“In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2021Harbhajan Singh has announced his retirement from all formats of the game. In a video message on Twitter, the former India offspinner said that “in many ways, I had already retired”, but because of his commitments with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, he was forced to delay the announcement.”There comes a time in your life when you must take some tough decisions and move ahead. I have been meaning to make this announcement for the last few years, but I was waiting for the right moment to share it with all of you: today, I am retiring from all formats of cricket,” he said. “In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement.”I haven’t been an active cricketer for a while. But I had a commitment to Kolkata Knight Riders, and wanted to spend the (2021) IPL season with them. But during the season itself, I had made up my mind to retire.”Harbhajan last turned out for India in March 2016, in a T20I against UAE in Dhaka in that year’s Asia Cup. Harbhajan, now 41, made his international debut back in March 1998, in a Test match against Australia in Bengaluru, picking up two wickets in an eight-wicket defeat. He went on to play 103 Tests, for a haul of 417 wickets – still the fourth-highest for India – at an average of 32.46, with an innings best of 8 for 84 and a match best of 15 for 217, both recorded in India’s two-wicket win over Australia in the Chennai Test of 2001, which gave them a 2-1 win in an iconic series. In the previous Test in Kolkata, made famous due to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid’s batting all day while following-on – Harbhajan had played a major role too in India’s stunning come-from-behind win, bagging 13 wickets in the match.Harbhajan also turned out in 236 ODIs from 1998 to 2015, taking 269 wickets at 33.35 and an economy rate of 4.31. He played 28 T20Is, taking 25 wickets at an average of 25.32 and an economy rate of 6.20. His overall tally of 707 international wickets is the second-highest for India, behind Anil Kumble’s 953.Harbhajan has had great success in the IPL too, taking 150 wickets in 163 matches, fifth on the all-time list. Harbhajan also took 20 wickets in 22 Champions League T20 matches, leading Mumbai Indians to victory in the competition in 2011. Harbhajan’s longest association with a franchise was with Mumbai Indians, who bought him in the 2008 auction and retained him ahead of the mega auctions in 2011 and 2014. Released ahead of the 2018 mega auction, Harbhajan had two years with Chennai Super Kings before finishing up with Knight Riders.”It has been a beautiful journey over 25 years, right from the of Jalandhar to becoming the Turbanator of India,” he said in the statement. “Nothing has been more motivating for me than stepping out on the field while wearing the India jersey.”Like every [Indian] cricketer, even I wished to bid goodbye in an India jersey, but fate had something else in store for me. Irrespective of the side I represented, I have always given my 100% commitment to ensure my team finishes on top – whether it was India, Punjab, Mumbai Indians, CSK [Chennai Super Kings], KKR or the county teams of Surrey and Essex.””My first real happiness was the hat-trick I took in Kolkata”•Hamish Blair/ALLSPORT

Harbhajan had plenty of success across formats, including being part of two World Cup winning teams with India – in 2011 and in 2007 for the inaugural T20 World Cup. His greatest achievement, arguably, remains the performance in the series against Australia in 2001, where he bagged 32 wickets in three Tests, where no other Indian bowler took more than three wickets. Harbhajan’s feat included taking a hat-trick in Kolkata.”If you ask me about my cricket career, my first real happiness was the hat-trick I took in Kolkata, becoming the first Indian bowler to do so in a Test match. I also got 32 wickets in the three Tests in that series, which is still a record,” he said. “Following this, the T20 World Cup win 2007 and the [ODI] World Cup win in 2011 were most important for me. Those were moments that I can neither forget nor express in words as to how big that happiness was for me.”As for the future, Harbhajan said that he has “no idea” what he would do, but indicated that it would be connected to the game.”Cricket was, is and will always be an important part of my life. I have served Indian cricket for years, and will continue to strive to serve them in the future,” he said. “I have no idea about the future, but whatever I am today is because of cricket. I will be immensely happy if I can be of help to Indian cricket in any role in the future.”Now I begin a new chapter in my life, which starts with its own challenges. Believe me, your Turbanator is ready for the examination! Just keep showering your love on me.”

