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Jonny Bairstow in the spotlight as England embark on a must-win second Ashes Test under the floodlights at Adelaide

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale01-Dec-20172:18

We played the game in good spirit – Smith

Big Picture

A pink ball? Ashes cricket at night time, under lights? What would Ivo Bligh and Billy Murdoch think? The inaugural Ashes captains would probably be just as bewildered by this development as the idea of batsmen wearing helmets, or players reviewing umpiring decisions, or boundary ropes, or covered pitches. Or, dare we mention it, stump microphones. The game moves with the times. Still, this Adelaide Test does represent a milestone: it will be the 330th Ashes Test and the first played as a day-night affair. The first, you suspect, of many.Australia enter this match with a 1-0 series lead after their 10-wicket win in Brisbane, and the teams have carried to Adelaide a degree of acrimony that arose from that Gabba Test. The England camp in particular seems to have retained some bitterness from the Jonny Bairstow head-butt saga. James Anderson has likened the Australians to bullies for the way in which they sledged Bairstow about the incident, and captain Joe Root was unhappy with the manner in which his counterpart Steven Smith laughed throughout a press conference about the issue. Smith, in reply, said his laughter was at his team-mate Cameron Bancroft, not at England’s expense, and suggested that Anderson himself was “one of the biggest sledgers in the game”. And yet this is all distraction from the task at hand.It is technically possible for England to lose in Adelaide and still retain the Ashes, but it would take a monumental turnaround to achieve that from 0-2 down. In terms of pink-ball experience, England have a disadvantage, having played their first day-night Test in August this year against West Indies – albeit for an innings victory. This will be Australia’s third consecutive day-night Test at Adelaide Oval, and they have played one in Brisbane as well. Australia have won them all.The swinging pink ball will be a challenge for both sides, but perhaps England’s biggest task is to find a way to negate the impact of Smith with the bat. His dogged century at the Gabba was the defining contribution of the match, and he showed remarkable patience to not become frustrated by the defensive fields set for him from early in his innings. “Take Steve Smith’s innings out of it and they were 160 all out in the first innings,” Root observed. Of course, remove any team’s highest scorer and their total will look significantly inferior, but Root’s point – that few other Australian batsmen contributed anything of substance – is a valid one. If England get Smith cheaply, they will go a long way towards turning their fortunes around.

Form guide

Australia WWLLD (last five matches, most recent first)
England LWLWWThe Adelaide Oval at sunset•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Last year’s Adelaide Test was a watershed moment for Australia, after their Hobart thrashing at the hands of South Africa led to a major selection overhaul. Three debutants were included for the Adelaide Test, plus two recalled players. Of those five, Peter Handscomb is the only one still holding on to his place in the Test side a year later. Handscomb has outlasted Nic Maddinson, Matt Renshaw, Matthew Wade and Jackson Bird, and still finds himself averaging more than 50 in Test cricket. He also holds the distinction of having played more first-class games with a pink ball under lights than anyone in the world, averaging 54.64 from his 10 games. Handscomb will be keen to celebrate a year in the Test side with a contribution in Adelaide, after he was trapped lbw for 14 playing deep in his crease at the Gabba.Who else but Jonny Bairstow? After the Brisbane Test, which ended with Bairstow addressing the media about his was-it-a-headbutt-or-wasn’t-it, there can be no escaping the fact that Bairstow will be under the microscope in Adelaide. The Australians felt that their sledging of him worked at the Gabba, where he fell to an ill-judged shot at a key time, but at his best Bairstow has the potential to be a dominant force in the series. Worldwide, only Joe Root scored more Test runs than Bairstow in 2016, and England will be hoping their wicketkeeper can overcome the mental hurdle created by this saga.

