All posts by n8rngtd.top

Surrey sprung a surprise during the final session of the day to round up eight Kent wickets for just 91 runs

Daniel Norcross at Beckenham21-May-2019In deciding on the readiness of young players to compete at the highest level, it is often said “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough”. Seldom though do you hear people opining that “if he’s good enough, he’s young enough”. In the 41-year-old Gareth Batty and the 37-year-old Rikki Clarke, Surrey quite definitely possess two of the more mature players on the circuit; yet they are both very much young enough.With this match drifting listlessly to what already seemed an inevitable high-scoring draw, Surrey’s gnarled old pros, longer in the tooth than your average walrus, broke the game open with a pair of interventions after tea.On Monday, it was Darren Stevens assuming the role of Yoda. This time, with Kent cruising comfortably at 227 for 2 on a placid pitch offering nothing to the bowlers since before lunch on day one, it was Batty to whom Rory Burns turned, much as Princess Leia did to Obi Wan Kenobi.Batty was, it seemed, Surrey’s “last hope”. The pitch was offering little by way of turn, but Batty summoned his most seductive Jedi mind tricks in assuring first Heino Kuhn and then Ollie Robinson the very next delivery that “these are the balls you are looking to edge”. Two arm balls, albeit with a little more bounce than either batsman was expecting, assisted by two very sharp Ben Foakes catches had suddenly thrown this somnolent, soporific match wide open.Wiaan “agent” Mulder came in to face the hat-trick ball but knew “the truth was out there”, just on a length outside off stump and spoiled the fun with the middle of a stoutly defensive bat.What Mulder didn’t see coming was the leaping left hand of Will Jacks at gully who dived impossibly far to snatch the ball an inch off the ground to an audible collective gasp from this now thoroughly engaged crowd. Jacks repeated the trick in the first over of a new spell from Clarke to remove Alex Blake, and when Stevens, who had survived two mighty close shouts for lbw off Clarke was finally put out of his misery by umpire Graham Lloyd, Kent had lost five wickets for 33 runs.All the while, Sean Dickson, who scored 318 the last time Kent played a first-class fixture at Beckenham, was looking on aghast from the other end. Just three hours earlier he and Zak Crawley had been busy compiling an untroubled, and often attractive opening stand of 128.Crawley really does look the real deal. Against a seam attack of Morne Morkel, Clarke, Sam Curran and the distinctly brisk Conor Mckerr, he appeared to have all the time in the world. Granted, there was little happening off the pitch, and neither did it swing, much to the surprise of the odd luminary in the commentary box, but there are few more testing attacks than Surrey’s and it came as a surprise when he was spectacularly castled by Clarke for 63, pushing out at a ball he should have been defending and losing his middle and off stumps in the process.Just as Clarke had sprung that first surprise, it was down to Batty to deliver the second when he too removed the middle stump, this time of Daniel Bell-Drummond who was attempting to run the ball down through third man. It was both too close to him and way too full. An ugly drag back ensued. Those Jedi mind tricks again. Frustration, disappointment and unfulfillment again from a player who has promised so much for years, at least since that terrific hundred against the touring Australians in 2015.The second new ball was taken as soon as it was available. Curran immediately accounted for Dickson, getting him caught strangled down the leg side to end an unspectacular but highly efficient innings from the opener in rather unfortunate circumstances. The last two wickets soon followed, the final one to another quite brilliant catch from Jacks at short leg to give Morkel his only wicket. Surrey’s catching had been exemplary, even spectacular on occasion.One bad session had produced eight wickets for just 91 runs. What at one time looked like a possible first-innings lead had resulted in a deficit of 145 runs. It is frequently the challenge for promoted sides to maintain intensity across the full duration of a match in this highly competitive top tier. Kent’s squad in large part lack Division One experience. Experience, though, is something Surrey have in abundance, and Batty and Clarke were quite simply the difference. Young enough? You bet.

