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Surrey seamer keeps focus on County Championship despite impending qualification for adopted country

Andrew Miller21-Mar-2025″I might just announce my international retirement … then you can all go home!”We’re not even into April, and the line of questioning at Surrey’s pre-season media day is getting a touch samey, to say the least. But Dan Worrall is taking it all in his stride, much as he has done with every step of his remarkable second coming as a professional cricketer – a renaissance that could, with a fair crosswind and a bit of grass on the wicket, result in an England Test debut at the age of 33.That was certainly the impression that Rob Key, England’s director of cricket, gave in September last year, when he name-checked a bowler who had just claimed 52 wickets at 16.15 to help propel Surrey to a hat-trick of County Championship titles. “You can’t not notice Dan Worrall,” Key said. “He’s got brilliant attributes to be an international bowler.”Worrall, himself, however, could scarcely be less moved by the speculation. “There’s some things that take space in my head, but this is not one of them,” he said. “I’m just not interested about what anyone else is saying or thinking. I’m just trying to do my best for the team that I’m representing. And to be honest, with two kids under three, that keeps me busy most of the time anyway. So the other stuff doesn’t matter.”Almost nine years have now elapsed since Worrall’s first foray as an international cricketer: he played three ODIs for Australia, against Ireland and South Africa in September and October 2016. Those yielded one wicket and a sense of a box ticked in his career, as he turned his thoughts to a relocation to England and a chance to build a new life, with or without the sport at its centre.”I always thought I’d be getting the tube to work in London, but I never thought I’d be coming to a cricket ground,” Worrall said. A UK passport, courtesy of his Nottingham-born father, had encouraged him to take the plunge and uproot his young family but, after an initial haul of 43 wickets at 22.53 for Gloucestershire had confirmed the effectiveness of his fast-medium methods in English conditions, his switch to The Oval has since sent his career into overdrive.”We just thought it was a great challenge to take on, to have a bit of life experience, and challenge ourselves a little bit on the other side of the world with no family around. But, luckily, I’ve played at an amazing club, and we’ve won three championships, and the Hundred’s just come about. And being able to access leagues around the world is another benefit of moving over.”The bread-and-butter of Worrall’s new career, however, has been his red-ball form. In the space of those three triumphant seasons, he hoovered up 139 first-class wickets at 21.17, and with England having moved on last summer from James Anderson, a potential vacancy has opened up for, as he put it, “sweat-band seamer” in the Test attack – for the home series against India at the very least, if not for the tour of Australia that follows.”As a bowler, coming from Australia to England, there’s a lot more variables to play with,” he said. “You’ve got to swing it. Sometimes it bounces, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it’s raining … sunny, there’s grass on the pitch. There’s the Kookaburra [ball] now, so there’s a lot more variables that can make your worst day a lot worse than in Australia, I suppose.Related

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“As a professional, the feather in my cap would be getting to the point where I don’t really surprise anyone with how I perform … to get to the point where your worst day is not that much worse than your best day.”Can those attributes succeed on an Ashes tour, however? Despite the recent success of Scott Boland in Australia’s home summers, Worrall’s own assessment is candid.”You want my honest answer? Probably not!” he said. “There is a role – we saw Jimmy for 20 years go on numerous Ashes tours – but as a swing bowler, you’re not going to perform that role in every Test with the Kookaburra ball. There have been opportunities in the last couple of years in Test matches in Australia, [when it’s been] a bit more seamer friendly, but whether that happens again in an Ashes series, that’s yet to be seen. Maybe there’s a job to do as a sweat-band swinger, but we’ll wait and see.”In his former life, Worrall claimed 184 wickets at 29.03 for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield, so he clearly has the pedigree to do that job Down Under. But, whether or not he’s doing himself out of a job for the coming winter, he also has no doubts about which attributes England should be doubling down on as they seek to win a series in Australia for the first time in 15 years.”In Australia, there’s not a lot of variables to play with. It’s more about being tall or fast or accurate,” he said. “The way that England are setting up their fast-bowling cartel is the way forward to win in Australia.”We’ve seen success from Gus [Atkinson], Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, and I think they’re trying to get to Jofra [Archer] up and about for that Ashes series. There is the necessity for pace and bounce in Australia, and I don’t think that’s a secret for anyone.”The way the Australian team has taken wickets consistently for the last decade has been with the guys that are over 6 ft 2, bowl fast and don’t really miss the spot. Naturally, there’s a challenge for English bowlers going over to Australia because of that difference, but the way that the guys are setting up now, it gives them the best chance to perform.”None of that, however, means Worrall will be turning down the England call, should it end up coming at any stage this year.”Yeah, of course, I’ve said it before,” he said, when asked if he would like to play for his adopted country. “I haven’t thought about it. Everyone else keeps talking about it. I’m just going to go out and do my best for Surrey and hopefully enjoy another successful season at The Oval.”It doesn’t faze me too much. It’s just one of those things where, as a professional athlete, there’s always someone with an opinion and someone that wants to get the next headline, or they want to figure out the next thing that’s going to happen in their career.”But I think as a player, as soon as you start thinking about that and letting that enter your thinking, it just detracts from your potential as a player and a professional and as a person. So as far as I’m concerned, I’m not that bothered. Whatever happens will happen. I’ll try my best wherever I am.”

