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West Indies quick Miguel Cummins has said he did not let the long wait for his first Test wicket fluster him

Karthik Krishnaswamy in St Lucia 11-Aug-20161:42

‘My debut game was very tough’ – Cummins

Having gone wicketless with the first 280 balls of his Test career, Miguel Cummins picked up three in his next ten balls. In the space of those first 280 balls, Cummins went through multiple frustrations: going off with cramps in his debut Test, and, in his second Test, watching batsmen fend accurate bouncers in the general direction of short leg but just out of the fielder’s reach.”For me, the debut Test was very tough, because I was playing for the first time so nerves took in,” Cummins said at the end of the second day’s play in St Lucia. “Was fighting a long way, fighting hard, hard, hard. Came today, saw the [other] guys take wickets but didn’t let that fluster me. I tried looking for wickets but my job was to build pressure.”On Tuesday, West Indies took the first five Indian wickets for 126 runs, and in the second session on Wednesday, they ran through the last five wickets for the cost of only 14 runs. But in between, R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha put on 213 to balance out some of West Indies’ good work with the ball.Cummins applauded his team-mates for toppling India’s top half, but admitted Ashwin and Saha made things tough for them. “We did a very good job of getting their top order,” he said. “They are a very talented batting line-up but we stuck to our plans. But can’t take anything away from Ashwin and Saha, they batted very well. We had to keep fighting when they had the partnership.”West Indies made good use of a St Lucia pitch with plenty of bounce on offer, with Alzarri Joseph dismissing Virat Kohli with a well-directed lifter on day one and Cummins and Shannon Gabriel wiping out the lower order with a barrage of short balls.”The plan was not to bowl short [exclusively] but mix it up,” Cummins said. “Ashwin normally sits on the back foot, lot of guys sit on the back foot. So our plan was to get some balls [pitched] up and let them drive and then use the short-pitched stuff.”

West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree has described Pakistan as a “very, very dangerous team” which can “demolish any opposition.”

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2016Legspinner Samuel Badree has described Pakistan as a “very, very dangerous team” which can “demolish any opposition.” West Indies face them in three T20Is from Friday in the UAE and Badree insisted his side was”wary of the challenge” posed by Sarfraz Ahmed and his men despite the gap in rankings. West Indies, having won the World T20, are at No. 3 and Pakistan are No. 7.”On their day, they can demolish any opposition, and we are wary of that challenge,” Badree said. “We respect every opposition that we come up against, and we are going to do the same against Pakistan. We are going to prepare well, knowing that Pakistan are a very, very dangerous team.”The responsibility of living up to that reputation has fallen on a few rookies, and Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur gave them a glowing recommendation. “The players we have brought in – Imad Wasim, Babar Azam, Sohail Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz – they take the game on. They don’t fear failure, which is fantastic. They are the guys we want to build this one-day cricket brand around.”West Indies, however, would have to find a way to cope without two of their best T20I players. Chris Gayle is injured and Andre Russell withdrew from the tour for personal reasons.”It’s a different team from the team that won the World T20,” Badree said. “We have a lot of new guys, a few players who are making their debuts on this tour. A number of our guys have been here before – the likes of [Sunil] Narine, [Dwayne] Bravo, [Kieron] Pollard. So we are looking forward to some very good games of cricket and, of course, we’d like to win the series and remain as one of the best T20 teams in the world.”One of the newer faces is opening batsman Evin Lewis, who made his maiden first-class, List A and T20I centuries in 2016 and has been named player of the year by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board. That maiden T20I ton came against India in Florida in which Lewis and Johnson Charles shared a 126-run opening stand to lay the platform for a match-winning total of 245.”I said [to myself] that this could be my opportunity to put myself on the world stage and I went out there and played positively and it paid off for me so I was happy about that,” Lewis said of the knock. “Johno [Johnson Charles] is a pretty attacking batsman like myself so there is less pressure on me. When he scores, it makes it easier for me to score also.”A factor that could make this series, which also includes three ODIs and three Tests, compelling could be the mercurial nature of both sides.”Pakistan are very similar to us in terms of their consistency – or lack, thereof,” Badree said. “One day they will give a brilliant performance, just like us, then the next, they leave a lot to be desired.”West Indies begin the tour with a warm-up match against Emirates Cricket Board XI on September 20. There is a day-night Test in the schedule as well.