Team news

Australia have confirmed an unchanged XI, with Chadd Sayers missing out on a home Test debut.Australia: 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Shaun Marsh, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.England have hedged their bets slightly with a 12-man squad, with Craig Overton entering the equation to challenge Jake Ball for a seam-bowling berth. There’s no room for the legspinner Mason Crane, despite concerns over Moeen Ali’s spinning finger. Moeen will play, even if his bowling load is reduced, with Root also able to contribute some of his part-time offspin.England (probable): 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Mark Stoneman, 3 James Vince, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Dawid Malan, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Jake Ball, 10 Stuart Broad 11 James Anderson

Pitch and conditions

A similar pitch to that which was used against South Africa last year was the intention for Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough, but extreme weather in the lead-up has added to the challenge. He is hopeful of a surface that will offer a good mix of pace, bounce and spin. There could be some rain around on the first day, but the forecast for the remainder of the Test is good, with temperatures in the low 20s.

Stats and trivia

• The two leading wicket-takers in pink-ball first-class cricket are both playing in this match: Mitchell Starc tops the list with 42 victims at 17.90 and Josh Hazlewood has 33 at 18.30
• Alastair Cook has played just one pink-ball Test innings but it was a big one – 243 against West Indies in Birmingham. It remains his only Test hundred this year
• On the ICC’s system of historical batting rankings only four men – Don Bradman, Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting – have ever had a higher batting rating than Steven Smith’s current figure of 961

Quotes

“It looks like a bit harder than we’ve probably seen it for a while for a pink-ball game. It looks like there is slightly less grass. I’d say it’s somewhere between an old Adelaide wicket and the newer wicket we’ve seen over the last couple of years.”
“We just need to make sure we perform like we did in the first three days of the first Test match for the whole game. If we do that and recognise the key moments of the game then we give ourselves the best chance of winning.”

Durham have ended a sequence of bad news by signing an Australian pace bowler awash with experience

David Hopps26-Oct-2017Durham have signed the experienced Australian pace bowler Nathan Rimmington who will feature across all three formats as the club begins to chart a recovery from a host of departure.Rimmington, a renowned T20 death bowler who featured for the Melbourne Renegades in last year’s Australian Big Bash League, will be well beyond his 35th birthday before he takes up a deal with Durham which will take him until at least the close of the 2019 season.He will bring a wealth of limited-over and red ball experience and offer an additional strike option in the Specsavers County Championship, although a first-class average slightly over 30 suggests he is unlikely to offer a miracle cure for a county that was relegated into Division Two because of financial irregularities last year..Rimmington said: “I’m incredibly motivated to see Durham do well and I feel like I have a lot to offer in terms of experience and leadership. I’ve always enjoyed playing in the UK and believe the conditions at Emirates Riverside will suit me.”Durham’s chairman Sir Ian Botham, banged the drum determinedly as Durham began to fight back from a year that has seen them lose Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick, Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions.”We are delighted that Nathan has chosen to play his cricket at Durham for the next few years as there was a lot of clubs interested in his signature,” Botham said. “Many people will have watched him in both the IPL and BBL and know the quality and experience he will bring to our side”.Nevertheless, Botham’s assertion that his contacts would be invaluable in securing new arrivals for Durham are not backed up by financial clout as the club operates under tight financial constraints, some of them demanded by the ECB, and Rimmington’s arrival – a player who is both worthy and relatively unswung – illustrates the level of their ambitions.

India making the final was not a surprise. Pakistan was. But here they are and if they play like they did against England, the contest could be one for the ages

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando 17-Jun-2017

Match facts

June 18, 2017
Start time 1030 local (0930GMT)

