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Kent buckle down in pursuit of survival and who-knows-what-else come season’s end

Paul Edwards28-Jun-2022Towards the back of what will always be known as the Peter May Stand at the Kia Oval a small encampment has been created. There is a canopied seating area with open sides and you might call the thing a gazebo if that description did not sound incongruous in an urban setting of concrete and glass. And one hesitates to dub the place a redoubt before checking the definition and finding the following: “a temporary or supplementary fortification, typically square or polygonal and without flanking defences”. That sounds better, not least because those sitting under the canvas clearly have something to defend. “No City Franchises – Save Our Cricket” declares one of their banners. “Peter May Boys” announces another. I think we get the picture. Let’s assume the Boys didn’t contribute to Tom Harrison’s leaving gift.But it would be pleasant if every county’s guardians declared their loyalties so plainly. As one watched 19-year-old Tom Lawes delight both himself and all Surrey supporters by taking two important wickets in successive overs just before lunch and then another shortly after the resumption, it came as a renewed shock to realise that the 18 first-class teams have only a limited idea what they are playing for.Actually, of course, that is not altogether correct. The season is barely half over and a clutch of sides in both divisions have their eyes on their respective titles. Just as significantly, a four-day, first-class match is an intense affair in which the players invest considerable physical and emotional capital. Winning is important and careers depend on the outcome of such games. So Lawes’s joy when he bowled Jack Leaning off the inside edge for 75 and then had Ollie Robinson caught at fine gully by Ryan Patel carried both collective and personal significance. It began a slow collapse that saw Kent lose their last seven wickets for 91 runs and be forced to follow-on 342 runs behind. For his part, Lawes strolled off this great field with figures of 4 for 51 against his name in what is his first Championship match.At the same time, all English seasons since the introduction of two divisions have offered the prospect of promotion and the jeopardy of relegation. This summer, recommendations as to next year’s structure will be made by Andrew Strauss’s high-performance review panel before being polished by a small group of carefully chosen county chief-executives and voted on by the county chairmen in the autumn. Only then might the mere players find out what their professional lives will be like in 2023. You need to be rather arrogant to develop such a plan but no less deranged to blame England’s Ashes defeat on county cricket in the first place. Perhaps someone should ask the ECB’s howl-at-the-moon crazies whether the domestic game is also responsible for the 3-0 victory against New Zealand.In the meantime, Surrey’s players will keep chasing what would be their county’s 20th outright title and Kent’s will keep on keeping on. The visitors’ chances of scoring the 523 they needed to avoid the follow-on were slim this morning but Daniel Bell-Drummond and Leaning had taken their side to 216 for 2 before their 161-run third wicket stand was ended when Bell-Drummond chased a wide offspinner from Will Jacks and skewed a catch to Hashim Amla at point. Lawes then took his first two wickets and induced George Linde to play on after lunch. Apart from Jordan Cox’s 47, the remainder of Kent’s batting never threatened to change the shape of a game the result of which will be dependent on its third innings. However, a mention in dispatches is required for the short leg catch by Ben Geddes off Connor McKerr that dismissed Jaz Singh and ended Kent’s innings. It was an absurdly good right-handed reflex effort and worthy of a more pivotal moment in any match.It was also Surrey’s final wicket of the day. Rather than be overwhelmed by a deficit of 342, Kent’s batted out the remaining 44 overs with some ease, thus leaving Surrey’s bowlers with plenty of work to do on a fourth-day pitch offering them limited assistance. Joe Denly, in only his second Championship innings of the season, is unbeaten on 63 and was the more expansive of the pair; his eight fours included flourished drives and a whack over mid-on against Jacks’ off spin. Ben Compton was more restrained but passed 1000 runs for the season and needs only four runs to reach fifty for the tenth time in 15 first-class innings.The contrast between the pair was beguiling and almost unexpectedly satisfying. Patel bowled the last over and by that time Rory Burns was trying to unsettle the batters with unorthodox fields, the sort some would label “funky”. There was a silly mid-on and silly mid-off posted when the final ball of the day was greeted with Denly’s resolute forward defensive. The players left the field and almost at once one wondered how many opportunities fine cricketers of Compton’s ilk might get should red-ball cricket be reduced to a niche activity, one whose only purpose is the production of Test players rather than also being concerned with the maintenance of strong counties and all the benefits they bring to clubs and communities across the land. Members and supporters around the country are expressing their views and it’s no use thinking it will be easy to find consensus. Me? I’m with Peter May Boys on their redoubt and a few county chairmen might also be receiving their call-up papers quite soon.