ESPNcricinfo’s live updates and analysis on India v Pakistan

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Jun-2019

The opener is recovering from a hamstring injury while the fast bowler has been suffering from some stiffness in his side

George Dobell in Edgbaston29-Jun-2019In normal circumstances, England wouldn’t consider taking a risk with Jason Roy or Jofra Archer. These are the men they hope will open the batting and bowling in not just the knockout stages of this tournament, but in the Ashes that follows on its heels. They are precious assets.But these are not normal circumstances. And such is England’s need to win on Sunday at Edgbaston – they could still progress if they lose, but it would require good fortune with other results – that Eoin Morgan, the captain, has confirmed that both will play if they come through fitness tests on the morning of the match even if it risks exacerbating their injuries.Roy has missed England’s last three World Cup games – two of which have been defeats – after sustaining a hamstring injury during the match against West Indies. His replacement, James Vince, has managed just 40 runs in three innings while Roy has passed 50 in five of his last six ODIs in a spell that includes two centuries. In his absence, his value has become abundantly clear.ALSO READ: Aakash Chopra: What India need to do against England’s key playersArcher, meanwhile, has been suffering from some stiffness in his side. His average pace has dropped a little in that period and he did not bowl in training on Friday. But even with that discomfort, he bowled at 92mph at Lord’s. He has quickly become one of England’s most valuable bowlers: threatening at every stage of the innings. Both men are, in short, some way better than their potential replacements.”Jason is preparing to play tomorrow,” Morgan said on Saturday. “Provided he gets through today’s practice and tomorrow morning unscathed. We think he might be fit to play.”If him playing is going to rule him out long-term, then absolutely not,” Morgan said in reply to a question asking if Roy would be risked for the game. “But if it’s going to rule him out for a couple of weeks, yes.”The exact same thing applies [with Archer]. If it’s long-term (risk), then no. if it’s short-term, then yes. Again, we’re going to see how he comes through today. It’s the same thing he’s been playing with the last three games.”There were moments on Saturday when it didn’t seem Archer was especially likely to get through any fitness session. After bowling one delivery off something approaching a full run – albeit wearing a cap – he left the pitch with the team doctor only to reappear a little while later and bowl several overs of spin. The team management seem confident he will be fine.England might also bring Liam Plunkett back into their team. They are anticipating a very good batting track – Ashley Giles, the England team’s managing director, reckons it may be the best batting surface this tournament has seen so far – which will offer very little to spinners or seamers. As a consequence, they are considering dropping Moeen Ali, who has not enjoyed the best of campaigns, to make space for Plunkett’s back-of-a-length cutters. Edgbaston’s wide square boundaries may well suit them. And, if England require some spin support for Adil Rashid, they can utilise Joe Root.Jason Roy of England speaks with captain Eoin Morgan during a nets session at Headingley•Getty Images

