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Notts Outlaws pulled in their third 10,000+ crowd at Trent Bridge but they have yet to reward them with a victory as North Group becomes ever more unpredictable

ECB Reporters Network20-Jul-2018
ScorecardBen Raine continued to make his mark in this season’s Vitality Blast competition with a stunning innings to help Leicestershire Foxes take the bragging rights in the East Midlands derby, with a 17-run victory over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.Raine scored 83 as the Foxes totalled 193 for 6, scoring his runs from only 43 balls, with six fours and five sixes. In three away matches in this season’s competition the 26-year old has now plundered 219 runs from only 96 balls.Raine said: “I’ve done a lot of hard work. I’ve always backed myself to play an innings like that, I’ve just not quite worked out how to go about it mentally and how to manage myself. I’ve never once doubted I could do this – never.””I showed some frustration when I got out because Notts had really clawed it back. I thought we were a little bit under par. I was worried about that and wanted to be in for the last over to try and get us past 200.”Notts appeared to be romping towards victory in the early stages of their reply, as Riki Wessels rattled his way to a 22-ball half century, a landmark reached with back-to-back sixes off Zak Chappell.Wessels scored 58 but then fell to man-of-the-match Raine, who also held a steepling catch to remove Samit Patel. The defending champions could only muster 176 for 9, with Mohammad Abbas taking career-best figures of 3 for 32.At the start of the evening the Foxes, invited to bat first, lost both openers inside the Powerplay overs; Neil Dexter checked a drive off Harry Gurney to cover for 30 and Cameron Delport, who scored a century in this fixture last season, chopped on for 21.Mark Cosgrove, who earlier in the day extended his Leicestershire contract until the end of the 2020 campaign, was bowled in Steven Mullaney’s first over, leaving the visitors on 89 for 3 at the halfway stage.Raine, a week after registering his maiden century in the format, launched an assault on the Outlaws’ attack from the moment he arrived in the middle. He sped to his 50 from only 28 balls, reaching the milestone with a huge pulled six off Dan Christian, his fourth.The left-hander added 57 in just six overs with Colin Ackermann, the Foxes’ skipper, who made 29 before falling to Ish Sodhi.
In the penultimate over Ball secured his third wicket when he bowled Raine to bring an excellent innings to an end.Notts recovered from the early loss of Will Fraine thanks to Wessels, who scored 50 of the first 54 runs. Tom Moores made 23 from only 12 deliveries, alongside him, but both players fell within the space of nine deliveries to leave Notts only narrowly ahead after nine overs.
Abbas swung the contest decisively towards the former three-time winners, with the wickets of Christian and Ball in the 13th over and the Foxes could relax completely once the same bowler removed Billy Root for 23.Fittingly, the last blow belonged to Raine, who finished with 2 for 47 after bowling Sodhi in the final over.Jake Ball, who took three wickets fcoir Notts, said: “In both games we’ve lost this week we’ve got into good positions and just not quite capitalised on a good start in the first six. Today we were 77 for 1 needing just over eight an over and nine times out of 10 we’d look to walk that.”The outcome leaves both sides with identical records of three wins and three losses in the ultra-competitive North Group, with neither having yet won a home match.Despite the disappointing on-field result, the attendance of 13,657 was Trent Bridge’s consecutive third gate over 10,000 this season.

This will be the third full Test series Mathews has missed since October last year, and his unavailability will leave Sri Lanka with decisions on the make-up of their top order

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Oct-2017Angelo Mathews has been ruled out of the second Test against Pakistan, although it was earlier hoped he would have sufficiently from a calf injury to join the team in Dubai. Team management has confirmed his unavailability.Mathews’ absence will leave Sri Lanka with decisions on the make-up of their top order. With Lahiru Thirimanne and Kaushal Silva having had modest outings in the Abu Dhabi Test, the chances of either Roshen Silva or Sadeera Samarawickrama making a debut, have risen.This would be the third full Test series Mathews has missed in the past year. Last October, multiple leg injuries had kept him out of the Zimbabwe tour, before a hamstring tear sustained in January then ruled him out of the Bangladesh Tests at home.Sri Lanka are 1-0 up in the two-match series, but are now preparing for their first ever day-night Test. The match begins on Friday.