Fifth-wicket stand of 124 ensures platform provided by openers does not go to waste

ECB Reporters Network17-May-2024George Bartlett and Rob Keogh led a solid Northamptonshire batting display on the opening day of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.The pair both scored half-centuries and added 124 for the fifth wicket to get the innings back on track after Anuj Dal struck twice to reduce Northants to 121 for 4. Ricardo Vasconcelos and Emilio Gay shared an opening stand of 99 but it was Bartlett’s 76 and Keogh’s unbeaten 75 that gave Northants the advantage, closing on 297 for 5.Ross Whiteley claimed his first Championship victim for nearly three years but Blair Tickner was the pick of the attack and deserved more than one wicket from 21 overs.Derbyshire began the day by naming allrounder Whiteley in the team for his first Championship match since he played for Worcestershire in June 2021.Whiteley spent the morning in the field after Northants decided to bat in sunny conditions although both openers needed some good fortune to survive on a pitch offering assistance to the seamers.South African fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon knocked Vasconcelos off his feet with a yorker first ball of the match although it was Tickner who posed the biggest threat.The New Zealander went past the bat numerous times in an outstanding six-over opening spell that included four maidens and cost only three runs. But the pressure eased once he was out of the attack with the other bowlers unable to maintain the same consistent line.When Tickner was brought back on, Vasconcelos pulled him for four to reach his 50 from 89 balls but just when it was looking like a fruitless session for the home side, he moved one back in to have him lbw.Northants would still have been satisfied with their position at lunch but the picture quickly changed after Gay was dismissed by the first ball of the afternoon session.It was an innocuous delivery from Dal but Gay played it into his stumps as he aimed to push it to the offside and Dal struck again in his next over. Luke Proctor had never looked comfortable and after facing 17 balls without scoring, he went across to glance and lost his leg stump.There was an even bigger success for Derbyshire when Zak Chappell got one to straighten to bowl Karun Nair for 6 to leave Northants in danger of failing to build on the foundations laid by the openers.Another wicket would have opened the door for Derbyshire but Bartlett and Keogh regrouped and batted through the rest of the session. Bartlett reached his 50 from 72 balls when he cover drove David Lloyd for his ninth four and by tea the pair had added 74 to shift the initiative back to the visitors.Whiteley was brought into the attack after the interval and after Keogh guided him past gully for four to go to 50 from 103 balls, he broke the stand in his next over. Bartlett was surprised by a ball that lifted from just outside off stump and could only fend it to slip where Aneurin Donald took a simple catch.It was an important breakthrough ahead of the second new ball which Derbyshire took immediately but Keogh and Justin Broad denied them any further success.

Pakistan legspinner expected to be available for duration of the competition

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2023Shadab Khan, the Pakistan allrounder, has signed to play for Sussex in this year’s Vitality T20 BlastAs previously reported by ESPNcricinfo, Sussex have been working to land a number of overseas signings, with Shadab expected to be available for the duration of the Blast. Sussex will be the 24-year-old’s second county, having turned out for Yorkshire in the competition last summer.He could be joined at Hove by Sean Abbott, with the club also eyeing a short-term Championship deal for Steven Smith.”Shadab will provide amazing experience in our middle order, he is someone who has played all around the world and has experienced many situations, which can only benefit our team,” Sussex bowling coach, James Kirtley, said.Related

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“He really does provide flexibility to our side as he can score runs and take wickets in crucial moments, but more than anything else he is an experienced head that Ravi [Bopara] can go to as captain to look for support when making crucial in-game decisions.”I know that he will have a massive impact on our team this year.”Shadab’s legspin has helped him to 258 wickets in 225 T20 appearances – 98 from 84 for his country – and a prominent role on the franchise league circuit. He captains Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League, and has also appeared in the Big Bash, Caribbean Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League.His signing looks set to end Rashid Khan’s association with Sussex, which stretches back to 2018. Rashid was recently made Afghanistan’s T20 captain, and his involvement in series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would have impacted no his availability.Shadab said: “I love playing in England. I know Mushtaq Ahmed is a legend at Sussex, and it is an honour to follow in his footsteps. Sussex has a proud history and I hope that my skillset will help the team achieve great things in the Blast this year.”

