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Concerns over Moeen Ali’s fitness continue to cloud England’s preparations ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide

George Dobell in Adelaide01-Dec-20173:34

The cricket should be the main focus – Root

Concerns over Moeen Ali’s fitness continue to cloud England’s preparations ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide.While the England captain, Joe Root, confirmed that Moeen would play whether he was able to bowl or not, concerns over his spinning finger – cut in Brisbane and now blistered – have raised questions over how much he will be able to bowl and how effective he may be.Moeen cut his finger within his first few overs in Brisbane. Having bowled little in the warm-up games due to a side strain, his fingers had not sufficiently hardened before the Test and, brought into the attack with a ball just eight overs old, he found the Kookaburra seam quickly left him with a cut. While he played down the extent of the problem after the game, he was comprehensively out-bowled by the Australia spinner, Nathan Lyon.Moeen only delivered four overs in the second innings in Brisbane and has not bowled in training since. But he will have a long bowl in training on Friday, with the England management and medical team seeing how his finger reacts before making a decision over team selection. While Moeen is confident he will be able to bowl, there has to be some doubt as to how many revolutions he will be able to put on the ball and, as a result, how effectively he can perform.England have not sent for a backup spinner – the likes of Jack Leach – from the Lions squad, which suggests they are confident in Moeen’s recovery.”At the end of practice we’ll have a clear indication if he’ll be fit to bowl throughout the game,” Root said. “If there’s any more damage to it then we’ll have to make a decision.”His batting has been a huge part of this team for a long time now, so I think he would still play as a batter.”Saqlain Mushtaq inspects Moeen Ali’s injured finger•AFP

Whatever happens, it remains likely that England will stick to a team containing four seamers, with Moeen and Joe Root sharing the spin bowling duties. The conditions in Adelaide – it is a day-night match and the weather is currently overcast – are expected to provide a little more assistance for seamers.But Root has not ruled out a debut for 20-year-old legspinner Mason Crane, who impressed the England management with his temperament in the warm-up games.”It’s definitely not out of the question,” Root said. “It’s important we take everything into consideration at the end of practice. We’ll look at Moeen, see how bad his finger is and look at the conditions.”There is also theory that the seam of the pink ball is harder to pick-up under lights, which renders legspinners, in particular, harder to read. In the previous two day-night Tests at Adelaide the visiting teams have given debuts to spin bowlers – New Zealand picked left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner here for the first time in 2015 and South Africa picked left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi last year – and England could follow suit.It was a point made previously by Steve O’Keefe, Australia’s left-arm spinner. “The hardest thing for batsmen is to pick up the seam on the pink ball,” he said in 2015. “When spinners bowl, it can be difficult at times to see the seam or the revolutions through the air, which certainly helps. All the spinners who have bowled with the pink ball in Adelaide have generally had success.”Kookuburra have adapted the ball to aid visibility. While the version used in the first day-night game had four green and two white seams, the one used here will have six black seams which has increased the contrast against the pink surface and should improve visibility.If Crane did play, it would probably be in place of Jake Ball as England cannot afford to lengthen their tail any further. Stuart Broad and Ball both look a place too high at No. 9 and No. 10. Not for the first time, the absence of Ben Stokes – who could bat in the top six and provide the fourth seam-bowling option – is causing Root a headache.

The England selector was hopeful that Ben Stokes’ spell in New Zealand would mean the allrounder was ready for a return to action should the possibility arise

