A career-best performance from Alex Hughes turned almost-certain defeat into possible victory as Derbyshire staged a remarkable recovery in the Division Two match against Gloucestershire at Derby

ECB Reporters Network02-Sep-2016
ScorecardDerbyshire allrounder Alex Hughes recorded his highest first-class score (file photo)•Getty Images

A career-best performance from Alex Hughes turned almost-certain defeat into possible victory as Derbyshire staged a remarkable recovery in the Division Two match against Gloucestershire at Derby. The 24-year-old all-rounder scored 140 from 209 balls in only his third first-class game of the season to raise Derbyshire’s hopes of a first Championship win of the summer.Neil Broom shared a century stand with Hughes and although Craig Miles took 4 for 82, Gloucestershire became increasingly ragged as Tom Milnes smashed a career-best 56 from 53 balls and Harvey Hosein an unbeaten 52 before the home side were dismissed for 360. That left Gloucestershire with a victory target of 272 which they reduced by 10 in five overs before the close.The chance of Derbyshire taking the game much beyond lunch had looked slim when Miles struck twice in his opening over of the day with the home side still 38 runs behind. Callum Parkinson had batted through the first 80 minutes of the morning to frustrate the bowlers, taking a blow on the helmet from David Payne in the process, and it took a good ball from Miles to find his outside edge in the 17th over of the morning.Miles produced an even better delivery that lifted nastily at Wayne Madsen who could only fend the ball to gully to bag a pair for only the second time in his career and at that stage, Gloucestershire would have been looking to be on the road by mid-afternoon.Instead expectation slowly turned to desperation as Hughes and Broom began a fightback that asked questions the bowlers could not answer. By the time Broom chopped Miles into his stumps 20 overs after lunch, Derbyshire were well in credit and the lead continued to grow as Hughes drove Josh Shaw through the covers for his 15th four to reach his second first-class hundred.Matt Critchley played some expansive strokes to add 58 for the sixth wicket until he tried a ramp shot at Jack Taylor shortly before tea but the game ran away from Gloucestershire in the final session. Hughes lifted Taylor over long-on for six and had turned a deficit of 73 into a lead of 172 when he was lbw reverse-sweeping Chris Dent.Gloucestershire took the second new ball immediately but Harvey Hosein and Milnes plundered some poor bowling in the late afternoon sunshine with both players passing 50 before Miles took the last wicket. But the momentum was now with Derbyshire who will fancy their chances of winning a Championship game at home for the first time in two years if the rain stays away.

Ben Duckett, the Northamptonshire opening batsman, has become the first player to land the two most prestigious honours at tonight’s NatWest Professional Cricketers’ Awards

