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The issue is not money, but that youngsters want to play on the big stage, Russell argues

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2024It’s not the money. According to Andre Russell, premier West Indian cricketers are “just not interested in playing Tests.”The issue has been simmering forever, with cricketers popular with T20 leagues around the world – like Russell – often staying away from West Indies cricket, particularly the longest format. Sometimes, they have been called mercenaries. Most recently, in December 2023, Jason Holder, Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers turned down West Indies central contracts, but made themselves available for T20Is. Holder, though, has since played Tests.Even though observers say that is due to the lack of money in West Indian cricket, Russell disagrees. “I don’t think it’s the money, I don’t think money is the issue,” he told recently. “Based on the amount of T20 and leagues around the world, I think a lot of players are just not interested in playing Tests.”Russell’s remarks came after West Indies – placed bottom of the nine-team World Test Championship table at the moment – were swept 3-0 in England. They have since drawn the first Test in Port of Spain against South Africa, a Test they were behind in for the most part but, following rain and an attacking South Africa declaration, got to a competitive position when time ran out.Related

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Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Pooran, Rovman Powell and Kieron Pollard were among the West Indians playing in The Hundred when the last Test against England was being played in late July. Among the highest-paid players in the league, they are still playing The Hundred while the Test series against South Africa is on. Pollard, Powell and Pooran have never played Test cricket. Russell played one, in 2010. Hetmyer has played 16, the last of them in 2019.”I’m always excited watching the other West Indian batters, especially when they’re hitting boundary after boundary,” Russell said. “As long as you can do well from contracts outside your nation I think they are going to grab that opportunity but everyone wants to play on the big stage.”So, if the big stage comes in Test cricket, I know youngsters will be happy to play. I just don’t think it’s about money or anything like that.”Russell, now 36, has managed to stay at the top of his game in short-format cricket despite a succession of injuries over the years, especially in the legs. A knee injury forced him out of the 2019 ODI World Cup after a few games. Test cricket, he said, was not on the table for him.”Red-ball cricket is not my cookie, I don’t think my body will keep up with Test cricket,” he said. “But those in the team at the moment are fit enough and taking on the challenge. They had a few moments in the Test series [against England] where they could have turned things around. Playing England at home is always going to be hard for the West Indies.”

New Zealand quick plays down success despite leading the way in a tough series for bowlers

George Dobell in Hamilton02-Dec-2019It speaks volumes for the enduring skills of Neil Wagner that, while other bowlers will look back at this series and shudder, he will reflect on it with a satisfied smile.For while bowlers as celebrated as Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad have laboured without much success – Archer has taken two wickets so far at a cost of 100.50 apiece, Broad four at 38.75 – Wagner has claimed five-wicket hauls in both Tests despite surfaces offering him nothing.It’s no aberration, either. Wagner has now taken five-wicket hauls in his last four Tests. His position at No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings can only have been consolidated. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson trail in his wake.ALSO READ: How Wagner wanged his way to the topThe ingredients of Wagner’s success are not immediately obvious. He is not especially tall, not especially quick and not, in terms of ability to generate lateral movement, especially talented. And yet there he is, again, with a five-wicket haul.So, how does he do it?”I bowl a lot of overs,” he said. “And if you bowl the majority of the overs the chances are high that you can take some wickets, too. That’s my role.”It’s a simplification, of course. Wagner has actually bowled fewer overs in the series against England than Tim Southee and, while Southee has had the new ball, Wagner has been obliged to come on later. But it is true that Wagner’s stamina allows him to bowl long spells – he has bowled more of 10-overs or more than any other bowler since his debut – with liberal use of the short ball.”One of my only attributes is that I bowl a lot of overs and I can back it up and keep going,” he said. “I’m blessed with my body that it’s been pretty good and I can bowl long spells. If you keep putting pressure on then hopefully wickets come your way.”He was equally modest about his success in the Hamilton Test. “I thought I was bit lucky to get the rewards. All the other bowlers bowled well and grafted away. It just sort of came my way and I ended up getting a couple of wickets. But all the bowlers bowled well with not a lot of luck and reward. We hunt as a pack and bowl really well in partnerships and luckily it came our way.”There’s a grain of truth in that explanation. Wagner picked up four wickets in the final seven overs of the England innings here when the batsmen decided to attempt to accelerate to set up a declaration. So, after hours of careful accumulation, Ollie Pope was punished for attempting to hit a short ball to the boundary and Chris Woakes nicked off driving on the up.But Wagner also had the skill to exploit such a situation. So Broad and Archer were both deceived by slower, knuckle-ball deliveries. And yes, Wagner’s haul included the wickets of England’s No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 but two of those men have Test centuries behind them and, on this surface, no wickets come easily. His figures, at one stage, were 1 for 114. Over his next 19 deliveries, he claimed four wickets for 10 runs.”We felt that if we were going at two runs an over, we could try to tie them down and it would make it hard for them to get a big enough lead to put us under pressure,” he said. “So we had to play a patient game and build towards that period where we got wickets in clumps.”Sometimes in New Zealand conditions you’ve got to graft away and try and tire them out to get to a point where they try to step on the gas and you know you’ve got a chance of getting a couple of wickets. It happened that way here.”There was a moment earlier in the day when it seemed Wagner’s match might be over. Bowling to Joe Root, he saw the batsman advance down the wicket and thrash a ball back down the pitch. The crack as it hit Wagner echoed around the ground and was closely followed by gasps. A broken leg seemed possible.As it was, Wagner barely even rubbed the blow. According to him, the ball missed his knee or shins and hit a foot relatively well protected by his bowling boots. He simply carried on as if nothing had happened.”I was just lucky it wasn’t in the face or in the head,” Wagner said. “It just hit the foot and it’s just one of those things where it hurts at the time but you just jump back on it and keep going. It’s the nature of the game.”Maybe. But you suspect some other bowlers, confronted by surfaces like this, might have taken the opportunity to take some time off the pitch. For Wagner the thought wouldn’t occur. New Zealand are lucky to have him.