Greaves, Brooks, Motie, Smith and Drakes earn maiden call-ups as West Indies rest several senior players

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2021Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer are among a number of regulars left out for one reason or another for West Indies’ upcoming white-ball tour of Pakistan, and both the ODI and T20I squads wear a very fresh look with a number of new faces. For the ODIs, four players – Justin Greaves, Shamarh Brooks, Gudakesh Motie and Odean Smith – have earned their maiden call-ups, while Dominic Drakes and Motie have been included for the T20Is. Both teams will be led by Kieron Pollard.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A CWI statement confirmed that while Holder missed out because of “workload management”, Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy are out because of injuries, and Lewis, Hetmyer, Russell and Lendl Simmons were unavailable because of personal reasons.Left-arm spinner Motie was a travelling reserve for the recent T20 World Cup in the UAE, while quick bowlers Drakes and Smith, who played two T20Is for West Indies in 2018, were net bowlers on that tour.

Pak vs WI in Karachi

Dec 13 – 1st T20I
Dec 14 – 2nd T20I
Dec 16 – 3rd T20I
Dec 18 – 1st ODI
Dec 20 – 2nd ODI
Dec 22 – 3rd ODI

Lead selector Roger Harper said in the statement that the new players had been selected on the back of their performances in the Super50 Cup and the CPL T20 tournament.”There are a number of talented newcomers in each format that will have the opportunity to show what they are capable of at the international level,” Harper said. “Justin Greaves is a very talented player, had a good CG Insurance Super50 tournament and performed well in the President’s XI match against Ireland in 2020.”Odean Smith really grabbed our attention in the last CPL. His pace was never in question, however, he has added greater control and has displayed the ability to be a wicket-taker.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Shamarh Brooks batted well in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and followed that up with good performances in the CPL. He will lend greater depth to the batting line-up.”Gudakesh Motie has been rewarded for his outstanding performance in the CG Insurance Super50, followed up by his showing in the CPL.”Dominic Drakes has the potential to be an outstanding all-rounder as he displayed during the last CPL.”The three ODIs are a part of the World Cup Super League. For the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup, nine qualifiers, excluding hosts India, would be determined by the rankings based on the 13-team league, featuring 12 Full Members and Netherlands, with each team playing eight ODI series – four home and four away. West Indies currently lie in the eighth position and have the opportunity to overtake Pakistan and get to No. 7. Harper said “these ODIs are very important to us and are being treated as such”.ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Shai Hope (vice-capt), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Nicholas Pooran, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr
T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Nicholas Pooran (vice-capt), Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr

On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked but they hauled themselves to a dominant position