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2016Ben Duckett, the Northamptonshire opening batsman, has become the first player to land the two most prestigious honours at tonight’s NatWest Professional Cricketers’ Awards ceremony in London.Duckett, 21, is expected to make his senior international debut in the forthcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, and will fly out on Thursday having been named both the PCA Players’ Player of the Year and the Young Player of the Year in the same season.”It seems to have been good news each week. I keep saying every week: ‘that has topped off my summer’ and then something else happens,” Duckett said.”I can’t keep the smile off my face. I wasn’t expecting this. To be nominated for both awards was an honour in itself so to win them both is something very special.”Most of the guys who have won the awards in the past have played for England or in international cricket so to follow them is a very great honour.”Duckett made 2,706 runs across all formats in 2016 and began the season by scoring a career-best 282 not out in Northamptonshire’s Specsavers County Championship match against Sussex at Wantage Road, and followed up with another double-century against Kent at Beckenham earlier this month.The left-hander also made a maiden List A double century, an England Lions record 220 not out against Sri Lanka A at Canterbury, one of three three-figure scores in one-day cricket, and helped Northants to win the NatWest T20 Blast for the second time in four years.He was voted Northamptonshire’s Players’ Player of the Year last week and he collected the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year Award at their annual lunch on Tuesday.”It’s a tough season but I think no matter what state your body is in, after being picked for England I would be more than happy to go and play for the next 12 months straight for my country. It’s a new thing for me and I am absolutely buzzing to get out there,” he said.Tammy Beaumont was voted Waitrose Women’s Player of the Summer by her fellow England players after a breakthrough season in which she followed up a maiden ODI half-century against Pakistan with successive centuries against the same opponents.Her aggregate of 342 runs was a record for a three-match series and Beaumont followed up with 142 runs in the NatWest T20 Series. She also helped Kent complete a Royal London County Championship and NatWest T20 double and will fly to the West Indies with England on Friday to prepare for the forthcoming ODI series.”It’s been a bit of a breakthrough summer for me. I hadn’t really cemented my place before so to have a season like that was unbelievable,” Beaumont said.Somerset and former England batsman Marcus Trescothick was presented with the PCA Special Merit Award by the Association’s President, Andrew Flintoff, in recognition of his efforts to raise awareness of depression in sportsmen.Chris Woakes won the Investec Test Player of the Summer after a breakthrough year in red-ball cricket, while Glamorgan’s overseas star Colin Ingram joined Duckett in winning two awards – the NatWest T20 Blast Player of the Year and the Sky Sports Sixes award: he hit his first ball of the season for six and ended with 29 in total.Northamptonshire’s slow left-armer Graeme White was awarded the Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year after finishing on top of the MVP rankings, while former Durham batsman Michael Gough retained the Harold Goldblatt Award for the PCA Umpire of the Year.”Huge congratulations to Ben who has made history this evening by being the first man to win the NatWest Players’ Player and Young Player of the Year in the same season,” said David Leatherdale, the PCA chief executive. “He has had a remarkable summer with Northants and fully deserves all the plaudits that go his way, and I’m sure he will go on to show his talent in the international arena starting in Bangladesh next month.”Reg Hayter Cup for the NatWest PCA Player of the Year Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire)
John Arlott Cup for the NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire)
Waitrose Women’s Player of the Summer Tammy Beaumont
ECB Special Award Mike Selvey
PCA Special Merit Award Marcus Trescothick
Investec Test Player of the Summer Chris Woakes
NatWest T20 Player of the Year Colin Ingram (Glamorgan)
Royal London One-Day Cup Player of the Year Graeme White (Northamptonshire)
England FTI MVP of the Summer Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)
Greene King PCA England Masters MVP Mal Loye

Sky Sports Sixes League Winner Colin Ingram (Glamorgan)
Harold Goldblatt Award for the PCA Umpire of the Year Michael Gough

FTI Team of the Year Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Keaton Jennings (Durham), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), Joe Root (capt) (Yorkshire & England), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire & England), Liam Dawson (Hampshire & England), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire & England), Keith Barker (Warwickshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim tried his best to lift the gloomy mood brought on by a 22-run loss against England on the final morning in Chittagong