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Nov-2017England selector Angus Fraser is hopeful of imminent clarity over Ben Stokes and his ongoing police investigation, but acknowledged that the situation is more important than purely having him play cricket again.On Wednesday, Avon and Somerset Police said Stokes’ case was being passed onto the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as they sought charging advice. They also confirmed a 27-year-old suffered a fractured eye socket during the incident which took place on the evening of September 25.The news came soon after Stokes had touched down in New Zealand, having been granted No Objection Certificate by the ECB last Friday to play domestic cricket while he remains unavailable for England duty. On Thursday, Canterbury announced the signing of Stokes as their overseas player. His first game will likely be on December 3 against Otago in the Ford Trophy domestic 50-over competition.While the ECB were caught off-guard at how quickly Stokes cashed in his NOC, Fraser was hopeful regular cricket will ensure that, should the 26-year-old escape punishment, he will be fit for the current Ashes series, or the one-day internationals that commence mid-January.”The news this week, I wouldn’t say it’s taken everyone by surprise,” Fraser told ESPNcricinfo. “But people are coming to terms with what’s happening and are prepared for every eventuality: the police investigation and the results of the police action. Then it moves onto the ECB. I suppose the fact is, when everything falls into line, then Ben is in a position to be able to play cricket, whether it’s in the Ashes or the one-day series that follows.”Fraser was also keen to stress that the fact that England are in the midst of an Ashes series would not colour the judgement of selectors or others set to decide on Stokes’ future. “I think the most important thing is that the matter is dealt with correctly. We can all look at an Ashes series as extremely important, but the future health of the game is very important, too. The decisions that have to be made need to be the right ones not just for now but the for the game moving forward, too.”The CPS will now decide on whether a charge will be brought upon Stokes and what it would be. The process could take anywhere between a couple of weeks and six months as they will seek a number of clarifications, although is expected to be at the shorter end of that timescale. They may even ask for evidence to be resubmitted before determining whether to prosecute, which could mean a decision on whether to press charges may only be made well into 2018.Should the CPS opt not to bring charges then it will be down to the ECB’s own disciplinary committee to decide what action to take. Stokes has missed the two ODIs against the West Indies at the end of last summer, along with the first Test at Brisbane. It has been suggested that the ECB may backdate any punishment handed to Stokes – he will have missed at least two Test matches as well – potentially meaning an immediate return to international action once the charging decision is made.However, Fraser admitted both he and the ECB are still unaware as to what exactly took place that fateful night in Bristol. Much of the ECB’s deliberation will be a fact-finding mission.”You want to know the full story before you react,” he said. “That’s where the ECB are at: everybody wants to know what exactly went on. We’ve seen the footage, we’ve heard reports. But until we know what exactly has taken place, it’s hard to make those sorts of comments. Once we know all the information, I’ll be happy to give my feelings on it.”It has been a testing week for England. An ultimately tame and entirely friendly tete-a-tete between Cameron Bancroft and Jonny Bairstow on the squad’s first night in Australia, brought to light on the final day of the first Test, prompted England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss to impose a midnight curfew.Naturally, coupled with Stokes’ indiscretion, the Australian media has taken the opportunity to round on England, questioning the culture and characters of those within squad. Middlesex pace bowler Toby-Roland Jones, who was set for a place in the Ashes squad after an impressive start to his Test career this summer before being ruled out by a stress fracture of the back, feels talk of drinking problems or deeper behavioural issues is wide of the mark.”A lot’s been written and maybe pushed the limits of what is reality, to be honest,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a drink in moderation, but the guys generally know where the line should be drawn. It’s a close dressing room and one that benefits from that on the pitch. The go on as a team, they exit as a team.”I guess you’re in these places in a professional capacity and there to perform. But a lot has been written about things, pushing it out to be a little bit worse than it is, let’s say.”Roland-Jones himself has stepped up his recovery from injury and spent the start of the week at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough. He is bowling again but, as of yet, is not putting a date on when he expects to be fully up to speed.

Batsman will play in the Bangladesh Cricket League, along with seven other players who are in contention for the national team

Mohammad Isam04-Jan-2018Mosaddek Hossain’s return to international cricket remains on track, despite his being kept out of the teams for both of Bangladesh’s practice matches – on January 6 and 9 – ahead of the tri-series with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which starts from January 15. The two teams will led by Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza.Mosaddek will instead be playing for Central Zone next week in the Bangladesh Cricket League, a first-class competition. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that Mosaddek would get a longer time to bat in the middle for Central Zone. “He is definitely in contention for the ODI squad selection. But we want him to play a longer innings, so we are sending him to the BCL,” he said.Apart from Mosaddek, Shafiul Islam, Mominul Haque, Subashis Roy, Shadman Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Taijul Islam, and Mahedi Hasan have all been released for the BCL’s first round, which is scheduled to begin from January 9.The 22-year-old Mosaddek last played international cricket during the Champions Trophy in 2017, before picking up an eye infection which kept him out of Bangladesh’s Test series against Australia and South Africa. Mosaddek had impressed in his only Test, against Sri Lanka early in 2017, hitting a crucial 75 in the first innings in Colombo.Mosaddek had limited opportunity in the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League where he batted mostly in the lower order for Dhaka Dynamites, scoring 64 runs in nine innings.