Andrew Miller at Lord's16-Jul-2016A month ago, on this very ground, Alastair Cook faced up to the press on the final day of the Sri Lanka series and bemoaned the fact that – after two facile victories in the opening two Tests of the summer – rain had robbed his developing team of a timely test of their mettle. “It would have been good to put us under pressure,” he had said. Well, he’s going to get his wish on Sunday, and no mistake.On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked and, with Chris Woakes producing yet another display of outstanding attacking swing bowling, they came close to capsizing on more than one occasion.And yet, by the close, Pakistan had ridden out the jitters and found sufficient resistance from their lower-middle order to put themselves in a position of undeniable dominance. With a lead of 281 already banked, and on a surface that is beginning to offer both turn and variable bounce, Pakistan know as well as England that – in the legspinner Yasir Shah, not to mention a potent trio of left-arm seamers – they have an attack that can wrap up a first victory at Lord’s since 1996.”I’d like to say we are just in front,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach. “It’s very close, almost too close to call. I think we are in for a cracking day’s cricket tomorrow, if we can sneak another 19-20 and get just over 300, it’s going to be a very, very good Test match.”Moeen Ali, England’s offspinning allrounder, didn’t try to disagree with that sentiment. Having been bundled out for 272 on the second afternoon – with Yasir claiming figures of 6 for 72 in his first Test outside of Asia – he admitted that England’s batsmen would need to formulate a better plan second-time around if they want to avoid being shown up for the second innings in a row.”In the first innings, we didn’t bat very well, so we want to put that right,” Moeen said. “There’s a lot of us who want to score some runs, but it’s going to be tough. They are a very good bowling side and you saw in the first innings, they have a very good legspinner who’s going to cause us trouble.”England’s problems in the first innings stemmed largely from Yasir’s control. With little in the way of big spin on offer, line and length – allied to natural variation and the odd ripper – were sufficient to destabilise an England middle order for whom the legend of Shane Warne is but a distant noise in the commentary box. In the ten years since his retirement, practical experience of such artistry has been thin on the ground, and it showed in the manner of all too many dismissals.”The guys will come out with definite plans,” said Moeen. “We’ve been preparing very well against legspinners but, in the first innings, we didn’t play very well against him, and he got a lot of wickets, so he’s going to be the biggest threat tomorrow.”In the first innings we were caught in the crease a lot and didn’t use our feet against him. But sometimes, when it’s not spinning, it’s a little bit harder because he bowls very accurately. In the next innings, we’ll have to be good on our feet, whether back or forward, but the lack of bounce did us a little bit in the first innings. We are just going to have to play well. We’ve all got runs in the past so we are going to have to use that experience and play well against him.”On the evidence of Moeen’s own bowling performance, a lack of bounce won’t be the issue on a gently deteriorating Lord’s surface. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s suicidal mo(w) to deep midwicket was a clear case of batsman error, then the ball that did for an extraordinarily skittish Younis Khan clearly gripped before cannoning into his stumps off an inside edge.Still, Moeen was happy to accept the offerings, particularly after a fallow first innings in which a far more focused Misbah had beaten him out of the attack with a volley of dead-eyed sweeps and reverse-sweeps.”I actually felt like I bowled all right in the first innings, but Misbah … I just can’t bowl at him at times,” he said. “I try to do a holding job but it’s very difficult, so I was very pleased to get him out today. But I’m happy with how I’m bowling at the moment. I felt like it came out just as well [in the first innings] but I just got smashed. That can happen.”The assistance for Moeen, second-time around, may have had as much to do with the rough outside off that Pakistan’s trio of left-arm quicks had created, but the doubts, where Yasir is concerned, are already embedded in England’s minds. Arthur didn’t need much invitation to begin the probing on behalf of his team.”I think we saw there was a little bit on offer,” he said. “The one that got Younis gripped quite big. And it’s a little bit up-and-down as well, there’s variable bounce which is great, so hopefully it will assist Yasir in a big way.”The wider concern for England is that Pakistan’s team are far from a one-trick outfit. In fact, as Yasir himself admitted after the first innings, his own success had only arisen because he had set himself to do a holding roll for his seamers. But on that occasion, amid the emotion of Mohammad Amir’s return to the fray, their lines and their disciplines went fractionally awry, and Arthur was adamant they’d be better for having got all that out of their systems.Amir, he claimed, had been so nervous before his opening spell that he could barely grip the ball. But, he added, “he hit his areas more often than not and did a job at good pace. Hopefully he can take that into tomorrow. Everything that’s gone has gone now, he’s back out on the field, raring to go tomorrow, and hopefully he can bowl us to victory.”However, England’s task could and perhaps should be significantly less daunting than it already is. On a day when Woakes’ penetration kept them in the contest, Steven Finn produced his best spell of a difficult match, only to see two catches in three overs go down. The second, by Jonny Bairstow off Sarfraz Ahmed, was especially culpable, and Moeen admitted that England’s standards had not been high enough of late.”We spoke about it,” he said. “We haven’t been catching very well this summer, and we are going to have to get better. Going back to the Ashes [in 2015], the reason we won it was some brilliant catches. We held on to everything so we know we can field better. Hopefully we can go bang, bang tomorrow and keep them less than 300-310. It’s still going to be tough, but we’ve got players hopefully who can knock them off.”Pakistan, however, have a legspinner who can knock England off in return, and Moeen knows that he stands squarely in their way.”Pakistan spinners are always very attacking and tactically very good,” said Moeen. “Yasir is always attacking the stumps so, as a batter, you feel like you’ve got to play, but he does bowl bad balls as well. He’s a human being at the end of the day. He can have a bad day as well.”

