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Batsman had been told to force his way back into selection contention through “weight of runs”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2020Temba Bavuma pitched his case for Test selection with a career-best first-class score of 180 on Thursday, before suggesting that he had grabbed his opportunity to spend time in the middle “with both hands”.Faced with an improbable fourth-innings target of 430, Bavuma resumed his innings on 41 after Lions were reduced to 98 for 4 overnight in their four-day game against Dolphins. He reached a fluent 50 soon before lunch, and celebrated with a punch of the air after bringing up his 15th first-class hundred from 153 balls.Wickets continued to fall around him, and he was eventually the last man out, miscuing Senuran Muthusamy’s left-arm spin to Andile Phehlukwayo at cover, who took a sharp catch. His 180 was the second-highest score in the fourth innings of a franchise match in South Africa, beaten only by Dean Elgar’s 189 not out in 2009.ALSO READ: Absent Bavuma highlights SA’s ever-present transformation issues“From a personal point of view, it’s always awesome to contribute to the team,” Bavuma told . “I have been someone who has been trying to rack up those big scores, fortunately today was that opportunity and I was able to grab it with both hands.”It was massive [to get time in the middle]. It feels like I hadn’t played cricket for ages to be honest, the last game I played was last week, but before that it was a T20 game [on December 1].”It was nice to be out in the middle, in the middle is where you can practice and practice and practice. You can set your goals and that stuff, but what matters is what you do in the middle, where you’re able to get your mind in the right space.Bavuma suggested that he had felt in good form even in the first innings, when he was caught at silly mid-on via the inside edge.”Not to be arrogant or anything, but I felt good even in the first innings,” he said. “It was a good wicket – yes the wicket deteriorated quite quickly, but I felt it was a good wicket. You had to have good plans against the spinners, and they were lucky in that they had guys that turn in away and guys that turn it in, that always kept you on your toes as a batter.”If you had your plans, stuck to your plans, there were definitely runs out there. I felt good from the first innings – soft dismissal from me, getting out to the right-arm offie [Prenelan Subrayen] – second innings, I tried to make things right.”Bavuma’s timing could hardly have been better, having been told publicly by Faf du Plessis that the only way to force his way back into the Test team was through “weight of runs”. It comes at the end of a long lean run with the bat: while he made two first-class hundreds for Northamptonshire in the County Championship last summer, his most recent ton on home soil came in the Cape Town Test of 2016, more than four years ago.Bavuma’s absence from the ongoing series against England has been a major talking point, with South Africa again missing their transformation targets in the Port Elizabeth Test. Du Plessis said on the eve of the game that he was “not getting in a battle with myself and Temba over who plays and who doesn’t”, while assistant coach Enoch Nkwe described him as a possible replacement for du Plessis as captain in the long term.

Both teams had got off to strong starts with the bat, but New Zealand’s spinners were the difference in a 54-run win

The Report by Varun Shetty15-Nov-2018World No. 3 New Zealand took their first step towards sealing third place in Group B with a comprehensive win over Pakistan. With India’s result against Ireland earlier on Thursday ruling both these teams out of the semi-final race before the match began, the tempo of the game was fast and free-flowing. But New Zealand’s batting might was backed up by their spinners in the middle overs, and after enduring a nervous start courtesy Javeria Khan in their defence of 144, New Zealand folded Pakistan rapidly to seal the 54-run win. Offspinner Jess Watkin took 3 for 9 in her four overs and was chiefly responsible for Pakistan’s slow combustion. Legspinner Amelia Kerr played support with 3 for 21.

Javeria Khan on how women’s cricket in Pakistan can improve

On what the PCB can do: “Our grass-roots level is not that good, PCB are working on it. They are opening academies, and with the [development of the] grass-roots level we’ll get talent, we’ll get bench strength.
“And of course [playing] more matches [will help]. Because, as I said, if we play these kind of matches, we’ll get to know how we have to react in those situations. We are, every time, making the same mistakes. When we get these kind of matches more, then we’ll be able to cut these mistakes down.”
On domestic leagues: “I’m not sure about this. We’ll see how it goes. If it happens, it’s good for the girls. We always say that the leagues which countries have, like Australia, England and even Bangladesh, [that’s good for development].
“So if our girls get exposure from these kind of leagues, go there and play and we have our own league, it will help us. I would urge every country that they should consider Pakistan players, so that we grow at a better pace.”

