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After a month-long heat wave across the UK, the weather gods decided to play a prank on a pair of Associate nation guests making their long-awaited return to Lord’s

Peter Della Penna at Lord's29-Jul-2018
ScorecardAfter a month-long heat wave across the UK, the weather gods decided to play a prank on a pair of Associate nation guests making their long-awaited return to Lord’s. In the T20 tri-series played by hosts MCC, Nepal and Netherlands, rain was the ultimate winner as a pair of scheduled 20-over matches between the MCC and each Associate were reduced to six-over affairs before the finale between Nepal and Netherlands ended with a no result after 16.4 overs.For Netherlands, this was their first T20I at Lord’s since the 2009 World T20, where they pulled off one of their greatest triumphs against England. Two years ago, Nepal had made their 50-over Lord’s debut against the MCC in front of more than 5000 fans. Despite it being on a weekend, just over 2000 fans turned up to Lord’s on this day as the majority of fans around the UK were scared off by damp weather, a scarce occurrence all July.Fans who did show up were treated to an impressive Dutch batting display through much of the afternoon. Making use of the short east side boundary on offer thanks to a pitch chosen near the end of the Lord’s square, Wesley Barresi powered the Netherlands with an impressive 44 off 24 balls after entering at No. 3. His innings included six fours as well as an exquisitely timed six driven over cover off medium pacer Sompal Kami.Barresi added 54 for the third wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate and when Barresi departed near the end of the ninth over, it was ten Doeschate who dazzled with a series of elegant flicks over mid on. Playing his first T20I in more than eight years, the ageless wonder spent his day off from Essex captaincy showing he hasn’t lost his touch at international level one bit as he cruised to 38 off 27 balls.A rain break after 12 overs broke Netherlands’ momentum. They resumed at 112 for 3 with two overs shaved off the match and two balls later ten Doeschate was run out thanks to a brilliant charge, scoop and fire by Dipendra Singh Airee from backward point.Michael Rippon showed how much he was missed at the World Cup Qualifier by dismantling Nepal’s spinners on his way to 38 not out off 22 balls. Shane Edwards was just as relentless, swatting an unbeaten 34 off 14 that included three fours and back-to-back sixes off star legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane in the 16th. He was the most expensive bowler on the day, finishing with 0 for 43 in three overs.Captain Paras Khadka vigorously dried the ball with a towel after nearly every delivery in a vain attempt to make it easier for Lamichhane and the other spinners to grip in the midst of a steady drizzle. A short time later, the drizzle turned into a thick shower and it became clear that play would be difficult to continue. When Rippon backed out of a delivery with the wind and rain blowing in his face midway through the 17th over, that became the final signal and the umpires took everyone off one ball later with Netherlands’ innings declared finished at 174 for 4.Despite hopes of a restart, officials called off play more than an hour before the official cutoff time as the forecast for the rest of the evening remained bleak. Nepal’s players shook hands with the Dutch, then continued on to the edge of the stands to show thanks to their supporters. With many having traveled from as far as the USA and even Nepal to take in the occasion, a selfie with Khadka, Lamichhane and the rest was just as good as a six.

Stevie Eskinazi’s career-best, unbeaten 178 was the mainstay for Middlesex as they ground to within striking distance of Warwickshire

Jon Culley at Edgbaston04-Jul-2017
ScorecardStevie Eskinazi made a career-best 178 to carry the fight for Middlesex•Getty Images