Southee’s 5 for 69 keeps India to 345 despite Iyer’s debut century

Karthik Krishnaswamy26-Nov-20213:38

Jaffer: Iyer a No. 5 candidate for all conditions

Tim Southee delivered one of the great Test-match spells by a visiting fast bowler in India to drag New Zealand back into the Kanpur Test, before Will Young and Tom Latham put on a resolute and unbroken 129 to ensure all four results were still in play after two engrossing days.Having been bowled out for 345 shortly after lunch, India probed from every conceivable angle for 57 overs, but their five bowlers couldn’t separate New Zealand’s opening pair. While the ball occasionally gripped and turned square, and more often kept low, the slowness of the surface allowed the batters to adjust and survive.

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For all their frustrations over the last two sessions, India’s five-man attack bowled with control throughout – particularly in the post-tea session, in which they conceded just 57 runs in 31 overs – ensuring that the scoring rate was kept down, and New Zealand went to stumps still trailing by more than 200 runs.Young and Latham, however, showed the rest of New Zealand’s line-up a template to survive. Knowing that the pitch wasn’t going to rush them, they let the ball come to them, meeting it right under their eye as far as possible, and didn’t go looking for scoring opportunities outside their comfort zones. Against the spinners, Latham waited for the line to shift outside off stump so he could sweep while minimising the risk of lbw. That shot was his primary scoring option aside from leg-side flicks and nudges.Young, meanwhile, reached his fifty with a flurry of drives against the spinners before tea. But he was content to remain scoreless for long periods in the final session, when R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel began to find their rhythm and the ideal pace and seam positions for this surface.As the day neared its close, all three spinners began to beat the bat more often. Ashwin thought he had Latham caught behind in the penultimate over of the day, and the umpire agreed, only for a review to indicate it was bat brushing pad rather than an edge. It was Latham’s third successful review; he had twice been adjudged lbw off the inside edge before tea, once against Umesh Yadav and once against Jadeja.The first half of the day belonged to Southee. Having nursed a groin strain that took him off the field for parts of the first day’s play, he recovered sufficiently – or bowled through residual pain – to pick up four wickets in an unbroken spell of 11 overs on the second morning to complete his 13th five-wicket haul in Test cricket and his second in India.Tom Latham profited from the sweep in Kanpur•BCCI

Starting the day at 258 for 4 with two half-centurions at the crease, India were bowled out for the addition of only 87 runs. The bulk of those runs came from Shreyas Iyer, who became the 16th India batter to score a century on debut, and Ashwin, who made a counterattacking 38 at No. 8.Kyle Jamieson was New Zealand’s most impactful performer on day one, but he began day two completely out of rhythm, and Iyer, resuming on 75, hit him for five fours in his first three overs of the morning to hurry into the 90s. He brought up his hundred in Jamieson’s next over, with a sliced drive for two backward of point.By then, though, Southee had already made a crucial incision. He began the day with four balls wide of Jadeja’s off stump, delivered from around the wicket, and the left-hander shouldered arms to all of them. He followed it with one that swung sharply into the stumps, and Jadeja, stuck in his crease, played down the wrong line and was struck on the back pad, with an umpire’s call verdict on height saving him after New Zealand reviewed the initial not-out decision.Southee didn’t have to wait long to get his man, though. A similar delivery in his next over drew a similar, leaden-footed response, and this time the ball rattled into the stumps via the inside edge.The wickets kept coming. A pair of full outswingers that weren’t quite full enough to drive prised Wriddhiman Saha and Iyer out; the first, delivered from wide of the crease, drew an off-drive down the wrong line, and the second, delivered from closer to the stumps and swerving away to scramble the batter’s shape and causing him to spoon the ball to cover point.Then, in his eighth over of the morning, Southee alternated inswingers to the left-handed Axar with scrambled-seam balls that straightened off the pitch. Axar played and missed at the first scrambled-seam ball, and hung his bat out and edged the second to the keeper. India were 313 for 8.By then, Ashwin was already on 20 off 22 balls, having come in and taken on Southee’s outswingers and hit him for three fours through the off side. Southee kept going for three more overs in the quest to finish the innings off, but Ashwin farmed the strike, refusing singles to keep Umesh away from the strike as much as possible.Ashwin could have been dismissed for 16 when he stepped out to Ajaz Patel and missed an attempted lofted hit, with the ball scooting through low. The ball, however, narrowly missed off stump and bounced off Tom Blundell’s pad before he could react. It could have been the first wicket to fall to a spinner in this Test match, but as on day one – when he missed reviewing an lbw decision against Shubman Gill – the luck wasn’t quite with Ajaz.It turned after lunch, though, as he spun one out of the footmarks and past the outside edge to bowl Ashwin, and got one to skid through with the arm to trap Ishant Sharma plumb in front.