Travis Head fell short of a hundred but his efforts helped guide Australia to a first victory since September after Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins had filleted England’s top order

The Report by Daniel Brettig26-Jan-2018

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlex Hales was bowled for 3 by Pat Cummins•Getty Images

For a match that appeared over inside 10 overs, Australia’s first ODI victory since September did not come easy. The new-ball pair of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood filleted England’s top order, but Chris Woakes’ doughty rearguard and Adil Rashid’s variations allowed the Australia Day ODI to creep into floodlit hours while Travis Head guided his team close to home.A slimmer-than-expected Adelaide Oval crowd of 24,329 seemed destined to be filing out of the exits early when Cummins and Hazlewood combined to have Eoin Morgan’s side a sickly 5 for 8 as the new ball swung and seamed, before Woakes delivered his latest outstanding display of a series England had already won.Woakes’ innings ensured that Australia needed at least one score of note to register their first ODI win since last year’s India tour and only their second since January 2017, and it was Head, returning to the top of the order in the absence of the injured Aaron Finch, who provided it. His calm presence, laced with regular boundaries, contrasted with less certain innings from David Warner, Cameron White and the captain Steven Smith. Winners or not, this Australian side is a long way from peak batting performance, meaning Glenn Maxwell is a fair chance to play in the final match of the series in Perth on Sunday.That Australia were not chasing more runs was due to the adroit use of helpful conditions by Hazlewood and Cummins with the new ball, in a display that will be of interest in the context of the looming Test tour to South Africa. Andrew Tye, too, contributed a serviceable spell featuring his first ODI wickets, though Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa were somewhat less dangerous.Damp and humid weather in Adelaide had encouraged Smith to bowl first upon winning the toss, even though the hosts rested Mitchell Starc after he played in the first three matches. England lost Liam Plunkett due to a hamstring injury in the third match in Sydney, with Tom Curran called in.Adelaide Oval’s pitch has become known for its even grass coverage and the prospect of some assistance for bowlers as well as batsmen, but the surface combined with the weather made conditions decidedly awkward for batsmen early on – akin more to the early overs of a Test match than the first innings of a 50-over affair. Combined with England’s hyper-aggressive attitude to the early overs of an ODI innings, the result was a truly rare rush of early wickets.Second ball of the match, Jason Roy sliced an airy drive at Hazlewood and was pouched in the gully by Smith, then in the fourth over Cummins found sharp seam movement to bowl Alex Hales off his pads. At the other end Jonny Bairstow drove eagerly at Hazlewood and edged through to Tim Paine, and in the next over Joe Root’s hook shot flew with some precision into the hands of fine leg.When Jos Buttler was out to one of the balls of the summer, a Hazlewood seamer that pitched on the off stump before prancing away and gifting Paine another catch, England had lost four wickets in as many overs. Only once in ODI history, when Canada were 5 for 7 against the Netherlands in 2013, had the fifth wicket fallen at a lower score, and an exceptionally quick finish seemed in the offing.However, the conditions eased slightly as the ball lost some shine, and Smith seemed content to conserve his bowlers rather than going for the kill. The resultant breathing room allowed Morgan and Moeen Ali to raise a 50 stand, before the return of Cummins and an excellent short ball had Morgan gloving down the leg side. Moeen’s innings ended when he hooked Tye straight at Head, centimetres inside the midwicket boundary on the members’ side, and Rashid soon feathered Cummins’ fourth wicket.Woakes, though, played another excellent innings, in vastly different circumstances to the first three matches, working the ball around and then hitting out powerfully when the bowlers strayed into his scoring zones. Curran offered typically determined support, with the occasional flourish like one terrific pull shot in Hazlewood’s final over. While Woakes fell short of a century, he and the rest of England’s bowlers gave themselves a chance to challenge Australia on a pitch still amenable to the new ball.A year ago Warner and Haed had combined to add a world record 284 against Pakistan, but this time their union was worth a mere 25 when Warner edged a Woakes delivery angled neatly across him. White had said before this match that, not being “stupid”, he knew he needed runs to give himself a chance of figuring in Australia’s further plans, but was defeated by a nip-backer from Curran that pinned him in front of the stumps.Smith’s own underwhelming ODI series was maintained when he sliced a forcing shot at Rashid and was reflexively caught at slip by Root, also the fifth time the wrist spinner had found a way past Australia’s captain in ODIs. Marsh hinted at permanence in a stand with Head that soothed any lingering Australian nerves, but after he hammered a return catch to Rashid, Stoinis misread a top spinner to sky a catch.Tim Paine survived his own share of nervous moments, and Head was mortified to shell a catch to mid-on with only 17 required and four short of his century. Cummins was run out in an awful mix-up with Paine, and it was a nervous Tye who accompanied Paine to the finish, albeit with 13 overs to spare. If winning is a habit, then Australia’s limited overs team still have plenty of forming to do.