Board president Nazmul Hassan also lists out further major changes in BPL, including preferable batting positions to Bangladesh batsmen

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2019The BCB have dismissed two NCL coaches for failing to carry out the board’s directives. Rangpur Division coach Masud Parvez Razan didn’t pick Fardeen Hasan, and legspinner Rishad Hossain, while Dhaka Division coach Jahangir Alam also lost his job for not picking legspinner Jubair Hossain in the playing XI during the second round that began on Thursday.BCB president Nazmul Hassan said both coaches have been issued with a show-cause notice for not picking the legspinners, with the BCB keen on implementing certain rules in domestic cricket to help strengthen the national side. ESPNcricinfo has learned that both Masud and Jahangir have already been replaced by Zafrul Ehsan and Mohammad Salim, as the Rangpur and Dhaka coach, respectively.”We gave clear instructions to play legspinners in the NCL, but neither [Jubair Hossain] Likhon nor Rishad [Hossain] were picked in the XI in this round,” Hassan said. “We have show-caused two coaches from Dhaka and Rangpur for not selecting the legspinners despite being told to do so. We have to give them game time. How else can they improve otherwise?”

BPL set for further radical changes

The BCB have already put in place a rule for quick bowlers and legspinners in the BPL, and Nazmul Hassan said batting orders too would be mandated based on the national team’s interest.
“They must have a legspinner in the squad and if he is a local, he must be picked in the best XI. Teams should also set a batting order which is consistent with how the Bangladesh players are suited or needed in international cricket,” Hassan said. “We will give preference to fast bowlers who bowl 140kph. You can call this season’s BPL as preparation, a trial for the World T20.”