Big picture

How is it that we have got here? It seems surreal. In the age of skirting around stereotypes and upending norms, here comes a contest almost as old as partition itself: Pakistani bowling v Indian batting, and still, though we have all tasted this and read some version of this script, it doesn’t feel even slightly hackneyed, not even a little stale.How could it be? Australia might be the winningest outfit in the game, but are there two prouder cricket nations than India and Pakistan? Close your eyes. Bring to mind the players of yore. Waqar Younis and his yorkers, with tails like comets, making matchsticks out of the stumps; Mohammad Azharuddin, his flicks like brushwork, the ball teleporting through the leg side, reappearing so far into the distance you only knew it had arrived when it thwacked the boundary board. Here is Sachin Tendulkar tapping his bat, so poised, so zen at the crease; there blows Shoaib Akhtar like a hot wind, limbs whipping through that elastic action. An India v Pakistan match is not so much a new chapter in a rivalry, as a clash of cricketing bloodlines.And an elemental force has each side been in this tournament. India, sleeker now than they have been in previous decades, have overpowered oppositions to get to this final. Not since Australia in the last decade, has an ODI team looked quite so clinical, quite so bristling with purpose. They have a formula about their game too: start steady with the bat, surge through the middle, and finish big. With the ball: strangle up front, make incisions through the middle, and let the opposition innings bleed out. They stand now, muscles rippling, only once – against Sri Lanka – having had to break a sweat.Pakistan, meanwhile, have been the same old manic vortex: awful sometimes, amazing at others, transitioning from one to the other between matches, or within the same over – who knows how the mood will strike? While India are a knowable, quantifiable outfit, Pakistan’s strength is their imperviousness to any kind of rational breaking down of their game. How can you plan against that?Still, it is Pakistan who will have to spring the surprise here. They are the team that has to make the charge on Minas Tirith. It is up to them to gird up their strike power for the raid on the Death Star.At these global events, they have long been the race-car that goes from zero to a hundred quicker than anyone else, it’s just that sometimes, that is while tumbling off a side of a cliff.

Form guide

India WWLWL (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWLW

In the spotlight

No one has quite lived out India’s dominance in the Champions Trophy, nor their appetite for the big events, like Shikhar Dhawan, whose 317 runs at an average of 79.25 (and a strike rate of 102), places him at the top of the run scorers’ list. Much like with his team, there is a brooding confidence in Dhawan’s game at the moment. He is resplendently unflustered by slow starts, backing himself to score quickly later on. So well-placed is India when he typically departs, that it’s not just that he has laid the foundation, he has helped complete most of the building. All that remains for the likes of MS Dhoni to do is stick a spire on the top, and run the flag up the pole.And who better embodies the campaign of what was the eighth-ranked team in the tournament than the man who was thought to be only the fourth-best quick in the squad. Hasan Ali has a hint of the old Pakistan sorcery about his bowling: the in his approach, the theatrical celebration, the wisps of reverse swing. With ten victims at an average of 17.20, and a wonderful economy rate of 4.52, he has the potential to be the pebble that jams up India’s cogs, and brings the machinery tumbling down.

Team news

R Ashwin was seen with a heavily-taped right knee on the eve of the match, and had appeared to pull a muscle. He required the physiotherapist’s attention and was then seen doing short run ups followed by stretches later. If he is ruled unfit, Umesh Yadav, who took 3 for 30 in the opening match against Pakistan, may slot back into the XI. Such is the quality in India’s squad, that they can lose a player of Ashwin’s stature and still not be too badly dented by it.India (possible) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin/Umesh Yadav,10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Jasprit BumrahMohammad Amir has been ruled fit after missing the semi-final with a back spasm, meaning Rumman Raees is likely to exit the XI, despite his excellent debut.Pakistan (possible) 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Mohammad Amir, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Junaid Khan

Pitch and conditions

A fresh pitch is being used for the match and appears mostly dry, so perhaps the track will favour batsmen and scores in excess of 300 are likely. The forecast is for a slightly cloudy, but mostly dry day, with temperatures reaching the high twenties.

Stats and trivia

• Although Pakistan have an overall lead in the head-to-head stakes, having won 72 matches to India’s 52, they have lost eight of the 10 matches the teams have played in global tournaments.
• India have scored 1098 runs at a per-batsman average of 91.50 in the tournament, which makes them by a distance the best batting side on show. The next-best average is England’s 41.11
• Pakistan’s 31 wickets are the most taken by any team in the Champions Trophy. Since that opening loss to India, they have taken 28 wickets at 23.78 and maintained an economy rate of 4.46.
• Three of India’s top-five average higher than 43 against Pakistan – Rohit Sharma (37.90) is the lone exception.
• Junaid Khan has taken eight wickets at an average of 21.50 in five matches against India. He has dismissed Kohli three times, and conceded only two runs to him.

