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Influence with bat and ball shines through on another weather-affected day

ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2023Ed Barnard’s effectiveness with bat and ball maintained Warwickshire’s hopes of victory over Somerset as this end-of-season, mid-table LV=Insurance County Championship clash meandered along under leaden skies at Edgbaston.At the end of a third successive heavily weather-affected day, Somerset were 90 for 2 in their second innings, 32 ahead, after bowling the home side out for 273. Josh Davey took 3 for 62 and Neil Wagner 3 for 67 but Barnard’s skilful and patient 73 (144 balls) maintained his excellent late-season form and gave his side a handy first-innings lead of 58. Barnard then took both wickets as Somerset ground their way in front.Rain and bad light have chopped 125 overs from days one to three but, with better weather forecast for the fourth, a decisive result remains possible. Quick wickets could herald a Warwickshire victory bid, or the captains could simply agree a target overnight.After Warwickshire resumed the third morning on 112 for 3, Davey struck with the fourth ball which Dan Mousley edged low to Andy Umeed at second slip. Alex Davies fell lbw to Jack Brooks and when Michael Burgess edged Wagner behind, the home side was 147 for 6, still 68 behind. Somerset sensed a lead.Barnard had set down roots, though, and received obdurate support from the in-form Danny Briggs. Confident after his 99 at Lord’s last week, the former Hampshire and Sussex player contributed 38 off 68 balls to a stand of 93 in 25 overs which moved Warwickshire in front.Briggs scooped Wagner to long leg and Craig Miles gloved the New Zealand international behind before Barnard’s excellent innings was terminated by a skied attempt to hoist Davey straight.The Worcestershire product had ensured Warwickshire a handy first-innings lead, though, and Somerset faced an awkward 15 overs batting before tea. Openers Tom Lammonby and Sean Dickson made 39 from the first 14 before the former clipped Barnard to short mid-wicket in the final over of the session.Barnard’s happy day continued when Lewis Goldsworthy feathered a pull to wicketkeeper Burgess. Still eight runs behind with two wickets down, Somerset needed ballast and Sean Dickson (36 not out) and Umeed (20 not out) supplied it with an important unbroken stand of 40 in 12 overs. Dickson’s two hours of resistance, in which he struck just three of 84 balls faced to the boundary, was exactly what his team needed in the circumstances.

England vice-captain says the team has been “overthinking” during this World Cup, instead of playing the “entertaining” brand of cricket they’re known for

Matt Roller25-Oct-20231:40

What’s gone wrong for England?

England have lost their spark and sense of enjoyment at the World Cup, and would rather go out of the tournament “with a bang” than with a whimper. That is the view of their vice-captain, Moeen Ali, who looks set to make his second appearance of the tournament against Sri Lanka in Bangalore on Thursday.Moeen played in England’s nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand in Ahmedabad on the opening night of the tournament but has not featured since. Being dropped has given him perspective on where his team-mates have fallen short, particularly in defeats to Afghanistan and South Africa which mean they probably need to win all five of their remaining group games in order to reach the semi-finals.”Our intent hasn’t been there,” Moeen said. “When you see it from the outside, it’s just like that spark is missing; that thing is missing where they’re enjoying taking bowlers down and enjoying going out to bat. The situations haven’t always been easy but still: I feel like it’s a game of cricket, at the end of the day, and I think we’re probably taking it too seriously in certain ways.Related

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“It’s almost having that carefree kind of attitude: who cares? It’s a game of cricket. If you’re going to make mistakes, you might as well make them doing what you’re good at doing. And we’re making mistakes anyway, so do it with a smile on your face… I think we as a group have been overthinking too much.”In both the 2019 World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup, early group-stage defeats left England with no margin for error in their last four games. On both occasions, they rediscovered their attacking batting style after being confronted with the prospect of elimination. “We’ve been in this position before – probably not to this degree – but we know everything is a must-win,” Moeen said.”There’s no point playing the way we’re playing and then [we will] go out and go home and have regrets. I’ve always believed – and I believe still – that if we play how we play and we know we can play, most teams, we’ll beat… let’s at least go out with a bang, if we’re going to go out. And be entertaining. That’s really important, because that’s something we haven’t been at all.”2:33

Moeen: ”Batting deep makes a big difference at the Chinnaswamy’