The reading of the pitch could yet prove crucial. The India team management, having watched previous games on the ground (not just in this tournament, but in the Champions Trophy of 2013), seem confident the pitch will spin and look set to include two specialist spinners and one part-timer. If either England or India have misread the conditions, they could be exposed.While the conspiracy theorists will suggest England are getting the pitch they demand, the truth is a little more mundane. It has simply stopped raining in England in recent days and the groundstaff have, at last, had a decent amount of preparation time. Had the weather been better, it is likely nearly all the surfaces in the tournament would have been this good. Besides, a surface enjoyed by England’s batsmen, may well be a surface enjoyed by India’s too.”We want to play on best possible batting wicket and we always do,” Morgan said. “We bat deep and we bat strong. It’s an area we’re more confident. Everybody knows that. On those wickets, we don’t have to think about adapting too much or fighting our natural game. We can just go out and play.”But where we’ve let ourselves down as a group is adapting to conditions. We haven’t adapted well enough. It’s been a bigger challenge in this World Cup than previous bilateral series that we’ve played. It’s been the most difficult part of the World Cup. Tomorrow is going to be the same. We’re going to have to adapt to conditions and to playing against a strong side in India.”We going to be clear about how we’re going to go about it. We’re going to show a huge amount of positivity in the way we play and back it with the courage to play that way.”One area India might have an advantage is in the level of support. While the percentage of ticket-buyers expressing an allegiance to India at the point of sale was around 55, it is understood some tickets may have changed hands subsequently. It will, Morgan admitted, leave England feeling they are playing away from home.”I sort of recall the Champions Trophy final we played here against India in 2013,” he said. “It was a complete away game. We had a number of fans in the ground, but the noise the Indian fans make with horns makes it that much louder. So yes, tomorrow will feel like an away game.”While Jonny Bairstow’s comments may have given a picture of a tense England camp, the reality appears quite different. Training over the last couple of days has been as relaxed as ever with no sign of the importance of the game ahead. We have seen tense and divided England sides before: this does not look like one of those at all. Even a somewhat bruised Bairstow, who feels the humour in his words was lost in the publication process.”We haven’t performed well, so critics are going to be critical,” Morgan said. “They’re entitled to their own opinion. I think the support that we’ve had from our fans and everybody around the country has been unbelievable. It has been outstanding. There’s been an enormous amount of goodwill going around, and it’s making our tournament that much more special to be a part of and to play in.”And there’s the rub. To remain part of it, they have to beat the world’s No. 1-ranked ODI side on Sunday. It is a scenario that could – should, really – have been avoided. But it’s only a year since they defeated them in an ODI series in England and only a week since they were the No. 1 side themselves. These are the big games in which these players love to be involved. They have enjoyed some fine moments over the last four years and they have been building to just such a moment throughout. Now it really is time to put all that work, all that talk and all that progress into action. It’s time to deliver.

Max O’Dowd’s half-century went in vain as Netherlands suffered their third successive loss

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2019
Opener Ashfaq Ahmed’s half-century and offspinner Rohan Mustafa’s three-wicket haul ensured UAE sealed the four-match T20I series against hosts Netherlands at the Hague with one game left to play.Netherlands opener Max O’Dowd made the highest score of the game – 65 off 54 balls – but his innings went in vain as his side slumped to their third successive defeat, this one by 14 runs.After being asked to bat, UAE started strongly with Ashfaq leading the way. He hit 56 off 41 balls – his second fifty in three innings – including five fours and two sixes. He was aided by a series of contributions from the middle-order batsmen. Medium-pacer Sebastiaan Braat and left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar did slo down the innings by returning combined figures of 8-0-47-5, but Mohammad Boota hit two sixes towards the end of the innings to help his side pass 150.Netherlands then wobbled around O’Dowd in their chase. They were reduced to 53 for 4 in the tenth over, but O’Dowd took the chase deep. He was the eighth Netherlands batsman to be dismissed, in the penultimate over. The hosts needed 25 off nine balls with two wickets in hand after O’Dowd was run out, and they ended up short. Mustafa took 3 for 30 while Qadeer Ahmed picked up 2 for 18.