Dustin Melton takes 4 for 22 as Leicestershire stumble on first day

ECB Reporters Network08-Aug-2020Derbyshire enjoyed an outstanding first day with ball and bat in the Bob Willis Trophy match against Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road.The visitors bowled Leicestershire out for 199 after the Foxes had chosen to bat first before a fine unbroken partnership of 92, compiled off only 17.3 overs, between Luis Reece and Wayne Madsen saw the Peakites close on 101, just 98 runs behind with nine first innings wickets in hand.It was all the more impressive for the fact that while Leicestershire made just one change from the team which beat Lancashire in their opening fixture (Will Davis coming in for Tom Taylor), injuries and rotation saw Derbyshire make four from the side which pulled off a remarkable win against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Hughes, Melton, Anuj Dal and first-class debutant Ed Barnes came in for Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Matt McKiernan, Michael Cohen and Ben Aitchison.Paceman Sam Conners make the early breakthrough on a pitch offering both pace and carry, as Ben Slater – formerly of Derbyshire, but currently on loan at Leicestershire from Nottinghamshire – pushed at a length delivery and edged to third slip, where Matt Critchley held the catch.At the other end Hassan Azad had one escape, Critchley failing to hold a chance two-handed to his left when Luis Reece found the edge, but there was no reprieve when, having allowed a delivery from Reece to go through to wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein, Azad – who was batting outside his crease – did not step back behind the line. The alert Hosein rolled the ball into the stumps from around 12 yards back to effect a remarkable stumping. Leicestershire were in a hole at 15 for 2, and it deepened when captain Colin Ackermann edged an out-swinger from Dustin Melton low to Leus Du Plooy at second slip.It was just as well for the Foxes that Harry Dearden looked in good touch, but with lunch approaching the young left-hander lost another partner as George Rhodes edged a gentle outswinger from Alex Hughes, and Hosein, standing up to the wicket, took a neat catch. With Rhodes also out his ground, the wicketkeeper completed a ‘just in case’ stumping.The key wicket in the afternoon session was that of Dearden, who had hit 12 boundaries as he moved on to 70 before getting a questionable decision in being given out leg before wicket to a delivery from Conners that replays suggested pitched outside leg stump.Ben Mike looked comfortable before a misjudged leave allowed an inswinging delivery from Melton to clip the top of his off-stump. Melton then picked up two wickets in two balls as first Harry Swindells inside edged an attempted drive onto off stump and then Dieter Klein bottom-edged a cut at a wide ball on to his middle stump.Callum Parkinson, Davis and Chris Wright did their best to drag their side past 200, and earn at least one batting bonus point, but both Parkinson and Davis went the same way, edging defensive pushes at Reece to Hosein.Wright briefly lifted Leicestershire’s spirits with a fine delivery that seamed away to take Billy Godleman’s edge and give Azad a waist-high catch at first slip, but Reece and Madsen took full advantage of inconsistent bowling, a fast outfield and a short boundary to score at 5.25 runs per over in taking Derbyshire past 100 before the close.”I’m absolutely delighted,” Melton said. “I felt the love from the staff and the players as well – we’ve always been big believers in celebrating each other’s successes.”Coming back from lockdown there was a momentum shift in my mindset, especially in regards to first-class cricket: getting away from being a clubby, greedy, wicket-taking bowler who thinks he can just run in and take a pole whenever he feels like it.”I had to do a bit of soul searching and change my outlook, do whatever the team needs, and if that means banging a couple in, fine, and if it means just trying to control the scoreboard, fine, I’ll do that.”