Akeal Hosein takes four wickets as England are derailed in series decider

Andrew Miller30-Jan-2022 West Indies 179 for 4 (Pollard 41) beat England 162 (Vince 55, Holder 5-25, Hosein 4-30) by 17 runs Jason Holder claimed four wickets in four balls in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Barbados, to put a very personal seal on an outstanding series win for West Indies. In a pulsating finale at Bridgetown, Holder built on a career-best haul of 4 for 30 from the left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, to outlast an England team that was once again left to rue its own shortcomings at the death, as they succumbed by 17 runs to lose the series 3-2.England were set 180 for victory, after a two-paced batting display from West Indies, in which Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell cracked 66 runs from the final four overs to re-ignite an innings that had gone flat during a masterful display of legspin from Adil Rashid.In reply, James Vince set the early tempo with 55 from 35 balls, and Sam Billings applied some precious late impetus with 41 from 28. But after Hosein had undermined England with a wicket in each of his four overs, it was left to the veteran Holder to defend 20 runs in the final over – and despite a first-ball no-ball to ramp up the jeopardy, there was never any doubt once he found his range.First to go was Chris Jordan, who picked up a low full toss with a heave across the line, but picked out the substitute Hayden Walsh Jr on the midwicket rope. Billings, who got himself back on strike as the batters crossed, then launched a similar stroke in a similar direction, as Holder trusted the full length, before Adil Rashid slapped another fifth-stump delivery high into the leg-side, where Odean Smith settled beneath the hat-trick delivery.That was already game, set and series – but even more glory was to come Holder’s way before the celebrations could begin in earnest, as Saqib Mahmood attempted to dig out a full straight ball, and inside-edged on to his leg stump, a deflection so imperceptible that it wasn’t until Nicholas Pooran started pointing in glee at the dislodged bail that Holder realised what he had achieved. As if his haul of 4 for 7 in the first match wasn’t glorious enough, this was quite the way to finish.On the front foot from the outsetAfter winning the toss for the fourth time in the series, Pollard chose to bat for the first time – his logic being that the “virtual final” nature of the contest made runs on the board all the more valuable. And, with the contest taking place on the same pitch where Powell had mown a 51-ball century on Wednesday, it was a chance to show faith in his troops as well.Mahmood was back in England’s team for similar reasons – in the wake of his maltreatment at the death in game two, this was a chance for him to prove his mettle in a high-stakes contest. The initial signs, however, were ominous. Latching on to his residual doubts, Brandon King launched Mahmood’s first ball clean over long-on for a premeditated six, and by the time Kyle Mayers had swivelled into a brace of exquisite pulls, his last two overs in international cricket had gone for an eye-watering 47 runs.And thus the early tone of West Indies’ innings was set. Reece Topley continued his impressive re-entry by conceding 11 runs from two overs, but Mayers – quite the upgrade from the off-colour Shai Hope – laid into Jordan with another brace of Lara-esque pulls through the leg-side, before King dumped a Moeen Ali length ball over long-on for the fourth six of the powerplay, one over after Billings spilled a leg-side stumping catch as he tweaked one through the gate.Rashid causes mid-innings panicSpin is one thing… but legspin is West Indies’ kryptonite. And Rashid has proven to be a particularly debilitating rival down the years. This was his 13th T20I against West Indies – more than he has played against any other nation. He now has 22 wickets against them at an average of 10.95, an economy rate of 5.69, and a strike-rate of 11.5 (more than one every two overs) – and each of those are figures that he hasn’t bettered against anyone else.At the end of the powerplay, West Indies were cooking on 58 for 0. Four balls later, there was panic in the air, as Mayers took on the long boundary with a ragged pull into the wind, and found Jason Roy back-pedalling on the rope for another routinely sensational relay catch – Phil Salt was the beneficiary as he pocketed the lob back into play while jogging round from long-on.Kieron Pollard landed some thumping blows•Getty Images

