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Michael Burgess made a century against his former club and Ishant Sharma was able to raise his bat for the first time in his career

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-20182:11

Mixed fortunes for India duo

ScorecardA fine century from Michael Burgess, the second of his career, helped Sussex to a formidable first innings score at the Fischer County Ground before Colin Ackermann, with an unbeaten half-century, led a spirited Leicestershire reply.Burgess and Ishant Sharma compiled a partnership of 153 for Sussex’s eighth wicket, batting through the morning session without being parted.Burgess, who began his career at Leicestershire, was first to his 50, twice hitting left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson over midwicket for six as he sought to accelerate the scoring rate.India Test bowler Ishant was equally positive as he registered a maiden first-class half-century, leaving his previous career best score of 31 well behind and he would later follow it with two wickets.Ishant, who has played 81 Tests and 80 ODIs, clearly relished his battle with Leicestershire’s own international bowler Mohammad Abbas. Abbas was convinced he had Ishant leg before on 34, but other than that neither batsman gave a chance as the partnership passed three figures.Sharma was finally dismissed for 66, attempting to loft offspinner Ateeq Javid for a straight six, but failing to clear Gavin Griffiths at long-off.”I think I got my highest previous score in a Test match, so I’m pretty happy – I wanted to do as well as I could for the team. Every bowler loves to have a bat, and in internationals you don’t get that many opportunities, especially for India, so I was looking forward to having an opportunity.”I’ve been nightwatchman for India for four years now, so I’m used to the role. Michael [Burgess] and I just batted. I didn’t get nervous when I got close to 50, I wasn’t really thinking about it, just staying in my space.”My main job is to take wickets, so I was probably more pleased about that. The wicket is a bit on the slow side, with more bounce from the top end. It’s good to get used to the conditions, and the soft grounds, I’m getting a lot of benefit from that.”Burgess had a fortunate escape on 98, pulling a delivery from Parkinson to midwicket, where Michael Carberry got both hands to the ball above his head but could not hold the chance. He went to his century off 146 balls, hitting five fours as well as the two sixes, before Sussex captain Ben Brown declared.Buoyed by his success with the bat, Ishant then made an early breakthrough with the ball when he trapped Leicestershire opener Paul Horton leg before with a full delivery. Carberry, defending with purpose and real determination, and the in-form Ackermann saw off the new ball, but Ishant returned to have Carberry adjudged leg before, half-forward to an in-swinger.Sussex should have had a third wicket when Ackermann turned a David Wiese delivery straight to midwicket, only for Luke Wright, looking into the sun, to fail to hold a straightforward chance.

Malinda Pushpakumara claimed a 13-wicket haul and then hit the winning runs as Sri Lanka A completed a dash to victory in Dambulla to square the unofficial Test series with England Lions

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2017
ScorecardLiam Livingstone scored centuries in each innings for England Lions, but to no avail•England & Wales Cricket Board