Anderson’s three late wickets keep Middlesex batsmen at bay

Paul Edwards at Lord's11-Apr-2019
An April morning in St John’s Wood. Wisden just published, winter taking flight and the world freshly clothed in its spring livery. It is a common habit at this point in an Ashes season to consider who will bat in the top order against Australia. Admittedly the field has been narrowed down to about thirty batsmen but before long anyone with a pulse who has reached double figures in the previous fortnight will have his advocates.For half this day we thought the 75 runs made by Stevie Eskinazi, a player rarely considered in an international context, would define the game’s first quarter. But by evening it was an opening bowler who had done most to mould the match’s current shape. For having taken just one wicket in the first two sessions, James Anderson bagged a couple more after tea as Middlesex declined from 181 for 3 to 236 for 9 at stumps. It may not have been exactly what Dane Vilas had envisaged when he opted to bowl at 10.30 but it was very acceptable all the same.Lancashire’s revival was completed by Tom Bailey, who added the late wickets of James Harris and Steven Finn to the two he had taken in the afternoon session.But it was inspired by Anderson, who had Dawid Malan caught at slip for 24 when he pushed one across the batsman and then returned with the new ball to nip one away from Max Holden when the young left-hander had made a composed 34. Rob Jones took the resulting slip catch quite as easily as he had when pouching Eoin Morgan in the gully off Josh Bohannon eight overs earlier.Morgan’s careless slash summed up Middlesex’s evening; Bohannon’s clenched fists encapsulated Lancastrian joy in pugnacious fashion. The 22-year-old only celebrated his birthday on Tuesday but his rolling gait suggests he has already spent a dozen years before the mast. One thinks of Leading Seaman Frank, the part played by William Hartnell, in the And all this was rather unexpected given Lancashire’s only success in the morning was achieved in the seventh over when Anderson squared up Sam Robson and Glenn Maxwell took the resultant edge at second slip without palaver. That wicket was Anderson’s 921st in first-class cricket but it was more notable for being his 300th for Lancashire in his 18th season with the county.Not surprising, you may say, when one considers the effect of central contracts on domestic cricket but still remarkable when one compares his achievement with that of Brian Statham, who took eight games more than Anderson’s 77 to reach the same landmark for his beloved county yet packed those matches into three years and four months following his debut in 1950.The contrasts between the two are as revealing as the comparisons. It is accepted that Statham and Anderson are two of England’s finest bowlers and each has had an End named after them at Emirates Old Trafford. Yet Statham had never travelled in an aeroplane before being asked to fly out and join MCC’s tour of Australia in 1951; the furthest he had voyaged from these shores was the Isle of Man.Anderson, by contrast has probably got more air miles on his clock than the average transatlantic pilot. Statham’s first job after leaving school was clerking in a firm of coal merchants and in what passed for retirement he worked in a brewery’s sales department. When Anderson’s career ends one doubts he will need to find alternative employment.All bowlers, though, have to insulate themselves against disappointment and Anderson’s was plain in the morning session when Gubbins edged him twice between slips and gully. He threw back his head, shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked back to his mark as if appalled at life’s iniquity.That was as nothing, though, when set beside Graham Onions’ frustration when he had both Gubbins and Eskinazi dropped by Alex Davies and Maxwell respectively in the space of seven balls. Thus reprieved, the pair lunched on 84 for one and Middlesex supporters looked forward to further prosperity.But it did not quite work out that way. After batting well and reaching his fifty with a pleasing back foot drive off Maxwell, Gubbins played across a full length ball from Bailey and was leg before wicket for 55. Nearly eight overs later, Eskinazi, whose driving through the off side had been one of the day’s delights, made to leg glance the same bowler but only feathered a catch to Brook Guest.As seems to have been the norm in recent seasons, Lancashire went into the game with two or three ‘keepers and Guest took over the gloves when Davies injured himself dropping Gubbins.Middlesex got to tea on 175 for 3 but rest of the day belonged to Lancashire’s bowlers with Anderson taking 3 for 41 from his 21 overs. It was a fine effort although one doubts he thanked his feet for getting him though the day, as Statham was wont to do.The rest of us thanked God or whatever means the good for letting us enjoy this stuff once again. The scents of blossoms were everywhere as one left Lord’s this Thursday evening and not even the subterranean stench of the tube could banish them.

