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Another day of rain-hit preparations gives England further selection issues ahead of the first Test in Galle next week

George Dobell in Colombo01-Nov-2018England’s preparations for the Test series against Sri Lanka have been further hit by rain.Plans for a two-day warm-up game against a Sri Lanka Board team starting on Thursday had to be abandoned after storms in Colombo overnight. The teams hope to play a 50-over a side game starting at 9.30am on Friday instead.Even if that game goes ahead – there has been only one day’s play on the entire tour that has been unaffected by rain and the forecast is not encouraging – it seems England will go into the first Test in Galle next week underprepared. In terms of red-ball cricket, they have had just two days’ play so far with several players – notably Keaton Jennings and Joe Denly – missing out on the chance to bat or bowl for a long period of time.Of more concern, perhaps, is the fact that neither Olly Stone or Jack Leach played any part in that first warm-up match. If England are serious about trying a different formula in an attempt to improve their overseas results – they have lost their last three overseas series and 10 of their last 13 Tests with the other three drawn – both men are the sort of cricketers who should be considered. Stone offers the prospect of the pace that England so clearly lacked in the Ashes, while Leach could fulfil the role of third frontline spinner in the England attack.England’s predicament is likely to renew criticism both of the timing of the tour – which is during a period when heavy rain is usual in Sri Lanka – and its schedule. While such itineraries are a feature of most modern tours – India left themselves similarly underprepared heading into the Test series in England earlier in the year – they do nothing to alter the dominance of home teams. Long-term, you wonder if they are helping Test cricket.On a more short-term basis, England might also regret the decision not to field Leach in the first two-day warm-up game. If he is a serious option for the Test series – and he really should be – it would have made sense to take every opportunity to play him. England were not limited to 11 players in the match, after all – 13 of them had a go at one stage or another – and this was a predictable problem. As Joe Root had said the day before the game: “With the weather around, you don’t know when the next opportunity is going to come your way.”But instead of giving him a bowl, they provided game-time to four seamers and then allowed the second new ball to be taken by Denly and Adil Rashid. Root and Denly bowled 14.5 overs between them; overs which could have been bowled by Leach.Leach admitted he had “itchy feet” in his desire to play and replied to a question asking if he could play in Galle without any cricket in the warm-up games by saying he would “give it my best shot”.”If there’s rain about it’s about going to Galle, having two days of prep there and putting your name in the hat through nets,” he told the BBC. “Whatever happens I’ll give it my best shot.”This episode threatens to sustain a long run of poor fortune when it comes to Leach and England. First, he was found to have an illegal bowling action just as he had forced himself to the brink of selection – at the end of 2016 – before Mason Crane was somewhat controversially selected ahead of him for the Ashes tour at the end of the following year. Crane, it is understood, was the choice of the captain and coach while at least some of the selectors wanted Leach. As it was, Moeen Ali was obliged to play for most of the series when not fully fit and suffered as a consequence.Then, after Leach made his Test debut in New Zealand at the start of 2018, it appeared he was on the brink of a run in the side. Instead he suffered a broken thumb and then a concussion injury (he was hit on the head by a short ball from Morne Morkel) and was left out of the team for the Pakistan series as the selectors felt – not unreasonably – that he lacked sufficient bowling.He has, at least, had time to bowl in the nets on this tour. But if he does play in this series, he will have to do so without sufficient game time.