Quotes

“I don’t see any relevance of the first game here because you can never tell how a particular team starts a tournament. Some teams start very confidently and then they fade off. Some teams might not have the best starts, and they come back amazingly, which Pakistan have done. So everyone is aware of the kind of talent they have in their team, and on their day they can beat any side in the world.”
“I said before the Edgbaston game [against India], that I thought they were really, really calm. But they’re very, very excited now, and there’s a hell of a good vibe in that dressing room. Let’s hope we can pull out our ‘A’ game again tomorrow. If we play our ‘A’ game together and do the basics well, we can beat anybody.”

Visitors struggle after being inserted before unbroken century stand helps seal chase

ECB Reporters Network31-May-2022Michael Pepper smashed his T20 best as Essex Eagles demolished Hampshire Hawks by eight wickets in their Vitality Blast clash at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.Pepper dispatched four sixes to go alongside eight fours to crash a 42-ball 75 – bettering his previous best of 55 not out. Matt Critchley pummelled 45 in a 100-run stand with Pepper as the Eagles chased down Hampshire’s below-par 150 with 37 balls to spare to secure their first home T20 victory over Hampshire since 2017.Essex have won two from three in the competition, while the Hawks are winless. The only other time they have lost their first three Blast fixtures they finished second from bottom in the South Group.Will Buttleman was caught and bowled off his glove and Adam Rossington was starved of the strike before Nathan Ellis kissed his leg stump. But Pepper dominated from then on.He showed power with conventional shots but mixed it with some inventive flicks. The shot to bring up his half-century, however, was the combination of the two – a ramp shot with some added wrist to take the ball the distance.Pepper, Eagles’ top run-scorer in the Blast last season, wasn’t finished at a fifty as he dispatched Liam Dawson for back-to-back sixes over midwicket and then into the Hayes Close End gardens. Mason Crane was his victim in the following over with another straight six, while Critchley went somewhat under the radar for his 24-ball 45 – which included two huge maximums.Earlier, Essex won the toss and elected to bowl first – their previous six victories all coming when chasing in this format – and after a 25-minute delay due to rain they stifled Hawks in the powerplay. The visitors only managed to get to 33 with the departure of Aneurin Donald, yorked by Sam Cook.Cook was the main architect of the strong start with a boundary coming off his first delivery and then 11 dot balls – with his second over a wicket maiden.James Vince and Ben McDermott – on his 100th T20 appearance – both fell as Hampshire laboured to 59 for 3 after 10.1 overs, but Joe Weatherley, Ross Whiteley and James Fuller made sure they had a total to defend. Weatherley swept both sides of the wicket in his 37, while Whiteley and Fuller used brute force to clear the shot boundaries; both striking two sixes each.Curiously Essex’s two best bowlers Cook and Simon Harmer only bowled three of their allocation, both with identical figures of 2 for 16. Critchley’s miserly 1 for 20 was also exemplary.

Keeper set for permanent Wantage Road exit with contract up at end of season

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2022Adam Rossington has left Northamptonshire following his removal from the club captaincy, signing for Essex on an initial season-long loan.Rossington, who is in the final year of his Northants contract, was replaced as their County Championship captain by new head coach John Sadler following the club’s pre-season tour to Potchefstroom last month. A club statement confirming Ricardo Vasconcelos had been appointed to lead the four-day team made no mention of Rossington, who was then described as “unavailable for selection” as Northants brought in Lewis McManus on loan from Hampshire.Northants said in a further statement on Monday morning that Rossington had “requested time away from the squad after a change in the club’s leadership group”, while confirming his move to Chelmsford for the 2022 season. “The cricket committee were happy to support this and maintained a conversation throughout, but unfortunately could not come to an agreement,” the statement added.Rossington took over as club captain in 2019, after Alex Wakely stepped down, and led Northants to promotion that season. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my eight years at Northamptonshire and was looking forward to leading the lads in Division One this season,” he said.”I wasn’t expecting a change so I’m sad to be leaving, but the club will always hold a special place in my heart. We’ve created some wonderful memories in that dressing room that I’ll take with me and I’d like to say thank you to my team-mates and the supporters as well.”Related