Both teams were aggressive during the batting Powerplays, but New Zealand found more in their top order than Pakistan would in chase. They reverted to their traditional opening pair of Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine and it was rewarded instantly when the pair put on 59. Importantly, New Zealand didn’t let the rate fall even after Bates was dismissed, with No. 3 Amy Satterthwaite dropping anchor and allowing the more settled Devine to take on the attack. This was followed by another productive partnership between Satterthwaite and Katie Martin that kept the run rate hovering about 6.5 till the 18th over.Pakistan bowled tightly in pockets, but sloppy ground fielding and a dropped catches seemed to regularly make their way in and break any passage where they created pressure. Any success they would have with the ball was delayed, with four wickets falling in the last two overs, but even there, it was bittersweet. Martin and Maddy Green combined to make 18 runs off boundaries as New Zealand pushed to finish on 144.Pakistan’s response was energetic and almost mirrored those final overs from New Zealand’s innings; and they managed to do it without losing any wickets for three overs. Javeria and Ayesha Zafar stunned New Zealand with seven boundaries in the first three overs, and at 31 in three overs, Pakistan had brought the asking rate down dramatically. Javeria hit five of those fours, cashing on short balls from Devine and putting pressure on 18-year-old Kerr, manipulating the leg-side field, and even riding her luck with an inside edge to get three boundaries off the teenager’s first over.Javeria Khan hit six fours in her 36•IDI/Getty Images

But Zafar was caught off the glove first ball of the fourth over against Leigh Kasperek, and from there it became evident that any fight they showed would be a lone battle from Javeria. No. 3 Umaima Sohail looked out of sorts every ball of her five-ball innings till Lea Tahuhu burst through her defence in the next over, and Bismah Maroof fell to Watkin shortly after the Powerplay had ended. Pakistan were 52 for 3 in the seventh over, still a decent rate, but the new batsmen coming in took time to settle.This forced Javeria’s hand and Pakistan’s captain fell in the ninth over for a 23-ball 36 – caught off the glove, trying to reverse-sweep Watkin. Pakistan had made only five between her wicket and that of Maroof’s, in the span of two overs. And they made only one more over the next six balls when the fifth wicket fell for 58. This was the period where New Zealand’s spinners combined to squeeze the middle order who, to their credit, were still looking to score boundaries. It was just a case of being outdone by a quality spin attack on a highly conducive pitch. Very soon Pakistan realised they had no answers and the end parts of the innings became exhibitions in swinging across the line. Medium-pacer Hannah Rowe tucked in a nice little spell during that period and Kerr returned to take two wickets in the 18th over to bowl Pakistan out for 90 in their final group game.

Ganguly insisted the pink-ball concept, used in India’s Duleep Trophy, needed to be trialled continuously so that India could be ready at some stage to host day-night Tests

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-20172:10

Three things we can learn from pink-ball cricket

Sourav Ganguly, the head of BCCI’s technical committee, sees a future for pink-ball day-night Tests in India despite the board not having made any headway into hosting one in the near future. The Cricket Association of Bengal, of which Ganguly is president, first trialled the concept in June last year when Eden Gardens hosted the Super League final, a local tournament, between two prominent Kolkata clubs.The concept, introduced by the BCCI during the Duleep Trophy in August-September last year, was initially shelved from the 2017-18 domestic season, only to be reinstated. The former India captain, who has been backer of the pink-ball format, intervened by taking the matter up with the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators.”As far as Duleep Trophy is concerned, my view is very clear: How can you kill a tournament? It has to be discussed either in the working committee or the special AGM,” he was quoted as saying by “You can’t chuck away a tournament one fine morning. I do understand the packed calendar, but somehow we have found a window for this and we have to keep on trying to keep it significant.”Ganguly insisted the pink-ball concept, even if not embraced wholeheartedly by the board, needed to be trialled continuously so that India could be ready at some stage to host day-night Tests. He cited the importance of having healthy crowds, which has not always been the case in India for Tests in recent years, as the major reason to continue with the concept.”It’s not about me being a fan of the pink ball,” he said. “The idea is to bring back crowds to Test cricket and that’s the reason the Duleep Trophy is being played under lights and with the pink ball. The first pink-ball Test in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide was house full. The recent Birmingham Test contested by England and West Indies drew big crowds too. So as an administrator, I would like to see packed houses for Test cricket.”