Barbados Tridents go down by 47 runs in their opening fixture of CPL 2019

The Report by Peter Della Penna09-Sep-2019Guyana Amazon Warriors kept pace with Trinbago Knight Riders on the opening weekend of CPL 2019, as a fiery half-century from Nicholas Pooran helped them score 72 off the final four overs at Providence, putting a total on the board in the process that was well out of reach of Barbados Tridents. It gave them a 47-run win, which meant that Amazon Warriors ended their initial home slate with three wins from three to equal the Knight Riders on six points, while the rest of the teams remained winless.Pooran struck 61 off 30 balls with five sixes to light up the ground. Romario Shepherd then lit up the stumps in the chase, sitting on a hat-trick at one stage in the process of taking 4 for 13 in just 2.4 overs, as Tridents were bowled out for 133 in just 16.4 overs.A rough night for NurseAshley Nurse had a rough night. Having to go solo after his legspinning wingman Sandeep Lamichhane left the field after one over due to a bad reaction from a topical cream, Nurse went wicketless for 38 runs in his four overs. But worse, he spilled Chandrapaul Hemraj on a fairly straightforward chance off a full toss spliced to extra cover on 37. It allowed the opener to sustain momentum after a pair of early setbacks.Jason Holder had bounced out Brandon King in the second over while Shimron Hetmyer’s sliced drive was intercepted by a brilliant effort diving left at backward point by USA’s Hayden Walsh Jr., on as a sub for Lamichhane. Shoaib Malik was the third batsman to fall for a single-digit score when he edged Roshon Primus behind attempting to run a single to third man, and the tenth over ended on 63 for 3.But the home side scored 117 off their last ten overs, aided in part by the platform laid by Hemraj. Nurse atoned for his error in the 16th, running back from point to claim a skier off of Raymon Reifer’s bowling, but Hemraj had made 63 by that stage, and done a solid job building the foundation for Pooran and Sherfane Rutherford to launch from.Pooran turns it onThe wicketkeeper-batsman put on a sensational hitting display in the waning overs. Rutherford had provided an appetiser with four sixes muscled over the leg side and long-off in a stretch from the 17th through the first ball of the 19th. But Pooran came on strike and provided fans with the main course to lap up when he creamed five sixes off the last eight balls of the innings. He started with a pair of flicks over long-on before working his away around to long-off and finally cover. Almost every ball was pitched on off stump, but his clever use of the crease allowed him to spray the ball at will over different parts of the boundary. The pair left the Tridents shell-shocked heading into the innings break.Striking goldHemraj’s night wasn’t done after his first-innings half-century. He began the chase wiping out prized CPL recruit Alex Hales for a golden duck with a delivery that kept low and Tridents failed to get the wheels going after that. Shoaib continued to cycle through his spinners for the first eight overs as more breakthroughs followed.Shadab Khan struck twice – Johnson Charles caught at deep midwicket and debutant Leniko Boucher at mid-off – before Jonathan Carter dragged Shoaib on defending away from his body. Holder then committed a blunder with a slow response to a drive over cover by JP Duminy, allowing Keemo Paul’s relay to Chris Green to catch him short. Duminy soon dragged on to Paul as well, leaving the score 75 for 6 at the strategic time-out.Shepherd then wiped out the tail in quick time. Nurse’s aggressive counter-attack ended when he was brilliantly caught down the leg side by Pooran, who anticipated an attempted scoop to pull off a fantastic diving catch to his left. Reifer lost track of his stumps shuffling across and was bowled behind his legs first-ball to put Shepherd on a hat-trick. He ended the match in his next over. Primus flat-batted a slog to long-on before Lamichhane was yorked to send everyone home early.

Travis Head makes way as allrounder reaps reward for increased focus on fitness

Daniel Brettig at The Oval11-Sep-2019Mitchell Marsh has been challenged to reach Ben Stokes’ standards of fitness and durability ahead of his latest chance to secure a place in the Australian Test team, in the afterglow of Ashes retention at Old Trafford.Marsh was called in ahead of the vice-captain Travis Head for the fifth Test at The Oval from Thursday, as an additional bowling option for the captain Tim Paine and also as a right-handed batsman after the litany of troubles caused for them by Broad’s seam and swing.Paine revealed that Marsh had not only been dropped from the team against India last summer due to underperformance, but also because the selectors and team management felt that he was carrying too much extra weight to do the job they required of him. The herculean example provided by Stokes at Headingley, where he virtually bowled 24 overs unchanged in the third innings before conjuring a batting miracle in the fourth, has set a high bar, but Paine reckoned that Marsh, at 27, could still reach similar heights.”Mitch has worked his backside off actually for the last six or seven months,” Paine said. “He got some pretty honest feedback when he was dropped during the India series about where he was at both physically and with his cricket. He had a choice to make, either to sulk about it or to do something about it, and Mitch at the moment is as fit as we’ve seen him. During this Ashes even watching Ben Stokes go about it, we’ve constantly spoken to him about being at that sort of fitness where you can bowl 25-30 overs and then come out and score a hundred.”That’s something Mitch has watched up close and something he’s aspiring to, so certainly when he’s fitter his bowling goes to another level. When you’re a boy the size he is, it’s hard to run in all day when you’re carrying a few extra kilos, so he’s worked really hard to work them off, he’s always worked very hard on his cricket and we know the talent he’s got. We’re looking forward to seeing him put all his hard work into action this week.”There was some irony to Marsh taking Head’s place, since Head had himself replaced Marsh as one of the team’s vice-captains in January. the deputy leadership has been thrown around like a touch football over the past year, pin-balling between Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Head and Pat Cummins. Paine explained that Head was being left out primarily so the tourists had an extra pace bowling option, and he was later seen in lengthy conversation with the coach Justin Langer on a series of slow laps around The Oval during training.Mitchell Marsh pads up ahead of the Oval Test•Getty Images