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• Northants bring in McManus with Rossington 'unavailable for selection'

Ray Payne, Northants’ chief executive, said: “It’s disappointing Adam doesn’t see his future with Northamptonshire, but everyone at the club truly wishes him well for the future and we thank him for his fantastic service over the past eight years and as captain most recently.”Adam did a brilliant job as captain after taking over in difficult circumstances in 2019 and the cricket committee had Adam as a central part of our plans moving forward. Conversations around keeping him here had been ongoing since the end of last season so it’s a shame he won’t be with the squad as they take that place in Division One.”Rossington arrived at Chelmsford on Monday morning ahead of Essex’s pre-season media day and will be available for their Championship opener against Kent which starts on Thursday. With his Northants contract up at the end of the season, Essex will be favourites to sign him permanently if he impresses this season.”I’m delighted to bring someone of Adam’s quality to the club ahead of the new season,” Anthony McGrath, their head coach, said. “The signing will give us more options over the course of a busy summer of cricket and create some healthy competition for places which is an important factor to improving as a group and achieving success.”He was Northants’ captain up until recently so will also bring those leadership qualities and added experience to the group, which is important, especially following the departures of experienced squad members last year.”

“I oversaw his work for two games. After that, I insisted that he take his own decisions and bear responsibility for them”

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-20225:26

Vettori: ‘Probably comes down to Jadeja not enjoying the captaincy’

Back in his first game as Chennai Super Kings captain since giving up the role at the start of IPL 2022, MS Dhoni has suggested that the pressure of leading a side had taken a toll on Ravindra Jadeja, and that it had “burdened his prep and performances”.Speaking to the host broadcaster Star Sports after Super Kings clinched a 13-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Dhoni said that the plan had always been for Jadeja to take over as captain this season, and that while he had lent his support, he did not want to actively interfere with Jadeja’s decisions.Related

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“I think Jadeja knew last season that he would be captaining this year,” Dhoni said. “For the first two games, I simply oversaw his work and let him be later. After that, I insisted that he take his own decisions and bear responsibility for them.”Once you become captain, it means a lot of demands come in. But it affected his mind as the tasks grew. I think captaincy burdened his prep and performances.”So it was a gradual transition. Spoon-feeding doesn’t really help the captain, on the field you have to take those crucial decisions and you have to take responsibility for those decisions.”Once you become the captain, we have to take care of many things and that also includes your own game.”Dhoni hoped that with Jadeja freed from the pressures of captaincy, it would reignite the allrounder’s form, particularly on the field, where Super Kings have been sloppy, dropping several straightforward catches.”Even if you relieve the captaincy and if you are at your best and that’s what we want. We were also losing a great fielder, we are struggling for a deep midwicket fielder, still we have dropped 17-18 catches and that’s a matter of concern.”These are tough games and hopefully we will comeback strong, important to communicate with the bowlers.”Dhoni also credited his bowlers, particularly the spinners, for applying the brakes on Sunrisers during their chase of 203.”The phase that really worked for us was when the spinners were bowling after six overs. We have had quite a few good batting performances, but we have also given a couple of overs that went for 25-26 runs, and even when you score 200, it really comes down to 175-180 in 19 overs.”It’s important to try something different as a bowler. I always told my bowlers, you may get hit for four sixes in an over, but the two balls that you save – ultimately in a high-scoring game – those are the two deliveries that will help you win the game. Because a lot of bowlers, after getting hit for three or four sixes, they will be like let’s get it done with it, but that one boundary or even instead of sixes if you get hit for two fours, that will help you in a game. I don’t know if they believe in that theory, but it really works.”