The considerable fillip Warwickshire drew from dismissing Sam Robson for a third-ball duck was counterbalanced by a century from Stevie Eskinazi in which the South Africa-born batsman produced some good, aggressive strokeplay but also had to show some gritty qualities and ride his luck.Eskinazi, whose 157 against Yorkshire at Scarborough this time last year was one of the key innings of Middlesex’s title-winning season, doubled his tally of career first-class centuries to four with his second of this season, consolidating his position as leading run-scorer.Although born in Johannesburg, Eskinazi has an English mother and a Zimbabwe-born father and after playing some junior cricket in Hampshire moved with his family to Perth, in Western Australia, where he played representative state cricket at under-17 and under-19.Goodness knows where that leaves him in terms of nationality, although that is a matter for another day. For the moment, he is unbeaten on 178, having overtaken his Scarborough scored to guarantee himself a new career-best with his 23rd four after more than five hours at the crease.By the close, against the team propping up the table and desperate to find a first win, he had hit 24 fours and pulled Boyd Rankin for three sixes, which were impressive statistics, although he had been well into three figures before he began to look properly comfortable.At times earlier he had looked anything but, as was illustrated, even on 116 and 124 against a ball that was 55 overs old, when he twice edged Rankin to the boundary through gaps in the cordon.Another difficult over earlier in the day had seen Rikki Clarke beat him twice but somehow miss the stumps. There was a close call on a run-out too and, not long afterwards, a sharp chance offered to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose when Jeetan Patel entered the attack after 31 overs and Eskinazi was on 56.All of that followed a massive appeal for a catch in the gully off the first ball he faced, which was turned down on the basis that the deflection was off pads only.How different the day might have been had the finger gone up at that moment, given that Keith Barker, spearing the ball in from around the wicket, had dismissed Robson leg-before with the immediately previous delivery. Robson has twice hit a double-hundred against Warwickshire.But if he was lucky at times, Eskinazi might reasonably claim he earned it on a pitch of unreliable bounce that had a nasty surprise in store for a number of batsman.Earlier in the day, Barker had been denied a half-century with the bat when he was deceived into playing too soon at a ball from Tim Murtagh, connecting with a leading edge. Murtagh, going down low in his follow-through, took a good return catch.Nick Compton suffered in a more painful way, hit first in the box and then on the inside of the left knee by balls that did not get up. The second blow forced him to retire on 12, although he was able to return after the fall of the next wicket, when Patel’s second ball accounted for Dawid Malan, who went back to cut but could only nudge the ball into the gloves of Ambrose, who this time held the chance, albeit none too tidily.Like Nick Gubbins, who was left out of this match through lack of runs, Compton has not had a productive season. It would have been a toss up between the two of them as to who stood aside to make way for Robson’s return from the Lions. Compton’s hundred against Essex last week came at just the right moment.He did not look vastly more on top of things in his second spell at the crease and had reached 33 when Clarke returned for a new spell and had him caught behind off a thin edge with his second delivery.That left Middlesex 195 for 3, following which a terrific catch from Matt Lamb at point in the next over ensured Paul Stirling’s stay was brief, the 20-year-old hanging on to a full-blooded cut off Rankin.After a mostly sunny day, Patel increasingly came into his own deep into the final session, when he had John Simpson caught off bat and pad at short leg and Ryan Higgins caught behind, feathering a catch after shaping to cut.Spin could become a bigger factor still on the last two days, so Middlesex will look to Eskinazi to squeeze out a few more runs yet to give them a lead.

A deep-seated trust issue is central to the problems Zimbabwe Cricket faces as it attempts to build a unified outfit, according to former national coach Alan Butcher

