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Phil Mustard atoned for Ben Stokes’ disappointment by thrashing an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls to propel Durham to a five-wicket win against Leicestershire in the NatWest T20 Blast

ECB Reporters Network10-Jul-2016
ScorecardScott Borthwick picked up a career-best four-wicket haul•Getty Images

Phil Mustard atoned for Ben Stokes’ disappointment by thrashing an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls to propel Durham to a five-wicket win against Leicestershire in the NatWest T20 Blast.When Stokes fell for 11, lobbing a miscued drive to cover, Durham were 21 for 2 in pursuit of 146 for 6. But Gordon Muchall contributed 32 to a stand of 86 as victory was sealed with nine balls to spare at Chester-le-Street.Mustard smacked three sixes between long-on and midwicket in his 35-ball half-century and added a fourth to the same area.Scott Borthwick’s career-best T20 figures of 4 for 18 ensured that the Foxes, who were put in, gained no momentum until they took 19 off each of the last two overs.Lewis Hill’s mixture of improvisation and orthodox clips behind square leg saw him hit the previously miserly Chris Rushworth for four successive fours in making an unbeaten 31 off 15 balls.Hill and Rob Taylor both pulled Paul Coughlin for six in the final over, but the early batsmen had been stifled by the seamers, including Mark Wood who pushed 90mph.The England paceman was making his first senior appearance of the season following two ankle operations and had Mark Pettini caught behind after the visiting captain laboured 17 balls for seven.That included four off a free hit when Rushworth spoilt what would have been an opening maiden by over-stepping on the sixth ball.South Africans Cameron Delport and Farhaan Benhardien had to try to capitalise on the introduction of Borthwick at 62 for 2 after ten overs. Left-hander Delport tried to smash the legspinner over midwicket, only to fall lbw for 19. Ben Raine holed out to Stokes at deep midwicket, Behardien went down the track and was bowled and in Borthwick’s final over Tom Wells lofted a catch to long-on.Mark Stoneman cut the first ball of the reply for four but then sliced a catch to third man off Clint McKay, who also claimed Stokes’ scalp on the way to figures of 3 for 21.Durham wobbled slightly after Muchall was bowled by Neil Dexter, but Coughlin lifted the second ball he faced for a big six over long-on off Taylor in helping to complete the task.Durham moved level in fourth place in the north group with Worcestershire, who have played two games more, while Leicestershire remain bottom.

Sachin Tendulkar believes the Indian team has a reservoir of experience to tap into in the form of Anil Kumble, the new head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-20162:05

‘Hard competitor’ Kumble has plenty to offer as India coach, says Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar believes the Indian team has a reservoir of experience to tap into in the form of Anil Kumble, the new head coach, during a busy season in which they play 17 Tests starting with the four in the West Indies. Kumble, Tendulkar said, will train the team to show fight in all situations.”It’s about being a tough character and being able to stand on your feet in tough moments. That’s what I feel Anil will teach them,” Tendulkar told ESPNcricinfo at the launch of Spartan International in London. “There are crunch moments in any match, so approaching those moments is important. He will be out there to win each and every moment.”While Tendulkar, who was a member of the BCCI committee that played a key role in selecting the coach, didn’t go into the details of the selection process, he was effusive in his praise for Kumble. He termed him a “hard competitor” who will not compromise on work ethic.”My experience with Anil has been fantastic,” Tendulkar said. “He has been a match-winner, and the guys have got a lot to learn from him. Anil is ready to share everything he has learnt from this wonderful sport. He played for close to 20 years, so there is plenty to share. I’ll just tell the players to grasp as much information from Anil as possible, and enjoy the game above everything else.”On the topic of bat size, something that has been in the news regularly of late, Tendulkar said he reflected Australia batsman David Warner’s sentiments: flat pitches are a bigger threat to the game than any other perceived imbalance between bat and ball.”The wickets need to change; they need to be more helpful for bowlers,” Tendulkar said. “In T20s, the greatest of bowlers are being reverse-swept. Three-hundred is no longer competitive in ODIs.”So there should be at least one format where bowlers have a better chance of executing their skills and making it more interesting for spectators. It’s difficult for someone to sit for five days, so you have to look at changing surfaces. I don’t think it’s got much to do with bats, but I’m sure people on the [relevant] panel will be able to look into it. That’s what David Warner has spoken about too.”

