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Questions over whether Marsh will retain his place in Adelaide or perhaps play as a specialist batter only have been floating around after he pulled up sore following the Perth Test

Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-20241:31

Lyon: ‘I’m very clear about my role within the team’

Nathan Lyon is confident Mitchell Marsh will be able to play a role with the ball in Adelaide but is ready to take up any extra workload that comes his way should that not be the case.Marsh’s fitness has been one of the key watching briefs around the Australia side after he pulled up sore following Perth. Uncapped allrounder Beau Webster is part of the squad but it appears likely that Marsh will retain his place regardless of how much he can bowl. Since returning to the side in last year’s Ashes, Marsh is the only incumbent batter to average over 40 which appears set to keep him in the side.”I honestly think we’ll see Mitch Marsh bowl,” Lyon said on Wednesday. “I’m not concerned about Bison’s fitness if I’m being honest. He’s been brilliant for us since he’s come back in. He came [back] in that game in Leeds during the Ashes and [has] really dominated so got full confidence in Bison. Happy to bowl his overs.”Related

• Cummins hopes for more proactive Labuschagne in pink-ball Test

• Marsh 'hopefully right and ready to go' but questions over bowling

• Webster bolsters Australia squad amid Marsh concerns

• Hazlewood ruled out of second Test; Abbott, Doggett in

• Perth report: India hand Australia 295-run thrashing

While in recent times Lyon has been part of an Australia attack that has featured either Marsh, Cameron Green or sometimes both, he has also featured in a considerable number of sides that have not had a genuine allrounder, instead using the four frontline bowlers with some part-time overs from members of the top order.Lyon’s ability to be both an attacking and defensive bowler means he can play a key role in balancing the bowling unit in the absence of a genuine fifth bowler where, if needed, he can look to control the run rate in the first innings before searching more for wickets as the game develops.”I’m very clear on my role within the team,” Lyon said. “Nothing really changes with me…if I can get the opportunity to bowl more overs, I’ll jump at it.”Lyon expects the Adelaide pitch – which will start with 6mm of grass – will take turn as the game develops. In day-night Tests at the ground, spinners average 24.72 on the third day and 22.91 on the fourth, compared to 113.25 on the first and 60.60 on the second.Lyon was economical in India’s hefty second innings in Perth although was largely nullified by the top order before having Rishabh Pant stumped when the lead was already considerable. This Test brings Lyon back to the ground where he has had most success in Test cricket with 63 wickets at 25.26 from 13 matches, seven of which have been day-night encounters.2:13

Clarke: Mitch Marsh needs to be bowling

“We understand that we didn’t play our best cricket in Perth and India totally outplayed us,” he said. “But with all the other stuff, it’s been quite humorous in a way looking at how much has been said and the reactions of so many different people after one loss.”The beauty of a five-match Test series…is you get the opportunity to turn that around and that’s the challenge of what we face right now. We are coming up against a world-class India side that played an exceptional game of cricket over in Perth but that’s been nine days or so ago now, so come Friday we go again which I’m excited about.”We are humans, we are going to make mistakes, but if we can go out there and try and learn along the journey then we are going to put ourselves in a better position come our next fixture. We’ve got a great record here, playing at one of the best venues in the world on a great wicket, so looking forward to that.”He expressed surprised that both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were left out in Perth with India preferring Washington Sundar. “[It] more than surprises me,” he said. “That’s the quality of Indian cricketers they have in that squad. You’ve got Ashwin with 530-odd wickets [536] and then Jadeja over 300 wickets [319]. It’s pretty remarkable to see the quality of players sitting on the bench.”In an encouraging sign for Australia, Josh Hazlewood was doing some gentle run throughs of his action alongside the other bowlers during the evening training session on Wednesday after he was ruled out of the second Test with a mild side strain. Scott Boland is expected to be his replacement for this Test.