England made three changes for their most recent game, a 229-run drubbing at the hands of South Africa on Saturday. Seemingly based on data from the IPL, Jos Buttler opted to bowl first on the third-hottest October day Mumbai had seen in a decade and England’s bowlers fried in the heat; South Africa’s 399 for 7 was the highest-ever score England had conceded in an ODI.In selection, at the toss, and in their general approach, Moeen suggested that England have been guilty of overthinking. “For us, it’s just about playing how we play and not worrying too much about what the trend is at the moment,” he said. “A lot of the time, I feel England have set the trend for the last few years, and we’ve probably moved away from that.”Moeen echoed the views of Rob Key, England’s managing director. “This is a unique place to come and play: it’s bloody tricky to work out what the best thing to do is,” Key said. “But what you can do is focus on what you actually do best – and regardless of any decisions that get made, you need your players to be playing at their very best in this competition. And we haven’t had that.”Buttler is yet to fire at the World Cup, with 87 runs in four innings, and has a heavy workload as a keeper-captain. In Mumbai, he found himself running from behind the stumps to pass on advice to his bowlers and then back again while England were hammered at the death. “It’s not always that easy for a keeper to communicate,” Moeen said, adding that players have told him they “miss having me at mid-off”.Among Moeen’s biggest challenges as vice-captain has been giving his inputs on selection and weighing up whether or not he believes he should play. “When Jos asks me what I think for the side and I don’t put myself in, or if I put myself in, that’s the hardest bit,” he said. “You try and do what’s best for the team as much as you can.”That same mantra will underpin Moeen’s approach on Thursday: “I’m going to use all the intent that I have and take it on. That doesn’t mean slogging… it just means being brave and taking a risk if I need to – just being me, really. I’m going to take the situation out [of it] a lot of the time and just enjoy it as much as I can.”

Cameron Bancroft played excellent for his 74 but Sydney Thunder came up just short on an excellent T20 pitch

AAP19-Dec-2023Matt Short’s masterclass and Adam Hose’s clutch hitting at the death lifted Adelaide Strikers to a thrilling six-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder at Adelaide Oval.After Cameron Bancroft (74) anchored the Thunder’s 200 for 7 on Tuesday night, Short (82) led the reply superbly in his first match as permanent captain before Hose raised victory with two deliveries remaining with a towering six.Short, who pounded six sixes in his 41-ball knock, and unrelated namesake D’Arcy Short (66) put on 139 for the first wicket and had the hosts in control before the skipper’s departure saw the scoring rate slow.Chris Lynn was uncharacteristically subdued as the asking rate escalated to 35 required from the last three overs.Strikers took the power surge and lost Lynn, bowled by a Zaman Khan yorker, before Jake Weatherald was run out in amateurish fashion, beaten by Zaman’s direct hit while dawdling to the non-striker’s end.Matt Short played a blistering innings to help set up the chase•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

But Hose (28 not out off nine balls) kept his cool, striking three boundaries off Nathan McAndrew in the 19th over before going 4-2-6 off Zaman in the 20th immediately after Weatherald’s embarrassment.Earlier, Bancroft continued to press his claims for higher honours, translating his rich red-ball form to the shortest format and giving Thunder a strong platform.English opener Alex Hales was bowled by Matt Short attempting his fourth successive boundary before Matt Gilkes departed first ball during a frenetic powerplay.No. 3 Ollie Davies fell to a superb catch from Matt Short before Bancroft and Alex Ross (46) combined for an entertaining 82-run stand for the fourth wicket.Daniel Sams appeared to hurt his right hip flexor while tumbling for a run in his brief innings but was able to bowl, seemingly without discomfort.Big Englishman Jamie Overton impressed in his BBL debut, snaring 2 for 29 and taking a wonderful outfield catch to dismiss McAndrew in the 20th over.

Sixers overcame an all-round challenge from Will Sutherland to notch up their eighth straight win over Renegades