A day that began with the acclamation due to a new young champion ended in a somewhat mystifying draw

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford16-Aug-2016
ScorecardHaseeb Hameed continued to notch up the landmarks in a memorable season•Getty Images

A day that began with the acclamation due to a new young champion ended with many spectators questioning the tactical judgement of the current champions after the 269th Roses match had ended in a somewhat mystifying draw at Old Trafford. However, since cricket is, above all, a team game, let us leave the glittering talent of Haseeb Hameed for later consideration and proceed immediately to the issues that were puzzling some spectators as they left the ground on Tuesday evening.The facts are these and it is important to keep a tight grip on them: in the morning session Lancashire scored 162 runs in 23 overs before declaring on 232 for 3. That closure challenged Yorkshire to score 367 in 71 overs to win the game and thereby close the gap on  Middlesex to 15 points, with Andrew Gale’s team having a game in hand on the leaders.Although Adam Lyth was dropped in the gully by Alviro Petersen when he had made 3, he and Alex Lees batted in untroubled fashion for the entire afternoon session and Yorkshire were 148 for 0 off 41 overs at tea. At that point the visitors needed 219 off 30 overs, an asking rate of 7.3 runs an over. Demanding? Most certainly, but nothing that this Yorkshire side is not used to tackling in an era of T20 cricket.This is not T20, though, and that needs to be borne in mind when considering Yorkshire’s decisions. Bowlers can bowl higher and wider than they can in the short-form game and they can bowl as many overs as needed. Moreover, fields can be set more or less as a skipper wishes: nine men on the boundary if you like. This was also, of course, a fourth day wicket, although the ease with which Lees and Lyth added 188 runs in 52 overs suggested that it was hardly littered with unexploded bombs.All the same, with absolutely nothing to lose but a few wickets in an attempt to secure what would have been a most wonderful victory Yorkshire agreed the draw when they required 179 runs off 19 overs with all their wickets to spend. Fifty years ago such a decision may have seemed explicable although it is doubtful whether Brian Close would have opted against having a gamble. After all, who turns down a free lottery ticket, even if the odds are massively stacked against winning? Yorkshire, one thought, might at least have given it a go.Their first team coach, Jason Gillespie, took a different view. “Chasing was in the back of our minds. We thought we’d assess at tea, which we did. We thought ‘let’s keeping batting and we’ll get feedback from Lythy and Leesy’ he said. “They are the two lads who were out there. Their feedback was that with the deteriorating pitch, it would be a big challenge for them to go for it, let alone a new batter coming in. If it was 40 or 50 fewer runs, absolutely we’d have had a crack.”There were a couple of those moments where we thought ‘come on, we can do this’. Leesy and Lythy are always very much if push comes to shove, they want to take the attacking option. But both their feedback was the same. They felt that the pitch was deteriorating.”Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lancashire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, took a slightly different view. “We were a little bit nervous on the balcony,” he admitted. “When they got to that position with none down we perhaps thought they might have gone on a little bit longer. But that’s their decision and nothing to do with us. We are happy to come out if it with a strong draw against a very good team.”And perhaps no one wearing the red rose was happier in his humble, self-effacing fashion on Tuesday evening than Hameed, who, when he reached a century off the ball immediately before Lancashire’s declaration, became the youngest batsman in the history English first-class cricket to score two centuries in a match.There is going to be ballyhoo and there is going to be hype. That was almost certain well before half-past twelve when Hameed pushed Adil Rashid to cover point for the single which made him the first Lancashire batsman to score two centuries in a Roses match and only the third batsman from either side to do so. Percy Holmes, in 1920, and Ted Lester, in 1948, were the others. Once Hameed had joined them, however, a tide of remarkable statistics continued to flow in, proclaiming the emergence of one of the most talented opening batsmen the English game has seen, at least since the emergence of Alastair Cook.When he reached 70 in this innings, Hameed became the youngest Lancashire player to make a thousand runs in a Championship season. He is also the first teenage opener from any county to make four centuries in a Championship season. And he hasn’t stopped breaking records yet. In fact, he has only just begun.So the glare of national publicity will soon be turned on the head of this 19-year-old Boltonian who wants nothing more from life than to be allowed to pursue his vocation as a professional cricketer. Fortunately, one senses that despite his inexperience, Hameed is well able to cope with all the attention that will come his way. Amid all the questions and doubts that surrounded this day’s cricket, that much is certain. It is a comforting thought on a strange evening.

Fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are expected to be available for New South Wales at times during the Matador Cup next month, but the Blues will have do without Mitchell Starc as they defend their title

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2016Fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are expected to be available for New South Wales at times during the Matador Cup next month, but the Blues will have do without Mitchell Starc as they defend their title.Hazlewood is being rested from Australia’s ODI tour of South Africa to help him preprare for the home Test summer, and Cummins has been out of action for a year due to a stress fracture in his back. Neither of the two men, who are both Cricket Australia-contracted, have been named in the 14-man Matador Cup squad but Cricket New South Wales said they would be available “at stages”.The Blues cruised to last year’s title off the back of a remarkable tournament from Starc, who claimed 26 wickets – the next best in the whole competition was Kane Richardson’s 15 for South Australia. Like Hazlewood, Starc was being rested from the ODI tour of South Africa but an accident at training in Sydney last week has curtailed his preparation for the summer.Starc was going for a catch when he collided with a stump that had been dug into the ground, causing a deep laceration to his left shin. Australia captain Steven Smith said on Monday it was “one of the most gruesome things I’ve ever seen”, but was confident Starc would be fit for the first Test of the summer. The aim is for Starc to play New South Wales’ first Sheffield Shield game of the season, starting on October 25.That means the Blues will rely instead on fast bowlers Doug Bollinger and Gurinder Sandhu to lead their attack during the Matador Cup, along with Hazlewood and Cummins when available. However, there is no shortage of international experience in the group, with Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe and captain Moises Henriques all having played on Australia’s recent tour of Sri Lanka.Young fast bowlers Harry Conway and Ben Dwarshuis have been included and are in line for their List A debuts, while offspinner Chris Green is in the group having not played in last year’s Matador Cup. New South Wales begin their campaign against the Cricket Australia XI on October 7 at Hurstville Oval.New South Wales squad Moises Henriques (capt), Doug Bollinger, Ryan Carters, Harry Conway, Ed Cowan, Ben Dwarshuis, Chris Green, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu.

Shahadat Hossain and his wife were exonerated from the alleged torturing of their domestic help after the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against them

Mohammad Isam06-Nov-2016Bangladesh cricketer Shahadat Hossain and his wife were exonerated on Sunday in the case filed over the alleged torturing of their housemaid. Judge Tanjina Ismail of the chief tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression of Dhaka acquitted the couple as the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against them.On October 27, Shahadat and his wife pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after the court read out the charges to them. The victim had brought allegations against the couple on September 6 last year, and a case was later filed against them at the Mirpur Police Station. Police pressed charges against the couple on December 27, 2015.Seven prosecution witnesses, including the complainant and the victim of the case, gave their statements before the court. Of them, the victim, in her August 25 statement, said Shahadat and his wife Nrittya did not torture her.The BCB’s disciplinary committee had lifted a temporary ban on Shahadat in May on “humanitarian grounds”.Shahadat had been suspended in September 2015 after a case was registered against him and his wife under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. They were arrested on October 5 and were granted bail in December last year.