Romario Shepherd, once again pushed up the order with a licence for carnage, duly obliged by greeting a Liam Livingstone full-toss with a slam over long-on. But before the over was out, he’d been utterly undone by the ball turning out of his arc – beaten on the slog one ball, then skewing a fat outside edge to point the next, and West Indies had slipped to 67 for 2.Pooran attempted to take Rashid down with an airy first-ball flog over long-on, but having failed to connect properly, he then retreated into his shell – as if mindful of not exposing his team-mates to the threat. At the other end, King’s previously sparky innings came to a tame end as Livingstone made it three wickets out of three for the leggies, and it would be seven full overs before West Indies would break the shackles with another boundary. By then, Rashid had signed off for the night by bowling Pooran with a googly for 21 – his figures of 2 for 17 from four overs had applied the emergency break.Powell, Pollard pick up the paceFor that period of West Indies’ mid-innings reticence, their Manhattan chart began to resemble a stumble down a flight of cellar stairs. But as soon as the death overs began, England’s increasingly infamous frailties surged to the fore. Topley, so excellent for so much of this series, was collared on the pull by Powell, whose arrival in the 15th over was eyebrow-raisingly late given his form.Pollard, a sheet-anchor for his first 12 balls, then picked off a full toss in the same over to kick-start his innings, and when Topley’s best ball of the over, a pinpoint leg-stump yorker, was deflected fine through third man for four more, England’s dismal record between overs 16-20 – it’s now more than 11 runs per over since the start of 2021, worse than any other ODI team – was sounding like a stuck record.Jordan has been especially culpable in that regard of late – not least in that pivotal over in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand – and when he missed his mark four times in the space of six balls, Powell and Pollard were primed to cash in (although one of Powell’s sixes in particular, a flat smash through midwicket off an otherwise faultless yorker, was really just a heady confluence of skill and confidence). Another 66 runs had flooded from England’s final four overs, to go with the 67 they had conceded in their second match. After five taxing matches, that’s an issue that they seem no closer to resolving.Akeal is England’s Achilles HeelRoy on strike? How about some left-arm spin? It’s become a pretty transparent ploy from teams the world over, but with good reason, given that Roy was talking in the lead-up to the World Cup about having to banish some “darker thoughts” when faced with that ominous mode of attack.For two balls, it seemed that West Indies had out-thought themselves, as Roy responded with a brace of feisty boundaries – a slotted drive through long-off, and a short-arm thump through the covers. Before the over was out, however, Roy was traipsing off, shaking his head in dismay, after under-edging a slog-sweep into his pad and into Pooran’s gloves as he ran round from behind the stumps.That was the end of his work for the first half of the innings – it was the startling pace of the recalled Smith that dominated the rest of the powerplay, as Tom Banton paid the price for nailing one pull for six by splicing another to Pollard on the edge of the rope, before Moeen was dropped first ball as he steered a snorter to Holder at slip.Holder would eventually atone for that error by ending an unusually laboured stay from Moeen – there was never any danger of a repeat of his four consecutive sixes from game four as he flicked his first ball after drinks into the covers to trudge off for a boundary-less 14 from 19. But given his reputation for taking down spinners, Moeen’s departure was the cue for Hosein to return, and he did so with a devastating triple-whammy.Livingstone was the first of his mid-innings victims – caught at point as his campaign ended with a miscued slap – and though Vince carved consecutive fours to rattle past a 30-ball half-century, his attempted slog-sweep in Hosein’s next over plopped tamely into the hands of deep midwicket. Phil Salt didn’t get past the slog aspect of his dismissal – a rowdy gallop led to him being stumped by a distance for 3 – and as Hosein finished his spell of 4 for 30, England took a sickly scoreline of 124 for 6 into their own death-overs effort.