The South Africa captain backs both quicks to deliver with the reverse-swinging old ball in Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle11-Jul-2018To get your mind around exactly how ridiculous South Africa’s pace gifts are at present, consider this: Dale Steyn, almost certainly the greatest fast bowler of his generation, has the worst average among the frontline quicks in his squad. His 419 wickets have come at 22.32; Vernon Philander averages 21.46, Kagiso Rabada, 21.59, and Lungi Ngidi, 16.42. What makes the presence of these riches more incredible, is that Morne Morkel, one of South Africa’s best ever, retired in their previous series.Now, some of these stats are skewed. Ngidi has only played three Tests, all at home, and his record will probably worsen. Philander’s numbers are substantially skewed by a phenomenal home average of 18.27 – his average in Sri Lanka, from two 2014 Tests, is 76.But while Rabada also has modest figures in Asia, his only previous experience on the continent being his three Tests in India, there is a feeling in the South Africa camp that he is a much improved bowler now. If it is true that Steyn is not at his best following a series of frustrating injuries (coach Ottis Gibson described his bowling as “rusty” following the two-day practice match), here is the bowler that will assume the role of attack leader, South Africa believe. There is pressure on spinner Keshav Maharaj to shine on his first series in this part of the world, but captain Faf du Plessis still has plenty of faith in reverse swing, and in Rabada’s ability to extract it.”Dale has been the spearhead, but I think KG (Rabada) will take over that mantle. He’s got the skill, he’s got the pace and he’s got the control to do well in all conditions around the world,” du Plessis said on the eve of the first Test. “I have seen growth in him since the India tour. I think that’s what’s remarkable about KG, is how quickly he learns. That was his first subcontinent tour and I believe he’ll learn from that – the way he’s improved his control.”With his skills, he’s got the ability now to swing the ball both ways with a reverse-swinging ball, which is a skill that not a lot of bowlers have. And once again, pace against any subcontinent team is something you want try and expose. We’ll have to see to what extent the wicket allows for that. It’s good to see him bowling quick again after his recent injury. He looks hungry to perform in the series.”Not that Steyn is expected to fade away. When South Africa were last in Galle, he had claimed 9 for 99, using reverse swing to devastating effect in both innings, to propel his team to victory. This time around, Steyn’s pace may not be what it was four years ago, but his skill – particularly with the old ball – remain undiminished, du Plessis said. In fact, in a three-man pace attack, it is for those later overs that Steyn may be reserved.”Dale’s X-factor is how he picks up wickets with a reverse-swinging ball. His way of getting wickets with the new ball is getting it to move around a little bit with swing, and a little bit of seam, really consistently. But there’s a period of the game when Dale gets his tail up. He gets one wicket, and is up there with the most dangerous bowlers in the world, because he is so skillful, and he can get the ball to reverse swing at pace. I’m hoping to see Dale bowl really quick again. He hasn’t bowled for a long time, so he’ll be excited to get the opportunity. It’s a good sight to see when he gets the ball reversing, and he’s running in and keeping those legs really really fast.”In almost any other side in the world, a bowler of Ngidi’s potential would command a place in every Test, but signs are, he may have to miss out in Galle. While Steyn, Rabada and perhaps Maharaj are aggressively looking for wickets, du Plessis suggested that it is Philander who will be relied on to provide control from the other end.”With Vern, his control is exceptional,” du Plessis sad. “He won’t offer you much as a batter. Even if there’s not much grass and seam movement, Vern is still a guy that will hold a game for you. And then from the other side, from a captaincy point of view, you can bring a guy and try and get wickets.”