Ross Taylor has revealed he had not been able to pick up the swinging ball for “two or three years” before he had eye surgery 16 months ago

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin06-Mar-2018Ross Taylor is seeing the ball well again. In every sense. Since returning from eye surgery just over a year ago he has played as well as at any stage of his career.Late in 2016, Taylor underwent an operation to remove a pterygium – a small benign growth – from his left eye. He was back in action at the end of January last year and has been racking up the runs: 408 at 81.60 in a small hand of five Tests and 1260 at 57.27 from 27 ODIs.It was not that his form prior to the surgery had fallen off a cliff – far from it; he hit his 16th Test century in his last innings before having the eye sorted – but he had noticed problems in the field, particularly during day-night ODIs, and admitted he had not been able to see the ball swinging when he batted.”It was a gradual thing so you didn’t notice it as much,” Taylor said. “It’s nice to see the ball swing and during day-night games, not to fear it. A lot of times in day-night games you didn’t want to the ball to come near you in the field and that’s not a great place to be when you are playing cricket.”In hindsight it would have been nice to have the operation two or three years earlier. At the same time, has it made a big difference? It’s hard to tell, you are older and wiser as well which makes a difference.”Seeing the ball swing from the hand, I hadn’t been able to see that for two or three years. But you are still human, get good balls and play poor shots so hopefully I can eliminate that as well.”Taylor remains a vital cog in New Zealand’s middle order. He scored a masterful century in the opening match against England at Seddon Park to help secure victory and New Zealand would probably have won in Wellington had they had his experience alongside Kane Williamson.He was forced to sit out with a quad injury sustained, Taylor says, after multiple blows to the leg in the preceding days, starting with the match in Hamilton, then training at Mount Maunganui before a third one from David Willey during the second match. He was run out in that game and said the injury played a part in him “turning like the titanic.”Since then he has done everything he can to recover, including undergoing acupuncture, and he is now ready to rejoin forces with Williamson. “It’s been an interesting week after the win in Hamilton,” he said.New Zealand actually made their best start of the series in Wellington, reaching 80 for 1 before collapsing against Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. In the first two matches they had laboured to 28 for 3 and 34 for 2 off their opening 10 overs.”There’s no use going out there helter-skelter and being four for spit then playing catch-up all the time,” Taylor said. “Hopefully I contribute to that. We need to get off to a good start, set the platform and we know we are a good side when we have wickets in hand.”England’s death bowling from Chris Woakes and Tom Curran, which closed out the Wellington match, was impressive after luck went their way with the run-out of Mitchell Santner backing up. Woakes is England’s senior man in that role, but Eoin Morgan showed faith in Curran, who claimed 5 for 35 against Australia in Perth to secure another win, and he kept his nerve with his slower deliveries after Williamson had lofted him down the ground to reach his hundred.”I’ve done it a lot of times in training and I’ve had time to implement it in games at Surrey and a few games for England so it’s just about going out there and backing myself,” Curran said. “It’s very satisfying to see it come off.”Taylor was watching from the sidelines as Williamson couldn’t quite get New Zealand home and said it can often become a battle of wits at the end of an innings.”You don’t try to look too far ahead, try and have two or three boundary options. You can get a bit of a read on a bowler, that’s why you scout before the game but you can also get a feel during the match. At the end of the day the bowler still has to execute and you make them try and step away from their game plan.”New Zealand need to knock England off their stride in Dunedin. With Taylor’s return it is possible to see it happening.