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong24-Oct-20161:38

Isam: Bangladesh need more from Shakib

After four days of a fascinating contest, it took just 19 minutes to finish the Test and Bangladesh’s chances at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. The atmosphere quickly fell flat and there was hardly a crowd in by the time Shafiul Islam was given out for the second time (confirmed on review), as had been the norm in this Test match.Those who had come into the ground hardly made any noise during the post-match presentation, but for the next 20 minutes, Mushfiqur Rahim tried his best to lift the gloomy mood brought on by a 22-run loss, focusing in particular on performances by the debutants, Mehedi Hasan and Sabbir Rahman, and senior figures Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan.Mushfiqur said that the result had become less important after the way his team fought all the way till the end, and gave a fine account of their character throughout the five days. He said that consistency is what Bangladesh crave in Test cricket, and this Test was a great example of what they can achiever if a number of players perform together.”Sometimes you have a distinctive feeling after losing a game,” Mushfiqur said. “We tried what we could. Nobody expected Bangladesh to play in this manner after 15 months so we had to prove that we could do something. We could show our character to a side like England. They have a lot of experienced players. I wouldn’t use the word frustrating but I would call it a learning experience.”The biggest achievement would be to play consistently for the whole Test match. I think we have done that 90-95 percent of the time but we could have done better in some areas. We can take a lot of positives – Mehedi and Shakib bowled well. Tamim batted well, and it wasn’t in his character to bat like he did. Sabbir batted well too. It was a good Test for Bangladesh.”There remained some questions about how the game panned out, particularly Sabbir giving Taijul Islam the strike on the final day. Mushfiqur said that it was the management’s decision to take the singles, which would take the pressure off Sabbir from doing all the scoring. He lamented that Bangladesh were not equipped with tailenders capable of holding their own, unlike the England side, which boasted 11 batsmen with at least one first-class century.”Sabbir wouldn’t have been able to do all the scoring and it wasn’t that Taijul was really bad,” Mushfiqur said. “If it was the last wicket, it would have been different. They had pace from both ends, understandably, so Sabbir couldn’t have taken too much risk. Taijul started well today so we took the decision that they should take a single when it is available.”Thirty-runs and two wickets is a difficult equation. The match was tilted towards them almost 90 percent. We don’t have any tailender who has a first-class hundred, and even if they did, there’s a huge difference between those scored in county cricket and in our first-class structure. If we would have won, we wouldn’t become an extraordinary Test side. But we ended up achieving much of what we had set ourselves.”The margin of defeat was less than the deficit Bangladesh gave away in the first innings, their collapse of 5 for 27 on the third morning sparked by Shakib’s unnecessary charge that resulted in a stumping. Mushfiqur suggested that, had Bangladesh taken a first-innings lead, the Test could have taken a different path.”Those runs build a huge difference,” he said. “We replied with five early wickets in their second innings and then Stokes put up that big partnership but I still think that had we gone close to their 290, the Test match could have taken a different path. It did matter in the end.”Mushfiqur added that they expected better from Shakib. “I think he realises that he didn’t do the right thing,” Mushfiqur said. “We didn’t expect this from such a mature player. We want him to have more impact for the team.”The Bangladesh captain’s words were soothing, especially after such a heartbreaking finish for the home side. For all the running that Bangladesh have done in their first Test after almost 15 months, Mushfiqur has certainly taken a long-awaited upward step in his Test captaincy.

In a match that Sri Lanka A dominated West Indies A, legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay picked up 6 for 47 to set up a 138-run victory in Dambulla

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Jeffrey Vandersay picked up his ninth five-for in 29 first-class matches•AFP

Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay took 6 for 47 in the final innings to lead Sri Lanka A to victory in Dambulla. West Indies A were set a target of 333 but with no one even managing a fifty, the hosts wrapped up a 138-run victory, and with it the series 2-1.The chase had begun positively with Kieran Powell, who had briefly flirted with a career in baseball, back at the top of the order and kicking things off with a 41-ball 44. West Indies A were 124 for 3 – chugging along at a run-rate just under four – when Vandersay blitzed through their middle order to bowl them out for 194. He took two wickets in the 48th over, including that of captain and top-scorer Shamarh Brooks for 46, handed the opposition five of their six single-digit scores and completed his ninth five-for in 29 first-class matches.While the bowling they faced was good, West Indies A would rue the fact that they collapsed from reasonably strong positions. In the first innings they had Shimron Hetmyer – 94 off 91 balls, with 17 fours – and Brooks – 54 off 100 balls – doing well before they lost eight wickets for 104 runs to concede a lead of 75. In the second innings, West Indies lost seven wickets for 70 runs to concede the match.Another measure of where West Indies A lost the match lay in the number of partnerships over 50. There were eight overall – and they contributed only two of them.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka A had begun the game with an agenda-setting 133-run stand between openers Kusal Perera (69) and Sandun Weerakkody (79) in the first innings. It was key to building a total of 318.Then fast bowler Kasun Madushanka and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan took three wickets each and left-arm seamer Lahiru Gamage chipped in with two of his own to bowl West Indies A out for 243. All three were picked in Sri Lanka’s Test squad to play against Zimbabwe in Harare next Saturday.Sri Lanka A swelled a lead of 75 to match-and-series-winning proportions in their second innings with Weerakkody smacking 48 off 36 balls and Asela Gunaratne collecting 69 off 126 balls. Rahkeem Cornwall was the only opposition they faced, the offspinner picking up 4 for 87 from 26 overs to finish with 23 wickets from three matches.