This is the first time that the BCB has taken such drastic action against coaches for not picking a legspinner. Over the years, domestic sides in Bangladesh have mostly opted for left-arm spinners and offspinners, leading to a paucity of legspinners in domestic cricket that has been lamented by players, coaches and selectors. Jubair did make his international debut in 2014, but though he had the backing of Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza and then coach Chandika Hathurusingha, he didn’t get the same backing in domestic cricket.The BCB has reportedly made it mandatory for first-class sides to pick legspinners in their XIs in the 2019-20 season. Minhajul Abedin Afridi, whom the chief selector first spotted as a net bowler in Chittagong last year, made his first-class debut in Chittagong Division’s previous match, while Aminul Islam Biplob, who made his T20I debut last month against Zimbabwe, made his debut for Dhaka Metropolis.Hassan said that in keeping with their plan to troubleshoot weaknesses, the BCB have also put in place rules for BPL teams to pick a local or foreign legspinner in every game, as well as give preferable batting positions to Bangladesh batsmen, whether in the top or middle-order.”They must have a legspinner in the squad and if he is a local, he must be picked in the best XI. Teams should also set a batting order which is consistent with how the Bangladesh players are suited or needed in international cricket.”We will give preference to fast bowlers who bowl 140kph. You can call this season’s BPL as preparation, a trial for the World T20,” he said.Hassan said that players will also require a fitness test to play in the Dhaka Premier League from this season, a first in the tournament’s history, while the bleep test level will be raised further next year. “We will raise the fitness level next year too but we will inform them at least a year in hand.”Players have to pass fitness test to play Dhaka Premier League too, and all of them have to be done in Dhaka,” he said.”Suggestions from the senior team’s coaching staff are being taken seriously,” Hassan said. “After the World Cup, our fielding coach pointed out that there’s a basic lack in fitness and understanding of fielding’s basics among our national team. Some of them can’t even throw properly. We are working on all the suggestions from the support staff. Initially we will stumble, but it is the best for the long-term,” he said.Hassan said that the board’s focus is building a side by 2021, so that they have a settled group by the 2023 World Cup in India.”We have been playing to win, but now we will do some experiments, as part of our long-term plan. Some of our decisions may seem different but by 2021, we want to build a solid team for the 2023 World Cup. A team that can serve Bangladesh for at least four or five years,” he said.

England players unlikely to be released for tournament restart, says ECB director of cricket

George Dobell27-May-2021England are not planning on making any changes to their plans to accommodate the IPL, according to Ashley Giles.While Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, admitted some players may be rested from the tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan, which are likely to take place at the same time as the rearranged IPL, he said it “wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere”.Giles also confirmed the ECB had no plans to alter their schedule – and in particular, the schedule for the Test series against India – to enable a larger window to be found for the IPL. The fifth day of the final Test of the series is currently scheduled for September 14, with England departing for Bangladesh less than a week later. From there they go to Pakistan for two T20Is which have tentatively been scheduled for October 14 and 15. The IPL is likely to restart on about September 18 and run until around October 12.”I’m not aware of anything official, any requests to shift anything,” Giles, speaking at the launch of IG as the new official partner of England Cricket, said. “As far as we’re concerned and what we’re prepared for, the matches will be where they are. I’m not surprised there’s all sorts of speculation. Everyone wants to get their cricket in. But we’ve not received anything official and we’re cracking on.”We have a full schedule. If we go from the end of the fifth Test in September, we are set to leave for Bangladesh on September 19 or 20. We have a full schedule right through including Pakistan and wherever the T20 World Cup is.Related

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“We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere.”We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.”While the relationship between the ECB and BCCI appears reasonably good at present, this is the third IPL season (or part season) mooted within 12 months and there is an understanding that there is simply no more wriggle room in the congested schedule. The difference in approach from the recently abandoned IPL season – where England players were allowed to play ahead of involvement in the New Zealand Test series – is explained by the late arrangement of that Test series, which did not form part of the World Test Championship, and the pre-existing agreement to allow players to go to the IPL.Meanwhile Giles also explained the call-up of Sam Billings into the England squad as reserve keeper and batter. Billings is the only man in the squad who was at the IPL but, unlike Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who might also have been considered for the role, did not play during the IPL and has spent considerably less time in bio-bubbles over the last year or so. For that reason, he was keen to return to action quicker than most and represented Kent in the LV= County Championship last week.”I think we felt the best option was to [allow the IPL players to] take as much time as they needed after what they’ve been through this winter,” Giles said. “If there was a strong case from the players to get back on the horse a bit earlier and play some cricket then we were prepared to listen to that as well. They know their bodies and minds as well as anyone.”That was the case with Billings. He went back to Kent and played some cricket to put himself in the frame.”Communication was made from [head coach] Chris Silverwood to those players [Bairstow and Buttler] about what the plan was. We felt there was no need to go back on that. They’ve been spending time with families and Jos is away for a few days at the moment. We didn’t want to drag those players out of that at the 11th hour. There was no plan to change that.”IG are an Official Partner of England Cricket. For more information, visit IG.com/uk/england

Shakib Al Hasan’s five-for against Zimbabwe, meanwhile, moved him to eighth in the ODI bowling rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2021Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and England’s Liam Livingstone have made the most significant gains in ICC’s latest rankings update for T20I batters. Rizwan, who was the top scorer during the T20I series between the two sides with 176 runs in three innings attained a career-best seventh position while Livingstone’s 147 runs in three innings – including a maiden T20I ton – propelled him up 144 places to 27th, having played only eight matches in his career so far.The latest rankings update, which includes the final two T20Is between Australia and West Indies and the series-opener between Ireland and South Africa, also sees Evin Lewis move from tenth to eighth on the batting charts after scores of 31 and 79. Dawid Malan, Babar Azam and Aaron Finch maintained their rankings as the world’s top three T20I batters.