India’s margin of victory was the biggest in a T20I involving two Full-Member teams

Sidharth Monga01-Feb-2023This is the year of Shubman Gill. We are just living in it. To add to his three ODI centuries in the first month of the year, he started the second by becoming the fifth Indian to have scored hundreds in all three international formats. India played the near-perfect innings around Gill at a two-runs-a-ball 126, and followed it up with the near-perfect bowling performance to bowl New Zealand out for 66.India’s margin of victory – 168 runs – was the highest in any T20I involving two Full-Member teams.It was no accident that India found themselves bowling when the ball moved around. Hardik Pandya used his experience of the IPL final, even though his side had won it chasing, to decide to bat first because the ball moved around more in the night in that match. It proved to be the perfect call as India got to make the most of the batting conditions before getting just enough help in the night to reduce New Zealand to 7 for 4 and 21 for 5.The come-from-behind series win meant India maintained their unbeaten series record in all formats at home since March 2019.

The powerplay symphony

New Zealand got immediate results with the decision of opening the bowling with Michael Bracewell through the wicket of Ishan Kishan, but that was to be the last bit of joy for them. It brought together Gill and Rahul Tripathi, one batter in great touch, the other making the most of his intent. If Tripathi ramped Lockie Ferguson over short fine, Gill caressed him through the covers. If Gill took apart Blair Tickner with what seemed like paper cuts in the fifth over, Tripathi bludgeoned and ramped Ferguson in the sixth. India were 58 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, with Gill 34 off 20 and Tripathi 20 off 13.

Watch replay in the UK

You can watch the full replay of the third T20I between India and New Zealand on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

Tripathi races away

Gill played a superb innings, but part of the credit for India’s display belongs to Tripathi too. He, and in part Suryakumar Yadav, allowed Gill to set himself up for a final assault and score just 16 off the first 15 balls he faced after the powerplay to get to a maiden T20I fifty.While Gill took his time in the middle overs, Tripathi, the intent monster, played around with bowling that wasn’t really bad. He scored 24 off the nine balls he faced in the middle overs, which is exactly his role: score quick in the powerplay, look to score quicker outside of it without worrying about his wicket.Suryakumar managed 24 off 13 including a slog-swept six off Ish Sodhi to leave India at 125 for 3 in the 13th over.Rahul Tripathi’s all-out intent allowed Gill to take his time in the middle overs•Associated Press

The Gill show

Pandya scored 30 off 17, but never has someone scoring 30 off 17 looked more like a bystander than he did at the end of this innings. Ferguson came back at the fall of Suryakumar’s wicket, and did the right thing by bowling short to try to bring the bigger square boundaries into play. The boundaries were not big enough. Gill pulled him for a six and a four in the 14th over.Debutant Ben Lister, who had bowled well till then, bowled an ordinary 16th over, and Gill played the pick-up and the whip for sixes off length balls. Tickner’s legcutters didn’t grip either and he got both driven and pulled for sixes. Ferguson tried to go fuller only to be driven over wide mid-off to take Gill to his hundred, a 50-to-100 progression in just 19 balls.In the 19th, Gill managed to hit two excellent deliveries for fours. Lister nailed the yorker but he steered it past short third, and then when he missed his length by six inches, Gill drove it all along the ground, straight of long-on. If this was happening to good balls, the juicy full toss stood no chance, disappearing over wide long-on.Daryl Mitchell bowled an excellent last over to concede just six – it was one of only three overs in the innings without a boundary. Gill and Pandya added 103 in just 40 balls. New Zealand now needed all the flatness of the pitch and the dew if they were to challenge the total.