Dhaka Dynamites defeated the Comilla Victorians by 33 runs to go to the top of the table before the Chittagong leg of the BPL

Mohammad Isam14-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Shahid took another three-wicket haul as Dhaka Dynamites climbed to first place•BCB

Defending champions Comilla Victorians will go into the Chittagong leg of the BPL – beginning on November 17 – as the only team without a win, after they lost their fourth consecutive game. This time, the Dhaka Dynamites defeated them by 33 runs.This was Dhaka’s third win in four games, and most of their success has come on the back of strong starts by their openers – a combination of the legendary Kumar Sangakkara and the young Mehedi Maruf. This was true once again, as Maruf’s 60 set up Dhaka’s formidable 194 for 5 before their spinners dominated the Comilla batsmenIt was his second fifty in the BPL, and came off 31 balls, starting with a scythe over point off Mashrafe Mortaza in the third over. Sangakkara struck two fours and a six in his 12-ball 20, before falling in the fourth over.But Maruf’s aggression was unabated. He found boundaries quite regularly and then lofted Nabil Samad for two massive sixes over midwicket, with one of them landing in the grandstand. He added 84 runs for the second wicket with Nasir, who chipped in with 43 off 35 balls with five fours.Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan – who finished with 3 for 28 in his four overs – removed Ravi Bopara and Maruf in the 16th over, but that didn’t stop Dhaka captain Shakib Al Hasan from blazing 36 runs in 16 deliveries with Dwayne Bravo for the fifth wicket. Shakib struck two sixes in his 13-ball 24.Comilla’s chase began with intent – Imrul Kayes hit three fours in his 11-ball 19. But they ended up losing three wickets in consecutive overs, after Kayes was removed in the fourth. In the very next over, his new opening partner Jashimuddin was caught at deep square leg for ten, and Ahmed Shehzad – playing his first game – struck two consecutive sixes before getting stumped off the last ball of the sixth.They played two more overs before repeating the pattern. Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Ryan ten Doeschate, Rashid Khan and Al-Amin were all dismissed in the space of three overs, to leave Comilla reeling at 74 for 7 at the end of the 11th over. Medium-pacer Mohammad Shahid accounted for the last two wickets in that collapse, in his first over.Mashrafe provided entertainment towards the end, including slamming Shakib for four sixes in the penultimate over. But it was never going to be enough for Comilla.

Jatin Paranjape and Gagan Khoda will be removed from the men’s selection committee, which will be trimmed to three going forward, as per the Lodha Committee recommendations

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Jan-2017Jatin Paranjape and Gagan Khoda will be removed from the men’s selection committee, which will be trimmed to three going forward. That is because the Lodha Committee has told the BCCI to adopt its recommendation on the selection committee, which was approved by the Supreme Court of India on July 18 last year.The next big assignment for the senior men’s selection panel will be to pick the squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, which is scheduled from February 8 to 12.The BCCI used to pick five-men selection panels through a zonal process, but the Lodha Committee recommended the panel be trimmed to three selectors, all of whom would be Test players retired for at least five years. Paranjape, the former Mumbai batsman, and Khoda, who led Rajasthan, will be removed from the existing selection committee considering neither has played Test cricket.On Friday, both Paranjape and Khoda were present at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai along with selection panel chairman MSK Prasad, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh to pick India’s limited-overs squads for the England series. Before that meeting started, BCCI CEO Rahul Johri wrote to the Lodha Committee on January 4 to check whether the existing five-man selection panel could pick up the squad for the England series.In response, Lodha Committee secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan told Johri that the five-man panel could pick the squad but this was being permitted only as “an exception”. The Lodha Committee also told Johri that he could continue as convenor of the selectors until the BCCI holds elections to elect new office bearers in keeping with the committee’s recommentations. “Going forward, it will have to be strictly in terms of the Supreme Court judgement,” Sankaranarayanan told Johri. Johri then informed both Paranjape and Khoda about the development.At its last AGM in September 2016, the BCCI had defied the court order and picked a five-man selection committee through an interview process. It also modified the eligibility criteria, allowing Paranjape and Khoda to sit on the panel.