Malinda Pushpakumara claimed a 13-wicket haul and then hit the winning runs as Sri Lanka A completed a dash to victory in Dambulla to square the unofficial Test series with England Lions.Needing 90 to win during the final session, having been defied for much of the day by Liam Livingstone’s second hundred in the match, Sri Lanka A lost wickets regularly but did enough to hold off the Lions’ unlikely tilt at snatching victory. Udara Jayasundera made 32 off 36 and Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lanka A’s captain, 23 off 13 to bring the target in sight before Pushpakumara finished the job after a late wobble.The Lions began the final day still 163 runs in arrears and were grateful for Livingstone’s painstaking, unbeaten 140; in all he batted for seven-and-a-half hours in the match, becoming only the second batsman after Kevin Pietersen to score a century in each innings of a first-class match for England Lions (or their predecessors, England A and England B).Ben Foakes was the only other Lions batsman to pass 20, though, as the Sri Lanka A spinners worked their way through the order. Pushpakumara claimed 5 for 78 to go with his eight-wicket haul in the first innings, finally leaving Livingstone stranded when he bowled Jack Leach for 1 after a dogged 12-over, last-wicket stand.Tom Curran threatened to spark an upset, taking the first four wickets to fall. Sri Lanka A were 34 for 3 when first-innings centurion Sadeera Samarawickrama was dismissed but Jayasundera and de Silva added 34 in 4.2 overs to regain the momentum.The stand was broken by Curran and then Sri Lanka A lost three wickets for four runs to Leach and Ollie Rayner to leave them 82 for 7. When Dimuth Karunaratne, batting down at No. 6 after making a career-best 212 at opener in the first innings, was caught behind off Rayner, Foakes had ten victims in the match – including a couple of stumpings off Leach – to set a new Lions record. But with the skies remaining clear, Pushpakumara and Jeffrey Vandersay got Sri Lanka A over the line with five overs to spare.”It was a valuable experience for all of us,” Lions coach Andy Flower said. “There were some outstanding performances in the game, and the primary examples of that were Ben Foakes, mainly with his wicketkeeping, and Liam Livingstone.””I know Bruce French, our lead wicketkeeping coach, was really proud watching Foakes’s performance, because he’s put in so many hours with Ben over the years, and the culmination of that was a real artist’s performance with the gloves. Ten dismissals, but they were good dismissals – it’s not like they were all straightforward nicks. A number of them were standing up to the wicket, both stumpings and catches, and he took one of the best catches I’ve seen from a wicketkeeper diving to his right – and that was in the 128th over.”The other standout was Livingstone, in both innings. I really enjoyed watching both innings, and one of the most enjoyable things was he looks like he’s growing quite quickly as a player. Some of the things he’s been working on in the training camps seem to have come to the fore in his play of spin. It was a really great performance on a typical subcontinental wicket – dusty, turned a bit, skidded a bit, he had to bat for long periods against spinners operating from both ends, where the slightest mistake could mean you’re out. He showed the tactics and the skill to manage that.”After the Lions had resumed on 32 for 2, Vandersay made the opening breakthrough by bowling Tom Westley for 12. Keaton Jennings was then stumped off Pushpakumara, giving the left-armer his tenth in the match, but Livingstone and Foakes combined to hold up the home side during a partnership of 107 in 36 overs.Foakes fell to the final ball before lunch, edging Pushpakumara to slip, and the Curran brothers were both dismissed in single figures with the Lions still in deficit. Livingstone continued to play with authority, however, reaching his fourth first-class hundred off 156 balls, with 11 fours and a six.In partnership with Toby Roland-Jones, Livingstone eked the Lions into a lead, before Rayner and Leach helped add valuable extra runs but with extra time available to make up for overs lost on days two and three, Sri Lanka A were not to be denied.

West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has admitted he has not yet performed to his standard in the Pakistan Super League so far, having scored 77 runs and taken eight wickets in seven games

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Feb-2016West Indies allrounder Andre Russell has admitted he has not yet performed to his standard in the Pakistan Super League so far. Russell has scored 77 runs and taken eight wickets in seven matches for Islamabad United. On the eve of the eliminator against Karachi Kings, Russell said he had a clear goal: to “raise the bat” and keep Islamabad’s hopes of making the inaugural final alive.”I still haven’t done whatever I want to. I still haven’t achieved what I want to achieve as yet playing for Islamabad,” Russell told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “And as of tomorrow I want to start that. I know whenever I go to bat, people are expecting big sixes and me to raise my bat. I haven’t raised my bat in months now. And I want to start that tomorrow.”Russell was named the Man of the Series of the IPL last year, where he played for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was also one of the best allrounders in the recently concluded Big Bash League, where his team Sydney Thunder won for the first time. His overall strike rate in T20s is 166.89, the highest among all 2000-plus run-getters. Still, Russell admits he is not the finished product.Despite his on-field performances not being spectacular, Russell said the PSL has been a good learning experience. “I know for sure by the time I leave, I’m going to learn a lot about how to play against left-arm orthodox. These teams have a lot of these spinners, boy. Even in the nets you would see them.”Even though Russell has been occasionally limited against spinners, he believes his game can overcome those obstacles. “At the end of the day playing spin is crucial in any form of the game, but in T20 cricket I don’t worry about spinners. I would prefer to bat spin more than pace. I love when the ball coming on (to the bat), but I would be more confident playing a shot against a spinner because I know that I have nothing to fear. If he spins the ball, he’ll beat me. Alright, he beat me. If I hit him for six, I win. I can sweep, but with my power I don’t really need to sweep sometime. But I can sweep to rotate strike.”Russell also said he was impressed by the emerging talent on show in the PSL. “A lot of talent in the PSL. This reminds me of playing in the Caribbean where you see so many (talented) guys. I ask a lot of of local guys here ‘Does this guy plays for Pakistan? I think he should play for Pakistan’ Russell said.