Full rankings tables

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In the T20I bowlers’ rankings, four wickets each for Shadab Khan and Mohammad Hasnain have moved them to 36th and 41st, while Sheldon Cottrell’s three-for in the final match against Australia helped him gain six positions to reach 16th. Wristspinners Tabraiz Shamsi, Rashid Khan and Wanindu Hasaranga remain the top three T20I bowlers.In ODIs, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock moved into 10th among batters after smashing a 91-ball 120 against Ireland in the final ODI in Malahide. Shikhar Dhawan’s 86 in his first ODI as India’s stand-in captain against Sri Lanka lifted him to 16th. Azam, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to hold the top three batting positions in ODIs.Shakib Al Hasan was the most significant gainer among ODI bowlers on the back of his five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in Harare. He moved up nine places to break into the top 10 once again, and into eighth position. He remains first on the ODI allrounders’ list.

Bell twice on a hat-trick as she and England team-mate claim seven wickets between them

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2023Lauren Bell took 4 for 37 as the Southern Vipers routed the South East Stars by 158 runs in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham.Bell was twice on a hat-trick as she wiped out the Stars’ top order, before Charlie Dean then took 3 for 18 to bowl the hosts out for 129.Earlier Ella McCaughan hit 67 and Maia Bouchier 59 in an opening stand of 117, before Georgia Elwiss came in and made 59 to set a stiff-looking 287 for 6.Alice Davidson-Richards had the best figures of the Stars’ nine bowlers with 2 for 30, but it was a chastening afternoon for the home side after last week’s emphatic 131-run win at the Thunder.The Stars had lost all six of their previous 50-over games with the Vipers, including last September’s Eliminator at Beckenham, but any hopes their opponents might still be reeling from last Saturday’s shock defeat to the Sunrisers were ephemeral.The Vipers chose to bat and took full advantage of both a benign wicket and a sub-optimal display by the Stars with the ball, which included 27 wides. They offered few chances and when they did the hosts couldn’t take them.Bouchier was on 42 when she pulled Alexa Stonehouse to mid-wicket and was dropped, while McCaughan survived a difficult stumping chance off Bryony Smith when on 34.Paige Scholfield finally broke the partnership when she bowled Bouchier, who played on and Scholfield then caught McCaughan off Ryana MacDonald-Gay in the covers.Davidson-Richards was the ninth bowler the Stars used, but she struck in her first over when she had Danni Wyatt caught at backward point by MacDonald-Gay for 22.At that point the Vipers were 170 for 3, which was the closest they came to a wobble. Elwiss and Adams responded with a stand of 76, the latter bringing up the 50 partnership with a six off Tash Farrant.Farrant subsequently had Adams lbw for 31 and Dean made four when she chipped Freya Davies to Phoebe Franklin, before Elwiss hit the penultimate ball of the innings, from Davidson-Richards to Smith on the mid-on boundary.The Stars made a bright start to the chase, racing to 26 without loss, only for Bell to strike twice in as many balls. She hit the top off Alice Capsey’s off stump to bowl her for 18 before getting MacDonald-Gay lbw for a golden duck.Smith flicked the hat-trick ball to square leg for two but was out in Bell’s next over, the victim of a brilliant tumbling catch by Dean at extra-cover for 7.Bell found herself on a hat-trick for the second time in the match when Davidson-Richards edged her to Bouchier in the slips but Kira Chatli blocked her next delivery. It was a short-lived reprieve for Chatli, who was caught by Linsey Smith for 20 off Alice Monaghan.Scholfield and Farrant hung around for a while but the former was bowled by Adams 31 and Dean then began to mop up the tail.The end was nigh when she beat Farrant in the flight for 21, beating her in the flight and bowling her leg stump. She then had Alexa Stonehouse caught by Adams for a duck and Franklin snared by McCaughan for nine and the victory was sealed when Freya Davies holed out to Monaghan and was caught by a diving Adams at long off.