Sri Lanka have won their last 11 ODIs, but their Asia Cup campaign could end if Afghanistan win – and win big

Madushka Balasuriya04-Sep-2023

Big picture

Sri Lanka have played one game in the Asia Cup so far, and won it. But if things go awry against Afghanistan on Tuesday, they very well could be out of the tournament; such is the nature of it. But for that to happen, Afghanistan need to win – and win big. How big will depend on the precise match situation, but hypothetically speaking, if they were to score 275 runs batting first, they would need to win by a margin of at least 68 runs, or chase down any target in 35 overs or less.Suffice to say this gives Sri Lanka a pretty nifty buffer, especially on a Lahore surface that has been positively greedy for runs. This will also be, you imagine, quite a relief for Sri Lanka’s batters, who have over the past month – primarily during the LPL – been subjected to far less batter-friendly tracks.That said, the toss is likely to play a pretty major role. While the team bowling second might have to contend with dew, it’s an arguably rougher deal for the side bowling first as they would have to do so in the searing Lahore heat. Indeed, speaking post match on Sunday after their win against Afghanistan, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan brought it up unprompted as one of the key reasons they won that match, pointing out that it wouldn’t have been easy for Afghanistan to bat after fielding in that heat for 50 overs.Related

• Rain could force Asia Cup matches out of Colombo

• Shining, shimmering, splendid – the rise of Matheesha Pathirana

• Mehidy, Shanto power Bangladesh into the Super Fours

Match conditions aside, Sri Lanka facing Afghanistan should be a fairly even contest. Of the last five completed ODIs between these two sides, Sri Lanka edge it 3-2. And this is now a Sri Lanka side without pretty much their entire first-choice bowling attack. These sides, however, don’t tend to have too many nail-biters, with four of those five games ending in pretty dominant wins.If you’re of Afghan persuasion, that’s a promising sign; but you have to imagine the odds are still pretty heavily stacked in Sri Lanka’s favour. Against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka showed that even with injuries, they still possess enough firepower and nous to take ten wickets in a match, while Afghanistan still have to disprove the notion that their batting is a soft touch once you get past the top order.

Form guide

Afghanistan LLLLL (last five ODIs, most recent first)

Sri Lanka WWWWWRahmanullah Gurbaz has the propensity to either go big or go home•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been a part of every single edition of the LPL, so the Sri Lankans will be quite familiar with his game. Which means they’ll know that if allowed to proceed unchecked, he is a genuine match winner. Gurbaz also has the propensity to either go big or go home; in his last ten ODI innings, he has scores of 145 and 151, even as five others were in single digits. His highest score in that period aside from his centuries is 22. A firing Gurbaz is a must if Afghanistan are to complete this escape act.The nature of Lahore’s pitch means that any result is pretty much a shootout between each side’s respective batters, but in Maheesh Theekshana, Sri Lanka possess a secret weapon. Theekshana is as consistent as they come: in 23 ODIs, he has grabbed at least one wicket in all but five matches, while his economy rate has breached the five-runs-per-over mark just five times. The only caveat is that he has played all these matches either at home or in Zimbabwe, both providing conditions that have suited him quite nicely. In Lahore, he won’t have that luxury, but it’s a test he will most certainly relish.

Team news

Afghanistan’s bowlers struggled against Bangladesh, with the seamers in particular taking some stick. Noor Ahmad is an option to replace one of Karim Janat or Gulbadin Naib, while Riaz Hassan could also come in to freshen up the middle order.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Gulbadin Naib 8 Karim Janat, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiIf Sri Lanka play Kusal Perera, he could replace one of the two openers•AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka will likely head in with an unchanged XI, though if they were to include Kusal Perera in the side, one of Dimuth Karunaratne or Pathum Nissanka could make way. Dushan Hemantha also provides a wristspin option.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 8 Dushan Hemantha/Dunith Wellalage, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha 11 Matheesha Pathirana

Pitch and conditions

Scores of 300 are par for the course in Lahore, with Bangladesh hitting 334 last time out without much trouble. The weather too is expected to be hot and humid, with highs touching 37 degrees potentially, although it should settle around 26 degrees by evening. Winning the toss and batting first seems a no-brainer.