Williamson has only played two ODIs since the 2019 World Cup final, while Southee’s last one was in February 2020

Andrew McGlashan17-Aug-20220:58

Looking forward to moving into ‘life after cricket’ – Trent Boult

It’s 10 years since New Zealand have played an ODI in West Indies but they could, depending on final selection, field five players who were part of that team in St Kitts in July 2012.Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Tim Southee and Trent Boult are back as part of this tour – a mark of their longevity and success as international cricketers – as the side gears up for next year’s ODI World Cup which, for some, might be their last global tournament.For Boult there is even a question mark over that after his recent decision to step away from his central contract. Beyond this tour (and the upcoming T20 World Cup which he appears set to play) the criteria around his future selection remains to be decided.Related

• NZC agrees to release Boult from central contract

• Ben Sears replaces injured Matt Henry in squad for West Indies ODIs

• Stead hails 'pretty special' Phillips and power-packed middle order

• Hetmyer, Paul and Motie ruled out of New Zealand ODI series

Boult’s previous ODIs came in March 2021 – they have been a scarce format for New Zealand until recently which has left them a lot of catch-up series to play over the next few months – but for some, it’s even longer since an appearance in the format.Southee is no longer a first-choice pick in ODIs, but it is still remarkable to think that his last appearance was before the pandemic was a reality – against India in February 2020.Williamson’s most recent outing came just a month later, in the first behind-closed-doors game at the SCG just as sport around the world was being shut down. That is one of just two matches he has played since the 2019 World Cup final owing to injury and rotation.Kane Williamson has not played an ODI since March 2020•Getty Images

Barring Matt Henry’s injury which has ended his tour, New Zealand are at full strength for the series having explored their depth on the recent tour of Europe and over the last couple of years. A number of players have emerged during that time and some find themselves on this tour: opening batter Finn Allen, allrounder Michael Bracewell who produced some stunning performances in Europe, and pace bowler Ben Sears who has replaced Henry.”Sears [has] that bit of extra pace which is always nice to have in your side. Finn who has done really well in the Super Smash and over in Europe he played really well,” Latham said. “Both those guys are youthful and play an exciting brand of cricket.”With spin expected to play a significant part, there may only be room for two frontline quicks in New Zealand’s XI.”It will be interesting to see what the surfaces are like,” Latham said. “Looking at some of the scores in recent times here in one-day cricket they do vary a little bit so sure spin will play a part but we also have a bit of pace in our squad as well.”Having played just three of their World Cup Super League series, New Zealand have more ODI cricket than most between now and next March. After this series they head to Cairns in northern Australia in early September and after the T20 World Cup host India before heading to Pakistan. They wrap up their home season against Sri Lanka.”With the big picture of the World Cup not too far away so for us it’s about getting used to different conditions,” Latham said. “Somewhere here like West Indies, it might be similar to what we are faced with in India.”Any time you get the opportunity to play on different surfaces to home it’s important you take all the learnings and try to adapt the best you can. That’s something our squad has done really well of late, we’ve played over in Europe and here with the T20s so it’s all about trying to adapt as quickly as you can.”New Zealand ODI squad Kane Williamson, Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee

Joe Carter’s fourth-innings century in vain for New Zealand A in Bengaluru

Ashish Pant18-Sep-2022
Saurabh Kumar’s 5 for 103 trumped Joe Carter’s resilient century as India A beat New Zealand A by 113 runs on a see-sawing final day of the third unofficial Test in Bengaluru to seal the series 1-0.With New Zealand A chasing an imposing 416, the match, for the longest time, seemed to be heading for a draw with Carter, Mark Chapman and Dane Cleaver doing their best to keep the bowlers at bay. However, they faltered in the last session against Saurabh’s guile and accuracy to be bowled out for 302, just 40 minutes before the scheduled close of play.Saurabh finished with a match-haul of 9 for 151 while Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 108 and 94, and Rajat Patidar’s extended dream run, were the other highlights from the game.After India A opted to bat, Gaikwad was fluent from the get-go on the first day. He came in at the fall of Priyank Panchal’s wicket, with the team’s score on 40, and saw the hosts slip to 111 for 4 losing Abhimanyu Easwaran, Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan on the way. But, he held his end up and added 134 for the fifth wicket with Upendra Yadav.Gaikwad was particularly assertive, scoring 12 fours and two sixes during his 127-ball 108 – his fifth first-class century. Playing his first match of the series, Upendra brought up his fourth first-class fifty, finishing with 76. However, another collapse ensued once Gaikwad fell with India A at 245 for 5. They lost their last six wickets for only 48 runs to be bowled out for 293.On a surface that offered a bit of assistance for the bowlers, Shardul Thakur and Mukesh Kumar were relentless with their lengths on the second morning. Carter survived a close lbw shout early in his innings but failed to capitalise, falling lbw to Shardul for 8 in the seventh over.Mukesh then sent back Rachin Ravindra and Robert O’Donnell, reducing New Zealand A to 28 for 3. Cleaver provided a bit of resistance but Rahul Chahar’s twin strikes had them reeling at 99 for 5, still 194 adrift of India A’s first-innings total.That is when the two Auckland boys Chapman and Sean Solia decided to step up. They took the aggressive route, with Chapman, in particular, unfurling an array of sweeps and reverse sweeps. Sean Solia too looked untroubled with the duo adding 114 for the sixth wicket, either side of the tea break.A rush of blood, however, brought about Chapman’s undoing and derailed New Zealand A’s innings. Saurabh hung one back seeing the left-hander step out of his crease, and had him holing out to Patidar at long-on for 92. Solia departed soon after for 54 and the lower order did not offer much resistance with New Zealand A getting dismissed for 237 in 71.2 overs, giving India A a lead of 56.Joe Carter made India A toil•Mallikarjuna/KSCA

The hosts lost Easwaran late on day two before captain Panchal and Gaikwad saw out the final session.The third day was all about the batters grinding the opposition out of the contest. Gaikwad carried on from his first-innings exploits with a solid 94 and was backed up by Panchal and Patidar.Resuming on 40 for 1, with a lead of 96, both Gaikwad and Panchal found the boundaries at regular intervals. The former reached his fifty off 76 balls before India A lost Panchal at the stroke of lunch to Joe Walker.Patidar then came out after the break and immediately took the attack to the opposition. He galloped to his fifty off 47 balls, much to the delight of the handful of spectators who were quite vocal with their RCB chants. At the other end, Gaikwad looked set for a second successive ton but threw his wicket away, looking to loft Walker over mid-off only to be caught superbly by Chapman.Patidar, though, carried on, reaching his tenth first-class century. He added a 108-run stand for the fourth wicket with Sarfaraz, who was his usual busy self during his 74-ball 63.The hosts then lost a few quick wickets before declaring on 359 for 7. Saurabh got into the act in the second innings as well trapping Ravindra in front for 12 just before stumps.New Zealand A needed a further 396 runs to force an improbable win on the final day. They lost nightwatcher Walker early but Carter and Cleaver held their own before Saurabh struck again, pinning Cleaver lbw for 44.Carter and Chapman then put on an 82-run partnership to take New Zealand A into lunch unscathed. The pitch didn’t seem to have broken up enough to offer a lot of turn. It did not help that Rahul Chahar was forced to leave the field inside the first hour of play. He did not return for the rest of the day, but Panchal later suggested that his injury wasn’t serious.Carter, meanwhile, remained defiant. Barring a tough dropped chance at wide first slip from Gaikwad and a close run-out chance, he was largely untroubled. However, introducing Sarfaraz into the attack did the trick for Panchal. The part-time legspinner picked two quick wickets before Saurabh rattled the visitors with two of his own.Carter reached his century with a straight hit down to long-on but continued to lose wickets at the other end and was the second-last man to fall. Saurabh closed out the match and the series trapping Jacob Duffy lbw.