Matthew Revis’ unbeaten half-century in vain as Yorkshire are undone in Taunton

ECB Reporters Network01-Aug-2021Somerset 159 for 5 (Hildreth 61*) beat Yorkshire 158 for 5 (Revis 58*) by five wicketsJames Hildreth blasted a brilliant 61 off 34 balls as Somerset continued their strong defence of the Royal London Cup with a five-wicket victory over Yorkshire at Taunton.In a game reduced to 20 overs per side by rain, the visitors ran up 158 for 5 after losing the toss, Matthew Revis leading the way with his best List A score of 58 not out.Fellow teenager Will Luxton contributed an unbeaten 31 to an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 69. Left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy was the pick of the Somerset attack with one for 17.In reply, the hosts reached 159 for 5 with five balls to spare, Hildreth’s sparkling knock, including 5 fours and 4 sixes.A 5,000 crowd was kept waiting for some action as rain began falling moments before the first over could be bowled at 11am. Soon it became torrential and left casual water on the outfield.The majority of spectators stayed on. They were rewarded when the sun broke through and a major mopping up operation allowed play to start at 3.30pm.Yorkshire began poorly when Harry Duke was caught behind off Josh Davey, attempting a scoop shot, in the second over.Gary Ballance soon followed, bowled off his body by Kasey Aldridge, and at the end of the four-over powerplay the scoreboard read 38 for two.Will Fraine hit the first six of the innings over backward point off Aldridge and brought up the fifty up in the seventh over before being caught at deep square off the same bowler for 23.Jonathan Tattersall fell for a duck, advancing down the pitch to Goldsworthy, and at halfway Yorkshire were 66 for four.Revis cleared the ropes at fine leg off Aldridge and George Hill smacked a straight six off Ben Green before being caught on 23 at deep square in the same over.From 89 for five in the 13th over, Revis and Luxton batted with great maturity, putting together a fifty stand in 31 balls. Revis moved to his own half century off 35 deliveries, with 4 fours and 2 sixes.Somerset were 25 for one off their first four overs, losing Steve Davies, caught at cover looking to hit a third boundary in succession off Ben Coed.Rookie Sam Young played well for his 25 before falling to Revis in the eighth over and by mid-innings the home side were well-placed at 75 for two.Seventeen-year-old James Rew marred a promising debut with an injudicious reverse sweep that saw him caught for 20 by Gary Ballance at backward point off Jack Shutt.Hildreth had survived a difficult chance to Balance at mid-off when on 15 and began to take charge, reverse sweeping off-spinner Shutt for four and then six off successive balls.He followed up with an off-driven boundary in the same over, the 14th of the innings, and then cracked another six off Revis to put his side in sight of a third victory from four group games, the other being a no-result.Goldsworthy made a useful 21 in a match-clinching stand of 66 with Hildreth and a couple of late wickets for Matthew Waite proved too little too late.

Bowling coach Courtney Walsh has said Bangladesh seamers’ lack of physical ability later in the day is down to their inexperience and is an ‘area of concern’

Mohammad Isam in Colombo14-Mar-2017Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said they have to play to their potential, after they weren’t even at “half their ability” in Galle, in order to get a result in the Colombo Test.The visitors were crushed by 259 runs, with their bowlers lacking enough penetration while their batsmen were unable to bat out crucial periods in the game. Fielding too remained ordinary, dropping three chances on the fourth day alone. Mushfiqur was the standout performer, playing with conviction and batting long periods.

Mahmudullah to remain in Sri Lanka

Mushfiqur Rahim said that Mahmudullah will remain with the team during the Colombo Test, adding his presence won’t affect the team much.
“He is possibly not playing in the second Test but since he is in the ODI squad, he will stay with the team. It can happen to any cricketer that he might fall into a bad patch. It won’t have much of an impact in the team but he is a senior cricketer so you feel bad. But we are 1-0 down, so whoever plays, has to focus on making it 1-1,” he said.