An unbeaten 108 from Ajinkya Rahane pushed India’s lead to 304 on the third day of the second Test in Kingston, but rain made sure India didn’t have a go at the West Indies batsmen on day three

The Report by Alagappan Muthu01-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:21

Manjrekar: Rahane will be proud of his workman-like innings

A Test match can be a bit like a pup: great players can lead it wherever they want. This West Indian XI does not have great players. They have great triers. Captain Jason Holder and coach Phil Simmons put the men on defence – understandable considering the opposition had a fat lead. Their best efforts have taken the Test to a point where the weather can threaten what once looked a certain victory for India. A tropical storm has been forecast to hit the region on the fourth day with India declaring 304 runs ahead and West Indies yet to bat in the second innings.Ajinkya Rahane found himself part of a pattern, one that has been central to India’s success on this tour of the Caribbean. They have batted eleven-and-a-half sessions in this series. And a set batsman had been out there most of the time. Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin began the trend in Antigua. It continued with KL Rahul on day two and Rahane on day three, who went on to score his seventh Test hundred. This is the eighth straight series that he has scored a score of at least 90 in.India were not panicking about the weather. The mountains on the horizon were obscured by heavy cloud. The rain break came 10 overs after lunch and spirited 52 minutes out of the game. Offspinning allrounder Roston Chase took two wickets in two balls and had them eight down soon after play resumed. The run-scoring stayed sedate.Virat Kohli, sipping a hot beverage in the dressing room, was still in his training gear. He was clearly not thinking about the declaration. Perhaps Rahane approaching a Test century away from home had something to do with that. And with only Nos. 10 and 11 for company, he began to farm the strike. This was where West Indies’ discipline paid off. They had given away only 142 runs in 46.1 overs. They made India bat long for a lead they liked.Rahane squirted an outside edge between slip and the wicketkeeper in the 170th over to reach his third hundred in four innings, captured on camera by the coach Anil Kumble and celebrated vigorously by his team-mates. The locals at Sabina Park had something to cheer too when Chase induced a top edge from Umesh Yadav to wrap up his first five-for in his second Test. With a high-arm action resembling Nathan Lyon, he got the ball to dip and bounce. Earlier, Amit Mishra failed to get to the pitch of one and was caught at short leg. Seconds later Mohammed Shami was bowled playing down the wrong line. Chase wore a sheepish grin on day two when he conceded he hadn’t liked going without a wicket on debut. Now he was leading his team off.While it will be debated if India needed to bat on after the first rain break, or if they batted on to let Rahane reach his hundred – he was 83 when the rain came down – the fact remains that India had now batted West Indies out of the match. It remained to be seen if India would give enough time to register their first set of consecutive wins outside Asia since 2006, but they were assured they were not going to lose this one.

Mid-June is arguably too soon to write off a team’s prospects for the season. Nevertheless, the final morning of Somerset’s tussle with Nottinghamshire at Taunton looks set to be a seminal one for the county.

Andrew Miller at Taunton16-Jun-2015
ScorecardTom Abell helped Somerset begin their big chase strongly•Getty Images

