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Worcestershire teenager Tom Fell again blunted Kent’s hopes of continuing their recent improvement

04-Aug-2013
ScorecardTom Fell remained unbeaten during the short amount of play possible•Getty Images

Worcestershire teenager Tom Fell again blunted Kent’s hopes of continuing their recent improvement in the LV= County Championship in two small passages of play on a rain-ruined third day at New Road.The 19-year-old batsman advanced his career-best score to 75 not out as the home side moved to 241 for seven in their first innings – still trailing by 83 runs – after adding 28 in 7.4 overs after tea.Following downpours in the morning, play was delayed until 4.45pm and the players were back in the pavilion within 20 minutes after more rain. On their return they stayed out for only a couple more overs before umpires Rob Bailey and Michael Gough quickly called off proceedings for the day when more rain rolled in from the Malvern Hills.Fell has so far hit 11 boundaries in an impressively composed innings and his eighth-wicket partner, Jack Shantry, looked a more than a capable batsman in reaching 30 in an undefeated stand of 83 in 28 overs.Worcestershire were in danger of following on when those two players linked up on Saturday and now they are only nine runs short of a second batting bowling point.Fell, a student at Oxford Brookes, played two first-class matches for Oxford MCCU early in the season and met with mixed fortunes on breaking into the county team last month. Dismissed for a duck on his Championship debut against Glamorgan, he made the most of a second opportunity with scoring 62 not out against Australia.Other than playing for more bonus points – Kent still need two wickets – this game now looks set to be a victim of the weather which wrecked two meetings when the teams were last together in the same division.In 2007 the game at Worcester was a complete washout as the ground failed to recover from a summer flood and play was possible on only one of the four days in the return fixture.Kent, who are unbeaten in their last six Championship games, are looking to climb away from the bottom two of the Division Two standings while Worcestershire are in mid-table.

Nottinghamshire missed the chance to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 after Sussex reached a daunting target of 291 to win by four wickets at Hove.

15-Aug-2013
ScorecardEd Joyce’s hundred surpassed Alex Hales’ effort•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire missed the chance to seal their place in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 after Sussex reached a daunting target of 291 to win by four wickets at Hove. They were led to victory by skipper Ed Joyce who carried his bat for an unbeaten 123, the 13th one-day hundred of his career.Opener Alex Hales made 101 and David Hussey 82 as Nottinghamshire plundered 105 off the last 10 overs to post a formidable total of 290 for 5.But Luke Wright and Joyce launched the reply with 112 off 13 overs and even when Wright fell for 62, Matt Machan, whose 51 came off just 28 balls, maintained the momentum. Sussex wobbled briefly towards the end of their chase before they got home with nine balls to spare.Nottinghamshire now need to beat Kent at Canterbury in their final game on August 26 to make sure of their place in the last four. If they lose Northamptonshire, who are a point behind them in Group C, will go through instead if they win their last match against Warwickshire in Birmingham.Notts made a bad start after winning the toss and batting first. Michael Lumb was lbw to the third ball of the innings from Lewis Hatchett and the same bowler picked up a second wicket in the third over. James Taylor, who played for Sussex last month as a guest against Australia, was superbly caught low down by Chris Jordan at slip to leave Notts 11 for 2.But that was Sussex’s last success for 16 overs as Hales and Samit Patel rebuilt the innings with a stand of 102 before Chris Liddle had Patel caught on the long-leg boundary off a slog-sweep for 43. Hales reached his 50 off 43 balls with his sixth boundary and went to his fourth List A hundred off a further 44 deliveries with 11 fours and a pulled six off Jordan. Two balls after reaching three figures he was superbly caught by Rory Hamilton-Brown running in from the long-on boundary.Hussey had been dropped on 17 at short cover by Mike Yardy and he made the most of the reprieve, adding 81 in 45 balls with Riki Wessels as he finished undefeated on 82 from 64 balls with seven fours and a six.A score of 290 should have been defended but Notts bowled poorly from the start and Sussex had 71 on the board at the end of the eight-over Power play. Wright, who made 114 on Tuesday against Netherlands was soon into his stride as he reached 50 from 33 balls and it was a surprise when he fell in the 13th over to a catch on the mid-wicket boundary after making 62 from 49 balls with three sixes and four fours.He had given Sussex the perfect platform and Machan was soon taking Notts’ attack apart, reaching his half-century from just 25 balls. He was caught at short fine-leg off Hussey for 51 but Sussex needed 83 from 17 overs at that stage and Joyce was in no mood to let the advantage slip.There was a brief wobble when the Sharks lost four wickets for 26 in seven overs and things might have been different had Patel not spilled a straightforward chance at extra cover when Joyce was on 108. But Will Beer joined him to contribute an unbeaten 20 and sealed victory with a six off Jake Ball. Joyce’s 123 – his second one-day hundred of the season – came off 109 balls with 16 boundaries.