Andy Flower has praised the captaincy of Alastair Cook as a crucial factor in England’s success in the Investec Ashes.

George Dobell13-Aug-2013Andy Flower has praised the captaincy of Alastair Cook as a crucial factor in England’s success in the Investec Ashes. England secured a series win over Australia in Durham on Monday and are now unbeaten in their last 12 Tests and last four series since Cook was appointed.While Flower, the England team director, admitted the side had not played to their true potential over the first four matches of the series, he was full of praise for the team’s attitude and the calm direction provided by Cook.”I don’t think we’ve played our best cricket in the series,” Flower said. “But what we have done is been resilient. We’ve held ourselves well in pressure situations.”Cook’s captaincy has been excellent: strong in the dressing room and out in the field. He made some decisions that turned the game, such as bringing on Bresnan, who got Warner straight away. He’s been maligned in some areas, I’ve heard. I’m not sure what is said off the field but we judge ourselves by our own standards.”As a Test captain he is still a young man but he has led the side brilliantly. He’s a strong leader and he’s made some really good decisions in this Test series.”Cook’s leadership has been heavily criticised by some, with former Australian legspinner Shane Warne a persistent negative voice. Indeed, Warne took to Twitter on Monday to say: “Cook is having a horror with his captaincy in the last two Tests. He set the tone early being very defensive and negative today.”Warne was also critical of the decision to bring Bresnan back into the attack on the fourth afternoon of the game. But Bresnan claimed the breakthrough wicket of David Warner with the fourth delivery of a fine six-over spell that also included the wicket of Shane Watson.Flower also praised the contribution of Stuart Broad, who claimed 11 wickets in the match and produced a top-class spell on the fourth day as England claimed nine wickets after tea. But he admitted the Ashes tour to Australia will present further challenges and require England to adapt.”It was nice being part of that afternoon session where Broad and Cook turned things around for us,” Flower said. “Broad’s spell of bowling was outstanding, showing real competitiveness, flair, nous and heart. They are all great qualities that reside in some of these very fine players.”Playing in Australia will be a bigger challenge and we’ve already got some of our planning in operation. It will be a tough series and conditions will be very different. South Africa went there last winter and nearly lost to a very similar team to the one we’ve faced.”We won in India last winter and that was a good example of adapting to very different conditions. We’ll have to do that in Australia if we are to thrive out there.”

Eoin Morgan will not face disciplinary action by Middlesex after missing their CB40 match against Lancashire at Old Trafford

Andrew McGlashan17-Jul-2012Eoin Morgan will not face disciplinary action by Middlesex after missing their CB40 match against Lancashire at Old Trafford because he was stuck on the train from London but the club remain ‘disappointed’ by the situation.Morgan was caught in disruption on the London to Manchester line from Euston station and did not make it to the ground in time for the toss which forced Middlesex to leave him out of the side for what as a key match with semi-final places at stake.Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said lessons will need to be learned. “We are disappointed and frustrated it happened. It was an important match for us,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”However, Fraser also suggested that because Morgan is still employed by the ECB on a central contact that it would be quite difficult for Middlesex to discipline him as he is not contracted to them.The majority of Middlesex’s squad travelled north on Sunday evening following the abandoned game against Leicestershire at Uxbridge although a couple of players were allowed to drive up on the morning of game. Fraser said the club were aware that Morgan wanted to take the train.During his lengthy journey, Morgan tweeted: “Just the 7 hours to Manchester… not sure the train is an option any more!!”He arrived shortly after the scheduled start time at Old Trafford, ironically as rain was falling so Middlesex’s innings had been suspended, and watched from the dressing room. The game was curtailed to a 16-over aside match and Middlesex could only muster 97 for 8 with Lancashire chasing a slightly revised target with ease.The result left both teams level on eight points but Lancashire jumped ahead of Middlesex by virtue of having four victories to Middlesex’s three. Morgan’s travel disruption could yet prove very costly for the county.