“We’ve been really clear with Travis why he’s not playing this game,” Paine said. “We think he’s had a fantastic start, he’s played 10 Tests and has a very healthy average but we want to get the make-up right to win this Test match and unfortunately we had to make a really tough call on someone, and it happened to be Travis.”But he’s a huge part of Australian cricket’s future, he’s a gun young player and he’s getting better all the time, so it’s disappointing for him that he’s not playing this Test match, he’d dearly love to obviously, but we’ll go back to Australia, conditions will be different, there’s no doubt he’s in the top six or seven batsmen in our country.”Marsh (match figures of 5 for 86) and Peter Siddle (6 for 67) were Australia’s two leading bowlers at The Oval when Australia won the final match of the 2015 series, standing up the seam of the Dukes ball and moving it around after the series had been decided in England’s favour at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. That history suggests that Siddle should be a strong chance to play this time around, with the Australians waiting until match day to decide whether one of Cummins (48 overs in Manchester), Hazlewood (42.3) or Mitchell Starc (38) need to be spelled.”Looking at the conditions and the series being a long and tough one, we’ve kept the same bowling group that was together last Test match, they’ve bowled a lot of overs and we feel that bringing Mitchell in will ease a bit of the workload on them,” Paine said. “So it was a really tough call on Travis Head who’s had a great start to his Test career, but we just wanted a bit more bowling depth in the squad to cover what looks like a really good wicket and be able to look after our big fast bowlers. Give them another half a day, see how they’ve pulled up and then make a decision on that side, the final make-up of it.”James Pattinson was not included in the final 12, but Paine forecast that, like Starc, he would be used more often in Australia this summer, with something of a marker laid down now for how the team will manage their deep and varied pace bowling resources. Jhye Richardson, on his way back from injury, will be another member of that battery back home.”James Pattinson is someone who we’ve been really pleased with what he’s done in his return to Test cricket over here, he’s bowling very, very well,” Paine said. “He’s going to be a huge asset for us going forward and we’ve said from the start we want to make sure we look after him so he’s got a lot more years in him of Test cricket, we can’t wait to get him back to Australia and unleash him during the summer.”We spoke a lot about how we felt we needed to change the way we picked our attacks over in England. I think over the years we’ve had a pretty good formula in Australia and clearly our bigger, taller faster bowlers work well in Australia so again that’s where we see a really exciting six months for James Pattinson coming up and Mitchell Starc, those guys who haven’t played as much during this series. So we are excited we’re going to have them fresh and ready to go for the home summer.”