Heavy skies interfered again in Pallekele, but there was enough time for Kaushal Silva to complete another first-class hundred in a fine year for the right-hand batsman

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2013

ScorecardKaushal Silva’s fruitful year continued•WICB Media

Heavy skies interfered again in Pallekele, but there was enough time for Kaushal Silva to complete another first-class hundred in a fine year for the right-hand batsman where he also scored 1073 runs in 10 innings for Sinhalese Sports Club, and for New Zealand A to dismiss the remainder of Sri Lanka’s mediocre batting order. Just under 55 overs were bowled on the second day of the four-day match, and at its end, the visitors had hit 31 for no loss in response to Sri Lanka A’s 252.Silva had been the most successful batsman in Sri Lanka’s first-class season earlier in the year – the final of which he helped win thrillingly – and at 27, he is mounting a case for a Test recall. Three men who have played Tests for Sri Lanka this year gave him scant support, as he held out against a good pace attack, and formed the backbone of Sri Lanka’s modest first-innings score with 103. He had begun the day on 49.Doug Bracewell made the first breakthrough for New Zealand A, removing Ashan Priyanjan for 40 in the fifth over of the morning to end his 81-run stand with Silva, whom Bracewell would also dismiss. Ish Sodhi took three middle-order scalps to ensure no more lengthy partnerships would take root, and Corey Anderson added a wicket to the one he had taken on Tuesday. Tearaway Adam Milne dismissed the last man.Carl Cachopa and Anton Devcich began cautiously as the day wound down, finishing on 14 and 11 not out respectively.The weather is forecast to improve on Thursday and Friday, but the rain may not disappear entirely. Only 40 overs were bowled on day one.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has said he feels for Kevin Pietersen over his ongoing exclusion from the England side and said any team without Pietersen in it was weaker for his absence

Brydon Coverdale17-May-2015Australia’s captain Michael Clarke has said he feels for Kevin Pietersen over his ongoing exclusion from the England side and said any team without Pietersen in it was weaker for his absence. Clarke flew out of Sydney on Sunday for Australia’s two-Test series in the West Indies, which will be followed by an England tour during which he will aim to lead the first Australian side to win the Ashes in England since 2001.Clarke’s men hold the urn after their 5-0 thrashing of England in Australia in 2013-14, a series during which Pietersen was England’s leading scorer. It also marks the last time Pietersen played for his country, and the newly-appointed England director of cricket, Andrew Strauss, last week effectively ruled out any return for Pietersen due to a “massive trust issue” between the two of them.”There’s probably two sides to me, there’s the personal side where I feel for KP because I get on well with him,” Clarke said. “I’d love to see him back playing cricket for England. His form has been outstanding. He’s still a great player. I know he wants to play. I feel for him on that side.”On the other side, we go there soon to play against England. Any team without Kevin Pietersen in it, I don’t think is as strong. I think his statistics speak for themselves. He’s been a wonderful player over a long period of time. He’s still in career-best form.”However, that was as far as Clarke would be drawn on the Pietersen issue, noting that England had a series against New Zealand before the Ashes and Australia’s immediate focus was their trip to the Caribbean. There, the Australians will face a West Indies outfit that under new coach Phil Simmons recently drew a three-Test series with England 1-1.”The last thing we can afford to do as an Australian team is get caught up in what’s happening in England, or West Indies or anywhere else,” Clarke said. “I think it’s really important we stay focused and make sure we’re as well prepared as we can be. Playing away from home is your greatest challenge as an international sporting team. England will be tough.”When we get there, no matter what XI players they put on the field, they’re going to be really tough. They know their conditions really well, as do West Indies. I think it’s important we stay really focused on this West Indies tour and try to have some success there.”They’ve got a really good bowling attack. I think they swung the ball well, whether that was with the brand new ball or reverse swing. They’ve got some handy spinners as well. The conditions we’re about to face will be very similar to the subcontinent. The wickets will be slow and low and will spin. They’re coming off some form against England.”Australia have one warm-up match in the West Indies, a three-day game against a WICB President’s XI in Antigua, before the first Test starts in Dominica on June 3. The make-up of the side is not necessarily straightforward, with two members of Australia’s most recent Test team – Joe Burns and Ryan Harris – missing from this touring squad.That could mean the tour game is an important audition, however it is unlikely that players will be available for that match if their teams make the IPL final, which is to be played on May 24. Shane Watson, Steven Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc are among the players who remain in contention to be part of the IPL final.