Mid-June is arguably too soon to write off a team’s prospects for the season. Nevertheless, the final morning of Somerset’s tussle with Nottinghamshire at Taunton looks set to be a seminal one for the county.Pick off the remaining 127 runs required for victory, having been set a daunting fourth-innings chase of 401 against Nottinghamshire, and the confidence of such an achievement could course through the veins of a beleaguered team. But trip up, having at one stage been cruising on 197 for 1, and it would surely count as the most crushing of their five defeats in seven games this season.Somerset’s fightback was set in motion by their bowlers who, since shipping 300 runs in claiming their first three wickets of the match fought back with spirit to claim 17 wickets for 300 more in 65 subsequent overs. But at 274 for 5, with Jim Allenby and Peter Trego already at the crease, it will be down to those bowlers plus Michael Bates, the wicketkeeper, to haul them over the line.”It’s been an intriguing day’s cricket,” Matthew Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, said. “I think we played some excellent cricket today. The old bowling attack have done themselves proud. We did brilliantly to get ourselves into this position and, at the end of the day, we are still in a position where if we can get a couple of partnerships together and see off the new ball, it’s going to be a very tight finish tomorrow.”But a late collapse of 4 for 46 runs in 13 overs left Maynard conceding that Nottinghamshire had reclaimed the initiative going into the final day. “We’ve lost clusters of two or three wickets, where in the past we would have lost four or five,” he said. “I always try and look at the positive side of it. It would have been nice to have lost one fewer wicket in the evening session. That extra wicket just puts us behind in the game.”For all the spirit they showed on a testing day, however, Somerset’s composure proved about as robust as the surface tension on a millpond. For as long as Marcus Trescothick and Tom Abell were in harness, adding 129 for the first wicket with their contrasting but complimentary styles, the size of their chase caused barely a ripple of alarm.Even Trescothick’s departure, caught and bowled by a diving Samit Patel for 65, failed to create the sort of splash it might have done in his pomp five years ago. But the loss of Abell, 17 overs later was another thing entirely. For 307 deliveries, spanning two innings, 148 runs and scarcely a false stroke in six and a half hours of crease occupation, Abell had been a model of technical excellence and restraint, with confident footwork, a composure way beyond his 21 years, and with a sniper’s eye for a scoring opportunity.”He’s got a fantastic temperament and a natural ability, and that’s what distinguishes a lot of real, top players,” Maynard said. “He’s got that in abundance. To bat all the way through one innings and go out there again, for an hour short of three full days on the pitch, it’s a terrific achievement.” But, on 72, Abell succumbed to virtually his first false stroke of the match, a loose drive at Will Gidman to be caught at a very precisely positioned Steven Mullaney at straight mid-off, and the effect was like plunging a tombstone into Somerset’s troubled waters.One over later, James Hildreth, who became the first man to 1000 first-class runs this season in the first innings, chased a wide half-volley to hole out to the same combination for 4, and Somerset lost their third wicket in the space of five overs when Tom Cooper swung wildly to Patel at mid-on to hand a first wicket of the innings – and eighth of the match – to the debutant offspinner, Matthew Carter.Somerset’s reaction to their sudden predicament was not dissimilar to England’s new-found attitude to one-day cricket. Swing hard, swing fast, and slurp up the target before before drowning in the sheer weight of runs.Johann Myburgh proved a qualified success in this approach, thumping eight fours and a six in making 56 from 89 balls before he too fell to Carter via a brilliant, instinctive grab from Mullaney at slip after Wessels had parried the initial edge. But Tom Cooper was less successful. He completed a miserable match with a slogged duck to mid-on.By the close, Allenby and Trego had restored their team’s fragile hopes with a hard-earned 31-run stand for the sixth wicket, although Trego was lucky to receive a life on 9 when Brendan Taylor at slip missed a sharp edge off Ben Hilfenhaus.”Once you’re in it’s a nice wicket to bat on but it’s hard to get in at times,” Maynard said. “We’ve had some good partnerships with the bat, which is key, we need to try and build a couple more tomorrow.” Somerset’s season may depend on it.

Gloucestershire’s chief executive Tom Richardson, the driving force behind the development of their Bristol headquarters, will leave the club at the beginning of September