Firdose Moonda27-May-2016A deep-seated trust issue is central to the problems Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) faces as it attempts to build a unified outfit, according to former national coach Alan Butcher. That conclusion was the starkest takeaway from his book , an account of his three years in charge of Zimbabwe.The honest, personal story of Butcher’s time with the team, which he largely enjoyed thoroughly, is filled with details of suspicions, misunderstandings and hidden agendas between ZC management and the players. In some instances, these divisions were racially motivated; in others, they were personality-driven, but combined they had a detrimental effect on morale and performance.”There are massive trust issues in Zimbabwe, and these go back to a time before independence. Independence didn’t just flick a switch and make everything okay….” Butcher writes. “That there will be mistrust of each other’s motives is the most natural thing in the world.”In particular, Butcher reveals how the actions of former convener of selectors Givemore Makoni during the 2012 World T20 led to the retirement of Ray Price the following year.Makoni was appointed to the post in October 2011, 18 months into Butcher’s tenure. Butcher admits only knowing Makoni “a little” but being “apprehensive” about his appointment, having previously dealt with him as a selector.Butcher’s reservations were confirmed shortly after, when the selectors, led by Makoni, unilaterally announced the Test squad to play New Zealand, without meeting with the coach or captain. The group initially excluded Chris Mpofu and Tatenda Taibu, who both ended up playing in the match at Butcher and Brendan Taylor’s insistence. Butcher won that battle, but he would not win many more.The next March, during the World T20, Butcher was invited to dinner with ZC’s communications manager Lovemore Banda, Makoni, and assistant coach Steven Mangongo in Colombo. There, Banda told Butcher there was a perception that Butcher was marginalising Prosper Utseya.”The point was a none too subtle warning there were ‘people’ who were disappointed by the fact that if I thought someone should be dropped from the team that person was always Prosper Utseya and that those people were beginning to think that there was an agenda of some sort against him and that I would be wise to think about the possible consequences of that perception,” Butcher wrote.The quartet went on to enjoy the evening, but once they moved to Hambantota, the venue of their first match, Butcher was made to understand why Banda had communicated that message.The night before Zimbabwe’s opener against Sri Lanka, the coaching staff agreed that Utseya would sit out the first match against Sri Lanka in favour of Graeme Cremer and Ray Price. When Makoni heard the decision, he accused Butcher of “trying to wreck Utseya’s career, of racism and much more besides…”Makoni insisted Utseya should play and Butcher realised “fighting it would cause the team many more problems than having Prosper in it,” and so gave in. However, he then had to inform Price that he would be benched.Price had spent the afternoon in the hotel pool, opposite where the meeting with Makoni and Butcher had taken place, and already had an idea of what was coming. “Although disappointed, recognised an impossible position the captain and I were in and took it pretty well.”Butcher thought the matter was over, but on the day of the match, Grant Flower, the then batting coach, refused to go to the ground because of Utseya’s inclusion in the team. Butcher met with Flower and persuaded him otherwise, but the players had by then learnt of Flower’s threat. Butcher’s immediate task was to see how Utseya was handling it and he discovered the player was “not feeling great about being the reason for a coach refusing to go to the ground.”Utseya was among the better bowlers on the day, but Zimbabwe’s performance was, in Butcher’s words, “shambolic,” and things were only going to get worse.Zimbabwe did not play again until the next February, when they toured the West Indies, and as with any tour, the first job was to pick the squads. Butcher wanted Price “in my team in all formats,” and expected Makoni to disagree, but at their meeting, “Makoni indicated he thought Price should be in the squad.”A few days later, Butcher saw the squad list without Price’s name on it and called Makoni to clarify. Makoni said Price would not be travelling. Butcher gave Price the news, but instructed him not to do anything until Butcher had sorted it out, fearing Price would “retire on principle.” Price, however, set up a meeting with Mangongo and Makoni in which he was “virtually forced to retire from ODIs to continue playing Tests.” As a result, Price travelled as part of the Test squad but not the limited-overs team.Price retired that July after being left out of the ODI squad to play India despite new coach Andy Waller wanting him in the group.In the immediate aftermath of the squad selection for the 2013 tour of West Indies, Butcher noted with “sadness,” that “turned to anger,” reports in the Zimbabwean press detailing the argument with Makoni at the 2012 World T20. Utseya’s omission was described as bordering on “the issue of colour,” which Butcher took as an accusation against him of racism. He described it as his “darkest time” in Zimbabwe and it may have played a role in him opting not to reapply for his job later that year.After Butcher’s departure, Makoni was promoted to a managerial role in ZC in 2015 and Kenyon Ziehl was appointed selection convener. That may change in the next few weeks with ZC set to unveil yet another new selection panel.Butcher compared that kind of constant change to a “revolving door spinning from all exits,” caused by there not being “enough people everybody trusts”. Caught in the middle of that, “a national team of mixed races is expected to just knuckle down and win cricket matches,” which for Butcher is a big ask.Despite the overarching problem in Zimbabwean cricket, Butcher left with the impression that, “trust between the races was alive and well among the younger generations,” but warned that the spirit of goodwill should not be overshadowed by a political system which hardens attitudes. The Good Murungu: A Cricket Tale of the Unexpected

Glamorgan batsman Will Bragg scored his second hundred of the summer to ensure honours remained fairly even at the mid-point of their Championship clash with Kent in Canterbury

Press Association11-May-2015
ScorecardWill Bragg hit his second hundred of the season to keep Glamorgan in touch•Getty Images