The heartbroken allrounder used his platform while accepting his trophy in Harare to say that it would remind him of the “15 million dreams that we crushed”

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2018Heartbroken allrounder Sikandar Raza used his platform while accepting his Man-of-the-Series award at the World Cup Qualifier in Harare that the trophy would be a “painful reminder” of how Zimbabwe could not make it to the 2019 World Cup, which will feature 10 teams compared to 14 teams of the 2015 event.After accepting the award at the post-match presentation – one that included ICC chief executive David Richardson – following Afghanistan’s win over West Indies in the final, Raza poured out his emotions while also throwing his support behind the Associates teams.”Certainly, not happy at all,” Raza said in response to commentator Pommie Mbangwa asking if he was “happy” with the award. “I think this trophy will serve as a painful reminder of the dreams that we had and we couldn’t get it done. This trophy will also serve as a reminder for the 15 million dreams that we crushed.”When I started playing cricket, I thought it was to unite countries, players of different background coming together to play this beautiful sport. Unfortunately, you’ll see that’s not going to happen in next year’s World Cup. It’s certainly quite a tough pill to swallow.”After winning two of their four matches in the Super Sixes stage of the tournament, Zimbabwe had to win what turned out to be their last match, against UAE, to seal a World Cup berth along with West Indies. They restricted UAE to 235 for 7 in 47.5 overs but a rain interruption revised Zimbabwe’s target to 230 from only 40 overs. Zimbabwe came agonisingly close to lose by only three runs.Rather than reflect on his own performances during the tournament – which included 319 runs at 53.17, a team-best 15 wickets at 17.60 and three Man-of-the-Match awards – Raza went on to praise the hard work of some of the Associate teams and captains who also bowed out of the tournament.”This trophy will also serve as a reminder of the hard work that Peter Borren and his Dutch players, Kyle Coetzer and his Scottish players, Rohan Mustafa and his UAE players, and all the other countries that came and couldn’t make it to the World Cup,” he said.The heartbreak of Scotland’s slim loss to West Indies by five runs was also magnified in their chase of 199 by an iffy lbw decision of top-scorer Richie Berrington when he was given out just before a rain break which placed Scotland behind the par DLS score.Raza, however, hailed Nepal’s rise to ODI status at the tournament as a result of their eighth-place finish, but called attention to the fact that Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong had lost ODI status. This is in part due to the ICC’s recent decision to limit ODI status to 16 countries. Since 2005, a minimum of six Associate countries had maintained ODI status, but the decision meant that now only four countries have that designation and Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong were stripped of that status due to finishing in the bottom two of the World Cup Qualifier.”Yes there were some good things as well,” Raza said. “Congratulations to Nepal and to have their ODI status for the first time but this trophy will also serve as a painful reminder that two of our brother countries lost their ODI status as well and I wish them the very best of luck. Not much to say to be honest, Pommie, just a whole lot of emotions. Just a painful reminder to be honest.”The 2019 World Cup will be the first time that Zimbabwe will not participate in a World Cup since 1979. As an Associate nation, Zimbabwe qualified for the World Cup in 1983, 1987 and 1992 by winning the respective ICC Trophy tournaments for Associate countries that preceded each of those World Cups. After being elevated to Test status, Zimbabwe received automatic entry to the following six World Cups beginning in 1996 through 2015.