Many county bowling attacks have suffered at the hands of Wayne Madsen over the years, but none more so than Leicestershire’s since the likeable South African made his first appearance in the County Championship back in 2009

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2016
ScorecardWayne Madsen’s half-century led Derbyshire’s reply•Getty Images

Many county bowling attacks have suffered at the hands of Wayne Madsen over the years, but none more so than Leicestershire’s since the likeable South African made his first appearance in the County Championship back in 2009.Madsen was at it again on the second day of this Division Two match. His innings of 76 not only held the Derbyshire first innings together, just about, it saw him pass both 9,000 career first-class runs and 1,000 against Leicestershire. The only surprise, as far as Leicestershire supporters were concerned, was seeing Madsen attempt to pull a Charlie Shreck bouncer and top edge a catch into the leg side.Leicestershire’s first innings 380 was built on a first century of the season for Ned Eckersley. Resuming on 300 for 7, Eckersley and Ben Raine extended their eighth wicket partnership to 58 before the left-handed Raine was tempted into driving at a wide delivery from Alex Hughes, and was well caught off the outside edge by wicket-keeper Alex Mellor, standing up to Hughes’ medium-pace.Richard Jones played over a straight ball from very occasional offspinner Neil Broom, at which point Eckersley was in danger of being stranded on 99 – the more so because Leicestershire No. 11 Charlie Shreck came to the wicket having scored no runs at all in any of his previous seven innings.Shreck kept out what remained of Broom’s over, however, and in the following over Eckersley steered left-armer Callum Parkinson into the off side for the runs he need to go to his century, which came off 223 balls and included nine fours.Shreck was left not out, again without scoring, when Eckersley, on 117, went down the wicket and tried to loft Callum Parkinson to long-on, but could not clear Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman. The 19-year-old Parkinson, making his first-class debut, finished with 4 for 90 from 33.4 overs.Derbyshire lost their first three batsmen with just 40 on the board, with all three having their off-stump knocked out of the ground. Godleman had only himself to blame, shouldering arms to a Clint McKay inswinger, but Ben Slater and Chesney Hughes both received superb deliveries that straightened off the seam from Ben Raine.Madsen has been consistency personified this season however, coming into the match having scored 860 championship runs at an average of over 60, and the right-hander hit eight fours in going to his 50 off 71 balls.Broom looked less secure, and had already played across the line on a couple of occasions when clipping Shreck’s outswingers through the leg side when he got a leading edge attempting the shot again, and was well caught by Raine running back from mid-on for 33.Madsen may have been fortunate to survive a leg before shout to the following ball, but McKay returned to pick up the wicket of Shiv Thakor, pinning the former Leicestershire allrounder leg before to his third delivery.The evening session was a different story. Madsen and Alex Hughes battled away, at least until Madsen’s rush of blood, and Hughes and Mellor, making his first class debut, saw the visitors to the close without further loss.

Australia batter back in the nets less than a week after surgery, with coach Mott declaring her a chance for Thursday’s Test

Alex Malcolm23-Jan-2022Australia batter Beth Mooney has a chance to play in the women’s Ashes Test match on Thursday in Canberra despite having undergone surgery on a fractured jaw last week.Mooney missed the three T20Is in Adelaide, although two of them were washed out, after fracturing her jaw while batting in the nets last Monday. But Mooney returned to the nets on Sunday facing some throwdowns and ran some laps before rain enveloped Adelaide Oval.Australia coach Matthew Mott told that Mooney has a chance to play in the Canberra Test.”She was hitting out the back with Peter Clarke our sports psych, she’s in good nick,” Mott said. “We’ll certainly look at her for the Test match. All the indications are looking very positive. She’s been up and about. She’s a warrior. She’s tough. We can’t wait to have her back in our group. But she’s going ok.”Her team-mate Rachael Haynes said the players were stunned at Mooney’s recovery.”It’s pretty incredible, to be honest,” Haynes said. “It’s been really nice to see how much she’s progressed. Even little things over the last couple of days, the swelling around her face has gone down quite substantially and just having a bit of a chat with her and checking in and seeing how she’s been going, she’s feeling really confident.”She had a hit today in the net and also a run around and by all accounts, she’s not in any pain or anything like that. So I think it’s just about her stepping through those little markers that she needs to get through and without a doubt, she’s definitely got her eye on that Test match in Canberra.”Related