Glamorgan batsman Will Bragg scored his second hundred of the summer to ensure honours remained fairly even at the mid-point of their Championship clash with Kent in Canterbury.Bragg, fresh from a career-best 120 against Leicestershire in the first round of this season’s Division Two games, hit a dozen boundaries in his 208-ball innings as Glamorgan posted 281 all out in response to Kent’s season’s best first-innings total of 357.The left-hander from Newport took advantage of a let-off with his score on 16 to reach the fourth hundred of his career and cut Kent’s first-innings advantage to a mere 76 runs.With his side in trouble on 54 for 3, Wagg was fortunate to see Matt Coles, stationed at second slip, drop a comfortable catch off the bowling of Calum Haggett and went on to bat late into the last session on an easing pitch.Kent looked set for a considerable first innings lead as they claimed three wickets in the 90-minute stint through to lunch. Rookie Ivan Thomas set the tone by trapping James Kettleborough leg before with an offcutter, then Coles ripped out the off stump of Jacques Rudolph and, when bowling around the wicket, had left-hander Colin Ingram snaffled at second slip.Glamorgan counter attacked in the middle session but, although the run rate increased, wickets still fell at regular intervals. Chris Cooke cutting at Darren Stevens picked out Joe Denly at cover point then Mark Wallace was caught behind down the leg side when attempting to glance against Thomas.Graham Wagg prodded forward in defence at a Stevens’ awayswinger to edge low to James Tredwell at slip and, with their score on 170 for 6 at tea, Glamorgan still had concerns over reaching their 208-run follow-on figure.Tredwell pocketed another catch in the cordon after tea to account for Craig Meschede and give Haggett a deserved scalp on his comeback appearance, but Bragg ensured that batting again would not be Glamorgan’s fate. He moved to 99 by steering one from Coles to third man then punched a single to extra cover to raise three figures having spent a shade under four hours at the crease.Bragg’s vigil ended when Thomas returned to bowl him around his legs for 104, then Stevens plucked out Michael Hogan’s middle stump. Stevens, Thomas and Coles all finished with three wickets apiece and Kent batted out the final over of the day, scoring a single to extend their lead to 77.At the start of day two, Glamorgan required barely half an hour to take Kent’s two remaining first-innings scalps, with Hogan bagging a season’s best 5 for 71. A cameo 25 from Coles eased Kent past 350 for a fourth batting bonus point.

Michael Hussey hopes that one Sheffield Shield match and some net sessions against the red ball will be enough to turn his form against South Africa around

Brydon Coverdale31-Oct-2012Michael Hussey is entering his 19th season of first-class cricket. In all that time, he has not faced a better attack than the South Africa group led by Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. Since Steyn and Morkel arrived on the scene, Hussey has played eight Tests against South Africa for a top score of 50. Next week, he will walk out on to the Gabba and attempt to rectify that record with only one Sheffield Shield match behind him. He’d better hope it doesn’t rain in Melbourne over the next four days.Hussey is the first to admit that his preparation, which virtually begins and concludes with a Shield match against Victoria starting on Thursday, has been far from ideal. Even in the lead-up to the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes, a series that led to the Argus review and serious criticisms of Australia’s preparation, he had played two Shield games before the first Test. Now, he hasn’t played a first-class match since April, his longest such lay-off in five years.It’s not that he hasn’t been playing cricket – there was the limited-overs tour of the UAE in August and September, followed by the World Twenty20 and the Champions League T20 – it’s just that his bat hasn’t been collecting red cherries. The best he has managed were some net sessions with a red ball facing his Chennai Super Kings team-mate Ben Hilfenhaus over the past few weeks in South Africa.”It’s not perfect. You’d definitely prefer at least a couple [of Shield games],” Hussey said. “But that’s the way the schedule is and there’s nothing I can do about it … But I must admit my training while I was over in South Africa was trying to get back into Test match cricket mode. I was facing Ben Hilfenhaus with red balls over there. I have done a fair bit of work in the lead-up to this Shield game.”This Shield game is very important as well. I’d prefer to have more first-class games but having said that I find the transition from Twenty20 into the longer form a lot easier than the other way around. I’ve always struggled going from a Test match into a T20 game. I’ve found that’s taken me a lot longer. Hopefully I can make the adjustment relatively quickly.”Hussey is not the only batsman in Australia’s Test side facing the same problem. None of Hussey, David Warner and Shane Watson have played first-class cricket since the Caribbean Test tour in April, and although they were all at the Champions League, Watson was sent home early to work on his Test preparation. At least Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Ed Cowan have been at home playing Shield cricket.Hussey can ill afford to head to the Gabba without red-ball runs to his name. Over the past four years, Australia and South Africa have delivered eight of the most magnificent Tests, but Hussey’s contributions have been slim. Steyn and Morkel have each dismissed him five times, and although Hussey might be able to target the legspinner Imran Tahir, he will have to find a way to counteract the swing and bounce of South Africa’s quicks.”It’s probably the best attack that I’ve faced,” Hussey said. “They complement each other quite well. They’re all different bowlers. Steyn is a bit shorter, extreme pace but can swing the ball away from the right hander. Morkel gets that awkward bounce so he’s very different. He’s a bit wider of the crease and bowls very well to the left handers in particular.”Philander is extremely disciplined, lands the ball on the seam and does a little bit either way. They’re well backed up by Kallis, who has done a fantastic job over a long time, and they’ve got a very good spinner as well. They’re a very well rounded attack. They complement each other very well and we’re going to have to play extremely well to get on top of them.”But Hussey knows that lying awake at night worrying about the South Africans won’t help. Over the years, Hussey has admitted to sometimes over-thinking things and he has learnt that a clouded mind is his enemy. He knows that at 37, his next extended lean patch could be career-ending – though only if a younger batsman emerges from Shield cricket with better credentials, which for the time being is not happening. But he refuses to let himself become anxious over a record of 277 runs at 18.46 in his past eight Tests against South Africa.”There’s no point [worrying],” Hussey said. “I have tried doing that before, against England. I’d had a mediocre season against England and I was getting all worried about it, and then ended up performing a lot better against them next time. There’s no point in worrying or stressing about anything that’s happened in the past, because there’s enough things to worry and stress about when you’re out in the middle in a Test match anyway.”The Test matches we’ve played against South Africa in South Africa have been extremely difficult for batting. I think back to the Cape Town game when we were bowled out for 40-odd, Michael Clarke’s innings of 150 was one of the best innings I’ve ever seen, because the pitch was doing an extraordinary amount and no other batsman looked comfortable at all. I’m expecting the pitches in Australia to be very good, very true, and if you can get in and get through that initial period, there’s no reason why a few of the guys can’t go on and get big scores.”The question is whether Hussey is one of those guys. At least he knows he has the support of the national selector John Inverarity.”Last year when [the selection panel] were contemplating the first Test team against India at the Boxing Day Test, we were discussing Ben Hilfenhaus, and a couple amongst us said Ben Hilfenhaus’ record at the MCG is not at all good,” Inverarity said this week. “Then one amongst us said ‘well he’s due to take wickets’ and he got five. So I would say against the South Africans, Michael Hussey who is a very fine batsman, is due to make some runs.”The Australians just hope that in a month’s time he’s not overdue.