England’s one floodlit training session was washed out on Wednesday, leaving Ben Stokes short of bowling practice ahead of the first Test

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland21-Mar-2018New Zealand may have gained a small advantage over England before a ball has been bowled in the day-night Test at Eden Park after England’s one floodlit training session was washed out on Wednesday.They had been due to train from around 6pm but were restricted to a kickabout on the outfield before being forced indoors. It meant they did not get a net in the evening under the lights that have been rigged up over the nets on Eden Park 2 and neither could they undertake any fielding drills. New Zealand had their evening practice session on Tuesday in fine weather and their day-time session on Wednesday was also uninterrupted.England did play two days of pink-ball cricket in Hamilton last week but they would have been keen for a final tune-up before the first Test.It also meant that Ben Stokes was denied another outdoor bowl ahead of his Test comeback, which follows a week where he has been nursing back stiffness following the one-day series. It was the second time in three days that rain had hampered Stokes after his solo net on Monday was also forced indoors. On that occasion he bowled five overs inside, but it is understood he did not bowl on Wednesday.When Joe Root spoke before the scheduled training session he said he knew his XI but wouldn’t name it because he hadn’t told those not playing. Pressed on Stokes’ role he said he was confident of him playing a part with the ball, but hinted a final decision on how much could rest on the final training session so it remains to be seen if the rain has caused Root a headache.”There’s still stuff that needs to come out of today to be very sure of that, but I’m quite happy that Ben will play a part within the game,” Root said.England do come into this Test with more recent pink-ball Test action than New Zealand who have not played one since they faced Australia in the first of its kind in Adelaide in late 2015. England have faced West Indies and Australia in the last seven months.”Having a Test outside of England with the pink ball will give us good preparation and a lot of the guys played in that,” Root said. “But New Zealand are at home and will know how the surface will play. We have to get accustomed to that as quickly as we can. If we get in front we need to drive that home.”Both Root and Kane Williamson said it was important not to get too wound up on the pink-ball aspect of the match and remember the fundamentals.”You don’t want to get ahead of yourself and how you want to operate,” Williamson said. “It’s a Test match, yes there’s some subtle differences, and over the past few pink-ball Test matches we have seen some trends, but I guess you play a Test match in England when it’s overcast and the lights are on and things happen differently, and there’s probably less talk about that, then about when that might happen with a pink ball.”Root added: “The basics are there and proven to work across all three formats never mind day-night cricket with a pink ball. You know what you need to do, generally plans are similar to batsmen and with the bat it’s about making scores of 400-plus.”

Seven wickets for Ollie Robinson fired Sussex ambitions but Max Holden resisted and Middlesex struck back by the close

ECB Reporters Network04-May-2018
ScorecardSussex seamer Ollie Robinson produced championship best figures of seven for 58 as Middlesex were bowled out for 230 at Hove.It was the second time this season that Robinson had taken seven wickets in an innings – last month he enjoyed a career-best return of seven for 23 against Loughborough MCC University on the same ground.But Middlesex hit back when Tim Murtagh took two wickets in successive overs to leave Sussex five for two in the fifth over. And then James Harris also struck twice to leave the match in the balance with Sussex 60 for 4 at the close.”I trained hard in the winter, playing grade cricket in Sydney, and I feel I have come back fitter and stronger,” Robinson said “And the lads say I’m hitting the gloves harder as well, so there might be a bit of extra pace there too. I was injured a lot last season. Now it feels good to have a proper bowling stint and not to have sore legs afterwards.”Middlesex had won the toss before this Specsavers County Championship Division Two match but their batsmen were made to work hard against a spirited attack on a lively pitch. At lunch they were 81 for five before a damage-limiting unbeaten 84 from former England Under-19 captain Max Holden gave their bowlers something to work with in a compelling day’s cricket.Robinson broke through in the fifth over when he removed Nick Gubbins’ middle stump as the batsman played all round a straight one. Gubbins was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a hamstring injury.Robinson dismissed the other opener, Sam Robson, in his next over, as the batsman nibbled at a fine delivery that moved away from him.Sussex missed their first chance when Stevie Eskinazi, on 28, was dropped by Phil Salt at backward point off George Garton. Eskinazi had added ten runs before he was dropped again, this time in the slips off Robinson.Ollie Robinson wheels away in triumph•Getty Images