Stats and trivia

On Joe Root’s threat, the fast bowler says New Zealand have “had some conversations about how we want to attack him”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2022Losing one close game does not mean New Zealand are a poor side. Losing a fourth Test out of seven since becoming world Test champions, though? Two losses in one home summer, after just one loss in the previous five?A bit of a rough patch probably covers that, though two days out from the second Test with England at Trent Bridge, there is still no reason to panic according to Kyle Jamieson.Jamieson was the outstanding New Zealand bowler at Lord’s, the one most likely to bring England down in their chase of a daunting 277. And even if it is possible to argue that this New Zealand attack should have defended that target, the bowling still feels the more settled component of their team.Those results in some part are a result of a period that has acquired a transitory feel. The retirements of Ross Taylor and BJ Watling, as well as the injury-enforced absence – and then underwhelming return – of Kane Williamson have all had a hand in disrupting what has been, for years, a pretty tight batting unit.”It’s not just that game or those series,” Jamieson said recalling last year’s summer in England when New Zealand won the bilateral series as well as the WTC final. “This team has done such a good job over a long period of time, we’re not going to panic after just one game.”We certainly know there were moments in that game we could’ve seized and been better in. We know if we do that it will go a long way in trying to win this game and this series.”Seizing those moments – such as Colin de Grandhomme bowling Ben Stokes off a no-ball – but also finding a way past Joe Root. It’s not as if Root has a poor record against New Zealand. But of the teams he’s played at least 10 Tests against, he averages less than 50 against only two: Australia and New Zealand.”He certainly batted pretty well,” Jamieson said. “He was probably the difference in the game in the end. We’ll certainly go away and make some plans. We’ve already had some conversations about how we want to attack him but also attack the rest of the batting as well. It’s not about focusing on just him, you know, we’ll try and take 10 wickets, take 20 wickets, we’ll just go about trying to do that.”Jamieson’s six wickets at Lord’s continued a sterling start to his career, cemented by a rise to third place in the ICC’s Test bowlers’ rankings. He’s now the highest-ranking of four New Zealand fast bowlers in the top 13. Not that it matters much.”No, not a huge amount to be honest,” he said. “I’m just trying to learn and grow as a cricketer and whatever those numbers spit out, they do. I’m just happy to be part of the side. Trying to play my part and just win Tests for this team. I think for me that’s the main driver, the main focus and whatever that ends up as, it does.”I’m reasonably realistic about where I am with my game. I don’t necessarily think that numbers always give you the correct indication of where you’re at, at a certain point in time. I’m just trying to grow, trying to get better, trying to improve my game, contribute to wins for the side. Those rankings will come out as they do.”

Players restricted to hotel-ground loop but allowed to mingle in the team room at the hotel

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Jan-2021Making the bed. Cleaning the toilet. No room service. Ordering food on apps. No access to the swimming pool. Not only will Ajinkya Rahane’s India have to deal with the mounting injuries on the field, they will also have to contend with new house – and housekeeping – rules on the final leg of their Australian journey. And it has rankled the Indian camp, which – along with the Australians – landed in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon for the final Test at the Gabba, starting Friday.India were very reluctant to travel to Brisbane because of a combination of factors. The big one was the fear of being restricted in their hotel rooms when not at the ground, reminiscent of the two-week hard quarantine the visitors observed upon landing in Sydney in November.However, through lengthy deliberations over the past few weeks, Cricket Australia has assured BCCI that the Indian squad would not have to deal with a hard quarantine. As an example, though their movement would still be restricted between the hotel and the Gabba, they would be able to mingle in the team room. That finally paved the way for India agreeing to travel to Brisbane.What annoyed the squad, though, was discovering on their arrival at the team hotel that there would be no housekeeping. More than one person in the Indian camp said they had never been told about the DIY life at the hotel. Although they were not allowed to roam freely in Sydney during the third Test either, they had the room service and housekeeping facilities at the hotel. Here, not so. “There is a gym, a basic one,” one person said. “No pool, no room service, no housekeeping.”Related

• Down but not out: India hoping against hope in final battle at Australia's fortress

• Bruised and abused, Indians make their own luck at the SCG

• WATCH: Ishant to Jadeja, India's long injury list going into Gabba Test

• Ajinkya Rahane: Draw at SCG 'as good as winning a Test match'