James Anderson has been appointed an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list having become the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets two weeks ago.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-20151:26

‘Reward for longevity and an excellent career’

James Anderson has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list having become the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets two weeks ago.Anderson made his England debut in late 2002 and played his first Test in 2003. He has been an integral part of three Ashes-winning sides and has been rewarded for his services to cricket. During the West Indies tour in April he went past Ian Botham’s record of Test wickets for England and during the Headingley Test against New Zealand he broke through the 400 barrier.”This means an enormous amount to me and my family,” Anderson said. “I’m very proud of my recent achievements and this just caps it off. These achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the help and support of my family, friends and everyone at Burnley, Lancashire and England.”ECB chief executive Tom Harrison added: “We have been privileged to watch Jimmy Anderson’s talent develop and flourish in recent years; he is undoubtedly the finest England fast bowler of his generation; a master of the art of swing bowling and surely one of the greatest cricketers to ever wear the three Lions. What a marvellous reward this is for all he has given to both England and Lancashire.”Maurice Vaughan, who has given a lifetime’s service to Etwall CC in Derbyshire, has also been awarded the British Empire Medal. Vaughan, now 90, was club president for 40 years and first team captain for twenty years and still mows the club’s pitch three times a week.”We are also thrilled to see Maurice win national recognition for the sterling service he has given Etwall in so many different volunteer roles,” Harrison said. “People like Maurice are the lifeblood of the game and we are delighted for him and all the other cricket volunteers whose efforts have been officially recognised today.”

Chris Rogers’ chances of returning to Australia’s XI for the second Test in Jamaica appear to be receding as he continues to suffer from the after-effects of the concussion that ruled him out of the tourists’ nine-wicket victory in Dominica