A defiant century by Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale carried his side to safety against County Championship leaders Durham as the rain-shortened match was shortened at Chester-le-Street

21-Jun-2011
Scorecard
A defiant century by Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale carried his side to safety against County Championship leaders Durham as the rain-shortened match was shortened at Chester-le-Street.Gale’s second century of the season came off 192 balls and he was unbeaten on 101 at the close of play with Yorkshire 57 ahead on 280 for 4. But they took only two bonus points from the match, compared with Durham’s maximum of eight, and slipped to next to bottom courtesy of Worcestershire’s win against Hampshire.Adam Lyth made his season’s best score of 69 and the third left-hander, Gary Ballance, contributed 53 to an unbroken stand of 120. The only chance given by either of the fifth-wicket pair came with Ballance on 23, when Gordon Muchall was unable to hang on to a sharp head-high chance just to his left at first slip off Callum Thorp.Gale was very composed in an innings which spanned almost four hours, looking solid in defence while also hitting 15 fours. Durham were not helped by the absence of Paul Collingwood who was ruled out with a groin injury picked up while making a century yesterday.Steve Harmison also looked out of sorts in two wayward six-over spells on a pitch which had lost most of its early life. With a day and a half lost to rain, there was not enough wear in the surface for the spinners to play a big part, although Ian Blackwell did have Lyth stumped to end a stand of 95 with Gale.When Jonny Bairstow was run out two overs later Yorkshire were 160 for four in early afternoon, still 63 adrift. But Durham were flagging by tea, when the visitors were nine runs ahead. Only eight minutes play were lost to a light shower at 11.30 and shortly after the resumption Durham took two wickets.Lyth put on 50 for the first wicket with Joe Root, who made 28 before he fell lbw to a shooter from Graham Onions. Anthony McGrath’s struggles continued when he departed for a duck, following a leg-side ball from Harmison and providing Phil Mustard with a catch.But the only other wobble came with the loss of Lyth and Bairstow in quick succession. Lyth reached 50 off 100 balls, with six fours, by driving Blackwell through extra cover for three. But after adding five to his previous best this season of 64 he stretched forward and was smartly stumped by Mustard.Bairstow’s run out came when he played the ball to mid-wicket and set off before hesitating when Gale was committed. Dale Benkenstein whipped the ball in to beat Bairstow to the non-striker’s end.

At the end of last season Somerset decided Wes Durston had no future at the club and he was left contemplating a career outside the game

Sahil Dutta17-Jun-2010For a 29-year-old who had spent the last eight years of his life playing professional cricket, being dumped by the county that nurtured him since boyhood was a frightening situation. At the end of last season Somerset decided Wes Durston had no future at the club and he was left contemplating a career outside the game.One remarkable innings later his fortunes flipped. He cracked 117 off 68 balls in a chase of 325 in the Clydesdale Bank 40, the highest score by any side batting second in the history of 40-over cricket, to help the Unicorns, an ECB team made up of players outside the professional game, stun defending champions Sussex.He was then promptly snapped up by Derbyshire for the Friends Provident t20 and celebrated by hitting the first century of the tournament – 111 off 59 balls – against Nottinghamshire in his fourth game.”It has been a huge turnaround, I completely didn’t expect it. It was an incredible hour, where I just hit everything cleanly and that one innings against Sussex changed my life effectively,” he told Cricinfo. “Just a few months ago, I was out the game and trying to become a teacher. Suddenly now it’s all non-stop and I’m completely loving it.”Between the 2009 and 2010 seasons a host of players were quietly released by their counties, some finding new opportunities within the county game and others left scrambling outside the profession for new avenues to earn a living.”Losing your contract is a very painful experience,” said Durston. “You imagine yourself playing the game for as long as you can, and then suddenly I was 29 and out the game. It was very, very difficult to take.”In my mid-season appraisal last year there was no indication I’d be out of a contract. The communication from Somerset was really poor.”Durston was lucky enough to have a sports fitness degree to fall back on and had spent the previous four winters teaching hockey and cricket at Millfield school. Yet, despite his qualifications there was no job for him to walk into and it was left to the PCA to help him find his feet.”The PCA were very helpful. Within two weeks of explaining my situation to them they had found me two job interviews,” he said. “They play a crucial role making players seek out courses and work experience while they’re in the game so that when that day comes – an injury or retirement or something – people aren’t lost.”However, there is always that lingering hope for a second chance. Back in the professional game and scoring heavily, Durston’s story is a boon for the ECB, whose Unicorns idea was ridiculed in some quarters when it first emerged.They were little more than a hasty arrangement, invented as a 21st team for the new 40-over competition when Ireland pulled out of English domestic cricket to focus on international commitments. Yet their success, and Durston’s promotion, proves the side can be both competitive and act as a shop-window for prospective players.”I’m obviously the person that has profited most but people can see from my experience that there is a link back to county cricket through the Unicorns,” he said. “We were a fully-fledged team that trained throughout the winter, which meant that by time the game’s came round we had got to know each other quite well, had built up an understanding and had good camaraderie.”We beat Glamorgan and Sussex and proved there is definitely a space for having us in the tournament, that’s two professional clubs with egg on their faces and a feather in the cap for us.”For now though, he has set his sights higher. He wants to play all forms of the game and has been promised that good performances could lead to a full contract for the remainder of this season. If he keeps pummelling runs in Twenty20 cricket, however, even bigger riches may not be far away.