Fast bowlers kill the chase

Pandya the bowler immediately vindicated Pandya the captain when he had Finn Allen caught at slip in the first over. Arshdeep Singh went one better in the second over, taking out Devon Conway and Mark Chapman. The length ball that seamed to take the edge of Chapman wouldn’t have been out of place in a Test match.Pandya repeated the Allen dismissal with Glenn Phillips: short of a length, extra bounce, slight movement, an identical overhead catch for the leaping Suryakumar at slip. When Umran Malik beat a hoick from Bracewell in the fifth over, New Zealand still needed 214 with only half their wickets in hand.Mitchell and Mitchell Santner then added 32 for the sixth wicket, but once Santner fell, the end came swiftly.

CWI president Ricky Skerritt also put out a statement calling the allegations “a malicious attack on the credibility of the West Indies Captain”

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2022West Indies coach Phil Simmons and Cricket West Indies have both rubbished reports of Odean Smith being ‘victimised’, after the allrounder was benched in favour of Rovman Powell for the third T20I against England.While Simmons said that those on the outside who wanted “preach about victimisation” needed “to look within themselves”, CWI president Ricky Skerritt put out a statement calling the allegations “a malicious attack on the credibility of the West Indies Captain, designed to sow division within our team”.The statements came in response to a voice note that was sent to mediapersons after the third ODI. While it’s not yet clear who sent the voice note, the reported that it was “a regional cricket commentator” and that it said the West Indies Players’ Association was “very upset over the treatment of Smith” while alleging that a high-level meeting was planned at CWI to clear issues within the team.Simmons dismissed the allegation outright in a press conference on Friday, January 28, the day after West Indies won the third T20I to take a 2-1 lead in the series.”For me, that can’t happen when I’m here,” Simmons said. “You don’t victimise anyone. You don’t try to pull down anyone. You try to make players a better person first of all, and a better cricketer afterwards. In my coaching career and even in my playing career, you look to help the man next to you. And that’s one thing I’ve been preaching in this team, and in all the teams that I’ve dealt with. So, there is no such thing as victimisation here and there will be none as long as I’m around.”‘We needed a batsman to come in yesterday, and we made that choice’ – Phil Simmons•ICC via Getty

Smith had played the first two T20Is of the five-match series. He bowled one over in the first T20I and was not called on to bowl in the second. While batting, he wasn’t needed in the first T20I in a nine-wicket win and made 7 in the second T20I. In the third, West Indies strengthened their batting by replacing Smith with Powell, who went on to smash 107 off 53 balls in a high-scoring win.”I think you’re going down the wrong line with this,” Simmons continued. “Let me explain something to you, and I’m saying it again. We need to stop this foolishness that we’re going on with. We sit down and we look at the best team for the day. And if Odean wasn’t in the best team for the day, it is because we thought that Rovman was better suited for yesterday.”All those who want to sit out there and preach about victimisation, I think they need to look within themselves. There’s no victimisation in selection in West Indies cricket, and there’s no victimisation in this team in playing anyone. So we need to start stepping away from that and letting the people who are pushing this know that that’s not happening. I’m not going to be answering any more questions about things like that.”The CWI statement backed up Simmons’ words. “Contrary to the unsubstantiated statements, containing unfounded and mischievous allegations, CWI is satisfied that there is no discord between the Team Captain and any member of the West Indies team,” it read.It also had strong words of condemnation from Skerritt. “I view this as a malicious attack on the credibility of the West Indies Captain, designed to sow division within our team that has just recorded three very impressive T20I performances against very strong opponents, including two outstanding wins and one heroic comeback to get within one run of victory. This clear attempt by well-known mischief makers to discredit the Captain and to derail the Team’s momentum in the ongoing Betway T20I Series should not be tolerated or encouraged.”Simmons and CWI found support from the recently retired Dwayne Bravo, who tweeted that he “woke up to see the same individuals who don’t care about the cricket trying to push a victimization narrative”. After the win in the third T20I on Wednesday, Kieron Pollard had said that it was important to “take the ego out” when it came to team selections and praised the team management for getting the right balance. “It vindicated the team selection, obviously. It was a good game of cricket. We batted first, and we batted well, kudos to Rovman. He came in having been out for the first two games and took his chance. We have a versatile team. Sometimes you have to take the ego out of it and give the opportunity to the guys who have the form and the confidence, that’s what we did today. So kudos to the management team and to the players who went out and played a fantastic game.”In his press conference, when speaking on Smith’s role in the set-up, Simmons had praised his ability but pointed out that given the number of all-round options West Indies had, there would be situations where his skills would not be needed.”Well we all know his role in the side. He’s a bowler who bowls quick and he can hit the ball out of the ground,” Simmons said. “In the games where he didn’t bowl, it’s a situation like that – we have seven bowlers, and unfortunately in those games he didn’t bowl. It’s just the run of the game on the day. We needed a batsman to come in yesterday, and we made that choice. Because of course Jason (Holder) and (Sheldon) Cottrell are your main bowlers at the top there, and (Romario) Shepherd has shown both with bat and ball that he’s doing well, and we wanted him to continue. That’s just the situation of him being left out and Powell coming in.”Smith has played three ODIs and seven T20Is for West Indies so far. He came to prominence during CPL 2021, with his hard-hitting batting and ability to touch 140kph.