Sussex put down their third catch when Hilton Cartwright, on two, was dropped behind, a difficult diving attempt to the wicketkeeper’s left off David Wiese.But Eskinazi failed to make the most of his second escape. He had not added to his score when he was lbw to Robinson and the same bowler had Cartwright caught in the slips for four. Then, just before lunch, Robinson had Dawid Malan lbw for 13.After the interval Holden and John Simpson added 56 in 18 overs for the sixth wicket before Simpson was caught on the deep midwicket boundary off Danny Briggs. It was soon 135 for seven when Harris was caught at point off the same bowler for a single. Ollie Rayner was then lbw, half-forward, to give Robinson his sixth wicket.That left Middlesex in a very ordinary position at 169 for eight. But Holden, dropped on 28, found late order support from Murtagh and the pair put on 51 for the ninth wicket. Murtagh finally played a poor stroke and was caught by Luke Wright at mid-off. Robison completed his demolition work when he plucked out Tom Barber’s off stump to leave Holden stranded.But Middlesex fought back valiantly. Murtagh had Luke Wells and Salt well caught in the slips before Harris struck. First, he had Stiaan van Zyl caught by Eskinazi at third slip and then he bowled Luke Wright, shouldering arms, for nine.

Australia found some English weaknesses at The Oval but need an improved display with the bat to pull themselves back into the series

The Preview by Alan Gardner15-Jun-20181:23

’60s aren’t match-winning scores’ – Maxwell wants more

Big Picture

England drew a line under their Edinburgh humbling by getting back to winning ways against Australia – a fifth ODI victory over their old rivals in six encounters this year. The margin was closer than many would have anticipated after Australia limped their way to 214 all out, however, as England’s Vegas-or-bust approach nearly undid them once again.Given that England’s strength is their batting, they will be confident of hitting their straps again soon enough; and runs for the captain Eoin Morgan, who top-scored with 69, augur well after another patchy spell. The fact that victory at The Oval was set up by the bowlers was perhaps most significant, given their travails in Scotland. The seamers all did their bit, while Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid suggested that spin could be England’s trump card in the series.Australia’s problems with the bat seem more deep-rooted, with too many old-fashioned accumulators in their line-up (as well as a long tail). Tim Paine highlighted afterwards the fact that a top score of 24 among the top five won’t help you win too many ODIs, and his own role in the side remains something of an issue: coming in above Glenn Maxwell, he found neither tempo nor staying power and fell to an ungainly, pre-meditated reverse sweep against Moeen.Maxwell’s innings, the closest Australia came to free-flowing, was something to take with them across the Severn to Wales, as was a spirited bowling display in which Billy Stanlake and AJ Tye shone to suggest that their pace reserves run deep even in the absence of the big three, Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins. But the foundations on which Justin Langer is aiming to build for next year’s World Cup look far from steady.Justin Langer talks to his players at practice•Getty Images

Form guide

England WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia LLWLL

In the spotlight

David Willey came out of the Scotland defeat as chastened as any of England’s players – figures of 0 for 72 followed by 7 with the bat – but he was the man to guide them home at The Oval, an unbeaten 35 the most significant innings of his ODI career to date. He swung the new ball appreciably, too, removing Travis Head early on and helping to plant doubt in Australian minds. A combative allrounder who is constantly looking to improve – he spoke afterwards about his efforts to a develop a slower ‘knuckleball’ – England need to find a way to get the best out of him consistently.Remarkably for a player of his calibre, Glenn Maxwell‘s 62 from 64 balls was his first ODI half-century since January 2017. There has been much focus on his role in the 50-over format in recent times. Dropped from the squad during the southern summer for not “training smart” enough, he found his way back into the side against England in Perth and then enjoyed a productive T20 tri-series, but saw his form dip once against at the IPL. With the World Cup looming ever closer, any sign of Maxwell getting his mojo back will be warmly welcomed in Australia.