ESPNcricinfo previews the final ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Feb-2017

Match facts

Friday, February 10
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT)1:33

‘Winning 5-0 important to get to No. 1’ – Du Plessis

Big Picture

Sri Lanka trail 4-0, have not yet batted out 50 overs in the series, and continue to lack menace with the ball, but around Upul Tharanga’s sleek 119 at Newlands, a little hope has built. The hope is not necessarily that Sri Lanka can prevent a whitewash – although that is their immediate concern. The larger expectation is that perhaps there are the makings of a competitive top order in this present unit. Niroshan Dickwella’s fifties through the course of the limited-overs matches have suggested he can play a strong role in Sri Lanka’s future short-format sides. The quality of Tharanga’s 14th hundred – his first since 2013 – has also led some to believe he is on the verge of a renaissance in his own game.Despite this, South Africa have still been completely dominant, and have not really looked like losing at any point in the series. Faf du Plessis has been their batting lynchpin, with scores of 55 not out, 105 and a career-best 185. Imran Tahir has held the bowling together while the seamers rotate around him. Even after being cracked for 51 off his first five overs on Tuesday, Tahir took 2 for 25 in his second five, and helped clinch the match.Around these two have been a cast of outstanding players who have taken each game by the collar at various moments and kept South Africa spikes on Sri Lanka throats. The top four have all scored half-centuries in the series. The bowlers have not been quite as consistent, but almost always recovered well from their bad spells.AB de Villiers has said it publicly: South Africa will be disappointed with anything less than 5-0.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)


South Africa: WWWWW
Sri Lanka: LLLLW
Upul Tharanga’s century in the fourth ODI provided some encouragement for Sri Lanka•AFP

In the spotlight

At 24, Quinton de Kock is already one of the premier batsmen in the game, so his runs against Sri Lanka have come as no surprise. The quality of his wicketkeeping, however, has. In the Tests de Kock completed several athletic catches behind the wicket, but in ODIs he has shown off improvements in his keeping to spin as well. The stumping of Dhananjaya de Silva in Durban and the leaping, one-handed grab to dismiss Sachith Pathirana in Cape Town were dismissals any keeper would be happy to have on their resume.Kusal Mendis has been one of Sri Lanka’s best batsmen of the tour but, by his own high standards, Mendis will feel he should have scored more than two fifties in South Africa. It has been the line outside off stump that has troubled him this series, with bowlers having learned to target him there at the beginning of his innings. Though he has only recently turned 22, Sri Lanka’s selectors have insisted on playing him in all three formats. He doesn’t have the luxury of time away from top level cricket to fix weaknesses in his game, and must instead find solutions on his feet, on the move.

Teams news

South Africa are unlikely to play two spinners at Centurion. Andile Phehlukwayo is in line for a recall, and will likely replace Tabraiz Shamsi.South Africa: (possible) 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Dwayne Pretorius, 9 Andile Phehlukwayo, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran TahirIt is possible Dhananjaya de Silva could be omitted for the final ODI, given his modest returns right through the tour. Lahiru Kumara may also exit the side after conceding 10.42 runs an over on TuesdaySri Lanka:(possible) 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Upul Tharanga (capt), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Sandun Weerakkody , 5 Dhananjaya de Silva/Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Sachith Pathirana, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lahiru Madushanka, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Lakshan Sandakan

Pitch and conditions

Centurion is typically a high-scoring venue, with 300 often on the cards in the first innings. There is a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have now won 10 successive ODIs, and their last 13 at home.
• Upul Tharanga’s 14 ODI hundreds put him fifth on Sri Lanka’s list of century-makers, behind Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene.
• Imran Tahir has only gone wicketless once in his 15 most recent ODIs. He has taken 34 wickets at an average of 18.55 in that time.