With the board’s new constitution taking effect, the powers of its office bearers have been clipped until fresh elections take place

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Aug-2018The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has taken full control of the BCCI. All the sub-committees of the BCCI except the selection panels and the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) have been annulled. The powers of the three office-bearers of the BCCI – CK Khanna (acting president), Amitabh Choudhary (acting secretary) and Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer) – have been clipped and they will now need the CoA’s mandate to approve any decision or travel.With the BCCI registering its new constitution, which was approved by the Supreme Court recently, the CoA has said the professional management of the board, led by the CEO Rahul Johri, will take charge of the daily affairs until fresh elections are conducted.The CoA, which comprises Vinod Rai (chairman) and former India women captain Diana Edulji (member), said it has issued this fresh directive in the wake of the new constitution coming into being from August 21, when it was registered. “As a consequence, the earlier Constitution of the BCCI (“Old Constitution”) stands extinguished and the New Constitution has come into force,” the CoA said in a three-page email distributed to the office-bearers and the professional management. “The New Constitution entrusts the day-to-day management of the BCCI to its professional management.”Under the new constitution the governance of the BCCI will be handled by the Apex Council. Nine councilors will sit on the Apex Council comprising five office-bearers along with an elected representative picked by the BCCI members, two from the players’ association (one male, one female) and one official from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office. The CoA has said it will perform the role of the Apex Council and the IPL Governing Council until fresh elections take place.According to Rai the office-bearers have not been removed. He took the example of Choudhary convening the selection committee meetings to announce India’s squad for the final two Tests of their England tour, the India A squad for the two-match series against Australia A, and the India women squad for the ODI tour of Sri Lanka. “Any powers exercisable by any office bearer will henceforth be only as mandated under the New Constitution and shall be exercised only with the prior approval of the Committee of Administrators,” the CoA said. “The office bearers and/or their respective Executive Assistants as well as the employees of BCCI shall not undertake any travel outside India at BCCI expense without the prior approval of the Committee of Administrators.”The CoA has retained only the selection committees, which were restored to five members, and the three-member CAC which comprises Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. In case any “urgent” decision needs to be taken before the new sub-committees are constituted, the CoA will try to take it on its own or utilise the expertise of an ad-hoc committee.