Ruhuna’s Dinesh Chandimal says the CLT20 is important, keeping in mind the international career he hopes to build

Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad18-Sep-2011He was talked up as one of Sri Lanka’s future stars even before his debut. He made two centuries in his first six ODIs, including one at Lord’s. Life could not have got better for Dinesh Chandimal at 21. It didn’t, and came crashing down suddenly. He was dropped after only three indifferent outings in the home ODI series against Australia and is now looking at the Champions League Twenty20 qualifier as a potential launching pad for a national comeback.”This tournament is definitely very important for me,” Chandimal said in Hyderabad. “It could help me make the Sri Lankan side more regularly.”His shy smile didn’t disappear, but there was hurt in his eyes when the word ‘dropped’ was mentioned. Twenty-one is not an age when a cricketer becomes adept at diplomacy or eloquence, but Chandimal was. “That’s the selectors’ call,” he said. “I can only focus on my game and can’t do much otherwise.”It wasn’t the low scores but the manner of his dismissals against Australia that was worrying. On all three occasions, he chased and edged deliveries outside the off stump. What went wrong? “You see, my normal position is No. 3 but I came in at No. 5 [twice] against Australia. But I know that I have the potential. I am ready to play for my country at any position whenever I am selected.”Chandimal has been a wicketkeeper from the beginning, but his batting is so highly rated that he has played a majority of the games in his short international career as a specialist batsman. It is as a keeper, though, that he wants to leave a mark. “I have kept wicket all through my career, right from school level through age-group cricket. I like playing as a keeper-batsman. Keeping is good for my batting as well, as I get to observe from up close how the pitch is behaving.”I hope to take over from Sanga [Kumar Sangakkara] one day. At the moment, Prasanna Jayawardene is doing very well in Tests, but I would like to keep wicket in Tests as well in the future.”Despite having a first-class average of 58.52, Chandimal’s eagerness to keep wicket could mean that he will have to wait for that Test call-up till a vacancy arises behind the stumps. Lahiru Thirimanne, another promising batsman – one who does not keep wicket – was blooded ahead of Chandimal during the Tests against England. Chandimal is prepared to wait. “I expected to be picked for the Australia Tests, but I have a lot of years ahead of me and my time will come.”