Cross, Ecclestone play stellar roles with the ball to restrict the hosts

S Sudarshanan19-Mar-2022 England Women 204 for 9 (Sciver 61, Knight 42, Mackay 4-34) beat New Zealand Women 203 (Green 52*, Devine 41, Cross 3-35, Ecclestone 3-41) by one wicket It is a World Cup of thrillers. And England took the tough route to get home to all but knock the hosts out.Nat Sciver and her partnership with Sophia Dunkley had almost done it for England. They had added 70 for the fifth wicket and England were just 28 away. But Frances Mackay, with a wet ball thanks to constant drizzle, picked three wickets for just eight runs after the 40th over to trigger a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 20 to go from a comfortable 176 for 4 to a nervy 196 for 9.Mackay first got one to spin in sharply past the outside edge of Dunkley’s bat to bowl her. An over later, she had Sophie Ecclestone inside-edging one on to the stumps, before having Kate Cross lbw to a ball she should have been forward to. Then Katherine Brunt ran herself out going for a non-existent second run to add to the chaos. It was panic stations in the England dressing room.In the interim, Sciver, on 61, missed a cut off Jess Kerr to be bowled. But Anya Shrubsole and Charlie Dean saw England home eventually to help them notch up their second win in the competition to keep their title defence alive.On a day of intermittent drizzle, it was the trio of Cross, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone who combined to dismiss New Zealand for 203 after they had gotten off to a quick start in Auckland. Maddy Green’s half-century helped the hosts past the 200-run mark, something that looked to be at a distance after a late collapse.After a 15-minute toss delay where Knight inserted New Zealand in, Devine and Suzie Bates cashed in on some wayward bowling. Brunt struggled to adjust to the wind and didn’t get her lines and lengths right, much like Ellyse Perry in the India-Australia match on Saturday, and the ‘Smash Sisters’ took full toll.Shrubsole wasn’t spared either as New Zealand raced to 44 for 0 in seven overs. That prompted England to get Cross and Sciver on early, but Devine and Bates brought up their first fifty partnership in the competition.Cross then gave England an opening when she got Bates to miscue one high for mid-off. Soon, Devine had to retire hurt on 37 after going down with a sore back and barely managing to get up and walk off.While Cross and Sciver kept the lid on the scoring, Dean’s introduction further slowed things down as Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite struggled to rotate strike. The offspinner, who had returned career-best of 4 for 23 against India, got Amelia Kerr to top-edge a sweep, the shot that she had employed successfully throughout the series against India.Green then took on Ecclestone after a watchful start, while Satterthwaite, too, began to accelerate with a slight drizzle making an appearance. However, Dean trapped Satterthwaite to start the slide for New Zealand. They lost five wickets for just 27 runs from there, including that of Devine, who walked back in after the sixth wicket. It was Green’s innings coupled with a last-wicket cameo by Jess Kerr, where she scored 14 off just 13 balls, that saw the home side cross 200.New Zealand began the 204-run defence well, dismissing Danni Wyatt early after she had gotten off to a quick start. It took the long, outstretched arms of Hannah Rowe running backwards from mid-off to get the breakthrough. Tammy Beaumont, on the other hand, was busy and hit three fours in the space of six balls against Rowe and Jess Kerr. She had gotten the measure of the surface that seemed to hold up a bit in the second innings, pulling Lea Tahuhu for four before the bowler undid her with pace to knock her over.New Zealand were disciplined without being incisive enough, and Sciver was happy to bide her time. In fact, it was Sciver’s slowest fifty in ODIs. It was set up by Heather Knight earlier, who scored 42 off 53 balls, unlucky to miss out on a half-century of her own.Knight and Sciver, as they had done against India, prevented the slide and at the same time kept England on course. The England captain waited for spinners to err before reverse-sweeping Mackay through backward point and using the leg glance to collect a boundary off Amelia Kerr.Mackay, though, extracted revenge when she trapped Knight in front of the stumps in an attempted reverse sweep, the DRS not coming to Knight’s aid. Brooke Halliday, who was called in to fill Tahuhu’s quota, had England in a brief discomfort that resulted in Amy Jones’ wicket.It was then than Sciver and Dunkley got together to effectively seal the chase. Sciver showed restraint in attacking Amelia Kerr and was happy to wait for the bad balls, which was one of the characteristics of her knock. She pulled Rowe through backward point to get to her half-century off 97 balls. But with England in pole position, needing 31 off the last ten overs, they committed hara-kiri.Somehow, they managed to squeeze home in the end, by the barest of margins.

WA captain ‘shed a few tears’ after winning the Sheffield Shield for the first time in his 21-year career

Alex Malcolm04-Apr-2022The tears said it all. Shaun Marsh has had countless triumphs over a 21-year professional career. He’s made 13 international centuries for Australia, won Ashes series, Border-Gavaskar trophies, been the leading runscorer in an IPL, won multiple BBL and Australia domestic 50-over titles.But raising the Sheffield Shield aloft as Western Australia captain, something his father Geoff Marsh had done, something no WA captain had done in 23 years, could be his greatest achievement as a cricketer.”It’s pretty emotional to be honest,” Marsh said. “I’ve shed a few tears.”It’s definitely up there. Dad always spoke about his Shield wins as being the highlight of his career and this feeling that I’ve got inside my body now it’s definitely up there and I’m just so happy for the playing group.”Related

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It might be the perfect way to finish for Marsh. He began his Shield career as a 17-year-old with Western Australia in 2001, three years before his current team-mate Teague Wyllie was even born. But the 38-year-old, who has a year to run on his state contract with WA and has signed a two-year contract extension with Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, has not decided on his future just yet.”I’m not too sure,” Marsh said. “I’m not going to worry about it for a few days. I’m really going to enjoy this moment and enjoy it with the boys. We’ve really earned this moment. It’s been a few years in the making this and I’ll sit down with [coach Adam Voges] at some stage and we’ll see what next year looks like but at the moment I’m not even going to think about it. I’m going to celebrate with the boys and really cherish this moment.”WA were made to earn the title by an unrelenting Victoria outfit. They narrowly claimed the bonus point lead in the first innings thanks a superb 141 from Cameron Bancroft. Victoria coach Chris Rogers said it was the best he had ever seen Bancroft bat.Shaun Marsh lifts the Sheffield Shield•Getty Images