David Hopps25-Jan-2013Gloucestershire’s chief executive Tom Richardson, the driving force behind the development of their Bristol headquarters, will leave the club at the beginning of September after 12 years in the post.Richardson has presided over good times and bad, including a period at the turn of the century when they were renowned as the best one-day side in the countrry. But it is the development of Nevil Road,in the face of considerable opposition, which will be his legacy.”It is a logical break point as we aim to have completed the development of the pavilion and media centre at the end of July, ” Richardson said. “I have hugely enjoyed my time here and feel privileged to have been involved for so long.Clearly, getting started on the development has been a major lift for the club and I am really pleased to have played a full part in that. There is a real buzz about the place at the moment and whilst in some ways it will be sad not to be involved next year it is time for me to move on.”It remains to be seen whether Gloucestershire’s investment will satisfy their ambition of attracting more international cricket to Bristol. England already has nine international grounds, all scrambling for their share of England cricket and any further expansion of the international calendar is impossible to contemplate.But at a time when the counties remain hopeful that Twenty20 cricket will prove a long-term attraction, especially after a general switch to Friday nights from 2014, Nevil Road’s expansion will give Gloucestershire the opportunity to rediscover their strength in one-day cricket, especially if they can stir Bristol’s sometimes apathetic following into greater support.The expansion of Nevil Road, approved by Bristol City Council in March, included the demolition of the Mound and Jessop stands, provision of 7,500 permanent seats and a 147-room apartment with basement car parking. There will also be a business and conference centre in a new pavilion and a new media centre which will replace the primitive or temporary accommodation in the past.Rex Body, Gloucestershire’s chairman, said: “Tom’s value to Gloucestershire cannot be overestimated, particularly the work he has done on our ground development programme, in at times extremely difficult circumstances.Richardson will retain a link with Gloucestershire by becoming involved in their Youth Trust activities whern he stands down from the chief executive post.

Sulakshan Kulkarni, the Mumbai coach, says Kaustubh Pawar typifies the defiant attitude of Mumbai batsman and says it is nice to have a batsman in the side who is willing to keep the ball on the ground

Abhishek Purohit at the Holkar Cricket Stadium03-Jan-2012Kaustubh Pawar came out to bat at No. 3 yesterday and saw Mumbai lose half their side with 60 runs on the board. A day later, he calmly got forward to ease the final delivery of day two to the long-off boundary to take Mumbai to 346 for 7. It was Pawar’s 322nd delivery, many of which had beaten him. Some of them had him falling to the ground as he looked to avoid them. One of them even hit him on the helmet. But he battled through it all for almost eight hours to end unbeaten on 160 and put his side on top.Pawar, 21, defied a testing Madhya Pradesh attack in the pressure situation of a knockout game in his debut first-class season. More importantly, he did it despite struggling to find rhythm in his batting till he reached three figures. It was the kind of single-minded devotion to the cause that Mumbai needed, and coach Sulakshan Kulkarni hailed Pawar as the quintessential Mumbai batsman. “What is a Mumbai batsman? Someone who can play with that [defiant] attitude,” Kulkarni said. “Someone who can stand all day and make a hundred in 250 deliveries. Pawar is that kind of batsman.”Kulkarni said that Pawar’s presence was vital in a line-up that contains stroke-makers like Suryakumar Yadav and Wasim Jaffer. “The phase that the Mumbai team is currently in, we needed someone like him. We need someone who can hold one end up. There are a lot of stroke-makers in this team. But you also need a player in the Rahul Dravid mould. Kaustubh fits that role.”He has been given that role. Surya [Yadav] is the free bird of the side. He has the mandate to go out and play strokes. Kaustubh cannot do what Surya does, and vice versa.”Kulkarni also said that with the advent of the IPL, batsmen had started to play a lot of shots in the air. Having a batsman like Pawar who was able and willing to bat in the conventional way was a huge positive for Mumbai, he said. “If you observe, he hardly played a shot in the air.
In these times, it is extremely difficult to find a batsman who plays shots along the ground. I can recall only one more name among the current lot who does that: Cheteshwar Pujara. It is extremely valuable to have such a player.”Pawar had had a discussion with his coach before the start of play today with Mumbai 122 runs behind and had assured him that he would not throw his wicket away. “I had told him to hang in there, and he had promised me that he will remain unbeaten at stumps today, which he did,” Kulkarni said.Pawar said his mandate was to tire the MP bowlers out which he was able to do successfully. “There was a little nervousness given the situation we were in. We knew that the first 30-45 minutes would be crucial. I and Hiken [Shah] were able to get through that period. They were bowling well initially but later got tired.”There was no weariness in Pawar’s demeanour though. As soon as he hit the last ball of the day for four, he walked back eagerly with a broad smile towards a grateful Mumbai dressing-room. A maiden double-hundred, which Pawar said he has never made in a “big match”, beckons.