James Anderson faces a race to be fit for the opening Test against South Africa after scans confirmed he had suffered a tear to his right groin

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2017James Anderson faces a race to be fit for the opening Test against South Africa after scans confirmed he had suffered a tear to his right groin.He will certainly miss Lancashire’s next Championship match, the return Roses fixture against Yorkshire, which begins on June 2 but he will undergo further assessment by the ECB medical team to determine the full extent of the injury.The first Test against South Africa begins at Lord’s on July 6 and is part of a concentrated period of Test action in which England will play seven Tests by early September. Lancashire play three further Championship matches in June after the Yorkshire match which could give Anderson a chance to prove his fitness although the timescale is tight.He pulled up during his sixth over on the opening day against Yorkshire at Old Trafford and did not bowl again in the match, although he did appear with a runner at the end of Lancashire’s first innings.This is the latest in a run of injuries for Anderson. He has missed four of England’s last 10 Test matches due to a shoulder injury he picked up last summer. It ruled him out of the Bangladesh tour and flared up again in India.Prior to that, Anderson suffered a calf injury early in the 2015-16 tour of South Africa, missing the first Test in Durban, which came on the back of a side strain sustained during the 2015 Ashes.Before then, Anderson had only missed one Test through injury – against Sri Lanka, at Lord’s, in 2011 – since his recall to the side in 2008.

Is England’s new approach genius or confidence trick? It may be both, but buckle up anyway

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Jun-2022

Big picture

In episode 20, season one of cult TV hit some of the Bluth Company assets are unfrozen leading to Michael, head and signatory by virtue of being the only competent Bluth, fielding requests for cash from various family members. At the end of his tether by the time his brother, Gob, and brother-in-law, Tobias, get to him, he suggests the pair come up with a business proposal to earn their money.Gob and Tobias retreat to a local coffee shop for a brainstorming session that goes nowhere. But as they go to leave, Michael walks in and, before they tell him of their fruitless conversation, he commends them for their initiative as he had always been interested in opening a coffee shop. They say nothing in response, and slowly back out of the shop, wary of ruining the perception they a) have a plan, and b) know how to pull it off. A bluff that lasts barely a week when all they managed to come up with is the name – “Gobias”. As in, “go buy us” a coffee.We are probably not at that stage with “Bazball” just yet. But as remarkable as the men’s Test team have been these last two weeks, it’s hard not to shake the feeling its veneration, perhaps even the ethos itself, has been bestowed upon them without a thorough idea of what it actually entails. And as much as the players can talk up the cleansing powers of Brendon McCullum and the contagious brilliance of Ben Stokes, the cynics are still wondering if this emperor has simply gone on a spending spree.As such, Headingley provides as much of an opportunity to reinforce the method behind the mantra or pull at a rogue thread on the invisible garment. The trick for England is to react calmly whatever the result: not get too full of of themselves with a 3-0 win, and keep faith in these principles even if New Zealand get on the board – two things previous iterations of this England team have not done exactly done well.For now there remains a humility within the squad that there is more learning to be done. They know the adrenalin shot of a Stokes-Bairstow partnership won’t always come off, or that chasing down scores of 299 inside 50 overs of the final day means all the ills of the last few years have been cured.Ben Stokes tees off in the nets ahead of the third Test•PA Images via Getty Images

Training on the final day was no less serious with a series won. And it was particularly noteworthy that Harry Brook, who won’t have the glory of a home debut, peppered all parts of Headingley during his net session, much to the enjoyment of managing director Rob Key, who was at the ground after making his way up yesterday. Those on the periphery are keen to adopt the new way, and it will be interesting to see how much of that filters through as it did with the white-ball revolution seven years earlier.By contrast, New Zealand’s practice was far more jovial in a bid to lift spirits after what has been a taxing few weeks. Along with the defeats has been the jeopardy of waking up every morning to some kind of Covid news.Thankfully for all concerned, it seems they are through the storm. Kane Williamson, fit and present, focussed on two good games for the neutral but will no doubt to be keen to make up for time spent in his hotel room during the second Test.Related