Then Aaron Hardie and Joel Paris orchestrated a Victoria collapse taking three wickets each after the visitors looked poised to snatch the bonus point lead and give themselves the opportunity to take the title with a drawn game. It gave WA a first-innings lead of 80.But there was one more twist in the tail on day four. Two quick wickets saw WA slump to 5 for 110, with a lead of just 190, and over five sessions left in the match. However, Sam Whiteman and Hardie both made centuries to put the game to bed and ease Marsh’s nerves.”I battled through day four,” Marsh said. “It was probably the best and worst day of my life to be honest. The emotions were going through my body and I couldn’t be more proud of Sammy and Hards in that partnership.”The game was in the balance and the way those two came out and batted it was just incredible and really put us into a commanding position. That partnership [is] up there with the best I’ve seen in 21 years.”Hardie finished with 174 not out, his highest first-class score, while Whiteman made 123 to go with his 85 in the first innings and faced over 500 balls in the match to be named player of the final.It was a special result for Whiteman, who played alongside Marsh, Bancroft and Voges in WA’s only other Shield finals during their 23-year title drought. Both were losing draws against New South Wales in 2013-14 and Victoria in 2014-15.Sam Whiteman and Aaron Hardie both made centuries•Getty Images

“It’s very special,” Whiteman said. “It means a lot to everyone in the group, and it varies from person to person. But you think of Shaun who’s played for 20-odd years. A lot of the group has played for 10 years now and we probably messed up a few chances along the way. You start doubting whether it’s going to come but it feels amazing.”Whiteman’s performance is made all the more extraordinary given he has reinvented himself as an opening batter, after playing as a specialist wicketkeeper in WA’s previous two finals before a finger injury forced him to give away the gloves.”Before the game my wife said to me, who would have thought you know, seven or eight years after your last Shield final that you’d be playing as an opening batter,” Whiteman said. “And yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed it, going from the keeper to opening. It’s special to be part of the team, play my small role, and, yeah, just pumped for WA cricket.”Victoria captain Peter Handscomb was left to ponder several decisions he and his side made throughout the five days including sending WA in after winning the toss and failing to chase the bonus point lead harder in the first innings.”I’m still okay with the toss,” Handscomb said. “I think hindsight is an interesting one. Looking back, we probably could have gone harder at the bonus point and then we get to try and control the game and try and get the draw that way. But at the time, we thought the wicket would deteriorate a little bit more than it did. We thought we’d be able to force a result somehow whether it be a win or a loss.”We didn’t really expect the pitch to kind of play like that. To see no cracks on a WACA wicket day four or five is a little bit interesting.”Handscomb had no qualms with WA batting Victoria out of the game noting his side would have done the same had they been in the same position. As disappointed as he was with the result, he was delighted for Marsh, who he played alongside for several years with Australia.”Bloody happy for Sos,” Handscomb said. “He’s a good mate of mine. It’s good that he’s been able to do that.”

No back-to-back Blast games for Middlesex as Morgan targets T20 World Cup in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2022Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, says he will need to take it “week by week” if he hopes to lead his side out for this winter’s T20 World Cup in Australia, but is prepared to own up to feeling “cooked” at any stage in this year’s busy itinerary.Morgan, 36, has not played any competitive cricket since missing the final three matches of England’s T20I tour of the Caribbean in January with a quadriceps strain. He is due to play in Middlesex’s opening fixture of the Vitality Blast on Thursday, against Gloucestershire at Radlett, but will sit out the following day’s fixture against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, having passed the team captaincy over to Stevie Eskinazi.”There’s nothing specific [injury-wise],” Morgan told London’s Evening Standard. “I’m just old, I think! It takes longer to recover. I did play the two back-to-back games in Barbados, then I got injured. You shouldn’t get injured warming up as a batsman, but I pulled my quad warming up, which means my body just didn’t recover at all.”This surfeit of caution means that England will be obliged to have “contingency plans”, as Morgan put it, when their international season gets underway. Assuming they are fit and available, Jos Buttler or Moeen Ali are the likely captaincy stand-ins for England’s three ODIs in the Netherlands next month, including two in three days on June 17 and 19.From there, England take on India and South Africa in 12 matches across two formats in July, before Morgan’s second season of the Hundred with London Spirit gets underway in August. His winter schedule is scarcely less busy, with England now due to play seven T20Is in a fortnight in Pakistan before heading to Australia to prepare for the World Cup in mid-October.”There are back-to-back games in the international fixtures, so just getting to them and seeing how I am, will be a decision made then,” Morgan added. “There is more solace looking towards the World Cup, because there aren’t fixtures within a few days. Everywhere else we play, they see time and just want to have games.”England are set to embark on a new era across formats, following the appointment of Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott as the new red- and white-ball head coaches, and despite expressing his excitement at working with the two new arrivals, Morgan is realistic enough to recognise that his own involvement could yet end abruptly.Related