Daniel Brettig07-Jun-2015Chris Rogers’ chances of returning to Australia’s XI for the second Test in Jamaica appear to be receding as he continues to suffer from the after-effects of the concussion that ruled him out of the tourists’ nine-wicket victory in Dominica.The team doctor Peter Brukner has said that Rogers, who briefly faced up to some throw-downs in the Windsor Park nets during the match, is still working through symptoms and will be given more time to recover before returning to training.”Chris is still experiencing some symptoms of concussion and the plan is have him take it easy another few days,” Brukner said. “In regards to his availability for selection for the second Test it’s too early to say at this stage.”Ruling Rogers out of the second Test would defer a major selection conundrum for the coach Darren Lehmann and the selector on duty Mark Waugh, created by Adam Voges’ sublime debut century and the elevation of Shaun Marsh to partner David Warner at the top of the order.There is only room for two of Rogers, Marsh and Voges in the team, and it would seem harsh in the extreme to drop the latter following an innings that effectively won the Dominica Test for Australia. Marsh has performed solidly on his latest stint in the side, and is valued for his ability to bat in a variety of places in the order. Rogers will be of most value to the team in England, where his sturdy opener’s technique will be employed to once more blunt the new ball work of James Anderson and others.Among other places in the top six, the allrounder Shane Watson is least assured of his place, but is helped by Lehmann’s longtime insistence that his teams must always have a viable fifth bowling option. Mitchell Marsh is also on tour, and may have been moved into the team had the selectors chosen to go with twin spin from Fawad Ahmed and Nathan Lyon in Dominica.Rogers has flagged that he will retire at the conclusion of the Ashes, meaning Lehmann is on the lookout for the next man to serve as Warner’s compatriot. Apart from Marsh, the Queenslander Joe Burns is in contention after opening with great success for Queensland and making his own Test debut during the home summer, with other options including Cameron Bancroft and the former Test opener Ed Cowan.”Shaun Marsh has been excellent for us in the middle order last summer,” Lehmann said. “He’s grown as a Test player and he’s starting to get more consistent in his game. That’s pleasing. He can bat anywhere between one to six and at the moment we’re trying to pick the best six batters to play each game. He’s certainly in the frame [to succeed Rogers].”Whoever turns out at Sabina Park, they will be doing so with the words of Lehmann and the captain Michael Clarke about top-order runs ringing in their ears. Lehmann said the team were acutely aware of the fact they “got out of jail” in Dominica thanks to Voges and the lower order partnerships he built with Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon, and needed more from the top six. More red-ball matches between now and the first Ashes Test in Cardiff next month will help.”The captain and I are pretty big on the top six making the runs,” Lehman said. “So that was a disappointing output, we were 6 for 100 roughly. We need our top six making runs. We know that, to perform how we want to perform in each Test match. The tail got us out of jail here and they’ve done that a bit in the past. The batters will be working hard to get it right.”We were a little bit rusty the first hour with the ball on the first day because blokes hadn’t played in a bit. The same with the bat in the first innings. Hopefully all the cricket we’ve played, with the tour game and the training, hopefully in Jamaica we’ll start to settle into that five-day Test mode. It’s not a concern. It’s just about the batters adapting better.”

Had the weather been less unsettled all week, Yorkshire would surely be halfway up the M1 by now, celebrating their sixth Championship win of the season

Andrew Miller at Edgbaston07-Jul-2015
ScorecardWill Rhodes ensured Yorkshire set a big target and gave away his chance of a hundred for the good of the cause•Getty Images

Had the weather been less unsettled all week, Yorkshire would surely be halfway up the M1 by now, celebrating their sixth Championship win of the season. As it is, they face another day of darting between the showers in Birmingham on Wednesday if they wish to seal a thumping victory and take their biggest stride yet towards a second consecutive County Championship title.By the close of a day in which 42 overs were lost to a conveyor belt of black clouds rolling in from the west, Warwickshire had reached 43 for 1 in pursuit of an unobtainable 434. With the fourth ball of their reply, Ryan Sidebottom’s trademark in-curler inflicted an ignominious pair on the home captain, Varun Chopra, but Jonathan Trott and Ian Westwood guarded against another calamity with an unbroken second-wicket stand.Yorkshire’s second innings had been one of curiously indecisive dominance. The day had dawned with the clear hope that Will Rhodes, their hugely promising 20-year-old opener, would convert his maiden Championship hundred into a platform-setting century.However, the loss of all but half an hour’s play on a rain-wrecked morning caused a recalibration of their priorities and Rhodes was eventually caught behind off Oliver Hannon-Dalby for a hard-earned 79 from 186 balls, unselfishly seeking to up the tempo when ordinary circumstances might have permitted him more time to grind out his runs.The day’s early pace-setter had been Rhodes’ overnight partner, Jack Leaning, who resumed with fluency to add 18 quick runs to his overnight 28 before fencing a lifter off Boyd Rankin to the keeper. The promotion of Aaron Finch to No. 4 seemed a clear statement of Yorkshire’s intent to step up the tempo. However, with a highest score of 33 in all competitions this season, time in the middle for Finch seemed every bit as important to Yorkshire’s long-term cause.Though he finished with 73 off 75 balls, his innings seemed very much a work in progress as he continued to feel his way back after a hamstring injury. An early six off Rankin was followed, from the penultimate delivery before the declaration, by the most emphatic stroke of the day, a full-blooded strike into the stands at long-on off Hannon-Dalby. But in between whiles Finch was subdued, if never stationary, as Yorkshire rotated the strike well against a Warwickshire attack who maintained their discipline but whose stuffing hadn’t really been replaced after the horrors of the second day.”I haven’t made many runs to be fair, but coming back after a long lay-off has been tough,” said Finch. “But I feel mentally really good, physically good, and my game is in good order. It was good to get up there and bat at four and have a bit more time in the middle and play some shots.”Andrew Gale came and went cheaply, bowled by Jeetan Patel for his second score of 1 in the match, whereupon Jonny Bairstow, playing with the freedom of a man in the form of his life, threw caution to the wind and the bat to the ball to swipe 23 from 20 balls, including a four and two sixes in consecutive deliveries before holing out to Westwood at deep cover two balls later.Tim Bresnan came and went in a comedy run-out, as he and Finch attempted a second overthrow after two wayward shies, before James Middlebrook was caught at short cover to give Hannon-Dalby his third of the innings.After Sidebottom’s early strike, anything seemed possible but Yorkshire’s eagerness to bowl magic balls got the better of them as Trott and Westwood repelled the new-ball threat.”It’s about being consistent and patient,” said Finch, “not trying to bowl them out in a session. Wickets have fallen in clumps so we need to maintain that pressure with balls in a row.”We can’t control the weather, but we’ve given ourselves a minimum of 110 overs. We’ve tried to put ourselves in a position that makes it a hell of a chase for them if they decide to go for it. It’s a catch-22, if we get them nine-down we’ll be cursing, but I think Galey’s made exactly the right decision there.”