Boult’s relentless accuracy and Lockie Ferguson’s raw pace hit the high notes after Nicholls’ enterprising 83 in a dominating win

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Dec-20174:01

Highlights – Boult blinder seals series for NZ

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGetty Images

A snowballing 130-run sixth-wicket stand propelled New Zealand to 325 for 6, before a smoldering Trent Boult blasted West Indies out for 121 with help from tearaway Lockie Ferguson.West Indies have lost every game on tour, but rarely have they appeared so outmatched. The top order showed no fight against Boult’s sniping accuracy and Ferguson’s out-and-out-pace. They were virtually out of the game inside the first six overs, in which three wickets fell, and were all out by the 29th over. With this match goes the series – West Indies are 0-2 down with one match to play.For the hosts, the 204-run victory featured several highlights. Not only were Boult’s figures of 7 for 34 better than his previous best, they were also the second-best ODI figures for New Zealand by a whisker – Tim Southee having taken 7 for one run fewer in the 2015 World Cup. Henry Nicholls also produced a furious finish to the innings, after he and Todd Astle had lifted New Zealand from 186 for 5. His unbeaten 83 off 62 balls was also a personal best.Elsewhere, George Worker produced an efficient fifty at the top of the innings, Ross Taylor’s half-century held New Zealand together in the middle overs, and Ferguson made clear his potential, claiming 3 for 17 in four overs of hostile fast bowling.Quicks of both teams were aided by the surface. Though Hagley Oval is usually the domain of swing and seam movement, it was the lift in this pitch that defined the match. West Indies had actually begun the match with some promise, dismissing four New Zealand top order batsmen with deliveries that leapt more than anticipated.Although the West Indies’ quicks’ shorter lengths had proved a danger to batsman while the ball was new, there was also opportunity later on – 68 per cent of New Zealand’s runs came square of the wicket. All innings long, only two boundaries were hit in the “V”.Boult began to maraud the moment he got ball in hand. He could have had Evin Lewis with his second delivery, had Worker held a very difficult chance some distance to his left. No matter. The last ball of that over zipped between Kyle Hope’s bat and pad, and thundered into the stumps. Next over, Boult had Lewis miscuing a pull shot to the fine leg fielder – the drop having cost no more than nine runs.Every time Boult bowled, a wicket did not seem far off. Still in his first spell, he had Shimron Hetmyer caught at slip for 2, then later, Shai Hope sending a ball high into the air off his top edge, to depart for a belligerent 23. By the end of Boult’s initial six-over burst, the target already seemed 100 too many for the West Indies.Perhaps they would have made a more creditable reply had Ferguson not added to their discomfort, however. Now quite clearly the fastest bowler in New Zealand – having pipped Adam Milne for that title – Ferguson went either at the stumps or at the body, and on a pitch that suited his bowling, had success doing both. Jason Mohammed was his first victim, fending at a delivery headed for his throat – the ball taking the shoulder of the bat and floating back to the bowler. Two balls later Rovman Powell played a shot that seemed to be light years two late – the offstump uprooted before the bat was even in position. Ferguson also dismissed Jason Holder with a short ball, before Boult came back to flatten the tail.So good were New Zealand’s quicks that perhaps West Indies were always going flounder, but in the first third of this match, the visiting quicks made regular breakthroughs, which suggested a contest could be on the cards. Then Nicholls and Astle turned what began as a recovery into a hailstorm of death-over boundaries. By the time Astle was dismissed for 49 in the final over, the previous 28 balls had produced 64 runs.As was the case for Ferguson, this was a pitch that suited Nicholls’ batting beautifully, however. Adept at the cross-batted strokes, he cut and pulled his way into a rhythm early in his innings, and let fly with the innovations later on. Of particular note was the overhead scoop off Ronsford Beaton in the 45th over – the shot that heralded the mayhem. Three overs later, Nicholls was walloping two sixes and two fours in a Shannon Gabriel over that yielded 22. In the first 37 deliveries he faced, Nicholls had hit 27 – overturning an lbw decision against him in that time. Off his last 25 balls, Nicholls plundered 56, even finding a place for the full deliveries beyond the square boundary.Astle’s innings was not quite so explosive – he had largely sought to turn the strike over to Nicholls, scoring exclusively with singles and twos off his first 35 balls. He did eventually hit out, slog-sweeping Rovman Powell for six twice in the 49th over. A little fortune made that final flourish possible: Astle had been dropped off Powell by wicketkeeper Shai Hope, in the 46th over.West Indies were not completely without performers. Sheldon Cottrell – the left-arm quick who replaced the injured Kesrick Williams in this match – was the first bowler to use the short ball effectively in this match. His figures worsened as a result of New Zealand’s fast finish, but he claimed a creditable 3 for 62 nonetheless. Holder returned 2 for 52 for himself.But although visiting teams sometimes feel as they have the measure of New Zealand conditions, the home side almost unfailingly have in their ranks players who turn the match emphatically in their favour. This is New Zealand’s ninth series victory in their 10 last bilateral series at home.