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Mooney opened in Australia’s last Test against India earlier this summer alongside Alyssa Healy but there is a squeeze for places at the top of the order with Haynes returning to the side after missing the India Test with a hamstring injury.Haynes has opened in five of her nine Test innings, however, she has only reached 30 three times in Tests and all three have come batting in the middle order – that includes scores of 98 and 87 in previous Ashes Tests at No.7 and No.5. But Haynes is preparing to bat at the top as well.”Obviously, that’s a conversation probably for Meg and Motty to have,” Haynes said. “I’ve certainly been preparing like I will bat in the top order, facing plenty of the new ball, and those sorts of things in preparation for the Test match. But as I’ve said in the past, I’m happy to bat wherever they need me to. I’ve prepared for that knowing that I could end up in the middle but I’m definitely preparing to open at this stage.”The make-up of Australia’s attack is also unknown with Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen set to return after missing the India Test. The season-ending injury to Tayla Vlaeminck may open the door for Stella Campbell to play again after making her Test debut against India.Stella Campbell bowling on Test debut•Getty Images

Campbell was left out of Australia’s Ashes squad but is part of the Australia A squad and took 7 for 25 for NSW in a recent WNCL match against ACT at Manuka Oval.”Having watched first-hand the damage she did against ACT and just the wicket as well and [it] had a little bit more bounce and carry in it than perhaps what we’ve seen in the past,” Haynes said. “I think she’d definitely be coming into calculation. She obviously debuted earlier on in the summer as well. And I think particularly in red-ball cricket, where your ability to take wickets is, obviously, fundamental to winning Test matches. No doubt they’ll be sitting down and having a bit of a discussion on who they think the best makeup is for our side to be able to take 20 wickets because that’s ultimately what we’re going to look to do. We do want to be positive and try and win this Test match.”

Opener reaches 97, Harry Brook scores fifty as visitors go to stumps 358 for 8 at Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2021Yorkshire reached 358 for 8 at stumps against Kent on a fluctuating first day in the LV= Insurance County Championship at Canterbury, Adam Lyth their top-scorer with 97 and Harry Brook making 54.Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens celebrated being named as one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year by taking 3 for 52 and Matt Milnes claimed 2 for 63, including the prize scalp of England Test captain Joe Root for 11, while wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson took five catches.The visitors had regained control by the close of play in the Group Three fixture thanks to Steven Patterson and David Willey, who were unbeaten on 34 and 25 respectively, leaving Yorkshire with four bonus points and Kent two.Yorkshire won the toss and opted to bat in numbingly cold conditions, racing to 28 without loss before Tom Kohler-Cadmore fell for 14 to the final ball of the fourth over, glancing a leg-side delivery from Stevens to Robinson.The visitors continued to score at more than six an over for the first hour and Lyth reached his fifty before noon, from just 43 balls, before Kent slowed the run rate. Harry Podmore then removed Tom Loten for 27, tempting him to prod at a leg side delivery that was caught behind, leaving Yorkshire 128 for 2 at lunch.Kent claimed four wickets in the afternoon session, including Root, who became Robinson’s third victim, when he was lured outside off stump by Milnes. Lyth then fell three short of his century, nicking Milnes to Robinson and Brook produced an innings of controlled aggression before he was lbw to Miguel Cummins.With Podmore off the field with an injury, occasional bowler Jack Leaning took a wicket with his first ball when he had Jonathan Tattersall caught at slip by Stevens for 11, leaving the visitors on 240 for 6 at tea.Dom Bess and Jordan Thompson batted through the first hour of the evening session before Stevens removed both, Bess lbw for 36 and Thompson caught behind for 34, reducing Yorkshire to 299 for 8, only for Patterson and Willey to frustrate Kent’s bowlers with an unbroken partnership of 59 for the ninth wicket.