Match referee Javagal Srinath was forced to suspend play for half an hour in the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan after a rock was thrown onto the playing area at the Premadasa Stadium

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo19-Jul-2015Match referee Javagal Srinath was forced to suspend play for half an hour in the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan after a rock was thrown onto the field at the Premadasa Stadium. The incident came after fights had broken out in the terraced section of the south-eastern stand during Sri Lanka’s innings.”There was an issue between two factions in the stands,” SLC secretary Prakash Schaffter said. “The police sorted that out. There was a stone that found its way to the ground – outside of the boundary line though. Nevertheless it was on the ground. They temporarily stopped play and then the police brought the situation under control. When we confirmed that to the match referee, the match commenced. Play was stopped partly because of an abundance of caution, because player security is paramount.”The lower tier of the stand was temporarily evacuated after the fights began, but objects continued to be thrown – in many instances by people who were being evicted from the ground. Several rocks were thrown through the back of the open south-eastern stand, and these were seen cascading down the terrace steps.Policemen had swarmed the area early on during the incident, but while they were able to control the violence within the stadium, they were less effective outside it. People throwing rocks were seen fleeing the stadium through the small alleyways that surround the venue.The interruption came at around 9:35pm – Sri Lanka were at 158 for 7 in the 34th over of their chase – and the players were asked to leave the field soon after. The entire eastern stand was evacuated and once match officials were satisfied that police and riot police had quelled the violence, play resumed at 10:05pm with no reduction in overs.Mahela Jayawardene, the former Sri Lanka captain, was among those to react to the incident. He tweeted: “Tough game for @OfficialSLC . Heard what happen with the spectators. We as a nation don’t believe in this kind of behaviour.”Pakistan went on to complete a 135-run win, and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Australia’s retiring captain Michael Clarke has implored his men to fight out his final Test match as deep as possible, at the end of an Ashes series in which the fifth day has been entirely redundant