Quotes

“The problem I see here is not lack of talent but their inability to adjust quickly to situations and handle the pressure. You can’t play cricket if you can’t absorb pressure.”

Jake Ball could be forced out of England’s Caribbean tour after suffering an injury to his right knee

George Dobell27-Feb-2017Jake Ball could be forced out of England’s Caribbean tour after suffering an injury to his right knee.Ball, who played all three of the ODIs in the recent series in India, limped off the field after the first delivery of his third over in England’s final warm-up game before the three-match ODI series against Wets Indies. He subsequently broke down when attempting to run in the net area as the England support staff tried to assess the extent of the problem. He will play no further part in the match against a WICB President’s XI.The England management hope to arrange a scan on Ball’s knee in St Kitts today, but may be obliged to wait until the tour party reach Antigua tomorrow. They believe the problem is at the back of the right knee.If Ball is forced home, the tour management may well consider calling up a replacement seamer. Chris Jordan, who has recently been playing in the PSL, would be one obvious option, while one of the Curran brothers might be another. Stuart Broad, who performed well in the BBL and has made no secret of his desire to return to the ODI side, is also a possibility.The England squad is already without Mark Wood, David Willey and Reece Topley due to injury, while Jason Roy was left out of the side for the second warm-up game due to a badly bruised right hand sustained as a result of several recent tough sessions of fielding training.They had better news as regards Alex Hales, though. He will fly out to Antigua on Tuesday and continue his rehab with the rest of the squad following a hand injury. He has not, as yet, been officially added to the squad but that could change in the coming days if the medical team deem his recovery complete.The first ODI takes place in Antigua on Friday.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. He will be covering England’s tour of the Caribbean in association with Smile Group Travel, specialists in hosted supporters’ packages.

Alex Hales justified his swift recall to the England side with a commanding century in the final ODI of the series against West Indies in Barbados

The Report by George Dobell09-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details6:28

#PoliteEnquiries: Stokes’ hair or Moeen’s beard?