Sri Lanka Cricket is set to introduce annual contracts for close to 70 cricketers, including players in the youth and emerging categories, in a bid to encourage them to press for places in the national side

Sa'adi Thawfeeq11-Oct-2016Sri Lanka Cricket is set to introduce annual contracts for close to 70 cricketers, across the youth, emerging and senior categories, in a bid to encourage them to press for places in the Sri Lanka team. The new contract system does not include the current national players already contracted with the board.SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said that the new contract system will cover the period between November 1, 2016, and April 30, 2017, after which the cricketers could play in any part of the world. Under this system, the cricketers will be paid between SL Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000 per month ($170 – $680).”There are so many categories of players who are playing cricket so we must look after them,” Sumathipala said. “We don’t want the players who have not played for Sri Lanka to be idling in club cricket but to start putting pressure on the national players and make every effort to play for the country as well as their clubs.”We have decided to look after these cricketers and put them on a national contract. We met about 70 players last Saturday and gave them a proposed agreement and we are informing our member clubs that if there are anybody whom they feel are worthy of contract to inform us.”We will sign the contracts on October 30. The contract lasts from November 1 to April 30. After that date the cricketers are free to play in any part of the world. We want to see that our domestic [structure] is stronger and protected and give the players something they can be happy about. Apart from the national players we are also looking after the other players as well.”The board also announced that it had suspended financial grants for nine member clubs and associations, including Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and Badureliya Cricket Club, for a variety of administrative faults, including the failure to submit an audit report. Both Bloomfield and Badureliya CC are prominent domestic teams that participate in the Premier League tournaments. The other associations are: Southern Province Cricket Association, Negombo Cricket Club, Matara District Cricket Association, Puttalam District Cricket Association, Kollupitiya Sports Club, Nomads Sports Club and Peterson Lane Sports Club. Sumathipala clarified that the teams could continue participating in SLC-conducted tournaments.”From the month of January we have informed the clubs and associations to have their audit reports and to hold their AGM in time,” Sumathipala said. “They have not complied with our request so we have to suspend funding them.”We are not funding any money until they rectify their administration. But for the sake of cricket they will be allowed to play in SLC-conducted tournaments. Until they get their accounts up and running and they submit the audit reports the SLC has decided not to grant them any money.”

James Taylor will resume his Test career in Sharjah but Jos Buttler has experienced the contrasting feeling of being dropped

Andrew McGlashan in Sharjah31-Oct-2015The contrast in emotions was stark. In one corner you have James Taylor, finally about to resume his Test career after a gap of three years, and in the other Jos Buttler, a wonderkid of English cricket, who has endured the first major setback of his international career.It is a slightly curious situation that the demotion of a player in a very specific role – the wicketkeeper – has opened the door for the return of a specialist batsman, but Taylor can be thankful for the presence of Jonny Bairstow in the middle order.He has bided his time for three years but occasionally hasn’t hid his frustration at being continually overlooked since those two Tests against South Africa in 2012. Alastair Cook admitted he probably had some ill-feeling over the length of his wait for a second chance and said that he could not have done more to earn a recall.”He came in in 2012, had a couple of games and didn’t make the next tour. I’m sure he feels he was harshly treated, sometimes that’s the way of selection – it can work for you and against you,” Cook said. “He’s gone away over the last three years and he’s a much different player than what I remember him as. We saw that in the summer, the way he played the quick bowling in the one-day series against Australia in particular, that hundred, he looked a fantastic player. He’s come on tour and continued that.”So far in the series England have just the one hundred – Cook’s monumental 263 in Abu Dhabi – compared to four from Pakistan. In Dubai they paid the price for batsmen failing to convert fifties, especially in the first innings when Cook and Joe Root fell for 65 and 88 respectively while Bairstow made 46, and Taylor’s domestic conversion rate of hundreds into ‘daddy hundreds’ is something that has stood out.James Taylor will return to the Test side after a gap of more than three years•Getty Images