Caleb Jewell hit his maiden one-day hundred but South Australia’s innings fell away at the death

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2019Travis Head and Alex Carey combined in an unbroken stand of 130 to earn South Australia a bonus-point eight-wicket win against Tasmania.Head, South Australia’s captain, and Carey both finished unbeaten on 80 as victory came with 11.2 overs to spare. Carey faced just 52 balls, hitting 13 fours and six, after making starts in the first two matches without converting.Caleb Jewell had scored his maiden one-day hundred but Tasmania could not find a late push to their innings as they fell from 2 for 208 in the 43rd over to 7 for 255.Jake Weatherald (53) and Callum Ferguson added 50 for the first wicket in less than seven overs to give the chase early momentum. Riley Meredith, who has impressed at the start of the season, broke through and later added Weatherald’s wicket but he went for 8.62 from his eight overs.Cam Valente’s medium pace had set back Tasmania’s innings when he removed the in-form Ben McDermott and captain Matthew Wade before Jewell and Jordan Silk (87) put on 162 in 31 overs for the third wicket.However, both set batsmen fell in quick succession – Silk to Adam Zampa and Jewell to Kane Richardson – as the South Australia attack quelled the late scoring. Outside of the 17 boundaries hit between Jewell and Silk, Tasmania’s batsmen only managed another five between them.

Unhelpful surface sees England made to wait for declaration as Glenn Phillips makes ton

George Dobell in Whangarei15-Nov-2019If England had any doubts about the magnitude of the task facing them over the next few weeks, they will have been dispelled by a tough day in the field in Whangarei.Unable to coax movement from the ball or life from the surface, they were instead obliged to wait for the declaration from a New Zealand A batting line-up containing three men with Test experience. Glenn Phillips, a 22-year-old batsman with more than a hint of Steve Smith about him, recorded the fourth century of his first-class career and England conceded 3.59 runs an over.The loss of Rory Burns, who cut a long-hop to point moments before the close, rounded off the challenge. The appearance of Jack Leach as nightwatchman seemed an oddly negative response. The purpose of such games is, after all, to put players under pressure in order to prepare for challenges to come.Afterwards, Darren Gough – England’s short-term bowling consultant – was full of empathy for his charges. He had his share of such days, after all. But, among the words of support and respect, there was a reminder that the best, as he put it, “find a way” to succeed in such conditions.ALSO READ: Curran set for Test berth ahead of Woakes“The way I look at it,” Gough said, “is that New Zealand’s bowlers, Trent Boult and Tim Southee, bowl at 85mph and they somehow find a way to take wickets on New Zealand pitches. The ball has to swing here, because they are swing bowlers and they have good records. You have to find a way.”Ben Stokes suggested that the pitch was “seriously flat” and that it had provided a useful challenge. “[It was] a bit surprising,” he told Test Match Special, “but that’s a great test for us as a bowling group to be exposed to. It was a great opportunity for us to try a few different things; set different fields, bowl to different plans that we normally wouldn’t.”As ever with such warm-up games, it probably pays not to read too much into the statistics. Many of this England side are now pretty experienced and will not be striving for peak performance in such circumstances. It’s all about being ready for next week.But it was, Jofra Archer aside, hard to see where England were going to find the weapons to damage New Zealand. On these surfaces, with this ball, Kane Williamson looks a desperately tough proposition.Archer’s third spell was probably the day’s highlight from an England perspective. Generating sharp pace from a docile wicket and an old ball, he unsettled the batsmen with some well-directed short-balls. Phillips took one blow to the forearm and was thrown off his feet as he jerked his head out of the way of another. Earlier Hamish Rutherford had been struck on the side of the head by an Archer bouncer, but looked in excellent touch before departing in somewhat unfortunate fashion as he feathered an edge down the leg side.England’s problem, though, is that their opposition know Archer cannot bowl forever. And with no Mark Wood or Olly Stone in reserve, it is hard to build the required intensity from an attack that lacks the pace to sustain Archer’s threat. Stokes could, perhaps, fulfil the role of fast-bowling foil to Archer – he certainly bowled fast enough on slow surfaces in Sri Lanka – but in this game, understandably, was probably holding back just a little.While Stuart Broad struck early, neither he or Sam Curran carried much threat for the rest of the day. Curran came back pretty well after a disappointing first spell but he could face a tough series if he is unable to coax any swing from these balls. Stokes, while expensive, took two quick wickets after deceiving Tim Seifert with what appeared to be a slower ball and then saw Jimmy Neesham play-on as he attempted a forcing stroke. Leach conceded three fours in five deliveries at one stage but only conceded one more in his 26 overs. Again, there is nothing in these conditions for Leach but if he can restrict the scoring rate to 2.15 an over as he did here, he can feel he has done a decent job for his team.One thing is certain: if England are to win here for the first time since 2008, they will have to hold their catches. On the first day of this match, Dom Sibley, at second slip, put down a relatively simple stomach-height offered by Phillips on 27 off Stokes. These things happen, of course, but they are starting to happen just a little more often than can be ignored. Tom Blundell was reprieved on 60, too, when it caught behind off what turned out to be a no-ball, though he was very well caught at midwicket next ball.Joe Root suffered an injury scare in England’s warm-up•Getty Images