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In many ways, there is no better venue to follow on from the high of Trent Bridge. They do good Test matches up in Leeds, most obviously the blockbuster against Australia in 2019, which happened to be Stokes’ last game here for his country. A mental-health break last summer meant he missed the innings-and-76-run victory against India in 2021 – the team’s only success in 17 attempts until the start of this summer. This is a place of comfort for English cricket. Or at least it used to be.The cloud of the racism scandal engulfing Yorkshire County Cricket Club got an extra burst of smog last week when the ECB announced that the club and several of its current and former players will face charges following the conclusion of the board’s investigations. Those cases will be heard by the Cricket Discipline Commission panel in September and October, but the fact this Test remains here will be a sour note for many. It was back in November that the ECB suspended Yorkshire from hosting international matches given their appalling handling of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.Those sanctions were lifted in March – a move welcomed by Rafiq. But the change the ECB wished to see has been slow and by no means steady. In a week to be celebrated, there is a sense those involved with the club, both at the time of the scandal and now, are praying the match passes as quietly and quickly as possible.

In the spotlight

An environment of celebrating wins is kept ticking along day-to-day by the bonhomie of celebrating other people’s successes. And so far 11 of the 12 players who have turned out for England in this series have had something to take home and frame. Zak Crawley, though, remains uncelebrated. The only batter to have not registered at least one half-century – a 43 in the first innings at Lord’s his highest score so far – Crawley is nursing an average of 14 that puts him below James Anderson (16) and well adrift of his opening partner, Alex Lees (39).There cannot be a much worse feeling than that of a failing batter in a successful team. The added sour taste for Crawley is that, of the openers picked in the last few years, he is the most perfect fit for what this side are trying to be about. There’s an argument to be made that he got out to the two best deliveries sent down by Trent Boult, New Zealand’s best bowler, in the second Test. But that will only console him so far. The of this England set-up is to give people opportunities to come good. As is always the case for anyone searching for form, the best time to find it is the present.On the other side of the fence, Kane Williamson finds himself in the unique position of being doubted. Former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull, currently working for Sky out in the Netherlands, stated his belief Williamson should walk away from the captaincy to prolong his status as the nation’s best batter. When the thought was put to Williamson, it was typically met with the softest of straight bats: “The picture of leadership in this side is something I’m very passionate about”. He then went a bit cryptic, talking of “a number of leaders in this team that share that passion to take steps forward and become a better side”. Whatever he decides, and whenever he decides, his body language and tactics will be under the microscope to monitor any lapses in “desire” for the job. Throw into the fact he has just one century and one fifty since the start of 2021 – albeit from nine innings, and with 238 at the start of that sequence – you’ve got the makings of quite the narrative.

Team news

Ben Stokes made it a hat-trick of announcing the team 24 hours in advance. There is just one change, though not for the captain who pulled through in good spirits after a few days of an undisclosed illness. Jamie Overton will make his international debut as a replacement for James Anderson who has reported discomfort in his ankle. It is believed that, if push came to shove, Anderson could have turned out, though the opportunity to see Overton crank it up and give Anderson a few days off ahead of facing India at Edgbaston next week made it an easy decision to take.England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jamie Overton, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Stuart BroadNeil Wagner has put his hand up for selection•PA Images via Getty Images

Williamson confirmed a squad of 13 a day out, which is the touring party minus its newest additions Dane Cleaver and Blair Tickner. His return is likely to be in place for Michael Bracewell, and it looks like we will finally get a sight of Neil Wagner on this tour as he comes in to replace the injured Kyle Jamieson. One particular sticking point may be the need for a spinner, given how the pitch looks like it will play, which could bring Ajaz Patel back into the reckoning as the superior spinner, even after bowling just two overs in the Test he played at Lord’s.New Zealand (possible): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Tom Blundell (wk), 8 Tim Southee, 9 Neil Wagner, 10 Matt Henry/Ajaz Patel, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions

The rains expected over the weekend are probably not going to be enough to guarantee this game will go to five days. But the look of the pitch – the beigest so far this series – a day out suggests it will require a decent amount of graft from the bowlers to prise 20 wickets. England chose to bowl first at Trent Bridge last week and conceded 553, and though that worked out fine in the end, it’s probably not an approach they’ll look to take again.

