Carty not dropped his second catch of the innings when Potts chipped to him at cover.Keacy Carty acknowledges his half-century•AFP/Getty Images

Atkinson carried that responsibility over the elongated innings break and into his work with the ball, striking with his second delivery as Brandon King crunched a drive straight to Jacks at cover. Athanaze and Carty then set about a run-a-ball stand of 76 which seemed to take the sting out of the chase.Athanaze was back in the groove that allowed him to strum a classy 66 in the first ODI, driving everything overpitched, occasionally dealing with flourishes to pick boundaries through the leg side. When a googly from Rehan passed his edge and clipped off stump through to Buttler’s gloves without dislodging a bail, you wondered if the left-hander would see things through to the end.Alas, he would be yorked by Atkinson for 44, having added just one more run, and that triggered a four-wicket collapse for just 44. Hope, the only centurion of the series after his first ODI heroics, was seen off for 15 after turning Rehan to Potts at midwicket. Shimron Hetmyer cut straight to point off Jacks, who then had Sherfane Rutherford caught at long-on.As the required rate ticked above six-an-over, the onus was on the new batter, Shepherd. Initially, his role was to play second fiddle to Carty, who brought up a half-century from 56 deliveries. Two balls later, Carty danced down and bunted a return catch to Jacks for his third wicket, shifting the focus squarely on Shepherd. And he delivered.His first six was a towering effort off Rehan that just cleared Crawley at long-on. Numbers two and three came in successive deliveries at the start of Atkinson’s sixth over – the most expensive of the match at 24 – both off full tosses. Forde chipped in with a flick around the corner for his first boundary, before Shepherd closed it out with a powerful straight strike all along the floor to leave just nine needed from the final 18 deliveries.With the help of five wides from Livingstone, they would come in the next four legal deliveries, with Shepherd securing the moment of glory with a fine sweep for his sixth and final boundary.

Abigail Freeborn’s unbeaten 107 overshadowed in losing cause as Sunrisers secure back-to-back wins

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2023Grace Scrivens, Amara Carr and Mady Villiers all hit half-centuries as Sunrisers stunned Central Sparks to register back-to-back wins in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the first time.Teenager Scrivens, leading the side in place of the injured Dane van Niekerk, scored a gritty 51 and Carr struck 58 before Villiers’ explosive knock of 56 from 46 balls all but wrapped up a four-wicket victory at Chelmsford.Their efforts overshadowed a magnificent maiden hundred by Abigail Freeborn, who batted through all but nine deliveries of Sparks’ innings for an unbeaten 107 from 140 that enabled her side to post 227 for 8.But it was not enough for the visitors, who slip out of the play-off places after Sunrisers – having failed to win a single game in the tournament’s first two editions – chased down the target with five overs to spare.Sparks opted to bat after winning the toss, yet their start was less than ideal as Eva Gray opened up with a maiden and Kate Coppack bowled Bethan Ellis off her pads without a run on the board.Freeborn was soon into her stride, pummelling Coppack’s half-volley to the cover fence and overtaking partner Eve Jones as she clipped Amu Surenkumar for another boundary to raise the visitors’ 50 in the 10th over.Smart running helped to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but spin duo Scrivens and Jodi Grewcock (2 for 36) gained some degree of control and it was the latter who broke the partnership of 99. The legspinner tempted Jones down the track for Carr to take off the bails and that stifled the scoring rate, with shrewd bowling changes earning Sunrisers further success as Gray and Jo Gardner (2 for 21) collected wickets in the space of five deliveries.With Katie George drilling Grewcock straight to cover and Gardner’s flight deceiving Charis Pavely, Sparks slumped to 167 for 6 but Emily Arlott’s pugnacious 22 helped them clamber above 200.Although Freeborn advanced to a deserved century, Scrivens marshalled her attack cleverly and a death-overs charge never materialised, ensuring Sunrisers would chase just above four-and-a-half per over.However, accurate powerplay bowling from Arlott (2 for 33) and Grace Potts meant the home side initially struggled to gain traction, with the ball crossing the rope just once before Arlott had Ariana Dowse taken at gully in the eighth over.Grewcock, having just carved off-spinner Georgia Davis to the point boundary, departed lbw later in the over, but Carr and Scrivens dug in to nudge Sunrisers towards the target with a resolute partnership of 80.The skipper progressed to her third half-century of the tournament before falling leg before to Hannah Baker and, despite that setback, Carr followed suit by clouting an Ellis full toss to the midwicket fence.Villiers eagerly took up the baton after Scrivens’ departure, dispatching Davis (2 for 43) for successive boundaries and dominating the strike, with a single Baker over disappearing for 15 before another leg-side four off Arlott took her to a 40-ball half-century.Sparks sensed a glimmer of hope when they prised out Carr and Villiers in successive overs with 25 still required, but Gardner and Surenkumar saw their side across the line.