Darren Gough believes there is no way back for Australia in the Ashes series and can’t see them winning a Test regardless of who makes up their bowling attack

Andrew McGlashan09-Dec-2010Darren Gough believes there is no way back for Australia in the Ashes and can’t see them winning a Test regardless of who makes up their bowling attack. The situation has become so desperate for the hosts that there are growing calls for Shane Warne to make a comeback but, while Gough thinks the legspinner would seriously consider it, he says Cricket Australia can’t be seen to be making such a backward step.As England completed their crushing innings-and-71-run victory in Adelaide, a campaign was launched to encourage Warne – who last played Tests four years ago – out of retirement to help salvage the series. Bookmakers have cut their odds on such a move, and a website has been launched to raise money, while Warne himself called the talk “flattering”.”It’s not going happen. If someone rang Shane and said ‘we really need you’ I think he’d probably say yes, but Cricket Australia just aren’t going to do that,” Gough, who struck up a close friendship with Warne during their playing days, told ESPNcricinfo. “They would never ask him because it would be going back on their own statement to back youth. It just won’t happen.”I can’t see how they are going to win a game,” Gough added. “Their best chance is at Perth where their record is very good, but England have got players who all play well off the back foot so they won’t be worried about extra bounce – they’ll actually enjoy it. I just can’t see that they have the bowlers, whoever they pick, to bowl England out twice.”Gough is bemused by the decision to dump Mitchell Johnson for the second Test despite his wicketless display at Brisbane and thinks the selectors will have to immediately backtrack on that call for Perth. Johnson is currently working with Troy Cooley at the WACA, rather than playing for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, and could be one of three players recalled alongside Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Hauritz.”The reason they are struggling is because they can’t take 20 wickets,” Gough, speaking at the Red Tractor beef and lamb launch ‘Give the Bird a Break’, said. “They left out their best strike bowler in Mitchell Johnson which was a total surprise to me. He’s the one guy who can bowl a team out and Ricky Ponting knows that and that’s why he has backed him in the media. It will be interesting to see which way they go. They’ll have to bring Johnson back to partner Ryan Harris so they have two strike bowlers.”England will also need to make a change to their attack for Perth after Stuart Broad was ruled out for the rest of the tour with a stomach injury. The three reserve quicks – Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad – will play against Victoria in a three-day match starting on Friday and despite his strong Yorkshire connection, Gough would go with Tremlett for the Test match.”If it had been any other pitch over there I’d have gone for Tim Bresnan but I just think we need that bit of extra firepower at Perth where there’s a touch more bounce,” he said. “You look at history and the guys that have done well there are the tall bowlers – Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Glenn McGrath – the guys who can hit back-of-a-length to make the most of the extra bounce and carry. That’s the only reason I’d favour Tremlett. Bresnan is a fine bowler and in any other conditions I think he’d be the man.”I think Tremlett has developed a lot over the last few years and his move to Surrey has clearly helped him. The key for England is to continue to be positive and I think Tremlett is the man who can help them do that in Perth,” Gough added. “He would send out a positive message that England aren’t going to sit back on their 1-0 lead. However, if they come across some flatter pitches later in the series I’d play Bresnan because he bowls good reverse swing and accurately. For this Test, though, they need to replace Broad’s wicket-taking ability.”Gough has huge sympathy for Broad having twice experienced the major disappointment of leaving an Ashes tour. In 1994-95 Gough had produced a fine all-round performance in Sydney with 51 and 6 for 49 but then suffered a stress fracture of his foot, and eight years later returned home without playing a game. “He’ll be distraught,” Gough said. “An Ashes tour is the one you want to play on. I came home from my first Ashes tour and my last – without bowling a ball in 2002 – so I know exactly how he’ll be feeling right now.”Darren Gough is launching the ‘Give the Bird a Break’ virtual Christmas cooking school for men together with Red Tractor beef and lamb. For his recipe videos and top tips visit www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/birdabreak

Ricky Ponting believes his pulling will become less risky as soon as his injured elbow heals properly