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“Particularly with getting injured recently on the West Indies tour, I need to be as honest as I can with Keysy [England managing director Rob Key] and everyone else to make sure we are in the right position come Australia in October,” he said. “I have always said that if I am on the way to a ground and feel done or cooked, or lacking the drive for it as a leader, I will communicate ASAP to Rob.”But I think it’s important that I play it week by week to start with, and aim for the T20 World Cup.”With England’s initial focus on the revival of their Test fortunes, starting at Lord’s against New Zealand next week, Morgan said that he did not expect to see many of England’s multi-format players – most particularly Ben Stokes but Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root too – until the Pakistan tour gets underway in October.This means that England’s tour party for the Netherlands in particular could have an experimental feel – and potentially a controversial selection too, with Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke among those likely to feature in the selection debate, three years after his involvement in a sexist WhatsApp group that ultimately led to the rape conviction of his former Worcestershire team-mate Alex Hepburn.Key recently opened the door to a Clarke call-up by remarking that “you can’t penalise people forever”, and in an interview with The Telegraph this week, Clarke – who was sanctioned by the ECB but was not charged or accused of any crime – admitted his enduring sense of “embarrassment and shame” at his actions.”This is not about playing for England. This is about owning what I did, that I made a mistake and what I did was wrong,” Clarke said. “If there is a message in there for the victim, and if she were to read this, she will see that I know I let her down. Hopefully she will read that and she would not feel anything towards me in a bad way.”

Australian quick wins compelling duel with his Victoria captain Peter Handscomb during four-wicket haul

Matt Roller13-May-2022There was a sense of inevitability as James Pattinson steamed in, the shadows of the Grandstand lengthening across Lord’s, and nipped the ball back off the seam to trap Luke Hollman lbw. A win this week should be enough for Nottinghamshire to replace Middlesex as Division Two’s leaders and Pattinson, the snarling spearhead of their seam attack, set them on the path towards that result.Pattinson signed for Notts on an initial one-year deal over the winter as an overseas player – despite the fact he holds a British passport – after retiring from international cricket at the age of 31. That status will allow him to return to Australia to play for Victoria and Melbourne Renegades later this year, at which point he will assess whether his body can cope with the strain of playing all year round.Notts’ resources are unmatched in the second division and their seam attack is so deep that they could afford the luxury of resting Pattinson in their three-day win against Worcestershire. The fixture list gave them a week off in the last round of games meaning that Pattinson had not bowled for 20 days.He looked fit – and fired up – throughout the 17 overs he bowled in the day, and his five-over spell from the Pavilion End after tea would not have looked out of place in a Test match. Three balls after the interval, he bowled Mark Stoneman through the gate with a nip-backer, going wide on the crease from around the wicket and angling the ball up the slope.And Pattinson’s duel with Peter Handscomb, his Victoria captain, was the highlight. Handscomb is yet to score a half-century at Lord’s since he arrived at Middlesex last summer but played fluently throughout his innings on a slowish pitch, scoring heavily square of the wicket.He came through a test against the short ball, pulling Pattinson for four when he came around the wicket, but was caught on the crease when he pitched full, trapped in front for 48. Pattinson roared in characteristic style in close proximity to Handscomb; rarely has a Championship dismissal at Lord’s lent itself to Victorian first grade cricket to such an extent.Relegated to first change with Luke Fletcher and Stuart Broad sharing the new ball, he had made the early breakthrough with the final delivery of his first over, zipping the ball up the slope to knock Sam Robson’s off stump back as he shouldered arms. He finished with 4 for 49, his best figures of the season so far.Middlesex ended the day wondering how things had slipped out of their grasp after Toby Roland-Jones started it with a spell of 9-4-18-4, trapping Steven Mullaney lbw with the first ball of the day and then removing Tom Moores, Liam Patterson-White (both bowled) and Pattinson (caught behind) in quick succession.But Fletcher and Broad held them up with a stand of 63 in 12.4 overs, with Fletcher tucking into Hollman’s legbreaks and clubbing his way to a sixth first-class fifty from No. 11. He was eventually caught behind for 50 off 54 when he tried to scythe Martin Andersson through point; Broad, unusually, played second fiddle, unbeaten on 11.Both men were involved in Middlesex’s second wicket, one which summed their afternoon up. Stoneman tucked Broad off his hip straight to Fletcher at midwicket and set off for an unlikely single, but Fletcher swooped, threw and hit. He set off with both arms raised, mobbed by his team-mates. “I’ve seen run-outs here before,” Mike Atherton murmured with a wry smile at the back of the press box, after his son Josh de Caires had trudged off.Broad’s own contribution was limited to three late wickets as Middlesex’s tailenders looked to swing their way towards the follow-on target: Roland-Jones and Andersson were caught on the pull, while Murtagh was cleaned up poking at a full ball. Broad is candid enough to admit that he is using the early stages of the Championship season as preparation for England’s first Test of the summer, against New Zealand here in two weeks’ time.He will be grateful, then, for some rest before he bowls again after Notts opted not to enforce the follow-on. Unfortunately for him, it seems unlikely they will still be batting by the time his beloved Nottingham Forest close out the first leg of their play-off semi-final against Sheffield United after tea.