The third day ended with England only 64 behind Pakistan’s 556 with seven first-innings wickets in hand

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Oct-2024Stumps Responding to Pakistan’s mammoth first-innings score of 556 after the best part of two days in the dirt was always going to require something special from England. Not only did they respond emphatically to end day three of this first Test on 492 for 3, trailing by just 64, but they did so in historic fashion.Joe Root became England’s leading Test run-scorer, passing Sir Alastair Cook’s record of 12,473 runs on his way to a 35th Test hundred. It was typical Root, unassuming and busy with just 12 fours, set against Harry Brook’s boisterous 141* from 173 deliveries, picking up where he left off from a Player-of-the-Series performance on the 2022 tour of Pakistan, with his fourth century against them in as many matches.As it happens, this is Root’s first on these shores. And it has come after spending all day at the crease – he was the last England batter to achieve that feat, against Sri Lanka in Galle three years ago – meaning he has been absent for just eight deliveries of the 250 overs of this match so far.Related

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No wonder he struggled with cramps for the last half of the day. Having come to the crease on Tuesday following the dismissal of stand-in skipper Ollie Pope with just four on the board, resuming on Wednesday with England 96 for 1, he will mark his guard with 176 against his name on Thursday morning with his side holding all the aces.The Yorkshire duo of Root and Brook combined for 243 (and counting), a third successive century stand in the innings after Zak Crawley’s 78 and Ben Duckett’s 84 provided the guts for 109- and 136-run stands for the second and third wickets, respectively.As it has been for most of the last 12 years in English cricket, Root was the glue throughout. Starting day three with 32 to his name, he made the final ascent to the top of the England run-scorers’ pile 15 minutes before lunch when, on 67, he leaned into another compact drive for four to march along to 12,473 career runs, overtaking Cook as England’s most prolific Test batter, and the fifth overall, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid.Root was always going to mark the occasion with three figures, especially on a pitch that remains interminably dull, with just two wickets falling all day, and none in the final session. He moved to a crisp 100 with a reverse sweep off his 167th ball for a fifth century in 2024. It was the third time he has struck as many in a calendar year, after 2021 and 2022. Only Ricky Ponting (four) and Matthew Hayden (four) scored five or more Test centuries in more calendar years.Aamer Jamal was by far the most impressive of Pakistan’s bowlers on the day•Getty Images

Root was finding matters so easy that he even took to batting left-handed against legspinner Abrar Ahmed, who was hiding the ball outside leg stump as much to slow the game down as to protect himself. Two years after marking his Test debut with 11 wickets against England at this very ground, he currently nurses grim figures of 0 for 174 from 35 overs. That Root only struck one of his fours off Abrar – a full toss dispatched through midwicket off the opening ball of the 92nd over of the innings – spoke to the punishment meted out by Crawley, Duckett and, latterly, Brook.Indeed Crawley and Duckett should have got three figures themselves. But within the first hour of play, Crawley flicked uppishly across a full-length delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi and picked out Aamer Jamal at midwicket. Jamal’s second catch of the innings wasn’t a patch on the screamer with which he had dismissed Pope on the second evening, however. The ball looped straight to him, and he all but dropped it before scooping it up at the second attempt.Either way, Crawley was gone for his sixth score between 60 and 80 this year. Duckett strode in at No. 4 and motored on, showing no ill-effects from a thumb injury that prevented him from opening the batting. He had one life on 37, when Naseem Shah found his outside edge only for the ball to bisect keeper and a wide first slip. But with the ball reversing enough for Jamal to trap the left-hand batter on the crease from around the wicket, Duckett was dismissed for the fourth time between 70 and 90 since his third Test hundred back in February, against India in Rajkot.Brook, however, naturally assumed the mantle of aggressor immediately upon his arrival with the score 249 for 3. It was on the previous Pakistan tour that Brook announced himself to the world with 468 runs at 93.60, with centuries in all three Tests. A guided four to third from his second delivery showed he was back to inflict more upon the hosts two years on.Harry Brook continued his love affair with the Pakistan bowlers•Getty Images