The former Pakistan legspinner said he had owned up because he could not “live a life with lies” anymore

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-20185:16

Danish Kaneria confesses guilt in spot-fixing case

Former Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria has admitted his guilt in the spot-fixing case involving former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield, more than six years after he was banned for life by the ECB.”My name is Danish Kaneria and I admit that I was guilty of the two charges brought against me by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012,” Kaneria, 37, told . “I have become strong enough to make this decision, because you cannot live a life with lies.”Westfield, 23 at the time, had admitted to accepting £6000 in return for conceding a set number of runs off an over in a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009. He was jailed after pleading guilty to the charge of accepting or obtaining corrupt payments. Kaneria, who was arrested along with Westfield in 2010 only for charges to be dropped due to a lack of evidence, was alleged to have been the go-between between Westfield and Anu Bhatt, who was on the ICC radar for being a person involved in illegal betting.Kaneria had protested his innocence in the matter several times over the years and appealed repeatedly – and unsuccessfully – to have his life ban revoked. Though he was banned by the ECB, the ICC’s anti-corruption code states that decisions based on a board’s regulations should be upheld by boards around the world.In the Al Jazeera interview, Kaneria said he had met Bhatt four years before the Essex game for which he and Westfield came under scrutiny. “In 2005 on a West Indies tour, my assistant manager introduced me to Anu Bhatt, because he was a Hindu and he was a cricket fan,” Kaneria, who was the only Hindu in the Pakistan team at the time, said. “Then we were on a India tour and over there, 2008 it was I think, Anu Bhatt invited the whole team for dinner, so me and my wife and other cricketers went to his house for the dinner.”Kaneria admitted to ignoring warnings from the ICC’s ACU that Bhatt was a “suspicious guy”. “[ACU] Came to Pakistan and told several cricketers and me that he is a suspicious guy and is involved in doing fixing,” he said. “I regret very much, I didn’t complain to the higher authorities, like English Cricket Board or ICC unit. I didn’t inform or didn’t tell them this guy is over here [in the UK].”Mervyn used to tell me that he wants to become a rich cricketer. I was highly paid in Essex, and I was an international player at that time. And I was living a life, a very lavish life, so he also wanted to make money. I think he was targeted by Anu Bhatt and I think he fell into that temptation. Being an international cricketer and a senior cricketer, I should have taken it one step higher of telling Mervyn that this guy is suspicious.”I want to apologise to Mervyn Westfield, my Essex team-mates, my Essex cricket club, my Essex cricket fans. I say sorry to Pakistan. If the ECB and ICC and other bodies would give me a second chance I can help to educate young people in cricket, teach them that if you do wrong you are finished like me.”Kaneria said that part of the reason he maintained his innocence at the time was that his father – who died of cancer in 2013 – had been in poor health. “His health was getting worse and worse,” Kaneria said. “I didn’t have the courage to face him and tell him that I was wrong. He was a very, very proud guy. Very, very proud of me and what I did, representing Pakistan, representing my country.”Kaneria played 61 Tests for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010 and took 261 wickets at an average of 34.79. He is still Pakistan’s most successful spin bowler.