Matthew Breetzke 94 in vain as home side get home in shortened chase

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2024Derbyshire 123 for 3 (Donald 68) beat Northamptonshire 193 for 8 (Breetzke 94, Dupavillon 3-43) by 24 runs (DLS method) A brilliant innings from Aneurin Donald gave Derbyshire Falcons a 24 run win over Northants Steelbacks under Duckworth Lewis Stern in the North Group match at Derby.Donald smashed eight sixes in a 26-ball 68, equalling his own record for Derbyshire’s fastest T20 fifty, to put Falcons ahead of the run rate on 123 for 3 after 11 overs when a violent thunderstorm ended the game.Matthew Breetzke batted superbly to score a T20 best 94 from 54 balls, sharing a stand of 81 with Sikandar Raza, as Steelbacks reached 193 for 8.Rain left Falcons with a revised target of 187 from 19 overs but Donald’s demolition shredded the bowling before David Lloyd (33), and Cam Fletcher kept the home side ahead of the game before the heavens opened.Steelbacks scored only six from the first two overs which included a maiden from Daryn Dupavillon before Breetzke took three fours from Pat Brown.Ricardo Vasconcelos was dropped at cover by Samit Patel off Brown but it did not prove costly as the opener was comprehensively yorked in the fourth over by DuPavillion.Breetzke was finding his range and pulled Zak Chappell into the car park before David Willey dished out the same treatment to Dupavillon. But Dupavillon had the last word by getting Willey to miscue a drive low to mid-off as Steelbacks ended the powerplay on 55 for 2.After a brief stoppage for a sharp shower, Breetzke and Ravi Bopara worked the ball around without taking risks and had put on 48 from 36 balls when Falcons made a big breakthrough.Bopara tried to launch Mitch Wagstaff over the midwicket boundary only for Ross Whiteley to take a well judged catch just inside the ropes.But Breetzke and Raza trod on the accelerator to plunder 79 in five overs as the ball disappeared to all parts. After Breetzke reached 50 from 36 balls, he pulled Brown for six and dispatched Ross Whiteley for another maximum before Raza launched Chappell over the ropes.Breetzke passed his previous highest T20 score of 80 by taking three consecutive fours off Dupavillon before a yorker ended a thrilling innings.Brown and Chappell dragged it back by conceding only 11 from the last two overs in which Steelbacks lost four wickets trying to push towards 200.Falcons needed a fast start and Donald delivered, driving Willey straight for six and pulling and driving Ben Sanderson for two more as they raced to 50 in the fifth over.Donald pulled Raphy Weatherall into the home dugout and smashed a Saif Zaib full toss for six before he launched a no-ball over deep midwicket to reach 50 from 19 balls.He hammered two more off Freddie Heldreich before holing out to long-off in the seventh over but he had done exactly what the situation demanded.Bopara had Wayne Madsen caught behind and Patel was caught at deep square but the Falcons had done enough by the time torrential rain ended the contest.