Stats and trivia

• Stokes is one six away from 100 in Test cricket. Should he hit eight, as he did in his brain-melting 135 not out against Australia here three years ago, he will go level at the top with his coach McCullum (108)
• England have the opportunity to sweep a team in a multi-match series at home for the first time since 2013, when they won both matches of their series also against New Zealand. Their previous wash of any kind came in the 2-0 win away to Sri Lanka at the start of 2021.

Quotes

“For me, my message is clear and simple: let’s try to progress from that. It’s hard to put into words how we do that this week, but I said this week let’s feel like we’re in the entertainment business and not the sports business. That’s the only real way I could put into simple terms for everyone.”
Ben Stokes wants his side to go bigger, again“There’s a lot of pride in that changing room from some of the performances we’ve put out over the last few years. If we’re fair we probably haven’t been at the standards we want to be as a group, it’s nice to have one game to go out and play like we know we can.”


Trent Boult believes New Zealand can remind people how good they are and why they are World Test champions

Trio impressed in Taunton Test and could feature in three ODIs against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2022Alice Davidson-Richards has won a recall to England’s ODI squad in the wake of her century on Test debut, while there are maiden call-ups for Issy Wong and Lauren Bell for the 14-woman group to take on South Africa.Davidson-Richards made her only previous ODI appearance more than four years ago, but impressed in the drawn Test at Taunton, where she scored 107 and took 1 for 43 – making her only the second England player, after WG Grace, with a hundred and a wicket on Test debut.Wong and Bell both won their first England caps in the Test, and could now make ODI debuts in the three-match series starting on July 11. England have suggested that they will manage the workload of Wong, 20, but the temptation to throw her in will be great after a display of pace and accuracy in Taunton, where she claimed 3 for 100.Katherine Brunt, who has retired from Test cricket, returns to the group, as does Danni Wyatt. Of the players who featured in England’s run to the World Cup final earlier this year, Anya Shrubsole has retired, Tash Farrant is injured and Freya Davies misses out – named instead among a 13-woman England A squad to play a T20 warm-up against South Africa on Monday.”Although these South Africa ODIs don’t form part of the ICC Women’s Championship, we are at the beginning of a new three-year cycle, which is so exciting,” England head coach, Lisa Keightley, said. “We have to keep looking forward and trying to improve as a team, and we were so delighted with the energy and skill that the four debutants brought in the LV= Insurance Test match.Related

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“I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing something similar in the Royal London Series and throughout the rest of the summer, with new players putting their hands up to win games for England and selection becoming tougher and tougher as more players make a case to be included.”England Women ODI squad: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver, Issy Wong, Danni WyattEngland Women A Squad: Bryony Smith (capt), Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kira Chathli, Freya Davies, Dani Gibson, Bess Heath, Marie Kelly, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith, Mady Villiers. Travelling reserve: Grace Potts

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the second day of the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Ed Cowan scored his third hundred in four games•Getty Images

Ed Cowan’s dominance of the Dukes ball in the Sheffield Shield continued as he plundered his third century in four matches to help New South Wales into a strong position at stumps on the second day against South Australia in Sydney. Cowan ended the day unbeaten on 125, with Peter Nevill on 1, and the Blues had cruised along to 4 for 333, already holding a 104-run advantage over the Redbacks.In the first half of the Shield season, before Christmas, Cowan did not manage a century against the Kookaburra balls, but since the Dukes have been introduced in the second half of the campaign he has made 212, 0, 115, 51* and now 125*. In this match he came to the crease at first drop, with the score on 1 for 82 after Daniel Hughes fell for 26.Opening the batting in his first Shield match following his axing from the Test side and subsequent time away from the game, Nic Maddinson flew to 70 from 60 deliveries before he was caught behind off the bowling of Daniel Worrall. But Cowan had plenty of support from Kurtis Patterson (52) and Moises Henriques (54) as the Redbacks struggled to make inroads.South Australia had started the day on 5 for 169 but added only 60 for the loss of their final five wickets. Callum Ferguson failed to add to his overnight score and was caught off Pat Cummins for 75, before Alex Carey chipped in with 56. Cummins finished with 4 for 57 in his first innings of Shield bowling for nearly six years.