Mumbai are still ahead by 251 runs but MP’s strong start hangs final in the balance

Shashank Kishore23-Jun-2022Madhya Pradesh slowly chipped away at the runs and have built a base camp from which they will look to scale Mumbai’s first innings score of 374 as the Ranji Trophy final is delicately poised going into the third day in Bengaluru.Having taken a wicket off the second ball to have Mumbai 248 for 6, they saw Sarfaraz Khan rally with the lower order to make his fourth century of the season. However, MP hung in there and made a solid beginning to their own innings, finishing on 123 for 1 at stumps, trailing Mumbai by 251.Yash Dubey, out to two somewhat debatable calls in the semi-finals, was unbeaten on 44. He was overshadowed by Shubham Sharma, who battled a lot more positively to keep the scoreboard moving along, thereby giving Prithvi Shaw and co something to think about as an all-out attacking field slowly spread out as the final session progressed. Towards the end, Dubey managed to even overtake Shubham as their partnership was worth 76.All said, Mumbai still have the runs to play with but MP won’t be too disappointed either, given they are also playing an extra batter in debutant Parth Sahani. Their stonewaller Himanshu Mantri would be disappointed, though, missing out on a start as he fell for 31 in the first over after tea as he played all around a full Tushar Deshpande delivery to be trapped lbw. It broke a stubborn 47-run opening stand to lift Mumbai after the fast bowlers probed away without much luck prior to the tea interval.After tea, Dubey and Shubham raised a half-century stand off 89 deliveries. Just as they were beginning to look increasingly at ease, a change of ball in the final session seemed to make a difference as Deshpande and Mohit Avasthi forced the batters to shut shop by delivering a probing spell of reverse swing bowling as stumps loomed.Reverse swing aside, Avasthi, the first-change bowler, impressed in short bursts, occasionally getting the ball to rear up to make Dubey uncomfortable, but he couldn’t sustain it for long enough. As spin came on, both batters kept milking runs. Shams Mulani, easily Mumbai’s best bowler so far this season with 37 scalps at an average of 15.64, was particularly picked off with ease. He conceded 46 runs in 11 wicketless overs. More than the runs, that he couldn’t even cause a flutter would worry the team management.The morning entirely belonged to Mumbai as Sarfaraz bailed the team out with the lower order. He found some staunch resistance from Dhawal Kulkarni as he got to a well-constructed eighth first-class century. It took him 152 balls to get to a half-century, and only 38 more for him to complete the hundred. He was particularly severe on the spinners as he used the full-blooded sweep to good effect.The first eight overs produced just 10, but Sarfaraz was happy to play himself in and temper his game to give bowlers the first hour. He reined in his shots, resisted temptation to try and pick off cheeky boundaries like he usually does, focused fully on playing orthodox cricket.After Mulani was out second ball, Tanush Kotian barely survived, pushing, and prodding against the fast bowlers before an unplayable delivery got him when Gaurav Yadav bowled him with a superb away-swinger to flatten his off stump. Yadav, who wheeled away without any luck on the opening day, had four wickets to show for his efforts by the end.Kulkarni’s stonewall for a better part of an hour allowed Sarfaraz to play big shots. He got to a century with a lofted hit down the ground off Kumar Kartikeya’s left-arm spin. His animated celebration thereafter had the sparse crowd, national selectors and his team-mates give him a standing ovation. He added 34 runs more but eventually fell playing one big shot too many. By then, Mumbai were in an excellent position, leaving MP to do all the running to try and remain in the game, which they have.