There was also an injury scare. Joe Root was forced off the field for a while after landing heavily when diving to prevent a boundary at long-on. He was subsequently diagnosed with a jarred hip, but returned to field well before stumps. It is not anticipated there will be lasting consequences.In the longer-term, Gough felt Saqib Mahmood could be the sort of bowler who could make inroads in such conditions. With his pace, his somewhat slingy action and a willingness to pitch the ball full, he would appear to have the ingredients to reverse this kookaburra ball as Gough once did. “He’s different to the others,” Gough said. “He’s another option when the pitch is flat. We’re working on reverse. He has the natural talent to do it and he’s desperate to be better at it. He’s keen to learn.”Some may point to Curran’s figures and suggest Chris Woakes was unfortunate to miss out here. And it is true that Woakes, with his extra pace, can at least force batsmen on to the back foot a little more readily. He also feels his recently-acquired ability to bowl the wobble seam gives him a new weapon in such conditions. But it’s not as if he has not had chances in such circumstances and it may well be wishful thinking to suggest he would have provided any more of a cutting edge. As Gough said later, while recognising Woakes’ skills, “whether he has to do something different to the past away from home, it will be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity and realises that.” The slightly depressing truth is, after years of playing county cricket on seaming wickets and with a Dukes ball, there are very few England bowlers who will flourish in these conditions.”I’ve not seen a swinging ball in the two weeks I’ve been here,” Gough said, though he did admit he had managed to swing it in the nets. “At about 70 mph. And that’s a big difference. If it swings, it will be for the first eight or nine overs.”Whatever happens on this tour, the influence of Gough has been perceived as a success. The combination of a fresh voice and his vast experience have provided new ideas to experienced bowlers who have probably heard rather a lot of the familiar, somewhat homogenised ECB voices. Gough, positive but prepared to offer some home truths where necessary, has encouraged new ideas. It seems unlikely he will be lured into anything like a full-time role – he enjoys his radio job too much for that – but conversations about future consultancy spells with England’s bowlers are ongoing.

Every team had been asked to pick a 140kph-plus fast bowler and a legspinner in their line-ups

Mohammad Isam09-Dec-2019The two Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) teams that are being managed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in the upcoming edition of the tournament have failed to comply with the board’s own diktat, that all squads must have an overseas quick who bowls above 140kph and a legspinner, who has to bowl four overs in each game.Rangpur Rangers don’t have that make of fast bowler, and their legspinner could well be picked for the Under-19 World Cup, while Cumilla Warriors are still trying to get themselves a fast bowler, and aren’t even looking for a full-fledged legspinner.Minhajul Abedin, Bangladesh’s chief selector who has been appointed Cumilla’s technical advisor, disagreed, propping up Afghanistan fingerspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who bowls a mixed bag of deliveries including a right-hander’s legbreak, as their legspinner.”We have picked Mujeeb, who is a world-class spinner, which fulfills the requirement,” Minjahul told ESPNcricinfo. “He bowls both legspin and offspin, and he is a great bowler. So that’s not going to be a problem.”On Cumilla’s radar is Oshane Thomas, who they are hoping to bring on board, but they are yet to get NOCs for many of the overseas players they have signed up.”Kusal Perera is not getting NOC. Dasun Shanaka and [Bhanuka] Rajapakse are yet to get theirs. We are in touch with Kyle Jarvis, who has a great record in Bangladesh while playing for Zimbabwe, but he too hasn’t been given the NOC,” Minhajul said. “We are also in talks with Oshane Thomas. We are hoping that we get enough overseas players, otherwise we have Mujeeb and [Dawid] Malan, who will play the first match.”As for Rangpur, Akram Khan, their team director who is also BCB’s cricket operations chairman, argued that there’s no compulsion to play a legspinner but, in any case, they have Rishad Hossain, the 17-year-old who has done well in first-class cricket recently. But Rishad could be picked in the Under-19 side, in which case he would be unavailable from early January.Mujeeb Ur Rahman celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