There is no in-house food or beverage option at the hotel either. It is understood that an external contractor has been hired to provide catering to the two teams but they cannot order anything customised. They do have the option, though, of ordering via food apps.One reason behind the absence of housekeeping and other hotel staff could be that the BCCI had told CA it would want the Indian squad to fly out of Brisbane immediately after the Test. To ensure maximum safeguards, it is possible CA agreed to having the bare minimum hotel staff to avoid unnecessary contact with a person outside the bio-secure environment.However, the Indian camp is not satisfied with the arrangements, especially considering there are some players traveling with families.The other major point of irritation for the Indian camp is the ban on using the hotel pool. Several players with niggles or injuries, including key bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin – would want to utilise the swimming pool as part of the recovery process. However, the pools are off limits because of the fear of community spread of the Covid-19 virus.The Indians were also afraid of being asked to isolate for a further two weeks on their return to India from Brisbane because of one reported case of a person being infected by the new UK-strain of the virus in Brisbane. That would have affected their plans for the home series against England, starting February 5. As of now, though, there is no bar on travelers flying in to India from Brisbane.

Abbas and Musa took two wickets each but Naseem was the most expensive bowler on show

Alex Malcolm16-Nov-2019Pakistan head into the first Test in Brisbane having only claimed seven wickets against an inexperienced Cricket Australia XI in their final two-day tour match in Perth which ended in a draw.Just four days after bowling out some of Australia’s leading first-class players for just 122 at Perth Stadium, the bowlers struggled to make significant inroads against a very young CA XI batting line-up in 40 plus degree heat on a flat WACA surface. CA XI did slump to 2 for 6 early but half-centuries to Victorian Jonathan Merlo and West Australians Matthew Spoors and Bradley Hope ensured the youngsters survived 79.5 overs before the players shook hands. Merlo and Spoors put on 122 in nearly a session and a half of batting while Hope finished unbeaten on 50.Back after missing the Australia A game, Mohammad Abbas bowled with typical frugalness taking 2 for 22 from 14 overs, including CA XI’s most credentialed player Jake Doran. Muhammad Musa also bowled tidily claiming 2 for 32 from 14 overs.But after Naseem Shah created a flurry of excitement with his burst against Australia A, he found the going much tougher at the WACA. He went wicketless in 12 overs and conceded 58 runs to be Pakistan’s most expensive bowler in terms of economy rate. Spinners Kashif Bhatti, Yasir Shah and Iftikhar Ahmed each claimed a wicket but unsurprisingly did not find much purchase on the day two WACA strip.Imran Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi did not bowl after their strong performances against Australia A.

Smriti Mandhana smacked 421 runs in nine innings. That is the most runs by a player in a women’s T20 league anywhere in the world

Annesha Ghosh26-Aug-2018In her maiden Kia Super League season, Smriti Mandhana smacked 421 runs in nine innings. That is the most runs by a player in as many innings in a women’s T20 league anywhere in the world. The next-best tally belongs to Australia captain Meg Lanning, 405 at the inaugural Women’s Big Bash in 2015-16.While Mandhana herself admitted she “did not expect” to be so prolific, India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who debuted the same year as Mandhana in both the WBBL and the KSL, put her deputy’s performance down to the “freedom to swing her bat”.”Smriti is someone in the Indian side I discuss a lot of cricket with,” Harmanpreet told ESPNcricinfo after returning from England, where her side Lancashire Thunder were eliminated in the league stage. “When I met her in the UK, she said her team [Western Storm, who will be defending their title on Finals Day on Monday] had given her the freedom to swing her bat. And it was clear [she was enjoying herself].”Among the many causalities that the Mandhana juggernaut claimed in the KSL was Harmanpreet’s own side, which lost both their home and away games to Storm. While Harmanpreet announced her belated arrival in the tournament with a scintillating 21-ball 34 not out on debut, Mandhana marred her captain’s first outing at home – in Manchester – with a maiden T20 ton.”That was one of the best innings I’ve seen her play,” Harmanpreet said. “She was looking very confident; you could see that in her strokeplay. That’s what you need in a player: confidence and flow. And that comes, to a great extent, from that freedom.”Smriti Mandhana launches one over the top•Getty Images