Former captain Joe Leach in running to be appointed club’s new director of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2022Alex Gidman has stepped down as Worcestershire’s head coach after four years in the role, and will leave the club with immediate effect.Gidman joined Worcestershire, initially as 2nd XI coach, in early 2018. He was involved with the side that won the T20 Blast that summer, before taking over as head coach after Kevin Sharp moved into a management position.It was announced in August that Sharp would also leave his role as head of player development, with Worcestershire expected to appoint a director of cricket before starting their search for a new head coach. ESPNcricinfo understands that former club captain Joe Leach has interviewed for the director of cricket position.”Alex has led the Club to great success winning the T20 Blast in 2018 and runner up in 2019,” Worcestershire chair, Fanos Hira, said. “We wish him well in the next steps of his career and thank him for his contribution to our club.”Worcestershire finished fourth in Division Two of the County Championship, but endured a tough year in white-ball cricket, winning just twice in the Blast and twice in the Royal London Cup, propping up the group-stage table in both competitions.They face a winter of transition on the playing side, as well, having lost England star Moeen Ali and homegrown allrounder Ed Barnard to local rivals Warwickshire.Gidman said: “I enjoyed my time at Worcestershire and would like to thank the club for all for its support. I wish the club well for the future.”

The home side crashed to 4 for 7 in their chase and couldn’t make up the ground

AAP27-Oct-2022Adelaide Strikers fast bowlers Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown have combined to destroy Brisbane’s top order to secure a 31-run win in the WBBL.The duo , both Australian representatives, were on fire at the start of Heat’s run chase and had the home side 4 for 7 in the fourth over with their pace and seam too hot to handle at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field.Heat allrounders Amelia Kerr and Charli Knott promised to cut loose after they had rescued their team with the bat in a thrilling three-run win over Sydney Thunder on Tuesday. The pair impressed again in a 52-run stand before Brown and Schutt came back into the attack to reassert their early dominance.Earlier Strikers’ innings was anchored by opener Katie Mack (35) and South African international Laura Wolvaardt (46) in a 64-run second-wicket stand.The catch of the tournament to date was taken by Knott at cover to dismiss the dangerous Wolvaardt when she made ground swiftly and dived full-stretch to her right to clutch the ball in one hand. Bridget Patterson and Madeline Penna got Strikers to a competitive total.Heat skipper Jess Jonassen was superb with her left-arm spinners to become the season’s leading wicket taker with 10. Fast bowler Nicola Hancock was just as impressive.Strikers moved into the top four on the ladder while Heat remain first despite the loss which brought an end to their four-game winning streak.

Good things worth waiting for as allrounder is relaxed at prospect of delayed Test debut

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Nov-2022″If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”On Tuesday, Ben Stokes announced Liam Livingstone will be making his Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Just 24 hours later, with the start of the first Test up in the air as a virus coursing through the England squad threatened to leave them shy of 11 fit cricketers, Livingstone remained at ease when asked if he was prepared to wait a little longer. With a decision to be taken at the last possible moment at 7:30am PKT on what may or may not be day one of the first Test in Rawalpindi, another night’s sleep won’t affect him too much. Livingstone is unmoved, in every sense.He had already opted out of the final day’s optional training at the ground before players began reporting symptoms late on Tuesday. “I’ve spent most of the morning on the golf simulator,” he says, like a man who had walked bleary-eyed to and from his local shop to buy a Diet Coke in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse. “It was quite weird. Everybody was going down one by one. Thankfully I’ve been clear up to now.”I’ve just been chilling upstairs, had breakfast with Sax (Mark Saxby) who’s just come back from being ill, so I haven’t seen anyone. I don’t know what’s going on. Thankfully it’s way above me (the decision on whether the Test will begin as planned). I’ll stay way out of it. I’ll prepare as if I’m going to make my debut tomorrow and that’s that, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but I won’t be wasting any energy thinking about what’s going to happen tomorrow.”Related

• Brendon McCullum: 'We'll be pushing for results. If we get outplayed, that's okay'