Runaway campaign comes to a crashing halt as Vince, McDermott set stage

David Hopps07-Jul-2022Hampshire 186 for 6 (McDermott 61, Brathwaite 4-30) beat Birmingham Bears 82 (Fuller 4-17) by 104 runsBirmingham were the bullies of the North Group. They reached 200 in half of their 14 matches, overpowering most of their opponents at will. But the 15,000 or so who came to Edgbaston at such short notice for this Vitality Blast quarter-final with their anticipation whetted found the bullies receiving their come-uppance in no uncertain manner as Hampshire routed them with a 104-run win.Hampshire’s 186 for 6 was decent, founded upon an opening stand of 91 in 9.1 overs from James Vince and Ben McDermott – Vince, 31 from 22, the slightly sulky stylist, McDermott, 61 from 36, after a careful start as pugnacious as he has been all summer. But they bowled with great intelligence, too, finding more purchase from the pitch than Birmingham did and making their big-hitting batting line-up seem ponderous and one-dimensional as they dismissed them in only 13.3 overs.For the second successive season, Hampshire have repaired a potentially disastrous start in South Group to reach Finals Day yet again. Group form, and home advantage, both in Yorkshire’s defeat of Surrey 24 hours earlier, and here at Edgbaston, has so far been immaterial.This season’s sequence of big scores at Edgbaston suggested Hampshire’s score was around par, and a sun-drenched crowd sat back for the expected onslaught. But perhaps a clue to the contrary lay two pitches away – the surface on which Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root put India to the sword in the Test. The groundstaff have had limited preparation time and Hampshire found just enough seam and swing to place pressure on Birmingham that they were unable to withstand.Birmingham, who had shown their propensity for wholesale collapse when they were dismissed for 101 at Edgbaston by Yorkshire earlier in the season, had another bad night. They lost three wickets in the Powerplay. Paul Stirling was deceived by an excellent back-of-the-hand slower ball by Nathan Ellis, the Australian seamer who left Punjab Kings in the IPL for Hampshire but who has had an uneventful campaign. Alex Davies was bowled by Brad Wheal’s first ball, still on the move as he attempted a ramp shot and lost his middle stump. Sam Hain, who would have been run out on 5 had Tom Prest hit direct from extra cover, tried to charge Wheal and picked out deep midwicket; such advances down the wicket have been a key element in Hain lifting his strike rate this season, but Wheal appeared to read his intentions.James Fuller’s stock has never been higher. With bat and ball, he has been an influential figure in Hampshire’s recovery. He prevented any middle-overs recovery with a spell of 4 for 17. Adam Hose, who can pepper deep midwicket at will if he has chance to free his arms, was expertly yorked. Chris Benjamin, of similar mould, was presented with a full, wide delivery and hauled it inexpertly to mid-on. Carlos Brathwaite took a view at 64 for 6 and two balls later he was walking back to the pavilion, too, as he holed out at mid-on. The fourth was Dan Mousley: an offside slice. The rest was just a matter of time.Hampshire’s innings had started without a care in the world, only to come to a sudden halt. There are people on the internet who are obsessed with how much deceleration a human body can stand. it’s not the fall that gets you, just the sudden change in G-force at the end, although some scientists have it that you are better facing backwards.Hampshire tested the theory. They decelerated suddenly – from 93 without loss in 9.1 overs when the innings threatening to head off into outer space, co-pilots McDermott and Vince at the helm, as if Babylon Zoo by Spaceman was blaring them forward, to 94 for 2 off 9.3. They hit a force of nature name of Carlos Brathwaite. Hampshire eventually recovered. For the songsters among you, that is more than can be said for Babylon Zoo.Brathwaite has been given the captaincy of the Bears at the age of 33 and he did not want to miss a Finals Day on his home ground. Hampshire had broken Birmingham’s left-arm spinner, Danny Briggs, who spilled 33 from his first two overs, and he needed to act. He resorted, almost without variation, to the wide yorker and his figures of 4 for 30 suggested he resorted to it well.Vince’s eyes were popping out of his head when he was dismissed, caught at the wicket, but not because of deceleration, only because he felt the noise was his bat scraping against the ground. He left with a mournful expression engaged. McDermott followed three balls later, dragging on as he tried to run the ball to third man.Prest soon departed lbw, reverse-sweeping a flatter delivery from Mousley, but Joe Weatherley and Ross Whiteley restored the innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 69 in 39 balls. While Brathwaite honed his wide yorkers, Hampshire made progress at the other end with Briggs and Lintott conceding 76 between them from six overs. Birmingham held some daunting skiers in the closing stages as they tried to keep a foothold in the game.From the final ball of the innings, Brathwaite hurled himself to his right at the bowler’s end to prevent an overthrow off his bowling. He had reason to feel that he had done everything to keep the Bears in the match, but it turned out that he had done nothing of the sort. It is Hampshire who will return to Edgbaston in nine days’ time to face the winners of Saturday’s match-up between Somerset and Derbyshire.