In a frame bookended by the joint-fastest women’s T20 half-century five days earlier, and 49 that helped keep Storm’s blemish-free KSL streak against Thunder alive, the century also played a part in tempting the team to live stream the reverse-fixture in Taunton.That Mandhana had struck her maiden World Cup century a year ago at the same venue may also have helped make the decision. Besides, the explosiveness of the Harmanpreet-Mandhana combination, and the contrasting nature of their aggression, makes them a unique selling proposition for any domestic tournament.”We both played in the WBBL and now the KSL, so that experience is there,” Harmanpreet said. “We’ve come to know each other quite well that way, and the output of my discussions with Smriti has mostly been that she likes being given freedom.”When you’re playing for the country, there’s a lot of pressure on you to deliver, game after game. You have to live up to the expectations that the tag of a ‘match-winner’ brings with it. But it works well for Smriti when she is assured of that freedom by the captain and the management.”Harmanpreet also underlined that having “a good line-up and 4-5 strong players down the order” has helped Smriti’s freewheeling approach. It was only seven months ago that Mandhana made the same assessment when talking about Harmanpreet’s batting in the WBBL. “The batting depth of Harry ‘s side [Sydney Thunder in 2016-17] was good… it helped her style.”Harmanpreet Kaur celebrates her winning boundary•Getty Images

While Harmanpreet emerged Thunder’s second-highest run-getter and their Player of the Tournament, Mandhana had a forgettable run with Brisbane Heat. An ACL injury put a premature end to her campaign and ruled her out of competitive cricket for nearly six-and-a-half months. Their next international assignment was the World Cup in June-July last year. Harmanpreet’s campaign took flight as the tournament progressed, while Mandhana’s tapered off.During the recent home season too their run-scoring trends ran in opposite directions. Mandhana dominated the run-charts across limited-overs formats, while Harmanpreet struggled for the most part through the ODI series against Australia, the tri-series that also featured England, and in the 50-over series against England. In the Asia Cup, though, Harmanpreet returned to form with a Player-of-the-Tournament performance, while Mandhana’s runs dried up.It was of little surprise, therefore, that the final phase of their KSL 2018 campaigns followed the same script. In her last match in the league, Harmanpreet led Thunder to victory, while Mandhana’s Storm suffered their second straight loss the same evening, going down against a side that Harmanpreet narrowly missed playing for last season.As for Mandhana’s tournament-ender, she was dismissed on 5. It was the only single digit score in her nine KSL outings, and it came via a mode of dismissal – run out – that has plagued Harmanpreet through a major part of 2018 and also in the KSL, where she was involved in no fewer than five such dismissals.A preparatory camp in Chennai, starting August 30, will bring the Indian team together after nearly three months without international cricket. In that time, they have had a change of coach and one of their most senior players has retired from T20Is. With the World T20 coming up in November, Harmanpreet hopes both she and her vice-captain can finally be in form at the same time.”She’s performed immensely well in the KSL, touchwood. And I hope she’s able to take that forward into the next series [a tour of Sri Lanka in September] and then into the World T20. Whether it’s Smriti or me or someone else in the team – a batter or a bowler – individual performances only count when they contribute to the team’s victories.”

Players from Pakistan, the West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were among those who went under the hammer in the highest-profile auction yet for Afghanistan’s domestic T20 league, the Shpageeza Cricket League, in Kabul on Thursday

Danyal Rasool28-May-2017Players from Pakistan, the West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe were among those who went under the hammer in the highest-profile auction yet for Afghanistan’s domestic T20 league, the Shpageeza Cricket League, in Kabul on Thursday. Among the big international picks were Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Tamim Iqbal and Hamilton Masakadza, who will turn out for six franchises in the fifth edition of the tournament in July. The most-expensive buy was Afghanistan allrounder Gulbadin Naib, who was bought by Boost Defenders for USD 108,000.The other five teams include Band-e-Amir Dragons, Mis Ainak Knights, Kabul Eagles, Speenghar Tigers and Amo Sharks. All the franchises are owned by leading Afghan business groups.Pakistan pacers Sohail Tanvir and Rumman Raees were not far behind the most expensive buy, signed up by Band-e-Amir Dragons and Boost Defenders respectively for USD 105,000 approx. Other notable buys included Bangladesh’s Imrul Kayes and Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams. Salman Butt, who featured in the tournament last year, remained unsold this time.”All matches will be held in Kabul, between July 18 and July 28,” Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) CEO Shafiq Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “The ICC has sanctioned this event, and is sending its own match referee to oversee the tournament. In addition, we will have one on-field umpire from the ICC panel.”The league will be broadcast on television in Afghanistan, and Stanikzai said the board is in talks to have it reach a wider audience. “It will be broadcast locally on one channel,” he said. “The production company is Indian, but we are thinking of getting it on air in India and Pakistan as well. We are currently in negotiations, we haven’t finalised the deal yet.”Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan and allrounder Mohammad Nabi, who had earned contracts with the IPL this year and impressed in the league, boosted Afghanistan’s cricketing profile around the world. With Afghanistan now set to showcase its own T20 tournament, they hope it will announce their arrival on the big stage. “This tournament will be a mega-hit and will take Afghanistan cricket to new heights,” ACB chairman Atif Mashal said. “This tournament will prove that we are the new cricketing force in the world.”The ACB tweeted the full squads for all the franchises after the auction, and they are as follows:Band-e-Amir Dragons, full squad•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Kabul Eagles, full squad•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Mis Ainak Knights, full squad•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Speenghar Tigers, full squad•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Boost Defenders•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Amo Sharks•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Kent conceded 492 but had the ambition to pull off a pulsating win at Derby, routing them for 94 in their second innings and finishing a chase organised by Daniel Bell-Drummond with a fusillade of sixes