“It is not mandatory to play a legspinner, but we have some really good bowlers like Mustafiz [Mustafizur Rahman], Taskin [Ahmed], Mohammad Nabi and Arafat Sunny, as well as Lewis Gregory, who is a pace-bowling allrounder,” Akram said.On October 11, BCB director Mahbubul Anam had explained that “BCB wants this BPL [being run by the board as opposed to being a franchise based event] to be about improving Bangladesh’s cricketers in T20s, so we want to make sure that our batsmen and bowlers get enough opportunities [against quicks and legspinners].”Not long after that, on October 17, two coaches in the National Cricket League – Rangpur Division’s Masud Parvez Razan and Dhaka Division’s Jahangir Alam – had been dismissed by the BCB for not picking legspinners, though available, in their playing XIs.As for the BPL, it’s not just Cumilla and Rangpur. Two other teams have also failed to fulfill the criteria.Sylhet Thunders picked Sheldon Cottrell after the draft, but he has since informed the team of his unavailability due to West Indies commitments. Sylhet then picked veteran Pakistan bowler Mohammad Sami. Chattogram Challengers did sign up legspinner Jubair Hossain, but not a 140-plus fast bowler.Dhaka Platoon, Khulna Tigers and Rajshahi Royals are the only teams to have ticked all the boxes. The tournament kicks off on December 11 with fixtures between Chattogram and Sylhet, and Cumilla and Rangpur.

Opening batsman feeling better after illness and expects to train on New Year’s Day

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2019England have finally received some encouraging news on the health front, with Dom Sibley feeling better after being struck down by the illness that has cut a swathe through the visitors’ camp.Opening batsman Sibley became the latest player to succumb to the virus which has hit 17 members of the touring party, including key players and backroom staff, over the past fortnight.Sibley was to be monitored while travelling with the squad to Cape Town on Tuesday for the second Test, starting on January 3, and he was expected to train on New Year’s Day. The fact that no one else has been hit by the bug over the past 24 hours can be regarded as progress, although England management have been eager not to use the illness as an excuse for the side’s lacklustre performance in Centurion which resulted in a 107-run defeat.Some 11 England players have been sick. They include Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad, who showed some lingering effects of having spent the best part of the week before England’s first-Test loss in bed, as well as Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, who spent time off the field during the match because they felt ill.Of most serious concern is Jack Leach, who also spent time in hospital in New Zealand with gastroenteritis and whose situation complicated by his history of Crohn’s disease. Leach is travelling with the rest of the squad to Cape Town, although it remains unlikely he will be considered fit for the second Test, having hardly bowled a ball for a month.Dom Bess and Matt Parkinson are vying for a spot in Leach’s place, with Bess considered to have the edge at this stage.Also read: We ‘won’t be afraid’ to leave out Broad or Anderson – SilverwoodWhile most of those previously affected have returned to training, it will take time to rediscover their fitness and stamina, particularly in the heat and altitudes they face in South Africa.While no decision has been taken on Sibley’s availability yet, if he fails to be deemed fully fit for the second Test, it could hand an opportunity to Zak Crawley to open the batting. It could also provide a reprieve for Jonny Bairstow, who looks set otherwise to make way for the now-recovered Ollie Pope.