Liam Dawson also impressed with four wickets in front of England head coach Trevor Bayliss while India’s spinners had a poor day

David Hopps at Derby22-Jun-2018
ScorecardTrevor Bayliss, England’s coach, is taking time out from the T20 series against India and Australia to run the rule over England Lions and if the results stay like this in their triangular series against the A teams of India and West Indies he could get to like it. Nick Gubbins was the first member of England’s shadow squad to make a favourable impression with an unbeaten hundred as India A, who were expected to be daunting opponents, were despatched by seven wickets with 8.1 overs to spare in Derby.This was Derby at its most inviting. Once renowned as the coldest, most windswept ground in England, it has improved beyond measure and a gorgeous summer’s day and a slow, slightly abrasive pitch seemed designed for India A. But an exciting batting line-up malfunctioned and India A lacked the spin-bowling threat to defend their modest total of 232. Gubbins was at his smoothest in making 128 not out off 132 balls”I think the wicket got better throughout the day as the sun baked it,” Gubbis conceded. “It looked a bit sticky early on, maybe because we were bowling well. A good toss to lose.”Gubbins has been on the fringes of the England Test side for a while, only for Keaton Jennings to win the right to partner Alastair Cook at the top of the order after the selectors dispensed with Mark Stoneman: a partnership that looks certain to begin the Test series against India later this summer. Bayliss rarely bursts into raptures, but he will have been quietly impressed with what he saw.Gubbins’ season has been disrupted by injury. He made hundreds in the first two North v South challenge pre-season challenge matches in Barbados, but tore a hamstring while fielding in the final match and has managed only two Championship matches for Middlesex. He did return in the Royal London Cup, leaving him well attuned to the 50-over game.Only in the 90s, during an eventful over from the offspinner Krishnappa Gowtham, did he look vulnerable. He should have been stumped by Rishabh Pant on 91 when he came down the pitch, struck a boundary through the hands of mid-off as Gowtham flung his arms aloft in frustration, and finished the over by bringing up his fifth List A century with a dance-down-the-wicket six over long off.Sam Hain also made a composed half-century in a second-wicket stand of 134 in 24 overs as no India A bowler managed to exert much pressure and the result was signalled long before the end. A few disconsolate India ex pats chanted their loyalty to Ravi Jadeja as defeat loomed. India can be expected to put up much stiffer opposition in a triangular where sides play each other twice before a final at Kia Oval a week on Monday.Two India U-19 starlets departed in the first hour: Prithvi Shaw fell to a catch at the wicket off Tom Helm, who had earlier struck him on the forearm, causing a delay for treatment, and Shubman Gill’s impressive 37 from 40 balls came to grief perhaps because of slight over-confidence when he was bowled, playing inside a ball from left-arm spinner Liam Dawson which had no discernible turn.In between there was also an excellent catch by Ben Foakes, way to his right, which provided respite for Reece Topley after an uncertain start.Dawson, now 28, and with ten internationals behind him across three formats, was one of three players in this Lions side qualifying for the description of wily old pro, a designation that could also apply to the captain, Steven Mullaney, who is having his first taste of senior representative cricket at 31, and Chris Jordan, who managed only one match for Sunrisers in this season’s IPL.Dawson eased the chase by taking 4 for 30, a miserly spell despite only a semblance of turn, and one which turned out to be the best analysis by a Lions spinner in England. Dawson bowled Gill for 37 as he played inside a straight one and had Shreyas Iyer, India’s captain, stumped for 42 – a wild swing across the line caused by his failure to reach the pitch of the ball. There was a first-ball duck for Vijay Shankar as he pushed forward, Gowtham also falling in similar fashion.Pant’s 64 from 55 balls was the third India A knock to threaten destruction. He struck Dawson over the low-slung, brick-built bar, but he fell to the offspin of Liam Livingstone when he swept to deep backward square. Seven down for 180, with 18 overs left, India A had been architects of their own downfall.With the same surface destined to be used in England’s match against West Indies on Saturday, England could give an outing to Lancashire’s legspinner Matt Parkinson with India also likely to re-examine their spin options.