Tristan Lavalette08-Dec-2023Steven Smith smashed a half-century in another statement as Sydney Sixers overcame a superb allround performance from Will Sutherland to edge Melbourne Renegades out at the SCG.In what will be a rare BBL appearance this season, six days before the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, Smith again relished opening the batting to top-score in Sixers’ 175 for 6.No.3 Jake Fraser-McGurk made Sixers’ veteran attack nervous with a furious 48 off 24 balls, but his dismissal just before drinks left Renegades in peril at 78 for 4.Sixers were made to work with Sutherland, having earlier starred with the ball, providing a late twist. He bludgeoned an unbeaten 51 from 30 balls before Sixers secured their eighth straight win over Renegades.Several of the high-profile signings for Renegades, who last season made finals in a bounce back, did not play including Test spinner Nathan Lyon. But legspinner Adam Zampa performed well with 2 for 24 after crossing over from Melbourne Stars.It wasn’t enough for them to break a Sixers hoodoo with Smith once again relishing returning to the BBL.Smith has openly stated his desire to open the batting for Australia at next year’s T20 World Cup having shuffled around the order previously. He auditioned for the role late in last season’s BBL with blistering centuries in consecutive innings.Smith also made a half-century against India during the recent T20I series in his first opportunity to open at the international level.After Sixers were sent into bat, Smith starred with 61 off 42 balls in a knock mixing gorgeous traditional strokes with inventive tennis-like swats. He waited patiently for the strike with opener Josh Philippe hitting a boundary off the first ball of the innings to foreshadow what was ahead.Philippe, once a BBL standout who has endured a torrid run in this season’s Sheffield Shield, was in superb touch with five boundaries in his first 11 deliveries.Smith wasn’t to be overshadowed and made his move in the third over by whipping seamer Tom Rogers through backward square before bludgeoning a six over deep square on the next delivery.With pace having no impact, offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman was thrusted into the attack in the powerplay but Smith treated him with disdain by striking three straight boundaries through the offside.Smith raced to 25 off 10 balls as Sixers stormed to 48 for 0 after four overs. Zampa hoped to stem the onslaught, but Philippe slog swept him for six into the famous Member’s Pavilion.Ben Dwarshuis picked up three crucial wickets to dent Renegades•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Sutherland provided a much-needed breakthrough with his first ball after Philippe chopped on and James Vince fell in similar fashion later in the over. Bowling a hard length, the towering Sutherland led a fightback with a brilliant four-over spell.He was difficult to score off as Smith reverted to unfurling the ramp shot to hit a rare boundary in the middle overs. Smith reached his half-century off 31 balls, but struggled to regain his earlier fluency and eventually holed out to deep midwicket off Zampa.Zampa on his next delivery clean bowled Tom Curran with a brilliant googly to continue Renegades’ stirring comeback. But late hitting from Jordan Silk and Jack Edwards lifted Sixers to a strong total.Renegades’ hopes rested on Fraser-McGurk just two months after he entered the record books for the fastest ever List A century. Wickets fell around him, but Fraser-McGurk was undaunted and whacked 18 runs in the third over off seamer Jackson Bird.He then whipped quick Sean Abbott for six to race to 24 off nine deliveries before pulverising Edwards over long-on and onto the roof.Fraser-McGurk, playing his 26th BBL game, rapidly closed in on a maiden half-century before being bamboozled by a clever slow bumper from veteran quick Ben Dwarshuis.Veteran Aaron Finch overcame a scratchy start to provide support for Sutherland, but Renegades were always pushing an uphill battle. Sutherland tried his best and a huge six off Dwarshuis meant Renegades needed 14 off the last four balls.But Dwarshuis did enough to complete a resilient performance after his father passed away this week.

Lance Morris picked up a side strain against West Indies but would not have made the squad

Andrew McGlashan08-Feb-20242:14

Is Matt Renshaw still the next Test batter in line?

Michael Neser has been recalled to Australia’s Test squad for the tour of New Zealand with the selectors taking a horses-for-courses approach based on conditions they expect across the Tasman in what is otherwise a very settled group for the two-match series.Neser has often been around the Australia set-up in recent years and was part of the World Test Championship final squad last year. His two Tests have both come in Adelaide – against England in 2021-22 and West Indies the following season. His Sheffield Shield numbers are significantly down this season with nine wickets at 50.33 but he is viewed as an ideal bowler for New Zealand while his ever-improving batting adds another element.”It’s great to see Michael Neser get another opportunity in the squad following his ever-consistent performances over a long period of time and the conditions we expect,” national selector George Bailey said.Related