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has expressed disappointment after his side’s second successive defeat against Bangladesh, giving the hosts an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series with two games to go

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2010New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has expressed disappointment after his side’s second successive defeat against Bangladesh, giving the hosts an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series with two games to go. Vettori identified New Zealand’s continued struggles against Bangladesh’s spinners as the reason for the defeat.”We are disappointed with the batting,” Vettori said after the game. “[Jesse] Ryder and [BJ] Watling set us up, but from then on we were under pressure. The spinners for Bangladesh bowled very well and we have to adjust quickly. We have to post a decent score in the next game to put some pressure on them.”After the early loss of Brendon McCullum, New Zealand recovered through Ryder and Watling who added 55 for the second wicket. However, their good work was undone by the home side’s spinners, with left-armer Suhrawadi Shuvo taking 3 for 14 in 10 overs.Chasing 174 for a win, Bangladesh cantered home with 10 overs to spare, the first time they have managed to string two consecutive wins against top opposition, not counting the 3-0 victory against a depleted West Indies side last year.”Suhrawadi bowled well and we kept taking wickets,” the stand-in Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said. “Our opening batsmen then batted solidly and gave us a good start, that’s what we needed.”

Rain curtails play with visitors on course for parity in match where draw should suffice

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024Ryan Patel led a solid Surrey batting effort to defy nearest challengers Somerset on the second day of the top-of-the-table Vitality County Championship First Division clash at Taunton.The 26-year-old all-rounder was unbeaten on 61 in a first innings total of 169 for three when rain ended play for the day at 3pm, with a minimum of 26 overs remaining. Ben Geddes made 50, while all three wickets fell to 18-year-old off-spinner Archie Vaughan.Surrey trailed by 148, but with seven wickets in hand will be confident of at least getting close to Somerset’s first innings total of 317, knowing that a draw will be sufficient to make them red-hot title favourites with only two more games to play.The visitors went into the match 24 points clear of their second placed opponents and, with both sides having so far taken three bonus points, the advantage remains the same.The skies were heavily overcast as Surrey began their first innings at the start of the day. Somerset debutant Brett Randell opened up with a maiden from the River End and both the Kiwi seamer and Craig Overton beat the bat in their early overs.Rory Burns and Dom Sibley survived to be confronted by spin from the eighth over when Jack Leach was introduced into the attack, soon to be followed by Vaughan, operating from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.Both were soon providing a tough examination for the Surrey openers, extracting turn from the second-day pitch. But Burns and Sibley proved up to the challenge and had put together a stand of 41 in 16.2 overs when they were parted.Sibley, on 16, went to slog-sweep a delivery from Vaughan and failed to clear mid-wicket where Tom Abell took a smart two-handed catch above his head.Burns appeared to survive a chance to wicketkeeper James Rew off Vaughan when on 21. But it mattered little as the left-hander departed without addition, lbw trying to sweep a delivery from the same bowler, which straightened from around the wicket.At 48 for two, Surrey were in a spot of bother. But the skies were clearing and Patel and Geddes rotated the strike intelligently while taking advantage of rare loose deliveries, particularly from Leach.By lunch, they had taken the total to 91 for two from 37 overs, with Geddes unbeaten on 27 and Patel 19 not out. Vaughan had figures of two for 17 from 12 overs, having been a model of accuracy in only his second first class game and gone past the outside edge on several occasions.A curtailed afternoon session saw Geddes bring up the half-century stand with a boundary off Vaughan, who bowled 19 overs unchanged either side of lunch before switching ends and sending down seven more.Geddes, making his first Championship appearance for Surrey since 2022, went to an impressive 93-ball fifty, with six fours, but fell soon afterwards with the total on 128, miscuing a sweep off Vaughan and lofting a simple catch to Lewis Goldsworthy at short fine leg.By then Patel was looking well set. He brought up his half-century having batted patiently for 130 balls and looked increasingly comfortable against the spinners. Ben Foakes was equally watchful as they strengthened Surrey’s position under darkening skies.With the score 168 for three, the umpires ordered the floodlights to be turned on. But soon afterwards, with Goldsworthy preparing to bowl his first over of the match, the rain, which had been forecast, started falling and the players made for the pavilion.It got heavier and persistent, leading to play being abandoned at just after 4.30pm.