Leaders Notts were too strong for promotion rivals Northants – and Worcestershire and R Ashwin are next up

ECB Reporters Network31-Aug-2017Samit Patel picked up three cheap wickets•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire remain on course for an immediate return to top flight cricket after defeating Northamptonshire by 163 runs on the final day of their Specsavers County Championship fixture at Trent Bridge.The Division Two leaders needed just over an hour to take the final five Northants wickets, with Adam Rossington unable to bat due to the thumb injury he sustained on the second day.Samit Patel closed out the contest, finishing with 3 for 17 and Jake Ball picked up 3 for 86.The outcome may have done irreparable damage to Northamptonshire’s promotion hopes. Having claimed just three bonus points, their tardy over-rate of minus five left them another couple of points in debit, ground they will hope to make back when they face in-form Sussex at Wantage Road next week.Nottinghamshire, gained another 20 points and remain unbeaten at the top of the Division Two table, ahead of next week’s clash at home to second-placed Worcestershire.David Ripley, Northants’ coach, recognised his injury-disrupted side had ultimately been outplayed, but reserved most of his irritation for losing points because of their slow overrate. “That’s not good,” he said. “We’ve just spoken about it as a group. We talk about it far too much and we need some actions. That’s going to hit us because we are going to lose points from this game and go back with minus points. In the past we’ve not been promoted out of this division by just one point, so every point is vital and we’ve just lobbed some away.”Resuming on 167 for 4, after they had added an unbroken 45 for the fifth wicket in the gloomy conditions of the previous evening, Alex Wakeley and Josh Cobb were parted in just the second over of the day.Wakeley, having advanced his score to 37, pushed firmly at Brett Hutton and nicked firmly through to Chris Read. The same combination accounted for Rory Kleinveldt four overs later, although the South African all-rounder, who made 12, was swishing vigorously towards extra cover.Read’s third catch of the morning saw off Cobb, for 38, with Ball adding to the two wickets he grabbed on the third day.Azharullah decided to make the most of a rare opportunity to throw the bat and hit five fours in making 23 but he then miscued Samit Patel high to Cheteshwar Pujara at cover.Ben Sanderson, batting with a hamstring injury and using Rob Keogh as his runner, made an enterprising 16 not out but the innings ended when Richard Gleeson, who scored 21, clubbed Patel into the safe hands of Riki Wessels at mid off.

Veteran spinner Brad Hogg has left the Perth Scorchers and at the age of 45 will start afresh with a different BBL club, believed to be the Melbourne Renegades

Brydon Coverdale08-Jul-2016Veteran spinner Brad Hogg has left the Perth Scorchers and at 45 will start afresh with a different Big Bash League club, believed to be the Melbourne Renegades. No official announcement has been forthcoming from the Renegades, but Scorchers coach Justin Langer confirmed on Friday that Hogg was leaving the Scorchers.Hogg, a cult figure with the Scorchers since coming out of retirement to play with them from the start of the 2011-12 season, has been their leading wicket taker with 46 wickets at 21.82. Only Ben Laughlin (60 wickets for Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes) has more BBL wickets, although Hogg had a leaner campaign last year, with just six wickets in nine games.”Very disappointing,” Langer told reporters in Perth on Friday of Hogg’s departure. “I know [where he’s going], but I can’t tell you where he’s going. But he’s leaving the Scorchers. I’m really disappointed about that. What can I say? I’m personally disappointed, professionally disappointed, but it’s his decision and life goes on.”In my opinion he’s made a wrong decision, that’s okay, that’s not my business. But I can go to bed at night knowing we offered him more money than we offered him last year, we think we’ve had as good deal with him for the last few years and it could have been a real win-win situation for him and us.”But we wish him the best, we’ve been friends since we went to school together. I think he’s been brilliant for the Scorchers. I think on and off the field he is fantastic, he’s a good friend of mine but it’s disappointing.”Hogg originally retired from all cricket in 2008, but made a comeback when the BBL started in 2011. He helped the Scorchers to back-to-back titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15, and unexpectedly returned to Australia’s T20 side in 2014, becoming their oldest T20 international player at 43. This year, at 45, he became the oldest man ever to play in the IPL.