Senior internationals make the difference as Trent Rockets are undone after flying start

Andrew Miller24-Jul-2021Southern Brave 133 for 5 (Taylor 45*, Shrubsole 40*) beat Trent Rockets 110 for 7 (Sciver 44, Shrubsole 4-13) by 23 runsAnya Shrubsole and Stafanie Taylor produced crucial roles with bat and then ball, as Southern Brave recovered from a catastrophic opening gambit to ease to a 23-run victory over Trent Rockets in their opening match of the women’s Hundred at Trent Bridge.The two experienced campaigners shared in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 76, making 40 not out from 30 and 45 not out from 31 respectively, before chipping in with five wickets between them in their defence of 134, Shrubsole topping and tailing the innings superbly for the game-sealing figures of 4 for 13 in 20 balls.Rockets’ own England stars did their utmost to keep their side competitive, with Nat Sciver top-scoring in the chase with 44 from 29, including a third-wicket stand of 66 with her partner, and fiancée, Katherine Brunt. But when both were extracted in the space of three balls, their challenge fell away.Power goes to Brave’s headsSmriti Mandhana, Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley made for an imposing top three in Southern Brave’s ranks, and on a venue with Trent Bridge’s run-laden reputation, the expectation was for fireworks in the Powerplay … until it all went “splut”.Three dot balls from Brunt to Wyatt set the early tone – and the fourth would have been a run-out had Sammy-Jo Johnson’s throw found the stumps with Wyatt scuttling through for a reckless opening single. But two balls later, and with the first of her own set, Johnson made amends in priceless style. Mandhana lined up a swipe over the short leg-side boundary, but top-edged a steepler for Michaela Kirk to cling on well in the deep.Dunkley, England’s breakthrough star of the India series, drilled Brave’s opening boundary back down the ground, but perished on the drive five balls later, the victim of an exceptional first-time pick-up from Sarah Glenn at mid-off, and a sharp gather from Kathryn Bryce by the non-striker’s stumps.And Brave’s formless Powerplay was capped in Sciver’s first set, when Wyatt followed up a pull for four through square leg with a cramped top-edge to mid-on. The first 25 balls came and went with a scoreline of 17 for 3, and Rockets had grabbed an early stranglehold.Anya Shrubsole struck early in the chase•Getty Images

Taylor, Shrubsole pick up the pieces
Fortunately for Brave, the power in their line-up wasn’t limited to the top three. In Taylor, West Indies’ T20 World Cup-winning captain, and Shrubsole – England’s 2017 World Cup hero, albeit with the ball – there was oodles of seen-it-all experience lurking down their order.And they need all of it, as the wickets kept slipping away – Maia Bouchier threatened for a time with three forceful boundaries before a leading edge to cover off Sarah Glenn, and Amanda-Jade Wellington never got going in her 5 from nine balls. But from 57 for 5 after 55 balls, Taylor and Shrubsole racked up 76 unbeaten runs from the final 45, to set up an eminently defendable total.After staying watchful in the Powerplay, Taylor raised her tempo mid-innings, including a vast, swept six over midwicket off Glenn. But she was starved of the strike thereafter, facing just five deliveries between balls 43 and 71, and it was Shrubsole who signalled Brave’s late charge, taking ten off Bryce’s third set of five including a brace of cover drives, before a slap over wide long-on for six after picking Sciver’s slower ball.She continued her assault on Glenn with two more fours in her final five, before Taylor showcased her sense of timing at the death, denting Brunt’s exceptional figures with two thumps through backward square to finish unbeaten on 45 from 31.Rockets explode in Powerplay

Four, out, four, out, four. With a single in between whiles, Rockets launched their chase with an unsubtle opening gambit. Rachel Priest fell to a fourth-ball slog as Anya Shrubsole gained revenge for her earlier clout through square leg, while Lauren Bell dispatched Sammy-Jo Johnson with her own third delivery, having just been slammed over the covers.But Brunt arrived with a dismissive slap for four through point, and when Sciver followed a snick past the keeper for four with three more conventional boundaries in a row off Tara Norris, it seemed the tone of the chase had been established. But Shrubsole closed out the Powerplay by conceding just two more runs, and when Bell returned with three from five of her own, the tempo suddenly changed …Wellington’s five-ball maiden