ECB Reporters Network25-May-2016
ScorecardJames Tredwell wrecked Derbyshire’s top order•Getty Images

Derbyshire folded dramatically to a combination of spin and seam as Kent cruised to a seven wicket victory in the Division Two match at Derby.James Tredwell and Calum Haggett took four wickets each, the latter a career-best 4 for 15, as Derbyshire lost seven for 45 in 93 balls to be skittled for 94 leaving Kent with a target of 175.Daniel Bell-Drummond made a composed unbeaten 80 from 99 balls before Alex Blake sealed Kent’s second win of the season in style with three consecutive sixes off leg-spinner Matt Critchley.There had been no sign that Kent would win so convincingly as Wayne Madsen and Neil Broom cruised along at five an over but the wheels came flying off once Tredwell had broken through.Broom edged a quicker ball to first slip where Adam Ball took a sharp one-handed catch and the decision to bring on Haggett was rewarded immediately as Wayne Madsen misread the length and was lbw for 37.Billy Godleman had recovered from the blow on his left forearm which forced him to retire hurt the previous evening but made only three before he was lbw pushing at Tredwell who ended Derbyshire’s hopes of setting a more demanding target when he bowled Shiv Thakor for 10.The end came five overs later as both Critchley and Ben Cotton played back instead of forward to Haggett and were lbw leaving Kent with 71 overs to win the game.On an overcast, drizzly day with the floodlights on, it was never going to be entirely straightforward, particularly as Joe Denly was back in Kent with his wife and new-born baby, but Derbyshire needed early wickets to have any chance.Bell-Drummond and Sean Dickson denied them until the 12th over when Dickson tried to run Tom Taylor to third man and edged into his stumps but Derbyshire could not build up any pressure.A wet ball did not help and Bell-Drummond cut and drove Taylor for three consecutive fours on his way to a 68 ball 50 and Ball helped him take Kent to 100 before he was caught on the crease by Tony Palladino.Bell-Drummond paced his innings expertly, setting the platform for the violent assault that carried Kent to victory on a tide of sixes, first from skipper Sam Northeast and then by Blake who dispatched the only three balls he faced from Critchley over the ropes to take his side home with a minimum of 38.3 overs to spare.It was an impressive performance and Haggett thought the seeds of victory were sown on the third evening. “To get three wickets last night was a big factor, it put us in a good place and we managed to keep things going.”We bowled pretty well as a group and we got the rewards and I thought we bowled a bit straighter than in the first inninngs.”It started to keep a bit low and the odd one popped and thankfully it was my day. Treddy was getting some spin as well and we hit our areas better.”It’s a good confidence-booster and we are in a good place at the moment but we know we need to keep putting in the work.”Madsen said: “James Tredwell mixed his pace up well and bowled well into the rough and when Haggett came on he bowled at the stumps and was getting it to jag back and made it difficult.”Possibly we were caught on the back foot and maybe have to get out of our crease a bit more but to be fair he bowled really well and unfortunately we weren’t up to it.”We thought 200 was going to be a good score and we would be able to bowl them out but they came out and played positively. We weren’t helped that we had to change the ball a few times with the wet outfield but it was disappointing not to get enough in the right areas to trouble them.”I think we have to be better than that, especially on a wicket which has deteriorated, but I do think for us a team there are positives to take from this. Shiv [Thakor] with his hundred and five-for, he’s really played well for us this year.”I look back at the way we bowled for the first 100 overs, our disciplines and plans were spot on , but the game got away from us at the crucial times on day three and going into day four.”