Declaring at lunch to give themselves five sessions to bowl West Indies out, Pakistan took emphatic strides towards taking an unassailable 2-0 lead, picking up four wickets by stumps on day four

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKraigg Brathwaite scored 67 before falling lbw to Mohammad Nawaz•Getty Images

Declaring at lunch to give themselves five sessions to bowl West Indies out, Pakistan took emphatic strides towards an unassailable 2-0 lead, picking up four wickets even as their bowlers derived little help from a still placid Abu Dhabi pitch. Chasing 456, West Indies were 171 for 4 at stumps, with only one of the four wickets coming off a wicket-taking ball. Their hopes weren’t entirely extinguished, though, with Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood seeing them through to stumps with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 47 in 17.2 overs. This was the pair that was together at the start of the fifth day when West Indies saved the Jamaica Test against India in August.The amount of time Pakistan gave themselves to take ten wickets indicated that they expected plenty of hard toil in excellent batting conditions. There was no swing available to the new-ball pair of Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan, and it took Misbah-ul-Haq only six overs to turn to spin from both ends.There was not much help on offer for the spinners either, but Yasir Shah did not have to wait too long for his first wicket. Having faced only three balls from the legspinner, Leon Johnson tried to sweep him, and ended up dragging the ball onto his stumps, off the flap of his pad. The ball pitched outside leg stump, so Johnson may have felt the shot was on, but he was probably playing the shot Yasir wanted him to play, given all the fielders waiting around the bat for a top-edge or a bat-pad.The same was the case when Darren Bravo chased away from his body to try and cut Rahat, back for a second spell, in the 19th over, while making no attempt to keep the ball down. He middled the ball, and it may well have rocketed to the boundary had he placed it a few feet either side of the fielder at point, but the choice of shot played right into Pakistan’s hands.Usually so selective with his attacking strokes, Kraigg Brathwaite also came out looking to go after the bowling. Early on, he drove Sohail on the up through cover point, and later he stepped out to Zulfiqar Babar and launched him for a six over long-on and slogged him, against the turn, for a four through midwicket. The wicket of Bravo, however, forced him into a change of approach: having made 41 off 54 balls till that point, he made 26 off his next 78 balls, before falling in the 14th over after tea. Mohammad Nawaz, unused until the 41st over of the innings, struck in his third over, getting the ball to skid on to beat Brathwaite’s attempt to work him into the leg side off the back foot.By then, Marlon Samuels had also departed to an aggressive shot, stepping out to Yasir, looking to drive him against the turn, and ending up scooping back a return catch. Samuels had scored 23 off 61, looking secure enough while defending and making a conscious effort to get behind the line while defending off the back foot. But ever so often he got himself in trouble by taking a risk – slashing and missing against Sohail, hitting over the top against Zulfiqar.Blackwood’s approach at the crease was much like that of Samuels, and he lived on the edge to reach 41 by stumps. He was lucky to survive when he went for a big hit against Yasir in the last over of the day and ended up skewing the ball in the air but into a vacant part of the covers. Chase, at the other end, was calmer and more secure, only troubled when Yasir got the odd ball to rip past his defensive bat.With Pakistan already 342 ahead at the start of the day, West Indies had set defensive fields against Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, hoping to limit the damage the batsmen could inflict upon them. In their desire to plug the boundaries, West Indies allowed a steady stream of easy singles; Shafiq and Azhar added 50 in the first 69 balls of the day, despite hitting only three fours in that time. Then Azhar, chasing away from his body, nicked to wide slip, falling for 79 and giving Miguel Cummins his first wicket of the match.By then, Pakistan’s lead was nearly 400. The declaration was to come very soon, but Pakistan gave few clues, with runs coming at a reasonable clip without the batsmen really forcing the pace. Shafiq hit a couple of gorgeous shots as he approached his fifty, whipping Jason Holder between midwicket and mid-on, and then getting to the landmark with a deft late-cut off Roston Chase. At the other end, Younis Khan punched Holder past his left hand and all the way to the straight boundary. By the time Pakistan declared, the two had put on 63 at 3.81 runs per over while barely breaking a sweat.