Todd Murphy’s chances of playing at Old Trafford remain unclear as crunch time nears in thrilling series

Andrew McGlashan18-Jul-2023David Warner will retain his place at the top of the order at Old Trafford and Josh Hazlewood will replace Scott Boland, with Australia’s final decision set to be between Cameron Green and Todd Murphy as Australia look for the victory that will secure the Ashes and avoid the series from going to a decider.Warner’s position has come under scrutiny after his double failure against Stuart Broad at Headingley – making it 17 times he has fallen to Broad – with Australia needing to work out if there is a way of getting Green back into the XI.Since 2021, Warner has averaged 28.17 in 23 Tests, and that includes his double hundred against South Africa during the Boxing Day Test at the MCG last year. In a clear sign that he remained in Australia’s plans, he was part of the slip cordon during practice on Monday and Pat Cummins, although saying the selectors had not yet met, endorsed Warner’s contributions in the series where he has put on opening stands of 61, 73 and 63 with Usman Khawaja.Related

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• Switch Hit: Ashes and chill?

“I think [Warner] has been going really well,” Cummins said. “I thought at Lord’s, he was really impressive. Last week, like many of us, he probably didn’t contribute as much as he would have liked with the bat.”He’s been out there over the last couple of days putting in a lot of work, but I think this tour he has shown a lot of good signs and hasn’t quite kicked on to make that big score. Some of those innings he’s played under really tough circumstances has made it easy for [Steven] Smith to come in and score runs, or the like.”With Warner retained, and Mitchell Marsh seemingly undroppable after his Headingley hundred, the only other way for Green to return would appear to be in place of Todd Murphy leaving Australia with an all-pace attack supplemented by Travis Head, who did have an extensive bowl in the nets on Monday. Murphy was lightly used at Headingley and Cummins appeared to hedge his bets slightly on what the decision could be.David Warner’s runs earlier in the series are likely to secure his spot•Getty Images

One byproduct of the aggressive way England play is that their innings last fewer overs (they have batted more than 80 just once so far in the series, and that was by nine balls in the second innings at Lord’s) so there is less opportunity for a spinner to make an impact, particularly if conditions favour the quicks, although there’s no doubt that if Nathan Lyon was fit, he would be locked in the side.”Every situation is different,” Cummins said. “We’ve played games with one quick; we’ve played some games with heaps of quicks. It’s all really conditions based. As I said last week about Toddy, I would have loved to bowl him a bit more but there wasn’t a heap of overs in the game, the ball seemed to swing and seam a little bit, so that’s certainly something to weigh up this week.””Nathan Lyon is the greatest offspinner we’ve ever had so it’s not quite apples for apples,” Cummins added. “We are really excited by Todd, think he’s fantastic. We played a Test in Hobart last year in the Ashes where Nath didn’t bowl an over. It’s all conditions based, we are really excited by Todd, with think it’s a gun, we love having him around, he’s got a big future. It was more conditions or the way I used him, as opposed to how he bowled.”Selection issues aside, Australia are entering a two-week period that will define how this tour – and this team – are remembered. If they can win at Old Trafford, the job will be complete before The Oval with a first series win in England since 2001. Fail from 2-0 up and the missed opportunity of 2019 will pale by comparison.So much of Australia’s planning for this tour has been based around them still being able to peak towards the end of the trip if needed, which is how things are playing out after they slipped up at Headingley.The squad only came back together in Manchester on Sunday as most players took the best part of a week off. Some have questioned if that has been the best use of time with the series on a knife-edge, but Cummins has experience of the 2019 tour, which did include a couple of tour matches, and while the team was able to win at Old Trafford, they ran out of steam at The Oval although for some the trip had also involved the ODI World Cup beforehand.”I didn’t play a tour match so I was able to grab those windows, but for a lot of the guys after the Test finished they were off to play a tour match somewhere,” he said. “You’ll hear us talking about trying to give players breaks as much as we can because on a 60-day tour playing 30 days of cricket, it’s already pretty busy.”That’s part of the thinking how we set up this tour around our prep, and even for a few of us missing IPLs or having shortened IPLs so that when we get to this stage we feel in as good a position as we can.”When you look back to a few of the recent tours we’ve had in Pakistan or India, we played some of our best cricket at the end of the tour. Hopefully this one’s the same, even getting more and more used to the conditions. And fortunately, other than Nath [Lyon], we haven’t any injury troubles so it feels like it’s set up quite nicely.”