Despite a hint of reverse swing on offer – first with Jamal, then Afridi – Brook’s speed out of the blocks could not be tempered. Afridi felt the full force of that when a short delivery was smashed back down the ground like a tennis forehand for the first of consecutive boundaries. Brook made it to his half-century in 49 deliveries, his fifth 50-plus score in six innings against Pakistan.Brook’s next fifty took a little longer – 69 balls – in part because the field was spread, the bowling lines negative, and his own battles with cramp, which meant neither he nor Root could push for singles or fully commit to attacking strokes that required extra stretching. But having consumed plenty of gels and isotonic drinks, he struck Abrar down the ground in the 83rd over for the first six of the innings, which took him to 98. A misfield for two cut to point brought up his sixth career century.He could have been on his way back on 75 when a block off the impressive Jamal – comfortably the pick of the bowlers – ricocheted off his grille and rolled on to his stumps without dislodging the bails. Root, similarly, could have been seen off on 168 had umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised the finger following a strong lbw shout from Naseem, after rare seam movement pinned the batter in front with the second new ball. Shan Masood opted to use Pakistan’s last review to double-check, which was retained after DRS came back with an umpire’s call on the impact into leg stump.It summed up a torturous time for Pakistan, who conceded 4.83 an over across today’s 82 overs, watching on powerlessly as their opening effort was made to feel under par. With a night’s rest for Root and Brook, and Jamie Smith waiting in the wings, a first innings lead of note feels inevitable.

Former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts has questioned the fitness of the current pace attack on the eve of the first Test against England at Edgbaston

Melinda Farrell17-Aug-2017Former West Indies fast bowler Andy Roberts has questioned the fitness of the current pace attack on the eve of the first Test against England at Edgbaston.Roberts was speaking in Birmingham at Wicketz, a children’s clinic hosted by the Lord’s Taverners, ahead of the day-night Test alongside fellow West Indies greats Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson. While all four former players acknowledged there were significant weaknesses in the side, Roberts handed out the harshest assessment of bowlers.”To be honest I don’t know what is the strength of West Indies cricket today because we don’t bat too well and at times it depends on the fitness of the fast bowlers,” Roberts told ESPNcricinfo. “It seems as though some of them are prone to breaking down.”I’m hoping that they are all at full strength and that they’ll all be able to last the full five days. If they do they may have a chance but you see it’s very difficult if you do go in with four bowlers and you have problems with one because the overall team is not as strong as I would like to see.”Roberts was critical of the amount of time players spend in the gym and suggested they should spend more time in the nets. But he singled out 20-year-old Alzarri Joseph as the bowler who could thrive in English conditions.”He’s young, I think he’s probably the fittest of the lot in terms of not breaking down and he also swings the ball a bit which is not common,” Roberts said. “Jason Holder, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel are more seamers. They seem to hit the deck a lot harder and try to get legcutters and offcutters whereas Alzarri Joseph, especially early in the innings, will try to swing the ball and that’s very important here in England. So I won’t be surprised early on, if he takes the new ball, if he takes one or two early wickets.”In contrast, former West Indies bowling coach Ambrose felt the current crop of bowlers were holding their own in Tests, but he called on the batsmen to push harder for competitive – and defendable – totals.”I’m not saying they don’t have batsmen who can score runs, they do,” Ambrose said. “But you can’t keep scoring 180, 200, 220 in Test cricket and expect to win too many games.”One of the batsman who has impressed Richardson, the former team manager, is Shai Hope. Although Hope averages just 19.57 in ten Tests to date, Richardson believes his temperament marks him out as a batsman who can develop into a mature player.”His attitude towards batting, towards the game, he’s always willing to learn,” Richardson said. “He listens and you can see he would make changes to his game.”If he got out a particular way he would go into the nets and try to work on his weaknesses and I like that about him. He’s always willing to learn and always asking questions, he’s got a desire to work hard and to achieve great things.”Richards, perhaps typically, called on the West Indies batsmen to show no fear and, while acknowledging England are heavy favourites going into the series, believed the pink ball could be something of a leveler in the opening match.”England is one of the best places for you to play the game itself and one’s got to look at it that way,” Richards said. “All the players from the West Indies who have toured this part of the world would have gone back from England being a much better player. I’m hoping the guys do understand that, the batters themselves understand that.”There are no demons playing in this country. If you can play and you back yourself enough, you’re going to have success and that’s what it’s all about. Knowing your requirements, knowing your limits, the things you can get done and the things that you cannot get done.”Don’t worry about them talking about the seam and the swing and all that sort of stuff, it can be countered. If you’re good enough.”