Cricinfo staff09-Jan-2010Ricky Ponting believes his pulling will become less risky as soon as his injured elbow heals properly. Ponting has been dismissed twice to the shot during the Pakistan series and there have been calls for him to shelve it to extend his outstanding career.However, Ponting, 35, is determined to keep playing the way that has gained him 11,561 runs at 54.79 in 141 Tests. “Wait until I get fit again and we’ll see if everyone is still saying the same thing about it then,” Ponting said in the Sunday Telegraph. “They are such reactive shots, they are instinctive. I’m not sure how people in the past have gone about putting them away.”I think I have been out twice this summer pulling, but it is a shot that keeps bringing me runs so we’ll see how we go with that. But as I said, if I get my elbow right then I think you’ll see me playing with a lot more freedom and not only those shots, but a lot of other shots around the ground as well.”Ponting is having his worst home Test summer in more than a decade after picking up 216 runs in the five games against West Indies and Pakistan. The problems stem from his sore left elbow, which was tenderised by a Kemar Roach bouncer at the WACA last month, and there have also been suggestions that he step down from his preferred No.3.”I read it for the first time the other day midway through the Test match, when all the negative stuff was in the papers about the team and about certain individuals and selecting of the team,” Ponting said. “I haven’t thought about that.”But if the day comes where I think there is someone better in the order to bat at No. 3 than myself, then by all means I will give it some thought, but I still think I’m the best equipped to be batting at No. 3 in the Test side. Hopefully I can show everybody that over the next few weeks.”Ponting has the summer’s final Test on his home ground in Hobart to find some form before the start of limited-overs campaigns against Pakistan and West Indies. He felt the extra rest between the second and third matches would help his elbow.”Where I’ve struggled with it is I’ve had two or three days at a time in between batting days and I’ve just needed a little bit longer than that,” he said. “From where I batted in the second innings in the Sydney Test, I’ll have had about six or seven days without batting. So when I hit the nets on Monday it will be better than it has been in the last couple of weeks.”

Chris Jordan left the field apparently concussed after a heavy fall attempting a catch

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay20-Jun-2025Will Jacks’ scintillating 97 led Surrey to a fifth win in a row as they thrashed London neighbours Middlesex by 75 runs at the Kia Oval.The England allrounder, not required for Test duty against India, nevertheless reminded the selectors of his batting prowess, pummelling five sixes and 10 fours in a 56-ball masterclass. Noah Cornwell and Ryan Higgins were the pick of the Middlesex attack with two wickets apiece.Middlesex were never in it in reply, subsiding to 119 all out, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner taking 3-25.It was a sobering watch for new Seaxes head coach Dane Vilas, who will officially take charge ahead of the County Championship clash with Northamptonshire on Sunday.The one concern for the hosts was the loss of Chris Jordan, who left the field apparently concussed after a heavy fall attempting a catch.Jacks sent the opening ball of the match to the fence before the first of his five sixes came from a clip over long leg.That was the prelude to 22 off the last over of the powerplay bowled by youngster Naavya Sharma which took Jacks to 50 in only 24 balls.There was a brief pause for breath before an audacious golf-swing shot into the crowd at long-off and after being given a life when dropped by Cornwell at deep fine leg, another vicious pull over square leg off Tom Helm took him into the 90s.There would be no hundred as he holed out going for the century in the grand manner, one of three wickets in four balls for Helm but this was scintillating stuff.To Middlesex’s credit others came and went as the hosts didn’t make the most of being 66 without loss after the powerplay and 95 for 2 at halfway.Dom Sibley, dropped on 8 by Shah, reached 27 and Sam Curran 26 before both being caught and bowled by Cornwell, as the visitors chipped away, Ryan Higgins hitting the stumps twice in the final over.Kane Williamson, fresh from his 50 against Essex 24 hours earlier, ramped, paddled drove and cut Reece Topley for four boundaries in his second over to launch the chase, but the former New Zealand Test skipper fell in the next over, slapping Tom Curran straight to Jason Roy at cover.Max Holden picked up the baton with fours to long leg and third, but perished attempting to sweep Mitchell Santner over the long boundary, while Ben Geddes, returning to face his former county, survived two vehement appeals for catches behind later in the same over, but left without scoring in the next trying to go over extra cover.Stephen Eskinazi’s torturous innings of less than a run a ball ended when he was bowled by Santner and Joe Cracknell in his first game in the tournament this season quickly came and went.With the rate required now 14 an over Santner then bowled the dangerous Luke Hollman to claim his third wicket as Middlesex folded.