Joe Root says that he hopes that Alastair Cook will continue as England’s captain for “years to come”

George Dobell01-Dec-2016Joe Root says that he hopes that Alastair Cook will continue as England’s captain for “years to come”, in spite of growing speculation that Cook may be tempted to return to the ranks at the end of the current tour of India.Despite a century and two half-centuries in his last four Tests, Cook has looked oddly short of form and confidence at the crease and has sometimes cut a weary-looking figure on and off the pitch.Cook intimated in the build-up to the series that he may be wearing of the captaincy, or at least some of the responsibilities – not least engaging with the media – that come with the territory. However, with his 32nd birthday coming up on Christmas Day, there is no question about his enduring worth as England’s senior opener.Root is certainly not pushing for the job as his replacement. While you would hardly expect him to roar “Make me captain!”, the impression he gives is of a man happily developing his own role without the unnecessary burden of leadership. There will be plenty of time for captaincy in due course.”I think he is coping all right,” Root said of Cook. “He’s very professional and you don’t really get much from him in that respect. I imagine it must be quite tough being away from a new child and family and everything. You could put a lot of blame on Cooky but actually it is the responsibility of the batters to make those big scores. You can blame whoever you want, but we have to take responsibility for our own game.”I think he is pretty set on captaining for a few years to come and I hope he does because I think he is a brilliant leader and I’ve really enjoyed playing under him. I’m quite happy with the role I’m playing at the moment and genuinely, honestly I think he is the right man.”Even if England do lose the last two games in this series – and they have currently lost four of their last six Tests – it seems most unlikely that Cook will be sacked. It remains possible, however, that he may decide he has had enough and opt to continue solely as a batsman.Either way, he has a long time away from international cricket after the end of this tour – it is about seven months before England play another Test – which may provide time to reflect and recover. His somewhat weary demeanour at present may simply be the perfectly natural reaction to leaving his young family only hours after the birth of a child.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram will not be the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach for the 2017 IPL season because of “professional commitments and time constraints.”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2016Former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram will not be the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling coach for the 2017 IPL season because of “professional commitments and time constraints.””We will miss Wasim who has been part of the KKR family over the last few years and has played a significant role in our title triumphs in 2012 and 2014,” Venky Mysore, managing director and CEO of KKR, said. “We wish him the very best in all his endeavours.”Akram said he would miss being a part of the team. “I have loved the camaraderie in the KKR team and have enjoyed every opportunity to mentor the highly talented team over the years,” he said.” I am surely going to miss being part of the dressing room but I wish the team continued success.”Akram, who turned 50 in June, was a member of the KKR coaching staff since 2010. He had previously taken a break from the IPL in 2013 in order to spend more time with his family.The tenth season of the IPL begins on April 5 next year.

The Australian left-arm spinner believes that building pressure while being a little defensive is how the spinners can keep India’s batting in check

Daniel Brettig07-Feb-2017Stop the boundaries, build pressure and attack the stumps. Steve O’Keefe outlined these fundamentals for Australia’s spin bowlers as they train in Dubai to prepare for the gargantuan task of matching wits with India’s batsmen on home turf in a four-Test series starting later this month.O’Keefe dropped out of the Sydney Sixers’ run to the Big Bash League final in order to prepare specifically for India, and his thoughts on how to bowl to the likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair are now clear. O’Keefe and his offspin partner Nathan Lyon have been aided by advice from Rangana Herath, Monty Panesar and Daniel Vettori.Panesar’s advice was pointed, arguing that stopping India’s batsmen from scoring boundaries was critical, while at the same time using variations in pace depending on the subtleties of the pitches prepared for the series. “Monty has had a lot of success in India and it was great to work with him,” O’Keefe said. “The keys he talked about was being adaptable.”You’re going to get different wickets, albeit they will be generally slow and spinning, but at times they can play a bit differently, might be a little bit quicker, one might bounce a bit more. He talked about being able to adapt really quickly and on the spot and also being able to take away the batter’s scoring options in regards to boundaries… building pressure through being a little bit defensive, which was something that was, I guess, refreshing to hear.”Similarly, Herath and Vettori spoke about keeping pressure on by attacking the stumps and not being overawed by the occasion, nor the identities of the batsmen at the other end. “I’ve spoken to Gaz [Lyon] who has played here before and he has spoken to Daniel Vettori,” O’Keefe said. “I was able to briefly chat with Rangana Herath in Sri Lanka.”The main things you get from those guys is challenging the batter’s defence, and if you can continually put the ball in the right area, given these conditions will spin more than what we’re used to at home, that will help us. It’s about building pressure and not being overawed. They’re a class team, they’re exceptional batters at home and it’s going to be a big job.”But I have no doubt if we get it right for a sustained longer periods we can do some damage.”During Australia’s tour of India in 2013, Lyon finished with 15 wickets in three Tests, including a career-best 7 for 94 in the first innings in Delhi•BCCI