Shoaib Malik has been signed by Hobart Hurricanes for the upcoming season of the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2013Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan batsman, has been signed by Hobart Hurricanes for the upcoming season of the Big Bash League. It will be Malik’s first stint in the Australian T20 league, in which Shahid Afridi has featured in the past seasons.”He’s an exciting player, a fast paced batsman who will likely bat in our middle order and he’ll add another option to our bowling stocks as well,” Damian Wright, the Hurricanes coach, said. “He is a quality player with a quality T20 record and his performances in the Caribbean Premier League suggest he’s in red-hot form right now.”Representing the Barbados Tridents, Malik was the leading run-scorer in the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League with 272 runs from eight matches. Overall, Malik has played 134 T20 matches and scored 3396 runs at a strike rate of 123.31. He has also picked up 75 wickets with his offspin.”Those are impressive stats for someone who has played so many games in a format where you often have to place little value on your wicket in search of quick runs at the end of an innings,” Wright said.Hobart Hurricanes, led by George Bailley, also include Dmitri Mascarenhas and Owais Shah as their overseas players for the season.

The Essex bowlers secured a 122-run victory that all but ends Hampshire’s chances of promotion to Division One

Ivo Tennant at West End07-Sep-2012
ScorecardThe one-day maestros have found promotion to Division One a leap too far. Hampshire, needing to make a further 354 runs to beat Essex on the final working day of the summer at West End before construction of a hotel at the Northern End commences, progressed spiritedly enough until lunch, before collapsing inexplicably afterwards. Although a mathematical chance remains, it is in the realms of slim and none.Credit to Essex for triumphing without Maurice Chambers, who had a quad muscle strain, and, not least, after being put in and bowled out for 180 on the first day. Ryan ten Doeschate and Graham Napier, rather than the legspinner Tom Craddock, were the medium-paced match-winners. Plaudits should go too to Jimmy Adams, the wholly reliable Hampshire captain, who made a century and carried his bat.There is talk of Michael Carberry playing for England again, but Adams it is who is the more consistently reliable, as well as the unsung opener of this left-handed pair. He and Liam Dawson took their overnight partnership to 150 off 222 balls in the morning, giving their team-mates, for a while, distinct hope that they could become the first side to score 400 plus runs to win a match on this ground.As well as having to make do without Chambers, Craddock was proving not to be able to make the ball turn on what had become a flat pitch. Dawson is a punchy batsman, better suited to the middle order than opening or going in first wicket down, and he had reached 90, with 11 fours, when he drove a return catch to ten Doeschate.After lunch, Hampshire’s innings fell away. In successive overs from Reece Topley and ten Doeschate, James Vince and Sean Ervine were caught behind, both playing push-drives, and Michael Bates was bowled without having scored. That was 213 for 7 and Napier was then to take two wickets in an over, those of David Balcombe and James Tomlinson, one caught behind off a short ball that lifted off a length, and the other bowled.Adams smote Craddock for four and six off successive balls but there was no remaining support other than from David Griffiths. That said, the pair added 62 for the last wicket, of which Griffiths, playing sensibly, contributed 21 – the third-top score of the innings. By the time he was bowled by Topley, Adams had reached 139 with 19 fours and a six. He faced, in all, 247 balls.”It’s been a disappointing couple of days and we haven’t played good enough cricket in the last month to earn promotion,” Adams admitted, far from exultant over his own performance. “We did give ourselves a chance but we have lacked a little bit of discipline in the Championship when we needed to grind opponents down. Yet at the start of the season I would have taken a trophy, a cup final and where we shall finish in division two.”Giles White (the Hampshire coach) and I haven’t really talked about whether we should rest players in our last match at Derby before the CB40 final. I think we shall try to play much the same side as we’ll field at Lord’s, but we might need to manage the workloads of one or two bowlers.”