Flight, loop, guile and turn… it was all on display as Amanda-Jade Wellington entered the fray with her legbreaks, and had Brunt in knots as she struggled and failed to counter her overspin. Wellington duly became the first bowler in Hundred history to serve up a “maiden” (the Sky commentators seem to think that terminology still exists even if “over” has been outlawed) and was instantly handed a second set to keep up the pressure. Brunt and Sciver scuffed a succession of singles to break the immediate stranglehold but only five runs from ten balls was an outstanding handbrake to Rockets’ mid-innings momentum.Pace off the ball was clearly the way to go, especially against the hard-heaving Brunt, who had struggled to 16 from 24 balls at the halfway mark of the chase, at which point the requirement was a stiff but obtainable 83 from 50. Sciver threatened to make it look insubstantial when she climbed into Stafanie Taylor with three fours in five, including a powerful reverse-sweep to disrupt her ploy of bowling wide outside off.But back came Bell to deceive Sciver with an outstanding back-of-the-hand slower ball, and when Taylor returned to end Brunt’s struggle with a top-edged slog to square leg, Rockets had slumped to 76 for 4 with two new batters at the crease. Despite the best efforts of Heather Graham at the death, the requirement was already out of reach by the time Shrubsole popped up with three in four balls to put the seal on a comprehensive win.

Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, has emerged as the frontrunner for the director of cricket role at Kent

George Dobell04-Jan-2017Allan Donald, the former South Africa fast bowler, has been named as assistant coach at Kent, where he will work alongside Matt Walker, who has been promoted to head coach.Walker, 43, spent 16 of his 19 years as a player at Kent, scoring more than 12,000 first class runs and top-scored in Kent’s Twenty20 Cup Final win in 2007.He holds Kent’s record individual score at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, 275 not out against Somerset in 1996. More recently, he has spent three years as deputy to the former West Indies batsman, Jimmy Adams, who stepped down in October. .Walker said: “‘Having grown up as a Kent player and played 16 seasons for this great county, I am extremely honoured and proud to be offered the head coach role.”We have an exciting and talented squad that I believe is capable of challenging across all three formats.”I am relishing this opportunity and hope will work with Sam Northeast and Allan Donald to bring success to the club.”Donald, 50, is a hugely experienced bowling coach – he has held positions with the South Africa, England and, most recently, the Australia and Royal Challengers Bangalore teams. He was promoted to head coach at Pune Warriors in 2013, and also held a short-term role at Knights (the Bloemfontein-based franchise).More recently, he was interviewed by his former club, Warwickshire, for one of the roles subsequently filled by Ashley Giles and Jim Troughton.”I would like to thank the club for giving me this opportunity to work with this very talented group as the assistant coach,” he said. “I look forward to working closely with Matt Walker and Sam Northeast in forming a very tight relationship as we plot our way through the season.”There is no doubt that I’m pumped for the new season ahead and can’t wait to meet all the players and backroom staff.”The new coaching team will lead the squad on a pre-season tour of the Caribbean later this month before the county season starts on April 7.”Matt was the outstanding candidate from the recruitment process,” said the club chairman, George Kennedy. “He is a modern, innovative coach who is highly regarded by players and peers as shown by the work he has done with Kent and England. His knowledge and passion for the club is an added bonus.”The addition of Allan Donald brings a fresh face and new voice to the staff who we hope will also help bring the best out of our seam attack.”It is understood Matthew Mott, currently the Australia Women’s coach, was originally favoured for the director of cricket role but, after having talks with the club, decided against it.The Kent role was vacated when Jimmy Adams resigned in October after five seasons in charge. Adams has subsequently agreed to take over as West Indies’ new director of cricket.