Team news

England are still without Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes and will tempted to stick with the same team, though spin is rarely as effective a weapon at Sophia Gardens, which could lead to Tom Curran or Jake Ball – Man of the Match against New Zealand in Cardiff during last year’s Champions Trophy – coming into contention.England: (possible) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Jason Roy, 3 Alex Hales, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark WoodThe temptation to fit T20 pocket-rocket D’Arcy Short into the XI will be there for Australia, after their flaccid batting effort at The Oval. Travis Head could make way, or possibly a seamer with Aaron Finch dropping to the middle order and Marcus Stoinis filling in with the ball. Jhye Richardson’s extra pace may also get an outing.Australia: (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Travis Head/D’Arcy Short, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Michael Neser, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Jhye Richardson/Kane Richardson, 11 Billy Stanlake

Pitch and conditions

Cardiff is prone to producing slow, tacky surfaces, but this one appears fresher than the pitch England came unstuck on against Pakistan in the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy. The short, straight boundaries can mitigate against spin – Moeen, whose 3 for 43 sucked the life out of Australia at The Oval, has only ever bowled two overs in ODIs on the ground. There is a possibility of showers affecting the start of the game on Saturday but the weather should clear up.

Stats and trivia

• Morgan needs 41 runs to overtake Ian Bell as England’s leading run-scorer in ODIs.
• England have lost three of their last five ODIs at Cardiff, including last year’s Champions Trophy semi.

Quotes

“It can be a good wicket here – also it can turn a bit … If it is a slow turner, we’ll use our experience from last year and hope to adapt.”
“To be able to push England as far as we did with such a below-par total gives us a lot of confidence. We couldn’t have batted much worse but we still gave ourselves a chance at the end.”

The Sri Lanka captain, coach and manager have “agreed” to not participate in the Test series after the ICC concluded its hearing on the trio pleading guilty to a level three spirit of cricket offence

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jul-2018Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha have accepted they will not participate in the Test series against South Africa, after the ICC concluded its hearing on the trio, who had pleaded guilty to a level three spirit of cricket offence.The ICC tweeted ten hours before the start of the first Test that the judicial commissioner would announce his decision in “due course”. In the interim, Chandimal, Hathurusingha and Gurusinha will serve a two-match suspension at least. The hearing, which began at roughly 6pm Sri Lanka time on Wednesday, went for more than five hours.That the trio will sit out the Tests is no real surprise – they had pleaded guilty to an offence that carries a minimum punishment of four suspension points, which corresponds to two Tests. They will hope, however, that judicial comissioner Michael Beloff hands out no more than four suspension points. He could slap them with as many as eight points, which would rule them out of four further ODIs as well. One suspension point corresponds to a ban of one ODI.In fact, Sri Lanka had hoped to talk the ICC down from even the minimum suspension of two Tests, citing several mitigating factors for their refusal to take the field on the third morning of the St Lucia Test last month. They had argued that the entire two-hour delay that morning was not solely their fault, and that a miscommunication with the match officials had lengthened the delay.But with the three men having already pleaded guilty to the offence, a two-match suspension at least was always likely to be imposed.The spirit of cricket charge relates to Sri Lanka’s refusal to resume play on the third day in St Lucia. After initially having reacted with shock at a ball-tampering charge against Chandimal, which was laid only ten minutes before play on that morning, Sri Lanka had refused to take the field in protest. They had then briefly walked on to the field, believing that no five-run penalty for tampering would be incurred, and that the ball that was used the previous day would not be changed. But upon realising that the umpires were in fact changing the ball, and that the five-run penalty was indeed added on, they left the field again, delaying play for another 40 minutes.Chandimal has already served a one-match suspension for tampering, but this punishment for the spirit of cricket offence will extend his ban. He is allowed to be in Sri Lanka’s dressing room throughout this South Africa series, but is not allowed to take the field. Hathurusingha, meanwhile, cannot be in the players’ dressing room at any stage during the Tests, though he may attend the match via other means. He can also continue his coaching duties as normal in between the matches he is suspended for. Gurusinha will face the same penalty as Hathurusingha.The loss of Chandimal is a substantial blow to Sri Lanka. He averages 52.47 as captain, and had also led Sri Lanka to creditable results in the UAE (against Pakistan), India and Bangladesh. Suranga Lakmal is likely to lead Sri Lanka in his stead.