To that end, O’Keefe and his fellow left-arm spinner Ashton Agar are two players to have benefited from the 2015 Australia A tour to India, where the visitors acquitted themselves well against a home side that featured Kohli, Nair, Pujara and KL Rahul.”The positive was we got to play against those guys in those conditions, use an SG ball and compete,” O’Keefe said. “We did really well, we were able to win a game and draw a game. It was positive to know that we were able to bowl against these guys, we were able to have some success.”Both Ashton and I played over there and were both able to create chances and build pressure. I’ll be drawing on that but I also know it’s going to be quite hard. It’s another step up and when these guys are playing for their country they go up another level as well, so we’re going to have to match them, if not try and get on top of them if we’re going to win.”The major recent obstacle for O’Keefe has been a series of physical ailments, namely calf and hamstring issues, a key reason why he chose to forego the BBL’s bright lights for a more direct preparation. “At the moment the body feels good,” he said. “Been able to get through some long sessions here in Dubai. I think getting that volume in will certainly put me in good stead.”It wasn’t an easy decision stepping away, and seeing the Sixers play in the final, it’s something you miss out on. But for me it was about getting some volume under my belt, in that time I was able to get 100 overs in grade and second XI cricket and we also played with a Dukes ball which is a little bit similar to an SG, so I found it really beneficial.”The young Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson completes Australia’s spin quartet.

A round-up of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games that were played on February 16, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2017Manoj Tiwary and Virat Singh’s unbroken 149-run partnership for the third wicket steered East Zone to an emphatic eight-wicket win against North Zone in Mumbai.Put in to bat, North Zone’s top three amassed 85 run in 11.1 overs, with Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, and Unmukt Chand registering identical scores of 20.Yuvraj Singh top scored with a 24-ball 38. However, his dismissal in the 14th over triggered a collapse, with North Zone losing three more wickets within the next 14 balls.Manan Sharma (18) and Pradeep Sangwan (21) resuscitated the flagging North Zone innings, adding 29 runs for the eighth wicket.Pragyan Ojha returned figures of 3 for 33 for East Zone, while medium-pacers Sayan Ghosh and Pritam Das bagged two wickets each. Amit Verma accounted for Yuvraj and Parvez Rasool, who was out hit-wicket.Chasing 160, East Zone stuttered early on, losing Shreevats Goswami and Ishank Jaggi within the first two overs, before Tiwary (75 off 43) and Virat (74 off48) overhauled the target in 16.3 overs.Mayank Agarwal’s 46-ball 70 guided South Zone to a five-wicket victory against West Zone at the Wankhede Stadium.Having elected to bowl, South Zone spinners M Ashwin and Rahil Shah struck early to remove openers Sheldon Jackson (23) and Parthiv Patel (10) respectively.Medium-pacer Vijay Shankar lent able support to the duo; the three returned combined figures of 6 for 79, while Chama Milind – despite going at 10.25 in his four overs – finished with three wickets.Vishnu Vinod’s 20-ball 36 set the tone for South Zone’s 141-run chase, before Agarwal’s turbocharge – peppered with nine fours and two sixes – powered them to 136 in 16.4 overs. The Karnataka batsman shared a 52-run partnership – the highest in the match – with Dinesh Karthik (17), who came in after captain Shankar retired hurt in the seventh over with 62 for 1 on board.Pavan Deshpande and Ashwin then closed out the game for South Zone with 14 balls to spare.