Daniel Brettig19-Aug-20153:54

Chappell: Expecting better from Australia

Australia’s retiring captain Michael Clarke has implored his men to fight out his final Test match as deep as possible, at the end of an Ashes series in which the fifth day has been entirely redundant.It was hard to ignore the note of fatigue, even resignation, in Clarke’s voice as he spoke ahead of the last match of his international career. He has spent the past week in London with his family, and when asked how he would fare in life without the motivation provided by the game, he offered the words: “I can’t wait.”Even so, Clarke will not want to leave the arena with a whimper. He has trained as assiduously as ever leading into this match, and hopes that a team set back enormously by the past two Test defeats in Brimingham and Nottingham will take something more from the series at the Oval. No less a Cricket Australia authority than Pat Howard has declared a “big difference” between 3-2 and 4-1. Clarke wants his men to scrap this one to the finish.”We can’t win this series but a lot of the guys are going to come back here in four years so it’s important for them to try and get another win under our belt,” Clarke said after looking at an Oval pitch exhibiting far more moisture than the 2009 or 2013 versions. “It’s going to be a result wicket. Someone is going to win, someone is going to lose.””I think this Test is as much about our character as anything else. We need to play with that resilience and grit and determination and really fight as hard as we possibly can. The past couple of Tests in particular have only gone two and a half days so we need to try and take this as deep as we possibly can. That’s going to come down to fight – and that’s a big part of why you play, why you look forward to playing cricket for Australia.”I can think of so many occasions where you watch someone get through a tough period and have success, and that’s what inspires you as a young player, to play at the highest level. I think part of our responsibility is to try and fight our backsides off and grind our way to a victory in this Test match.”Clarke was reticent to offer any “advice” on where Australian cricket should go from here, whether it be to the selectors or to the new leadership duo of Steven Smith and David Warner. But he acknowledged that the end of this series will herald the biggest turnover of talent since the conclusion of the 2006-07 summer, when Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn and Justin Langer all bid farewell.”It is going to be a big change,” he said. “But I think that’s exciting for Australian cricket. I think, I’ve always said, there’s a lot of talent whether it be in this group or back playing first-class cricket and now we’ve just got to turn that talent into consistent performance. So, you know, guys have been waiting for their opportunity and now they are going to get it.Although Michael Clarke didn’t spell out his team, Mitchell Marsh is expected to return to the XI•Getty Images

“It is going to take a lot of hard work to transfer that talent into performance and consistent performance and a lot of guys have been making runs and taking wickets in Australia in domestic cricket and now they’re just going to have to learn to perform in different conditions all around the world. I think that’s probably the toughest challenge as a player at the highest level of international cricket, actually having success all around the world. So, I think it is exciting.”Clarke ruled out taking on any role with CA in the immediate future, saying that the team needed fresh ideas as distinct from his own. “For now I won’t be involved with Australian cricket,” he said. “I think it is best that I have some time, it is best for the team as well. When you retire you retire for a reason, and I think it is now time for, like I say, there are some fresh ideas and some fresh energy from a lot of the young players.”However Clarke did say he would make a point of regular visits to Melbourne to see his longtime team physio Alex Kountouris, who also happens to be finishing life as a constant tourist with this tour. Kountouris is being promoted to head of sports science for CA, though he will still make the occasional overseas trip. Despite a litany of physical issues over the past decade, Clarke said he expected to be able to move with relative freedom in retirement.”I’ll stay in contact with Alex. I’ll fly to Melbourne once a week just to see him,” Clarke said. “That’s one thing I know about life: your friends are your friends. It will give me more free time to spend with my friends.”With my body I think I’ll need to maintain some form of training regime to keep it healthy, which I will do. I’ll be disciplined with that. Obviously it will be a lot different to preparing for a Test match or a one-dayer . . . but there’ll still be plenty of things I can do to stay fit and healthy and not carry too much weight.””What you put your body through playing sport at the highest level, take that off it and my back and hammies will be a lot more comfortable.”While Clarke was unable to offer a team for the his final match, it is expected that Mitchell Marsh will return to the XI. Josh Hazlewood is a likely omission, leaving the selectors to ponder the inclusion of either Pat Cummins or Peter Siddle.

Ireland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and USA will participate in the qualifiers of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, in Kuala Lumpur from October 15 to 22

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2015Ireland, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Uganda and USA will participate in the qualifiers of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, in Kuala Lumpur from October 15 to 22. The winner of the qualifying tournament will proceed to the main event to be played in Bangladesh early next year.This is the second and final chance for the five Under-19 teams to qualify after they finished second in their respective regional qualifying tournaments. The 12 matches will be shared between Kinrara Oval and Bayumas Oval, including the final on October 22 at the Kinrara Oval.The winner will join the ten Test-playing nations along with Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia and Scotland.