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.

Warwickshire batter has impressed in the Blast but last played a first-class game in 2019

Matt Roller29-Jul-2022Adam Hose has left Warwickshire for Worcestershire in a bid to revive his red-ball career, three years after his last first-class appearance.Hose became an integral part of Warwickshire’s T20 side this year and was the third-highest run-scorer in the Blast, but has been unable to break into the Championship side.He has now signed a three-year deal at New Road and hopes to emulate his former Warwickshire team-mate Ed Pollock, who has played nine Championship games this season after struggling for opportunities at Edgbaston.Related

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“I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my career at Worcestershire and delighted to sign for the next three years and hopefully, beyond,” Hose said. “I’ve got a fair amount of experience under my belt, but I’m only 29 and believe that my best years are ahead of me.”I know the club has a great history and a future that looks really bright, and that excites me, especially with the talented group of youngsters that the club continually produce.”Worcestershire have had a lot of success in recent times in white-ball cricket, and I want to play my part in repeating that Vitality Blast success of 2018 and 2019. But Ed was given his chance to play more red-ball cricket after moving to Worcestershire from Warwickshire, and I’m hoping I can also earn that opportunity with my form and in training.”Hose’s signing is a coup for Worcestershire. Several counties were interested in signing him, and they have already suffered two significant blows this summer with Moeen Ali and Ed Barnard both due to leave for Warwickshire at the end of the season.”It is an excellent signing for the club,” Alex Gidman, their coach, said. “Adam has turned himself into an exceptional cricketer. From a white-ball perspective, he has become one of the best batters in the country.”He is also very keen and eager to play more red-ball cricket and prove to everyone how good he is in that format as well. We’re delighted that he wants to come and play for us.”

Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren and Brandon Glover have also been brought back into the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2022Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren and Brandon Glover are all part of Netherlands’ 16-man squad for the men’s T20 World Cup, to be played in Australia in October-November.The six of them, among the country’s most well-travelled cricketers, were not in the 14-man squad that played Netherlands’ last T20I series, at home against New Zealand early last month. From that squad, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd, Vivian Kingma and Ryan Klein have been omitted. The squad has experienced hands in Logan van Beek, Tom Cooper, Bas de Leede, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, and will be led by wicketkeeper-batter Scott Edwards.

Netherlands T20 World Cup squad

IN: Colin Ackermann, Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe
OUT: Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd, Vivian Kingma, Ryan Klein

“We have assembled a well-balanced squad with an exciting blend of youth and experience for the upcoming T20 World Cup,” Ryan Cook, the head coach, said in a statement. “The experience playing in the Super League [for qualification to the ODI World Cup] will stand the team in good stead and good confidence can be taken from these performances.”We will look to continue the progression that was evident through the summer into the tournament and have some quality preparation planned prior to the event which will help the readiness for the group in both skills and cohesion.”Netherlands qualified for the T20 World Cup – alongside Zimbabwe – after the T20 World Cup qualifier, played in Zimbabwe in July. They were most recently in action in the ODI World Cup Super League, which Cook mentioned, against Pakistan, at home in Rotterdam, but lost the three-match series 3-0.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Van der Merwe was most recently in action for Northern Superchargers in the men’s Hundred in England, but last played internationally all the way back in November 2021, in an ODI series on the tour of South Africa. His last T20I was in October 2021 during the last T20 World Cup in the UAE, where Netherlands lost all their first-round matches – to Sri Lanka, Namibia and Ireland – to exit the tournament early.Ackermann has also not played a T20I since that World Cup, though he did play ODI cricket for Netherlands as recently as in the series against Afghanistan in Qatar in January this year.While Klaassen, van Meekeren and Glover were all in action at the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, van der Gugten missed that tournament. He has, however, been in action for Glamorgan in the county circuit, and also played one match for Birmingham Phoenix in the men’s Hundred.In the opening round of the T20 World Cup, Netherlands will take on Namibia, Sri Lanka and UAE in Geelong.