• Liam Livingstone to make England Test debut against Pakistan

• Rise and fall of an English dynasty in just five years of Pakistan Tests

• Morning decision for Rawalpindi Test as sickness bug disrupts England plans

• Ben Stokes leaves door open for possible U-turn on ODI retirement

If you wanted an insight into Livingstone’s mindset, and what Stokes and Brendon McCullum see in him, there it is, in bold brash Cumbrian. The Lancashire batter is a man of his own mind who rarely sweats the small or big stuff.A lot has been made of the decision to hand cap number 708 to a player who last played first-class cricket at the start of September 2021, and has since made his reputation – and money – across the world as a franchise gun-for-hire, whether abroad or at home, notably when he carried the first edition of The Hundred as part of Birmingham Phoenix. That decision for specialisation, he cedes, was tactical, with an element of uncertainty.”The reason for that was to get into a World Cup squad in 2021,” he says. “That looked a long way off when I went out and played all these franchise tournaments and I guess I thought I was closer to a Test squad then than what I was.””Over the last couple of years I’ve pretty much lived life day by day, enjoying the fact that we’re travelling the world… we’re going to all these cool different countries to play in their franchise tournaments. I’ve learned that you really don’t know what tomorrow can bring and, if anything, this sort of proves that. If you asked me two or three months ago if I was going to be playing in this Test series, I’d have said probably not.”And yet, there is an element of fate to how things have panned out over the last month, starting with the victory in 2022’s edition of the T20 World Cup, then this call-up. Australia was the site of both, in many ways. Prior to the tournament, Stokes, a long-term friend of Livingstone, took the 29-year-old to one side to ask if he’d be interested in coming to Pakistan. It was a very quick yes. “When Stokes and Baz ask you if you want to play Test cricket, it’s quite hard to say no to them two.”It would also have been hard given as a kid, long before Twenty20, let alone franchise competitions, this offer was the stuff of garden hit and giggles.”The two things whenever I played in the garden with my brother was you’re either playing Test cricket for England or playing for England in a World Cup. So I guess being able to live them two dreams over the last couple of weeks and even more so win a World Cup and make my Test debut two weeks later is pretty cool.”An elated Liam Livingstone jumps on Ben Stokes after England’s T20 World Cup triumph•Getty Images

While we’re on family, it’s worth bringing in Livingstone’s father. A Facebook post from Steve Livingstone on November 12 talking about the imminent pride of travelling to Australia to watch his son in a World Cup final went viral on social media. Will he be able to do the double and see his son make his Test debut?”No,” answers Livingstone. “It was a trade off, he didn’t know which one to do. I guess being able to see your son win a World Cup would have been too hard to turn down. I don’t know what he would have done if we’d have lost that final but… thankfully that all worked out really well.”It’s a very proud moment to give back for years and years of driving up and down the M6 three times a week for three or four years while I was still at school and college. I owe a lot to mum and dad and I guess tomorrow will probably be more about them than it will be about me.”Even contained within the support, there was the odd moment his father could not hide the fact that Livingstone’s career looked like it was taking him away from this moment.”Dad has always said he wants me to play Test cricket. Even times when I’ve had chats with him thinking I’m probably not going to get that opportunity anymore, you could always see in his face that he was quite disappointed with that.”The closest he came before was a 2018 tour of New Zealand in which he was a non-playing squad member. That came off the back of his most productive first-class season for Lancashire, with two centuries within 805 runs at an average of 42.36, which followed an England Lions winter in which he scored twin hundreds against Sri Lanka A in the same match. Though the immediate red-ball experience between then and now is very different, he rates himself better equipped now for the whims of Test cricket.”I guess I don’t really have the red-ball cricket behind me of what I did back then, but I definitely didn’t have the experience back then of what I do now. The situations and challenges that are going to come up, I’m sure I’ll have seen them all before.”It doesn’t matter what colour the ball is, what format of cricket you play. There are always challenges you’ve got to take on. I’m sure this week will be no different. It’s the bit that excites me, the different challenges that can come up in five days of cricket rather than 20 overs of cricket.”No doubt the big hits will grab the attention. Stokes even went as far to state earlier in the week that Livingstone will try and clear the media centre at the Rawalpindi ground. But it is his part-time bowling, of leg spin and off spin that has him ahead of Surrey’s Will Jacks as the third spinner, behind Jack Leach and Joe Root. It has long been a nifty short-form selling point for Livingstone to clubs and country. Now, Stokes hopes it will have the same effect of almost coaxing dismissals out of quiet passages of play.”Having the skill-set to do different things is what has made me very selectable for Baz and Ben,” he boasts, matter-of-factly. “I’ll see what we need, what fits best at that certain time. It doesn’t always mean spinning the ball away from the bat: there may be rough outside a left-hander’s off stump that you can use to bowl leg-spin into, so being open-minded and making sure I can use them skill-sets to my advantage and ultimately try and make an impact of England winning a Test.”Whether the bowling translates to the longest format is all part of a bigger conversation as to whether Livingstone will translate to the longest format. Given how vague the predictions have been regarding conditions for the next three Tests, this might only be a selection for the here and now.Either way, a cricketer who has long been a glorious fantasy as a Test cricketer will soon become a reality. And there is perhaps no better setting for it to happen than in a group that encourages participants and observers to dream big.” The last couple of days, being around the environment, it’s been very different to the previous Test squad I was in,” Livingstone reflects. “The messaging is very simple, very clear and I guess the way I play my cricket is probably going to fit perfectly with the way Baz and Stokesy want to play their cricket. I’m just really excited for what’s to come.”As are the rest of us.