Mehidy Hasan Miraz takes over as captain, while Shahadat Hossain has been named Shanto’s replacement

Mohammad Isam10-Nov-2024 • Updated on 12-Nov-2024Najmul Hossain Shanto* and Mushfiqur Rahim have both been ruled out of Bangladesh’s upcoming two-Test series in the West Indies. While Mushfiqur has a finger injury, Shanto has a groin strain. The absence of Mushfiqur means Bangladesh will go into a Test series for the first time in 16 years without any of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal or him.Mushfiqur, a veteran of 94 Tests, has also been suffering from a shoulder injury since the Pakistan Test series in August. He suffered the finger injury during the first ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah last week.Shanto, who will also miss the third and final ODI against Afghanistan in Sharjah on Monday, sustained the injury during the second ODI, a BCB statement said. He left the field, and scans later confirmed the nature of the injury.”We have received the team physio’s report and the scan report, which has confirmed a Grade II strain on his left groin,” BCB senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said in a statement. “This will require a period of rest and rehabilitation. We will reassess his condition after two weeks. He will return home from the UAE to continue his rehab.”Mehidy Hasan Miraz will captain the side in Shanto’s absence.Shahadat Hossain, the 22-year-old right-hand top-order batter, has been named Shanto’s replacement.He has played four Tests after debuting against New Zealand last year, and has an average of 14.75 with a highest score of 31. He was dropped for the home Tests against South Africa in October, and averages 26.33 in four matches in the National Cricket League, including a century in his last game. Possible alternatives could have been Amite Hasan, who has 466 runs at an average of 77.66 in the NCL, and Anamul Haque and Amit Majumder, who have also crossed the 400-run mark in the competition.Mushfiqur Rahim had hurt his shoulder during the Test series against Pakistan in August•AFP/Getty Images

Bangladesh have also left out Khaled Ahmed and Nayeem Hasan, but will welcome Litton Das back in the fold after the wicketkeeper-batter missed the second Test against South Africa in Chattogram, and the three ODIs against Afghanistan due to fever.The touring party has a strong pace attack, including Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana. Uncapped left-arm spinner Hasan Murad has been added to the spin department that includes vice-captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam.Bangladesh have kept faith in their regular top-order batters Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan. Shanto and Mominul Haque will bat at No. 3 and 4 respectively. Mushfiqur’s role could fall on Jaker Ali or Mahidul Islam Ankon, with Litton back with the gloves, and likely to bat at No. 7.Bangladesh will start the tour with a four-day warm-up game at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, followed by the first Test in Antigua from November 22. The second Test is in Jamaica, starting November 30. The visitors will then play three ODIs and as many T20Is, but their white-ball squad hasn’t been announced yet.Bangladesh Test squad: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Litton Das (wk), Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Hasan Murad