The duo put on a match-winning unbeaten stand of 94 off just 32 balls to get Deccan Gladiators’ campaign off to a winning start

20-Nov-2021″To bat with someone like him just gives you so much confidence and freedom to just go and try and express yourself.”Those were the words of 25-year-old Tom Moores, the Deccan Gladiators wicketkeeper-batter, after he and Andre Russell put on 94 for the fourth wicket in just 32 deliveries to get their campaign off to a winning start against Chennai Braves in the Abu Dhabi T10.When the pair came together, the Gladiators had been stuttering, having managed just one six in the first five overs. But Moores and Russell bludgeoned nine of them in the remainder of the innings to catapult the Gladiators to a match-winning total of 146. Both faced just 17 balls each.Asked what the conversation was like between the two when they were in the middle, Moores, who plays for Nottinghamshire, replied, “Who could hit the biggest six…? Which, obviously, I knew I was gonna lose. We had a bit of fun, it wasn’t too serious at all, which really helped me just relax and be confident. We were just having a smile and enjoying it. And that’s what we talked about, to have fun, to enjoy our cricket. Every game we play we’re really lucky to be doing it.”Since Russell’s arrival, at No. 5, the pair dictated the pace of the innings, wresting momentum from the Braves, who had started well by removing Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Banton and Anwar Ali in the first 4.4 overs. Russell got off the mark with something of an uncharacteristic stroke: a delicate cut played with soft hands past third man. But he needed no invitation to launch one over midwicket when Dasun Shanaka gave him a delivery right in the slot.The next over, the legspin of Samiullah Shinwari got the treatment as Russell hammered him for two consecutive sixes. By the end of the seventh, he had walloped to 31 off 11, while Moores was on a run-a-ball five.Andre Russell sent the ball miles•AFP

Moores was fortunate not to run himself out off the second delivery he faced as Munaf Patel failed to collect the ball at the bowler’s end. He made his luck count, smashing Dhananjaya Lakshan for two huge sixes and bringing up the team hundred with a whack over long-on. Curtis Campher – who took four wickets in four deliveries at this ground for Ireland during the recently concluded T20 World Cup – was also dispatched for 26 as the Gladiators amassed 80 runs between the sixth and ninth overs. Russell was on 42 off 15, while Moores had got himself up to 39 off 13.”To bat some time with Dre who has done that time and time again… he’s the best at doing that, so to watch him and have the best seat in the house was great,” Moores said. “Someone like him has helped me a lot. I knew him a little bit from playing back home for Notts and he’s someone who has done this time and time again. So he was just giving me tips and bits of advice here and there. To be honest, I was just trying to keep up with him.”Moores, in fact, went one better, as he hit another six, off Ravi Bopara, in the final over to go past Russell’s unbeaten 43 off 17 and set the highest team score of the season so far. He finished on an unbeaten 47 off 17 and took home the Player-of-the-Match honour.In the end, despite a valiant effort from the Braves, with Angelo Perera and Bopara both scoring half-centuries, they fell 24 runs short of the target. Their tally of four sixes across their ten overs was dwarfed by the ten that the Gladiators managed, and Moores underscored that six-hitting is even more pivotal in this format of the game.”We did talk about six-hitting ability,” he said. “Those extra two runs do add up. If you compare the two scores, those extra twos can change a game and be the difference. Having someone like Dre in your team, he’s naturally gonna clear the ropes and all the rest of us need to just do our thing and hit as many as we can.”