“It is a further indication of SA20’s ambitions to positively impact South African cricket,” league commissioner Graeme Smith says

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2022The inaugural season of South Africa’s SA20 league will carry a total prize purse of Rand 70 million (upwards of USD 4 million). That, as a CSA media statement said, is “the biggest prize pool in the history of South African franchise cricket”.Graeme Smith, the SA20 commissioner, said, “We have worked hard to offer a rewarding and unprecedented incentive in the first season of Betway SA20. This is a first for South African cricket, we have never had this type of competitive incentive in our domestic cricket and it is a further indication of SA20’s ambitions to positively impact South African cricket.”Related

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• Explainer – What's different about the SA20? Did SA really forfeit ODIs for the new league?

• SA20 strikes landmark broadcast deal for Indian market

• Pollard to lead MI Emirates, Rashid captain of MI Cape Town

The tournament will run from January 10 – with MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals facing off at Newlands in Cape Town in the first game – to February 11, when the final will be played at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. A total of 33 matches – two round-robin leagues, two semi-finals, and the final – will be played in just over a month across South Africa.The six teams in the fray are all owned by groups that own teams in the IPL: MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals share owners with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals respectively, while the others are Johannesburg Super Kings (Chennai Super Kings), Pretoria Capitals (Delhi Capitals), Durban’s Super Giants (Lucknow Super Giants) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Sunrisers Hyderabad).Smith has in the past indicated that he hoped the SA20 would do for South African cricket what the IPL has done for Indian cricket in terms of unearthing a pool of players.”I think what we want to create in this league is that there’s so much talent – hope we can develop that talent to play under pressure on a global stage,” he had said at an event in Mumbai earlier this month. “I know I keep talking about the IPL but you look at the amount of strong cricketers that have come through in the IPL.”Looking at trying to find 15 players, hopefully there’s 25-35 players in the next couple of years at a level where it makes the selectors jobs very, very difficult. Those that are used to playing big games, exposed to big games. Unfortunately South Africa has to deal with these questions all the time until they actually win a [global] tournament.”

“We want him to be involved, we’d love him to be involved, we understand entirely his situation so we will keep working with him,” Larsen said

PTI02-Feb-2023New Zealand’s selection manager Gavin Larsen is hopeful fast bowler Trent Boult will spearhead the country’s bowling attack at the ODI World Cup in India later this year.Last year, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) agreed to release Boult from his central contract as he wanted to make himself available for T20 leagues around the world. He is currently turning out for MI Emirates in the UAE’s International League T20.Although the 33-year-old has expressed his desire to play in the World Cup, his participation in the tournament has not yet been confirmed.However, Larsen told SENZ Mornings: “The door is very much open,” adding that Boult is in constant talks with head coach Gary Stead.”Gary and Trent talk on a regular basis. We all know Boulty’s pedigree, his experience and just what a great match-winner he is and has been over the years for us,” he said.The left-arm quick, who has the exceptional ability to swing the ball both ways, is one of the best bowling talents in all formats of the game.”We want him to be involved, we’d love him to be involved, we understand entirely his situation so we will keep working with him,” Larsen said.”We’ve got a World Cup at the end of the year and I’ve got my fingers crossed that if the stars align that we’ll have a certain Trent Boult opening the bowling for us.”In the absence of Boult and the experienced Tim Southee, the relatively inexperienced New Zealand pace attack struggled in the recently-concluded white-ball series in India.They were blanked 3-0 in the ODI series which would be a cause of concern for them with the World Cup just months away.New Zealand reached back-to-back finals in 2015 and 2019 but are yet to win the event.