Centuries from Alex Hales and Joe Root powered England to a record victory in the third and final ODI against West Indies in Barbados.The result – the fifth-largest victory in runs terms that England have ever achieved in ODI cricket – means England, who won both the first two ODIs in Antigua, have taken a 3-0 clean-sweep of the series despite losing the toss in every game. It is the first time England have done that since 2003 (in Bangladesh), the first time they have whitewashed West Indies in an ODI series in the Caribbean and the heaviest defeat, in terms of runs, West Indies have ever suffered at home.For a team with such a proud history to be defeated so overwhelmingly at what is generally regarded as their spiritual home will hurt throughout the Caribbean. It will also do West Indies’ chances of qualifying automatically for the 2019 World Cup no good at all. Currently ranked ninth, they must break into the top eight before the end of this September.It was the second-wicket stand between Hales and Root that laid the foundations for this win. The pair added 192 in 30.3 overs with Hales, on his comeback to the side having recovered from a hand injury, recording the fifth century of his ODI career and Root the ninth. Only Marcus Trescothick (with 12) has scored more ODI centuries for England than Root, while Hales (in his 39th innings and 41st match) broke David Gower’s England record (43rd innings and 45th match) as the fastest man to record five ODI centuries.Hales’ century vindicated the England management’s faith in him. Only added to the ODI squad a couple of days ago – he missed out on original selection due to the injury he sustained in India – he was drafted back into the side despite not having batted since January 19, which was hard luck on Sam Billings following his promising performances as his deputy.Not for the first time this series, though, West Indies will rue a couple of missed chances. Root was dropped on 1 and 12, with the first chance – offered to Evin Lewis at midwicket – relatively straightforward by international standards. Lewis was slightly slow to react to the ball and, diving forward late, was unable to cling on to the chance after his elbows crashed onto the turf. Alzarri Joseph was the unfortunate bowler.The second chance was tougher. Ashley Nurse, a solitary slip but positioned about where fourth slip would normally stand, made good ground to his right but again was unable to cling on to the chance as his hit the ground. Jason Holder was the unlucky bowler on that occasion.Batting was not easy for much of the day, but especially in that first hour. Put in on a surface that might have started just a touch damp – it was the third game in succession in which Jason Holder had won the toss – England’s batsmen initially struggled to find their touch on another two-paced pitch offering variable bounce. Jason Roy drove to mid-off and, after 10 overs they had made just 39 for 1.But, as in Antigua, England recognised that conditions would improve and gave themselves time to make up for the slow start. Hales, demonstrating not just his power but his shot selection and temperament, gave himself time to adjust to the conditions and, as they eased and he settled, began to take control.Hales took a particular shine to the legspin of Devendra Bishoo. At one stage, he struck Bishoo for 22 in six balls, a spell that included two fours and two sixes, forcing Holder to withdraw him from the attack and use part-time bowlers such as Kraigg Brathwaite and Jonathan Carter instead.It was a ploy that almost worked. Hales was adjudged to have been leg before to Brathwaite on 93 but called for a review that suggested the ball would have drifted on past the off stump.Root looked far from his best for the first part of his innings. Apart from the two chances, he took 17 balls to score his first three runs and was grateful for a misfield from Kieran Powell, at cover, which gifted him a boundary and helped relieve the pressure upon him. Unable to trust the pace of the ball, though, on another slightly two-paced surface, he picked up all his boundaries with cross-bat strokes – sweeps or pulls generally – with his only two attempts to hit boundaries down the ground resulting in one edge for four and, ultimately, his dismissal, caught at long-on.Once the pair were parted, though – both fell to outfield catches as they tried to accelerate – England’s innings fell away. Joseph, playing in place of the injured Shannon Gabriel, finished with four wickets (albeit for 76 runs) as reward for his pace and persistence, and Holder claimed three as England lost their final nine wickets for 109 runs. They lost their final wicket, a run-out where both batsmen ended up at the same end, from the final ball of the innings. Still, Morgan later suggested a part score might have been “between 220 and 240″ so England were well over.”We came here to win three games, and we’ve won three games,” he said. “I think probably the strongest thing we’ve gained from this trip is adapting to conditions.”I still maintain we can score 300 on most wickets and today has probably proved that. It was probably our best batting performance of the series – simply because I thought conditions were a lot more difficult than we’ve come up against.”We might have defended 200, maybe 220, if we’d bowled as well as we did. When it’s up and down like that, we could easily have lost three wickets early.”I’m not a huge fan of early starts anyway. You can lose the toss and lose early wickets, and in the afternoon it can be beautiful. So it can be quite lop-sided. I’m more of a fan of when conditions are even for both sides.”Not for a moment did West Indies seem likely to chase down their target. Powell fell in the first over, lofting an easy catch to square leg as he mis-timed a turn to leg, before Lewis top-edged an equally simple catch back to the bowler having been beaten for pace as he attempted to pull. Kraigg Brathwaite, pushed down to No. 3, then clipped another simple catch to midwicket.Liam Plunkett, obliged to undergo a fitness test before play to prove he had recovered from the sickness that kept him out of training on Wednesday, all but ended the contest with an opening five-over spell of 3 for 5. He bowled Jason Mohammad with the first ball of his spell and then ended Shai Hope’s patient innings with a slower-ball that was clipped to square leg and, next ball, produced a beauty that nipped in and took the edge of Holder’s on its way to Jos Buttler.Woakes, who finished with 3 for 16 from eight immaculate overs, was named man of the series after another impressive performance.While Carter averted a record-breaking margin of victory, no-one else in the side could contribute even 20 as West Indies were bowled out with 64 deliveries of their innings left unused. It meant they had been bowled out within their 50 overs in every match of the series and represented the biggest defeat (in run terms) of their ODI history against England and their third biggest against anyone, anywhere.

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.