The win helps Royal Challengers Bangalore consolidate fourth position on the points table

Deivarayan Muthu08-May-20223:38

Vettori: Malik must study batters like they might study him

Virat Kohli bagged his third golden duck this IPL, but strong hands from Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to 192 for 3. In reply, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost both their openers, Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma, for ducks and eventually careened to their fourth successive defeat after having won five in a row.It was Patidar, promoted to No. 3, who began the repair job before du Plessis cranked up the tempo during their 105-run partnership off 73 balls. Karthik then shellacked 30 off a mere eight balls, including a sequence of 6, 6, 6, 4 off the last four balls, to give the innings a rousing finish.The momentum seamlessly shifted towards Royal Challengers in the middle and end overs as a depleted Sunrisers attack, which was missing T Natarajan and Washington Sundar, was left scrambling for an extra option. Umran Malik bowled only two overs for 25, with Abhishek pitching in for the other two.Rahul Tripathi battled with a 37-ball 58 but the regular fall of wickets at the other end and the rapidly rising asking rate was too much to overcome. Legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga benefited from that scoreboard pressure and came away with 5 for 18 to seal a net-run-rate boosting victory for Royal Challengers.Patidar, du Plessis step up after Kohli wicket
The first ball of the match, from J Suchith, was just short of a leg-stump half-volley and Kohli simply chipped it into the hands of Williamson at short midwicket. Just like that, Williamson snuck in a two-run first over from the left-arm fingerspinner.Rajat Patidar and Faf du Plessis took care of the powerplay after Virat Kohli’s early fall•BCCI

Royal Challengers’ response was to bump up Patidar. After quietly knocking the ball into the gaps, he made everyone sit up and take notice when he swatted a Bhuvneshwar Kumar legcutter off the front foot over wide long-on for six in the fourth over. Patidar was responsible for 23 of the 47 runs Royal Challengers put together in the powerplay.Malik has been Sunrisers’ enforcer in the middle overs, but du Plessis tucked into him in his first over, hitting him for two fours and six off successive deliveries. The second four could’ve instead been a wicket had Tripathi held on to a fairly tough chance at midwicket.du Plessis also took a liking to the extra pace of Kartik Tyagi and raised a 34-ball half-century after being on 9 off 13 balls at one stage. The first two overs of Mailk and Tyagi produced a combined 37 runs. Patidar fell two short of his fifty when he dragged Suchith straight to deep midwicket.Maxwell, Karthik play sparkling cameos
Glenn Maxwell announced himself with a switch-hit six second ball, off Suchith, and then belted Malik through the covers for four. When Bhuvneshwar marginally missed his yorker, Maxwell got underneath the length and walloped him for six. When Tyagi put one on a similar length, Maxwell swung for the hills, but this time he picked out Aiden Markram in the outfield.Karthik came to the crease in the 19th over, and the options Sunrisers had for the last over were Malik and Fazalhaq Farooqi, the Afghanistan left-arm seamer who was playing his first IPL game.Wanindu Hasaranga struck with his second ball when he sent back Aiden Markram•BCCI

Williamson sided with Farooqi but under pressure, he ditched the slower balls for the on-pace deliveries, which were right up Karthik’s alley. Farooqi could’ve cut short Karthik’s knock at 8 had Tripathi held on to a more straightforward chance at deep midwicket. However, Tripathi let the ball burst through his hands and land on the boundary cushions. Karthik pounded two more sixes and a four on the next three balls to ensure Royal Challengers got an above-par total.The start
Sunrisers had a terrible start to their chase, losing both Williamson and Abhishek for ducks. While Williamson was run out without facing a ball, Abhishek was castled by a slider from Maxwell. The double blow left Sunrisers at 1 for 2 in the first over. Markram struggled to 17 off 19 balls in the powerplay, which brought 39 for Sunrisers overall.The endgame

Tripathi showed his range by helping Josh Hazlewood over short fine leg for four, scoop-sweeping Shahbaz Ahmed for another four in the same region and launching Mohammed Siraj over extra-cover for six. However, Hasaranga picked off one batter after another at the other end to offset Tripathi’s blows.When Tripathi fell to Hazlewood in the 16th over, Sunrisers needed 79 off 26 balls. They were bundled out for 125 with four balls unused in their innings.