Rory Burns has made his return to action for Surrey two weeks after his sickening collision with Moises Henriques against Sussex at Arundel which left both players in hospital

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2015Rory Burns, the Surrey batsman, has made his return to action two weeks after his sickening collision with Moises Henriques against Sussex, at Arundel, which left both players in hospital.Burns suffered lacerations to his face in the incident and was knocked unconscious although had come around by the time he left the ground in an ambulance.In his first innings back he made 21 opening the batting in the County Championship against Gloucestershire at The Oval before being caught behind off Liam Norwell. Earlier in the week, Burns had said he did not have any recollection of the moment of impact on the outfield during the NatWest T20 Blast fixture.”I don’t remember any of the collision,” he told . “I remember the ball going up and thinking I probably have to put my foot down to try and get there – I got there, remember diving, but don’t remember me and Moises colliding. Apart from that, I remember the whole game then waking up and seeing the paramedics.”The headaches have died down now, the stitches are out and scarring up nicely so I’m on the mend.”Henriques suffered a broken jaw in the accident and damage to his teeth but Burns said he is making good progress”I’ve seen him a couple of times, he’s in good spirits. He came off slightly worse with his jaw and his teeth but he’s on the mend.”

Australia’s chairman of selectors, John Inverarity, has declared Michael Clarke only had a 50-50 chance of playing the Boxing Day Test and said Mitchell Starc was almost certain to be rested due to his heavy workload

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne23-Dec-2012Australia’s chairman of selectors, John Inverarity, has declared Michael Clarke only had a 50-50 chance of playing the Boxing Day Test and said Mitchell Starc was almost certain to be rested due to his heavy workload. On Sunday, Clarke jogged at half pace on the MCG under the watchful eye of the team physio Alex Kountouris, as he continued his recovery from the hamstring injury that forced him to retire hurt while batting during Australia’s win over Sri Lanka in Hobart.Clarke did not bat at training on Sunday and had his troublesome muscle strapped with an ice-pack while his team-mates worked in the nets in Melbourne’s extreme heat. He took part in long discussions with Inverarity and the coach Mickey Arthur, and while Clarke remains in contention to lead the side on Boxing Day, Inverarity said a conservative approach would be taken regarding Clarke’s fitness.”He’s travelling optimistically and well. But he’s 50-50 as to whether he’ll be fit enough to play on Boxing Day,” Inverarity said. “He’s a very precious asset and I would go low risk. He’s always upbeat, he desperately wants to play. But we certainly don’t want to push him especially hard in a Test for him to break down.”Shane Watson will captain Australia if Clarke is ruled out, and he would become the 44th man to lead Australia in a Test. It is an elite group that does not include some of Australia’s greats – Victor Trumper and Shane Warne, to name just two men who did not captain Australia in Tests – and Watson said he had learnt plenty about leadership while filling in for Clarke during eight one-day internationals earlier this year.”It’s about as big as it gets for an Australian cricketer,” Watson said. “There’s no doubt if that opportunity arises it certainly would be … an amazing opportunity to think something like that has come along in your life. But I’m trying not to get too far in front of myself at the moment.”The thing that really stood out to me [in the ODIs] was to trust my gut instinct. Until you captain a side you don’t really realise the intuition you’ve developed over 10 or 11 years of first-class cricket and also being around some of the best players who have ever played for Australia. Intuition really does come to the fore and you’re able to do things tactically that you didn’t think you had in you.”If Watson leads the side, he will almost certainly be without the left-armer Starc, who is not injured and bowled in the nets on Sunday, but is expected to be rested. At 22, Starc is one of the younger members of Australia’s fast-bowling group and after the breakdowns of James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, the selectors are wary of asking too much of Starc, despite the fact that he has taken 14 wickets in the past two Tests.”He’ll either play Melbourne or Sydney, but it would make some sense that he misses this one and plays Sydney rather than goes Hobart and then Melbourne,” Inverarity said. “It’s about bowling loads. The science behind it is that they’ve got to build up their bowling loads so the oscillations are not very significant. If they do become reasonably significant, as they have done for Mitchell, then you enter a danger period, a high-risk period.”Should Starc sit out, that would mean a Test debut for the Tasmania fast bowler Jackson Bird, who would join Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon in the attack. The backup batsman in the squad, Usman Khawaja, batted in the nets on Sunday and even sent down a few offspinners, preparing for what will be his first Test in more than a year, if Clarke is ruled out.