“We couldn’t even play to half of our ability in Galle which was very disappointing,” he said. “We have to try to get the result in our favour in Colombo. We have to take every chance that comes our way. We weren’t sticking to the basics, so we must improve on those things.Throughout their Tests this year in Wellington, Christchurch, Hyderabad and Galle, seamers Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Rubel Hossain have been slack in the third session. Mustafizur Rahman has relied on cutting down his pace in latter spells.Courtney Walsh, Bangladesh’s bowling coach, said one of the areas they are looking at is the pace bowlers’ physical ability to bowl later in the day.”They are not fully experienced on how to come back in the third spell,” Walsh said. “You get it by playing a lot. It is something that we have been working on, how to bowl that last spell. Our seamers have been little bit jaded in the last session of most of the Tests we’ve played. It is obviously an area of concern and it is something that we are looking to fix.”Walsh said that despite their lack of experience, the Bangladesh fast bowlers are wicket-takers.”It is not unjustified [to expect them to take 20 wickets] because they are going to learn at some point in time. When you play Test cricket, you have to take 20 wickets. It is going to be hard work because of the inexperience. They will get better the more they play, but the other factor is that they are playing in different tracks.”By the time they realised what happened in New Zealand and India, we had left those places. And now we are here. It is about adapting quickly. So far I think we are getting reasonable batting tracks. With more experience, you will only get better. I am hoping on the special occasion of the 100th Test, pride alone will kick in and the boys will do everything that they can to try to win this Test match,” Walsh said.Mushfiqur also believed they are capable of winning the milestone Test. “There are expectations about every Test,” he said. “But Bangladesh cricket is in such a stage that they are expected to win a Test, ODI or T20. This itself is a big achievement, which inspires the players to give their best in the field. We didn’t fulfill our expectations in the last game but we will give our best in the next game. Our main target will be to play consistently.

She combined in a third-wicket stand of 135 with Meg Lanning before Megan Schutt claimed her 100th T20I wicket

Andrew McGlashan21-Jul-2022Four times Tahlia McGrath has batted in T20Is, and four times she has been player of the match. Her extraordinary start in the format, having only debuted last October, continued against Ireland in Bready as she and captain Meg Lanning combined to set up a convincing Australia victory.The pair added 135 for the third wicket, a record for Australia, as they overcame a slightly sluggish start against some tight Ireland bowling to pile up 182 which the home side did not come close to challenging.When McGrath was dismissed in the final over it gave her a T20I batting average for the first time – the small matter of 247. She had struck 11 boundaries in her 45-ball stay having arrived in the fifth over when Beth Mooney clubbed a loopy full toss to mid-on after the early dismissal of Alyssa Healy lbw playing across a straight delivery.Australia had been held to 39 for 2 from the powerplay but the eighth over marked a change of gear when Lanning twice picked up Arlene Kelly over the leg side for six. Seven out of the next eight overs went for double figures while overall Australia managed 100 from the second half of their innings.Lanning and McGrath matched each other: the captain’s fifty came from 31 balls with McGrath’s coming off 30 deliveries, having at one stage been 11 from 12 balls.”It was good fun batting with Meg,” McGrath said. If there was one shot I could steal off anyone, it’s that flick off the legs for six. It’s incredible. She was so calm at the crease, she makes things happen so it’s very nice batting with her.”Megan Schutt struck in the first over of the chase when Rebecca Stokell skewed to point and later in the innings would become the second Australian to 100 T20I wickets when she removed Mary Waldron.Jess Jonassen had success in her first over of the tour, getting Gaby Lewis caught at cover, after missing the opening two matches having tested positive for Covid before leaving Australia. Meanwhile, Alana King continued her wicket-taking form with another two scalps.However, Australia’s wide count was again high as they conceded 15 meaning their tally for the three matches is now 47 runs from wides.”I think we’re shaping up really well,” McGrath said. “There’s a little bit of fine tuning to go [like] tidy up our fielding a bit, a few too many extras, but we’re always striving to improve and we’re on the right track.”They have one more match left in the series, against Pakistan on Saturday, which will likely determine who finishes top of the table.