Coach plays down own role in series marked by superb tactics and man-management

Andrew Miller20-Dec-2022Brendon McCullum, England’s Test coach, says it is “scary” to think how good a leader Ben Stokes could become after his transformative influence in the year just gone, having secured a historic 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan with a ninth Test victory in the space of ten games.Speaking to Sky Sports in Karachi, in the aftermath of England’s eight-wicket win in the third and final Test, McCullum played down his own crucial role in the team’s rise from the ruin of last winter’s Ashes, stating bluntly that he does “bugger all” behind the scenes. Instead, he lavished praise on his captain, for his work both on and off the field.”The skipper was absolutely magnificent right throughout the series,” McCullum said. “Not just on the field, where everyone sees the decisions he makes and the strings he pulls, but it’s his man-management and his ability to get the very best out of each member of the side, off the field, which is the most impressive part from our point of view.”It’s the captain’s mantra, this side is very much in the image of the skipper,” McCullum added. “And Stokesy wants the guys to go out there and play with the most amount of freedom that they can.”He’s got the benefit of a long and distinguished career behind him, and he’s in that stage of his life where he wants to do something significant and make a real impact, not just on the game but on other people’s careers. He’s identified that taking away that pressure and that fear of failure allows the talent and the skill to come out.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Stokes himself was at the crease on the final day, finishing 35 not out in England’s pursuit of 167 for their clean sweep. But it was England’s efforts on the very first day of the tour, in Rawalpindi, that set the team on course for history, as they racked up a remarkable 506 for 4 in 75 overs, including four centuries from Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook, the eventual Player of the Series.”That was more than I thought we were going to make, to be honest,” McCullum said. “The way that Crawley and Duckett started for us in that Test match, it really laid a marker out for where this team wants to be, and for how brave our cricket needs to be as well.”It was about playing the role that the team needs you to play, rather than getting too caught up in your own stuff, and it was a huge day that allowed us to try and force a result. Maybe the series would have been different if we hadn’t have gone down that route.”The defining aspect of England’s wins, however, was ultimately their ability to prise out 20 wickets in a Test, with a range of different tactics and personnel coming to the fore, from the part-time spin of Will Jacks and the skilful use of reverse swing in Rawalpindi, to Jack Leach’s first-innings four-for and the decisive pace onslaught of Mark Wood in Multan, and ultimately to the remarkable emergence of the legspinner Rehan Ahmed with his debut five-for in Karachi.”It’s a great achievement,” McCullum said. “If you look at the whole six or seven months, we’ve taken 20 wickets in a Test on nine out of 10 occasions. So it’s one thing scoring fast and putting teams under pressure with the bat, but you got to be able to bowl teams out as well.”And the mantra within the group is ‘how do we take wickets?’ Every time we’ve got the ball in our hand, ‘how are we going to try and get this guy out?’ If you go for runs, you go for runs, but we back ourselves that will chase those runs down later on. I think once you have that mindset, you free yourself up from having to worry about runs. It allows you to look at things with a positive mantra.”Related

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Stokes’ field placings were eye-catching throughout the tour, but they had to be too, with not a single traditional slip catch off the seamers all series long. Instead, he backed his bowlers with leg slips for the short ball into the ribs, and close catchers in the eyeline to capitalise on mistimed drives, a process that Stokes himself admitted had been entirely down to instinct, rather than pre-set plans.”A lot of my decisions were based on what I thought was the best option at any given time,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “I feel as if out here is probably the easiest conditions to mess around with a few different things. You don’t have to have a slip because it’s not going to go to slip in three games for us. So you use that slip somewhere else, maybe to visually upset the batsman.”Watching on from the dressing-room, McCullum was impressed. “The skipper never lets the game drift,” he said. “He’s always got something happening. He’s always pulling a string somewhere and the guys follow him. It’s a great combination to have, and it makes it pretty easy when you’re watching from up in the coach’s box.”There’s maverick in it and genius in a lot of it,” he added. “He’s just got an insatiable appetite to keep moving the game forward, which is super-impressive. But for me, it’s the man management, it’s the consistency of message, it’s the pure passion and drive that he’s got to make a significant difference in Test cricket, and English cricket, which is most impressive.”So I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve taken over this job when Stokesy has got the reins, and I think he’s only going to get better and better and better, which is quite scary. Because if he continues to improve and drive this team forward then, with the talent that sits within the dressing room, they will give it a good shake anyway.”I don’t do bugger all, to be honest,” McCullum joked. “I just make sure that the guys remain consistent with their own beliefs, and that they all want to be the best version of themselves. To be honest, it’s a really easy job … don’t tell my bosses. But I’m really enjoying myself, and I couldn’t I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.”Looking on from the Sky Sports studio, however, Stuart Broad gave a more nuanced assessment of McCullum’s under-stated influence in the dressing-room.”I’ve not seen him throw many balls, I’ve not seen him talk technically to anybody, but you watch every training session, he walks around and speaks to every single player,” Broad said. “Just checking in and seeing how they are, seeing what their mindset’s like, making sure they are taking the options that are right for the mantra of the team. He’s an incredible man-manager.”