Brook and Joe Root score unbeaten tons during 294-run stand to lift England out of trouble

Alan Gardner23-Feb-2023Harry Brook came into the Wellington Test in possession of some of the most outrageous stats in the history of the game for a batter at the start of their career – and promptly turned the amps up to 11 with an astonishing display on day one at the Basin Reserve.It began with Brook tip-toeing to the crease amid the wreckage of England’s top order, as New Zealand’s reshaped seam attack capitalised on helpful morning conditions to reduce the tourists to 21 for 3. He walked off with the weather closing in again, but with England in a far sunnier mood. In between times, Brook had peeled off a career-best 184 not out from 169 balls, taking his Test average above 100 (and with a strike rate of 99.38 into the bargain).Oh, and Joe Root scored an immaculate, unbeaten hundred, too.Their unbroken stand of 294, already the third-highest for England’s fourth wicket in Tests, turned the tables completely on New Zealand after they had made what seemed an impeccable start on winning the toss and choosing to bowl for the second week running.Related

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• Anderson reclaims No. 1 spot in Test bowling rankings; Hasaranga at top in T20Is

• Believe the hype: Harry Brook is heading where few have gone before

As in Mount Maunganui, England’s aggression helped wrest the initiative away – by the time the forecast rain arrived midway through the evening session their overall run rate was 4.84. But that only told part of the story, with Brook and Root employing different methods to counterattack after Matt Henry and Tim Southee had made the early incisions on a green pitch that was expected to flatten out.Brook, as has been his wont during a patch of regal scoring that began with a century in his second match, in Rawalpindi before Christmas, chose barely fettered aggression throughout his innings. Southee was dispatched for three consecutive boundaries in his fifth over, and that set the tone for Brook’s approach; in all, 24 fours and five sixes came from his bat during another coruscating display.He moved to fifty just before lunch, as England reached the break on a more even keel, then raised a 107-ball hundred – his fourth in nine Test innings – during the afternoon session, during which the visitors rattled off 136 runs in 27 overs to transfer the pressure on to New Zealand’s beleaguered attack.Brook’s assault, audacious as it was, displayed a high degree of calculation. With New Zealand picking only three frontline bowlers – Henry, back after the birth of his child, and top-order batter Will Young coming in for Mount Mauganui debutants, Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn – Brook in particular chose to go after the support.Against Daryl Mitchell, nominally the fourth seamer, he struck four sixes – three towering blows down the ground and one impudent ramp to fine leg – and went at a strike rate of 158.06. Michael Bracewell’s offspin was dispatched for 22 off 15, while Neil Wagner saw his short-ball tactics dismantled for the second Test running, conceding six fours and a six. Only Henry, who gave Brook a few moments of concern early on, kept things tight, conceding just 33 off 49 balls bowled.While Brook plundered runs almost at will, adding his third fifty from just 38 balls, Root was content to slipstream his junior partner. His 29th Test hundred featured just seven boundaries, the majority of which came during the latter stages of the day – one via a perfectly executed reverse-ramp off the bowling of Wagner, the shot which had brought his downfall in the first innings last week at Bay Oval.He was on 23 at lunch, coasted along to 72 at tea and was visibly relieved to bring up three figures for the first time in 12 innings, turning Wagner into the leg side from the final delivery before the rain began to fall in earnest.Such a position of English dominance took on even more outlandish proportions given how incisively New Zealand had begun the morning session. Basin Reserve has a reputation for flattening out, never mind how green-tinged the surface, and most captains winning the toss look to eke out whatever small advantage they can: it is more than a decade since a team opted to bat first in a Wellington Test.Southee knew all this, saying that New Zealand were “accustomed to a very good cricket surface” at the ground, and would therefore have been delighted by the start for his side. Henry struck twice in his first three overs and Southee added a third as Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett all failed to make much headway.Henry beat Duckett with a beauty in his first over, although a review only proved the ball had flicked the trouser pocket. There were just a handful of scoring shots in the opening exchanges, as England were forced to temper their Bazball instincts, and the card read 5 for 1 in the fourth when Crawley felt at a wide ball from Henry – albeit on a perfect length – to be dismissed for his fourth single-figure score in six knocks.Pope fired off a volley of attacking shots in response but he was soon gone, as Henry jagged one away on an off-stump line to find the edge. Bracewell held the sharp chance at third slip, and then took an even better catch in the following over to leave England three-down. Duckett was again looking to be proactive, driving hard at one in the channel from Southee, and the edge flew to the left of Bracewell, who threw himself full length for a one-handed take, even managing to juggle it safely as the ball threatened to pop loose after his arm hit the turf.England were on the back foot, but soon began landing their punches in a familiar counterattack. Brook’s first boundary was edged wide of the cordon as Henry got the ball to kick from a length, but England’s form batter launched into Southee next over before clubbing Mitchell down the ground and then taking on Wagner with a series of belligerent blows through the leg side. Brook was on the move and soon looked unstoppable – which to all intents and purposes he was.