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Lance Morris picked up a side strain during the third ODI against West Indies in Canberra, but Bailey indicated he would not have made the trip as back up to Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. The expectation is that those three will play both Tests against New Zealand – along with Nathan Lyon making it seven Tests in a row for the frontline bowlers – but Neser and Scott Boland will provide the support.”We’d be looking at a different type of fast bowler,” Bailey said. “The luxury of this tour only being in New Zealand, it’s not a massive trip, so a number of players in specific roles that if we do need to get them across that it’s not too much of a challenge, so Lance would have been in that boat.”The new-look batting order that came together against West Indies, with Steven Smith opening and Cameron Green at No. 4, will be given at least two more matches to settle in. After the New Zealand tour Australia have a long gap in Test cricket before the arrival of India for next summer’s five-match home series.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Matt Renshaw has retained his spot as the reserve batter having been earmarked as the next in line amid the reshuffle that followed David Warner’s retirement.The overall squad is relatively small at 14 names with the short flight between the two countries meaning replacements could come in reasonably easily. However, it could leave Australia a little exposed if an injury occurred shortly before a match or in the event of a concussion during a game especially around the wicketkeeper or spin bowler with no direct cover for Alex Carey or Nathan Lyon.New Zealand are currently top of the World Test Championship following their opening victory over South Africa and will expect to consolidate that in Hamilton. The upcoming tour has grown in significance for Australia have they lost to West Indies at the Gabba.”As we know every Test match provides vital opportunities to obtain valuable WTC points and we expect this tour will be a tough challenge against a very strong side who have been so consistent at home for a long period of time,” Bailey said.The first Test begins in Wellington on February 29 followed by the second in Christchurch on March 8.

He is believed to have batted without any discomfort but did not keep wickets

Shashank Kishore21-Feb-20246:27

Rishabh Pant on his accident: ‘I felt my time in this world was up’

Rishabh Pant has begun going through a series of match-simulation exercises as he continues his recovery from a life-threatening car accident in December 2022 and targets a return to competitive cricket during IPL 2024.On Tuesday, Pant and Hardik Pandya, who is recovering from an ankle injury, played a 20-over practice game at the KSCA facility in Alur, Karnataka, under the supervision of National Cricket Academy physios and trainers. They are expected to have another round of conditioning and match-simulation drills on Thursday and it’s likely this exercise will continue until early March.ESPNcricinfo understands Pant experienced no discomfort while batting for the entire 20 overs and the team monitoring him is believed to be satisfied with his endurance levels. Pant, however, didn’t keep wicket and has reportedly been advised to resume that aspect of his training in March. If he’s ready in time for the IPL, he is like to play as a specialist batter for Delhi Capitals.On Tuesday, Pant had a posted a video on Instagram in which he’s seen doing some wicketkeeping and mobility drills, which have become part of his lower-body conditioning over the past six weeks. The NCA staff is mindful of not overloading Pant and want to ease him back into the rigours of training in a high-intensity environment.Related

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Ricky Ponting, Delhi’s head coach, had spoken earlier this month about “managing Pant” through IPL 2024, if he wasn’t ready to play every single game.”We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can be out there and play,” Ponting had said. “Even if it’s not all the games, if we can manage him through 10 of the 14 games or whatever that might be, then whatever games you can get out of him will be a bonus.”Rishabh is very confident that he’s going to be right to play. In what capacity we’re not quite sure yet. But I’ll guarantee if I asked him now he’ll say, ‘I’m playing every game, I’m keeping every game and I’m batting at No.4.’ That’s just what he’s like, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”Pant hasn’t played competitive cricket since the accident in December 2022, when he was driving from Delhi to his hometown of Roorkee to meet his family. After being treated initially in Dehradun, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai, where he had knee surgery under the care of BCCI’s specialist consultant.Since last April, Pant has mostly been at the NCA in Bengaluru for his rehab under the guidance of physio S Rajnikanth, who has worked with several India age-group teams and also been part of the DC support staff.Rajnikanth had previously helped Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah and M Vijay recover from serious injuries. Thulasi Ram Yuvaraj, another NCA physio, has also been working with Pant on mobility and speed drills.In an interview aired earlier this month on , Pant had spoken about how he insulated himself from the outside world to focus on his recovery. “I am focusing on recovery cut off from the world,” he said. “It helps me in recovering fast, especially when the injury is so serious. For recovery, you have to do the same thing every day. It’s boring, it’s irritating, it’s frustrating, but you have to do it.”Hardik is believed to be recovering well from the ankle injury he picked up midway through the 2023 ODI World Cup. He had begun training in Baroda last month and checked into the NCA for regular fitness monitoring. He is reportedly on track to lead Mumbai Indians at IPL 2024.Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said Hardik would be Rohit Sharma’s vice-captain for the 2024 T20 World Cup beginning on June 1 in the USA and the West Indies.