Joe Leach hits 84 as Nos. 8-11 pile on the runs against Nottinghamshire, who are 99 without loss in reply

Paul Edwards23-Apr-2021
The great summers of Jim Griffiths are long past. Northamptonshire’s No. 11 played 138 innings in his 13-year first-class career, scoring 290 runs at an average of 3.33. His salad day – in truth it was little more than a lettuce leaf enrobed in a dab of Heinz – arrived on July 19, 1982, when he pummelled Gloucestershire’s attack for 16 at Bristol. Otherwise, spectators on the county circuit would talk fondly of the times they saw old Jim make no runs at all.Griffiths the Prolific came to mind this lovely Friday afternoon as we watched Charlie Morris bat against Nottinghamshire. Morris is also a No. 11 but faced 67 balls for his ten unbeaten runs. Much more to the point, he kept Joe Leach company for 141 minutes as the pair put on 81 for Worcestershire’s last wicket, a partnership that delayed lunch by half an hour and extended the home side’s first innings until just after three o’clock. Morris used to be a member of the Number Eleven Club, albeit he was never remotely in Jim’s class. But he’s worked at his batting in the manner of the modern professional and who knows how many he would have made had he not run out of partner?Morris’s stand with Leach was only the third in a series of trials for Steven Mullaney’s bowlers. At 4.30 on Thursday afternoon Worcestershire were 216 for 7 and the visitors could look forward to chipping away at a modest total. Nearly 24 hours later the last three wickets had more than doubled the score and it was therefore to the credit of Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed that Nottinghamshire did not suffer the general chaos that so often follows a last-wicket stand.Related

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The openers put on an unbroken 99 in 44 overs and our evening’s play ended with the sort of proficient strokeplay and quiet accomplishment that Walter Keeton or George Gunn would have recognised and appreciated. Hameed worked Alzarri Joseph down to third man, thereby reaching his fifty off 136 balls. The pick of his four fours was a clip through midwicket off Leach and this may yet be a significant innings for a 24-year-old who has yet to make a hundred for Nottinghamshire. Slater batted unobtrusively well, too, and such serene accumulation will have pleased the visiting coaches.In truth, though, Worcestershire’s resistance had already given our cricket a curiously misshapen quality, with Nottinghamshire’s first innings being the appendix to the day rather than its main body. Certainly this New Road pitch suits batsmen intent on occupation, for it is predominantly low and moderately paced. It might well offer the spinners a little more assistance on Sunday but at present any variable bounce has been well covered by Hameed and Slater. That said, the openers were probably grateful for any help that was going; before their quiescent partnership this evening their highest opening stand of the season was 11 in four attempts.Odd records were also set in Worcestershire’s innings. For example their total of 436 was the fifth occasion in eight red-ball games that they had made over 400 in their first innings. This was a fine effort, one that had been launched by Daryl Mitchell and Jake Libby’s first-wicket stand but then maintained after a collapse by Joseph and Ed Barnard, both of whom completed their fifties this morning. Joseph made 61 before he chipped Zak Chappell to Joe Clarke at short mid-on and Barnard’s fine 58 ended when he tried to cut a ball from Liam Patterson-White that was too close to him and edged a catch to Tom Moores.Which leaves us with that last-wicket stand, the eccentric centrepiece of our day. Leach took the main role, of course. After reaching his half-century off 99 balls, Worcestershire’s skipper whacked Mullaney for a straight six and followed it with a cover drive. Then, just before our delayed lunch Chappell bowled to Morris and Mullaney placed six close fielders, none of them in the slip cordon. It is a tactical stratagem roughly translated as: “Sod this for a game of soldiers. Stick it up his nose.”After lunch Lyndon James bowled to Leach with the fielders practising an extreme example of social distancing. Off the fifth ball Worcestershire’s skipper managed a single and next over we went through a similar rigmarole. By the time Leach edged Patterson-White to slip Nottinghamshire’s ire was comparable to that of the local patriots who had noticed that someone had failed to honour St George’s Day by hoisting England’s flag on the cathedral tower. Shakespeare’s birthday was therefore marked by a hunt for the wide-chopped rascal, the bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog responsible for the insult. Investigations were continuing this evening. Hameed will continue tomorrow.