Henry, Doug Bracewell struck early as Sri Lanka face a stiff battle to save the game

Madushka Balasuriya18-Mar-2023Double tons from Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls gave New Zealand a vice grip on proceedings as Sri Lanka were essentially battered and batted out of the second Test in Wellington. In the process, the pair put on a 363-run stand – New Zealand’s second-best third-wicket partnership and fourth-highest for any wicket in New Zealand – during which Sri Lanka’s bowlers were run ragged all around Basin Reserve.After declaring on 580 for 4, Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis were removed in the 17 overs prior to the close of play, as the visitors were left with a stiff battle to save the game still 554 runs behind.The day however belonged to Williamson and Nicholls, who went on to become the first pair of New Zealand batters to score double centuries in the same innings. In innings that mirrored each other in many ways, they each ended with a control percentage of 93, highlighting the generally risk-free approach that was adopted over the course of the day. This was all the more impressive considering they scored 149 runs in the 34-over morning session at 4.38 an over, and ramped this up further post-lunch scoring a further 139 runs in 26 overs at 5.34.But this was hardly “Bazball,” rather death by a thousand cuts, with Williamson and Nicholls simply relentless in their run accumulation. Both innings were characterised by a constant working of the fielders to their whim.Williamson in particular was in fine fettle, working the ball into the gaps either side of the wicket, with the bright red cherry on the middle of his bat telling its own story. His overnight strike rate of 37 was more than doubled in the morning session to 83; he would eventually end up scoring his 296-ball 215 at a rate of 72.63.One-hundred-and-thirty-eight of his runs came in front of the wicket or in front of square on either side – this was the same for Nicholls, who hit 132 in the same regions. Both players also heavily favoured the flick through midwicket, regardless of whether it was spin or seam thrown at them.Matt Henry celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

The Sri Lankan bowlers, who had toiled largely fruitlessly for 48 overs the previous day in what was probably the best of the bowling conditions – even if they were complicated by heavy winds – unsurprisingly found the going on day two far worse.While the wind had become more sporadic, the pitch itself would quicken up as the day went along. This combined with an inability to maintain consistent lines and lengths meant both Williamson and Nicholls were given free rein of Basin Reserve.Lahiru Kumara, who went for 164 runs at an economy rate of 6.56, took the brunt of the damage, most notably being hooked for back-to-back sixes an hour into the morning session – a first for Williamson in Tests. But to single out Kumara would be unfair with each bowler, barring Kasun Rajitha (3.93) and Dhananjaya de Silva (3.94), going for more than four an over.After two wicketless sessions though, and the total blowing up, both Williamson and Nicholls began to show more proactive aggression. It was this that eventually brought about Williamson’s demise as he holed out to long-on.Nicholls though carried on, preying on anything short – something he had shown a propensity for over the course of his innings. He also pushed on after reaching his century off 173 deliveries, taking just 67 more to reach his double hundred. Two balls later Southee called in the declaration.In contrast to Sri Lanka’s seamers, New Zealand’s prospered with the new ball finding lateral movement that had been missing for much of the first two days. Henry struck first in his probing spell, getting Oshada to edge one through. Doug Bracewell got the other, playing his first Test in over six years, courtesy an outstanding grab at point by Devon Conway, to leave Sri Lanka well and truly on the ropes at the end of play.