Six of Taylor’s 20 first-class hundreds have been doubles (although one against Loughborough MCCU does not carry the same weight as the others), his most recent being a career-best 291 against Sussex last season, while he has also made an unbeaten 242 for England Lions in Sri Lanka. As a comparison, three of Cook’s 50 first-class hundreds have been doubles (albeit all in Test cricket), four of Ian Bell’s 50 centuries have been doubles and three of Joe Root’s 15.”He’s itching to play and you don’t average 47-48 in first-class cricket without being a fine player,” Cook said. “One of his very strong points is that when he gets in he goes on to get big scores. We know how important first-innings runs are to set the game up.”Yet while Cook has been able to hand out good news to Taylor, the flip side is he has had to tell Buttler that, for the time being, his Test career is halted. Buttler’s form since the start of the Ashes – an average of 13.00 – had become too much for the middle order to carry and retaining him in the side could have done more harm than good to his keeping as well.It may be that he does not return until he has been able to put together a run of first-class matches for Lancashire at the start of next season, although he is still likely to feature for England in one-day and T20 cricket over the next six months, which includes the World T20 in India. Cook said Buttler needed to work out the way he wanted to play in Test cricket, but picked out Joe Root as an example of how a player can quickly turn their fortunes around.Root was left out of the final Ashes Test in 2013-14 at Sydney but returned five months later with a double-hundred against Sri Lanka, at Lord’s, since when he has averaged 76.11 with 2055 runs in 19 matches and risen to No. 1 in the rankings. In a recent interview with his mentor, Michael Vaughan, in the , Root cited being dropped in Australia as the turning point for him and Cook hopes similar will happen for Buttler.”He’ll have to go away and be really clear on how he wants to play in Test cricket,” Cook said. “He knows his game really well in T20 and one-day cricket, but he probably knows it less well Test cricket. It’s about finding his ideal method and sticking by that.”We all know the amount of talent he has got, you see him play an innings that everyone around the world says is amazing, but he’s not the first person who has come in, done pretty well then had a tough patch, been left out and come back stronger.”He only has to look at Joe Root, getting left out of that Sydney game and using it as motivation to be clear on how he wanted to play in every situation. He’s come back as a far better player because of it.”The other confirmed changed for England is the enforced one of a replacement for Mark Wood. Cook said it would be a late call on whether his spot would be taken by Liam Plunkett or a third spinner in Samit Patel on a surface that is expected to start very dry. However, Cook confirmed he had never expected Wood to play the entire series.”It’s a shame for him, but it’s part of his management process of his ankle,” Cook said. “I was told by medics that he wasn’t fit to play. It’s part and parcel of how much he can play on his ankle. He bowled really well in Dubai but we didn’t expect him to play all three games.”

After posting 158, Faisalabad Wolves had one major aim in the chase – dismissing Shoaib Malik. They got him in time to restrict Sialkot Stallions in the chase and take the title

The Report by Umar Farooq01-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Faisalabad Wolves celebrate their title win•Pakistan Cricket Board

After posting 158, Faisalabad Wolves had one major aim in the chase – dismissing Shoaib Malik. They got him in time to restrict Sialkot Stallions in the chase and take the title in front of a full house at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The Wolves won their previous national T20 title in 2005.Wolves, by winning the title, have also qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 this year, though that remains subject invitation by the tournament organisers. Teams from Pakistan were ignored for the first three editions of that competition, though the Stallions were invited last year. They failed to qualify for the main round.Wolves were off to a poor start after winning the toss, the openers back in the hut in the space of eight balls. However, they recovered, and recovered well.The defining feature of Wolves’ innings was the swift pace at which runs were scored. The first 50 runs came off 50 balls, second in 49 and the final 50 were knocked off in just 17 balls. Asif Ali was key, smashing 70 off 49 balls with nine boundaries, including three sixes. He first put together a 63-run third wicket stand with Khurram Shehzad (30) after the loss of two early wickets and then added an unbeaten 79 with captain Misbah-ul-Haq.Ali won six awards for his 70: most stylish player, most fours, most sixes, best scorer, and the Player of the Match while Ehsan Adil was named best bowler of the tournament. Misbah, who is currently enjoying the best run in his career, finished being a tournament top-scorer with 206 at a strike-rate of 140.13 and an average of 103, He’s also hit the most sixes this competition, 12. He played another assured hand in Wolves’ innings, smacking three sixes for his brisk 38 off 25 balls.The Stallions were reeling at 10 for 3 in the chase. Shakeel Ansar (4) was the first to go, top-edging a catch wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman.Stallions once again had to rely on Malik. Along with Ayaz Tasawwar (28 off 26), Malik added a steady 63 runs for the fifth wicket but the asking-rate was climbing with each over. The pair resisted Wolves for a while but Adil returned for his final spell to end the fightback. He first dismissed Tasawwar – who was caught at extra cover by Asif – and followed with a double-strike, getting rid of the brothers (Shoaib and Adeel) in quick succession.Malik finished the tournament as second-highest run-getter. His 40 off 39 balls included four fours and a six. After his departure, the rest of the batting couldn’t hold together. Malik failed to turn the tables this time and his side was bowled out for 122 in 19.1 overs.