Brian Lara has said that the administrative infrastructure for cricket in the West Indies has to improve before the team can become consistently competitive again

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2011Brian Lara, the former West Indies captain, has said that the administrative infrastructure for cricket in the West Indies has to improve before the team can become consistently competitive again.Lara, who scored 11,953 runs in 131 Tests, was speaking at the World Travel Market in London last week, where he was part of a contingent representing Trinidad & Tobago as a tourist destination. He was not surprised West Indies failed to hammer home the advantage in the first Test against India, and ultimately ended up losing by five wickets.”[We] still have a very long way to go,’ Lara told the . “I would not have been surprised if we won this game, because I know what we are capable of — sporadic, good sporadic performances — one here, one next year, but in terms of consistency, Trinidad, West Indies lack that, and that is not something that you regain overnight.”I think our infrastructure is terrible administratively, we have got it wrong on many occasions.”A key problem, according to Lara, was the tumultuous relationship between the cricket board and the players. “Our player-board relationship — that has gone wrong for many years, gone sour, and we need to improve these things, fix it, set a base, get the infrastructure in, and then think about five, ten years down the line.”So it might be a dismal outlook, but if we keep just trying to put a plaster on every sore that we have, it’s not going to work. So I hope one day somebody’s going to take it up and really get things going.”Lara said there was still plenty of cricketing talent in the region, but it needed to be developed and nurtured properly. “On any given day, I think we’ve got the best talented cricketers in the world,” Lara said. “It’s always been the case over the years, since even before my days … cricket has gone a long way now. Talent is only a very small part compared to 20, 30 years ago, when it was a major part — your physical fitness, your talent — that played a bigger role.”Now [with] technology, there is a lot of things coming into play, and I say it all the time — we in the West Indies take very good talent and make it average, and people like Australia and England and India take average talent and make it very, very good, and that is where the problem lies.”

Officialdom in Pakistan has finally made contact with Zulqarnain Haider in a continuing bid to find out the exact nature of events prior to the wicketkeeper’s sudden fleeing of Dubai for London

Osman Samiuddin12-Nov-2010Officialdom in Pakistan has finally made contact with Zulqarnain Haider in a continuing bid to find out the exact nature of events prior to the wicketkeeper’s sudden fleeing of Dubai for London. The PCB chairman Ijaz Butt spoke with Haider on Thursday and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s high commissioner to the UK, also met with the 24-year-old.Though Haider told a local news channel that support and assistance had been offered by Ijaz Butt, a board spokesman said the purpose of the communication had been solely “to find out what made him do what he did.” The PCB’s three-man fact-finding committee – comprised team manager Intikhab Alam, the security manager Major Najam Javed and a senior board official Subhan Ahmed – has also been trying to establish contact, without success so far.Questions, however, are still being asked about Haider’s actions five days after the event. He insists he fled because of threats he received after turning down the approaches of an unidentified man who wanted him to be involved in fixing the last two ODIs against South Africa.In an interview with the fourth ODI, in which his unbeaten 19 helped Pakistan home in a nail-biter. Taffazul Rizvi, the board’s legal advisor, asked why Haider waited until Monday before deciding to leave; the latest the approach could have occurred was Thursday (the fourth ODI was on Friday), which means he waited four days before leaving.”In our culture, when are you worried about your family’s safety, you run to their side,” Rizvi told the . “Whereas he has run to a different country.”Reports have also emerged indicating Haider was on the verge of being dropped from the one-day line-up. The influential Urdu daily claimed in a front page report, citing team sources, that Haider was not inked in to be a part of either the fourth or fifth ODI. Instead, in a bid to find a better balance to the side, the team management was keen on doubling up Umar Akmal as a batsman-wicketkeeper in his place.But an ankle injury prevented Umar Akmal from playing the fourth ODI and though he fulfilled that role after Haider’s departure in the last ODI, claims he would have done so regardless of Haider’s status. The report suggests that Haider had been told of his ‘resting’ the evening before the last ODI.Haider, who has sought asylum in the UK and retired from international cricket, also said that he handed over two letters he received in his Dubai hotel room to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit. ESPNcricinfo understands, however, that the ICC at least has not received any documents yet from the player.

Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal captain, has lashed out against some of his players, whom he has accused of pursuing “individual goals” and not performing as a unit

Cricinfo staff28-Nov-2009Manoj Tiwary, the Bengal captain, has lashed out at some of his players, whom he said were pursuing “individual goals” and not performing as a unit, following his team’s drawn game against Saurashtra in Kolkata. Saurashtra piled up 650 in their first innings and bowled out Bengal for 456 to enforce the follow-on.Reacting to the below-par performance, Tiwary said: “It’s time to bid goodbye
to our reputation and play as a unit now in the present context. Instead of playing for individual goals, our players need to focus on the team goal. There is a room for improvement in that area.”Saurashtra gained three points from the game as a result of their first-innings lead while Bengal had to settle with one. The teams are separated by just one point on the Group B table, with Bengal ahead.Tiwary asserted the need for introspection among the players in the side. “We need to sit together, discuss what is going wrong and rectify our mistakes,” he said. “We have tough two matches ahead (against Uttar Pradesh and Delhi).”Tiwary led a team that included former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who managed just 16 in Bengal’s first innings. When asked if Ganguly will participate in Bengal’s upcoming fixture against UP, Tiwary said: “I don’t know. He is in the best position to answer this.”

Senior pro takes the reins as Somerset prepares for new era of women’s cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2025Sophie Luff has been named as Somerset Women’s first professional captain, for the inaugural season of the new Women’s County competition.Luff, 31, played for Somerset’s age groups before making her debut for the senior women’s team in 2009. She has featured in 74 List A matches for the club, scoring 2330 runs at 43.14 with a highest score of 138 not out. She has also played in 68 T20 matches, scoring 1675 runs at 35.63.She previously captained the county side between 2017 and 2022, and was also an ever-present for the Taunton-based Western Storm, having been named captain in 2020.She was the first player to make 100 appearances for Storm and during that time scored over 1760 runs in List A cricket at 50.54 with a best of 157 not out. Her T20 record for Storm included 850 runs at 25.90 and a best of 78.The former England Academy, Development and Under-19 international has also represented Welsh Fire, London Spirit and Southern Brave in the Hundred.”It feels like I’ve really come home this winter,” Luff said. “I’m excited to be leading such a great group of girls, and to be able to do this at my home club and to become the first-ever professional captain gives me an unbelievable sense of achievement and fills me with pride.”Somerset County Cricket Club means an awful lot to me. I used to come here when I was young and watch the likes of Marcus Trescothick, and it’s where I fell in love with the game. I’ve been involved with the club for a very long time and this group has got the opportunity to set the standards for how we want Somerset Women to play.”This club has a tremendous history and has had some incredible captains over the years. To have my name on that list is incredibly special and is a real privilege.”Somerset Women Head Coach, Trevor Griffin, added: “Sophie has proved during the course of her career that she is a genuine leader both on and off the field. She has the respect of everyone in the dressing room and is a model professional. Her wealth of experience will prove invaluable alongside her outstanding understanding of the game.”Sophie is passionate about cricket and passionate about this club. Her genuine understanding of what it means to represent Somerset means that she will lead by example every time she takes to the field.”SCCC Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry added: “Sophie is very much a part of the DNA of women’s cricket in the region. She is an inspiration to her teammates and a role model for young cricketers across the South West. Her tenacity and will to win are second to none, and she possess an abundance of the necessary traits required to be a successful captain and leader.”

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.